Potions and Snitches
Snape and Harry Gen Fanfiction Archive

Daddy?!

When Dumbledore arrived back to the infirmary that evening to escort Harry to his new room, he met an irate potions master trying and failing to settle the wailing boy on the bed next to which he was standing. Dumbledore's eyebrows lifted in surprise at the scene before him before he questioned, "Is there a problem, Severus?"

"Of course there bloody well is a problem!" he shouted out, barely making himself heard above the cries sounding out throughout the room.

"Language, Severus…" Dumbledore chastised, even though a hint of a smile played at the corners of his mouth. He walked toward the screaming child and leaned down, whispering words of comfort into his ear as he stroked his hand over the raven-colored locks of hair. Slowly, the noise tapered off until the deep even breaths that were heard, indicated that the child had fallen asleep.

Snape consulted the list that Poppy had given him as he left the room to gather the supplies that would be needed for Potter's care, muttering under his breath the whole way. As Snape gathered and shrunk down the necessary items, Dumbledore released the restraints on Harry and grabbed an extra blanket to wrap the boy in before they made their attempt at relocation. Snape walked in the room as Dumbledore was tucking the fluffy blue blanket around the child, securing the boy's limbs in the tightly bound material. He finished this chore and then stepped back to take the black bag from Snape's hands, allowing him to move forward in order to scoop Harry into his arms.

Dumbledore held the door open and carried the small black bag which now held Harry's medical supplies. Snape had managed to get the boy into his arms without fully awaking him and he began to make his way past Dumbledore in the doorway, thinking darkly of how his peace and quiet would be ruined by the boy's presence.

However, much to Snape's relief, Harry had slept through the night, only shifting weakly under the covers as Snape attached another bag of nutrient potions to the feeding tube at 2 a.m. I'll have to have a talk with Poppy when she comes back about this damn schedule of hers, he thought to himself, knowing that if he cursed out loud about the unfairness of it all, the child would wake up and then he wouldn't get any sleep.

The following morning, he was awakened by weird sounds issuing from the new room that had been created at the end of the hallway. He got dressed and walked over to Harry's door. As he poked his head into the room, he was surprised to see the boy looking in wonder at the walls, drapes, paintings, and any and everything else he could set his eyes on. As he thought about it, it made perfect sense to the Professor that these things would peak Potter's interest; he had nothing to look at in his old room but bare stone walls and floor, the window being too small to let any of the landscaping of Hogwarts grounds to be seen all the way from the boy's bed.

It had been decided the night before to leave the restraints off to see how Harry would do and Snape was relieved to see that the boy was merely clutching to the hem of his blanket, the material bunched into his hands. He pulled away from the doorway before he was seen and called for a house elf to bring breakfast. The creature reappeared minutes later carrying a tray so large that it weaved precariously to and fro as it walked towards the table to set it down.

Snape could not help but to roll his eyes after the elf disappeared; there must be at least twenty different breakfast items on that tray. He rifled through the serving bowls trying to find something suitable for Harry to eat before coming across a bowl of applesauce. He scooped some into a clean dish, put a small sprinkle of cinnamon on the top, and marched himself into Harry's room.

Snape's sudden entrance startled the boy, and he gave a small yelp of surprise before he realized who it was, then he smiled brightly as the potions master got everything in order. Finally, when a spare cloth had been placed under Harry's chin, Snape pulled up a chair and began spooning mouthful after mouthful into the child. As Snape fed him, he regarded the circumstances. Who would have thought that Snape, despised resident bat of the dungeons, would be caring for Harry Potter, Gryffindor's Golden Boy? Salazar Slytherin would be rolling over in his grave!

Snape's thoughts were interrupted by a hesitant knocking on his door. He put the bowl on the bedside table and stalked toward his door, irritated at the disruption. As he threw the door open, the two figures that had been standing there quickly took a few steps back. He narrowed his eyes at them, cursing his bad luck; It is too early to have to deal with Weasley and Granger, especially on a Saturday.

After a moment of hesitation, Hermione stepped forward and explained why they were there. "Sir, Professor Dumbledore told us that Harry would be staying in your quarters for the next few weeks, and we were wondering if could see him for a little while." Snape glared at the girl and she cleared her throat somewhat nervously but then continued, "I know it's early, sir, but we're going into Hogsmeade today and we'd like to see him before we go."

Snape glared at them for a full minute, silently enjoying it as they fidgeted under his gaze. He looked from one to the other before answering in his typical drawl, "If you must, but only for a few minutes. Unlike others, I actually have important things to attend to today."

