Welcome child, welcome home

Time has come, no longer alone

Yet, you shall struggle yet

This will be one year you won’t soon forget

Not only will they hate, they will learn to fear

They will whisper frightened when you come near

Hunting webs, snakes, whispers precede the dead

Save yourself, it’s not all in your head

Prelude

Harry was unsure of what to say, think or do, looking at the dilapidated house on a much more pitiful street made a part of him long for Hogwarts, for home. But this house, with boarded windows and a tilting front was his father’s home, his true home. So maybe Spinner’s End would not be such a horrible place to live.

As long as his father was beside him… that was all that mattered.

He wasn’t expecting a street like Privet Drive anyway. The plasticity of it did not suit his father.

Severus stood there staring at the house and then down at his son. He seemed embarrassed as he led Harry up the stairs, helping him hop up to miss a broken one. He quickly and inconspicuously took out his wand, undoing the locking charms and wards around it. He pushed the door in gently then ushered his son inside.

“I wish that I could promise you a real home, Harry,” Severus said quietly as he began to light candles along the way with his wand.

Harry smiled at his father when he turned to face him at the stairs. “It’s perfect,” he said and he felt honest. Any place was better than a cupboard, except maybe the Slytherin dormitories.

Draco was not fairing quite as well as his friend.

From the moment he had entered the mansion, he had attacked with a Cruciatus Curse. His mother was locked her chambers, her voice had given from the screaming hours ago. He had to face his father alone.

Lucius had held nothing back as Draco now lay in the middle of his spacious room in a pool of his own blood. The attack had faded by severe willpower but he felt drained now from the amount of magic it took. The beating had been bad enough. It would not do to have him bleed to death.

He wouldn’t give the bastard the satisfaction.

Hermione had prepared herself for one rather boring summer. Nothing could compare to the wonder of Hogwarts and her adventures with the two Slytherins. As much as she loved her parents, she felt isolated. She didn’t belong in their world. She would even take the slander she got from the other Gryffindors just to be back where she belonged.

Collapsing back on her bed in a too-small, much too-quiet room, she wondered what the others were doing. She was worried about them both but felt confident that Professor Snape and Mrs. Malfoy would take care of them.

And so she had nearly three months to herself. Three months of nothing to do but read and write letters, three months of complete solitude. She had never cared as much before about how her parents were so wrapped up in their work, spending little time with their only child.

She had never really felt lonely before in her own home.

Now she did. Immensely.

Sighing she stared at her ceiling fan softly blowing warm summer air on her face, hoping that the entire summer would not be a bust.

I

One's life is not as fixed as one believes. Surprises may lie in store for you, the unexpected often tends to happen ~ Elizabeth Aston

August 16th

“Well go in the Quidditch store after we get your books,” Severus spoke softly to his son as they made their way through the crowd in Diagon Alley. Harry smiled a bit at this and then even more when Severus remarked, “That is if we can drag you away Florish and Blotts at all.”

“I wonder if Hermione and Draco are here,” Harry said sadly, more to himself than to his father.

Severus struggled to keep his face blank. Harry had not heard from either of his friends the entire summer. Severus understood in Draco’s case – he feared the worst from Lucius. Had Draco not been seen in the papers at ordinary galas and balls of the Ministry, Severus would figure the child gone forever.

As for Hermione, the girl had not sent Harry one letter. Harry had sent many in the first few weeks but as the borrowed school owl returned day after day with not a letter with it, his son had become discouraged. Severus himself had fought his anger at the girl, for his son’s sake.

Turning to go down the street to take them to the bookstore, Severus cursed and grabbed his son’s shoulder pulling him behind him.

Harry peeked out from behind his father’s robes to see a tall man with long white blond hair in an argument with a slight balding red haired man. Then he saw Fred, George and Ron Weasley standing nearby. A shift in the crowd caught his attention as Narcissa and Draco appeared behind the tall man.

Harry gasped and made to walk over but Severus held him back. He then saw a familiar bushy head of hair heading towards Draco but a sharp look from Narcissa kept Hermione at bay. After sharing a few quiet words with Ron Weasley, the small expensively dressed family walked away. Harry looked on and watched as the man – no doubt Lucius Malfoy – was soon introduced to some man in dress robes. That’s when Draco looked back, catching Harry’s gaze and quickly looking at the ground.

“That damned bastard…” Severus growled, finally leading his son forward but keeping a firm grip on the boy’s bony shoulder.

“Harry!” Severus looked shocked as Granger suddenly jumped his son, holding on tightly and crying. Aware of the attention they were drawing, Severus led the two over to an empty bench outside the bookstore. Hermione stayed still, clenching Harry’s robes and sobbing horribly. Severus couldn’t even find himself to be angry at the girl.

“Sit, both of you,” he said gently but firmly to the pair and watched as his son guided the girl into the seat.

“Harry, I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I don’t know what I did wrong! Forgive me, forgive me…” she trailed off. “I wrote you so many letters... but never got one from you! Just tell me you were busy… that you still want to be my friend…”

Harry looked up at his father over Hermione’s bowed head and mouthed the word ‘letters’ to him. Severus shook his head and Harry spoke no more on the subject. Though, Severus knew that this mystery was far from over.

“Of course, I’m your friend, Hermione… you and Draco are my best friends.” Severus was pleased to note the fact that Granger didn’t seem to care that herself and Draco were his son’s only friends. Hermione finally began to quiet as she looked up at Harry with a watery smile.

“Miss Granger, have you bought your textbooks yet?”

“No, sir,” she said wiping her eyes and smiling at Harry.

