Finding You Again by jjjm0808
Summary: Can old wounds be healed? Can Harry and Severus have a chance at being happy? Can Dumbledore stop being a meddling old coot?
Categories: Parental Snape > Biological Father Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required)
Snape Flavour: Snape Comforts, Snape is Kind, Snape is Loving, Overly-protective Snape, Snape is Stern
Genres: Drama, Family, Fluff
Media Type: None
Tags: Injured!Harry, Snape-meets-Dursleys
Takes Place: 1st Year
Warnings: Abusive Dursleys, Alcohol Use, Neglect
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 21 Completed: No Word count: 45475 Read: 21682 Published: 05 Jan 2022 Updated: 03 May 2022
Chapter 13 by jjjm0808
November 1, 1991

Harry had woken up when the extremely bright light filtered through the room. He attempted to open his eyes but instantly snapped them shut due to the immense amount of pain it had caused him. He rubbed his eyes with the heel of his hand and groaned. “Harry, you awake?” he heard come from somewhere next to him. He recognized that voice immediately. “Ron?” he asked. “Yeah mate, we’re in the infirmary. Do you remember what happened?” Ron asked. Harry took a second to filter through his thoughts and remembered the troll. He shot up in his bed but yelped out in pain as his body protested the sudden movement. “Hermione?” Harry asked. “She’s fine, still asleep. She had a nasty cut on her leg and a few bruises, but Madame Pomphrey fixed us right up. You on the other hand apparently have a concussion and cracked ribs along with a sprained ankle.” Ron had told his friend. Harry leaned back on the pillows and closed his eyes again. ‘Well, the concussion explains why my head hurts, but why is my wrist extremely sore?’ he thought to himself.

“Harry, you still awake?” Ron asked. “Unfortunately,” he responded. “I thought you should know something mate,” Ron began, “Snape sat by your bed all night. He only left about an hour ago.” Harry sat still as he absorbed the information. Had Snape really sat here all night? Maybe he’s not as bad as I thought. Maybe he does really care.

****

After eating lunch, Madam Pomphrey discharged the three of them with specific instructions to take it easy the rest of the day, and especially for Harry to return if he has any dizziness or nausea spells. The three of them headed to their common room to just do some homework for the rest of the afternoon. Harry could hardly focus due to the dull ache from his head. After another hour of just staring at his potions book, he decided to take a walk around the castle. He got up and started to put on his bag when Ron stopped him. “Where ya going mate?” his friend asked. When Harry turned to look at Ron, he noticed he had a Quidditch magazine on top of his transfiguration textbook and smiled. “Just going for a walk. I might stop by Professor Snape’s office to ask him a few questions about tomorrow’s potion assignment.” Ron nodded and went back to reading his magazine. “Oh Harry, before you go would you mind asking the professor to clarify why you need to add the legs from a fire beetle after adding the ginger root?” Hermione asked. “Sure, ‘mione,” Harry said as he walked out the portrait hole and down the staircase.

He was still feeling incredibly sore from last night’s events, and the walk seemed to make the ache in his head more noticeable. By the time he reached the door to Snape’s office, he felt exhausted from the long trek to the dungeons. Just as he was about to raise his hand to knock, the door swung open, and Severus was standing there looking down at him. “Can I help you, Mr. Potter?” Severus drawled out. “Uhm… actually yeah, I have a few questions about the potion for tomorrow’s class.” Snape curtly nodded his head and motioned for the boy to enter. Before closing the door, he glanced out in the hallway to make sure no one had followed the boy.

Harry dropped his bag and slumped down in the chair that he usually claimed. Severus took note of the boy’s body language and went to go sit behind his desk. “How are you feeling? I’m very surprised to see that Madam Pomphrey released you from the hospital wing so early.” Harry shrugged “I’m alright, and she gave me strict instructions to return if I felt dizzy or nauseous. She also gave me one more dose of a pain reliever to take tonight before bed,” Harry told him. Severus nodded and took in the boy’s appearance once more. “So, you said you had some questions about the potion tomorrow?” Harry nodded and then winced as the movement became too much for his current headache. “Yeah, um, why do you need to add the ginger root before adding legs from a fire beetle?” Harry had asked. Severus smirked and sat back in his chair, “the ginger root help neutralize the potion. If you were to add the fire beetle legs first, the potion would become too acidic, it would be rendered useless,” Severus answered. “Oh, okay that makes sense. Thank you, sir.” Harry stood up to leave but immediately stumbled forward as a wave of dizziness coursed through him. Snape was quick to his feet and practically leaped over his desk to keep the boy from falling. Severus placed two hands on the boys’ shoulders and leaned down to look into his eyes, “alright there, Harry?” he asked, concern showing all over his face. “Uh yeah, just lost my balance for a second,” Harry responded and closed his eyes and rubbed at his forehead. Severus wasn’t entirely convinced by this answer and frowned. “Why don’t we go sit somewhere a little more comfortable for a while?” Harry nodded and allowed Severus to place his hand between his shoulder blades and guide him through a door in the back of his office.

Harry took in the sight before him. He was standing in a decently sized sitting room that had a large, grey suede sofa and a matching love seat on the other side, and a cream-colored leather winged-back chair that looked decently worn and used, and a maple coffee table centered over a large, pine green plush area rug. Along the walls, there were bookcases that Harry was sure were filled with more books than the library itself! He saw to his left there was a small kitchenette with a round table and two chairs. On the other side, he noticed a dark hallway with a few doors in it. Above the fire mantle, there was a large clock and a few pictures in frames. He walked over to them and studied the pictures on them in awe. One picture was of Severus and Lily on the night of their wedding, Harry assumed. They both looked extremely happy as they danced together. Another one was of Severus sitting on the couch with Lily leaning back into him holding who Harry had figured was a baby him. Severus had his arm wrapped around Lily and his hand resting on the thick black hair of the baby. The final picture was of an older-looking woman who had a very faint smile on her face, but you could see the smile in her eyes. “That was your grandmother and my mother, Eileen,” Severus said from behind Harry. Harry turned around and then looked back at the picture. “They’re nice pictures,” Harry said. Severus placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder, “there’s more in the album your mother left for us if you’d like to look,” he told his son. Harry hesitated for a second before following Severus over to the couch and sitting down next to him but being sure to leave a decent gap in between them.

