One might say that Severus Snape hated his school nemesis James Potter because the latter had always picked on him without as much as a good reason. Well, in a way, it was a truth. The pure-blooded, raised in wealth, and cherished by everybody, the sole heir of the Potter family, it seemed, never tried to stop and actually think on what was the purpose of his bulling. Snape had never resorted to asking him about it but was quick to make his own assumptions. His favourite one was that the Gryffindor scum thought Severus to be an easy target and didn’t dare to pick a fight with someone of his own league. Severus was scrawny and unsightly, his cheap and ridiculously looking clothes completed the picture just nicely. Wearing the last name of his muggle father, he didn’t have weight in the wizarding world, so he couldn’t count on receiving any support. What was his word against Potter’s?

But the real reason of Severus’ hatred would be revealed by Albus Dumbledore to James’ son many years later. James had saved Severus’ life by putting a stop to a prank that highly likely could have been ended really lamentable. Severus always believed James to be a despicable and cruel prick, but yet the same person went against his friend’s idea of fun to lure a fellow student to a werewolf’s den during the full moon, putting his own life at risk as he did so. More than he was scared then, Severus was furious to find out that James wasn’t a bad man after all. He had even stopped bothering Severus and restricted his friends from doing so. The knowledge was gnawing at him, but he didn’t hurry to let go of his hatred, justifying his feelings with a notion that Potter certainly had some ulterior motives. For example, the arrogant snot just might probably love the idea of having the dodgy Slytherin in his debt.

And now the story was repeating itself. With the same Shrieking Shack, the same werewolf, and the same Potter brat. In Severus’ opinion, James and Harry were the one person with the only difference – they belonged to different time lines.

