December 1, 1991

Severus and Harry’s relationship was beginning to grow even more. Harry would find himself coming to visit Severus in his quarters three times a week after class. Sometimes they would sit and chat over tea, but other times they would sit and do their work in companionable silence. They learned more of each other’s likes and dislikes. For instance, Harry learned that Severus has a passion for the dark arts and has even applied for the position at Hogwarts, but Dumbledore decided he was a better fit for potions. Harry had also learned that Severus considered Dumbledore to be one of his closest companions but found out that their relationship had weakened due to Dumbledore’s meddling in their lives. Harry had felt remorseful when hearing this. He did not want to be the reason his dad and Dumbledore stopped being friends, but when he tried to talk to Severus about forgetting what he did, Severus entirely shut Harry down. He would go on a rant saying things like, ‘that meddling old coot had no right to take my son away from me,’ or ‘that bastard left you to suffer at the hands of your relatives.’ Harry had just figured that with time, their relationship would mend. Hopefully.

On the other hand, Severus learned that Harry likes to play wizard chess even though he claims that he is ‘rubbish’ (his words, not Severus’s) at it. He also learned that apparently, Ron Weasley is some wizard chess mastermind. This came as quite a shock to Severus since Weasley seemed hardly competent enough to brew a simple boil cure potion. Severus also learned that Harry dislikes the attention he gets from being the boy who lived. Before Harry came to Hogwarts, he had thought the boy had been a spoiled brat who thrived off fame, but after hearing snippets about the time with the Dursleys and getting to know his son, he learned that he was quite wrong. Harry is extremely generous and has a heart that is way too big for his own good. He also hates unnecessary attention especially when it came to people pointing at him and murmuring ‘that’s him! The savior of the wizarding world!’. Harry had told him about his first time in Diagon Alley with Hagrid and how everyone in the Leaky Cauldron had made a scene when they saw who he was. Even though Severus felt terrible for his son and wished he didn’t have to go through all of this, he secretly smiled inside because he knew that Harry Potter was truthfully Harry Snape, his son with Lily. Not Potter’s.

****
It was Saturday and Severus had told Harry to meet him in his office at 9 am on the dot. He didn’t tell Harry why, but he had told him to dress warm and eat a decently sized breakfast before he came to his office.

Severus impatiently tapped his foot while sitting in his desk chair. It was now 9:07 and Harry had yet to show up. If Severus is anything, he is most certainly not a patient man. Just as he stood up to search for Harry, Harry himself burst through his office door. His cheeks were flushed, his hair was drenched, and he was out of breath. “How nice of you to show up,” Severus said clearly sounding annoyed.

“Sorry! I woke up kind of late and realized I had to shower since I didn’t last night and then I couldn’t find my winter cloak because I had left it in the common room and then the stairs kept moving in all the wrong directions and-” Harry had blurted out almost all in one breath before Severus cut him off.

“Harry, I do not want to hear every single detail entailing your morning and why you were late. Please learn for future endeavors, when I say to arrive at 9 am, you arrive at 8:55 am. Now, did you manage to eat?” Severus asked. Harry hesitated for a moment before shaking his head no. “Children,” Snape muttered. “We will just have to add a stop on our trip then. Follow me,” Severus said as he turned on his heel and walked into his quarters, immediately walking to the fireplace. “First, I must cast a glamor on both of us. We cannot risk being seen together as ourselves and frankly I would prefer if we could get through the day without people gaping at my son.”

Severus pulled out his wand and cast a glamour charm on himself first. His hair length changed to being just above his ears and the color turned into a light brown. Next, his eyes were changed to blue, and his skin was no longer pale but slightly tanned and his nose no longer hooked. Before Harry could say anything, Severus then cast a glamor over Harry that gave him almost the same appearance as himself, but he kept his eyes green and made his hair longer to cover the scar. “Since your scar was caused by a dark curse, nothing would be able to conceal it. I made your bangs longer in the front, but you must also wear this hat to make sure it remains covered.” Severus then pulled a winter hat from his cloak and handed it to Harry.

