The twenty third of December finally arrived and found Harry anxiously awaiting the arrival of his step-brother. He did not know much about the man, other than what Tobias had told him, but he wanted the man to like him. It would be nice to have a brother to talk to once in a while. Maybe his brother could even give him a few tips on how to get out of trouble. Or in trouble, for that matter. Harry wouldn’t mind either way.

Before his brother would arrive though, Harry had an errand to run.

“I promised Mr. Barwick that I would come over and give him some of your mince pies,” he told Tobias soon after breakfast. “Is that alright?”

Larry Barwick was an old carpenter that lived a few houses down from their house. He was an old friend of Tobias and had taken a liking to Harry. 

“Of course, of course. Take some extra for him even! I always make too much of those mince pies anyway.”

“But aren’t those his favorites as well?”

“Of course they are, why else would he keep nagging me for them every year?”

Harry smiled a little. His adopted father sounded harsh sometimes, like now, but beneath the brusque tone there was also great fondness.

“I meant; aren’t mince pies Severus’ favorites as well?”

“You bet they are. That boy could eat himself silly on them if I’d just let him.”

“Then perhaps it’s good that you made too many?”

“Severus is silly enough as it is! You go on and take these to Larry and hurry on. Severus will be here soon!”

“Yes sir.”

Eagerly Harry grabbed the bag with the mince pies and headed out of the house. It was snowing, thought just barely, and the ground was cowered in a thick layer of snow. Harry ran down the street, enjoying the fresh air. There was something warm and fuzzy inside him, he thought, allowing a big smile to bloom on his face.

“Merry Christmas Mr. Barwick!” Harry called as he opened the door for himself, having knocked first of course.

“Harry, my boy! So good to see you! You’ve got my pies, I assume?”

“I’ve got them. He even gave you a few extra.”

“God bless him. He’s a nice man when he wants to be, your father, you know that?”

Though Mr. Barwick was old with his back bent and hands so stiff he could barely manage on his own, his mind still seemed clear as a day. Harry smiled at the man as he handed over the mince pies, teasingly snatching them away at first.

“How’d things go with our secret, by the way?” Mr. Barwick wondered, looking curious. 

“Good. I managed to get it inside without being seen but then I was almost caught before I had gotten a chance to wrap it.”

“Ah, good, good. Your brother will love it, I’m sure.”

“I hope so,” Harry agreed.

“Of course he will! You’ve made it yourself, haven’t you?”

“You showed me how to.”

“Yes, but you did all the work. My old hands aren’t what they used to be any longer.”

“I just hope he’ll like me,” Harry admitted.

He really, really did hope that this new brother of his would come to like him. Even if they were not the same age they could still talk and Harry did not have many people that he could call friends.

“He’ll like you well enough,” Mr. Barwick assured him. “What isn’t there to like?”

“I guess you’re right,” Harry said, still not convinced.

“Of course I’m right!”

“I better get going. Tobias says he’ll be arriving soon.” 

“Then off you go. And Harry? Merry Christmas!”

“Merry Christmas Mr. Barwick!”

Back out on the street Harry stopped for a while to just enjoy the sight of the snow falling. Spinners End was usually a rather depressing area but once snow fell some of that disappeared. At least that was what Harry thought.

“Is he here yet?” he shouted as soon as he had the door open again.

“Close the door boy,” Tobias admonished him from further inside the house.

Harry closed the door and kicked his shoes off, not bothering to put them in their proper places.

“Is he here yet?” he repeated.

“He is,” and unfamiliar voce replied.

Suddenly that warm and fuzzy feeling within Harry turned into nervous butterflies. He went back and put his shoes properly in place before he went into the living room where he could hear that his father and brother had been.

Once he rounded the corner his eyes fell immediately on the dark man sitting on the sofa. Tobias and him looked quite alike, only that this man was thinner. He had dark hair that reached to his shoulders and looked like it might need a wash. Tobias wore his hair short, like Harry did. The man also wore a dark robe buttoned all the way up to his throat, which made him look somewhat menacing. Harry swallowed nervously.

“Here he is,” Tobias said, breaking the silence. “Severus, meet Harry. Harry, this is Severus. Play nicely, won’t you?”

He smiled as he spoke but Harry barely noticed. His attention was all on Severus. The man had very dark, very intensive eyes. Despite his best efforts Harry could not help squirming a bit under the man’s gaze, wondering why the man was looking at him like that.

“Hello,” he said nervously.

