Little Harry curled up into a foetal position on his new bed, hugging the maroon bed sheets tightly to his chest, as another roar of thunder clashed in the distance. He hurriedly covered his ears with his small hands, eyes wide opened and teeth clamped shut.

  Harry had woken up in the night to a heavy storm, the tree branches whipping the glass window at the opposite end of his new room, unable to fall back asleep an hour on. A small shiver ran down the back of his spine as a bright flash of lightning lit up his room, casting shadows on the newly painted light green walls.

  It was good of the Potions Master, really, to allow him a room as grand as this. He felt like a pampered prince, with such as large room to himself, and - Harry could still not believe this - all the food and clothes he wanted. Well, within limits anyway. He had declined - politely - upon reaching the potions master's house at first, to be even given a room. He had offered to sleep on the floor or somewhere less...extravagant. After all, all he had back at the Dursleys was a tiny bed that creaked whenever Harry tossed in the night and made his back ache, especially after one of Uncle Vernon's beatings or Aunt Petunia's insanely long chores.

  After much mumbled responses and misunderstood confrontations, the Potions Master seemed to finally understand where Harry was coming from. He had never been allowed a room at the Dursleys, unless you call a cupboard under the stairs one. The Potions Master had thought Harry was being deliberately disobedient and rebellious at first, which angered him very much. He was never one to tolerate the ill-disciplined, and hence, made him exceptionally impatient with rowdy, misbehaving children. 

  It took another day of patient explanation on the Potions Master's part that Harry understood what was happening.

  Severus Tobias Snape, who ran a private apothecary from the comfort of his own home, brewing potions for his clients all over the world, had taken Harry in - under the manipulation of a certain meddling headmaster - as his ward. Harry was still a little confused over the whole thing, but he was glad that he now had an entire room to himself, with books, clothes, a proper bed and even a few toys - all of his own! Not to mention a kind Potions Master, who was at the very least, willing to take him in, although he only showed it discreetly, which was just fine for Harry.

  It was another week of shopping to get everything he needed in place. They had gone to a Muggle shopping mall to purchase some Muggle clothes and then to Diagon Alley for furniture and decorations for Harry's room. Magic had made it an easy job to do, as Severus only had to wave his wand in a particular arc for the chosen design and colour to appear on the wall. It had taken Harry some time to get used to the way wizards depended on magic to get by day-to-day life, but like any other child, Harry was quickly fascinated by the fact magic did exist.

  There was a need to buy a complete set of wardrobe for the young boy, including shirts, pants and even underwear. This had caused quite a bit of stir between Harry and Severus, as the boy had declined everything Severus suggested they bought for him, even basic essentials like toiletries for his own bathroom. The Potions Master finally snapped when Harry tried to put back a few things from the shopping cart that Severus had absolutely insisted a nine-year-old needed.

  "Potter, do not test my patience any longer," Severus said, hissing in a low voice that made Harry jump out of his skin.

  "You will need these items if you are going to live in my house. I will not have you dressed up like some beggar while under my care, people would think I've been mistreating you, and for Merlin's sake, stop going on about the money. I am the adult here. I will decide how to manage my finances without a nine-year-old brat doing it for me."

  Severus was half-shouting at the end, earning him fierce glares from several mothers around him, who were shopping with their children, for the tone he took with Harry. The boy, on the other hand, received sympathetic and kind looks from the same women, much to Severus' disgust. However, Harry did stop trying to talk Severus out of buying things for him, although he always bit his lips and twisted his hands in nervousness whenever the cashier announced the total amount Severus had to pay.

  Harry had feared so much of being back at the Dursleys after waking up and realising this was all just a dream in the end, because it was all too good to be true. A few nightmares about his past further heightened this fear, but instead of banging his door and shouting at him to shut it, the potions master actually held Harry in his arms, albeit awkwardly, and told him it was alright over and over again, until he went back to sleep.

  Harry felt safe in the house, away from his abusive uncle, bullying cousin and tormenting aunt.

  The loud rumble of thunder brought Harry back to reality again, and this time, a tiny yelp escaped from the nine-year-old's mouth. He quickly shut his eyes but that soon proved to be a mistake.

  A terrifying memory greeted the darkness, as a green jet of light accompanied by the roar of thunder rushed towards Harry. A piercing scream for his name ensued and a flash of lightning allowed Harry to see a woman with bright red hair staring up at him, her eyes still opened wide and a tear finally escaping from the corner of her deep emerald eyes.

  Harry quickly forced his eyes open, but the picture was etched in his mind. The woman's face was frozen in death. Her eyes, usually filled with love, were now cold and empty. It was frightening, to say the least, how she could look so lifeless, unmoving.

_____________________________________________________________________

  "You could come to me for anything, Harry."

  Harry admitted he was really lucky. Life at the Dursleys was hard, but it barely lasted eight years and the worst that came off it was a badly burnt hand after Uncle Vernon once returned home drunk. The first thing he saw was, unfortunately, Harry cooking breakfast in the kitchen. Aunt Petunia had brought Harry to the hospital a few hours after the incident; having spent the time arguing with her husband on whether or not having a bloodied-hand boy in the house was worth it.

  In the end, Harry was forced to tell the doctors that he was playing with fire when no one was at home, hence the delay. The staff seemed to buy the story and gave Harry a mild scolding, not after secretly stuffing him with a few sweets when Aunt Petunia wasn't giving him the evil eye. He was five.

  He remembered most the day Uncle Vernon had kicked him out of the house, quite literally, into the cold, stormy night at 4 a.m. in the morning as Harry could not stifle his crying due to the nightmares. So, poor Harry spent three hours out in the heavy rain, drenched from head to toe, trying to keep warm by hugging his arms close to his chest and pulling his legs near him. It did not help that a branch from the backyard tree broke and slashed across his arm, leaving a long stinging cut throughout the night that prevented him from falling asleep - not that the cold would let him, anyway.

  The only good thing, or rather, the best thing that came out of the situation was that the Potions Master had been ordered by Albus Dumbledore to check on Harry the following morning, and so, happened upon a pale, shivering mess on the Dursleys' front doors. It did not take long to figure out what had happened after. Not with someone as skilled in Legilimency as Snape. The rest, we say, is history.

  Harry had spent the entirety of his short eight years of his life waiting for someone to take him away, for a second chance at a family. And on the morning after the storm, Little Harry got his wish.

_____________________________________________________________________

  After much hesitation, Harry decided to do exactly what the potions master asked of him - to go to him if he had any problems. A nightmare was not a problem, not really, but the potions master would not kick him out of the house for seeking him in the middle of the night, would he?

  Slowing creeping across the short corridor leading to the potions master's bedroom, Harry pushed the door that was ajar open slowly. Ever since Harry's first nightmare in the Manor, Severus never left the bedroom door closed, which spoke a lot for the Potions Master, who loved his privacy.

  Harry's feet were icy cold and so were his hands, but he thought that was probably because of nerves. He sure had a bundle of them now. Changing his mind last minute about waking the potions master up, Harry stood at the side of the bed, wondering what to do. He had already made it so far here; he certainly didn't want to walk back to his room again.

  A low rumble of thunder jolted him back to his senses. He had almost fallen asleep on his feet, and he didn't even realise how sleepy he was. Trying to remain as inconspicuous as possible, Harry sat down on the edge of the bed, letting the mattress sink little by little, before carefully reclining onto the side of bed and lying down on his left.

  He was amazed when the potions master didn't wake up and kick him off the bed. The Dursleys surely would have done that. Feeling more secured, Harry concentrated on the breathing of the potions master on the other side of the bed and let sleep overtake his consciousness. He would worry about the next morning later - he would just get up before the potions master did and sneak back into his own room.

_____________________________________________________________________

  On the other side, Severus' eyes flew open, waking from another one of Voldemort's nightmares. This time, the Dark Lord was holding Lily Evans hostage and demanded Severus to hand over Harry or he'll kill Lily in front of him. His mind doesn't seem to register the fact that Lily was already dead, that this could be a trap, but Severus' dreams always seem to make him feel vulnerable. He dreamt of little Harry running towards his mother, crying for his mummy while Severus tried in vain to pull him back.

  The dream ended when Voldemort laughed maniacally at Severus' futile efforts and cast the Killing Curse on Lily and Harry, who was still running. Severus last saw two pairs of emerald eyes looking up at him, dead.

  "No!"

  Severus' own scream in his dream jolted him awake. Running his hands over his face, Severus sat up from his bed and looked around his room to make sure that the dream was a false one. It had felt so real. Lightning and thunder rolled in the distance, and flashes of light illuminated Severus' room. A slight movement on the left side of his bed caught his attention.

  "Harry?" Severus whispered in disbelief, his nightmare coming back to him.

  Leaning his weight on his upper left arm, Severus reached towards Harry with his other hand. The nine-year-old rolled on his back to his right and...right into Severus' arms. Sighing in relief and exasperation, Severus placed his palm on Harry's chest gently, comforted by the rising and falling of his breathing. Harry, surprisingly, rolled to his right and further squeezed himself beside Severus.

  When Severus tried to pry him away gently, though, a thunder crashed again and little Harry tensed in his sleep, his small hands coming around to clench Severus' pyjamas in his fist.

  Naturally, Severus' hand came around and gently patted his fingers on the boy's back. As the tension left the boy's body, Severus covered both of them with his blanket, half hugging Harry close to his chest.

  His hand touched Harry's feet, then snorted softly to himself. It was cold as ice.

  "You never do care much about your health, do you, idiot child?"

  Instead of using a warming charm, Severus rubbed his ward's small feet using his own hand, allowing himself a small smile in the darkness. It had been only a month since he signed guardianship papers for Harry Potter, and the small boy had already wormed his way into the cold potions master's heart. Now, looking intently at Harry's cherubic sleeping face, he could picture himself in the role of a father and creating a family for Harry, a proper father-and-son relationship, instead of what the Dursleys provided Harry with. It made Severus' blood boil simply thinking about them. He had zero tolerance for child abusers of any kind.

