Brothers by Blood by breannatala
Summary: Harry Potter, 10 years old, finds out that he isn't a Potter, and that he has a brother still living! And his brother happens to be Severus Snape. After the reading of Eileen Prince's will, Severus takes Harry in. And after spending the summer living with his newly-found brother, being educated in the wizarding ways, and meeting new people, Harry slowly starts fitting in and having a normal life.

How long will it stay normal, though? After all, despite him being known to Hogwarts and the rest of the world as Silas Prince, he still is Harry Potter, and it is only so long that he is able to stay out of trouble.
Categories: Big Brother Snape, Parental Snape > Guardian Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Draco, Dumbledore, James, Lucius, Other, Sirius
Snape Flavour: None
Genres: General
Media Type: None
Tags: Alternate Universe
Takes Place: None
Warnings: None
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 22 Completed: No Word count: 102508 Read: 124313 Published: 09 Jul 2006 Updated: 26 Apr 2008
The Friends by breannatala

Harry, or Silas, as Severus told him he was supposed to introduce himself as, stood outside the door, very nervous. Severus had just told him that the Malfoy’s have agreed to be his Godparents. This excited him greatly, especially since he and Draco got along. But now, Harry didn’t know exactly what to expect. What did Godparents do, exactly?

Gathering up the little courage he had at the moment, Harry knocked and entered the room when he heard a voice from inside beckon him. Waiting for him were, he assumed, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy.

"Hello," Harry answered quietly from the door.

"Silas! Come in, and shut the door behind you," Mr. Malfoy said. Harry shut the door and went to stand in front of the two adults. By habit, he kept out of reach of the two. "I assume that Severus told you the reason for this visit?" Harry nodded, and blushed slightly when Mr. Malfoy looked him over. "You are short for a ten-year-old boy. And way too skinny, but Severus will take care of that. Posture needs work, but you fix up well. Do you always plan on wearing muggle clothes under your robes?"

"Er . . ." Harry said, not knowing how to answer. "I guess. What else would you wear?"

"Your normal under garments, of course," answered Mrs. Malfoy. "It is sad that you were raised by muggles. Those muggles, especially, from what I’ve heard. Tell me, Silas, how are you liking it with your brother?"

"It’s good," Harry answered. "He got me a lot of stuff, and he said I get to eat at every meal. And I get my own room!"

"Good," she nodded.

"I assume Severus told you that we agreed to be your Godparents?" Mr. Malfoy asked, and Harry nodded quickly.

"Yes, Thank you! I’ve never had Godparents before!" Harry answered, and Mr. Malfoy brushed it off.

"You will call me Uncle Lucius, and your godmother Aunt Narcissa. Or sir and ma’am."

"Aunt Cissy at home," Aunt Cissy interrupted, giving her husband a sideways glance. "I do prefer Cissy when it is not necessary to be so formal." She smiled at Harry, who appeared to be beaming with joy.

"Thank you!" replied Harry, who felt like jumping up and down, but decided against it. The Dursley’s never liked it when he showed emotion, and he didn’t want to upset his new Godparents.

"Of course, Silas. Sit, please," Mrs-Aunt Cissy said, and Harry obeyed, sitting down on a very comfy chair across from them. "Tell us a little about yourself. What do you like to do?"

"Well," Harry said. "I like to read. I really don’t know what else. The Dursley’s didn’t really let me do anything else . . ."

"Those were the muggles?" Uncle Lucius asked, and Harry nodded. "Why would they not?"

"I don’t know," Harry admitted. "They didn’t like me. They always called me a freak, and said how stupid, and drunk my parents were to die in a car accident . . ."

"A car accident? You mean the Potter’s?" Aunt Cissy asked, and Harry nodded once again. "Silas, the Potter’s didn’t die in a car accident. Is that they told you?"

"Er . . . yeah. The-they lied to me?"

"Does that surprise you?" Uncle Lucius asked, and Harry thought about it.