Severus made one more gulp from the firewhiskey bottle and despondently ran his hand through his hair – the gesture highly opposed his usual habits. Never mind how many burning liquid he’d already drunk, the scene from some hours ago stubbornly refused to vacate his mind. An accomplished Occlumens, he couldn’t though find the strength, or better say, the will to block it, with that letting himself wallow in the disturbing mix of fear, remorse, and anger.

~~~BM~~~

When he regained consciousness after that blasted Golden trio had hexed him into oblivion, the situation was already out of hand. Lupin – that utter cretin – had obviously forgotten to take his dose of Wolfsbane potion, if the unhuman howling and terrified shouts were anything to go by. With aches in his head and back from the impact with the Shack’s wall, Severus hurried to scramble to his feet and automatically reached for his wand only to find his wandholster empty. The wand might be still laying on the shabby floor of the Shack. The fate, it seemed, wanted him dead in the clutches of that particular beast.

Better me than the children.

With resignation he put himself in the line of fire right between Weasley, who apparently couldn’t stand due to his injury, and Granger, who bravely stuck to his friend’s side, and braced himself for inevitable. His skin was already prickling with the ghostly sensation of sharp claws piercing through it. But what happened next was tenfold worse.

People tended to say that, with having your imminent death breathing in your face, life ought to flash before your eyes. However, it was not the case with Severus. Before his eyes was Potter. Always he.

The brat came out of nowhere. One moment Severus was looking in the amber eyes of his personal death cursing the irony of the happenings, and in the other his almost catatonic state was broken by the sight of very familiar unruly mop of hair that so often sparked in him the feeling of annoyance. Severus hardly even have time to blink when his student fell in a heap to the ground right at his feet. The sudden ringing in his ears suppressed even the heartbreaking screams, coming from behind him, and wounded howling of a big black dog which had launched on the werewolf with a clear intent to rip the life right out of the beast.

Severus felt oddly detached, watching the fight as from afar. His heart was trying to pump its way out through his ribcage.

When the dog made the werewolf chase it into the woods, Severus clenched his hands to the point his fingernails dug into his flesh. Pain helped him to regain his bearings. All the sounds caught up with him causing a nervous breath to come from his parched lips. He kneeled down beside Potter with a disgustingly squishing sound. His robes instantly soaked up with the boy’s blood that was freely flowing from the torn gashes on his chest and upper part of abdomen. Severus quickly occluded the panic that was remorselessly rising within him. He'd better restrain himself from letting his emotions to encompass him in their unmerciful swirling.

Turning to the teens, he barked at them to give him one of their wands. The Granger girl with tear-stained face held out hers not averting her eyes from her maimed friend. The wand slightly shaking in his hand, Severus casted the most potent stasis charm that he knew was safe to apply to a human being. Then he soundlessly called his Patronus into existence and told it to hurry up to Madam Pomfrey with the sharp order to be ready for receiving a badly, if not deadly, injured patient. The beautiful silver doe galloped away to the castle. Having told the children to stay put and casting a shield over them (hopefully, it would remain intact until someone got them out of here), Severus gingerly scooped the child into his arms and took off in the doe’s wake.

Once in the Hospital wing, Severus entrusted his burden into the capable hands of the mediwitch and alerted the Headmaster of the situation through the floo. By the time he reached his destination he’d been completely out of breath. It’d been quite a long time since he ran like that as if the death itself was chasing him. Maybe, it was. Severus’ only hope was that he’d managed to outrun it, placing between it and the Potter boy a few more minutes of life.

While Albus was dealing with the other two thirds of the Golden trio, Severus helped Poppy to treat Potter. It wasn’t an easy task. Not at all. Having been inflicted by a werewolf, the wounds were closing reluctantly, at places reopening anew. The mediwitch chanted healing spells almost relentlessly, in-between spelling the needed potions right in the boy’s stomach. Though it wasn’t the first time he watched her in action, Severus was fascinated with her competence all the same. She magically knitted the tissues of Potter’s punctured lung back together, disposed of the excess blood in it that had threatened to develop into a hemothorax. She fixed the boy’s sternum and ribs. All his chest was quite a mess. At some point throughout it all Albus reentered the Hospital wing.

When the work had been done, Poppy’s legs gave away from the great amount of stress endured and exhaustion. She would have fallen where she stood if not for the Headmaster’s quick thinking. He conjured a comfy looking chair right behind her. She sank in it and threw a grateful look towards Albus. She wasn’t capable of voicing her gratitude right now with her throat raw from all the hours of chanting. Severus rummaged in her potions cabinet and gave her a remedy for her ache. She took it and then the three of them silently watched the slow rise and fall of Potter’s chest.

“How is he, Poppy?” Albus asked after some time. Steadfast and powerful as he was, now he looked worn down by life. Severus couldn’t blame him for his miserable condition, as he himself feared that today he’d acquired some grey colour to his hair.

The mediwitch tentatively cleared her throat and answered with a quiver in her voice, “Physically he is patched up, but his body was in a state of shock for a dangerous amount of time. Currently he is in coma and I can’t foresee for how long. His magic and willpower are strong, and now we can only pray and hope that it’ll be enough to bring him back. We are lucky though that the werewolf hasn’t bite him”. She sniffled and added quietly, almost to herself, “Poor dear… Now he’ll have a whole collection of scars”.

~~~BM~~~

Severus threw the bottle into the wall and it smashed into pieces with a resounding tinkle. Now the stone was graced with a dark, wet spot of unfinished drink.

Yet another few scars, though indirectly, were on his conscience. No child should wear even the thinnest of them, let alone five, one for each unforgiving claw. Now Potter was marked with Severus’ failure one more time. He wanted to pull his hair in frustration and cause ruckus in his perfectly organized living room, so that his outer surroundings were of match to his inner turmoil since both of these constants refused to be maintained in the same offish manner.

