Fairytale Of Home by Livia Ethelind
Summary: Thanks to James' sacrifice, Lord Voldemort is defeated. Lily barely survives and is rescued by Severus. Years later Harry struggles to live side by side with his hateful and unforgiving stepfather in a very troubled household. Unbeknownst to both much greater challenges lie ahead.
Categories: Teacher Snape > Professor Snape, Parental Snape > Stepfather Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Lily, Original Character
Snape Flavour: Snape is Angry, Snape Comforts, Snape is Controlling, Snape is Cruel, Snape is Depressed, Snape is Mean, Snape is Stern
Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama, Family, Tragedy
Media Type: None
Tags: Alternate Universe, Amnesia, Child fic
Takes Place: 0 - Before Harry is born, 0 - Pre Hogwarts (before Harry is 11), 1st summer before Hogwarts, 1st Year
Warnings: Character Death, Physical Punishment Spanking, Neglect, Profanity, Romance/Het, Violence
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 13 Completed: Yes Word count: 45833 Read: 69709 Published: 11 Sep 2016 Updated: 03 May 2017
Great Expectations by Livia Ethelind
Author's Notes:
Harry tries to get expelled...
Harry glanced back over his shoulder as the small group moved closer to the fireplace. A pair of dark eyes stared back at him from the hallway. Aoife's face was in itself neutral as she watched Harry, Lily and Lizette leave for London. Snape had already gone ahead to Hogwarts. When she locked eyes with Harry something changed. Harry couldn't be sure what it was but the way she looked at him... He immediately turned and stepped closer to his mother. He could still feel those eyes upon him as they disappeared in flames.

A week later Harry found his life had changed completely. For the better or worse? Harry wasn't sure. There was no Aoife – but having her at home with Lily was not comforting either. Instead there was Malfoy. The boy he had met in the store who was furious that Harry had not presented himself and that he had refused his friendship in defense of Ron. Ron was a new thing. Harry had a friend for the first time in years. Then there was Snape. On the night of the sorting, the hat had insisted on Slytherin but Harry couldn't, he just couldn't be in that house with him as his head. He eventually looked up at him from the Gryffindor table but Snape never looked back. His mother had sent a letter expressing her joy in regards to Harry being in Gryffindor like she had been but Snape hadn't spoken a word to him. Harry wasn't sure whether that made him angry, sad or happy. Initially he'd been doubting whether the Gryffindors only whispered about him because he was Harry Potter until Ron confirmed that some of the students were ill at easy around him because he was the stepson of the Head of Slytherin. Any suspicions from the other lions didn't last beyond Harry's first potions class. Snape hadn't looked at him throughout it but mercilessly bullied Neville and Hermione. He also let – for Harry was absolutely certain that he saw, Malfoy bump the table Harry and Ron were sitting at, causing Ron's ink to spill all over the desk. Harry was surprised actually. He'd actually thought Snape was only mean to him and Aoife. It had never even once occurred to him that he might act like this towards his students. Despite Ron's eagerness to go outside and mumble ways to kill Snape, Harry walked with Neville and Hermione in an attempt to comfort the two of them.

The distrusting looks turned to looks of sympathy and even encouragement when they saw Harry seething through it and gripping the edge of the desk tightly. Harry felt terribly awful after his first transfiguration class. Professor McGonagall did something Harry had never experienced before – or rather in a long time. He and Ron were late and she reprimanded them. Yet after Harry took his seat he was neither angry with her nor denying that he had deserved it. In fact she'd been rather nice about it and he found himself respecting her almost instantly. During lessons and even occasionally during meals he could feel her eyes resting upon him momentarily yet it didn't bother him. But he had a plan. He had to get expelled. It didn't matter if professor McGonagall would be displeased. The perfect opportunity arrived one morning when they were scheduled to have their first flying class. Harry had been looking forward to this since he'd never been permitted to fly before.

”Under no circumstances do you take off without my permission, is that understood?” said Madam Hooch. ”The consequences will be severe! Now, by your brooms!”

Of course they didn't even manage to start the lesson properly before Neville shot up into the air, whirled around the yard and eventually fell back down and thus injured himself. Madam Hooch left with him to take him to the hospital wing.

