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: 124307 Published: 09 Jul 2006 Updated: 26 Apr 2008
The Party by breannatala

Harry sat in the corner of the room sulking, while watching Draco play with his Famous Wizard cards. He hadn’t been in the mood to do anything since Dumbledore came and took the boy away, three days ago. Today, he felt even worse.

“Silas, why don’t you just come a play a game?” Draco asked. “You aren’t still upset about that boy, are you? You didn’t even know him.”

“So?” Harry spat. That was the thing. He didn’t know the boy, but he wanted to. Remembering the way the boy looked at him when Dumbledore took him away, he just wanted to go back in time and refuse to let him go.

“What happened to him, anyway. Did you ever find out?”

“Severus said they found the father. Apparently he didn’t even know he had a kid. He was surprised to learn that he spoke parseltongue, too.”

“So, the father doesn’t speak it?” Draco wondered.

“I don’t know. I asked, but Severus didn’t know either.” Harry refused to look up, his arms now wrapped around his legs, and his head in his knees. It was a very comforting position. “I just want him back,” he said quietly, but Draco heard.

“Maybe you’ll get to see him again. He’ll probably go to Hogwarts eventually. If he can speak parseltongue, then he can do magic!”

“Yeah, but how does that help me? By the time he goes to Hogwarts, I’ll be gone!” Draco shrugged. “It was just a thought. Come on, Silas. Let’s go do something fun. I’m sick of playing by myself.

“Fine,” Harry relented. “What do you want to do?”

“Let’s go fly,” Draco suggested, and it was Harry turn to shrug.

“I guess we can.”

The boys flew until Severus, who was watching them fly for a few minutes, yelled that it was time to go. They left the brooms for a house elf to put away and said goodbye. Draco went off to his room, and Harry flooed (along with Severus) home.

“Are you hungry?” Severus asked, and Harry shook his head.

“You haven’t eaten since breakfast,” accused Severus. “You have to be hungry.” Harry shrugged, earning a glare from his brother for the rude answer. Harry thought that Severus tried to feed him too much, but he didn’t want to say anything in case his brother decided to stop feeding him. He knew it was stupid to think so, but it was something that the Dursleys would do, and Harry just didn’t want to chance it. He had to be careful.

“You need to get used to eating more,” his brother scolded, and Harry sighed inwardly. He heard this almost every day. “You can’t live on the nutrient potion forever. It is not good for you for long time use.”

“Okay, I’ll eat something,” Harry answered. Honestly, he just wasn’t used to people caring if he ate or not, and, although he was glad that Severus did seem to care, it was starting to get annoying.

“I wasn’t going to not let you eat, anyway,” Severus answered. After dinner, they retired to the living room, which made Harry nervous. The only time Severus took Harry aside after a meal was because he wanted to talk to him about something. Harry quickly thought about the day, and remembered nothing that he did wrong.

“Silas, your Godparents are putting on a . . . party in two days, and as much as I loath them, there will be many children your age there. They also wish to show you off, so we will need to get you some dress robes.”

“But I already have a bunch of robes,” Harry said, confused. What was wrong with the ones he already had?

“Everyday robes, yes. Dress robes are for special occasions. I was hoping not to buy you a set for a few years, because you will, hopefully, grow much taller and you wouldn’t be able to wear the robes more than once, but Lucius insists that we be there. Tomorrow, we will have you fit for robes in Diagon Alley.”

“What’s Diagon Alley?” Harry asked. “Is it like Hogsmede?”

“It is not an entire town, if that is what you are asking. It is a street with many shops. I also need to stop in Knockturn Alley for some potion ingredients. I really shouldn’t bring you there, but you will be fine if you do not wander away from me.”

“What’s the difference between Knockturn Alley and Diagon Alley?”

“Knockturn Alley shops usually sell things of a more . . . darker nature. Not all, though. One of the Alchemy shops there is the best in the magical world, and the shopkeeper is quite fair if she knows you.”

“Oh,” Harry answered, excited. He was going to get to see more places! And he was going with Severus to pick up Potion supplies, so that would be fun.

“Are . . . you feeling better than you were before?” Severus asked, and Harry nodded. “Good. Sulking does not become you.”