Severus felt exhausted, more mentally than physically. Since that fatal Halloween night his stoical exterior had never been disrupted outside not only the safety of his quarters, but also between the edges of any reflecting surfaces he happened to look in. He himself was the first person to mask his feelings from. But at this particular moment he didn’t care.

~~~BM~~~

When Severus followed the Headmaster into his office at his request, he understood right away the reason of his delay at arriving back in Hospital wing. There, pacing the floor to holes, was none other than Sirius Black himself. In the mayhem of events Severus had nearly forgotten about the man’s existence, and now the sight of him caused him to take an offensive stance with his wand, that had previously been retrieved by the Headmaster, at the ready.

At spotting them, Black abruptly stopped, all his features radiating of concern. Before Severus let the hex slip from his tongue, the convict echoed Albus’ question from earlier, “How is he? Is Harry alive?” For the man who had broken out from Azkaban with only purpose of killing the last remaining Potter these words sounded weird at the least.

“He will live”, Albus reassured him softly. He conjured two chairs to face his desk and then in a more buoyant tone of voice offered, “Take a seat, gentlemen, between us there is a lot to discuss”.

And discuss they did. Despite being indignant at the mere thought of calmly sitting near his school enemy, Severus had to admit he was slightly curious as to why the Dark Lord’s follower had been invited for a cup of tea instead of being escorted back to prison at the very moment. He would appear a hypocrite not at least to hear the man out. Black wasn’t the only one suspected Death Eater in the room.

The following revelations were quite a piece of knowledge. The Marauders were Animagi, even useless Peter Pettigrew, the considered mascot of the gang, who in addition turned out to be a traitor who had sold the Potters to the Dark Lord. Severus by any means didn’t like Black, but even he sympathized him for having been wrongly accused and placed to rot for long twelve years in the most terrible place that ever existed.

The second shock for Severus occurred when Black turned to him and with an odd expression on his hollow face extended his hand. Severus had been staring at his fingers with dirt under their nails, at the dry, cracked skin of his palm for quite a while before it registered to him that the man meant to shake hands in an amicable gesture. Severus’ eyebrows shot up to his hairline, indicating his incomprehension.

Not lowering his hand, Black made a barking snort, “You know, I’ve seen how you were with those children. Sni- Severus I knew, or I believed I knew, would have never posed himself as a human shield between a deadly danger and a batch of Gryffindors that previously had sent him crashing to the wall. It appears more admirable when one thinks of how you must have been feeling at that moment considering your last encounter with Remus”.

In spite of his flatter Severus felt a surge of white-hot anger at the mention of what had occurred in his sixth year of schooling. But Black wasn’t sneering at him, lost in the pleasant memory. The man’s gaze travelled down and settled on Severus’ knees in the clear sign of shame. Then a shudder shook his body and he raised his widened eyes with horror in them, “God, I’ve never apologized to you for that. I’m so sorry, Severus! It was a cruel and stupid prank, but I’d have never wished you what happened to Harry! When I saw him in that state, I-” Black passed his hand over his face, looking utterly defeated.

Things a prison did to people! Black might have completely lost it in Azkaban if he was apologizing to Severus and looked sincerely remorseful at that. Or had Severus somehow penetrated their edge of the Universe and ended up on the other side of it? He didn’t know the right answer, but he did know the right move he should take even if he would regret it later. Hastily, so that not to change his mind, he mirrored Sirius’ gesture at extending his hand. The man stared at him in surprise with his jaw slightly hanging open.

“This week will suffice, Black”, Severus smirked. Black grinned, feeling a portion of tension left his shoulders, and they finally clasped hands. The both of them were ignorant of the other occupant in the room who sat, leaning on the back of his chair, and whose eyes were twinkling madly.

Instead of releasing the other man’s hand, Sirius tightened his grip and slightly pulled Severus closer to him, making him scoot closer to the edge of his chair. Then he said in a much more serious voice, “Unfortunately, Peter managed to escape. That means that even with my memories recorded with the Pensieve, I won’t be cleared of charges and therefore won’t be able to fulfill my promise to Harry by taking him away from his relatives to live with me. I can’t even stay until my godson wakes. Some godfather I am. Judging by my own experience, I can say that a child will not leave the safety of his home without a good reason. And it’s my believe that Harry had that reason the previous summer. Please, Severus, look out for him”.