  Finally lying down on his pillow, Severus fell asleep soon after, comforted by the small intakes of breath Harry was making.

  Somewhere beyond the dimensions of the human world, Lily smiled at both the sight she took in, of her son and her best friend.

  Harry awoke after a night free from nightmares, well, half a night, really. He had the strangest feeling of warmth surrounding him, the feeling of being protected from any harm, if not a little disoriented about his surroundings.

  Hadn't he fallen asleep on his left side, cold and a little scared what with the thunderstorm? So why was he lying on his right, with such a strong sense of security, and dare he think it...love? It was an unusual, fresh, new concept for him. Yes, he must have been loved long ago, when he was a baby and his parents still alive, but his memories of his parents before they died came from dreams, and Harry could not be sure if those dreams were true or if they were the product of his desperate hope for a family. He would like to think that they were real, though. This, however, was new for him because he could actually feel, literally, being protected and loved by someone he trusted.

  As the nine-year-old turned to lie on his back contentedly, he felt something hard underneath his neck. Propping up on his elbows, Harry was a little startled to find himself right beside his guardian. He had initially assumed that it was the comfort of knowing that the Potions Master was beside him that gave them the sense of security. Harry did not expect Severus to be so close to him, as if he had hugged Harry to sleep the other night.

  Smiling sub-consciously to himself, Harry leaned in, close to touching the Potions Master's sleeping face and examined his guardian's features closely. He was taught not to come in close contact with his relatives the hard way, and so, was a little apprehensive about holding the Potions Master's hand when they went shopping initially. Hence, Harry took great joy in his guardian's small display of affection, hugging him when he had a nightmare and sitting on his lap when Severus read him a bedtime story. Of course, the Potions Master would never admit that he was gentle and caring towards little Harry.

  Instead of waking him up and demanding that he return to his room in the middle of his sleep, Severus had taken him in his arms and made sure he was well-covered before going back to sleep.

  "So this is what it means to be held and loved," Harry thought.

  He finally had someone to care for him, someone, unlike his relatives, who acted like a proper guardian, maybe even a father. It's like that fairytale his primary school teacher had once read to the class: An orphaned girl by the name of Cinderella, who had a fairy godmother looking out for her, coming to her aid when she most needed it.

  Harry giggled at the mental image of a sullen-looking Snape wearing a sparkling blue outfit, holding a wand that had a golden star at its tip, sprinkling bits of magic everywhere. Covering his mouth with both his hands, Harry rolled onto his stomach and reached out his hand slowly. He had always wondered what his guardian's distinct features were like up close.

  Tracing a finger over the Potions Master's forehead, Harry tried to smooth out the wrinkles where a frown had made itself permanent between Severus' eyebrows. After realising that his efforts were futile, Harry opened his hand and gently run them down the Potions Master's face, his fingertips touching his guardian's eyes, then down the bridge of the man's large nose and then very slowly to its pointed tip.

  Fascinated, Harry smiled even wider and continued his little game, taking absolute delight in figuring his guardian out, well, face-wise that was, and all the while oblivious to the fact that Severus was very much awake.

_____________________________________________________________________

  Severus had never been a heavy sleeper, unless, like the previous night, he was trapped in his own nightmare, or if he took one of his sleeping-inducing potions after a Death Eater meeting, which, thankfully, had not occurred for nine years, thanks to the little twerp exploring his face right now.

  It was amusing, to say the least, to find Harry examining his rather...unattractive looks...when he first became aware of his surroundings. So the crafty Potions Master silently waited until his ward had left his focus from his eyes before deciding to strike.

  "BOO!"

  Severus suddenly shot up from his sleeping position and pounced on Harry.

  "AAAARGH..." Harry screamed and fell on his back, jumping away from Severus to the other end of the bed, nearly falling off from the scare.

  He quickly covered his face with his hands, embarrassed, as his heart continued to pound wildly against his chest.

  Seeing his plan succeed, Severus could not help but laugh at Harry's reaction freely and heartily. He reached over and tried to pry Harry's hands away from his face, but the little tyke had it firmly plastered there. As Harry's heart calmed down, he could see the funny side of the situation and managed a small smile. He was elated to have made the usually emotionless and unmoved Potions Master laugh.

  "Daddeeee..." Harry groaned.

  It took him a few seconds to realise that he had just said the D-word without thinking.

  A shocked expression fell over the Potions Master's face. Had Harry just called him 'Daddy'? While he had come to care for the child, Severus never thought of claiming James and Lily's son as his own.

  Then again, hadn't he thought of providing little Harry with a family, a proper one, where he will be cared for and grow up being able to fend for himself? Perhaps he would have cursed the person who told him that in the future, he was going to have guardianship rights to the Potters' son last month, a lot had changed since then. He could now picture himself in the role Harry had called him - a father. He could see himself teaching Harry how to use magic, give him a bit of a head start before going to Hogwarts and more.

  There would be challenges, of course, many disastrous, dangerous escapades that Harry would no doubt be involved in and there would be times Severus would need to discipline Harry to keep him in line. However, Severus was willing to walk Lily Evans' son through his journey to adulthood and even beyond it. He had started to see Harry as his own - even if he may not have realised it - ever since the night he had cuddled...comforted, he most certainly did not cuddle...Harry and rocked him to sleep after a nightmare, promising that no harm would come to him.

  He fully intended to hold on to that promise.

  Jolted back to reality when Severus noticed Harry sniffing and mumbling something incoherent under his breath, he realised that he had not said anything for the past minute and Harry probably thought he was angry at him.

  Resting a hand on Harry's shoulder, he could not help but feel a wave of intense hatred for the Dursleys when his ward...no, his son...flinched back, as if expecting a slap or something worse. Conditioned reflex - result of many years of abuse, as Severus is oh-so familiar with. He wondered if anyone in the wizardry world would notice if Harry Potter's relatives died.

  No, even death was too much a gift for them. Severus would make them suffer, torture them to the fine line between sanity and insanity, back and forth between normality and madness.

  Shaking out of his fantasies for a while - he could revisit them again in the near future - Severus lifted the boy's chin firmly, staring into those shiny emerald eyes brimming with tears, and said gently, "It's alright, son."

  Those words had an opposite effect of what Severus had expected. Instead of joyfully smiling away the tears threatening to fall, Harry rushed into Severus' arms, crying his eyes out. Although a little stunned, Severus' hands automatically came around the boys' head and back, rocking him a little just like how he always did after Harry's nightmares and smiled inwardly, even as a few drops of tears started to fall on Harry's head, but the Potions Master could not bring himself to care.

  Harry was his now, and no one was going to take him away, not even if they killed the ex-Death Eater.

  Not even then.

The pair held on to each other for some time, the comfortable silence only broken by the occasional sniffing from Harry.

"Da...um, sir?"

"Harry, you can call me Dad, or..." Severus coughed a little at this point. "Daddy, if want to."

"Really?" Harry pushed himself up from the Potions Master's embrace and gazed at him with wide, tear-stained eyes. Severus looked into the boy's eyes and nodded.

"But..." Little Harry looked away from the sincerity he saw in his guardian's eyes, a little unused to this kind of affection. Not that Severus would admit to being affectionate to Harry. He had a reputation to maintain, even though he rarely interacts with anyone, anymore.

Still, perhaps he could make an exception for Little Harry.

"But what, Harry?"

"But I'm not really your son, right?"

Severus felt a heart-wrenching feeling in his chest.

"I mean..." Harry bit his lower lip, his eyes still downcast, continuing in a mumbled whisper, "you must not have wanted me..."

"What?" Severus was confused for a moment, what has Harry being James Potter's son, well, biologically speaking, got to do with Severus wanting Harry or not? Actually, it did matter, but the topic of James Potter was never brought up in time Harry has been here. Severus thought he would explain things to Harry slowly, after he had got used to his surroundings. So, Harry could not have known about Severus' school nemesis."What do you mean, Harry?"

Harry sniffed again and wiped his nose with the back of his hand. Severus frowned and handed him a handkerchief from his bedside drawer.

"You didn't come," Harry explained, after sniffing into the handkerchief. "All those times with my uncle and aunt, you didn't come for me, although I called and called for you, every birthday, every Christmas, Easter, um...Halloween and all the other times. So I figured you must not have wanted me very much.

"Not that I'm ungrateful that you've come at last, better late than never... but, um... You must have family, somewhere and, um... someday, you might decide to, um... go away... I mean..."

"And what has this got to do with my being your 'real' father?" Severus asked, even more bewildered. Harry's jumbled thoughts did not help him understand the situation better either.

"I just thought, if I never had something, maybe when I lost it, I wouldn't feel so sad," Harry said, shrugging. "It's like that time Dudley broke the toy soldier I had in my c-cupboard. I really liked that soldier, but I was really sad that it got broken.

"If I called you Da-Daddy, and when you've g-gone back to your real family, then I would be really, really sad that I can't call you Daddy anymore."

By the end of Harry's ramble, Severus was being to understand where the fear had come from. It was not because Harry didn't want to call someone other than James Potter 'Dad' that he said that Severus wasn't his 'real' father. How can a small nine-year-old's emotional world be so confusing?

"Harry," Severus started, trying to pull his thoughts together, "I think you're mistaken about a few things. First off, I don't have any other living relations. You are my family."

Little Harry's head shot up, eyes wide and shinning. There was a mixture of hope, the kind when a distant dream of yours had just made itself known and promised that it would come true, along with a little sadness.

"But then, why did you come only now, if you weren't busy with your family?"

Severus felt another pang, this time of guilt. He only went to Number 4, Privet Drive at Albus Dumbledore's insistence. Although he had not been a spy for nine years now, he kept in close contact with the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, occasionally making a few trips down to his alma mater - although not is he could help it - to deliver potions at the headmaster's request, for some reason or another.