"No, not really. They were never nice to me," Harry realized. "H-how did they die?" Harry’s Godparents were silent for a few seconds.

"I don’t think we are the best people to tell you that, Silas," his Godmother said. "Talk to your brother. He’ll explain." Harry nodded, confused. If the Potter’s didn’t die in a car accident, how did they die? "If you didn’t know about the Potter’s, I assume you don’t know about being the Boy Who Lived."

"Boy Who Lived?" Harry wondered out loud, even more confused.

"I suppose not. Silas, go and find Draco. I am sure he is anxiously waiting for you." Harry didn’t move at first. "Move along." Harry got up and left the room, closing the door behind himself. Waiting outside the room was Draco.

"Well?" the eleven-year-old asked.

"Well, what?"

"What did they say?"

"They just wanted to ask about me," replied Harry.

"So, they are your Godparents?"

"Yeah," Harry said, a huge grin covering his face.

"Wicked. That makes us . . . what? Brothers or something?" Harry thought about it.

"Yeah, I guess it does, kind of. They are kind of my parents. But wouldn’t that also make me kind of your uncle? Because my brother is your Godfather."

"Hmph! You don’t have to go into that much detail," Draco said. "Have you ever flown?"

"Flown? As in fly? People can’t fly, Draco," Harry said.

"No! On a broom. What have those muggles done to you? I have a lot to teach you," said the blonde, shaking his head. "Come on!"

Harry followed Draco through the house (it was so big that Harry felt he would never be able to find his way around without Draco’s help) to an outside shed. Inside the shed, Harry stared around in awe. There were so many brooms, balls, bikes (although why there were bikes when Draco said he didn’t like muggle stuff was beyond Harry), and so much other stuff which Harry didn’t know what they were. Draco picked up two of the nearest brooms and ran outside once again.

"How does it fly?" Harry asked, taking the broom that Draco handed him.

"Magic," Draco answered, rolling his eyes.

"I figured that," Harry said. "I mean . . . it doesn’t seem natural to fly."

"It’s not that hard," Draco said, getting on his broom. "To make it hover, say ‘up’. Then get on, and push off. Easy as that!"

"Okay," Harry answered slowly. "If you say so." He looked reluctantly at the broom in his hand, then dropped it to the ground to do as Draco said.

Severus sat across from Lucius and Narcissa, drinking tea. Narcissa had just finished planning out Silas’ birthday party, much to his disgust. Just what he needed, a bunch of ten and eleven-year-old running around his house. Summer was to get away from the students.

He had to admit, though, that the more friends that Silas had, the less time the boy would spend bugging him. As much as he didn’t mind teaching, Severus disliked children. So far, except for the boy’s constant string of questions, Silas had been behaving himself. He just hoped that wouldn’t change when he becomes more comfortable with the situation.

Truthfully, Severus wasn’t sure why he took the boy in. He wasn’t meant to raise kids. Exactly why he never got married. What made him mad, though, was that his Mother never told him he had a brother. He understood the need for the secrecy: if his father knew, he would surely have found a way to kill Silas, but it made him mad that, for years after his death, she never once mentioned the boy. At least, it would have prepared him for what was happening now.

The boy seemed interested in potions; that much Severus was happy about. Perhaps if he taught the boy during the summer, there would be one last dunderhead in the first year. Maybe get in far enough in the class to move him up a year, and have him as an apprentice . . .

Severus shook his head. He didn’t need to have the boy around for longer then necessary. It was bad enough agreed to this.

"When are you going to the ministry to switch over the guardianship?" Lucius asked.

"All I have to do is sign the papers," Severus answered. "I’ll add you two before I do so."

"You don’t plan on changing your mind, do you Severus? The boy would be devastated. And he can’t go back to those wretched muggles. Growing up with regular muggles would be bad enough but from what you and Silas said about them, they seem terrible."

