Severus was sitting in his armchair in front of the fireplace. If someone came in, it would look like he was reading the Daily Prophet. In truth, Severus was distracted. He’s been trying to find a certain little boy. Each time he would try he would get thwarted.

The child should be turning ten this year. There was a gift that he wanted the young boy to have since he was a small child.

His thoughts were stopped by someone rushing into his chambers.

“I found it,” Septima said, excitedly.

 Severus wasn’t totally out of the seat when he was tackled back in his chair with someone kissing him.

“Not that I’m complaining,” Severus said, his arms wrapped around Septima’s waist, pulling her onto his lap. “But what has gotten you in this state?”

Septima looking down at her husband with a smile on his face.

“I found out where Harry is,” Septima said, trying to contain herself.

“What?” Severus said. “Where is he?”

“He’s in Little Whinging,” Septima said, kissing Severus again followed by her wrapping her arms around his neck.

___000___000___000

Septima left to start dinner. Severus went to his office. He sat down behind his desk and pulled the card and envelope from the side drawer. Severus had been saving this card to send to Harry for the past five years. He was delighted that he now had an address to send it.

He wrote inside the card, hoping that Harry would appreciate what he was getting. Not knowing how the boy was raised, Severus did wonder. After he finished, he pulled a small box from the middle drawer. It was a black satin covered box. It had a few mementos: a photo, a feather, a strand of hair, and a teddy bear that had been shrunk. All of those items belonged to Harry, but most of them had to wait until Severus saw that child.

Severus pulled the feather out, sealing the rest of the contents back in the box. The feather belonged to Lily’s owl. In their six year, after the biggest blunder Severus ever did, Lily finally forgave Severus for calling her that name. She still wouldn’t talk to him, but she did send him a letter. When her owl brought it to Severus, a feather fell from the owl when it flew away. Severus kept it. He thought this would be a great gift for Harry. Going to the window, Severus called his owl. His owl left with the precious cargo. Severus was happy.

___000___000___000

It has been a year. Severus knew that Harry Potter was going to be one of the new students to be sorted. He knew that he had to keep up his Dungeon Bat persona. His wife, Septima Vector, was sitting on the other side of the head table. Only a few people knew that they were married, and the ones who knew were not in Hogwarts. Everyone saw Severus Snape as an unlovable, hideous person.

Severus waited for Minerva to walk the new first years down the middle aisle. When the doors opened, Severus sat perfectly still, showing no emotions; inside he was anxious to see Potter.

Minerva stood by the stool holding the old, worn hat in her hand. She began calling out names of each child: several went to Slytherin, some went to Ravenclaw, surprisingly most of the children went to Hufflepuff, leaving a handful going to Gryffindor. During the names being called, Harry Potter’s name was uttered.

Severus sat straighter in his chair. He was surprised at what he saw. There was no way this was James Potter’s son. Yes, the boy looked like his father, but Harry was the shortest child in the group. Hearing the Hat call out Gryffindor brought Severus out of his musing. He knew he needed to talk with the child. He just had to find the right time.

Septima was shocked seeing the small child come up to the stool. She worried as to why Harry looked so small. She discreetly looked down to the other end of the head table and could see that her husband’s temper was simmering in anger. Even though they both had their own chambers, during the year, sometimes they would spend the weekend swapping where they were going to stay. Though she wasn’t planning on staying the entire night, Septima knew she had to talk to Severus tonight, if only to just calm him down.

___000___000___000

Severus paced from one end of his office to the other. He worked it over and over in his mind. There was no possible way Harry should be that short. James was taller than him and even though Lily wasn’t that tall, she wasn’t THAT short. Harry should at least be the same size of the other children.

The sound of the floo, stopped Severus’ pacing. He went to his front room to see who came. The first thing he noticed was arms being wrapped around him. He knew it was his wife and, in that moment, his love for her grew even more, though that seemed impossible because of how much he loved her. He wrapped his arms around Septima, lowering his head into her hair. For several moments neither one spoke.  

“Are you calm, now?” Septima asked, her voice muffled in his robes.

“This shouldn’t be,” Severus said, leaning back so he could look at Septima. “Why is he so small? He looks like he is eight or nine years old.”

“Ask him,” Septima said. “Hold him after class and ask him.”

Severus stepped away from his wife. “You know I can’t do that,” Severus said. He started pacing again. “My reputation will precede me. I’m sure the older years will warn him about me. I can’t just talk to him. Plus, you know Malfoy, Zabini, Goyle, and Crabbe being in Harry’s same year, I can’t just be friendly or care for Potter in the open.”

___000___000___000

The week was long for Severus. After Septima left, it took a long time for Severus to get to sleep. The next few days had been stressful. Severus kept his eye on Harry when they were in the Great Hall for breakfast and dinner. But that was the extent of Severus’ interaction. Friday couldn’t get there fast enough.

Friday morning Severus couldn’t believe how anxious he was. Or was he excited? His class after lunch was a double potions with Slytherin and Gryffindor. As usual, Severus would come in with flare and intimidation. He learned that starting out the term with fear and understanding, it would leave the children making sure that they took potions seriously.

The door crashed against the wall.

“Wands away. Everyone’s eyes up front.”

The classroom was silent as the Potions Professor talked.

“In this class, I expect the utmost attention. I will not tolerate any horseplay in my class. The ingredients that you will be using can be harmful if not handled properly.”

Standing in front of the class, he saw that most of the eyes were on him except for one. Severus was able to school his features so that on the inside, he was happy. On the outside, he sneered. Severus heard a book slide against the table as well as a slight whoosh sound of paper falling. Perfect.  

“What I also expect,” Severus continued, “is for everyone to pay attention.”