“I just wanted to keep him,” Harry answered with a pout. “He wanted to stay with me. He said so.”

“He is with family now, Silas.”

“Yeah, but what if the father hurts him? I mean, he knocked up some lady . . .”

“Knocked up? Where did you hear that term?” Severus asked sternly, and Harry looked down, embarrassed.

“Dudley,” he answered.

“I do not want you to say that again,” the man ordered, and Harry nodded. “Now, what were you saying?”

“Er . . . what if the father hurts him? What if he doesn’t like that the boy is a parselmouth?”

“The man is probably a parselmouth himself,” Severus said, “though we don’t know for sure. If the mother abandoned a child who could speak parseltongue, it was probably because the kid was a parselmouth. It probably frightened her, and she left him.”

“But . . . that’s mean,” Harry said, for the lack of a better word to call it. “People shouldn’t do that.”

“He’ll be fine, Silas.” Severus said nothing else, he just picked up a book from the side table and handed it to him. “This is a book on proper party etiquette that the Malfoys gave for you to read. Read it.” Harry nodded, taking the book. “Now, go and . . . do whatever. Good night, Silas.”

“Good night,” Harry answered, getting up to leave. He decided that he’ll get the book read tonight. After all, he didn’t want to make his new Godparents upset. They wanted him to read the book, he will. Etiquette wasn’t something he was interested in, though. The Dursleys were always so particular when they had company. Not that Harry ever got to be around when there was company, but he’d listen in from his cupboard.

The next afternoon, Harry dressed in plain black robes, on Severus’ suggestion, then went downstairs to where Severus was waiting. Harry looked in the mirror as he passed it. He did look a lot like Severus, now that the charms had fully worn off. His hair was darker and much straighter, and Harry liked that. It was much easier to handle. Harry’s eyes were the exact shade as his brothers, his mouth was a little wider, and his nose was slightly bigger. His lightening scar was still there, though.

Although he was still surprised every time he looked at his reflection, he actually liked how he looked now. It was partially because he looked like someone in his family, and partially just because it felt right. Looking at himself, he knew that was how he was supposed to look.

“If you are done admiring yourself in the mirror, we must go, Silas,” Severus said, and Harry nodded. They were going through the floo again, which he hated. Pretty soon, Severus was going to make him go through it alone, which scared him slightly. Even with his brother, he always felt he would get lost in some other grate.

They flooed into what looked like a pub, but they left immediately. Diagon Alley looked way more fun than Hogsmede. The street was full of people walking along and chatting, going in and out of stores, and there were even some street shows going on at the time. Harry didn’t even realize he stopped to watch them until Severus stood in front of him to block his view.

“Street shows are usually on a few times a year. There will be other times to see them,” Severus said, and Harry had a feeling that his brother didn’t approve of them. “Now, keep with me. Once we get there, you will not leave my side.” Harry nodded again and made sure to walk next to Severus, who wasn’t walking as fast as he usually did.

Soon, they turned off into a small alley, and they were no longer in the bright area of Diagon Alley. Instead, the street was dusty, and about half of the people were wearing hooded cloaks. There were also a few beggars in the street, and Severus whispered in his ear to not look at them. He said he would explain later. Looking forward, trying to avoid making eye contact with anyone (he learned a long time ago that it was never a good idea to look someone in the eyes), Harry did his best to take in his surroundings.

He could see why Severus thought that he shouldn’t be here, but Harry decided he didn’t mind it much. Besides, Severus said that the apothecary was one of the best and it was in Knockturn Alley, then there must be other good stores around there, right? Harry figured that he would be visiting Knockturn Alley when he grew up, so he might as well learn about it now.

After walking for about five minutes, they stopped in front of a small shop. The building looked only to be the size of the Dursley’s living room, and Harry thought that it couldn’t be the shop they were going to. When Severus told him it was one of the best shops, he figured it to be big.