Harry examined the hat and then back up at Severus, giving him a slight glare. “You really had to give me a Slytherin hat?” he asked. Severus smirked. The hat he had given Harry was green with a black serpent stitched on the front and on the back, the stitch had ‘Slytherin’ written across it. Harry sighed and put the hat on. “Just please don’t tell my housemates about this,” he had pleaded.

“Do not worry, your secret is safe with me,” Severus smirked again. Little did Harry know was that Severus had his camera in his pocket intent on getting a picture of Harry with the hat on to taunt him forever.

“Now, have you ever Floo’d before?” Severus asked Harry. Harry shook his head, “No, what is it?” he asked.

“One of the many ways that wizards can travel. You will have to do it with me for the first time, so you see how it is done, alright?” Severus told Harry. Harry nodded again and followed Severus in when he threw down the Floo powder and the flames turned a bright green. “You might want to close your mouth and eyes for this,” Severus said as he wrapped his arm around his son.

“Wait what?” Harry had asked, but as soon as he did, Severus shouted, “Leaky Caldron!” and they were whisked away.

Severus kept his arm tightly wrapped around Harry after they were shot out of the fireplace in the restaurant area of the Leaky Caldron. Harry immediately began to cough up ash and Severus had to pat his back a few times for him to calm down. Severus then cast a quick cleaning charm on the two of them and walked over to a table to sit down. “You know, I did warn you to close your mouth and eyes.”

Harry rolled his eyes as he sat down across from Severus. Two menus popped up onto their table and Severus began to look over them. Harry hesitated for a moment feeling a bit uneasy before doing the same. Aside from the time with Hagrid, he had never been out to eat before. Every time the Dursleys went out, he was always left at home with a single slice of cheese on stale bread. When Tom had come over to take their orders, Severus ordered a cup of black coffee and a plate of eggs with two strips of bacon. Harry hesitated when Tom turned to him, and Severus nodded to him to order. Harry ordered a blueberry scone and a glass of water.

After Tom walked away, Severus turned back to Harry studying him for a moment. “Harry, are you sure that will fill you until lunch? I could ask Tom to add a plate of eggs for you, or anything else you would want.”

Harry awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck. “No thank you, I’ll be fine with just that.” Truthfully, he would be. He was used to going a day or two without eating at the Dursleys and when he did eat it wasn’t much. He also had to admit that he was feeling a bit anxious as to why they were going out. He wanted to ask but didn’t want to annoy the man for having to explain everything to him.

The two were sitting together in awkward silence. Severus was looking at a copy of the Daily Prophet and Harry kept nervously tapping his fingers against the table and looking around the room. Just as Harry had gained the courage to ask what their plans were for the day, Tom appeared with their food. He had brought Harry a plate of eggs along with his scone and he simply stared at the second plate in front of him confused. When he looked up, he saw Severus watching him. “I had added it to the order when you weren’t paying attention,” Severus explained.

Harry blushed. “Thank you,” he told Severus. Both he and Severus dug into their food, paid their bill, and left.


“I just need to make a quick stop at the apothecary before anywhere else,” Severus told Harry as they began walking down the street. Harry nodded and followed Severus into the small store. “Hello! Welcome! Can I help you look for anything gentlemen?” The older store clerk had asked as soon as they stepped foot in the door.

“Ah just getting a few supplies that need to be restocked. I know where they are though, thank you for the offer,” Severus said. The two walked to the back of the store where Severus began to grab almost everything off the shelves that Harry had to help him carry them. “Jeez, are you restocking all of England?” Harry had asked jokingly.

Severus sighed, “the cheekiness I have to put up with,” he murmured just loud enough for Harry to hear him which caused Harry to roll his eyes again. After almost all the shelves were empty, the two finally made their way up to the front of the store to check out.

“Oh, a fellow Slytherin I see!” exclaimed the store clerk as he saw Harry’s hat. “I was in Slytherin back in my day. Best house there is if you ask me! We had won not only the house cup, but the quidditch cup every year I attended. Gryffindor didn’t stand a chance! What year are you in boy?”

Harry was genuinely confused at first but then remembered his hat. “First,” he simply replied.

