Field of Broken Dreams by JAWorley
Summary: After getting sixteen year old Harry out of jail over the summer, Severus Snape must deal with a number of things, including: trying to maintain a relationship with his future wife, building a relationship with his future step-son, and trying to figure out the ever-changing enigma that is Harry Potter.
Categories: Healer Snape, Teacher Snape > Professor Snape, Parental Snape > Guardian Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Dudley, Dumbledore, Hermione, McGonagall, Molly, Original Character, Other, Petunia, Ron
Snape Flavour: Snape is Angry, Canon Snape, Snape Comforts, Snape is Controlling, Snape is Desperate, Snape is Kind, Snape is Loving, Snape is Stern
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Canon, Drama, Family, Fantasy, General, Hurt/Comfort
Media Type: None
Tags: Adoption, Hospitalization, Incognito!Harry, Injured!Harry, Injured!Snape, Runaway, Sibling Addition, Snape-meets-Dursleys
Takes Place: 6th summer, 6th Year, 7th summer
Warnings: Abusive Dursleys, Neglect, Physical Punishment Non-Spanking, Profanity, Romance/Het, Violence
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 20 Completed: No Word count: 74912 Read: 190212 Published: 06 Jul 2012 Updated: 30 Jun 2021
Preparations by JAWorley
Author's Notes:
I did NOT plan for the chapter to come out this way. It ended up being light hearted and fun and maybe too sappy. I guess once I got to a certain point in it I felt like Harry really ought to have at least one nice day in the summer to really enjoy. So what I'm saying is I fluffed up :)

"So what ‘did' she give you?" Sam teased as he and Harry played catch with the lacrosse sticks in the back yard a few days after Harry's second birthday excursion.

"I'm not telling," Harry said.

"Oh a gentleman than?"

"Shouldn't I be?"

"So she did kiss you!"

"I didn't say that."

"A gentleman never kisses and tells, yeah?"

Harry scrunched up his nose. "Don't go telling people."

"Because her honor is at stake?"

"Well, yeah, I guess."

"Just like Ron." Sam grinned and Harry shook his head.

"Well are you going to ask her out then? You need a date for the wedding anyway."

Harry shrugged. Severus and Joanna had been in and out of the house over the last few days finalizing wedding plans. The wedding was in two weeks, and then they were going to take a three day honeymoon, leaving Sam and Harry with Jason while they were gone. After that, school was just a few days away.

"Well who are you taking then?" Harry asked.

"Katie Davis."

"You were dating her before, yeah? Is that the girl your mum accused you of getting pregnant after they found the missing ingredients?"

"Yeah, that's her. We're just friends now, but who knows."

"You still like her then?"

It was Sam's turn to shrug. "Yeah, I guess I do."

"Ok," Harry nodded. Sam didn't want to tell him that he really did like her. Harry'd been wanting to go back to the Burrow again anyway, and maybe this was a good excuse to go, to ask Ginny to accompany him to the wedding. He wondered how Ron would take it if he didn't invite him.

After lunch, Harry went down to the basement to find Severus, who smiled when Harry walked in. "Back for another lesson?"

"No, but I'll take one if you've got one," he said. In a third letter to Severus Harry told him that he wanted to learn advanced NEWT potions and that Hermione had given him the book, and in Severus' spare time between wedding planning, they'd been doing lessons that Sam opted out of.

"Come sit down then. You can help me make some of the potions that are going out as gifts at the wedding."

Harry took a seat on one of the two stools.

"You came down to ask me something?" Severus asked as he pushed a tray full of toad tongues towards him to chop up.

"I wanted to know if I could go back to the Burrow, to ask Ginny if she'd go to the wedding with me."

"The two of you are dating?" Severus inquired.

"No," Harry said, but he hoped to date her. Severus didn't ask that however.

"Then you intend to go as friends?"

"Sam and Katie are going as friends."