That was how Severus fell into Dumbledore's excuse of 'I need someone to make sure the Boy-who-lived is still living well but no one seemed to have time'. Not that the sly Potions Master bought the story. He had fallen into the trap of 'He is Lily Evans' son, your best friend and first love, surely you must be curious on how he is faring'.

But he couldn't possibly tell Little Harry that.

"Harry... Does it really matter?" Severus skirted around the issue.

Harry thought about it for a while and then shook his head slowly. "Nah...you’re right, it doesn't. All that matter now is that I've got my daddy with me here."

Severus gave Harry a rare smile. "Yes, I've got you right where you belong, you little twerp."

Harry gave a huge grin back, exposing a missing tooth in the front row of his teeth. "Daddy," Harry said, his face turning serious, a little frown beginning to form.

"Yes, Harry?"

Severus was apprehensive about Harry's questions. They were unpredictable, and usually questions Severus had difficulty answering. The first night Harry spent in the Manor, for example, he had asked where his mummy was and if Severus was his father.

This had caught Severus by complete surprise. Apparently, those lying-faced Dursleys had told Harry that his drunken and jobless good-for-nothing father had got himself in a car crash with his mother. While Severus had no love lost whatsoever for James Potter and didn't care if he was personified as such, he was outraged that Lily was also spoken badly of in the Dursleys' household.

And since he had told Harry that his relatives were a bunch of liars, it led to Little Harry wondering if the part about his parents being dead were true. Of course, when he asked that, Harry had known what the answer would be. If his parents had survived, they would have come looking for him, and Severus would not have had to save Harry from the Dursleys.

He had explained, that very night, how his parents were killed by a mass murderer and no, Severus was not his father, but his guardian. Harry had taken the news quite well, considering how his emotions change as fast as the speed of a broom. Then again, he might have to change his explanation, now that both of them secretly acknowledged being father and son.

Harry stared up at his father with angelic eyes and said with a very innocent tone, "I'm hungry."

Severus snorted. Just like Harry to sprout some philosophical words of wisdom one moment and worrying about his stomach the next. I suppose I should be thankful that he is asking for food now.

"Very well, go wash up and I'll cook some breakfast for you."

"Ok, daddy!" Harry heartily agreed and jumped off the bed, running back to his room with his bare feet.

"Harry, wear your slippers," Severus called sternly after him.

Shaking his head exasperatingly, Severus got off the bed and prepared for the day ahead.

____________________________________________________________________

"Daddy, what are we going to do today?" Little Harry asked as he ate his breakfast.

Severus shot him a fierce look. "Do not chew with your mouth open and talk with your mouth full, Harry. Honestly, I do not know how you could accomplish both feats together."

"Sorry, Daddy," Harry finished his mouthful of porridge and grinned. "So, Daddy, what are we going to do today?"

"Yes, yes, I heard you the first time, boy," Severus said. "I'll be going down to Hogwarts to visit the Headmaster, Harry. He requests a meeting in his office."

"Oh, I thought we were going to do something together." Harry's face fell a little and then lit up again. "Can I come along with you, then, Daddy?"

"I was going to bring you along; you don't imagine I would leave a hazard like yourself in my house?"

Harry stuck out his tongue behind his bowl of porridge, knowing that Severus would see anyway. "Careful with that tongue, I might cut it off and use it for my potion ingredients."

"You wouldn't, Daddy," Harry said, matter-of-factly.

Severus raised his eyebrows at the lack of mortification in Harry's tone. "Why not, may I ask? It would certainly give me some peace and quiet around here."

"Because you're my Daddy and you love me," Harry smiled widely, drips of porridge dropping from his chin. "Besides, you like it when I call you Daddy."

"And you got that after ten minutes of starting to overcompensate for the lack of opportunity to do so?"

"Huh?" Harry gave him a blank look.

"Never mind," Severus sighed and rolled his eyes. "I expect you to be on your best behaviour while we’re at Hogwarts, Harry, or there will be consequences when we get home, do I make myself clear?”

Harry’s eyes widened for the third time that morning at the word consequences, but nodded obediently.

“Yes sir,” Harry replied seriously. “Why are we going Hogwarts, sir, is it for another health chess cups?”

“Check-ups, Harry,” Severus corrected. “I would leave you with Madam Pomfrey while I go to the headmaster’s office for a quick meeting he requested a few days ago. He may want to see you after that, is that alright?”

Harry nodded distractedly and continued the rest of the meal in silence. Severus became a little worried. The word consequences had obviously scared the boy a little, or he would not have reverted back to calling him ‘sir’.

Severus had brought Harry straight to Hogwarts for a visit to Madam Pomfrey's after seeing him being locked out of the Dursleys’ house. Perhaps leaving without giving those vile Muggles a taste of their own medicine was too much a reward for them, but Severus was more concerned about a bleeding, shivering mess in his arms that day, so he had quickly disapparated on the spot. Dumbledore had given his word that he would be visiting Harry’s relatives soon.

Still, Severus would have liked to carry out the ‘revenge’ himself. No one hurts his son and got away with it.

A little surprised at his own sentiments, Severus thought of the irony of raising his arch enemy and best friend’s son. If he had thought about having a family during the earlier times before he pledged his services to the Dark Lord, Severus certainly would not have imagined raising James Potter’s son. He still had no idea how is he going to manage two more years with Little Harry around the house, especially when his clients start to demand their potions more often or when he gets caught up with his research projects.

One day at a time, Severus, one day at a time.

Little Harry’s first experience with side-along apparition was hazy. He was in semi-conscious state when Severus carried him in his arms and apparated to Hogsmead. He could remember a strong sucking and pulling sensation, but it was nothing to how he felt now. They had just arrived at the apparition point at the end of an alley at Hogsmead and Harry was trying to get his bearings. He felt a little nauseous and there was a bitter taste in his mouth, the beginning of a vomit growing in his throat.

“Here, drink this,” Severus handed Harry a vial of purplish potion. “It will cure your nausea.”

Harry quickly swallowed this disgusting concoction, which tasted exactly like how it looked – absolutely revolting. There was still an aftertaste of bitterness in his mouth. Unknowingly, he held on tightly to his father’s warm hand and entered the buzzing village of Hogsmead. It was a beautiful April spring and Hogwarts students were enjoying a good Hogsmead weekend out.

As soon as they entered Hogsmead village, however, Harry forgot about his bitter medicine still sticking to his tongue and was infected by the joyous mood around him. He skipped alongside his father, turning his head left and right as he took in the shop houses around him. They were so different from the Muggle world’s shopping streets. The shop houses were trailing along a crooked line down the street, signboards hanging from roofs sticking out at odd directions in a vain attempt to capture the attention of shoppers passing by. Harry was having a hard time trying to take in everything around him, because there were so many things to look at.

Severus, on the other hand, put on a scowl that made students scurrying away from their paths at one look on his face, barely noticing the young Harry Potter holding his hand. Those who did, however, did not know who he was. Severus made sure that Harry’s fringe covered his scar. He did not want to attract unnecessary attention from anyone, especially when ex-Death Eaters are still at large. Voldemort was gone, but only temporarily, he believed, unlike most of the wizarding world living in the fantasy that the worst of the days were over.

He had explained to Harry about his scar, but only briefly, the night he told him that Voldemort murdered his parents. He thought that for now, that was all the information a nine-year-old needed. Of course, when the time comes for Little Harry to go to Hogwarts, he would have to be better equipped with more information about Voldemort, but for now, Harry could do with enjoying his innocence for as long as possible.

But even the Potions Master could not deny that it was a pleasant weather to be out on a stroll. Driving those dampening thoughts out of his head, he tried enjoying the lovely weather, consoled in the fact that Harry’s little hand was still clasped tightly in his and there was another two years before he had to worry about letting go of Harry, where he would undoubtedly be surrounded by his friends from school and away from the close protection Severus could give him.

There was a light breeze picking up due to the windy storm from yesterday, gently blowing at their feet. As they came to the end of the village and made their way across the Quidditch pitch towards the castle’s entrance, Severus thought about the conversation he was about to have with Albus Dumbledore.

The day Severus brought Little Harry to Hogwarts’ infirmary; he had a short meeting with the headmaster, making his stand clear that he did not want Harry going back to those Muggles. Although he still bore resentment toward his old arch enemy, he was willing to put those grudges aside to tend to the situation he had at hand then. Little Harry was the first case of child abuse he came upon – aside from his personal experience – so, of course, he lost his cool when he faced a placid, indifferent headmaster upon seeing Dumbledore that day.

Severus eyed Dumbledore a little warily. He had just finished telling the Headmaster of his alma mater what he observed when he chanced upon the Dursleys and what he knew through a little Legilimency from Harry’s mind. It was enough to tell him that the Dursleys were a bunch of selfish, perverted, abusive relatives who were alive for the sole purpose of wasting the planet’s limited resources. But of course, one simply does not say such things in front of the most powerful wizard in the world.

There was a glimmer of something dark, with a little regret and sadness mixed in those deep blue eyes that were no longer twinkling. Instead, they were sombre and even a little murderous, something Severus saw quite often in another pair of blood-red eyes once upon a time. It gave him shivers, bringing back unwanted memories from what seemed a lifetime ago, looking at those eyes again. Thankfully, it did not last long.

Dumbledore broke eye contact with him and sank back into his headmaster’s chair, rubbing a hand over his brow. There was silence for a long time after Severus finished his story. It was a lot to take in, Severus had to acknowledge. Especially with someone as flawless as Dumbledore, it was still hard admitting to one’s mistakes.

“I’ve always thought that family was the right thing for Harry. It was family that saved him, after all. I was...wrong.”

Severus startled a little when Dumbledore suddenly talked. In fact, the last word from his mouth sounded a little choked. He almost felt sorry for the old wizard.

Almost.

Perhaps if he were a more emotional and forgiving man, he would, but after all the hardships that life put him through, he just about had enough of those sappy sentiments people like Dumbledore relished upon.