"No, I don’t plan on changing my mind," Severus said hesitantly. "Mother wished me to take him in, so I am doing so. And muggles would be the last place I would send him if I didn’t."

"Do Draco and Silas seem to be getting along?" Narcissa asked.

"From what it appears, yes. I do believe Draco is teaching him to fly at the moment."

"I do hope they don’t get hurt, especially if it’s his first time flying. You made sure the House Elves were watching them?"

"There was one . . . Dobby, I believe his name is."

"Ah, yes. Dobby. He does like the children. They’ll be fine," Lucius told Narcissa, brushing it off. "Have you heard from the Headmaster yet?"

"How do you mean?" Severus asked.

"You recently found out that Harry Potter is your brother, and he is currently living with you. If I remember correctly, it was the old man himself who placed the boy with those muggles. He probably has kept close watch on anyone who goes near there. I would expect to hear from him soon."

"Yes, I suppose so. Have you heard from him recently?"

"No, he stopped checking in with me about three years ago. He never did trust me to the extent he trusts you."

"Yes, well, you are not under his nose for ten months out of the year. And I still haven’t gotten the Defense job."

"I don’t understand why you wish for that job. You enjoy potions," Narcissa commented.

"Yes, but the students are incompetent. I don’t mind teaching the N.E.W.T. classes, but I cannot stand the younger years."

"I don’t understand how you can handle teaching at all," said Lucius. "I much rather run the business."

"Speaking of your business, how is it going?"

"Very good. Your newest headache salve is selling well, along with your other potions. I must say, your potions sell better than the ones that I employ people to make. You could have a very good job if you work for me."

"I prefer freelance potions work. It allows me more time of my own," Severus said flatly. Lucius had been trying to get Severus to work for him for years, often to the point it got annoying.

"Of course," Lucius answered with a smirk.

"Are you sure you have never flown before, Silas?" Draco asked.

"I think I would know if I had," Harry said back.

"Well, you are good. Very good, in fact. Not better than me, of course," Draco said, and Harry rolled his eyes, landing a little too hard on the ground.

"Mr. Silas!" the House Elf called, and Harry turned to stare at it.

"What is that?" Harry asked Draco.

"A House Elf! You didn’t even know that?"

"No," Harry said, blushing slightly.

"I guess muggles don’t have house elves, do they? How did they get anything cleaned?"

"They made me clean it," Harry mumbled, but then remember that the House Elf was calling him. "What?"

"Mr. Snape wants Silas sir to comes in! Yous be leaving now!"

"Already?" Draco asked, and the House Elf, Dobby, nodded.

"Yes, young master. Right aways!" the elf answered, and Draco huffed.

"Oh, well. Hopefully you can come over again soon." Draco looked over Harry. "You know, I think you look a little different than when you first got here. Your hair is different. Not so all over the place. And your eyes are dark now!"

"What?" Harry asked surprised, starting to walk toward the house. He didn’t want his brother to get mad at him, after all. "Oh, yeah. Severus said that the charms that my mother put on me would wear off in a week. I wonder what I really look like?"

"Probably like Uncle Severus. Or close to it. He is your brother, after all, and I think your eyes are the same color as him."

"Really?" Harry asked, and Draco nodded.

"What took you so long?" Severus asked from the door, startling Harry.

"Sorry," Harry answered, looking down at the ground.

"We were just talking about how Harry looks different than before, Uncle Severus," Draco said, and Severus looked closely over his newly found brother. Indeed, the boy looked slightly different, but not much. He wished the changes would hurry up. The sooner he looked his true self, the sooner he wouldn’t look like Potter.

"Draco," Severus started. "Your parents wish to speak with you. They are in the drawing room."

"Okay," Draco answered, then turned to Harry. "Bye, Silas. Next time you come over, I’ll teach you about quidditch," he said, making Harry laugh. Almost the entire time on the brooms, Draco was talking about quidditch, which, Harry had to agree, he didn’t understand one bit yet.

"Fine," Harry said when he stopped giggling.