"Indeed." Severus set a measuring cup and two bottled potions down next to where Harry was working, one red and one green and told him to mix them in equal proportions.

"It will be a small wedding, and very few people have been invited due to the nature of the threat from the Dark lord."

"Am I not allowed to bring a guest then?" Harry asked, stopping his chopping for a moment. He'd never been to a wedding before, and didn't know what was proper and what wasn't.

"That is not what I meant. You may bring Ginny. I only meant to tell you, that typically one brings the person they're together with to a wedding. Those who are present may get the wrong idea."

"Well, who will be there?" He really didn't care what people thought of him and Ginny.

"The Headmaster, Minerva, Madam Pomfrey, several of Jo's co-workers and their families, Jason, and Draco Malfoy, who is not allowed to bring a guest."

"Oh," Harry said. Draco had already seen Harry on Diagonalley with them and hadn't seemed to tattle yet, but he could possibly cause trouble if Harry was there. Again, Harry wasn't concerned what others thought of him and Ginny going together, but maybe Draco might say something to make Ginny think twice about the kiss she'd given him.

"I don't care what others think about it," Harry said. If she did eventually agree to go out with him then people would see them together anyway.

"You are unconcerned that Draco may or may not let slip to the Dark Lord that you are dating Ginny Weasley?"

Harry froze again. "Do you think he'd do that? He knows I'm staying with you and hasn't said anything yet."

Severus raised his brows. "Hm." He didn't ask how Draco knew though.

"We can't just modify his memory or give me and Ginny potion so we don't look like ourselves?"

"I don't think so."

Harry grumbled something then and Severus asked, "You had something else to say?"

"I said maybe I won't go then." He hadn't said it with an attitude and Severus didn't take it with one.

"You may bring Ginny Weasley, but her family may not allow her to come, knowing the consequences."

"Unless we invite their family," Harry said with a hopeful smile. "Draco knows I'm friends with her, so if he sees me hanging out with her and her parents are there too..." He knew he was asking for a lot. He wasn't a part of their family, and knew they shouldn't be made to make exceptions just for his sake just because Voldemort was after him.

Severus gave him a close looking over. "As it happens, Jo works closely with Arthur from time to time. Occasionally he and the accidental magical reversal squad are required to bring Muggles to her to be treated before their memories are erased. We had discussed inviting them."

"So, they might come anyway?"

Severus nodded. "We will talk about inviting them again."

Harry gave him a little smile. "Thanks." He really wanted to tack ‘dad' onto the end of that, but didn't think Professor Snape would allow it.

Over the next few days Sam and Harry were enlisted to do a number of things to help with wedding preparations, including hand delivering an invitation to Molly and Arthur Weasley, and Ginny. Ron gruffed about not being invited, but when Ginny slapped him on the shoulder and reminded him that he didn't like Snape anyway, he closed his mouth.

"I don't think it will be much fun anyhow," Harry said.

"Where are they holding it anyway?" Ginny asked as Harry and Sam sat on the couch.

"I guess there's a spot in the West Forest that's still on Hogwarts grounds, so still protected."

"I like it there," Ginny said. Harry nodded. Sometimes Professor Sprout or even Hagrid took them into the edge of the forest on the West side of Hogwarts. It was wild but a far cry from the Forbidden Forest, as it didn't hold many magical creatures and the two didn't connect.

"What should I wear?" Ginny asked.

Harry couldn't help but get a little hazy when he looked at her, and ended up shrugging as he turned red and looked away.

"Draco Malfoy will be there," Sam said, though Ginny didn't roll her eyes like he'd expected her too. "Also the Patil twins, their dad is a healer at Mungos, and Terry Boot. His mum is nurse."

"His dad works with dad in the Muggle Affairs office," Ron piped in, sitting in the frayed recliner by the empty fire grate. "We've had to have him for dinner before."

"We didn't ‘have' to," Ginny said, and this time she did roll her eyes. "He doesn't like Terry," she said then with a little smirk.