To his disappointment Severus did not reply. Helplessly he glanced at Tobias who seemed oblivious to anything being wrong.

“I’m Harry,” he added.

Realizing how stupid he must sound to introduce himself when Tobias had already done so Harry blushed and looked down at the floor. Right, he had to embarrass himself in front of his brother the first thing he did.

Then suddenly Severus was standing up and coming over to Harry. Harry suppressed a sudden urge to back away but could not stop the flinch as the elder man reached out a hand and grabbed his hair, turning his head to the side. The scar, Harry realized. The man was looking at his scar.

“Harry Potter,” the man said, something strange in his voice. “How extraordinary unexpected to find you here, of all places.”

A part of Harry wanted to go away and hide until Christmas was over upon hearing the tone in the man’s silken voice. Severus did not like him. The dark eyes had him focused as if he was some nasty bug and he was not quite sure what to do with it.

“Here I am,” was all Harry could think of saying.

“Have you two met before?” Tobias asked, surprised.

“We have not,” Severus replied, letting go of Harry’s hair and turning away.

Harry stumbled backwards, feeling hurt at the brusque handling and the disapproving look his brother had given him.

“Then how do you know him?”

“A better question would be; how did he get here? He should be with his aunt and uncle.”

The part that had wanted to hide twisted and turned into a hard knot it his stomach. Harry took a step backwards. This was not going the way he had thought it would. Not at all.

“For someone who has never met him you seem to know a lot about him. Mind explaining yourself, Severus?” Tobias said calmly.

“Why isn’t he at his aunt and uncle’s house? That’s where he belongs.”

No, definitely not going the way Harry had thought it would. This was quickly turning into a nightmare.

“I’m not going back there!” he proclaimed, hands turning into fists as he glared at Severus. “I’m not going back and you can’t make me!”

“We’ll see about …” Severus began but was interrupted by Tobias, who was suddenly looking very intimidating.

“You are not going back there,” Tobias assured him. “Not as long as I have any say in it. And you, Severus, can start explaining yourself!”

For a moment it looked as if Severus was going to object but a glance at Tobias seemed to set him straight. Tobias had that look, that look that he always got when Harry was in Very Big Trouble, and it seemed that even Severus knew not to argue with him then.

“He’s well known in our world,” he explained. “Everyone knows who he is.”

“How come?” Tobias asked, gesturing for Harry to sit down.

Silently Harry took the footstool and pulled it up right next to the armchair Tobias occupied, placing Tobias between himself and Severus. He was not scared, he told himself. It was just that he was not going back and his chances were a lot better if he let Tobias do the fighting. Tobias tended to get what Tobias wanted anyway.

“Because he defeated a dark wizard. His parents died but he survived with only that scar.”

Now, Harry had learned about magic and wizards since he came to live with Tobias. He knew that the strange things that happened around him sometimes were because of his magic. However he found it hard to believe that what this man was telling him was true. Him, defeating a dark wizard? No way.

“That’s not true,” he said. “Aunt said my mom and dad died in a car crash.”

“Then she lied,” the man said pointedly, before turning back to Tobias. “Fact remains that the whole magical world knows who he is.”

Severus and Harry exchanged cool looks before Severus focused on Tobias again.

“After the attack he was placed with his aunt and uncle. For his own protection. Now I’d like to know why he’s not there.”

Tobias placed a hand on Harry’s knee. To Harry the message in that gesture was clear. There was no way that Tobias would let him go back to the Dursleys. Ever.

“They mistreated him,” Tobias told Severus. “Social services intervened and he was placed in foster care.  Eventually he ended up with me and he’s been living with me since the summer.”

Naturally there were thousands of details left out. Tobias was nice that way, sometimes. Some people would have made a big scene out of it but he respected that Harry did not want people to know. Severus didn’t need to know how Harry had been shipped around from family to family, never really being wanted, until he had finally gotten enough and run away. Neither did he need to know that Harry had run into Tobias after only a few weeks but that it had taken months for the boy to come to trust him. So Tobias only told the much shortened version.

“They mistreated him?” Severus repeated, doubt coloring is voice.

“They did.”

“Was it badly?”

“Badly enough that social services felt they had to intervene.”

A silence followed. Harry had the feeling of a silent power struggle going on between the two adults. He didn’t like it when adults argued, especially not over him. But Tobias was nice and he seemed to understand Harry, so Harry trusted him.

Finally Severus sighed and looked away. It seemed he had admitted defeat. For now, at least.

“Fine. I’ll have to mention this to Dumbledore though.”