“Ah first year is one of the best years!” the clerk replied. “I’m sure your pops over here is proud of ya, right?”

Severus gave a smile, but it turned out to look more like a grimace. He hated small talk. He would much rather be under the cruciatus curse than have to endure small talk. He placed a hand on Harry’s shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Yes, I am very proud of my son. Even though I am Slytherin myself and am a staunch supporter of my house, I would have been very proud if he was sorted into any of the houses. In fact, I am proud of my son more and more every day.”

Harry knew that Severus was saying he is proud of him for being in Gryffindor. To hear his father, say that he was proud of him honestly made him want to break down and cry right there. Severus was known for being a cold-hearted bastard, but Harry was beginning to know him as his dad. His dad showed him over the past couple of weeks that he has a big soft spot for him. Harry was really beginning to feel like he belonged here.

****

After they finished at the apothecary, the two continued to walk down the street together. Severus stopped walking when they reached a building that didn’t look like any of the other shops. Harry stopped and read the sign with a look of confusion sitting on his face. “Why are we at an optometrist?” he asked.

“You are in need of new glasses. The ones you currently have were just temporary after your others were destroyed in your duel with Mr. Malfoy.” Severus answered as he ushered his son inside the office of Healer John Wilson, Wizard Optometrist.

“Oh, thank you, but these glasses are actually better than the ones I had before. The ones I had before were from the lost and found at primary school… The Dursleys never actually took me to have my eyes looked at before…” Harry said.

Severus sighed. “Well, we should still get your eyes checked since they have never been before,” he said. Severus motioned for Harry to sit in a chair in the waiting room as he checked in at the desk. He then went to go sit next to his son and wait. A few minutes later, a young woman came out from behind a door. “Harry Snape,” she called out motioning for them to follow her. Harry stood up and walked towards the door with Severus trailing behind him.

After deeming that Harry needed a stronger prescription and ruling out any possible muggle eye diseases, Harry went to go pick out new frames. He immediately reached for the round wireframes and Severus groaned. “What?” Harry asked turning back to him.

“Must you pick those?” Severus asked. Harry hesitated for a moment and put them down and shrugged. His shoulders slumped in defeat; he had really liked those frames. Severus saw Harry’s dejected look and internally sighed.

“Harry, I’m sorry. If you like those, we can get those. They just reminded me of James, but it does not matter.” Severus knew that he no longer had a reason to hate James Potter. Sure, maybe it is justifiable to hold a slight grudge for James’s treatment of him in school, but James laid down his life to protect his wife and son.

“No sir, it’s fine I can find other ones,” Harry responded.

Without saying anything, Severus grabbed the frames from the stand and walked over to the desk to tell them to fill these. The clerk grabbed the frames and spelled them to match Harry’s prescription. Severus paid for the visit and the frames and the two were on their way again.

“I could have paid for them,” Harry said when they made their way out of the store.

“Nonsense. I am your father, and I will provide you with the essentials from now on,” Severus responded.

Harry just nodded. “Thank you then, I already notice a difference. I can actually see the street sign down the road,” Harry said with a slight chuckle. Severus just smiled and then ushered Harry back into the Leaky Cauldron.

“Alright Harry, we are going to head to Hogsmeade now. I have one more appointment for you and then we can stop for lunch before heading back to the castle. Now we are going to Floo again. Remember what I told you.” Severus said while reaching for the floo powder.

“Another appointment? What type of appointment?” Harry asked.

“You will find out, now come on,” Severus said as he threw the Floo powder into the fireplace and grabbed Harry. This time Harry managed to close his eyes and mouth but still stumbled out of the fireplace when they arrived at Hog’s Head. Severus kept his grip tight on Harry to keep him from falling. Just as they were about to leave, a voice stopped them. “Ah hello, my dear boys.”

Severus and Harry turned around and saw Albus Dumbledore sitting down at a table. Neither of them said anything but were both wondering how Dumbledore knew it was them under the glamor. “Please, do sit,” Dumbledore said and motioned to the two chairs in front of him.