~~~BM~~~

Severus sat staring unseeingly in the unlit hearth of his fireplace. The air in the room had already started growing cold, but he didn’t put the blame for goosebumps on that fact. He was well aware where that cold came from. After losing its shelter of unreasonable hatred, stubbornness and bitterness, his heart appeared not ready to face the reality again.

Disgusted in himself, he couldn’t rid of the queasiness that had firmly taken residence in his stomach.

All this time, Severus had been terribly wrong about Potter. He was always proud of his ability as a spy, but, despite this, he couldn’t, or to be completely honest, didn’t want to recognize the signals that the boy was giving, mentally crying for help. Abused children would never ask for help directly, fearing that they would be rejected and thus hurt more. He attributed Potter's wrangling to defiance, not seeing the desperate attempts to hide his fear and seem untouched by the biting remarks. Severus had lost count of how many times he scolded the boy for his conceit when he threw himself into dangerous situations headlong, never once asking adults for help. Perhaps it was worth pondering what the real reason was. Potter didn’t discard adults, he simply didn’t believe in general that they would want to help, accustomed to solving all problems on his own.

The child arrived at Hogwarts with the hope of a better life, just like Severus himself once did. Surely, he thought that since no one here knew him, he could pretend that he was completely normal, and not some kind of freak who had managed to cross the path to everyone at once in Little Winging. As though that were likely. The wizarding world was quick to label him too. The Boy Who Lived. The Boy Who Will Never Be Left Alone.

Severus, who had been unable to get revenge on his offender while he was still alive, shifted his hatred onto the defenseless child. It was very easy to hate him when he looked like a bloody carbon copy of his father. And so, Severus found the slightest reason to pick on him, and sometimes he didn’t need a reason at all. He was unfair to him, humiliated him in front of his peers, couldn’t refrain from a forcible expression towards his father, whom the child saw only in photographs. With all this, he undermined his self-esteem, not knowing that it already left much to be desired. With an excruciating clarity Severus realized that he was even worse than James Potter had been, who at least had targeted his coeval. Severus, on his part, abused his power over a student who didn’t have any means to fight back.

And yet... Potter had saved him by putting his hated professor's life above his own. Severus could assure himself as many times as he wanted that the boy had been simply at the wrong time in the wrong place, that he, being clumsy, had tripped over his own foot and found himself in the path of the monster, but, unfortunately, he was not that stupid to believe it. Like father, like son. Severus often thought disgruntled, shaking his head. Now this phrase refused to sound like a curse in his head. Both Potters eventually saved his life. And in order to somehow repay both, he should rethink his attitude towards Harry. Harry? Where did it come from?

