Barely Functioning, Deeply Loved by krosi
Summary: When six-year-old Harry Potter finds floo powder while cleaning the fireplace, he is accidentally sent over to Severus's Snape's house, where he discovers that Snape is his biological dad, he has a half-sister, and Aunt Petunia has been abusing him all his life. It's almost too much for little Harry to handle. Can Severus help this boy through the traumas he's suffered?
Categories: Parental Snape > Biological Father Snape, Parental Snape > Godfather Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Original Character
Snape Flavour: Snape Comforts, Snape is Kind, Snape is Loving, Overly-protective Snape
Genres: Family, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort
Media Type: None
Tags: Alternate Universe
Takes Place: 0 - Pre Hogwarts (before Harry is 11)
Warnings: Abusive Dursleys, Out of Character
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 31 Completed: No Word count: 131786 Read: 47026 Published: 23 Jan 2021 Updated: 20 Mar 2024
Emotions Run Wild by krosi

Harry followed Mrs. Tighe to her office on the second floor of the school. Her office was the first room to the right, and it was a small but comfortable room with two comfy chairs across from each other and a small desk pushed toward the back of the room in front of a large window that overlooked the playground. Sunlight streamed in and filled the room with natural light, but a small lamp was also lit, adding just a hint of a yellow glow.

               Harry jumped up into the plumper chair that he had taken a liking to whenever he came for his appointment, and he waited expectantly as Mrs. Tighe closed the door behind them and smiled at him.              

               “Would you like to hold Otter while we talk?” Mrs. Tighe asked.

               “Yes, please,” Harry said, nodding his head eagerly and holding his arms out to accept the bunny in question.

               Mrs. Tighe picked up her sleek black and brown rabbit from where he had been sleeping next to his cage and she handed him to Harry, who cuddled the rabbit. Otter, used to being handled and snuggled, relaxed in Harry’s arms, and closed his eyes to resume his nap while Harry gently stroked a hand down the rabbit’s back.

               “How have you been, Harry?” Mrs. Tighe asked as she sat in the chair across from Harry. She was a tall brunette with square glasses and a rectangular figure. She wore casual slacks with a pink button down, short sleeve shirt. She crossed her legs as she watched Harry pet the rabbit.

               “Good,” Harry said.

               “How’s your dad and Iris?”

               “They’re good. Iris is mad at Daddy though.”

               “Oh? Why’s that?”

               “Daddy said her mum can’t do weekends anymore and she can only see Iris with “super-vision.””

               “I see, and that makes Iris upset, doesn’t it?”

               “Yeah, she yelled at Daddy that the fire wasn’t her mum’s fault and now she won’t talk to Daddy.”

               “How does that make you feel?”

               “I don’t know. I feel bad for Iris cause now she can’t see her mummy. But Daddy says its for her own safety, but Iris says her mum wouldn’t hurt her. It’s confusing.”

               “Well, everyone has disagreements sometimes, even parents,” Mrs. Tighe said. “And I’m sure your dad and Iris’s mother have some things they have to work out between them in order to give Iris the best care she needs, even if she doesn’t see it that way right now.”

               “Like when Daddy gave me to Aunt Petunia when I was a baby?” Harry asked.

               Mrs. Tighe sat up a little in her chair and gave Harry a curious look.

               “Yes, from what your dad told me, he thought he was giving you the best care when he allowed you to stay with Aunt Petunia. Do you feel upset about that, like Iris does about not seeing her mum?”

               “Yeah, it makes me sad sometimes. Iris got to stay with Daddy but not me, and Aunt Petunia didn’t even love me.” Harry’s lower lip quivered as he felt tears well in his eyes.

               “That really hurts you,” Mrs. Tighe said. “It’s okay to feel upset, you did not deserve what Aunt Petunia did to you. But you are safe now. She can’t hurt you anymore.”

               Harry wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand then readjusted Otter in his arms. The rabbit barely stirred and continued sleeping.               

               “Have you told your daddy how you feel about him giving you to Aunt Petunia when you were a baby?”

               “No,” Harry said quietly as he patted the rabbit’s head.

               “Do you feel comfortable talking to Dad about that?”