When they went in, Harry was in for a surprise. The place wasn’t enormous, but it was definitely too big to fit into the building they just walked into. Looking around with big eyes, Harry noticed a women behind the low counter. She was standing in front of three large cauldrons, staring intently at the center one. Suddenly, a small explosion occurred, and she added some powdered ingredient to it, then shortly after the to outside two after they exploded. Seemingly satisfied, she looked up, seeing Severus (and Harry), and smiled.

“Why, Severus. I wasn’t expecting your for another week, when the Boneroot is ready. What brings you here today?”

“A restock on my supplies,” answered Severus shortly, and he handed her a piece of parchment. “I will, of course, be here for the Boneroot.”

“Of course, of course,” she answered offhandedly. “And who is this? He seems rather . . . eager.”

“This is my brother, Silas.”

“A brother? So, I suppose we will be seeing quite a bit of him here. Hello, child,” the lady said, and Harry narrowed his eyes very slightly. He wasn’t entirely sure if he trusted her, but Severus didn’t seem to see anything wrong, so he nodded.

“Hello,” he answered, trying not to sound shy. That was another lesson he learned: don’t talk to strangers, but if you have to, stand your ground and don’t act shy or nervous.

“Smart boy,” the lady said, giving a sharp nod. “He’ll do well.” Severus didn’t say anything, just glared at the lady. She smiled at him, then went behind a curtain. Harry assumed it was to get the ingredients that Severus needed.

Half an hour later, Severus and Harry were leaving the shop. Severus was able to shrink the ingredients by putting them in a box that was meant to shrink ingredients without ruining them, so they had no visible packages. Their next stop was planned to be Madam Malkin’s for dress robes, so they headed out in the direction of Diagon Alley.

Harry paused in his following of Severus. He knew he should not have in Knockturn Alley, but something called him. Something off to his right. Taking a quick glance at Severus, who noticed that he had stopped, Harry walked toward the pull, right into a shop. Once inside, Harry had a feeling that he had just been tricked. Severus had followed him without stopping, though, so it couldn’t be anything bad.

With a nod from his brother, Harry started looking around. There were pieces of stones and wood with odd symbols on them. For some reason, he wanted them. He had no idea what they were, but he still wanted them.

Deciding to ask Severus about them, he turned to look for him, and found him talking to a lady, dressed in muggle skirts, a loose shirt, and a cloak. To Harry, she looked a lot like a gypsy on the television would. Severus then looked up at Harry and beckoned him to come.

“Silas, I would like you to meet Ramla. She was a friend of our mother’s. She taught our mother the magic of Runes.”

“Runes?” Harry asked, figuring that was what the weird symbols were.

“You mean, you never told him?”

“I met him a very short time ago. I must admit, I forgot,” Severus answered flatly. Ramla gave Severus a stern look, then turned to Harry.

“In some families, Rune magic comes natural to a person,” she said. “Severus, unfortunately, isn’t one of those people, but I know there was a few people from the Prince family where it was. With the way Severus said you were drawn here, it wouldn’t surprise me if you are one of them.”

“But what is Rune magic?”

“Oh, dear, you have a lot to learn, don’t you? Here, let me get you a few things,” she said, walking to a chest and digging around in it. “Here we go,” she said, standing up, holding a few books and a bag of something. “These were your mother’s. She left me to hold them for someone in her family who holds the gift if she died. She only did ever study them while she was here. I suppose that would make these yours.” She handed the books and bag over to Harry, who held them with care. This would be a present from his mother, then! He never knew her, of course, but they still meant something to him. They were the only things of hers he really owned. “I guess she was expecting you to come here some day.”

Harry opened the bag and took out a few of the runes. They felt smooth, and Harry looked at them closely.

“Those are made of Hungarian Horntail bone. I made the specifically for your mother. She was very attached to them, so I do not know if they would work very well with you. Perhaps . . . you would like to buy a set or two?”

“Of course you would try to sell something,” Severus said flatly. “But you may see if there are any sets that you like,” he told Harry. Harry smiled and started looking around at the rune sets around the small room.

It took awhile, but Harry found a wooden set made of Holly that he really liked. They were polished smooth, but they were not stained. Harry loved the feel when he was holding them.

