Harry only had eyes for the parchment clenched between his two hands. His mother had touched it, signed that very parchment, proof that a person had actually existed past the legend that had become Lily Potter. Her signature was pretty, neat and flowing but not bubbly like so many of his female classmates. The i was dotted not after finishing writing Lily, but the ink had made a trail up to dot the i immediately after writing the vowel before the quill was picked up to continue writing. After almost sixteen years, it was the only thing he had ever seen or touched that belonged to his mother.

Despite growing up with Aunt Petunia, she never gave him anything of his mum's, not even bothered to let him see a photograph of his mother or grandparents. Harry had snooped around the attic when he was tasked with cleaning it, but there wasn't anything to be found. He'd once asked if Aunt Petunia had anything of his mother's and with an upturned nose she stated that she had burned everything left of the useless waste of a soul that claimed to be her sister. Harry had been six and never asked again, even when it meant failing a family tree project for school.

A tear slid out of his eye, crawling down his cheek, and Harry extended his arms farther out to ensure the salty drop of wetness didn't land on his birth certificate. He'd never forgive himself if a tear smeared the only sample of handwriting that he had from her. He never wanted to let the parchment go. Somehow just holding it made him feel closer to her.

"Harry," a voice broke through his trance and for a mere second he felt the hand on his shoulder.

He didn't so much as blink before ignoring the voice, allowing his mind to shut down and seek solitude in the faint comfort he imagined his mother, the lady with the pretty handwriting, would show him.

*~AIE~* 

Severus squeezed his child's shoulder a little harder to try to get through to him. "Harry," he tried again, searching for any indication his son heard him, but none came, not even a blink of those dulled emerald eyes.

With care, Severus pried the birth certificate from Harry's hands one finger at a time before returning it to the box and sending the carved box back to its place in the hidden dresser drawer.

"Harry," the Potions Master waved his hand in the space once occupied by the birth certificate. He never predicted the child would shut down after seeing his birth certificate, or he would've waited until Harry's mental state had improved. Had he given his child too much to process in his weakened state?

Unable to watch his child sit frozen there any longer, Severus lifted his son and cradled Harry against his chest, his arms wrapped around the frail child that was his to protect. Harry struggled to break free of Severus' arms, but Severus held on tight to his child.

"Harry, it's Severus," he kept his tone soft despite fighting off the flailing arms of his son. "Relax, child. You're safe."

Severus wasn't sure if it was his use of child or safe that calmed Harry down, but one of those words had gotten through to Harry. The child's limbs became limp and he burrowed his head deeper into Severus' shoulder.

"That's it, child."

The Potions Master frowned, hating the unresponsive state Harry had suddenly reverted to. Harry was allowing himself to hide somewhere in his mind, and the state could be indicative of an oncoming break with reality if not stopped. The last thing they both needed was a full on breakdown of Harry's mental state on top of his leukemia.

Where was the stubborn Gryffindor that refused to yield to any challenges that were presented to him? The one that took on a dragon as a fourth year or trapezed across the UK on a thestral in hope of defending Black against the Dark Lord? Had Harry finally reached his limit? Had he used up everything he had fighting for others so there was nothing left to fight for himself?

Harry's eyes were open, but that didn't mean the child was seeing anything through them. Severus was sure if he waved his hand in front of Harry again, his son wouldn't blink never mind actually respond with words.

"Enough for today," Severus glanced at the clock sitting on his nightstand.

It was a little past seven. Normally he wouldn't want Harry going to bed so early since it meant he'd likely wake before dawn, but Severus had a feeling he'd be waking Harry up in the morning despite the early bedtime. And perhaps sleep was just what his child needed in order to "reset" his mind.

Severus scooted to the edge of his bed and stood up with Harry in his arms. He walked down the wall to Harry's room, using wandless magic to turn down the covers before lying his son down and covering him with the sheet.

"I'll be right back," Severus wiped a tear from Harry's cheek. He needed to retrieve the supplies for his child's TPN feeding, saline and heparin to flush Harry's Hickman, and a syringe filled with the equivalent of Harry's sleeping pill since he doubted he could get the child to swallow a pill with the state he was in.

