Snape saw the kids at the table. They had finished with their pancakes, but were guessing about the forms left on their plates by the syrup.
It was good that they were getting along now.
“Gentlemen, stop playing with the syrup, drink up your milk now. Mr. Malfoy, you may go to your dormitory and change for the day.”
“Yes, Sir, see you later Potter…”
Harry waved good-bye to Malfoy and saw as the blond boy was leaving the room. Then he saw Snape coming back. Was he going to be lectured because he left the room?
Snape sat back on his chair and poured some more coffee in his cup.
“Have you finished, Mr. Potter?”
Harry denied with his head then drank the last sip of milk in his glass.
“Yes, Sir.” Harry used a napkin to clean the milk that was on his upper lip.
“I have a meeting with the Headmaster in half an hour, and then a staff meeting which will end after lunch…”
Harry liked the detentions better if Snape was in the same room, but he did not want to appear so needy… Had Snape said yesterday that he liked Harry? “If you want I can start with the cauldrons, Sir…”
Snape practically saw the thoughts inside the young boy’s head, but he did not want to make him stay alone in the dungeons… “No, Mr. Potter, I do not want you to wash cauldrons today, but we do need to talk…” Harry flinched. No more lectures please, said his eyes as he stood looking at Snape attentively. “Go to your dorm, get yourself changed… You are wearing yesterday’s clothes. I will meet you after lunch in the Great Hall, bring a jacket…
“A jacket, Sir?”
“Yes Mr. Potter. We will go out of the castle…”
“Yes, Sir. I will see you after lunch then.” Harry stood up from the table and went to get his book bag…
“Professor…”
“Yes, Mr. Potter?”
“Thank you for letting me sleep in your bed, Sir I…”
“You are welcome.”
“And I saw that… you have a picture of my mother in your room.”
Snape felt that his cup of coffee had just turned to ice…
“I was her friend, Mr. Potter… We came together to Hogwarts…”
“Did you?”
“Yes.” Snape was not ready to answer anything else… Harry smiled and said. “It was nice to see her as I stood up from the bed Sir. I wonder… do you have a picture of my father?”
“I will look for one for you Mr. Potter…”
“Thank you, Sir.” Harry did not think about it. He just stood by Snape and hugged him. Snape placed his hand on the dark head. As fast as it happened Harry let him go and picking up his things said, “I’ll see you later, Sir.” He then ran out of the room and did not hear Snape say, “See you later Harry…”
Harry found his friends in the Great Hall still having breakfast.
“Harry!”
“Are you all right mate?”
“You can still eat some eggs and…”
“Thank you, Hermione, I already had breakfast in Snape’s quarters…”
“Wasn’t he angry because you hit Malfoy?”
“A little…” Harry sat beside Ron.
“What happened with your homework?”
“I messed up and delivered the wrong papers, I still have detention with him…”
“More detention? But you were there all the evening…!”
“I know…” Harry was about to tell them that what happened had not been detention, but he could not explain what it had been. He felt ashamed that he had broken down like that and cried so much… but Snape had been really good and had allowed him to sleep in his bed… “I have to meet him in the Great Hall after lunch.”
“The old bat! It’s Saturday!”
“Ron, I think that you shouldn’t call a professor names…”
“But don’t you see what he has done?! He had Harry all day yesterday in detention and will have him today also!”
“Ron, it is better if you keep quiet mate…”
“You did give Malfoy a good punch…”
“I shouldn’t have… I have apologized… already.”
“And what did he say? I bet that the snob is too good for your apologies…”
“No, he accepted them… I told you that we had a good time playing on the snow during the holidays… He… I can’t say that he is a friend, but he is friendly… what do you think?”
“I do not think that he would like to hang around with us…”
“I don’t think he would, but he said that he would be nicer to you…”
“We’ll see about that… I wanted to go flying with you…”
“We can do that now… I have to see Snape after lunch, we can fly now.”
The three children went out to the Quidditch field and Harry let Ron fly the broom. He and Hermione were seating at the bleachers when Malfoy arrived. Vincent Goyle was with him.
“Enjoying the view, Potter?”
“Waiting for Ron to come down with my broom.”
Draco sat two seats behind. He was also looking at the antics of Ron on Harry’s broom.
“Do you want to try, Malfoy?”
“Would you lend me your broom?”
“I would if you want.”