”He should have used this more,” sneered Malfoy suddenly and Harry turned to see him holding Neville's remembrall. ”Maybe then he would have remembered not to be an idiot.”

”Give it back, Malfoy,” cried Harry. A moment later Malfoy was in the air and Harry shot after him despite Hermione's objections. He knew what he was doing. If he could expelled for something he'd have done either way that was just fine. Harry didn't even have the time to think about the fact that he didn't know how to fly nor the fact that it felt so natural to him. Him simply did whatever came to him. The two boys flew around the yard at impressive speed until Malfoy threw the orb at the wall. Without hesitation Harry dove after it, not realizing he and the orb were heading for a window. Just as Harry's fingers grasped the remembrall, glass shattered around him as he flew through the window and into the office of a very shocked professor McGonagall.

”Mr Potter!” she cried in outrage as soon as she realized who the student floating in her office was. Harry locked eyes with the professor and once again did what came natural to him – he escaped. ”Mr Potter! Come back here at once! Don't you dare...” yelled the professor somewhere behind him as he shot back out through the window. He didn't make it that far. He flew too fast to properly maneuver and knocked into a statue as he passed it. Losing control of the broom Harry fell towards the ground. He barely managed to close his eyes before he found himself floating in the air just above the grass. He opened his eyes and looked up towards the smashed window to find a white-faced McGonagall leaning out of it with her wand pointed at Harry. He was lowered down and McGonagall looked at him sternly from high above – or so Harry assumed. It wasn't long before he was surrounded by the other Gryffindors who attempted to help him up.

”Stand aside!” he heard McGonagall's voice say not 10 minutes later.

”But professor! Malfoy...” began Ron.

”Mr Potter! With me!” she commanded and Harry didn't dare disobey her. Malfoy sniggered and Hermione gave him a worried look as he was lead away.

”Professor? Are we... Where are we going?” Harry asked quietly after a while. This wasn't the way to McGonagall's office. Clearly they were going to see the Headmaster. Despite this being what Harry had hoped for he couldn't help but feeling bad either.

”We're going to the hospital wing,” said the professor shortly. ”Your hands are bleeding, Mr Potter.”

”Oh,” said Harry. Well, that wasn't telling him much about his fate. He wanted to object and say he'd be just fine but he couldn't. Little did he know how much he would regret that.

Harry sat on a bed in the hospital wing. No other student was there as Neville had already been permitted to leave. He was glad of it. They spoke in hushed voices but a curtain was no wall and Harry could easily hear the conversation between Madam Pomfrey and professor McGonagall.

”Are you certain?” said professor McGonagall in disbelief.

”Of course, I am! The bruises are fading but they are there! And this! THIS! This is the result of a curse, Minerva! You can't argue that...”

”I'm not!” said the professor gravely. ”I had just never imagined... I don't understand it. How... How could he? There must be some mistake!”

”11 year olds do not go about cursing themselves in the back as far as I know!” huffed the mediwitch. ”And the bruises! He's been beaten! Or assaulted!”

Harry wanted to cry. They knew. They were going to find out. And if anyone knew his mother would suffer for it. The look Aoife had given him was still fresh in his memory.

”Harry,” said McGonagall softly as she withdrew the curtain. ”Harry, I would like to ask you some questions if that is alright?”

”Am I going to be expelled?” said Harry quietly.

”What? No! We'll talk about that some other time. Madam Pomfrey saw you had some older bruises. Could you tell me how you got them?” As she spoke she sat down on the side of the bed. This made it more awkward for Harry as he was used to her as a stern teacher with great expectations regarding her students. He didn't like it when she used his first name.

”Fell,” Harry mumbled as he drew his knees up under his chin.

”And the curse? You have marks from a curse on your back. How did that get there?”

”I fell,” Harry mumbled. ”On some magical thing. It was an accident. I was clumsy.”

”Hmm,” said McGonagall calmly. ”Are you sure that's the truth?” At this she moved his hands to look him in the eyes.

”I didn't mean to fly through the window,” said Harry, changing the subject.

Madam Pomfrey watched them with crossed arms. The two witches shared a knowing look. ”Harry, I want you to stay here with Madam Pomfrey. She will do some additional scans. I will go and fetch the Headmaster, is that alright?”