However, Harry grabbed his wrist and pulled as he turned away.

"Roll on your stomach then," Severus pried his child's hand off his wrist before rolling Harry onto his stomach. He'd apply the salve first then. With luck Harry would fall asleep like he usually did while he applied the salve, and he could sneak away to get everything he needed afterwards.

After pulling down the sheet, removing Harry's shirt, and scourgifying his hands, Severus dipped his fingers into the jar and started at his son's neck. He worked his way down, careful not to press down too hard when he came to Harry's lower back. With his left hand, Severus rolled down Harry's pajamas and boxers like he did with every application of salve, but upon rolling them over the second time Harry twisted away from him and curled up into a ball.

"No," his child whispered, his arms wrapped around his knees. "No."

"Harry," Severus' voice nearly cracked. "It's Severus. I need to finish applying the salve so you don't wake up in pain."

"No," Harry curled in on himself tighter.

What was happening? It couldn't be what Severus thought, could it? How could they miss that with all the diagnostic and medical history spells cast on the child in the last two weeks. Severus drew his wand and took a deep breath before casting a specific diagnostic spell aimed at his son's rear.

It took a few moments in which Severus held his breath, but the spell produced white sparks and Severus breathed a sigh of relief. But if Harry hadn't been abused like that, why was his child reacting this way? Was he so out of it he was merely acting on his basic instincts, was this some nightmarish concoction Harry had witnessed in a nightmare sent by the Dark Lord, or had his relatives threatened him with it but never followed through? Whatever the reason, Severus hated that his child on top of everything else had these worries trapped somewhere in his subconscious.

"Child, can you uncurl for me?" he coaxed Harry out of his ball. Calling him child seemed to do wonders perhaps because no one else had treated his son like a child should be treated. "I'm going to finish applying this salve to your arms, legs, and chest and then I'll give you something to help you sleep, okay?"

Severus hated talking to his teenaged son like he were three, but if it allowed him to finish applying the salve so he could get Harry to sleep sooner than he would do what needed to be done. The child's mind needed a break, and it was doing more harm than good for Harry to continue to stay in his current state. He'd do what he could to ensure his son's dreams were pleasant, but that would all be for nothing if Harry woke up in pain.

Severus worked as quickly as he could to finish rubbing the salve into his son's skin, avoiding Harry's back. Unfortunately, Harry hadn't fallen asleep, his body too alert to allow him despite his mind being far away though his eyes were glazed over and his eyelids kept falling shut only to be snapped back open upon touching.

"I need to go get that sleeping medication that I told you about now," he tucked the sheet around Harry. "Will you be alright for a few minutes?"

He almost missed it, but Harry gave him the slightest nod.

*~AIE~*

An hour later Harry's eyelids closed and Severus sighed in relief. Harry was asleep for the night and with a little help from a very mild Legilimens that Severus used to create a calming beach scene in his son's mind, his son's sleep would be filled with good dreams. Although there were too many things on his mental to do list to count, Severus stayed seated in the chair besides Harry's bed and watched his son sleep, reluctant to leave Harry despite the sleeping medication all but ensuring his child would sleep for a minimum of eight hours.

He didn't know how long he stayed there watching Harry's chest rise and fall, but when his stomach grumbled he pulled himself away to eat a house-elf prepared meal of teriyaki chicken and rice. The house-elf even managed to convince him to eat the slice of apple pie that accompanied his meal.

After eating, Severus scanned the sitting room. It was a mess with bags from his shopping spree scattered everywhere and piles of parchment stacked on every table in sight. He couldn't leave the sitting room like it was. For one, the clutter was a tripping hazard, and two he had started on so many projects but had yet to complete one. If he took advantage of Harry's early evening, he could knock out at least one of his projects, perhaps two.

But before he could start on a project, the bags needed to go. They had distressed his child even though it was supposed to be something fun and exciting if only those damn Muggles hadn't convinced Harry that he didn't deserve to have an adult care for him and buy him the things he needed and some things he didn't need but wanted. Severus gathered up the clothing and linen bags and tossed the items into Harry's hamper to be washed. He was tempted to banish all of the old, overly large items that made up the majority of Harry's Muggle clothing, but it would be better if Harry had the chance to burn or banish the items as a form of closure.