Severus saw the bushy-headed girl next to Potter give the boy a nudge as he walked over towards their desks. Severus saw that the boy gave the girl a look. When he looked up, there were those emerald eyes there were like his mother.

Severus gave the boy his scariest sneer.

“Mister Potter,” Snape said, softly, pulling one of the empty chairs and sitting across from the child. “Tell me, what has got you so entranced that you refused to pay attention?”

Severus saw the boy swallowed. He could tell that the boy was nervous. Severus could see that Harry was becoming more and more uncomfortable. Severus swore he saw the child’s face drain of color. He was bone white.  

“I…I was,” Harry squeaked. His voice was soft.

“Is that so,” Severus challenged, raising an eyebrow. “What did I say? What was I talking about?”

Harry’s lip trembled as he looked at his Professor. Severus hated what he was doing, but it was the only way to keep him and Harry safe.

“Clearly,” Severus said. “Since you were listening, you know what I said.”

Harry remained silent. Severus saw the boy looking around as if one of the other students would help him out.

“I’m waiting for an answer, Mr. Potter,” Severus said.  

“I don’t remember,” Harry whispered.

There was snickering coming from some of the children.

“Silence,” Severus reprimanded to the class. Looking back at Harry he said, “Since you cannot pay attention during my time in class, maybe you will learn to pay attention during your time after dinner. I expect you here at 6:30, Mr. Potter.”

There were no more incidents for the remainder of the class. Severus saw Harry put his head down on the desk. He knew that he embarrassed the child, but he had to live up to his reputation.

When it was close to the class ending, Severus announced, “Get packed up. When we meet again, I expect flawless potions. Study your ingredients, how they’re to be prepared and in which order they are to be added. Dismissed.”

He watched as the children piled out of the room. He headed to his desk and out of the corner of his eye that he saw was not alone.

“Come on, Harry,” Ron said. “We can put our things up and head down to dinner.”

Harry looked up at Ron and smiled. He nodded and the two of them left the classroom.

Severus watched the pair leave. He shook his head. Severus hated that he was the cause of the look on Harry’s face, but it was the only thing he could do.

Severus walked to his chambers. He wanted to clear his mind before making the trip to the Great Hall. He was surprised that there was a visitor in his chambers. A pleasant surprise.

“Well, you are a pure vision to see after the day I had,” Severus said, walking over to his wife.

“I knew you had Harry in your class today,” Septima said, meeting her husband halfway.

They wrapped their arms around each other. Severus leaned down and kissed his wife. He then laid his forehead on hers.

“Was it that bad?” Septima asked.

Severus stepped away from Septima and went to the side table. He poured himself a small tumbler of Firewhiskey.

“That bad,” Septima concluded. “What happened?”

Severus dropped in his chair by the fireplace and looked up at his wife.

“There was true fear in that boy’s eyes.” Severus shook his head. “I know I come off intimidating, and I did nothing more than what I’ve done to other students, but they have never shown that much fear.”

“Did you make a way to see him alone?” Septima asked, sitting on the arm of Severus’ chair.

“Yes,” Severus said after taking a sip. He felt the burn as it passed his throat. “He has detention tonight.”

“Well,” Septima said, taking the glass from Severus’ hand, standing up. “Let’s go to dinner. You will eat something. And then you will come back to your office and explain everything to the child.”

Severus stood up, kissed his wife again, and they both walked out of Severus’ chambers.

___000___000___000

It didn’t take long for Severus to finish his dinner. Actually, he didn’t have an appetite. It still worried him about the fear shown in the child’s eyes. Looking out at the students, he could see that Potter was having a hard time eating as well.

Severus excused himself and headed to his office. A few minutes later, there was a light knock on the door.

“Enter,” Severus called out.

The Potions Master saw his door slowly creep open and a small child entered just enough to close the door.  

“Ah,” Severus said, leaning back in his chair. “Mr. Potter. Wonderful to see that you at least know how to be on time. Since you can’t pay attention.”

Severus saw the child take a deep breath, probably trying to calm his nerves.

“Come sit, Mr. Potter,” Severus held out his hand, indicating the chair across from his desk.

Harry slowly made his way to the chair.

Severus watched the boy make his way to the chair as if he was going to the executioner’s block. When the boy sat down, Severus looked at the child. His head was down. One hand was worrying his robes; while the other was hidden away. And if he wasn’t mistaken, the child was shaking.

“Mr. Potter—”

Harry’s head shot up, cutting Severus from talking further. The child started rambling.

“Professor, I really was paying attention.”

“Mr. Potter—”

“I dropped my supplies on the floor.”

“Mr. Potter—”

“I do remember some of the things you said.”

“Mr. Potter—”

Severus knew if he wanted to get to the reason for this gathering, he had to calm the child down. Harry looked like he was on the verge of a panic attack.

“You have to believe me,” Harry pleaded.

“Harry, stop.”

Harry hearing his first name shocked him into silence. Severus watched as it looked like Harry got splashed in the face with cold water.

“Now,” Severus said. “If I may continue.”

Harry felt his face warm.

“I know that you dropped your things. I saw it.”

“But wh—”

Severus held up his hand to stop the barrage of questions. Harry closed his mouth with a snap.

“I wanted to talk to you,” Severus said. “I needed to have an excuse to talk to you.”

Harry’s shock was palpable. Harry’s jaw fell open.

“Harry,” Severus said. “For reasons that I cannot go into, I had to organize this meeting in this manner. I wanted to talk to you the first day, but I couldn’t.”

“Talk to me?” Harry asked. “Why?”

“You received a card last year,” Severus said.

Harry’s mouth slacked. His hand automatically gripped the edge of the envelope.

“There was a second part of that.”

“How…how did you know about…” Harry stuttered.

“The card,” Severus finished.

Harry nodded, dumbly.

“I sent it,” Severus said.

TBC