“You shouldn’t have assumed,” Severus could not help but sound accusing. “I was a classic example; my father certainly didn’t show any affection towards me. You have spent a longer life than me, Dumbledore, you must have seen more of such cases than I have – children locked away in a corner of the house, neglected, abused, punished for something they could not understand and didn’t do.”

Another look of grief passed the Headmaster’s eyes, as if recalling a memory long lost, lingering for a while before disappearing. Severus wondered what it meant.

“Yes... you’re quite right, my dear boy, I should have taken extra precautions and the like.”

Severus cleared his throat, getting a bit uncomfortable by the turn the conversation has taken. He expected to just file a report on Harry Potter and be done with it, walk out of the office in five minutes flat, not having an emotional conversation with Albus Dumbledore, of all people.

“There is no use speculating what could have happened, Headmaster. The question of Ha-Potter’s future lies in wake,” Severus said, purposefully taking on a business-like tone. “The Dursleys are unfit to be guardians to any child, that much is clear, I have half a mind to return to Privet Drive and give them a taste of their own medicine.”

Dumbledore held up a hand. “No, Severus, you will leave this matter to me. I give you my promise that they will be dealt with... severely. I have another task for you.”

Severus looked sour at the prospect of not exacting some kind of revenge on Petunia and her family. When he was a child, he’d always wanted to curse his best friend’s sister into oblivion and make her pay for every hurtful word she said to Lily. However, magic was not allowed outside Hogwarts and by the time he was seventeen, he had more issues to worry about other than chasing after some Muggle grudge he had once upon a time. Besides, he and Lily weren’t speaking on terms with each other anymore, so there was no point in the revenge any longer.

Now that he had an excuse, though, Dumbledore was striping away that privilege from him. The old wizard probably thought he would get carried away dealing with those Muggles. Oh, how he longed to be a Death Eater for just an hour...

“Severus, are you listening to me?”

Dumbledore’s amused voice brought the Potions Master out of his musings. Ever since bringing Harry away from the Dursleys, he had been lost in trips down the memory lane a lot.

“I’m sorry, headmaster, you were saying...?”

“Harry needs somewhere to stay till the time comes for him to attend Hogwarts, somewhere safe. It is quite clear that he should not return to his relatives’ house anymore and Hogwarts is not an appropriate choice, Severus, if that’s what you were going to suggest. The castle is mostly empty during the summer, not to mention how hectic it is during the school term, and what Harry needs now is a responsible adult who understands what he had gone through and is capable of truly caring for him.”

“It seems you have a candidate in mind, headmaster.”

Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled madly, directed at the Potions Master seated in front of him.

“NO, absolutely not!”

The silent trip brought the pair of father-and-son to the doors of Hogwarts infirmary. The school was empty and silent, just as Severus would have liked it to be. The two stepped into the hospital wing, their footsteps echoing in the large room.

“Severus,” Madam Pomfrey stepped out of her office and greeted the Potions Master warmly, he had been a frequent visitor to the infirmary when he was a student at Hogwarts, whether as a patient or helper. “Here for the medical review, aren’t you?”

Severus nodded.

“I’ll be having a short meeting with the headmaster in the mean time.”

Pomfrey smiled, hearing the words unsaid. “I’ll take good care of your son, Severus.”

Harry tugged at his father’s hand. “Daddy...”

Severus bent down to Harry’s eye level, conscious of Pomfrey’s eyes on them. “Yes, Harry?”

“You’ll come and fetch me, right? You won’t leave me alone?” Harry asked, biting his lower lip in worry.

Severus touched Harry’s head lightly. “Of course not, I’ll come back for you in an hour, I promise.”

A tear welled up in the corner of Harry’s eye. He had never been away from his father for longer than a few minutes the whole time he was at the Manor. He felt a little scared now that his father was going away, even if it was for an hour. On an impulse, Harry rushed over and wrapped his arms around his father tightly around the waist. Tears were already flowing down his cheeks.

Overcoming his surprise, Severus returned the hug, comforting Little Harry that he was going nowhere.

 “All right, Harry, I really need to go now, be brave for me,” Severus wiped Harry’s tears away and then added as an afterthought, “and be good.”

Harry sniffed and nodded, his lower lip still quivering. “I’ll be brave, I’m a good boy. I’ll listen to Daddy.”

Severus nodded and then straightened to see that Madam Pomfrey was still standing there, tears gathering in her eyes at the warm sight. Ten years ago, she would never have thought that Severus Snape would be able to love at all. However, she was proven wrong by the way he treated Harry, even if she only witnessed so little of it.

With another nod at Madam Pomfrey and a pat on the head for Harry, Severus strode out of the infirmary without a backward glance. He was afraid that if he turned and saw Harry’s bright green eyes pleading with him not to leave, he would snatch the boy up and never let go.

“Come on, Harry.” Madam Pomfrey placed a hand on the nine-year-old’s back and let him sat down on the nearest bed. His eyes were a little puffy and he was quiet for a child his age, but he seemed to have improved physically from what she saw of him one month ago.

Severus may not be the most sociable or affectionate person in the world but this mediwitch could vouch that he was certainly a good father.

_____________________________________________________________________

“...and I could safely say that Harry has adapted well at the Manor and is, at the very least, comfortable with my presence as a constant in his life.”

Snape had spent a good ten minutes summarising what happened the whole month, as Dumbledore had asked, after listening to the Headmaster’s five minutes of mundane talking – he had been taking note of the time, counting down till an hour.

The elder wizard’s face cracked into a faint smile with a hint of sadness. “It seems that I’ve made at least one right decision regarding Little Harry.”

“At least one?” Severus queried, leaning forward a little, ignoring the rest of the headmaster’s comment.

Dumbledore nodded and started, “Two things I’d like to discuss with you, Severus, both regarding Harry, of course.”

“Ah, we’ve come to the purpose of our meeting,” Severus said with a tone of sarcasm, then felt a little guilty when Dumbledore gave him a hard look.

“Firstly, Little Harry has been taken care of very well at the Manor, as you have not failed to persuade me in. Yes, Severus, you were trying to persuade me into letting you be more than a temporary guardian to Harry, I can see that, don’t try and deny it. I feel that it is safe for you to have complete guardianship rights to Harry Potter.

“In other words, if both you and young Harry are willing, Severus, you could adopt Harry officially, and call him your son.”

Severus was shocked speechless at first, but recovered quickly. He was already calling Harry his son in the privacy of his... their home. Getting it done officially on parchment and ink was just making sure that people like Cornelius Fudge and Lucius Malfoy would not find some loophole and bring the whole situation to court. He had no reason to feel surprised, unless...

Unless there was some doubt at the back of his mind that maybe, just maybe, it wasn’t worth sacrificing his personal space or a child he didn’t even want in the first place... surely it wouldn’t be good for either of them if Severus ended up not having time delivering his potions to his clients what with a child he had to tend to.

No... this was all wrong... Severus shook his head angrily at his own musings. Just that morning, he had sworn to protect Harry with his life and now he was having doubts because of... well, what was he afraid of, exactly, that useless Fudge or he-who-only-cares-for-his-pretty-face Malfoy? What kind of a man are you, Severus Snape?

“Severus, are you quite alright, my dear boy?”

“What?” Severus asked, startled. “I mean, yes, I’m fine, Headmaster. When can I sign these adoption papers you were talking about?”

Dumbledore gave him a knowing look, as if having read his thoughts, although Severus was sure he was Occluding.

“Well, as it so happens, I have contacted the relevant authorities from Young Wizarding Services and they would be coming down to finalise everything today. An interview or two with both Little Harry and yourself...”

“Oh, and you just... happened to know that Harry and I would get along well, didn’t you?”

 “I’ve never doubted it would be the case, yes.”

Dumbledore chuckled at the dark look on Severus’ face. “Try and calm yourself, Severus. Have some tea.”

With a flick of his wand, Dumbledore conjured two cups – a black tea for Severus and Earl Grey for himself – as well as some biscuits, which was covered with so much sugar that Severus shuddered.

It was long before either talked. Severus found himself enjoying Dumbledore’s company – although he would never admit it to anyone – during the occasional visits to Hogwarts. It gets lonely at the Manor after months of only having Potions for company. That is not to say that he was not contented with his solitude, but intelligent conversations with another living human was always welcome.

“I do have another business proposition for you, Severus.”

The young Potions Master looked up in surprise.

“Have you given some thought on what happens after Harry starts Hogwarts? I’m sure he has shown some signs of accidental magic by now.”

Severus nodded, remembering the time when Harry broke a glass and quickly ‘put it back together’. “I’m not sure I understand what you mean, Headmaster.”

“Severus, as soon as Little Harry begins his time here as a student, he would be quite far apart from you for several months, except holidays and such. Unprotected. He would not be able to seek help from his father at moment’s notice. Surely you must have noticed that already?”

“Of course I have, I suppose you have thought a solution for the problem?” Severus replied, irritated.

To his surprise, though, Dumbledore nodded. “Professor Harleton, our current Potions teacher has been asking me to let him retire, so that he could spend the remaining time in his life with his wife and his family. He would be leaving us when school ends this year and I have not found another Potions professor just yet.”

“You want me to take the job... you want to me to teach?” Severus asked incredulously.

Dumbledore just continued as if he hadn’t spoken, although he was smiling wider.

“Think about it, Severus, you could be protecting Harry, as I’m sure he’s going to need it being in such close contact with Death Eaters’ children, while being able to access to past Potions research archives here in Hogwarts. You can continue doing what you love and take care of your child at the same time. Besides, Hogwarts is renowned for its extensive range of research by previous Potions Masters who have taught here; even the Prince Manor’s collection is inferior to Hogwarts’.”

Severus had to admit that was true. He was aware of the vast amount of materials Hogwarts could provide him to aid with his research. Living off private and specialised potion brewing for his clients could barely sustain him forever, especially as he now had a son to take care of.

But he was also aware that Dumbledore was tying an invisible string around his neck and slowly tempting him toward his side. Voldemort did almost the same thing when he tried recruiting Severus at the age of seventeen. The only difference was that Voldemort tempted him with money, power and fame, while Dumbledore drew him in using his son as an excuse. It was times like these that Severus saw why Dumbledore was the only wizard Voldemort had ever feared.