"Well not when he's sitting there across the table giving my sister googly eyes!"

Harry pretended to be very interested in his shoes just then and Sam flashed him a little smile before he saw Ginny smirking again.

"Can you stay for lunch?" she asked.

"I think they're done with us for the day," Harry said. "We were just getting in the way. I think that's why they sent us over."

"Maybe we can play Quidditch. You know, Hermione is supposed to be here by dinner."

"Yeah? Too bad we can't stay the night too."

"Well why not?" Ron asked. "Think ol' Snape will let you?"

Harry turned to look at Sam who shrugged.

"I'll ask mum then," Ron said, and he was up and into the kitchen before Harry could say that he really didn't want to impose. He caught Ginny looking at him however and turned red again, thinking he would like to spend some time with her.

"Mum says you can stay," Ron said, standing in the doorframe.

"We'll go home and ask then," Sam said, standing and tugging Harry's shirt sleeve to get him up. "We'll let you know if we can't by floo."

"Well come back anyway," Ron said to Harry conspiratorially as Sam tossed a handful of floo powder into the fireplace and green flames erupted. "Or else we'll have to come break you out again."

"Without a car?" Harry asked.

"We have brooms."

He laughed then and turned to follow Sam, who was still waiting, into the green flames.

Severus and Jo seemed a little relieved to have the two boys out from underfoot. Not that they were really in the way, they usually went out in the day time, but it would save Jo some cooking that night, and Harry wondered what the two would do while they were gone.

They took two sleeping bags Sam had brought out from the garage, Quidditch magazines, and some clothes in their back packs. When they were back at the Burrow, Ron lead them up to his room, and they laid the sleeping bags on the floor. Sam looked around with a critical eye.

"Like the Cannons huh?" he asked. The walls were papered with Cannon's posters from different years, and the orange had begun to fade from most of them.

"Yeah. You?"

"Falcons," Sam said.

"Harry likes the Cannons," Ron said then.

"I think I saw one go into the back of the Quidditch store on Diagonalley earlier this summer," he said, not wanting to say that they weren't his favorite team.

"Which one? Was it Duggar?"

"I just saw his orange shirt. It looked like he might be wearing a Keeper helmet though."

"Drake," Ron said knowledgeably as he sat back on his bed, which had an orange bed spread.

Sam pulled out the tall stack of Quidditch magazines from his bag and set them on the floor, drawing Ron to the floor as well.

"You subscribe to all these?"

"Yeah, look, I've even got two from America and I picked up this subscription when I was in France."

"It must cost a fortune each month," Ron said in awe.

"Well it helps to have a Potion's Professor who's trying to win you over," Sam said then. "He upped my allowance by two sickles a month!"

Ron nudged Harry. "Think it's too late to get him interested in mum?" All three of them laughed. Harry had just opened one of the magazines when Ginny appeared in the doorframe though and met his eyes.

"I- I think I'll get some water from downstairs," Harry said. "Want anything?"

"Nah," Ron said, and Sam shook his head.

"Be back soon then."

Harry followed Ginny out and down one floor to a part of the Burrow Harry didn't usually visit. There were four doors off of the narrow hallway.

"That one's Fred and George's room and the next one belonged to Percy. Bill and Charlie shared the next one."

"So they're empty now?"

"Well Fred and George still come back to eat and sleep but they're gone most of the time."

"Oh," Harry said. He liked the twins and was looking forward to them coming home that night. He was also looking forward to seeing Hermione.

"Want to walk outside? It's kind of hot in here."

Harry nodded and they continued down through the house and out the back door.

"Um, Ginny," Harry said when they were about fifteen feet from the house.

"Yes?"

Harry half turned around, feeling awkward. "Your mum's watching us from the kitchen window."

She giggled. "Yes but she's not as protective as Ron. She's the one who told me to go up and see if you wanted to come down."

"Your mum?"

She shrugged.