               “I don’t know. He told me why he left me with her.”

               “Did he tell you how it made him feel though? When he made the decision to leave you with her?”

               Harry shook his head.

               “I think you should tell Daddy how you feel about it.”

               “What if it makes him feel sad?”

               “Maybe he already feels sad. Just like you do. And if you tell him about it, he’ll know that you are sad about what happened, and he can help you feel better about it. And then he might feel better about it, too.”

               “Really?”

               “Really. It’s important to share our feelings with the people we love the most, that’s how we make ourselves feel better. So how about some new homework tonight? When you have your dad alone for a minute, you talk to him about how being left with Aunt Petunia and not staying with Daddy makes you feel.”

               “Okay. I’ll tell Daddy.”

               “Okay. Would you like to hold Otter a little longer or do you want to join your friends for the last few minutes of recess?”

               “Can I go to the playground?” Harry asked.

               “Of course,” Mrs. Tighe said. She stood up and accepted Otter from Harry, who yawned as he was set down on the floor before hopping toward his cage. “Let’s go see where your friends are.”

               Mrs. Tighe led Harry out of her office and out to the playground, where Harry saw Finlay playing on the swings and ran over to him.

               “Hi, Harry,” Finlay greeted from high up in the air before he swung backward. He kicked out a foot and it dragged on the ground, slowing the swing down and stopping himself. “What took you so long?”

               “I had to talk to Mrs. Tighe,” Harry said as he jumped up on the swing and tried to make it move as he had seen Iris do many times, kicking his feet in an awkward rhythm. His start up was still a bit rough.

               “What did you talk about?” Finlay asked as he gave Harry a big push to get him going.

               “Mostly about Daddy and talking to him,” Harry answered honestly. He found a better rhythm in the air now and he swung on the swing for a couple minutes, Finlay pushing him now and then when he slowed down.

               “Want to play dinosaurs?” Finlay asked.

               “Okay,” Harry said, sticking out a foot to stop himself as he had seen Finlay do. His foot dragged a bit forcefully before he jerked to a stop, then he jumped off the swing and chased Finlay around the park, growling and holding his hands out like claws. The boys took turns chasing each other through the park, acting like little dinosaurs trying to escape the other, sliding down slides or even running up them. Finally, they faced each other off, like pachycephalosaurus’ do, eyeing each other and pawing the ground with their feet, kicking up dirt. After a minute, they charged each other.

               “Ow!” Both kids yelped and groaned after bashing their heads together. They both clutched at the top of their heads.

               “What in Heaven’s name are you boys doing?” Mrs. Hadewin asked as she shuffled over to them, running a hand through their hair to feel for any bumps.

               “We were ramming,” Finlay answered as Mrs. Hadewin parted his chestnut hair to look for any damage.

               “Now why would you two go and do something like that for?” Mrs. Hadewin scolded. She tsked at the boys, but they seemed unharmed save for a bump on their heads. She ushered the boys back toward the school, calling for the rest of the class to follow as recess was now over.

               After school, Harry raced Iris to the sidewalk where Addie waited for them. They both tagged Addie at the same time, and Addie declared a tie before the two could start arguing over who got to her first. Addie took their hands and led them toward some trees away from the school where they could apparate home out of sight.  

               Addie assisted with homework for an hour until the floo flared, announcing Severus’s arrival.

               Severus returned home early from work, though he confessed that he had let his NEWTS class go early to research potential end of year potion projects in the library and to write a three-foot thesis that Severus would either approve or deny before they could get to work on the big project. With Severus home, Addie left early to head home and feed her husband while Severus looked through his kitchen for something to feed his kids.

               While he never minded cooking, he still relied on a cookbook now and then to create some meals. He had heard that the elves at Hogwarts were making a fine dish of Swedish meatballs that night, and he wished he had asked to bring some home, so he wasn’t stuck trying to figure out diving this recipe made for twelve servings. His small crew would never eat that many servings of leftovers, and he’d rather not throw food out.

               “So one cup of beef broth instead of two,” Severus muttered as he poured out the ingredient into a measuring cup before setting it aside with his others in a neat fashion before looking down at the cookbook once more, “a half of a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, and then three quarters of a cup of heavy cream. . . half of three quarters is . . . err—”

               “Six tablespoons,” Harry said as he stepped into the kitchen slowly.