The children had a good time flying on the broom. Harry, Draco and Ron took turns using it. It was a little weird when Harry was flying. But Draco and Ron just ignored each other and talked with Hermione and Vincent. By lunchtime they returned together to the castle. They sat at their separate tables.
“Snape said that I should wear a jacket, where do you think he will take me?”
“My brothers told me that Snape once made them go to the Forbidden forest to collect ingredients…”
Harry thought that as was wearing his new jeans and a clear jacket, he did not want to get them dirty… Maybe he would have time to change before meeting the Potions Professor…
“I have to go, I hope to see you soon…”
He was about to run upstairs to the Tower when a voice stopped him.
“Are you ready, Mr. Potter?”
“Yes, Sir… I was just… I was going to change.”
“You are dressed appropriately, come along.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Snape walked him out of the castle. The man was quiet and Harry thought that it was better to just keep walking beside him. For two of Snape’s steps Harry had to walk three. He felt as if he was running.
He thought that they would walk toward the forest but Snape took a road toward the School Gates. He opened them with a silent word and a movement of his wand. Harry stayed a little behind…
“Come along, child…”
“I thought that we were going to the forest, Sir.”
“Why would we go there, child?” Harry shrugged… “I don’t know I just thought that you wanted to look for ingredients…”
“We are going to Hogsmeade.”
“That is great, Sir.” Harry ran ahead of the dark dressed man. He saw that there was a hedge made of stone that went along the road toward the village.
“Sir…”
“Yes, Mr. Potter?”
“May I walk over there…?” Harry pointed the ancient hedge…
“Why would you want to do that, Potter?”
“I thought it would be fun.”
“Be careful…” Snape helped him climb. Harry walked happily, in some places he seemed to walk a tight rope. Snape marveled at the ingenuity of childhood. The wall ended some 20 feet before the town started where it was almost 3 feet high. Snape gave his hand to the child so he could hop down.
“What are we going to do, Sir?”
“I need to prepare a room, Mr. Potter. Although we have most of the furniture, we need to acquire linens and things for it.”
They entered a shop that was full with frills and laces. It was definite, the two males clashed with the things inside.
Severus took a deep potpourri scented breath and started looking for what he needed.
“Where is the room, Sir?”
“In Hogwarts, in the Dungeons…”
“The Dungeons are cold. Be sure to get enough blankets…”
“Have you been cold the nights that you have slept there, child?”
“No, Sir. But I keep my arms covered… It’s cold to take arms and hands out…”
Snape asked to be shown a selection of blankets, sheets and eiderdowns.
“What color do you like, Mr. Potter?”
“I would say that the blue with the green… Are they for a boy or an adult?”
“A boy. I thought that you would choose the red one… It looks like the colors of your house.”
“I like the red but sometime it is too much, Sir. What color is the Slytherin Common room?”
“Different tones of green, mahogany and some silver.”
“Is it warm? The Gryffindor Common room is very cozy with a lot of drapes and the fireplace…”
“It has a fireplace also, but there is central heating.”
“In what house is the boy, Sir?”
“Pardon me?”
“I mean… I’m sorry. I guess the boy will have to be sorted… won’t he?”
“How did you like the Sorting, child?”
“All right I guess… Everyone was scared before… we did not know what the Sorting was about. Ron’s bothers told him that he would have to fight a Troll…”
“He shouldn’t have worried about that after all you fought a Troll and won…”
“It was very scary to do it, Sir… we didn’t know any magic then… Some were saying that we would have to take a rabbit out from the hat…”
“The hat would find that funny.”
“He does have a sense of humor…”
“How do you know that? I remember that it took it a while to place you.”
“He was not sure where to place me…”
“Which were the options?”
“I am not sure if he was really considering it but… the hat said that I would do well in Slytherin… but I did not want to be there… so the hat settled for Gryffindor.”
“What is wrong with Slytherin, Mr. Potter?”
“Nothing really, Sir. Sorry… It’s just that… well they told me that the wizard that killed my parents had been there and… I just did not want to be in the same House… I guess it was a stupid reason…”
Not as stupid as to dislike you because you looked like the spoiled James Potter, thought Snape.
“What do you think of Slytherin now, child?”
“I think it is only a House Sir. I mean… just like the others and there are good people and bad people in it; it is good to belong to a House… I…”
“Yes, Mr. Potter?”
“You were named my guardian because I was not in your House… so I guess it was good that I was placed in Gryffindor... I really like you to be my guardian, Sir.”
“I am glad of that, child.”