They walked in the field for a while and Harry told her about some of his summer. Talking to her was easy like talking to Sam or Ron was, even though Harry hadn't really told Ron much about his summer so far.

"I'm really sorry Harry," she ended up saying an hour later as they sat under the shade of a large tree in the tall grass. The sun was starting to go down. "Your summer sounds awful."

"Well it's not all bad. I got a new room, new clothes, new furniture..." he paused, and then tried to screw up the courage to take Ginny's hand. "A new girlfriend," he finished, looking over at her.

"Who is it? Lavender Brown?"

Harry's mouth fell open just a little but then she laughed and shoved him lightly, and he relaxed.

"S'not funny," he mumbled, but then she took his hand and his heart beat rapidly as he caught her eye again.

"Ron will flip out," Harry said.

"He knows I like you. He would have said something already if he minded."

"Huh."

Harry was about to lean in to see if he could get another kiss but in the distance they heard what sounded like someone calling Ginny's name.

"I think someone's calling," she said quietly.

"Yeah."

Harry started to get up, but Ginny stole a quick kiss and then jumped up and laughed before running off. Harry chased after her across the tall green field and when he caught up with her he took her hand and they enjoyed the walk back in the cool evening breeze.

Fred was in the garden holding a lawn gnome upside down while George tried to get it to bite sponge when they got back to the house.

"There you two love birds are," George said. "Hermione's here and mum said dinner will be ready soon."

"What on earth are you doing to that gnome?"

"Harvesting slobber for a new product," Fred said. "Want to help?"

"No, I think we'll go find Hermione," Ginny said, and didn't let go of Harry's hand as she lead him inside.

Molly gave them a warm smile when they got inside the too warm kitchen, and Hermione stood up from the table and gave them a surprised look, which made Harry blush.

"I wondered where you'd gotten off to. No one was around when I got here except for the twins and a gnome."

"Ron's upstairs with Sam," Harry supplied.

"Sam?"

Oh. In his evening walk with Ginny he'd forgotten that she didn't know about his new living arrangements yet.

"Sam Heywood," Harry said.

"I didn't realize he and Ron were friends."

"Well if they haven't had it out over which Quidditch team is better," Ginny said, "they might both still be alive up there."

As if they knew they were being talked about, Sam and Ron came thundering down the twisted lopsided stairs and Harry and Ginny let go of each other's hands, but not before Sam had seen. Ron had seen too, but it looked like he was choosing to ignore it.

"Went for water huh?" Sam teased, and Harry shook his head.

"Everyone at the table now," Mrs. Weasley said, "Dinner's ready and Arthur will be home any minute."

While Harry had had fun with Sam this summer, he knew that this would be the best time he'd have all summer. Dinner was a raucous affair with the twins telling tales of their new inventions and the lengths they had gone to to acquire ingredients, and Ron and Sam talking loudly about Quidditch tactics. After dinner George brought out a new Tri-W product, a shiny red Quaffle that had rounded edges and was lighter and more aerodynamic and the whole lot took off for the Quidditch Paddock, where even Mr. Weasley pulled out the broom he sometimes took to work if the Floo Network was backed up, and they played Quidditch until nearly ten pm. Mrs. Weasley had brought lemonade and cake in a basket and had cast a charm that drew all the lightning bugs for miles to the paddock to light their night time game. When they were back at the house, Ginny and Hermione joined the three boys upstairs where they ended up sitting in the hallway reading magazines and laughing well into the night, because there wasn't enough room in Ron's attic bedroom for all of them. Harry didn't have a watch that worked, but he estimated it was after two am by the time he finally crawled into his sleeping bag on Ron's floor.

"Harry?" Ron said long after they heard Sam's snores in the darkness.

"Yeah?"

"Still my brother?"

"Yeah."

"Good."

"Night."

"Night."

And then he drifted into a calm sleep bourn of exhaustion. He didn't worry about casting a silencing spell, because he didn't need one. There were no nightmares that night.

To be continued...
End Notes:
Fluffy.


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