The two hurried through the door and were escorted silently into Harry's room. As they entered, they received quite a surprise; Harry had somehow reached the bowl of applesauce during Snape's absence and was now covered in the stuff. The hair that normally hung down over his scar was now sticking up at odd angles, with small clumps of drying applesauce clinging to a few spots. It was smeared down both sides of his face and was dripping off his hands in small drops which were landing haphazardly over the surface of his blanket.

Both Ron and Hermione burst into laughter at their friend's misadventure while Snape gritted his teeth in an attempt to stop a scathing remark from leaving his mouth. Merlin! Even confined to a bed, Potter still finds a way to get into trouble!

Snape stepped swiftly up to the bed, shot a passing glare at the two visitors that made them immediately hush, and then placed a few well-aimed 'Scourgify's that took care of most of the mess, leaving Harry's hair, face, and hands still somewhat sticky. During all of this, Harry remained blissfully unaware of the professor's sour mood. He had been staring at the two new people in his room. He remembered them from the other day and quickly offered a small, "Ah!"

Upon hearing the noise, Ron and Hermione directed all their attention to the boy cuddled up on the bed. The two began to converse with Harry and each other while Snape went to eat some of the breakfast that was surely cold by now. He left Harry's door open and sat at the small table in the main room of his quarters to eat. Although he could no longer make out what they were saying, he could still see enough through the open door that he felt it was safe to take his time eating this meal; after all, now that Potter was here, who knew if he'd get to eat a meal in peace again.

The potions master was just finishing the last bite of his eggs when Ron and Hermione decided it was time to go and they walked slowly down the hall, toward the main entrance door. Snape stood up to see them out, but before he took a step toward them, Hermione turned around, flipped some of her long, bushy hair over her shoulder and addressed her professor, "Sir, would it be alright if we came by later this afternoon, perhaps right before supper? There were a few things we'd like to buy for Harry while we're in Hogsmeade today."

The young witch looked expectedly up at Snape for an answer, and despite knowing he would regret it later, Snape reluctantly agreed. Hermione flashed him a polite smile of thanks before hurrying Ron out the door by his arm, clutching him as if he were a wayward child and talking excitedly of all the things that Harry might like to have from Hogsmeade.

Snape closed the door and stood for a moment with his eyes shut, just enjoying the quiet…until he faintly heard a soft crying sounding from within Harry's room. With a small sigh, Snape walked back into the boy's room and found the child crying into his pillow, his blankets balled up around him like some sort of nest.

Snape honestly didn't know what to do. The only thing that came to mind was to copy the Headmaster's actions from the night before, but he then decided he would never be so desperate that he would ever willingly brush his fingers through Potter's hair; so he began talking to him. Using the same tone of voice usually reserved for his Slytherins, he started spouting out the directions for making Polyjuice potion. While he talked, Snape put the room into order and gathered a change of clothes for Harry. The even tone of voice and steady dialog seemed to calm the boy and the crying stopped after a few minutes. Snape then left the room momentarily, stepping into the bathroom to start a warm bath for the sticky Boy-Who Lived.

While the tub filled, Snape scooped Harry up and carried him to the bathroom. He sat Harry down in a small chair in the corner of the large bathroom and then used his wand to banish the applesauce-covered pajamas. As he raised his wand to banish the disposable underpants the boy was wearing, he realized that Harry would likely remember this later on. Therefore, in order to avoid a violation of the child's privacy and any arguments that would be caused by said violation, he thought it would be better to delegate this particular task to someone else. Having made up his mind, Snape summoned a house elf and instructed the creature on how to bathe his charge.

Harry was bathed, dressed, in bed, fed, and put to sleep two hours later. The potions master then sat down in the dark green wing-backed chair that sat by the fireplace in his study. The fire was blazing and he had just gotten all settled down to read a new issue of Potions Today when there was a loud knock on hisdoorHe leaped out of his seat and marched over to the door, seething about the fact that someone dared to disturb the first few minutes of peace and quite he'd had all day.

When the door opened, he realized with a suppressed groan that he had already approved this particular disruption when he agreed that morning to allow Weasley and Granger to visit after their Hogsmeade trip.

"May we see Harry, Sir?" Hermione asked. Snape stepped back to allow them to enter and they walked to Harry's room talking excitedly about the purchases they had made that day…Well, Hermione talked and while Ron smiled and nodded his head in agreement.