“Severus, still with me, son?”

“I accept your offer, Headmaster,” Severus replied placidly. Securing a job at Hogwarts had another advantage – he could prevent Dumbledore from influencing Harry too much. There was no telling what the old coot would do once he had it in his head to train Harry Potter, the legendary Boy-who-lived, as a soldier of the ‘Light’ – meaning, a chess piece Dumbledore’s elaborate plan to bring world peace that always result in the opposite effect taking place.

Hence, the need to keep an eye on his son.

“Very well, I’ll leave you to inform Harry of the new arrangements. Say, have you found a tutor for the little one yet, Severus?”

Snape shot the Headmaster a glare, as if daring him to criticise his parenting.

“I’ve been busy with other plans, Headmaster. Harry needs time settling in. It’s been a hectic month.”

“Yes, of course, I quite understand, Severus, which is why I’ve taken the liberty to help you find a tutor. You have every right to reject the offer, but I do hope you would give some careful consideration to the one I have chosen. It is not easy finding someone we could trust and good for Little Harry as well.”

Severus sighed in defeat. It seemed that Dumbledore was keen on taking charge of Harry and his lives, putting his foot where it didn’t belong despite his best intentions... as usual.

“Who is this saint, may I ask?”

“You would not know of her, my boy. Professor Gwen Roslyn, currently an assistant to our Ancient Runes professor, is finishing her Mastery the following year and would be taking over Professor Babbling’s position the year after. She studied in Beauxbatons Academy, see, but she has been helping us with the war from the other side of the world, bringing valuable information from their point of view. Her father was a member of the Order, but sadly, he died in the last war.

“Well, I probably shouldn’t be gossiping about others behind her back. If you wished to find out more, you should ask her directly. She has agreed to help Little Harry with his pre-Hogwarts education while she is waiting to start her teaching post here at Hogwarts.”

Severus nodded throughout Dumbledore’s description, although he would be more satisfied if he had a full background check on this woman before letting her anywhere near his son.

Dumbledore continued prattling, much to his dismay.

“She is unmarried, Severus, pretty sad for such a charming woman like herself. From what I’ve heard, though, Gwen came out of a bad relationship. How did you young people put it? Ah yes, ‘it didn’t work out well between us’. Pity, really, she is quite a beauty, Gwen is.”

“Headmaster, with all due respects, I hope you did not let your own delusion of trying to be a matchmaker override your common sense. She may be a double agent for the Dark Lord like I am for you,” Severus seethed in anger. Dumbledore must be mad if he thought he could try and find Severus a wife.

“Well, if that is the case, you would be the perfect person to unveil her true intentions, no?” Dumbledore chuckled at Severus’ poisonous look.

It was fun to rile the Potions Master up.

“As much as I would like to chat more, Headmaster, Harry is waiting for me,” Severus said as politely as possible. He’d been trying to get off the topic of Gwen Roslyn for the past Merlin-knows-how-long.

“Ah, Harry, yes, I shall come with you, Severus, see how the little one is doing and all. My, has it been three hours?”

Severus froze in his steps. He had been trying to get to the door in record time.

“Three hours...It had been three hours?” Severus exclaimed, then, without confirmation from Dumbledore, he rushed out of the headmaster’s office and sprinted towards the Hospital Wing.

____________________________________________________________________

Around one hour earlier...

Little Harry woke up to the sound of a heavy thunderstorm. He sat up groggily in an unfamiliar place and immediately got frightened. Outside the window panes, Harry saw that droplets of rain were attacking the glass viciously, as if trying to get inside the castle. Another clap of thunder and Harry jumped from his bed, clasping his hands over his ears.

Daddy...Where’s Daddy?

Harry climbed out of the bed gingerly as memories of the past 2 hours flooded back. The chess-cups (or was it chest-ups?) Madam Pomfrey gave him was over in half an hour. He nearly fell asleep while standing still and waiting for the mediwitch to finish the check-up (he suddenly remembered they were called). Madam Pomfrey saw the nine-year-old’s eyes closing and asked Harry to sleep it off while waiting for his father to fetch him.

However, Harry was sure that one hour had come and gone, but his father was nowhere to be found. He had fallen asleep in his new clothes, a dark red hoodie and long black pants, but his wizard’s robe was folded nicely at the foot of his bed.

Another bolt of thunder crashed in the distance, making Harry remember his unpleasant nightmares from last night. He had to find his father. His daddy would make everything bad go away. Hastily throwing his robe on and slipping into his shoes, Harry darted out of the Hospital Wing as fast as he could.

Hogwarts students were returning from their trip, seeking shelter from the unexpected rain. Most were making their way towards the Great Hall for a late lunch while others were making their way back to their dormitories to ransack their shopping treats. All around Harry, students were casting drying spells and chatting jovially, not put down by the storm.

Where was his daddy? The castle looked so huge and scary now that his daddy wasn’t around to hold his hand to make sure he would not get lost. Harry pushed past the thong of students and made his way up the first staircase he saw. This time though, his scar was peeking out from his fringe and several students saw around him saw it. Immediately, they began buzzing in excited chatter about the-boy-who-lived-and-returned-to-the-wizarding-world.

Oblivious to this, Harry ran up a few flights of stairs and turned into the right corridor on the fifth. He was panting heavily by the time he reached the fifth floor, but he still couldn’t find his father. In fact, he had no idea where he was going to look for his daddy.

When he saw the strange corridors with dark corners, though, Harry nearly tripped over his robe walking backwards. He ran back down the flight of stairs he came from, but never made it to the lower floor. The staircases were changing direction, jerking away from their original position. They never did that back in his daddy’s house.

Frightened, Harry held onto the railings of the moving stairs tightly, afraid that he would tumble down if he let go. When the staircases stopped, Harry ran back up the steps, climbed another flight and then turned left, sinking onto the parquet floor as his legs could not hold him upright any longer. The thunderstorm was still going on heavily, almost as bad as the one the previous night.

What if the reason he couldn’t find his father was because his daddy didn’t want him anymore? What if the medical check-ups were a ploy to get rid of him? After his episode that morning, he couldn’t really blame his father for not wanting a sobbing, snivelling little mess. If that was the case, was Severus his father anymore?

No, this was all wrong. He shouldn’t doubt his father. Daddy would be mad if Harry said that he didn’t believe what he said...maybe not mad, really, but sad...and he didn’t want his daddy to be sad.

But then, why hadn’t his daddy come for him? This was all very confusing for Harry. Usually, his daddy helped him figure all this out and now that his daddy wasn’t here for him, he supposed he should be brave, like daddy told him to be.

Harry covered his ears with his two hands and squeezed his eyes shut when a flash of lightning blinked in the distance, thinking that if he could not hear the thunder or see the lightning, those awful images from his nightmares would go away.

But they didn’t.

No matter how much Harry clawed at his ears, he could still hear the rain and the thunder. He didn’t feel very brave when those nightmares started playing in his mind.

First, a woman was looking at him through her emerald eyes, the same ones he had, using a hand to smooth down his baby curls and trying to tell her baby not to be scared. Next moment, the door came crashing down in sync with the sound of thunder, and a wizard walked towards them like a predator stalking its prey. The woman was screaming for mercy as the thunderstorm got more violent, as if howling in misery at the tragedy that was about to take place.

No...please...go away...don’t kill her...don’t kill my mummy...

 Harry’s soft cries could not be heard in the nightmare he was trapped in. He didn’t want to see the green light again, or hear anymore screams.

Mummy...mummy...please don’t kill my mummy...

“Mummy!” Harry jerked away at the touch of someone’s warm hand on his and saw a woman in maroon robes kneeling before him, looking at him in concern. She had been trying to get his attention, but Harry was still trapped in his nightmare. Without thinking, he threw himself into the woman’s arms, hugging her neck and calling for his mother.

_____________________________________________________________________

The crash of thunder seized the Potions Master’s heart, as he recalled that Harry hated thunderstorms, or he would not have looked for Severus the previous night when there was one.

“Severus, what’s wrong?” Dumbledore kept up with Severus’ pace, an amazing feat for a centenarian.

“I promised Harry I would be back for him within an hour,” Severus replied, failing to hide the worry he felt twisting at his gut. Some father he was. “Harry hates the thunder and lightning. He would be afraid without me.”

Severus saw Dumbledore merely nod and did not try to console him. Severus was thankful for that; he could not stand it if the headmaster told him that it wasn’t his fault. Right now, finding Harry was his top priority.

They arrived at the Hospital Wing, but of course, Harry was nowhere to be found. Severus panicked and felt his heart race much quicker. Dumbledore was questioning the school healer about Little Harry.

“I checked up on him two hours ago, he was sound asleep, so I went to prepare the medical report and the next thing I knew, Harry is gone and both of you are here.”

“Two hours?” Severus rounded on the healer angrily. “You didn’t think of placing a charm to inform you if my son left the infirmary or woke up scared? Or even a sleeping draught to ensure that he slept well?”

“Don’t yell at me, Severus,” Madam Pomfrey retorted. “I did give Harry a mild Sleeping Draught, for your information, and I didn’t expect you to take such a long time. You said you were going to be absent for an hour, not three.”

Severus didn’t bother to fight back. He rubbed his temples in frustration and guilt.

“You’re right, Pomfrey, my apologies, I overreacted. I just...I just think of Harry probably running out of Hogwarts to Merlin-knows-where. The forbidden forest, the shrieking shack, maybe? Last I heard, there were werewolves living there,” Severus said with a hint of sadistic humour.

Madam Pomfrey snorted. “Only one werewolf, don’t exaggerate, Severus, but I apologise as well, I should have kept an extra eye on Harry.”

 Severus just waved the apology away and sighed tiredly. Just when he was going to ask Dumbledore about where to start searching first, a silver Patronus in the form of a horse galloped up to them and conveyed a message.