“Ah, a holy wood set. Holy repels evil, you know. I have a feeling that might be telling us something. It could be just a coincidence, of course, but true coincidences are rare occurrences,” Ramla said, startling Harry by standing over his shoulder. “You want these?” Harry nodded, and she took the set, which was laid out on a board. “Choose a bag,” she said, pointing to a basket of different kinds of bags. Harry went through the basket and pulled out a dark green crushed velvet bag and handed it to her. She put the runes in the bag, then handed them back.

“No cost, child. I have a feeling you’ll learn much from these,” she said.

“What?” Harry asked, startled. She was just giving the runes to him? Free? Severus looked just as startled as he was, and Severus never looked startled.

“Since when do you give gifts, Ramla?” his older brother asked, and Ramla shrugged.

“He is the son of my best student. If you were interested in runes, I would have given you a free set, also. Of course, all sets after that, you must pay for,” she said, giving Harry a look. Harry looked at her wide-eyed and nodded.

“Thank you!” he said, before Severus cut in.

“We must be going, Ramla. We must get him dress robes before we head home.”

“Of course, of course,” she said, going into the back of her shop. Severus shook his head as he led Harry out and back onto Diagon Alley.

--------------------------------------

“Do I have to go?” Harry asked, in his green dress robes, which matched his eyes. He was nervous. He had a feeling that something was going to go wrong, and he didn’t want to upset Severus or his God parents.

“There will be plenty of children your age there. You need to make more friends. At least, that’s what Narcissa says.” Harry narrowed his eyes at being called a child. Severus was always saying stuff like that when he was around. He supposed it was true, he was a lot younger than his brother. In fact, he realized he had no idea how old his brother was. Old enough to be a teacher, that was for sure.

Harry didn’t say anything more. He was really nervous about meeting more people. Hopefully, because Draco liked him, others would, too, but he couldn’t help but think that they would think him a freak. They wouldn’t be the first.

He thought he looked weird. Although he knew that robes were the clothing wizards wore, he always felt like he was wearing a dress, even though he always wore normal clothes underneath. He couldn’t help but feel like a freak, like the Dursley’s always called him.

Obviously oblivious to Harry’s discomfort, Severus wrapped him up in a long cloak before dragging him through the floo.

Once they made it to the Malfoy’s, their cloaks were taken by a human servant (the Malfoy’s had three, but Harry had never met any before), and Harry followed closely behind his scowling brother. Outside the room, there were a lot of people in the halls, talking and drinking something out of small, delicate looking glasses. Severus looked like he was looking for something; he assumed that it was for Aunt Cissy and Uncle Lucius.

They found them in a room, sitting and talking to three other people; two men and a woman. Their conversations ended almost immediately as Narcissa saw Severus and Harry.

“Severus, Silas! How good of you to come! Janus, this is my godson, Silas Prince, brother of Severus Snape. You remember Severus, don’t you?”

“Yes, of course,” the unknown lady in the room said. “Nice to see you, Severus,” he said to his brother. “You were a few years under me in Hogwarts, were you not?”

“Yes,” Severus said, clearly not caring.

“You look like your brother, Silas,” one of the men said.

“Why don’t you two sit down?” Lucius asked, indicating two of the empty seats in the room. Severus sat, and Harry followed shortly.

“Bit of an age difference, huh, Severus?” the other man asked.

“Yes, Alex, it is,” Severus answered. “Silas, this is Alexander Nott, Abras Avery, and Janus Kieli.”

“Hello,” Harry said, trying not to blush, and the adults in the room nodded their acknowledgment, then went on to talk about other things.

“Still working at Hogwarts, Severus?” Avery asked.

“Yes,” Severus said flatly. He only used that tone when he was talking to someone he didn’t want to be talking with, so Harry had a feeling that he didn’t like the man. Harry looked at Lucius, and the amused looked on his face confirmed it. Narcissa must have noticed how bored Harry was, though, because she spoke up.

“Silas, why don’t you go find Draco and the others? I’m sure Draco is wondering where you are.” Harry nodded, and stood up to leave. He looked at Severus and waited for a nod before he left, though. He was so afraid of doing something wrong in front of these people.