“Come then.” He began to walk on and the two children quickly matched his pace. “The old man did not think it imperative to send my son a copy of the list. I assume you have yours, Miss Granger?”

“Yes, professor,” she replied and pulled out a neatly folded sheet of paper out of her robe pocket, handing it over to him.

As Severus unfolded the letter, he stared down at it in shock. The shock quickly turned to anger as he peered down on the texts for Defense Against the Dark Arts. “Curse you, Albus,” Severus muttered, leading the children, much to his chagrin into the crowded bookstore.

“Who is Gilderoy Lockhart?” Harry asked, quietly as soon as they stepped inside to see a large sign announcing Gilderoy Lockhart was there signing his books. A large picture of a pale, golden blond haired man was placed on a large table. The table was covered with glossy tomes and the man in the picture kept whipping out his wand and winking at the general public.

Severus felt the need to gag as two teenage girls – whom he immediately recognized as Hufflepuffs – were goggling at the picture, interspersing between giggling and practically drooling. With a firm hand he lead the children up an empty staircase so that they could get away from the crowd and hunt for books that would be of a better influence on their minds.

Just as they reached the first landing, they spotted Lockhart in the middle of an interview with the Daily Prophet. Severus rolled his eyes and began to walk forward when a certain question stopped him cold.

“–does it feel to be the next Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts?”

“It feels wonderful!” the man gushed, and signed his name with a flourish in a book belonging to an old woman with batting eyelashes. “I feel the security at Hogwarts is failing abysmally as Dumbledore has not only entered He Who Must Not Be Named himself as his student but also the man’s heir, Harry Potter!”

“Do you have any plans in dealing with Potter?”

“I vanquished devilish creatures! I have brought many of He Who Must Not Be Named’s followers to the ground. An eleven year old child is no match of Gilderoy Lockhart!”

The crowd cheered and cameras flashed all around the man. Severus looked down at his son who was staring hard at the celebrity. He was silent for a long time and Hermione reached over to take his hand. He then looked up at his father, solemnly and muttered, “I’m twelve.”

Severus felt laughter bubbling up inside him, but swallowed it down as too many of his students were present. He smirked for his son’s sake and Harry beamed up at him. Hermione smiled at Harry and lead him up the next set of stairs with Severus following, the two never seeing the murderous look of Severus’ face as he glared down at Lockhart.

As soon as Narcissa and Draco entered behind Lucius, Lucius turned and slapped his wife sharply across the face. After a moment, Narcissa raised her head and stared into her husband’s eyes.

“Yes, love?” She asked coldly.

Draco stood with anger encased, never minding the trickle of blood that began to flow from his nose. He felt it pool in his ears. He blinked and red tears made their way down his face. However, it was as if he was unaware of his body’s breaking down. His bloodshot eyes never strayed from his father’s form.

Then something happened. His vision turned almost upside-down, then swirled out of place. It was replaced by something like a waking dream as he watched his father fall, twitching in obvious pain. His mother smiling as her husband screamed. Draco suddenly felt relief. The screaming stopped, bright violet flame, and then, darkness.

“Harry, there’s my parents! Come meet them!” Hermione pulled Harry along in front of her as they exited the Leaky Cauldron. Severus kept Harry in his sight as he was pulled along by his friend.

“Well, who is this, ‘Mione?” asked the woman that was undoubtedly the girl’s mother as both had the same dark frizzy hair.

The balding man – her father no doubt – looked up alarmed as Severus stepped up behind the children. He took a step back and gripped his wife’s wrist tightly. The woman looked confused before gasping as she caught sight of him.

Hermione looked irritated and incredibly embarrassed by their reactions as her tone was no where near as excited now as she introduced Harry and his father.

“Professor, eh?” Mr. Granger had the grace to look embarrassed by his reaction but he was by no means comfortable. “What do you teach, Professor Snake?”

“Snape.” Harry corrected calmly.

“Snape, yes, Snape, of course…” The man bumbled.

“Potions.” Severus said curtly.

“Oh yes, of course,” Mr. Granger stated, wiping his sweaty brow with a handkerchief.

Severus tried his best to be polite though the sneer on his face seemed permanent. “Your daughter is an amazing student, Mr. and Mrs. Granger. It is a delight to have her in my class.”

Both children stared up at him in shock. Severus quickly shot them a cursory glance which they took to mean that this was going to be a very rare if not a one time occurrence. His expression meant that in no way had he enjoyed the complimentary. Harry and Hermione looked at each other, sniggering. Severus couldn’t find that he was angry with his son’s behavior. It was nice to see him so carefree and happy finally.

“Where are your other friends, Hermione?” Her mother asked cheerfully and a bit nervously. “We would love to meet them... as well.” The last was muttered hastily and by no means escaped Severus’s notice.

“Draco but umm…. he couldn’t make it today.”

“Boys,” her father said incredulously and a bit worried as fathers of daughters are. “Don’t you have any friends that are… well… girls?”

Hermione looked alarmed but said nothing. Nothing could be said.

“I assure you,” spoke a familiar feminine voice, “That the children are the best of friends.”

Turning the group saw Narcissa walk up to him. She smiled at the Grangers but when she looked into Severus’s eyes, he saw the alarm. Bowing to the couple, Severus muttered “Excuse me…”

Walking away with Severus, Narcissa whispered, “Draco is really bad, Severus. His medicine is not working. I don’t know what to do.” Her eyes swam with tears.

“Where is he?”

“With Lucius.”

“What?”

“I had no other choice…” She whispered, fingers coming up to grip his robes. “I’m going to lose him… I’m going…” She broke down in tears, sobbing into his chest. Severus gently pulled her face back and she looked him in the eyes.

“Severus, he’s dying.”