"Come, Silas. Once we get back, I will be making dinner."

Back through the floo, Harry decided he’ll never get used to it. Waiting for them when they arrived was an old man with a long beard and purple robes.

"Headmaster," Severus greeted flatly. "Silas, why don’t you go to your room. I will call you down for dinner." Harry nodded, and opened the door to the stairs. Instead of going up the stairs immediately, though, he closed the door and listened.

"I have heard rather interesting news at the Ministry today. It turns out that you have a brother?"

"Yes. I only just found out about it yesterday. My mother, seemingly, didn’t trust me enough with that information."

"And that brother happens to be Harry Potter?"

"Unfortunately," sneered Severs. "Why?"

"Just an old man wondering. I talked to the Dursley’s, and they said you took him without their agreement?"

"The muggles you left him with neglected him, Headmaster," Severus snapped. "And with no blood connection, there are no wards."

"Neglected?" Dumbledore asked. "I highly doubt . . ."

"The healer we saw said he was malnourished, among other things."

"I will have it looked into," Dumbledore said sadly. "May I speak with Harry?"

"His name is Silas, and I wish you to use it. Since it is his legal name, he will be using it from now on." Harry took this as his clue to finally go up to his room. If that old man, the headmaster, was going to go up to his room, he didn’t want to be caught eavesdropping.

Of course, by the time he made it to his room, Severus called.

"Silas, would you come down here please?" Harry knew that dinner couldn’t be ready already, so he assumed that the old man wasn’t coming up to his room to speak with him. Grudgingly, Harry went back down. If this man was the one who left him with the Dursley’s, he wasn’t sure he wanted to talk to him.

"Silas," Severus said flatly once Harry got downstairs. "Headmaster Dumbledore wishes to speak with you. He is in the living room." Severus then, very oddly, knelt down and looked Harry in the eye. "If he makes you uncomfortable, come to me. Also, don’t look him in the eye for a long period of time. I will explain why later. If you don’t want to answer his questions, tell him so. You are not obligated to tell him anything. All right?" Harry nodded. He hadn’t seen this side of Severus yet, and he had to admit – it was comforting. Before Harry could say anything, though, Severus got up and went into the kitchen. Harry reluctantly went into the living room.

"Hello, Harry. It’s nice to meet you," the old man said, holding out his hand for a shake. Harry took it, but after that, quickly sat down.

"My name is Silas, now," he corrected. He wasn’t sure yet how well he liked the name . . . he’d always been Harry before, but he had to get used to Silas, so he might as well use it instead of Harry.

"Of course, my boy. Do you like it here with your brother?" Dumbledore asked, and Harry nodded his head hard.

"It’s a lot better than the Dursley’s," Harry said, making sure to emphasis the ‘a lot’ part. He wanted to let the old man know that he wasn’t happy at the Dursley’s. "So, you left me there?" he asked.

"How did you know that?" the old man asked, looking amused.

"Er . . . I . . . overhead," Harry answered sheepishly.

"I see. Yes, I did. If I had known that they would neglect you, I would not have. Let’s move to a more cheerful topic, hmm? Are you excited for Hogwarts?"

"I guess. Draco is, I know. I really don’t know much about it."

"Ah. More for the mystery, then, correct?"

"Severus called you Headmaster, right? Are you the Headmaster for Hogwarts?"

"Right you are . . . Silas. Right you are. This Draco . . . is that Draco Malfoy?"

"Yes, he’s my friend," Harry answered shortly, but didn’t say anything more on the subject. He had a bad feeling about what direction that conversation would take place. Deciding, although the headmaster seemed nice, that he didn’t want talk to him anymore, Harry faked a yawn. "I’m tired. I was flying with Draco almost all afternoon."

"Have you? Do you like flying?"

"Very much," Harry answered. "Maybe I’ll lay down some before I eat. Severus won’t be happy if I fall asleep when eating, ‘cause he says I need to eat more."