Severus summoned the album from the chest that was against the back wall and placed it over his and Harry’s lap. He and Harry absently flipped through the album together. The album first started with pictures of Severus and Lily through their time at Hogwarts, and then moved to the time when they started dating. “Your mother had always insisted on bringing her camera with her everywhere. I despise having my picture taken, but she always seemed to capture the right moment.” They stopped at one of the pages and Severus ran his fingers over the picture of Lily and him covered in snow. “This was the day I proposed to your mother. This was one of the few times I was happy that she had the camera because I knew she’d want to keep this as a reminder of the day…” he said softly. Harry looked at the picture and then back up to Severus, “could you tell me what happened?” he asked. Severus nodded and began his story.

**** (FB)

It was snowing outside and exceptionally freezing even though it was late February and spring was just around the corner. Lily had wanted to go for a walk outside and enjoy the potentially last snowfall of the year. Severus on the other hand, was more than happy to stay inside the nice comfort of his home on Spinner’s End, sitting in front of the fireplace with a cup of tea and a nice book.

“Sev, come onnnnn,” Lily begged. “Lily, I do not understand why you fancy the idea of parading around in freezing wet snow, are you trying to force yourself to catch a cold?” Severus responded without even looking up from his book. Lily grabbed the book out of his hands and pulled him off the sofa. “Sev… please? For me?” Lily had resorted to puckering out her bottom lip and making her eyes as wide as they could go. She knew Severus could never resist her when she gave him this look. Severus stared at her for a moment before leaning in to gently kiss her forehead. “Fine, but only for you, my love,” he said and walked up the narrow stairs to their bedroom to change into his warmest clothes and boots. When he came down the stairs Lily was waiting for him by the door with his cloak and scarf in hand. She placed them on him and grabbed his hand to pull him out the door.

The two walked hand-in-hand along the trail in the woods. When they came to the clearing by the now frozen lake, Lily took off in a run to her favorite spot underneath the oak tree. She sat down on the wet snow looking out over the scenery. “Surely you do not expect me to sit down,” Severus asked when he caught up to her. “Oh, come on, Sev. I’ll cast a drying charm on you,” she told him as she grabbed his arm and pulled him down next to her. She leaned into his side, and he wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.

After a few minutes of peaceful silence, Lily secretly grabbed a handful of snow from behind them and then threw it at Severus’s face. “What the bloody hell was that for!” he said standing up. All Lily could do was laugh at the expression on his now snow-covered face. Before she knew it, she felt a snowball hit her shoulder and her laughter immediately ceased “hey!” Severus just smirked and shrugged his shoulders, but he didn’t realize Lily had grabbed her wand and sent ten snowballs to his back. She stood up and started to run away laughing as he began to chase her. “Not funny Lily!” he shouted. When Severus finally caught up to her he grabbed her waist and tackled her to the ground, but made sure he was the one that landed on the bottom just in case the ground was too hard.

They both erupted into laughter as they sat up. When Severus looked over, he felt like he could no longer breathe. ‘Merlin, she is absolutely beautiful,’ he thought to himself. He took in the state of Lily’s now damp auburn hair and rosy-red cheeks with tears of laughter glistening in her emerald eyes. He knew he couldn’t wait any longer. “Lily,” he said more seriously. Lily stopped laughing and looked over at him. “Yeah Sev?” she asked. Severus took a deep breath and reached into his pocket. He’d been carrying around the Prince's heirloom ring since the moment they started dating. When he finally pulled it out, Lily gasped and covered her mouth with her hand.

“Lily, you have been my very best friend ever since that day we met when we were only 9 years old. I have been in love with you since the first day I found out what love meant. I believe you are my… what they call ‘soulmate’. After I had said that terrible word to you and you stopped speaking to me, I wasn’t sure I would ever feel happy again. That was until you forgave me, and our friendship was restored. The day where we shared our first kiss in Hogsmeade was one of the happiest days of my life. Now I’m hoping today can replace that day. My Lily flower, would you marry me?”

The tears that were streaming out of Lily’s eyes had now been frozen to her cheeks. She tried to open her mouth to speak but found she couldn’t say anything. Instead, she emphatically nodded her head and jumped into Severus’s arms, knocking them both back over. She placed her hands on his cheeks and gave him a long deep kiss. When they sat up Severus slid the ring on her finger and kissed her hand. “How about we head back home and warm up in front of the fire now?” he asked. Lily laughed and helped him up off the ground. The two walked back to their small home together, Severus’s arm wrapped tightly over her shoulders and Lily’s wrapped tightly around his waist.

The next day both had woken up in the morning with a terrible cold.

**** (end FB)

When Severus finished his story, he looked up from the picture to look at his son. Harry had fallen asleep, leaning his head back against the sofa with his mouth hanging wide open and letting out little snores. Severus shook his head and chuckled. He stood up from the sofa and placed the photo album on the coffee table. He gently took off Harry’s sneakers and placed his legs up on the couch, and then lowered his head onto the throw pillow. He then grabbed the throw blanket that was draped over the arm of the sofa and placed it over Harry. Severus let his hand run through Harry’s disheveled hair and whispered a quiet “sleep well,” to his son and left the room to brew until he woke up.
To be continued...


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