Harry, somewhat used to the house, knew where the playroom was, so he went there first, and was disappointed when there were a few younger kids there, but Draco wasn’t. Sighing, Harry decided to look outside. It wasn’t that bad of a day, so they might be playing quidditch or something.

Harry got a little lost getting outside, though. He thought he knew the way; after all, he went back and forth with Draco several times, but the people walking from room to room confused him. He thought he was going around unnoticed until someone put a hand on his shoulder. Startled, he jumped and turned to face the person.

“Are you lost?” he asked.

“I am just looking for Draco,” Harry said, then planned to continue his way to the outside, when he was stopped again.

“I believe the kids are flying outside. I haven’t seen you before. I am Jordus Goyle. And you are?”

“Silas Prince,” Harry answered, almost answering Harry Potter, causing himself to blush. He hadn’t nearly introduced himself as Harry Potter for awhile now, and, even though he hadn’t been Silas Prince for long, it felt weird to think himself as Harry Potter.

“Prince? Was that not the name of Severus’ mother? Are you related to him? You looked like him, enough,” Goyle rambled on, and Harry decided he didn’t like him very much. He wondered how Severus new him, but guessed that Severus didn’t like him very much either. He reminded Harry a little of the Avery man, and he knew Severus didn’t like him.

“Yes, I’m his brother,” Harry answered. “I think Draco is waiting for me,” Harry said quickly, then walked with a fast past through a small crowd of people.

He was lucky he found the stairs just then, which meant he was no longer lost. Quickly, he went out one of the back doors, and ran to the quidditch pitch. Draco must have been watching for him, because he landed his broom right next to him immediately.

“Silas! Grab a broom and come on! We need another player on my team! We’ll do introductions later,” he said, jumping back on his broom and taking off. Harry went to the shed to get a broom, the one he usually used was still in there, probably thanks to Draco. Ready to fly, Harry jumped on the broom and joined the thirteen other kids. They all looked his age, so Harry wondered if they were all going to be in the same year.

Harry looked at everyone on brooms and was instantly confused. Draco explained quidditch to him, and they practiced making goals, but he had never actually been in a game before.

“You’re going to be seeker, Silas! Just watch for the snitch!” Draco yelled from above him, and Harry nodded. He found out last time he was at Draco’s that he was really good at catching the snitch. Every game of Seeker’s quidditch they played, Harry won. They only played a few times, though, because Draco didn’t like losing every game. Although Harry liked Draco a lot, he had to admit that his friend was quite spoiled. He didn’t act as bad as Dudley, but it was still kind of annoying.

Watching for the snitch lazily, Harry watched the players carefully. Seeing how everyone played, he decided he wouldn’t to do well as a beater. He was able to hit the ball well enough, but not very strong, so it often went in an unintended direction. He figured he would be a decent chaser, because he had good aim, and he could catch a ball easily, and he kind of felt envious of the few on the pitch who were flying around quickly, throwing and catching the ball.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the snitch, and he flew after it, now noticing that the opposite seeker had seen it first. Desperate to get to it first, Harry leaned into his broom, making it go as fast as he could. Instead of going for the snitch, though, he aimed for the other seeker. Since Harry knew he wouldn’t be able to reach the snitch before the other seeker, if he made him think that he was going to run into him, the other seeker would stop going after the snitch to get out of the way. Harry just hoped that the guy did move, because he was going toward him . . . very fast. If he didn’t move, Harry didn’t know if he would be able to stop.

Thankfully, the boy looked up quickly, probably to look for Harry, and moved out of the way immediately. Harry, now that the boy was out of the way, tried to slow down to reach the snitch but overshot it, and when he was able to turn around, the snitch was once again missing. Sighing, Harry took a place above the pitch and once again started looking for the snitch, but this time, set his full attention on it. He took a quick glance at the opposite seeker, and saw him glaring. Uncomfortable, Harry turned back to the snitch.

Severus, tired of being around most of the people at the party, decided to go outside for some fresh air. Everyone but Lucius was just irritating him beyond his comfort level, even Narcissa. When Severus was alone with her, she kept asking about little details about her godson, mostly about what he liked, and Severus knew very little of it. He also highly doubted that Silas would know some of the subjects she asked about since he had barely been in the wizarding world.