“Headmaster, Harry Potter is with me in my office.”

Then, the silver horse vanished into wisps of smoke.

“Who is... where?” Severus grabbed Dumbledore’s arm and asked, his eyes wild, but slightly relieved.

“Sixth floor, first corridor on the left,” Dumbledore smiled genially and replied. There was no need to ask Severus hurry and collect his son; he was already out of the door and dashing towards the sixth floor.

Dumbledore, on the other hand, was in no hurry.

“Wasn’t that...” Madam Pomfrey began and then faltered when she saw the Headmaster making no attempts to run after the Potions Master. “Well, you seem to be in quite a mood.”

“Ah well, let the two young couple have some alone time, why not?” Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling madly.

“Couple?” Madam Pomfrey spluttered.

“My apologies, Poppy, future colleagues, I meant. Severus would be joining us as a member of the staff two years before Gwen does. Quite a pair, hmmm...?”

Madam Pomfrey just shook her head at the headmaster’s attempts at playing matchmaker and returned to her office, although she had a smile playing on her lips as well. With these young people around, Hogwarts would never be boring again.

_____________________________________________________________________

Severus pounded on the door, not caring if he was being unfriendly or impolite. He had been expecting the worst and now that he knew Harry was safe, his emotions caught up with him and so did anger. How could dare the little Potter nearly made him develop a heart attack?

When Gwen Roslyn opened the door, though, Severus remembered his manners last minute and schooled his expression and adopted calm and collected demeanour.

“You must be Severus,” Gwen Roslyn said after she opened the door to her office.

She was, as Dumbledore said, quite a beautiful woman. She looked about the same age as Severus, with straight brown-mahogany hair falling around her shoulders and had her fringe swept to one side. Gwen Roslyn’s most piercing features were her light blue eyes, peering at Severus almost coldly. She wore a smile that looked like she lifted the corners of her mouth with great effort. At least, something they had in common.

Severus noticed the witch’s heavy eye bags that contrasted with the brilliance shining in her eyes, showing how tiring life was as an assistant at Hogwarts, but other than that, Gwen Roslyn seemed to hide herself well. She seemed to have distanced herself from the rest of the world, as if to protect herself from any danger. At least, that was what Severus thought he saw in the woman’s eyes...and a light touch of wandless Legilimency, an old habit he couldn’t get rid of.

“Yes, and you are...?”

“Gwen Roslyn.”

Severus raised his eyebrows. “Indeed.”

“I’m sorry...you’ve heard of me?” Gwen cocked her head a little, her curious eyes examining Severus just as he assessed her. Again, it was habitual for Severus to see if someone he had just met was up to something. After all, most people Severus ‘socialised’ with were Death Eaters.

But so far, Gwen Roslyn did not spark any memories about connections with anyone from the Dark Lord’s side.

“Headmaster Dumbledore has informed me that Harry is going under your tutelage in the next few months,” Severus replied, keeping his voice neutral.

“I wasn’t sure you’d agree, but it seems everything’s settled now. Imagine my surprise when I found my new student crying at my doorstep.”

Gwen stepped aside and let Severus in. Harry was sitting on the couch with a blanket tugged around his legs, nibbling on a chocolate cookie. He was oblivious to the fact that his father was in the same room with him. As Severus sat down beside Harry, grateful that the sound of the thunderstorm could not be heard from within the room, he put his arms around his son and called softly, not wanting to startle him.

“Harry, I’m here now...can you hear me?”

Little Harry raised his head to face Severus, his spectacles sliding down the bridge of his nose. Severus, much to his sadness, saw that there were two rows of tear marks along Harry’s cheeks.

“Daddy...”

“Daddy’s here, Harry,” Severus said, pulling Harry towards him.

Predictably, Little Harry pushed himself into Severus’ robes and sobbed loudly.

“I’m so sorry, Harry, I shouldn’t have broken my promise...I honestly didn’t know the time. I would have come earlier if I did,” Severus apologised, resting his cheeks against his son’s hair.

Gwen had turned away, not wanting to intrude on the father-and-son moment, for which Severus was thankful.

Harry turned into his father’s embrace and cried for a long while, his cookie abandoned on the carpet, releasing a flood of emotions.

“I thought...you...you didn’t w-want me...anymore,” Harry choked in between sobs. “I thought...thought...”

“Hush now, Daddy’s here, you’ll be fine,” Severus patted his son’s head comfortingly.

As Harry’s cried subsided, Severus heard a cough behind them. Turning, he saw Dumbledore standing a few metres away with Roslyn. Severus pulled Harry from his arms and dried his tears using a handkerchief, which he then passed to his son to blow his nose.

“Are you alright now, Harry?”

“Y-yes, Daddy,” Harry replied, though he did not looked like he was fine. There were still traces of worry and anguish in his frown. He immediately clutched his father’s hand when Severus pulled away, like he was scared that his father would disappear anytime soon.

“We’ll discuss this when we get home,” Severus said firmly. He made his way over to the Headmaster and Roslyn with Harry in tow.

“Thank you for taking care of my son, Professor Roslyn” Severus shook hands with the witch formally.

“Please, just Roslyn or Gwen, I’ll be your son’s teacher soon, it’ll get confusing if both of you started calling me Professor.”

“Then Miss Roslyn it shall be,” Severus said. He caught Dumbledore’s disapproving look, but ignored it.

“That will be fine. I won’t keep you here for long, till next month then,” Roslyn nodded at both Dumbledore and Snape.

“Would you mind terribly if we used the Floo network, Gwen?” Dumbledore asked. “It would be much less tiring for Little Harry, see, and we wouldn’t want the entire school to spot him just yet.”

“A little difficult, headmaster, don’t you think so? The whole school was talking about it when we came out of your office.”

“Were they now? Ah, a celebrity even before coming to Hogwarts, Harry...why, you exceed your father’s reputation I must say.”

Harry looked at his daddy in confusion. “You were famous at Hogwarts, Daddy?”

“I assume the headmaster was talking about your biological father, Harry...James Potter,” Severus said evenly, glaring at the headmaster as he did so. However, this caught Gwen Roslyn’s attention as she raised her eyebrows in curiosity. Severus felt a little hot around his collar as he found Gwen’s gaze scrutinising him

“Oh...he was famous, then,” Harry stated, having nothing else to say.

Then, Roslyn ushered the lot of them towards the fireplace, as none of them seem to have anything else to say. After final formalities were exchanged, Severus and Harry went up the Floo network first, with Dumbledore following closely behind.

When they arrived at Dumbledore’s office, Severus dusted his son’s robe, then snorted when he realised that Harry had put it on the wrong way.

“Daddy?”

“Yes, Harry?” Severus answered as he took off Harry’s robe and helped him wear it the right way.

“Why did Professor Roslyn say that she will be my teacher soon?”

“Because she will be,” Severus replied simply and then kneeled down to talk to Harry. “Next year, I would be taking up the position as Potions professor here in Hogwarts. You would need someone to take care of you while I’m teaching and Miss Roslyn would be your teacher starting next month. Will that be alright for you, Harry?”

Little Harry nodded slowly, thinking it over. “Professor Roslyn is really nice. I mistook her for mummy when she found me.”

Severus neared choked even though he wasn’t eating anything. Before he could get the facts though, Dumbledore arrived in the office and Severus had no intent on listening to another round of Dumbledore’s lectures on how a female presence in his life would be good for both Harry and him.

“Severus, why are you on the floor, come now, both of you, have a seat,” Dumbledore said jovially, as if the past hour never happened. “Lemon drops, Harry?”

Flicking his eyes towards Severus for permission, Harry accepted the sweet with a polite thank you. Severus felt a hint of pride in his son. Other nine-year-old boys would immediately snatch the sweet and stuff their mouths with the treat without any signs of gratitude.

“So Harry, tell me, how would you like to be your father’s son officially?”

Severus rolled his eyes. “You make no sense at all, headmaster.”

Harry nodded. “I am Daddy’s boy now, aren’t I, Daddy?”

Severus turned to Harry and affirmed his question. “Of course you are, Harry, but we should get this on ink and parchment, so that no one around us would doubt it. A wizard...or a witch...would visit us later and ask us a few questions so that we can become father and son officially.”

Harry shrugged. “I doubt I need someone else to tell me that. As long as I know it, who cares what other people might say?”

My sentiments exactly... Severus nodded to show he agreed, feeling another glow of pride warming his chest. He then sat up and met his eyes with the headmaster, who looked like he was tearing up.

“Well, they should be sending someone from Young Wizarding Services soon enough, in the mean time, why don’t we enjoy some biscuits and tea?” Dumbledore smiled at both wizards, who had no idea how different their lives would have been without the adoption papers.

_____________________________________________________________________

When Severus and Harry finally emerged from the castle and walked towards the apparition point in Hogsmead village, it was already dusk. The last of twilight shone down at them from the horizon, signalling the arrival of the night.

“Twilight used to be my favourite time of the day,” Harry told his father. “It meant that I could go back into the house after a day of housework under the bright sunlight that always burnt my skin red.”

Severus frowned a little at the mention of the Dursleys indirectly. He squeezed Harry’s hand a little.

“And what’s your favourite time of the day now?”

“When dawn is breaking,” Harry answered cheerfully, “because I wake up every day and see that I wasn’t dreaming about this...that I’m at home with you, Daddy, and I could spend the whole day with you.”

Severus smiled.

“I personally hate both times of the day, one signifies the end of a tiring day but I still can’t go to sleep and the other signifies the start of another tiresome day,” Severus remarked.

“Then what’s your favourite time of the day, Daddy?”

Severus was going to reply that he didn’t have one, but changed his answer. “My favourite time of the day is when a new phase of moon is high in the night sky because I get to watch your drooling face when you sleep.”

Harry giggled and then protested, “I do not drool.”

Smirking, Severus insisted that he did and then proceeded to tickle his son in the stomach mercilessly, causing him to shriek and run away from his father’s grasp.