“Do whatever you must, Severus,” Tobias said. “But Harry is staying here.”

It wasn’t a question, the last part, it was a statement. Severus nodded all the same.

“Good! Then might I suggest that you get settled in? You’ll have to share room with Harry but I put in an extra bed there, so there shouldn’t really be a problem.”

Damn, Harry swore to himself. He had forgotten for a moment that he had agreed to share a room with his unknown brother. Now he wasn’t so sure he wanted to any more. When he agreed to it he had imagined lying awake all night whispering to his brother. Severus was definitely not the kind of confidant Harry had hoped for.

“What happened to my room?” Severus asked.

“Harry moved into it, so now it’s his room. Why don’t you show him there, Harry? Get to know each other!”

His father wanted him to socialize with the man that wanted to send him back to the Dursleys? Harry stared at him, horrified. Tobias seemed completely unaffected and calmly stood up.

“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some Christmas food to prepare.”

With Tobias disappearing off into the kitchen Harry found himself alone with his would be brother. The knot in his stomach had loosened somewhat but he still felt like running. Even so he forced himself to act somewhat calm. He would not show fear.

“It’s this way,” he said, gesturing towards the stairs.

“I know which way it is. I grew up here,” the man said, his voice cold.  

Without a second look to Harry Severus headed for the stairs. If the man had any luggage Harry did not see it. He hurried after, both fearful and curious.

In the doorway to what would be their room over the holidays Severus stopped to survey the changes that had been made. There were now two beds crammed into the narrow space, one closest to the window and one pressed up against the wall with the desk. It would be impossible to sit by the desk, since one of the beds made it impossible to pull out the desk chair, but there was just enough room to open the wardrobe.

Casually the man pulled out a small item from his pocket and tapped it with a stick he pulled out from another pocket. His wand, Harry realized, as the small item grew and grew until it was clearly a suitcase. Harry stared at it, suddenly excited again. He had not seen much magic before in his life, though Tobias had told him that Severus was a wizard.

“That was so cool!” he said.

Severus merely placed the suitcase on the desk and began to unpack his things, not bothering to reply or even glance in Harry’s direction.

“I left the top drawer empty for you,” Harry pointed out.

“Hmp.”

Severus just continued to unpack and Harry shifted nervously on his feet where he stood in the doorway. No, things were still not going the way he had planned. Maybe it had been a bit childish to hope that a grown man would like to be his friend but was it too much to ask that the man at least talk to him?

Apparently it was.

“Could you show me some magic later?” he asked after a few minutes.

“No.”

“Why not? Tobias says I’m a wizard too, though I haven’t been to school yet so I can’t really do anything.”

“I’m not here to be your personal entertainment, Mr. Potter. I am here to see my father over the holidays.”

The tone was cold and Harry felt the man might as well have slapped him. Severus definitely did not like him.

“He adopted me, you know,” he said, trying to hide the hurt behind anger. “So it’s Potter-Snape, not Potter.”

His words were not acknowledged in any way and Harry fled the room, feeling tears burn in his eyes. He’d really hoped that Tobias’ son would like him. What did the man have against him anyway? Harry hadn’t done him anything, as far as he knew. Unless Severus was mad that Harry had moved into his old room and all that. But somehow Harry got the feeling that was not it.  

As he had recently learned to do when he was upset over something Harry sought out Tobias. He found the man in the kitchen, stirring several pots at once.

“Everything alright there?” Tobias asked.

Harry shook his head.

“No,” he admitted. “He doesn’t like me.”

Tobias sighed and turned the heat down a bit before he joined his son at the kitchen table.

“He’s in a mood,” he tried to explain. “When he’s like that he doesn’t like anyone, but he’ll snap out of it eventually.”

Though Harry was not convinced he tried to smile.

“You sure?” he asked.

“I’m sure. He gets that from his mother. One day she’d be all nice and friendly, the next one she’d be cursing at me like a she-wolf! But eventually they come out if it and apologize.”

Still, Harry was not completely convinced that Severus would start to like him eventually but he tried to smile and cheer himself up a bit.

“Do you need any help?” he asked.

“Actually, I do. I was planning on making cookies but as you can see I’m standing in work up to my shoulders …

Putting aside his hurt feelings Harry happily dug into his task with gusto, determined to make the best Christmas cookies ever. The baking managed to relax him and he was happy just spending time in the kitchen with his adoptive father, helping the man out. Not even Severus joining them after a while could ruin his mood.