”So, I'm getting expelled?”

The amount of hope in Harry's voice was clearly noticed by the witches because they looked both confused and concerned. ”No, Mr Potter,” said McGonagall in a sterner tone. ”No one is getting expelled today.” At that Harry curled up on the bed and refused to look at either of them. When the Headmaster arrived they didn't speak as the adults spoke in Pomfrey's office. Once they returned McGonagall once again asked Harry to explain what had happened to him. He repeated that he'd fallen once again. The old wizard had strange annoying eyes that twinkled and seemed as though they could see what he was thinking, yet Harry couldn't look away. Then McGonagall allowed him to return to his dorm but informed him he would be expected the following day to remove the traces upon him. When Harry returned to the common room he didn't know what to make of it all. Several student descended upon him. Some to hear if he was okay, some to hear how many points they lost and some didn't know what was happening but just wanted in on whatever it was. Harry only needed to look at Ron once before the other boy pulled him along to their dorm.

”Harry...” he suddenly heard a voice behind him say. He turned on the stairs and saw Neville there. ”I just wanted to say thank you,” the boy smiled as he held up the remembrall.

”What happened?” said Ron when they were finally alone. ”Are you in trouble?”

”I don't know,” shrugged Harry. ”They said I wasn't but I'm not sure.”

”Okay, mate,” Ron nodded but he seemed to consider Harry.

”I'm pretty tired. I think I'll go to sleep,” Harry replied. It was not even time for dinner but the other boy didn't question it. Harry was incredibly surprised when he woke later to find a plate of food and a glass of milk on his nightstand. He had a few bites and then lay staring at the bed draping. Hopefully this would all go away. He knew it was silly but he somehow felt like Aoife already knew. Eventually Harry drifted off and was thus unaware of what was now happening deep below him.

Minerva McGonagall marched into the dungeons which was quite a shock for the Slytherin students she met on her way. Some jumped out of her way, others narrowed their eyes at her presence and her displeased look. Eventually she knocked upon the door to her colleague's office and he was just as surprised to see her as his students had been. His expression changed momentarily to a mixture of annoyance and acknowledgement since it was clear she had a problem and he was sure it was the same problem he'd had for years. The woman didn't even bother to close the door gently. It slammed shut behind her as she marched to his desk and smacked a stack of papers onto it.

Severus Snape!” she hissed. That was new. In fact Snape had rarely ever seen her anywhere near this angry – and certainly not with him.

”If this is about the boy, I know he's a menace...” he began as calmly as one could in that situation.

”About the boy? How dare you! You'll explain yourself immediately before we have you removed from school grounds!” said the witch.

Snape simply stared at the green-clad woman whose presence in his office was now both as alarming as it was unusual. ”Minerva, what on earth are you talking about?” he replied, the confusion now surfacing in his face for the first time. He looked down to find the papers were his stepson's medical files.

The next morning Harry awoke to find a note on his bedside table. Curious he opened it up and there he grimaced as he recognized the scrawl upon it as his stepfather's. It was a rather short message saying that he wanted to see Harry in his office during lunch break. Well, Harry wasn't that dumb and frankly that was the last person, well, almost the last person he'd want to see after yesterday. So, he and Ron went along to herbology together although Harry could feel Ron was curious about the previous day he soon forgot as the boy struggled to harvest the cones off of a Snarking Skunkpine – which fought very well for itself. After a while the odor in the greenhouse was unbearable and professor Sprout had to excuse them all. By lunchtime all was back to normal where his friends were concerned and despite Ron's initial objections to her he said nothing when Hermione and Neville joined them at the end of the Gryffindor table. Harry pushed his food around a lot before he simply went on to sweets. He felt watched and looked up to catch both McGonagall, Pomfrey and the Headmaster watching him. But Snape wasn't there. Of course not, he's waiting in the dungeons. Harry turned back to his friends and took an apple. He felt pretty good about letting Snape wait for him. Of course he came to regret that when they left the Great Hall to go to charms. They hadn't made it far until a hand landed on his shoulder and caused Hermione to cease her lecture about locking charms mid-sentence.

”Potter... Follow me,” said a familiar voice behind him. His friends were clearly not comfortable around Snape and Neville had gone positively white. Ron however sensed that Harry wasn't much more comfortable.