Outside, after avoiding everyone he absolutely did not want to talk to, Severus saw the kids playing a game of quidditch, and went to see if Silas was with them. He didn’t know why he wanted to see the boy. Besides from being slightly clingy and talked obsessively about the Dursleys, he was pretty much a student to Severus.

That’s not true, he thought to himself. And it wasn’t. Severus would probably never admit it aloud, but he enjoyed the company of his little brother. It was strange to have someone that young not afraid of him, even stranger to have someone that young look up to him.

If he only knew my history, thought Severus. He was hoping that it would never have to be brought up, but he had a feeling it would someday. He just hoped that Silas wouldn’t stop trusting him because of a mistake he made when he was younger.

Closer to the pitch, he saw a flash of gold, then someone dashing toward it. A few seconds later, a boy he recognized as Silas, went after it. Severus watched, and he knew there was no way that Silas would make it in time, especially since the opposite seeker looked to be a Ravenclaw two years older than him; much more experienced at flying.

Silas did the unexpected, then. He changed his direction up by a few degrees, aiming straight for the Ravenclaw, flying faster than he should have. Severus, nervous by what the boy was planning, pulled out his wand and poised for casting a charm to stop an accident. He was just about to cast a cushioning charm between the two when the older boy pulled away. Silas obviously was trying to reach the snitch, but he didn’t stop before the snitch flew off. Releasing the breath the didn’t realize he was holding, Severus conjured a chair to sit on and watch the game, reminding himself to talk to Silas about not doing stunts like that without supervision. Or ever, actually.

The game went smooth after that. Silas did a few tricks to confuse the Ravenclaw, some which worked. Severus had to admit that the boy did have some Slytherin in him, and at that moment, hoped for him to be in Slytherin, if for no other reason than to be on the quidditch team. He was inexperienced, but he had a good eye, and with enough training, he could be one of the best players on the team. Although Slytherin had won the cup for years in a row now, it was always a good thing to ensure it for future years. Silas wouldn’t be able to try out for the team this year, but he would his second year.

Finally, after two hours, Silas finally caught the snitch. The snitch had flown by his head, and it would have been an easy catch. Or, at least, it seemed so. Severus hadn’t played any quidditch since the summer after his fourth year, although he knew the game quite well. When Hooch would get ill, she would often choose Severus to referee the games.

There was a dinner part to this party of the Malfoy’s but Severus had already told them that they weren’t going to stay. His reason, that he told them, anyway, was that it wouldn’t do good in Silas embarrassed himself at his first party. They agreed, with the promise that they would teach their godson the proper party etiquette later. Severus, actually, just didn’t want to stay. He rarely went to these things, and if he had a choice in it, he never would. He just didn’t like the crowds and the other people that were invited.

Checking the time, and seeing that it was nearing dinner time, Severus got rid of the chair and walked up to the group of kids who were introducing themselves to Silas. Once they finished, he walked up behind his brother, his usual glare on his face. Silas didn’t notice until the other children were looking at him, then Silas turned around.

“Hi, Severus,” Silas said.

“We must be going. Say goodbye to your friends.” Silas nodded and said goodbye without complaint, but Severus could tell that he didn’t want to leave. From what Severus knew of the boy’s childhood, that didn’t surprise him. He was probably having a good time around people since they weren’t teasing him. Still, Severus wanted to leave, so he waited until Silas was finished, then led the boy to the floo.

Harry followed his brother gloomily to the fireplace. He didn’t want to go, but he also didn’t want to upset Severus by saying so. He did have fun playing quidditch, and a few of the kids his age promised to owl him. They all seemed to like him, especially those who were on his team. He was surprised that he was able to catch the snitch, especially since the opposing seeker was on the quidditch team. He was a chaser, but he was still a good seeker. The boy left after the game to join other friends, though, so Harry didn’t catch his name.

All in all, the day went pretty well. Harry couldn’t wait until his birthday, especially since he knew some of the kids who were going to be there, now. For once in his life, he was absolutely happy.

To be continued...


This story archived at http://www.potionsandsnitches.org/fanfiction/viewstory.php?sid=1176