"That sounds like a very good idea. I’ll go tell Severus I am leaving, and you can go off to your room. Good bye, Silas."

"Good bye, sir," Harry answered, then immediately went upstairs. Decidedly not tired, Harry went to his bookshelf. Severus had bought him a lot of books. Mostly, they were on subjects like potions and charms, but there were a few storybooks, and even some on wizarding culture. Knowing Severus liked potions, Harry took a book called Beginning Potions Theory and sat down on his bed.

The book turned out to be more interesting than it sounded. Harry found it fascinating that you could put two entirely different things together, and come up with something useful.

Take a basic cleaning potion. The common ingredients of dilute toad poison (usually 6.4%) and the juices from a camilda plant, when combined with four parts toad poison (at 6.4%) and three part camilda juice in one part distilled water, will reorganize itself.

The book went on to explain how and why certain ingredients will combine, and why some will not, and why a person should never mix together certain ingredients. Some of it confused Harry slightly, namely, the math part of it, but he figured he could ask Severus about it later. After all, the man did say he wouldn’t mind teaching him potions.

Just as Harry was getting tired of reading, Severus came into the room, knocking first. Harry left the door open, so it didn’t surprise him.

"The headmaster said you were taking a nap?"

"I didn’t want to talk to him anymore," Harry said, hoping he wouldn’t get in trouble for lying. He rarely lied, but when he did, he thought he had good reasons.

"Did he make you uncomfortable?" Severus asked.

"No, not really. Just . . . he left me with the Dursley’s. Without checking up on me!" Severus nodded, not bothering to ask how Harry knew that, then he noticed the potions book in Harry’s hand.

"Reading some?" he asked the young boy.

"Yeah. I think I get most of it, but I don’t understand the math," Harry admitted.

"It’s called Arithmancy in the wizarding world," Severus answered, glad that the first book the boy picked up with a book on potions theory. Already, he’d know things some of his fourth years didn’t know. Unfortunately, the school board didn’t approve of teaching advanced theory before a student’s fifth year, and Severus felt that his students would learn better if theory was taught first. More than ten years as the school’s Potions Master, and he still didn’t have much control over his job.

"Can you teach me?" Harry asked, bringing Severus out of his thoughts.

"Later," Severus said. "Right now, it’s time to eat."

"Okay. Severus?"

"Yes?" he sighed.

"Uncle Lucius and Aunt Cissy called me the Boy Who Lived. Why? And they said that the Potter’s didn’t die in a car accident. How did they die, then?" Harry asked quickly, and Severus sighed again.

"I was hoping to go over this later, but I suppose now is an okay time."

"If you don’t want to tell me, you don’t have to," Harry said.

"Of course I will," Severus said flatly, trying to figure out how to start. "Although you might not want to hear it. The Potter’s will killed by a dark wizard, one who wanted to kill you. He killed your parents, then tried to kill you. No one before you survived that curse. No one after you, also."

"Is that how I got my scar?" Harry asked, rubbing his hand over the lightning shape.

"Yes."

"So . . . what happened to this dark wizard?"

"He disappeared. Most believe he was killed."

"But he might not be?" Harry asked, kind of scared.

"His body was never found," Severus said flatly, as if it said everything. Harry was quiet for a few minutes before speaking up again.

"Why did he want to kill me?" Harry asked, then looked at his lab when Severus turned to look at him.

"A prophecy. One in which I do not know the contents of. I believe that is enough of this conversation. The food will get cold if we do not eat it soon, so come along." Severus said, leaving the room. Harry wanted to know more, but he knew that Severus wouldn’t tell him anything. Harry followed slowly to the kitchen.

But there was a prophecy about him and this Dark Lord? What was it about? What was so important that he tried to kill him as a baby? And was he still out there?

Harry stopped short at the bottom of the stairs. Was this dark lord out there still, planning on killing him? Was Harry safe?