Against the background of what he had learned about the boy's home life, just making sure he didn’t inadvertently break his neck wouldn’t be enough anymore.

~~~BM~~~

Despite the fact that Severus despised the very idea of r03;r03;meeting Lily's sister face to face, he knew that Minerva was right when she had demanded that he personally told Potter's relatives about what had happened and invited them to the castle so that they could be with the boy until he woke up. Severus wrinkled his nose as he imagined Petunia sobbing violently by her nephew's bed.

Since it was already late, Severus had no doubt that he would find all the inhabitants of 4, Privet Drive at home. At his knock, a large blond boy answered the door. Judging by the expression on his face and a spoon in his fist, he was extremely unhappy that he had been forced to tear himself away from food.

“What do you want?” grunted the boy and, obviously imitating his father, said, “We don’t buy anything”.

“That's good,” Severus put on his most terrifying expression, “because I'm not selling anything. Are your parents at home?”

The boy drew back from him and dropped his fork. It fell to the floor with a clang. When he took a good look at the intruder and noticed his unusual clothes, in addition to everything else he turned pale, which certainly made Severus satisfied. I haven't lost my touch yet!

“Mom, dad!” he rushed into the depths of the house, in the process for some reason covering his backside. If one could miss such an enormous target. “There is one of those freaks!”

Freaks? Interesting. Severus didn’t wait for the invitation and entered the house, closing the door behind him. In the aisle of the living room there was already a massive figure of a man, somewhat distantly resembling a walrus. Petunia Evans peeked out over his shoulder, stretching her long neck. She hadn't changed much since the last time Severus saw her. At least her whole appearance still asked for a barb or two. Obviously, she recognized him too. No sooner had her husband burst into curses – and he was about to, judging by his purple face – when she, gasping with indignation, cried out, “You? What the hell are you doing here? Get out of my house now!”

Severus smirked and gave her a mocking bow. “Trust me, Tuney, I have a whole list of much important things to do instead of being in your pleasant company. However, the situation warrants my informing you of the news regarding your nephew personally. It will not take a lot of your time.

Petunia squeezed her husband's shoulder and whispered furiously in his ear. The man nodded reluctantly and cleared the passage into the living room.

"Come if you must," he said sharply.

Charming. Severus followed him and sat down on the sofa opposite the one on which Potter's cousin sat, huddled in a corner and clutching a bowl of ice cream to his chest. Severus sneered as he scanned the room. It looked normal to the point of disgrace, every little thing was in its place, as if it had been there since the beginning of time. A gaudy picture hung over the fireplace, and nothing at all reflected the family's preferences. Faceless normality. However, Severus did find something that was out of place, at least for him. From the photographs hanging on the wall it was impossible to guess that all these years there had been a fourth member of the family. Severus looked at the photographs twice, but never found the black-haired boy.

“I’m not going to pay for damage that boy’s caused,” said the head of the family when everyone was finally seated. “While he’s in this school for quacks of yours, he’s your concern, so don’t even dare bother us about this, Mr...

"Snape," Severus prompted and raised an eyebrow in surprise. Usually, it was he who was quick to accuse Potter of any sins, so hearing this from his relatives who, he believed, should worship the boy, was at least strange. And what was even more weird was him lacking the content with this fact. “Anyway, that's not why I'm here”. He was silent for a little while, collecting his thoughts. “There was an... incident today that could have cost me my life had it not been for the intervention of Mr. Potter. Unfortunately, your nephew was seriously injured and is now in a coma. I offer you my sincere apologies for not being able to keep the boy from danger”.