As Severus caught up with his son, he thought about their lives ahead in the Manor, with Gwen Roslyn coming in to tutor his son and how that would turn out. He thought about the conversations he had yet to have with Little Harry, about staying put when you get lost outside of home so that Severus could find him where he last was.

He also thought about the adoption papers he held in the deep pockets of his robes, the confirmation to the world about Harry being his son and about the years ahead, especially with Harry going to Hogwarts, where he would be teaching at next year.

“Daddy, come catch me!”

Harry’s shout brought Severus out of his musings. He would think about them later - the worries, dangers, expectations and fears he had. Right now, he was going to enjoy every single moment he had with his son.

It was late into September when the Dursleys household was interrupted from their four months of peaceful life – four whole months without a certain nephew’s freakishness lurking among the Dursley’s household.

Petunia had been worried that her freakish sister’s son’s unnaturalness would be caught on by her darling Dudders, so she locked that freak up for the most part of his childhood, yet giving him more than they should. After all, her Dudders was a growing boy, he needed his food and the freakish boy was taking up more space and food than he should. If Petunia had a choice in this, the boy would have been sent to an orphanage the moment he turned up at the Dursleys doorstep.

It was hence a relief to the Dursleys when they woke up one day to find the boy missing. It wasn’t their fault that he was making so much noise in the cupboard, screaming about seeing strange things the previous night. That episode had only further confirmed Petunia’s suspicions that the boy had inherited the same freakishness from his parents.

After all, Vernon had a point – the boy was bad news. It was like the girl in one of the horror movies Petunia watched on TV when Vernon and Dursley were both out, where the orphan was secretly homicidal and killed the foster family she had been placed with. Petunia shivered when her mind replayed scenes from the movie, the look on the girl’s face after she killed was the same look that the Potter boy wore on several occasions when Vernon screamed at him for things he had wrongfully done.

Boys like that him needs to be disciplined. Not many are like her Dudders, born with a good heart, a normal and healthy boy, unlike that of Potter. Who knows what he was plotting beneath those devilish green eyes, a ghostly reminder from her long dead sister. She was risking her family’s lives keeping such an unnatural boy under her roof. Petunia shuddered involuntarily. She should have sent the boy away earlier.

“MUM!” Dudley hollered from his armchair, chocolate dribbling down his fat chin, but he made no move to wipe it off. “SOMEONE’S AT THE DOOR!”

Petunia was cleaning the vases she was so fond of collecting upstairs in the master bedroom when her son shouted from downstairs. It was one chore that she had not let that Potter boy do. She didn’t want his dirty hands anywhere near her precious treasures. Setting down the ancient Ming vases that she bought from an antique shop in town carefully, Petunia brushed off the dust from her dress and went to get the door, planting a kiss on her darling boy’s hair as she passed him. His hair somehow had chocolate stains too, but Petunia hastily wiped it off with the back of her hand before opening the door.

Two strangers stood on her doorstep. They seemed to be a couple, but Petunia wasn’t sure. They were in some sort of conflict with each other just before Petunia opened the door, but she only had a quick glimpse and the two seemed to have made up pretty quickly. Their clothes, though, gave away who they were – those freaks from her sister and that boy’s world. The woman was wearing a charcoal grey velvet cloak with arm silts that allowed her to move unhindered by the cloth, while the man had on a high collared long sleeved black velvet robe. Petunia curled her lips in disdain.

“Who are you?” Petunia dropped her carefully placed smile reserved for her guests. With these people, though, she didn’t have to pretend.

The man on the left snorted, piercing Petunia with a familiar eerie look.

“Don’t you remember me, Tuney?” he asked, deliberately using that hated nickname she had not heard for more than a decade.

That same tone of voice, the same nasty look that this man was giving him, Petunia would not forget for the rest of her life.

Severus Snape – the very boy who had made her childhood hell.

___________________________________________________________________

Gwen Roslyn had apparated into Little Whinging just a minute or so after Severus did, her hair changing into a shade of deep red. After a year of knowing his son’s tutor, Severus learnt many things about the Ancient Runes assistant professor, one of them being her inherited part-metamorphmagus powers. Her grandmother had been a full metamorphmagus and her mother had inherited part of the power too, leaving her with a small proportion of it. The only thing she could change was the style and colour of her hair. Presently, red suited the fiery mood that she was keeping in control.

“I told you not to come, Gwen,” Severus hissed, striding down the lane of boring, similar houses towards No. 4 Privet Drive.

He wasn’t surprised that he had apparated at least two streets away from the Dursley’s residence. Every single house was of the same shape and form in the entire neighbourhood.

“Just trying to make sure you do not commit murder, Severus,” the haughty woman replied.

She knew that the Potions professor only used her first name when he was pissed off at her. However, she found out many things about the new Potions Master Severus Snape too. One of them being, he would not hurt anyone who doesn’t deserve it despite his menacing look.

“The last thing Harry needs is his father in prison for something that doesn’t deserve the sacrifice,” Gwen continued.

“I don’t need you to lecture me on how to take care of Harry,” Severus sneered at the woman, his mind still reeling at what happened yesterday.

Putting a child’s hand on the stove! That was absolutely disgusting and inhumane of those filthy Muggles Albus Dumbledore calls relatives of Harry. Severus could barely let it go when he found out in the beginning that Lily’s son was mistreated, but violent physical abuse he could not stand for.

Initially, he thought it was just a few smacks to the backside and slaps occasionally, but even those he could not swallow the thirst for revenge every time Harry cowers in fear after a nightmare, about the Dursleys. Yesterday had been the last straw, when a slight probe into Harry’s mind revealed the most horrible ordeal of them all. Severus almost wished he hadn’t used Legilimency to find out about it. The image of a small boy trying to pull his hand away from the stove while his sick uncle pressed his hand on the burning flames was still stuck in his mind. Even his father had only been drunk and aggressive, not perverted.

“And you shall not try and stop me from seeking vengeance for my son, Miss Roslyn. Those Dursleys would deserve every inch of pain and suffering inflicted upon them. What they have done to Harry is sick, absolutely unpardonable and unforgivable…”

“…which is why I am here to enjoy a good show and perhaps contribute a couple of my fair share of revenge as well… Harry is my student too, you know. If Harry were in France, those Muggles would earn a sentence of life imprisonment, without trial. We have zero tolerance for abuse there, especially child abuse.

“So of course I won’t get in your way…I was surprised you didn't visit this bunch of Muggles earlier. I, for one, would have made a trip down here and give them a taste of their own nasty medicine.”

“Yes, your reckless Gryffindor bravery, while appreciated by many…one does not go defying Albus Dumbledore at every turn. I simply believed that he would live up to his word and deal with those Muggles like he said he would.”

“He’s Albus Dumbledore, as you said. He’s a busy man. That’s the excuse and apology he’ll give you, if you are thinking of confronting him after we return to Hogwarts. Giving those filthy people what they deserved is the last thing on his mind what with the uprising riots around Britain, suspicious Death Eater activity and the new Minister of Magic bugging him at every turn.”

Severus and Gwen had arrived on the doorstep of Number four just as Gwen finished her speech. Severus knocked on the door of the Dursleys, wincing as he heard Dudley Dursley screaming for his mother, with no manners or respect to his elders whatsoever.

“Thank you for your kind words, Miss Roslyn,” Severus said sarcastically, “but you could return if you wish to, you may not be aware of this, but the Headmaster has a rule against the mistreatment of Muggles.”

Gwen Roslyn snorted, sounding remarkably like the wizard next to her. “Then I think he’s a bloody hypocrite who should stick his wand up his…”

“Who are you?” Petunia Dursley’s suspicious face poked around the door and asked rudely. Gwen knew at once that she had no liking for this woman whatsoever.

___________________________________________________________________

“You!”

Petunia screeched, her voice high pitched and scared, betraying fright and contempt, a bony index finger pointed at Severus Snape’s nose.

“Me.”

Snape answered coolly, pushing Petunia’s hand aside and stepped into the house uninvited, Gwen closely following behind, watching the exchange with great interest. Dudley, oblivious to his mother’s displeasure, had his piggy eyes fixed onto the television and continued to stuff chocolate down his throat until Severus unplugged the wire from its socket using a tiny flick of his wand and the screen went black.

“Hey!” Dudley protested, spinning around to face the guests. “I was watching that!”

“And you were disgusting me,” Snape retorted.

There were still traces of chocolate stuck between Dudley’s teeth and some that missed his mouth staining the front of his shirt. No one had tried turning off his television while he was watching it, not even his parents dared for fear of a massive tantrum that would be sure to follow after that.

“Kindly gather your family in the living room, Tuney,” said Snape, pocketing his wand.

“Don’t call me that name! And why should I listen to you?” Petunia huffed. “You dare barge into my house without my permission, order me about in my own home and even bully my son! This is outrageous. I should have called the police the moment I saw you on my front steps. In fact, that’s what I am going to do right now!”

Snape whisked out his wand just as Petunia made a step towards them – the phone, unfortunately, was behind Severus – but Roslyn got there first.

“Now listen to me, Ma’am. You can either do it our way, or the hard way. Professor Snape here and I are investigating a case of child abuse. We have evidence to believe that Harry Potter did not receive proper treatment under your care. When the police arrives, we’ll see who they arrest after we show them physical proof of what we suspect happened under this roof,” Gwen threatened, pointing her wand in between Petunia’s eyebrow. “Now tell me, where is your husband?”

“He…he’s up-upstairs, a-s-sleep,” Petunia stuttered.

“You there!” Severus barked, motioning to a wide-eyed Dudley who seemed to have frozen where he was standing. He had no idea why the lady pulled out a drumstick, the kind that he saw rockers used during concerts, but said drumstick was currently letting sparks ignite at its end, as if trying to hold back something big that was going to be activated. “Go get your father down and make it quick.”