Severus and Harry hesitated for a moment before Severus placed a hand on Harry’s back and guided him to the table. “How did you know it was us, headmaster?” Harry asked.

“Ah, a magician never reveals his secrets,” Dumbledore said and winked at Harry. “Now my boys, what were you doing outside of the castle today?” he asked turning to Severus.

“I had some appointments made for Harry. He required new glasses, and we also have another appointment in a few short minutes so we must be on our way. If you might excuse us…” Severus said as he began to stand up, but Dumbledore raised his hand to stop him from continuing.

“Please sit back down Severus, I would like to discuss something with you.” Severus froze and sat back down. He gave a glance to Harry and then looked back to the headmaster.

“Why did you think it was acceptable to remove Harry from the protection of the castle, Severus? I know you are fully aware of the danger currently looming around with the potential threat of an attack. I wish you would have consulted me before placing young Harry here in danger,” Dumbledore said.

Severus felt his blood boil especially at the last statement. “I am very well aware of the potential danger, headmaster. I would also like to state that Harry is in danger no matter where he is. There are many threats at Hogwarts that I am sure you are very well aware of, isn’t that right, Albus?” Severus said sarcastically. “Furthermore, I am fully capable of protecting my son, but I guess you wouldn’t have had the chance to know since you kept him from me all these years,” Severus now said with clear malice lacing his tone.

“Yes, Severus, I do believe you are capable, but might I remind you, if anyone found out about your relationship, your position for The Order is compromised. I cannot afford to lose your position, Severus.” Dumbledore replied.

This made Severus infuriated. He was tired of playing a pawn in Dumbledore’s game. It interfered with his past, present, and future. He was just about ready to hex the man into oblivion, but Harry had spoken up. “Professor, I don’t mean to be rude, but Professor Snape has made sure that we were safe. He even made me wear this stupid Slytherin hat on my head if you haven’t noticed.”

Dumbledore smiled at the boy. “Yes, indeed I have noticed, Harry, but it is not safe for you to leave the castle. There is a potential threat on the rise and your father was made aware of this. Now, enough of this, let us return to the castle, and Professor Snape and I will continue our discussion in my office,” Dumbledore said as he stood up.

Harry and Severus stood up as well and Severus grabbed Harry’s arm and pulled him behind him. “I sincerely apologize headmaster, but you do not get to make choices regarding my son anymore. I have the final say. Now, if you do not mind, Harry and I have an appointment we are now late for. I will meet you in your office tomorrow to have our discussion. Good day, Albus.” With that, Severus turned on his heel and wrapped an arm around Harry’s shoulders to usher him out of Hog’s Head. Severus was seething with anger but occluded his mind for the time being.

****

After a few minutes of walking in silence, Harry finally spoke up. “Sir, what did Professor Dumbledore mean by the ‘potential threat on the rise’, and what did you mean when you said Hogwarts isn’t exactly safe?”

Severus sighed, “we will talk more about it when we return. It is not safe to bring it up here, but for the time being, you must promise me that you will be on the lookout and stay with your friends at all times.”

Harry stayed quiet for a moment before he agreed. He wasn’t a fan of having to wait to talk, but he knew Severus wouldn’t keep it from him. He was deep in thought when they continued walking, that he didn’t notice Severus stop and he ran right into him almost knocking the two of them over.

“Please do watch where you are going, Harry,” Snape gently admonished. Harry blushed and then read the sign on the front of the door and groaned. ‘Healer Frida Smith – Family Practice’.

‘Great, another bloody checkup,’ Harry thought to himself. They went in and Severus checked him in. When he had returned to Harry’s side, he took out his wand and removed their glamor for the time being. Harry looked around the empty room to be sure that they were alone and then back at Severus with a questioning look on his face. “This is a safe environment, trust me, Harry,” Severus had told him. Healer Frida Smith had known about Lily and Severus’s arrangement with James when Harry was born. She was also the person the members of The Order would see when they were severely injured beyond Poppy’s skills, and he knew she could be trusted with Harry right now.

They followed the same process as before when they were called back and were asked a background of health history which neither of them could fully answer. After waiting for what seemed like an hour, there was a quiet knock on the door, and in walked a petite older woman. Well, she wasn’t that old, probably mid 50’s, but to Harry, she seemed old.