”Professor, we have to go to charms,” he said shortly and reached for Harry's arm.

”Mr Potter is excused for now and will join you later, Weasley. You had better get going or you will be late,” Snape sneered above Harry's head. Hermione and Neville hurried on their way but Ron walked slowly and kept looking back at Harry. ”This way,” mumbled Snape as he placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. This is it, Harry thought. I've been expelled. And now he's going to yell at me about it. How they made their way to his office, Harry didn't know. In fact it struck him that he'd have never found it in the first place as he had no idea where it was. His office looked different. It was nothing like the Bleak House at all. There everything was lavish but here the furniture was practical but nice in their own gloomy fashion. It looked like a mix between the lab and an office really. Snape closed the door behind them and Harry suddenly felt terribly trapped and terribly stupid. He'd known Snape would be angry when he got expelled but he hadn't given much thought as to how angry.

”What do you think you're doing?” Snape suddenly said and Harry whirled around to face him.

”What do you mean?” said Harry. He didn't know if he was actually doing something wrong at that moment or if this was about the broom incident.

What do you mean?” Snape mimicked. ”You know perfectly well what you told professor McGonagall.”

Harry felt a sinking feeling in his stomach. This was about that. In the next moment Snape grabbed him and turned him. Once again Harry expected to be struck but it didn't happen. Instead Snape pulled off his robes and yanked his shirt up, exposing his back. Harry didn't have time to react. Snape didn't say anything for what felt like the longest moment in the history of moments. Then Harry felt his cold fingertips grazing the spot where the curse had hit him.

”How did you do this?” Snape said quietly, too quietly.

Harry breathed out. ”I fell,” he mumbled. That wasn't the right answer and he was turned back around. Snape held him by the shoulders and brought his face closer to Harry's.

”You are going to go and tell them right now. You are going to march up there now and tell them I didn't do this!” said Snape in a frantic voice.

The boy blinked at him with confusion in his eyes. ”I... I never said you did.”

”Do you honestly think anyone believes your nonsense? The bruises I would expect from you but this...” said Snape pointing a bony finger at Harry's chest and thus through him to the mark on his back. ”What did you do? Pick a fight with an older student?”

His eyes were filling with tears at the injustice of it all. Harry knew Snape wouldn't believe him if he told him the truth. He'd always believed Aoife over him and if Aoife found out... He couldn't let her hurt Lily.

”I fell,” he said resolutely.

”Is this amusing to you?” replied Snape in outrage. ”I could lose my position! Stop this immediately! You will tell me the truth!”

”I hate you,” replied Harry and that was the truth at that moment. In the next moment he was out of the door and running back through the dungeons. He didn't show up at the hospital wing to be healed so McGonagall had to come to his dorm and get him herself. Still, she didn't seem angry in the slightest. Harry wondered if she knew where he had been earlier because no mention was made of his skipping class either.

”Harry, please,” said the professor. She and the Headmaster was sitting opposite him in the wing and the old man had yet to say anything. Harry was now healing. The bruises were already gone but the mark took extra time.

”I fell,” Harry repeated and McGonagall sighed before glancing at the Headmaster.

”Where did you fall?” said Dumbledore calmly. Damn it! Harry hadn't really given any thought to detail.

”Erm... Erm... In the... house,” he replied. ”It's nothing. Can I go now?”

”You prefer other company?” chuckled Dumbledore. ”Well, of course the young would.”

”I thought you were here to expel me,” said Harry.

”Why do you keep saying that?” asked McGonagall. ”Would you like us to?” Harry nodded. ”Do you even understand what that would mean? Why... Why do you want to go home, Harry?”

”No reason,” Harry shrugged. ”Can I go now?”

”Yes,” McGonagall sighed. But as Harry left the hospital wing he could have sworn he heard the Headmaster say: ”I don't think we have much choice.”

”It's not right. You know that,” replied McGonagall.
The End.
End Notes:
Thank you for sticking with me so far on this semi-Dickensian adventure! If the darkness gets to you this is for you! *Offers a piece of chocolate*


This story archived at http://www.potionsandsnitches.org/fanfiction/viewstory.php?sid=3358