               “What?” Severus asked as he turned to look at Harry, more surprised that his six-year-old son came to an answer faster than he did.

               “Aunt Petunia always said that three quarters of a cup is twelve tablespoons, so that means half would be six tablespoons,” Harry clarified.

               “Is that so?” Severus said, smirking at his son. He used his foot to push the step stool in front of where he was prepping ingredients and Harry climbed up and poured the heavy cream into a measuring cup.

               “So that means a quarter of a cup plus two tablespoons,” Harry said as he set the heavy cream down and smiled up at Severus.

               “You,” Severus began, smiling at his son, “are a very smart young man.”

               Harry beamed at the praise.

               Severus looked at the cookbook once more before pointing out the next ingredient. “Care to get the spices ready while I start cooking the meatballs?”           

               Harry looked at the cookbook and pointed a finger at the first word, and slowly sounded it out.

               “All-sp-ice, half, t-s-p.”

               Severus chuckled.

               “This,” Severus said, pointing at the tsp., “stands for teaspoon. And remember, we are cutting the recipe in half so instead of a half a teaspoon, we’ll use . . .”

               “A quarter,” Harry said.

               “Very good.”

               Severus worked on cooking meatballs and noodles while Harry helped prepped ingredients, asking for assistance with the reading when he needed it. When dinner was near complete, Severus asked Harry how his day had gone.

               “Good,” Harry answered. “I got a bump on my head.”

               “Oh?” Severus ran a hand through Harry’s hair, quickly finding the small injury in question. “And how did you manage that?”

               “Finlay and I were pretending to be pachycephalosauruses, and we rammed each other really hard. It hurt.”

               “Yes, I can imagine. That’s what happened when you run your head into another’s. You know pachys have special heads that let them ram each other. You do not.”

               “I know. I didn’t think it would hurt that much.”

               “Well, I’d rather not hear of you and your friend doing that again, okay?”

               “Okay.”

               “How was the rest of your day? Did you have time with Mrs. Tighe today?”

               “Yeah. She wants me to talk to you for my homework.”

               “What did she want you to talk to me about?”

               “Leaving me with Aunt Petunia. It makes me sad.”

               “It makes you sad that I left you with Aunt Petunia when you were younger?” Severus clarified, frowning slightly.

               “Yeah, but Iris got to stay with you. It makes me sad.”

               “I’m sorry,” Severus said, running his hand through Harry’s hair again. “You have every right to feel that way. At the time, I thought I was making the best decisions for you. But those decisions weren’t in your best interest as much as they were in mine. And you were hurt because of it. I failed you, son, and I’m very sorry.”

               “It’s okay,” Harry started to say.

               “No, it’s not. I should have taken you back as soon as I had the chance. But when I saw Petunia’s picture that she had sent me, you looked happy. I didn’t want to take that from you and upset your life all over again. At least, I thought you were happy in the picture.”

               “I was happy,” Harry admitted with a frown on his face, his nose scrunched up. “I was happy until Aunt Petunia said she didn’t love me.”

               “And that was a real heart stab, wasn’t it?” Severus said softly.

               “It really hurt,” Harry said, his eyes watering and he rubbed at the corner of his eye.

               “I’m sorry you had to go through that,” Severus said, pulling his son into a hug. He picked Harry up off the step stool and held him against his chest in a tight embrace. “I still regret how that day played out, but perhaps you needed to hear those words from Petunia yourself.”

               “She never loved me,” Harry mumbled, his voice cracking as more tears escaped his eyes. He squeezed Severus’s neck tighter.

               “No, she didn’t. And I never came back for you. That’s a lot of pain to go through alone.” Severus rocked Harry for a moment. “You know, when I made the decision to leave you with Petunia, I cried.”

               “You did?” Harry said, pulling back to give his father a searching look. After a moment, he said, “Daddies don’t cry.”

               Severus smiled at that and rested his forehead against Harry’s.

