After they were convinced they were not followed, Snape turned to Harry. "Okay, Mr. Potter, where do we go first?"
"Let's go to the bookstore first. And could you please call me Harry? I feel funny calling you Severus when you're still referring to me as Mr. Potter."
"Very well, Harry. I know where there is a rather large bookstore near here. Let's grab a taxi." Snape hailed a taxi and gave him the address of the bookstore. They were inside the bookstore within 10 minutes, Snape muttering something about stupid muggle drivers.
"Well, Po- Harry, what do you need?"
"We are supposed to do essays on three different Muggle authors. We are to read several of their works and a biography on the authors. So, I need books on William Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe, and J. R. R. Tolkien."
"An interesting choice of authors, all very good, at least from what I've heard. I cannot honestly say I've ever read Tolkien or Poe. Very well, you look for Tolkien and Poe, and I'll handle the biographies. Don't worry about the Shakespeare plays. I have the complete collection at home."
They went their separate ways, looking for the books they needed. Harry easily found his books, picking up a copy of Poe's complete works, Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, and The Hobbit. He looked at the other Tolkien books sitting there, and thought /what the hell?/ and he picked up Unfinished Tales and all twelve volumes of The History of Middle-earth. Harry heard a chuckle behind him as he tried to balance the eighteen books he was carrying.
"Problem?" Snape asked, sniggering.
"What do you think?" Harry snapped, as the top books slid around.
Snape held up a basket. "It might help if you set them in here," he said snidely.
Harry dropped the books into the basket and Snape shoved it into Harry's arms. "Do you really think you're going to read all those in time for school?"
"No," replied Harry. "But I've read Lord of the Rings before and I like Tolkien. I figured it would give me something to do when I had nothing to do."
"I'm impressed that you would think to do something more constructive with your time other than get yourself killed. It would undoubtedly make my life much easier. Be careful though. You may end up like Ms. Granger."
Harry rolled his eyes. "The day I become Hermione is the day I sprout wings."
"Is there anything else you need?"
"Yeah." Harry walked down the aisles of books, picking out various novels.
"Jane Eyre?" Snape asked, raising his eyebrow questioningly.
Harry shrugged. "Hermione keeps going on and on about how good it is. I know it's a romance, but I thought I'd give it a shot." Harry continued down the aisle to the language section. He picked up a couple of books each on the Spanish, Russian, Latin and German languages.
"Four languages? I know you won't have that much time. Your time should be spent studying Potions."
"I know that. I've always wanted to learn other languages, but I've never had the opportunity to learn. I don't know which I want to work on first, but at least I'll have a few options. These are the four I most want to learn. And I know I'm better at Potions than my marks show." Harry looked at Snape pointedly. Snape merely glared. Harry sighed resignedly and asked, "Is there anything you wanted?"
"No, I don't think so. I have a large library, though the books you needed aren't a part of my collection. I may look at them to judge whether or not I should reconsider their absence in my library. That is, if you don't mind?"
"No. Help yourself." Harry walked up the cashier and paid for his books. They walked out of the bookstore and turned to the left, heading to a shopping mall two blocks away.
They walked into the mall, heading first to the optometrist. Snape looked at Harry curiously. "What are we doing here?"
"My glasses aren't the greatest. My eyes have gotten worse, but the Durs- I couldn't get another pair," Harry finished, looking at the floor. Snape put his hand on Harry's shoulder, squeezing lightly. Harry gave Snape a small smile and said, "Thanks, Severus."
Harry got his eyes tested and bought both glasses and contact lenses. They had his contact prescription in store, so he was able to put those on right away. Since it would take an hour before the glasses were ready, he and Severus went out to shop.
They went to several different stores. Harry flitted around, excited that he could finally have clothes that fit. Snape watched with mild amusement, glad that Harry's mind was on something other than the previous night's events. Harry picked out jeans, T-shirts, sweaters and shirts, boxers, socks, and shoes. They found their way into a leather shop and Harry walked out wearing a pair of tight, black leather pants, leather boots, and a leather jacket, and a tight red T-shirt. He also had two other pairs of black leather pants and two leather belts in his shopping bags.
Snape ignored how good Harry's ass looked in those pants, or at least tried to. Snape mentally kicked himself. /Stop staring, you perve! He is my student...he is my student.../
It was kind of hard to ignore him, the way Harry kept preening in front of him, like he could read Snape's thoughts and wished to torment him. * * *
Harry smiled to himself, knowing full well that Severus was looking at him, practically drooling. That was perfectly fine with him. After all, he had had a huge crush on Severus for the past four months. Severus (he always called his professor 'Severus' in his mind though never to his face, he didn't really want to die that young!) hadn't been as mean as he used to be. Not saying that he had changed dramatically, he was as biting and sarcastic as always, but in a less malevolent sort of way. Harry had even caught a small smile on his face a few times, usually when talking to Malfoy and didn't realize no one else was around. But it was when he saw Severus laugh at something Professor Dumbledore had said that he had fallen for him. Harry wasn't sure if it was love or not, but he knew he really, really liked his potions professor. Not that he had ever told anyone. Ron would have kittens, and Hermione would give him a two-hour lecture on fraternizing with a teacher.
/A little peek at what he could have won't hurt him/ Harry thought as he preened and swayed in front of his new housemate.
They retrieved Harry's new glasses and decided to have lunch before returning. They went to an Italian restaurant nearby and ate in peaceful silence, only occasionally saying something. After lunch, they took a taxi back to The Leaky Cauldron and quickly flooed back to Hogwarts.