The noise they made as they neared his door woke Harry up; so he was rubbing the sleep out of his eyes when they came in and they could not help but to smile at him as he yawned loudly.

"Hey, Harry," Ron spoke up, "We got you some stuff from Hogsmeade. I wanted to bring you some chocolate frogs, but Hermione said that it wouldn't be a good idea to do that considering what happened with the applesauce this morning. Don't worry, I'll make her see reason and I'll bring you a couple as soon as I can."

As the teens visited, Snape went back to his reading. By the time he finished reading the journal through, it had gotten late and the fire had died down until there was little left but glowing embers. He cast Tempus and the spell revealed that it was supper time and the Great Hall was likely already filling with hungry students. He rose from his chair and had taken only two steps before he heard a door being shut and seconds later, both Ron and Hermione were standing in front of him.

"Sir, maybe you should hold on to these," the bushy-haired Gryffindor suggested, holding out the large bag that she came in with. "These are the toys and such that we got for Harry today."

Snape allowed a look of irritation to pass his face as he reached out for the bag. "What, exactly, is in this bag, Miss Granger?"

In answer, Hermione sat the bag onto the nearby desk before the professor could reach it and proceeded to pull an item out.

"This, Sir, is a flutterby ball." She held up a multi-colored plush ball about the size of a grapefruit that had wings like a butterfly. She held her wand to it and tapped the ball between the wings. Suddenly the wings started flapping and the ball slowly rose from her outstretched hand. It fluttered around slowly at eye-level before Hermione reached out and grabbed it. It stopped moving as soon as she got it in her grip. "We got it at the toy store in Hogsmeade; we thought it would help Harry gain better muscle control if he played with it often." She placed the ball back into the bag and continued, "We also brought some coloring books, crayons, and a stuffed animal."

She then held the bag out once more for Snape and as he took it and looked in, she said, "The stuffed toy is an owl that looks like Hedwig. He really liked it and he fell asleep with it." This was all said with a proud smile for having gotten her friend something he liked so much.

"You should both be moving along now; supper is being served in the Great Hall as we speak." Their faces looked slightly crestfallen with the hasty dismissal as they turned toward the main door to their professor's quarters, but just before Hermione opened the door so they could walk out, Snape said, "I'm sure Harry is very thankful for the gifts."

Both Gryffindors looked at each other and smiled; that was the closest thing to a 'thank you' that they had ever heard leave that man's mouth.

The following day, Ron and Hermione were once again ensconced in Harry's room and talking amongst themselves quite loudly, something which Snape highly disapproved of. Ron and Hermione were taking turns naming the pictures in one of the coloring books that they brought the day before.

"Look Harry," Ron pointed to a page with a picture of a family on it. "This is the sister, this is the brother, this is the mommy, and this is the daddy."

Ron was just about to turn to the next page when Harry, brow crinkled in concentration, slowly said, "da-ee." Ron's eyebrows shot up in the air and he excitedly turned to Hermione. "Did you hear him 'Mione? He's trying to say 'daddy'!"

Hermione eagerly leaned forward and touched the picture of the father again. "Daddy. This is a daddy, Harry. Can you say it? Say daddy." She nodded her head in encouragement as Harry leaned closer to the picture as well. He pulled his hand out from the warm sheets and pointed at the picture in the same manner as Hermione had moments ago and slowly said, "Daddy."

Both Ron and Hermione jumped up in their excitement and started talking about all the other words they could teach him right away while Harry merely laid back on his pillows and watched them, smiling. Ron and Hermione sat back down on the bed and began trying to get Harry to say some new words when, having heard the commotion, Snape stepped into the room to make sure everything was alright; the last thing he needed was for the two visiting Gryffindors to upset his charge.

The three teens looked up at him as he entered and before anyone else was able to utter a sound in explanation, Harry threw his arm into the air, pointed at his professor, and shouted "Daddy!"

Ron and Hermione's jaws dropped, but the only outward sign of surprise Snape gave was a widening of his eyes. Several seconds passed in shocked silence before Ron couldn't hold it anymore. He burst out laughing and he was quickly followed suit by Hermione and then Harry, who thought his friends were very funny indeed.

Snape wasn't sure what to think of the situation besides being angry at the audacity of the Gryffindors to laugh at his expense while in his quarters. Yes, I will definitely have to find a way to take a great many points for this later. Snape's eyes narrowed in irritation and he swept out of the room, his billowing robes flicking against the door frame as he made his retreat.

 

Chapter End Notes:
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