“I’m sure,” Professor Snape drawled in his usual monotone as he prepared a cup of tea, “that you realized how cold it was outside before you decided to have a snowball fight in a blizzard without so much as a coat.”

“I think it’s a bit of a stretch to refer to it as a blizzard, Professor,” Harry murmured as he sat swaddled in a mound of blankets in front of the fire in the professor’s quarters. “I don’t think that anyone would have gone out there to play in it had it been, like, an actual blizzard.”

“That doesn’t change the fact that it was below freezing and snowing profusely, and you still didn’t deem it necessary to dress properly to protect yourself from the weather.”

Harry turned his head away and huffed into the blankets, pulling his teddy bear Bob closer against his chest in the process. It wasn’t as though he’d purposely seeked out frostbite. He’d already been feeling fairly cold inside the castle, but Susan had made going out in the snow sound so exciting, and he’d never really had anyone to play with in the past, and why should he have to miss out on all the fun just because he didn’t possess a coat or a scarf or a hat and his mittens had holes in them? It had never held him back in the past.

Harry was broken out of his thoughts by a nudge on the shoulder and he looked up to see Professor Snape holding out the cup of tea to him. “Drink it while it’s hot. Heaven knows you need it.”

Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust. He’d never been a big tea fan but he figured he’d better do as he was told just now, so he wiggled his arms out of the covers and accepted the warm beverage, looking away from the professor as he took a sip and forced himself to swallow in an attempt to avoid tasting it. That never really worked out, but this time it was okay… It actually didn’t taste like any tea he’d ever had before.

“Mm,” Harry hummed, taking another sip. “That’s actually kind of good.”

Professor Snape raised an eyebrow from the seat he’d taken next to Harry. “I would hope so. I did make it, after all.”

Harry smiled cheekily, grasping the warm teacup firmly in his two cold hands. “Well your potions do taste pretty terrible, sir.”

Professor Snape smirked back at him. “Perhaps they taste terrible because I desire them to taste so.”

Harry wrinkled his nose again. “Why would you want that?”

“If they tasted good then people would want to take them all the time, which could lead to problems.”

“Oh,” Harry said. “That makes sense.”

Professor Snape nodded. “Yes. Unlike your escapade in the snow today. Twenty some odd children and yet you’re the only one who comes back into the castle with frostbite.”

Harry sighed. So they were back on that.

“Look on the bright side. At least I came back at all.”

Professor Snape scowled. “You are not nearly as humorous as you believe yourself to be.”

Harry’s self-confidence was fairly low but he was pretty certain that Professor Snape found him to be very funny, he just didn’t want to admit it to an eleven-year-old. Or anyone at all, because it wasn’t an easy feat to get Professor Snape to laugh. But Harry did manage it every now and then, so he felt that it said a lot about Harry’s comedic effect.

Harry took another sip of his tea, staring at the fire and trying to hold back a sneeze. Maybe he should have put more thought into it all, but he’d probably end up making the same decision either way, even with hindsight informing him that he’d get sick. It was just a possible cold and only a touch of frostbite, anyway. He’d had worse.

“How are your hands?” Professor Snape questioned after long moments of silence.

Harry looked down at the reddened fingers wrapped around his cup. “Well they’re not blue.”

“Can you feel them?”

“Uh-huh.”

A sigh. Hands taking the cup from him and then warm hands covering his own and inspecting his fingers. “They still feel cold.”

“It is January.”

“Which is why you should have worn gloves.”

Another sigh, this time from Harry. “I don’t have gloves. Or a scarf, or a hat, or a coat. But I do have friends, finally, and I just wanted to play with them in the snow.”

“You don’t…” Professor Snape’s features darkened, but he kept his voice calm. “Why didn’t you inform me that you were lacking proper winter wear?”

“Why would I?”

“Why wouldn’t you?”

Harry furrowed his brows, thoroughly confused and feeling like they were going in circles. “I don’t… I dunno? Why would I?” he asked again.

“Because, I care for you and your well-being.”

“I-I know, but it’s not like… it doesn’t matter? I mean we’re, you’re not…”

“Your parent?”

Harry bit his lip. “I guess.”

Professor Snape’s features became more pinched than usual. “No, I suppose I’m not. But why do you think you’re spending the winter holidays with me, exactly?”

Harry frowned. “Because my relatives didn’t want me to come home and so you’re stuck with me?”

The professor huffed. “It doesn’t even matter what your relatives might want, you’re not going back to them period. But there are plenty of students staying at the castle in their dorm rooms without adult supervision, so what makes you different?”

“Is it because I’m not able to even go outside without getting frostbite so I require constant adult supervision?”

Professor Snape raised his eyes to the ceiling, but Harry could tell he was holding back a smile. “No, silly child. Well yes, apparently, but that’s not why I wanted you to stay with me.”

“Then why?”

“Merlin, Harry, do you need me to put it in writing to make it clear for you? I’m not… your parent, no, but I do care for you. And I feel that makes me responsible for you.”

“Oh…” Harry bit his lip. “Well you don’t have to.”

“I’m aware that I don’t have to, but I do. Therefore if you had simply informed me that you were in need of clothing that any decent guardian would provide…” Professor Snape sighed, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter. I’ll have you the essentials ordered and until they arrive you are not to participate in any more snowball fights.”

“But Professor Snape, Susan and I already made plans for tomorrow and I-,“ Harry broke off, unable to hold back a sneeze.

“I believe your plans with Miss Bones tomorrow have already been disrupted by your cold.”

Harry scowled. “I don’t have a cold.”

“Mmm,” Professor Snape hummed. “I’ll put a hold on the soup until then.”

“…What kind of soup?”

“Oh, you know, whatever drab the house elves scrounge up. Nothing special.”

“Nothing special?! The one they made last week when Mr. Hagrid was sick was soooo good!” Even if Mr. Hagrid did make even more weird noises than usual when he was sick, at least the house elves greatly overestimated his size when preparing soup for him and it had been very good indeed…

“Hm, I suppose it was. Still, there’s simply no need to trouble them with a special meal if you’re not even sick…”

Harry stuck out his lower lip and turned his head away, making sure to cough weakly into his blankets as he did so.

Professor Snape laid a hand across his forehead, feeling for a temperature. “You are a bit warm.”

Harry wiped his sleeve under his nose. “Just a little.”

“It could just be because of all these blankets…”

Harry sniffled.

A pat on the head. “I’ll see what I can do.”