               “Well, I did. I was very upset because I thought you didn’t need me in your life anymore and that I may never see you again. But I thought it was for the best, even though it wasn’t. I made an awful mistake leaving you with your aunt, but I promise that I will try my hardest to never fail you again. You are never leaving me again, Harry. Do not fear that.”

               “You promise?” Harry asked.

               “I promise.” Severus kissed Harry’s temple and Harry hugged his father’s neck once more.

               “I forgive you, Daddy,” Harry said.

               Severus rubbed Harry’s back, his throat closing on him at those words. He wondered if Harry knew how impactful those words were, how much weight they carried, and if Harry would ever take those words back. He pushed those thoughts out of his mind. Harry was still so young and forgiving, and maybe he had rescued Harry from Petunia’s clutches just in time to help him heal. Well, Harry practically rescued himself, even if that had not been the intention.

               “Thank you, honey,” Severus said, finally finding his voice again.

               After another minute, he set Harry down.

               “If you ever feel sad about anything, you can come talk to me anytime, okay? Even if I am working, ask Addie to floo call and I will answer. You don’t have to feel sad alone.”

               “Okay, Daddy,” Harry said.

               Severus ruffled Harry’s hair. He knew it would take a little practice and time for Harry to get into a habit of sharing his feelings with him, but Severus wanted him in that habit before the teen years came. Besides, he didn’t like not knowing how his kids were feeling. Iris was often expressive, if not through her words through her actions and behaviors, which clued Severus in to how she was feeling. Harry, though he would talk to him, was often silent and non-expressive, at least before he blew up for one reason or another. There were few warning signs, and though his anger was a little better controlled, occasionally, Harry would go from zero to sixty in an instant, and he was more prone to those moments when he was tired. They both had a long way to go still with understanding each other, but Severus was confident in the progress they were making.

               They ate dinner together, and even Iris seemed happier that evening, especially when Severus presented her with a new book—A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett. They started on the first chapter together, just Iris and Severus, and she seemed to forgive him for their morning spat over Dahlia’s new visit stipulations. Severus would take what small wins he could get.

               And it seemed his odds were still in his favor when Auror Longbottom stopped by with good news on the case’s progress. They had found a faint presence of two magical signatures in the Dursley residence. It was too old to identify who the signatures belonged to, but their spell detectors had confirmed that there were two individuals that had invaded the Dursley residence the day Harry had floo’d himself to Severus’s residence. It wasn’t the best of good news, but it was progress, and the aurors were working hard to figure out who the signatures might belong to while looking into every known Death Eater and their current location.

               After saying goodbye to Frank and tucking both kids in for the night, Severus had a lot on his mind as he fell asleep. Something felt wrong. He wasn’t sure what it was, so he checked on his kids again, glad to see them sleeping soundly in their beds. Still, a negative pressure was weighing on him, and he checked the wards of his house. They were strong, intact, and showing no signs of a breach or intrusion.

               Charting it up to his increasing paranoia, Severus forced himself to go to bed and fall asleep, and after a brief struggle, he finally did fall into a light but restful slumber.

              

               Dahlia stared down at the school, her hands shaking on the steering wheel of her car. She took a deep breath and looked ahead at nothing in particular. After the fire, she had spent a few nights in jail for child endangerment, but Severus had been kind enough to bail her out but she was still put on probation. And now, her visiting rights had been changed to supervised visitation only, which meant for only a few hours on prescheduled dates that could not be changed or adjusted, and there were not many of those dates scheduled for the year.

               It was all so unfair. Yes, she felt terrible for what she did to her daughter. Putting her baby through a house fire while she was completely comatose was not something she had ever wanted to happen. Yet, she felt the punishment was unjust. Her daughter was everything to her. She was all Dahlia had now in this crazy, unsteady world. She was not going to lose her.

               Dahlia stepped out of the car and walked quickly down to the school, keeping her head low, her hair covering a part of her face. It had only been a couple weeks since the fire, but she wasn’t entirely sure how much change Severus had managed to accomplish in that time, such as who was legally allowed to check Iris out of school.

               Stepping into the receptionist office, Dahlia smiled as she paused at the tall desk, leaning against it casually while hoping her racing heart wasn’t really as loud as it sounded in her ears.