“Well, if it isn’t Mr. Harry Snape and his father!” the older woman exclaimed. “Severus, it’s been so long,” she said as she sat down on a stool.

“Yes, Healer Smith it has been. I wanted to thank you again for taking us on such short notice. I know you have a long waiting list of families trying to see you,” Severus said.

“Oh, nonsense! I make time for my favorites,” she said with a smile as she turned to Harry. “My, my, I haven’t seen you since the day you were born! I was your mum’s… uhh ‘doctor’ as muggles say when she was pregnant with you. I am also a very close friend of Madam Pomphrey and heard all about you before your visit today.”

Harry cocked his head to the side and gave her a questioning look. Severus stiffened in his chair. He hadn’t told Harry about what he asked Poppy to do the night of the troll incident. “May I ask what you mean by that?” Harry said.

Healer Smith glanced at Severus for a brief moment and he just nodded. He knew Harry was going to find out anyway.

“Harry dear, Madam Pomphrey performed a diagnostic charm on you a few weeks ago. In it, she found multiple things that are causing some… concern.” Healer Smith began with.

Harry’s face turned a bright shade of red and his whole body tensed. ‘No, no, no, no, no,’ he kept repeating to himself. He glanced at the door and began to plan an escape. He immediately sprang from his seat and ran towards the door, but Severus caught him by his slim waist. Harry flailed like a fish as Severus practically carried him back to his seat. “Let me go! Stop!” Harry kept shouting.

Severus gently pushed Harry back down into the seat and placed both his hands on his shoulder giving a firm squeeze. “Harry, please we are just trying to help you,” Severus pleaded with the still flailing boy.

“Stop! That’s what everyone says but nothing ever happens! It just gets worse!” Harry shouted back now with tears pooling in his eyes.

Severus kneeled down in front of his son. “Harry, it is not going to get worse. I promise. I just want to make sure you are okay and healthy as can be,” Severus said quietly. He gently cupped Harry’s cheeks with both of his hands and softly brushed the tears now falling from the boys’ eyes. “I care about you too much to let you get sick and suffer,” Severus said tenderly.

Harry stopped his flailing and looked into the dark obsidian eyes staring back at him with concern. Harry took a deep breath and nodded while looking down at his hands in his lap. “Fine,” he said so quietly that Severus had to strain to hear him.

“Harry dear, I’m just going to run my own diagnostic and we’ll go from there, alright?” Healer Smith piped in.

Harry nodded again. “Alright love, I’m going to need you to sit up here and you’re going to have to take your shift off. It’s alright. No one except us will hear about anything that is found, alright?” Healer Smith said again.

Harry sighed and took off the hat, cloak, and jumper and sat on the examination table with his head bowed and cheeks bright red. Severus watched his son and had to fight back a gasp. You could see almost every rib and vertebrae on the boy. His back had a few scars that looked like they came from slashes. Oh, how he wanted to strangle those muggles right now.

Healer Smith on the other hand kept an encouraging smile on her face. She waved her wand over Harry and found the same results from Poppy’s report. “Alright Harry, I’m going to be very honest with you, okay?” Harry simply nodded, too embarrassed to want to speak up. “You are severely underweight and lack many vitamins and nutrients. You are going to have to take a nutritive potion for a little while which I’m sure your father has already brewed. In addition to the nutritive potion, I am going to need you to eat more. The typical calorie range for boys your age is around 1,800 to 2,000 calories a day. I am going to have to ask you to eat 2,500 calories a day. I know this is going to be very challenging at first because you are used to practically starving so your stomach has shrunk, but it is very important that you gain some weight. You want to be big and strong just like your dad, right?”

Harry hesitated and then nodded. “Good. I heard you made the Quidditch team, correct?” Healer Smith asked. Harry nodded again. “Right, well unfortunately if you do not gain some weight, I will have to have Poppy bench you. It is simply not safe for you to be enduring a strenuous exercise until your body can handle the stress,” she said.