“I was scared at first… because… because you look so grave… and you thought that I was disobedient and... I am… But we have… Will you be the Guardian of the boy also… I mean the one that is going to sleep in the dungeons…?
“He will not sleep in the dungeons always, Mr. Potter, he will sleep in his dormitory and only stay there sometimes… maybe on weekends and Holidays… and I will be more than his guardian… I will adopt him.”
“So you are going to be so something like his father, won’t you?”
“Yes. He is the son of a friend. His parents died and he needs a home.”
“That is good… I mean friends should do that… I would… I mean, when I grow up and if Hermione or Ron have children and if something were to happen to them… It would be nice to take care of their children…”
And I will treat them as part of my family, not like something disgusting that the cat brought in, thought Harry. He felt more than a little jealous of ‘the boy’ they were talking about but…
“Where is he now, sir?”
“Who, Mr. Potter?”
“The boy.”
“He… he is at school, child.”
“When is he going to come to Hogwarts? Until next year…” If ‘the boy’ was coming next year Snape would not be preparing the room now.
“Do you think he would like to have a desk in his room?”
“Maybe, to do homework and things like that… but… I would like to do my homework at your kitchen table… Sir… to do homework alone inside your room is very much like being punished…”
“I see. Well in that case I will get him a bookcase for his books and things only…”
Harry looked at the things they got. “You are getting sheets of different sizes, Sir.”
“Yes, Mr. Potter, as he is going to live with me, he will have different rooms. I do not always live in Hogwarts…”
“I did not think about that… where do you go?”
“I have a house near London and I go sometimes to my Grandparents’ estate…”
Harry only sighed. It would be nice to have one room especially for him, but to have three rooms…!
“I think we have enough, don’t you think, Mr. Potter?” Harry was startled out of his daydreaming. “Yes, Sir.”
Harry was marveled by the packing of the things. Snape paid for them and the clerk shrunk them. Snape just placed them inside his pocket.
“Where do we go now, Sir?”
“To the bookshop, he will need something else to amuse himself than schoolbooks don’t you think?”
“Yes, Sir.”
They went to the bookshop, and Severus felt more at home there. He knew his way around.
“What kind of books do you like, Potter?”
“I… like adventure books and classics…”
“The bookshelves are over there…”
“How many books you would like, Sir?”
“Choose all that you would fancy and once you are done we will choose which to buy.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Severus saw the boy walk toward the bookcases. The next stop would be the toyshop and then he would run out of things to buy…
He would wait until teatime to tell his plans to the boy… Or maybe until they were back at Hogwarts. He had felt so confident this morning, when he talked to Albus and then at the meeting.
“How can the wards sustain themselves if Harry is not welcome in that house?” Pomona was saying it politely thought Snape.
The staff meeting as always ended discussing Harry’s situation. Minerva answered the question.
“Magic is sometimes literal Pomona, as with an ‘Unbreakable Oath’. His mother’s blood protected him, his aunt’s blood protects him. It is irrelevant if she loves him or not. So he needs to go back there if we want him to keep the protection…”
Snape choose that moment to stand up and said. “That is NOT going to happen.” McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout and Pomfrey kept quiet and placed their eyes on him. “I know… I admit that I had the wrong assumptions about Harry, but during the last three months I have come to see him closely and to know him a little and I can tell you this. The child needs more than a safe place to live. He needs to have a responsible adult taking care of him and allowing him to be a child, he does not need to be the boy-who-lived or the savior of the wizarding world. He needs to be a child and to feel loved and to be allowed to make mistakes… He was thrown into our world alone and with a full vault. How can we expect him to have common sense? Harry doesn’t know that he is entitled to have warm clothes or to have a room to call his own. The child needs self-assurance; he is reckless because he does not consider himself important. Anything you give him is taken with awe and he is always scared that he does not deserve it…and will loose it at the first mistake. He needs to understand his value… he needs a family. Someone to love him no matter what. He needs to be loved as he is…”
The rest of his colleagues kept quiet. They were so infuriating!
He continued, “As you connived my participation in the life of the child you shouldn’t be surprised… I do know where to look. I considered myself a good friend of his mother and I did make an oath to her memory when the child became an orphan… I have to inform you that I plan to adopt Harry Potter… I have already asked the Headmaster to help me with the paperwork at the Ministry of Magic but as Harry needs all the protection he can get I will need your help with the wards and in the mean time, I intend to adopt him using the ancient ways and rituals…”
“Are you sure that is what you want, Severus?”