               “Good day, ma’am, how can I help you?” the lady at the reception desk asked.

               “Hi, I’m Dahlia Flater,” Dahlia greeted. “Iris Snape’s mum. I need to check her out for a dentist appointment today.”

               The receptionist pulled out a paper record in a long filing cabinet and glanced through the papers.

               “Okay, can I just have you sign here and the reason you are checking her out and I will page Iris to the office.”

               “Thank you,” Dahlia said with a smile before she scribbled a shaky signature on the sign out sheet she was handed. She heard the page for Iris Snape to come to the Front Desk office, the noise loud in her ears, and she winced. Pushing the clipboard back toward the receptionist, Dahlia stepped back and waited, drumming her fingers on her thighs.

               A few minutes passed, then Iris stepped into the office. She frowned.

               “Mum? What are you doing here?”

               “You have a dentist appointment, remember?” Dahlia said quickly, smiling again, her cheeks starting to hurt.

               “No,” Iris answered honestly.

               Dahlia laughed along with a few of the desk ladies.

               “Of course not, sweetie, that’s why we remember for you. We have to get going or we’re going to be late.”

               “Does Daddy know you’re taking me to the appointment?” Iris asked, even as she accepted her mother’s hands and allowed her to lead them out of the school.

               “Of course, sweetie. We agreed to this since I won’t be seeing you as much anymore.”

               “Okay,” Iris said. She jumped up in her car seat and allowed her mother to help buckle her in.

               Dahlia smiled at her daughter one last time before climbing in the front seat. She took a deep breath as she started the engine. She pulled away from the school and drove away as quickly as she dared with her daughter in the back seat.

 

               Addie waited patiently in her usual place at the end of the path leading to the school. Harry came running up to her with Iris’s backpack in hand. Addie frowned, but accepted the bag when Harry held it out to her.

               “Where’s your sister?” Addie asked.

               “The lady at the front desk said she had a dentist appointment,” Harry answered.

               “I don’t recall Severus informing me of any muggle appointments today.” Addie took Harry’s hand and walked down the path to the school. “Did they say who checked her out?”

               “Her mum.”

               Addie gasped. Wide eyed, she quickly hurried down to the school and ran up to the front desk where the ladies were closing for the day.

               “Excuse me, I was just informed that Iris Snape was checked out of school today?” Addie said, searching the receptionist’s face for confirmation.

               “Yes, her mother checked her out for an appointment earlier this afternoon,” the lady said, pulling out a clipboard and scanning it. “Around one-fifteen, it looks like.”

               Addie covered her mouth with a hand and took a couple deep breaths. The lady behind the desk took in her state and realization started to settle in.

               “Was Ms. Flater not supposed to check out her daughter?” the lady asked, her eyes creasing with worry.

               “No, she was not,” Addie said. “I need to get a hold of her father.”

               “I’ll call the police,” the lady said, sitting down and picking up a landline phone at her desk.

               Addie pulled Harry out of the school and down the path toward the trees where she’d usually apparate away. Once out of sight of muggles, she sent her meerkat patronus to scurry away with a quick message: “Dahlia took Iris out of school and disappeared this afternoon.”

               Then, Addie apparated to Severus’s house with Harry.

               Chaos ensued from there. Police arrived to take a statement and a photo of Iris. They gathered more information such as Dahlia’s current living situation and her car model. Aurors arrived at the house after the police to take another statement. Warrants were placed for Dahlia’s immediate arrest, and police and aurors alike began their search. Severus called Dahlia’s parents and then the one friend he knew Dahlia turned to the most in many situations. Neither had heard or seen Dahlia in the last week.

               Scared, Harry wasn’t sure what to make of all the panic. He stayed close to Addie who provided him with Spike and some tea to help him calm down. Her efforts were futile, and Harry ended up crying, afraid something awful was happening to Iris.

               Severus ended up holding his son and rocking him in the chair in the living room. He reassured Harry that Iris was most likely safe, that she was just in the wrong place at the moment. He told Harry that Dahlia would never hurt Iris, but that she also wasn’t supposed to have Iris with her right now, and that the aurors and police were going to find Iris and bring her back home where she was supposed to be.