Severus expected any reaction to his words, but definitely not what followed after the uncomfortable pause.

“That is, he hasn’t died yet, has he?” the obese man asked, looking annoyed. Then he muttered softly under his breath, but Severus heard anyway, “That whelp! Can't do anything right!”

“I beg your pardon?” Severus choked out, feeling his chest grow hotter and hotter with barely contained anger. “I am here informing you that your nephew is in a terrible state, and you are worried that he dared not to end up dead?”

The Dursley slammed his meaty fist on the coffee table, clearly regretting that it was separating him from a more desirable target such as Severus's nose.

“Mind your own business, sir!”

“Oh?” Severus’ face was still wearing an expression of indifference despite the display. “However, judging by your own logic, during the school year he is "our concern". So you seemed to put it? In addition, Hogwarts policy requires a professor who suspects a student's neglect or abuse to interrogate that student's family members. If the results are found inadequate, to put it mildly, a professor ought to initiate a trial”.

“You won't prove anything!” the Dursley shouted, unaware that he was digging his own hole. “The freak is just a liar, and many have been convinced of this before you!”

“Vernon,” Petunia hissed warningly at her husband, but he was already too wound up to heed the voice of reason.

Severus smiled nastily and, as if by chance, pulled a wand from the sleeve of his robes. Absentmindedly playing with it, he said in a silky, dangerous voice, “Unfortunately for you, I am not “many”. And I do not shun to use not quite... legal methods to find out what I need. You should know this well, Tuney.

The Dursleys swallowed, finally remembering who they were dealing with.

“Since Mr. Potter is an important figure in the wizarding community, I think the Ministry will readily turn a blind eye to my actions if it helps me to keep the boy safe in the future”.

Praying that it really was the case, Severus pointed his wand at Dursley and commanded firmly, “Legilimens”.

A tour into Vernon Dursley's mind was the most unpleasant thing. Time after time, Severus watched as Harry was thrown into the tiny closet under the stairs, denied food, suitable clothing, simple childhood joys, and the truth about his heritage. He watched Harry being kicked and shoved around, humiliated, forced to do housework and gardening from dawn till dusk, watched as a group of juvenile brats chased him around the neighbourhood and, upon reaching, beat him up, calling it joyously "Harry Hunting". He watched Harry silently accept whatever this unfriendly world brought down on him.

Having had enough, Severus emerged from the Dursley's mind, but instead of lashing out at him, he glared at Petunia. “How could you? This is your late sister's only child. How did you allow such a treatment of him?”

The woman got mad and started screaming too, “We never asked for it! That is why, I believe, we have done even more than necessary. The freak should be grateful that we kept him instead of sending him to an orphanage!”

“He would have been better there! You are a sick woman, Tuney, and you are not worthy of caring for a cat, let alone a child. However, very soon you will have neither of them, mark my word!”

Petunia paled, and Vernon jumped to his feet and began biting out profanities, but Severus no longer listened. Showing miracles of restraint and not hexing any of the Dursleys, he got up and hurried out of this hideous place, even if the belief that Dumbledore would certainly cover him up for erasing the family from the surface of the Earth was way too tempting.