Moving to the other bags, Severus opened up all the stationary products and placed them in a pile on top of Harry's desk. He hated anyone messing with his desk, and he had no idea what way Harry liked to organize things. Plus, it would give Harry a chance to personalize his room and make it his own. He did however shelve the new textbooks and supplementary texts above Harry's desk by subject.

With the necessary items put away, Severus was left with three bags that he refused to admit were toys. Each item somehow stimulated the brain making them educational tools rather than toys. He set the Gordian Knot brainteaser on Harry's bedside table and filled the empty bottom drawer with more brainteasers and 3-D plastic puzzles. That way Harry could peruse them as he wished. However, he left the Rubik's Cube in the bag and took that along with the board games and puzzles to the sitting room. The Rubik's Cube new home was the coffee table, a good place for anyone to grab and mess with it, and he conjured a crate for the games and puzzles.

His quarters were starting to look like a teenager lived there, and while he used to think he'd abhor the idea, it was a nice change. The rooms felt livelier with the small change and more like a proper home.

The clutter cleared, Severus retrieved a cup of coffee and spread out Harry's school files on the table, his chair angled just right to see through the open crack in his son's doorway. He hadn't gotten very far before, but was determined to finish the task before going to sleep. 

*~AIE~*

Groaning, Harry rolled over and pulled the duvet over his head while he blinked his eyes, disgusted by the crusty gunk that threatened to seal his eyes shut. How long had he slept? It felt like he'd been asleep a long time, yet he was still tired. How had he even gotten to bed? The last thing he remembered was holding his mum's birth certificate in Severus' room.

It really wasn't fair. The only memory he had of his mother was her dying, and the only handwriting he had of hers was his birth certificate. To make matters worse, his dad wasn't really his father, and he could've been living with his biological father his whole life instead of with the Dursleys if Snape hadn't abandoned him!

On one hand, Harry was livid with Snape, but on the other hand, he craved the affection and attention that Severus gave him. His angriness took up a lot of energy though, so mostly the craving affection and attention side were winning. It was too hard to fight a battle that he couldn't do anything about when he didn't have any energy to spare. Severus gave him pills and applied salve to keep the pain away, and he wouldn't go through that trouble if he didn't care for Harry, which he did. The memory was all he needed to see to have a bit of tangible proof that Severus cared for him.

Still, how could Severus have given him up? Wasn't he good enough? And if Snape could give him up then, what would stop him in the future? What had he done to make his own father walk away from him?

Sighing, Harry pushed his doubts and fears away before the slight pressure behind his eyes manifested into a headache. He sat up and put on his glasses, his mind too awake to fall back asleep. He glanced over to his left to see that his TPN bag wasn't empty yet so it was still early, but if the light flowing in through the cracked door was any indication, Severus was already up.

He stood and draped the throw blanket at the bottom of the bed around his shoulders before taking hold of the infusion pump and crossing the room to the door, pausing when he heard Severus' voice.

"How could you?" the Professor yelled. "The whole time you knew, yet you continued to trick me into signing these when I would've never signed over half of them!"

"Severus, no one else could legally sign them. I had to obtain your signature since Harry's legal guardianship always remained with you." Though Dumbledore's voice sounded tired, Harry heard the stubbornness underlying the Headmaster's tone. 

"I could take this in front of the Wizengamot," Severus threatened. "You'd lose and the Governors would be left with no choice but to remove you from your post."

"Yet you won't, not without Harry's permission, and I have no doubt Harry would object."

Harry could picture Dumbledore's hidden smirk as his eyes twinkled with glee.

"Harry wouldn't need to be present, and I could always file a confidential grievance with WCS instead. After all, if they find any negligence on your part over any student, WCS can deem you unfit to serve as Headmaster," Severus said, his voice so icy it caused a chill to run down Harry's spine. "I have enough evidence without including Harry to warrant an investigation by WCS."

"And you have confidence that my successor would not be chosen by the Ministry? Would, in light of the events, the Board or Ministry ask you to be Headmaster? Is that what you want?"