               Harry slowly calmed down with those words, but he still sniffled.

               “I miss her already,” Harry said. “I want her home now.”

               “Me too,” Severus agreed, kissing his son’s head. “Me too.”

               As much as he had said those words to reassure Harry, he honestly needed to reassure himself. He was pretty sure Dahlia would never intentionally hurt Iris, but he had no clue where Dahlia’s head was at. If he didn’t have his son to worry about, he’d be out there searching for Dahlia and Iris himself.

 

               Miles away, Dahlia drove along the backroads, her eyes frantically checking for police again. She was sure she was gaining much distance from where they would even start their search, but one could never be too careful. She took a deep breath and focused on the road once more.

               “Mum, we’ve been driving forever,” Iris complained in her car seat. “This isn’t the way to the dentist.”

               “I know, honey,” Dahlia said.

               Iris paused at that, a frown forming on her face.

               “Where are we going?” Iris asked.

               “We’re just going on a little vacation,” Dahlia answered. “It’s a surprise for you.”

               “I don’t want a surprise.” Iris kicked at her mother’s seat in front of her. “I want to go home. Now.”

               “Iris, stop that.” Dahlia scolded, glancing at her daughter in the rearview mirror. “I’m not in the mood.”

               “I don’t care,” Iris shouted, “take me home now. I want Daddy.”

               “You’re not getting your daddy—he’s the whole reason I have to do this. Just sit back and be quiet, please.”

               Iris growled loudly in frustration, banging her head back against her seat. She glared at her mother for a moment, but Dahlia was oblivious to her glares as she glanced back again as if expecting someone to follow her. Then, Iris snapped herself free of her car seat and slid out of it, leaning forward between the front seats.

               “I want to go home!” Iris demanded.

               Dahlia gasped and jerked the wheel slightly before she pushed against her daughter’s chest, trying to get her to sit down.

               “Iris Eileen-Louise, get back in your car seat right now!”

               “No! I want to go home.”

               “Iris, please, sit down. Get your seat belt on. Please don’t make me pull over. Sit down.”

               Iris screamed and hit the head seats with her fists.

               “I want to go home! I want to go home!”

               Dahlia glanced at the road then back at her daughter and tried to push her down in her seat.

               “Stop screaming! Stop it right now. Sit down, young lady.”

               “Mum, look out!” Iris shouted.

               Dahlia looked ahead just in time to see a flash of a black car flying towards them before a sickening crunch of metal filled her ears as the other car clipped hers, causing it to spin off the road and roll down a ditch. It came to a halt at the bottom of the ditch, landing upside down.

               For a long moment, there was nothing but silence.

               The black car was dented and scratched up in the front bumper, but it pulled up to the side of the road where Dahlia’s old Morris Minor had flipped. The back doors opened.

               At the bottom of the hill, Iris crawled out a shattered window, tears streaming down her face. Despite being unbuckled, she had gotten caught in between the front seats and didn’t fly around two much, though she did bang her head, which had a cut on it and was bleeding. She was scraped up from glass on her arms and knees. She looked back at the car.

               Dahlia was still in her seat, upside down like the car, and her head had a larger gash where she had hit it against the steering wheel. She was unconscious, her eyes closed and blood dripping from her nose and her open wound.

               “Mummy!” Iris cried, reaching through the open window and shaking Dahlia’s shoulder. She heard voices above her, and she cried, “Help! I need help. My mum’s hurt!”

               “Is that her?” a man’s deep voice asked. “That’s the ex, right?”

               “It better be or we struck the wrong car,” another man’s voice said.

               Two dark robbed men carefully walked down the ditch toward the wreck, wands at their side and ready. Iris crawled back a bit, wary of the wizards.

               “Please help,” she tried again, hoping they might have sympathy on her.

               “Yeah, that’s the daughter,” one man said. “Obliviate the muggle driver. I’ll grab her.”

               One wizard ran back toward the black car while the other lunged for Iris.

               “What are you doing?” Iris asked, back crawling away. “No, leave me alone. Mum!”

               Iris screamed as she was grabbed and a loud crack sounded through the air as the wizards disapparated away.

 

To be continued...


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