Severus obviously noticed that Harry wasn’t following anymore, because he came back out of the kitchen, crossed his arms and glared at the frozen boy.

"What?" he asked, and Harry looked at him.

"What if he’s still out there planning to kill me?" Harry wondered out loud, and Severus sighed.

"Silas, if he was capable of doing so, he’d have done it already," the man said flatly, then went back into the kitchen. Harry, feeling a little bit better, but not much, followed and sat down at the table, across from Severus.

The food, at the few meals before, looked good. Severus had already filled Harry’s plate with food. It wasn’t like at the Dursley’s, where all the food was put in the middle of the table. Eating quietly, Harry spent the time eating looking at his plate, thinking about this dark lord. Severus must have realized what he was thinking about, because after Harry finished eating, he looked up to find his brother watching him.

"There is no need to fret over it, Silas. I shouldn’t have told you."

"Yeah, but . . ."

"No buts. Now, we need to go over a few things, like rules and chores. I have already gone over most of the rules with you, but there are a few more. If you wish to go outside, make sure you tell me first, but do not leave the yard. There might be a few muggle kids in the neighborhood, and if you wish to find them, tell me where you are going. In that case, you are not to leave this street, in case I need to find you. Understand?" Harry nodded. The Dursley’s never cared if Harry went somewhere if he didn’t have any chores. Harry always had a feeling that they hoped he’d get run over by a car or something.

"You are also not allowed to tell anyone you are a wizard. If anyone asks what school you will be going to, you will answer a boarding school in Scotland, but that is all. Now for chores, each night you will be washing the dishes. You must also keep your room clean at all times. Sometimes I will give you something else, but that will usually be all. Understand?" Severus asked again, and once again Harry nodded. He wanted to say that was an easy amount of chores, but decided against it, unless Severus decided to give him more. "Good. I will show you where all the disk cleaning supplies are."

Harry followed Severus to the other side of the room and listened while he was shown where everything in the kitchen was. When Severus left, he started the dishes. With only two of them, there wasn’t that many dishes for the day, something Harry was grateful for. With the Dursley’s, Vernon and Dudley at so much a day, it took forever to finish the dishes.

After he was finished with the dishes, Harry wanted to go outside. Actually, he wanted to know if there was a park anywhere around. He wanted to swing. The swings were Harry’s favorite; it was something he could do alone, and it was fun. Harry went looking for Severus and found him in the living room reading.

"Is there a park around here?" he asked his older brother, and Severus looked at him over the book.

"Down the street. Be back here before they light the lamps tonight. It will probably be two hours from now."

"Thank you!" Harry said, then turned to find the park.

"Wait!" Severus interrupted. "Take your robe off. When you go outside in this neighborhood, you will wear muggle clothes." Harry nodded, then went up to his room to take off his robe. When he was up there, he decided to put on one of his T-shirts. It was more comfortable.

Outside, Harry didn’t know which way to go. From the point of the street that Severus’ house was on, he couldn’t tell which way the park was. Sighing, Harry decided to take a right.

He reached the end of the street, and with no park in sight, Harry turned around. He was surprised at the length of the street. It was probably four times longer than Privet Drive. Harry finally found the park, and made his way toward the swings, steering clear of the two kids who were playing on the play set.

Harry was wary of meeting the kids from the neighborhood. Before Draco, no one like him because he was a freak. Draco liked, him, but Harry’s brother was his godfather, and he was also a wizard. These kids were probably muggle, so they probably wouldn’t like him. He was glad that the two didn’t notice him and continued playing.

Harry didn’t notice how late it was getting until a man came through the park and began lighting the lights, which he found weird at first. On Privet Drive, the lights came on automatically, and were electric. This man was lighting the candles in the lanterns on each lamppost. He made a note to ask Severus about it when he got home.

Harry suddenly remembered that he was supposed to be back home before they started lighting the lampposts, and he jumped off the swing and ran back to the house as fast as he could, hoping that Severus wouldn’t be mad.

To be continued...


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