"And tie myself to the school even further?" Severus laughed. "You know of my intentions to leave Hogwarts once the war is finally over."

"What?" Harry blurted out before he could stop himself. If Snape left Hogwarts, what did that mean for him? Would Snape abandon him again, or would he really allow Harry to live with him away from Hogwarts?

"Please join us, Harry," the Professor called.

Harry came out of his hiding place to join Snape on the sofa with a guilty look plastered on his face. He knew eavesdropping was wrong, and he tried to curb the tendency that was ingrained in him from a young age, but when people were talking about him, Harry couldn't help but listen.

"How are you feeling?" Severus checked Harry's temperature with the back of his hand.

To his surprise, Severus didn't seem angry at all. "Tired."

"It's four in the morning. You should try to get some more sleep. Miss Adamson will arrive at nine for your chemo," Severus summoned the small bottle of eye drops.

Harry removed his glasses and tipped his head back so the Potions Master could squeeze a drop into each eye.

"Better?"

"Yes," Harry blinked. "Thanks."

"Off to bed with you then," Severus patted his arm.

"But-" Harry protested.

"Harry," Severus caught his eye. I won't leave you, and despite what you heard me say to the Headmaster, I have no plans to leave Hogwarts until you do. "You're falling asleep as it is."

Harry yawned before nodding, a goofy grin threatening to spread across his face.

"A minute, if you would Harry," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled with malice. "There's a small matter that could easily be cleared up by you."

"Albus," the Potions Master growled.

"Harry," Dumbledore ignored Severus, "throughout your school years, I have had to obtain permission from your legal guardian over several matters. Of course, with the unbreakable vow I was under, I could not tell your father that you were indeed his child, so I had to obtain his signature in less than virtuous ways. You can surely see the necessity of this."

"What matters?" Harry turned to look at Severus.

"Permission for you to compete in the Triwizard Tournament is one example," the Professor handed Harry the signed parchment. "I would've never allowed you at that age to compete."

"I thought I had to compete," he looked at Severus and then Dumbledore. "You told me I had to after the Goblet spit my name out."

"You were misled," Severus squeezed Harry's shoulder.

"Cedric would still be alive and Voldemort," Harry trailed off.

"Don't," Severus stopped him. "You can't change the past." Furthermore, you're not responsible for the lives of others.

Harry gulped. He wanted to disagree with Severus. The prophecy was about him, but at the same time he wanted to believe the Professor so much. He wasn't the savior the wizarding world tried to pin him as, but a sick teenager that was lucky if his magic decided to cooperate that day. Could someone else really defeat Voldemort despite the prophecy?

Maybe. Possibly.

Someone else was going to have to try. Harry doubted Severus would ever let him face Voldemort. As Severus would point out, he'd saved Harry's life too many times to let him die.

"What you did was wrong," Harry avoided Dumbledore's eyes and instead looked at the wall above and behind the Headmaster's head. "If you trick him into signing a permission slip again, I'll go to the Prophet and Wizengamot myself. You have no legal say in what happens to me, and I'm not an object to control."

"Harry, my boy," Dumbledore pleaded, "I had to do what I thought was best."

"For who? Me or the wizarding world?" Harry retorted, no longer feeling guilty for destroying the Headmaster's office at the end of term.

"For you of course."

"No. If you were concerned about my welfare you wouldn't have left me with the Dursleys," he whispered. "You never even checked on me."

"Albus, you should leave," Severus warned, pulling Harry into a hug.

Harry rested his head on Severus' chest and breathed in the minty smell emanating from the Professors' clothes despite Severus' absence from a potions lab. He heard Dumbledore leave before letting out a sigh of relief.

"Are you okay?" Severus pulled away to examine him.

"I'm fine," Harry insisted as he leaned more of his weight onto Severus.

"Then it's off to bed with you," the Potions Master patted his back twice.

"Not tired," Harry yawned.

Severus rolled his eyes. "Then lie here while I fix breakfast."

"Okay," Harry spread out on the sofa when Severus stood and retrieved a few pillows and the duvet from Harry's bed.

The last thing he remembered hearing was the fire being stoked before falling back into the deep abyss of sleep.