~~~BM~~~

Upon his return to the castle Severus had the remnants of self-control only enough to go up to Albus' office for the second time that day and coldly inform him that if it were his intention to protect Harry by leaving him on the Dursleys’ doorstep, he hadn’t done a very good job of it. He also confronted the Headmaster with the fact that he was going to apply to the Child Services on the case of child abuse, providing his memories. Usually, this department of the Ministry was prided for its secrecy, but if information about Harry leaked into the newspaper, he wouldn’t going to regret what he did. After all, his job was to keep the boy safe, not caring for his feelings. As if it yet weren’t late to fool yourself. A derisive thought squeezed through to the forefront of his mind uninvited, making him scowl.

“Do you want to leave the child unprotected, Severus?” Albus asked him sadly. “Without the blood wards he will be in constant danger. By staying at his aunt’s he will be unhappy, yes, but at least safe”.

“To hell your blood wards, old man!” Severus exploded. “I owe it to Lily, to Potter and to their son. If to keep the boy away from his blasted relatives I must take him in myself so be it”. With that he turned on his heels and stormed out of the room, never seeing a mischievous twinkle in the Headmaster’s eyes. It seemed to the elderly wizard that more discussions and persuasions would be due in the nearest future.

And now here he was drinking, throwing a temper tantrum, and then moping around. If only his students could see him now! Shaking his head at his foolish behaviour, Severus rose to his feet and unsteadily crept into his bedroom, trying to not step on the evidence of him having lost his composure. However, despite his tiredness he wasn’t able to sleep that night.

~~~BM~~~

When Harry finally woke up and after he slid his glasses on his nose, making the world be sharp again, the strong sense of déjà vu engulfed him at the sight of candies and flowers covering all the area around his hospital bed. In the foot of his bed there even was a plushy snitch the size of a small cat. In spite of himself, he grinned broadly and clutched the gift to his chest. He had never had plushy toys before. Well, except for a batch of broken soldiers he had never had toys at all.

“I see that ridiculous toy is to your liking, Mr. Potter?”

Harry whipped around to the source of the familiar baritone. Oddly enough, it was indeed Snape who for mysterious reason came to visit him. But something about the man was off. Squinting his eyes, he looked his Professor up and down. When Snape under his scrutiny chuckled slightly and casually sat in the chair that was near his bed, Harry understood what seemed wrong. Snape didn’t look hostile, and when a Snape was not hostile towards a Potter?

“It astounds me that with all the rumors about your heroically saving my ‘greasy skin’ there are people who have found it necessary to compliment you on that”, Snape smirked slyly after his eyes trayed along the piles of gifts. “If anything, I’ve waited murder attempts at your honorable self for not taking a chance to get rid of the Dungeons bat”.

Wow! Now the man was cracking self-deprecating jokes, and very funny ones at that. Had he been hit in his head or something after Harry lost consciousness? Wait a minute! Snape was here and his friends were not. Was it some sort of distraction so that he wouldn’t think about the horrors that undoubtedly were in store for him? The little lighthearted gaiety he had had in him only the minute before was now completely gone.

His breathing quickening, Harry parted his dry lips and managed to choke out in a hoarse voice, “Sir, are Ron and Hermione all right?”

Snape extended his hand and put it atop the boy’s head, giving him a sense of grounding. “No need to worry, Mr. Potter”, he reassured the boy and strangely Harry found the weight of his hand soothing. “Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger are their obnoxiously loud selves. The two have almost driven our mediwitch into hysteria by refusing to leave your side”.

Harry beamed at that. The image of Madam Pomfrey shouting was scary and amusing in equal parts. Then he asked just in case, “And you, sir? Were you injured?”

The Professor shook his head in negative and pulled his hand away.

“Ermm… Sir, why then are you here?”

“Because you were injured”, the man replied sharply with an edge of accusation to his tone. “Why it was, Mr. Potter, that you saw fit to play a sacrifice for the sake of your less favourite Professor, of all people?”

The boy held his searching gaze, unperturbed by the tone. He squeezed the sides of his plushy snitch while he was gathering the necessary words. “I know it was you who had saved me from falling off my broom in that quidditch match in my first year here. And like you now, I couldn’t fathom why you had done it then. You have hated my guts since I first stepped a foot on Hogwarts grounds, I can say it without a doubt, because I have been looking in your eyes on other people's faces for almost thirteen years. And I hated you back with a passion”. Harry sighed, frowning. “But when I saw Professor Lu- the werewolf about going to launch on you, I understood the reason behind your actions. Behind my actions. I’m a better man”.

The remorse Snape was feeling changed to anger by the end of the boy’s speech. “Better than me, I presume?” He sneered at Potter. That was what you get at lowering your guard, he thought bitterly preparing to leave. Now he didn’t have the fire to put the brat to his place. But Potter surprised him by tugging at his sleeve, silently begging to stay. Snape complied.

“I understood that I was a better man”, the boy continued, licking his lips. The Potions Master felt a ting of shame for not thinking to give him a glass of water. “Better man than I thought myself to be. There isn’t a reason to save another’s life. There is one not to”.

The breath caught in Snape’s throat. James had no dubious motives for saving Severus’ life. It was just that at that moment he realized that he was a better man than he thought himself to be. He left his bulling behind and moved on with his life. And Lily fell in love with this better man. Sirius apologized to Severus because he realized he was a better man than he thought himself to be. The possible result of his deeds terrified him, threw him away from his old self. Remus, upon regaining his human form, resigned without anybody to tell him to because he was a better man. He knew that he highly unlikely would find another as good a job as one at Hogwarts, but it would be wrong to stay after the pain he had caused. And Severus ... He was also a better man, although he only realized that now. Did this mean that he also had a future? The weight was lifted from his chest that had been there for the last five days while the boy was unconscious.

Severus picked up the boy’s plushy that had fallen to the floor during his impulsive behaviour and gave it back to him. “You’re quite right, Mr. Potter. And so that you know, it’s me who has presented that hideous fluffy thing to you”. Astonishment on the boy’s face was pronounced. And the Professor caught himself on the thought that this expression he liked more than fury or fear.

“You- you have?” Harry stuttered. Maybe, it was him, not Snape, who had hit his head in the irreversible manner? Ron would undoubtedly suggest to bury the toy in the Forbidden forest for the precaution’s sake.

“Eloquent as always”, the man smirked, amused. Even his gaze was unusually somewhat softer. “Consider it a contribution to our new life, Harry”.