At this Harry snapped his head up and glared at Severus. At this very moment, he hated the man. ‘Why did he have to take me here? Is he trying to humiliate me or ruin my life? Quidditch is the only thing that makes me feel true joy and freedom and they’re trying to take it away from me,’ he thought to himself.

Severus raised a brow and returned Harry’s death glare with a stern look. “Harry, I did not do this. Please calm down,” Severus said.

Harry rolled his eyes at him. “Yes, you did! You just had to ruin my life, didn’t you! I told you I do not want to talk about this! Now you’re trying to take away the only freedom I have!” Harry shouted.

“Harry, I warned you once, I will not warn you again to calm down. We can discuss this in a quieter tone. I am not trying to ruin your life; I am simply trying to make sure you can live your life. Harry, you cannot keep beating around the bush. The Dursleys abused you. I know. It will be okay, it is time for you to heal now, son,” Severus said calmly.

Harry clenched his fists. He did not want to talk about this. In fact, he never wanted to talk about this. It was his past and he doesn’t want to be reminded of the terrible treatment. Harry started to shake with anger now as the memories he suppressed began to resurface. He slammed his fists into his eyes and then things started to fly off the shelves in the room. He was so angry that he was performing accidental magic.

Severus stood up “Harry James!” he shouted, and Harry looked up at him. “Please, we need you to calm down. We do not have to talk about it anymore. When you are ready, we will talk but for now, we must get the seriousness of this situation under control. You are simply going to have to live with the fact that I care too much about my son to watch him suffer!” Severus almost yelled the last part out.

Harry stopped shaking and unclenched his fists. He was still angry, but he knew Severus was right. Suddenly, Harry burst out into uncontrollable sobs. His tiny frame shook with each heart-wrenching sob. Severus ran over to him and wrapped his arms tightly around the boy. Harry buried his face in Severus’s chest and wrapped his arms tightly around the man’s neck and continued to sob.

Severus ran his hand through Harry’s hair and whispered soothing words into Harry’s ear as he held tight to his son. Severus had to admit that he wanted to cry right now for Harry. ‘How dare those damn muggles torture my son!’ he thought to himself. ‘Furthermore, how dare Albus allow this to happen!’ Severus was seething with anger and found it very hard to occlude his mind, but when Harry held onto him tighter, he felt everything melt away. He needed to be here for his son right now.

Severus looked up and noticed Healer Smith even had tears in her eyes. She quickly swiped them away and began to write a list of things for Harry to do every day to tackle his malnourishment and undernourishment.

After what felt like an hour but was only 10 minutes, Harry finally ceased his sobbing. He felt entirely drained now but he had to admit, he felt relieved that he no longer had to hide from someone anymore. He looked up at Severus and whispered a quiet thank you when Severus passed him a handkerchief to wipe his face and blow his nose.

Healer Smith finally broke in and placed a gentle hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Harry, there is just one more thing before I let you two go. I need to provide you with all muggle and wizarding vaccines so you can build immunity. They’re going to pinch a little, but it won’t be too bad, alright?” she told him.

Harry looked up at his dad with worry showing in his red-rimmed emerald eyes. Severus ran his hand over Harry’s hair and grabbed his hand in his own and gave it a gentle squeeze. “I’m not going anywhere,” Severus told him.

Harry smiled and squeezed Severus’s hand back. “Thanks, Dad,” Harry said quietly.

Severus felt like he could die at that moment. Harry had finally addressed him as his dad, and he felt his heart soar into the sky. He simply leaned down and placed a kiss on the top of his son’s head.

****

After Healer Smith finished, the two were on their way back to Hogwarts. They decided to have a quiet lunch in Severus's quarters and maybe play some wizard's chess.

The two chose to walk back to the castle so that they could enjoy the sunny afternoon. They had decided there was no need to replace the glamor, but Harry continued to wear the hat. Severus secretly took out his camera and snapped a picture of Harry in his hat running and jumping towards a pile of unmelted snow on the trail back to Hogwarts.

Even though Severus missed most of Harry’s childhood, the boy was still eleven and he had hoped that Harry would stay his little boy forever.