While Dudley scampered upstairs, Gwen fixed Petunia a deadly glare that rival that of Severus’ and continued pointing her wand at the loathing woman, who was going almost cross-eyed staring at the wand that ignited tiny sparks off its tip. The last time this happened when she was seventeen, when Lily had hexed her tongue such that it stuck to the roof of her mouth for the entire day, after Petunia insulted her sister being too unattractive for her best friend so he went off sleeping with other more beautiful girls and dumped her. Only, Petunia used a lot more profanities than that. Being at the end of a wand was not a good experience for her.

Satisfied that the woman he hated most during his childhood was subdued for the time being, Severus took the time to observe the house. He had seen the living room multiple times, sadly, through the eyes of a terrified young child being abused. That very fact made his skin crawl standing in this room. How dare these filthy creatures treat his son as such? Months of cumulative hatred boiled in the pits of the potions master’s stomach like a cauldron on the verge of explosion. His calm facade only added to the brewing storm that was about to whip these Muggles off their asses.

Severus spotted the cupboard under the stairs, full with locks and a small opening on the door for ventilation and screaming at the previous occupant beyond the door. Unlocking the door with a swish of his wand, Severus walked to the entrance of the cupboard, where he had to bend down a lot in order to look inside. Petunia let out a strangled gasp between a cry of horror and protest, but Gwen silenced her with another glare and prevented her from advancing.

Before Severus can register fully the deplorable conditions in the cupboard, Vernon Dursley and his son came walking – more like stomping – down the stairs, as pieces of paint and dust fell from the trembling ceiling onto Severus’ hair. The potions professor was livid when he reappeared from the cupboard, taking a couple of plastic toys and carefully folded a hand-drawn picture, which he had yet to see, stuck with bits of blue-tack on the wall of the cupboard and then pocketed it all three items in his robes.

Gwen took one look at Severus and opened her mouth to say something but decided to save it for later, then made a slight movement with her wand to clean off the dirt on Severus’ hair. The latter gave her an I-could-have-done-it-myself glare but the former just rolled her eyes dramatically. This was all very childish, really, the glaring at each other thing they adopted since the first day of Harry’s private classes with Roslyn.

“Hey!” Vernon Dursley shouted in indignation and strode forward towards Roslyn in a few steps, pulling Petunia away from the wand with one hand and made a move to push Gwen away from his wife. Dudley had said a bunch of incoherent string of words after shouting in his father’s ear in an attempt to wake him up, but Vernon had got the idea that there were some freaks in his house that he had to get rid of. “Put that thing away in my house.”

While Vernon had, with a little success, managed to keep Gwen’s wand pointing away from Petunia, he found his throat pressed by the wand of a used-to-be mass murderer’s right hand man.

“Don’t. Touch. Her,” Severus hissed dangerously.

Gwen was more than ready to take on the Muggle, but she decided to let Severus vent some of that long buried hatred after seeing the murderous look on his face.

Petunia let out a short piercing scream as she clutched her husband’s arm in fright. Dudley had also joined his parents and wrapped his chubby arms around his mother’s waist, looking at the man threatening his father in terror. Severus only sneered.

“What do you want from me?” Petunia half-screamed and half-wept, “For years, we have reared that bastard Potter boy, fed him, gave him food, shelter…”

“Quiet, you scrofulous, opprobrious woman,” Severus cut her off. “Albus Dumbledore, appointed guardian of Harry Potter by the Ministry, has sent a generous sum of money each year for Harry’s welfare, with specific instructions that they are to be used for ensuring Harry grows up to be a healthy young child. By spending it all on THAT whale of a boy you call your son,” Severus turned his wand to Dudley before continuing, “you are thereby misusing the state’s funding, a punishable crime in the wizarding world.”

“We never wanted anything to do with your kind,” Vernon struggled to say, going red at the prospect of going to jail.

“You not only FAILED to provide an innocent, harmless baby with the necessary to survive, but also abused him physically and verbally for the most of his childhood. Never mind what the greatest wizard of the century would do to you lot after he hears about this. When I’m through with you, I swear to Merlin, you would wish you had never been born,” Severus threatened perilously.

“Now see here, Mr.…?”

“Snape,” Petunia whispered to her husband after Severus refused to answer and only glared at the elder Dursley in response.

Vernon cleared his throat and proceeded, “Now, Mr. and Mrs. Snape, you can’t go barging into other people’s homes…”

Gwen spluttered when the obtuse Dursley called her that and almost cast the first hex, but Severus beat her to it, having had enough the nonsensical excuses.

“FURNUNCULUS!”

_____________________________________________________________

An hour or so later, Severus and Gwen stalked out of the disturbing house, triumphant. Severus dealt with Vernon Dursley and his son, casting, among others, a bad luck charm that would cause Vernon to lose his job and Dudley to lose his friends and be the victim of bully by the previous gang of goons he once called his friends, a spell that would make the two have constant nightmares about being physically abused, while Gwen had her fair share of revenge on Petunia Dursley.

On top of the bad luck charms that would find her at the receiving of the neighbourhood gossip about her atrocious treatment of her own nephew and nightmares about running around the house doing household chores, getting burnt by the hot sun while mowing the lawn and having her husband or son screaming in her ear while doing such chores, Petunia Dursley would also be constantly haunted by what she called the ‘unnaturalness of the Potter boy’. Every corner she turned, Petunia would spot wizards conversing with one another, wearing those unusual robes and whispering spells, reminded of the fact that magic exists in this world and that she is related to them.

It was the least of what they deserved, but Severus was already anxious to get out of that house and back to Harry. House elves may accomplish any task given to them obediently, but Harry may need his father soon. While the father and son have fallen into a comfortable routine in the past month, with Severus just starting his position as Potions professor and Gwen acting as Harry’s private tutor for weekday afternoons when Severus had classes, young Harry still stuck close to his father every evening and weekends, still afraid of losing his father anytime.

“Honestly, I’m a little disappointed. How would this slight fiasco change anything for Harry?” Gwen commented after the two strolled away from the house, ignoring the neighbours peeking out of their windows and spying on the Dursleys household.

“It made me content, knowing that Tuney got what she deserved.”

“Are you going to tell him?” Gwen asked after a moment of contemplation.

“Tell him what?”

Gwen rolled her eyes a little, deliberately irritating the Potions professor. “That you visited his only living relatives then hexed and cursed them into oblivion just to satisfy some of your thirst for revenge.”

Severus thought about the question for some time. What use is there telling Harry, really? Any recollection of the Dursleys is bound to upset him, he gets enough of that lot in his nightmares at night, there is no need to disturb him with those memories any further.

“Given you something to think about, eh?” Gwen said smugly.

Honestly, if young Harry wasn’t so taken in with her, Severus would have strangled her with his bare hands long ago. That cold outlook towards strangers was broken the moment that bloody witch witnessed him hugging Harry the day he departed to teach his first Potions class and she had just arrived for Harry’s first private tuition class. Ever since that day, Gwen had been pouring advice on how to raise his son down his throat, which usually led to the usual argument of Severus protesting that he was the parent of Harry and Gwen retorting about him not doing a good job of it.

Harry, though, found the entertainment highly amusing and always hid behind the door of his room, eavesdropping – the only reason both adults refrained from using profanities and rude insults to each other. Both the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall had commented on how alike two old married couple they are, both at the receiving end of similar fiery killer glares afterwards.

Married couple?

Ha. Severus had an enmity with both words for the longest time, since Lily left his heart cold and empty. The only bride he had ever wanted to walk down the aisle with was dead, so he viciously extinguished any thoughts of matrimony from then onwards, ready to die a bachelor.

“How are your classes going, at any rate?” Gwen continued after a short while. “I do like to have a preview of my future students.”

Severus snorted. That woman never shuts her mouth up around him. How she gave everyone else the impression that she had a gentle demure, he could never understand. Her powers of deception must have far surpassed that of Severus’. Or maybe, she’s just more comfortable around you, Severus…she trusts you. Severus told the voice in his head to stuff it and replied Gwen’s question just for a bit of distraction.

“A bunch of disobedient, inattentive, unbearable, ill-disciplined, fidgety little devils who are unable to appreciate the wisdom and fine art behind the science of Potion making.”

Gwen started laughing even before the potions master finished his sentence. “Well, what did you expect, Severus – a class full of ingenious, mature young adults, aspiring to become future Potions Masters like yourself? They’re just kids… most of them reluctant to take Potions as a compulsory course for their year. The only reason they’re doing this subject is because they want to get through their OWLS and then never see, touch, hear about this for the rest of their lives if they could help it.”

Severus frowned, although he was thinking through Gwen’s comment.

“That’s no excuse for laziness or bad attitude.”

The soon-to-be Ancient Runes professor sighed and replied, “By all means, Professor Snape, punish them for all that’s worth. I’m not saying you should turn into a lenient, sparkling little fairy who hands out points like sweets every minute of the lesson…”

Severus glared at his companion.

“…but take into account the fact that not all of these children may become future experts in the field we are teaching, some may not even apply any of this knowledge once they’ve sat for their NEWTS. At the end of the day, we’re just trying to get them to learn the skills required so that someday, it may help them out of a difficult situation, sometimes even save their lives.”

“You seem to have given this quite a bit of thought,” the Potions professor said.

“I taught at Beauxbatons for quite some time after my mother…” Gwen stopped and collected herself before moving on. Severus gave her a questioning glance, but did not probe further. “…before coming to Hogwarts.”

“Indeed.”

Gwen shook herself out of her thoughts, which had drifted to the past for a moment. “Let’s just get back to Hogwarts. You have classes tomorrow and I have a project to deal with.”

Even as she said it, Severus could see that she had not left her initial train of thought. The used-to-be Death Eater had been down that road and he knew that the past was a place to visit but not a place to stay, but it was also difficult trying to pull one out of one’s own memory of ‘reminiscing’ the past. The longer one dwells over the subject, the more miserable one becomes, especially if said past was unpleasant.

Later, Severus decided that he must have been under an Imperius curse, because the next words coming out of his mouth were, “Perhaps you would like to join us for some afternoon tea?”