“I am sure Filius… I could not call myself a friend of his mother and allow him to return to those Muggles or to keep being a lonely child that does not value himself…”
“In that case we have to congratulate you.” The tiny man shook hands with Severus. “I will get all the manuscripts describing the ancient ways, Severus.”
“No bloodletting please, Filius…” said Minerva. She also shook hands with Snape.
“What does Mr. Potter think about this?”
“I have not told him yet, but… I will do it this afternoon. I will take him on an outing to Hogsmeade if you please…”
“It does not pleases me to be informed that one of my lions is not going to sleep in his bed after he is already sleeping somewhere else.”
“I am sorry for yesterday’s inconvenience Minerva…”
“We’ll discuss later how we will make it work. We have not had a parent on the staff since the turn of the century…”
“Where are you taking him, Severus?”
“These are better Professor, they have pictures and are a little more expensive but they are nicer…” Harry’s voice shook Severus out of his musings.
“Then we will take those, child.”
“He is lucky, Sir.”
“Who child…?”
“The boy that you are going to adopt…”
“Why do you think so? Because all the things we bought for him?”
“Not only because of that, because he is going to be with you…”
“He is not so lucky if you consider that he will have to live with me and follow my rules in addition to the school rules…”
“Are you going to spank him if he disobeys?”
“What do you think, should I spank him if he breaks the rules?”
“I don’t know. It hurts… but after that… you always hug me… you did not do it right away yesterday, but you did hug me later and forgave me.”
“You like the hugs?”
“Yes, Sir. Aunt Petunia used to hug Dudley a lot of times every day… She never spanked him though.”
“And did your cousin like hugs?”
“Sometimes he said that he was too old… but he always let her hug him…”
“Am I wrong to say that she did not hug you?”
“No, Sir. She didn’t… but I was not her son after all. It is more than enough that they allow me to live there. I know I should be thankful.”
“If you were to take care of your friend’s children, would you hug them?”
“Of course…”
“I think Harry that your relatives should have treated you better. After all you were the child of your aunt’s sister. It is not the fault of a child to be without his parents, and the adults should treat him or her well.”
“I guess that my relatives have other ideas, Sir. Are you going to… I mean are you going to love him, Sir?”
“Yes, child, I love him already but I am going to make him feel loved.”
“How is that, Sir?”
“I am not sure, child. I guess I will hug him often. Do you want anything else?”
“No, Sir.”
“Would you like an ice-cream?” Harry smiled. “Yes Sir.”
“Thank you for your help, Mr. Potter.”
“Do you want help getting the room ready?”
“No thank you, Harry. I still need to remove things from there and I want to do it…”
“Then… I think that I should go…” Harry hoped that Snape had forgotten the cauldrons he was supposed to scrub.
“Not yet, Mr. Potter. I need your assistance with another thing. The bookcase beside the door, I need your help to move the books and to leave a shelf empty.”
“This one, Sir?”
“Yes, I will place the books in the bookcase in my room while you remove them.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Here are the last books, Sir.”
“Thank you, Harry…”
“You did it again, Sir.”
“What, child?”
“You called me Harry…”
“Don’t you like it?”
“Yes, I do. Can you do it more often…” Almost immediately the boy’s face fell. “I’m sorry… I did not mean to say that…”
“Harry, you may tell me what you want…”
“Thank you, Sir. I like when you call me Harry and I liked the outing… I guess you will be too busy to do it again soon and after all we bought all that was needed…”
“I won’t be busier than usual, so we can do it once a month…”
“But you are going to have to take care of your house and of your classes and of your adopted son and of me…”
“I do not think that is hard to take care of you, Harry.”
“But you will have to take care of your son...” You won’t have time for me anymore… thought Harry.
“Have you not realized it yet, Harry?”
“What, Sir?”
“We had not been shopping for another boy…”
“No, Sir? Then… for whom?” Please say it is for me, thought Harry, he felt tears filling his eyes…
“Can you guess…?”
“Is the room that you are preparing… for me? are you…? Am I?”
“I signed some papers this morning Harry, once they come back, you will stop being my ward and become my son.”
Harry couldn’t believe it, it had been his wish all afternoon… Snape saw that the boy was digesting his words.
“Do you want a hug, Harry?” Harry did not answer he only stood close to Snape until he felt his arms slide around his slight frame.
The End.