Australia. The pair of wizards had finally arrived in the so-called “Land Down Under.” It had been a relatively easy flight with Harry having slept most of the journey. For that, Severus was glad. Not that he minded the young boy-his son!-but he knew that the Gryffindor desperately needed sleep for his healing to truly begin. No, it was unlikely that Harry would ever regain the ability to walk, but the Slytherin wanted to give every chance to his son to be able to move past his disability. Even if Harry never regained the use of his legs, he could still live. Still thrive. He would just need to learn how to do so.

Severus hoped that the warm weather, the new surroundings, would help his son. Though he knew that Harry had been loath to tell him, and, Severus was sure that he had not revealed everything, what he had learned had shocked him. Oh, there was so much that Severus Snape had thought the Golden Boy to be but it wasn’t true. None of it was true. He wasn’t the arrogant show-off that James had been; he didn’t belittle others, deeming them beneath him like James had. In fact, he wasn’t even James’ son.  

The Slytherin wanted to tell Harry about the discovery of his parentage, but would that be the thing that would break his son? The last thing that Severus wanted to do was to damage his already hurt son. He knew though, Harry would have to find out though, and it would be better coming from him than from anyone else. For now though, Snape would settle for taking care of Harry. Something he should have been doing from the start.

The child in question began to stir. Severus moved towards the now visible floating stretcher that Harry had ridden on during the flight. “Hello Harry.” He greeted the eleven year-old with a whisper, wishing not to disturb the child as he awoke in a strange surrounding.

Harry blinked up at his teacher and turned his attention on the man. “Hi.” He paused for a moment and then, “Are we there yet?”

Severus had to laugh at the often asked of muggle or wizarding child alike. “Yes, we reached Australia a couple of hours ago. We just reached the home we are staying in.” He explained as he cast an “Alohomora” on the door and then several protection spells. “Once we are indoors, I can transfer you to a wheelchair so that you can calmly explore the house.” The Potions Master thought it was best to allow the child an outlet for his natural curiosity but only if the child could keep from being wild.

“Really? Thanks!” Harry thanked his teacher. Severus could tell that the Gryffindor, despite knowing that Severus wasn’t the Dungeon Bat anymore, hadn’t been expecting that he could actually explore!

Severus allowed a small smile to grace his face, “Certainly, we will be here for some time, you may as well see what there is to offer. Perhaps after dinner, if you are up to it, we can get some fresh air outside.” He offered, knowing that news would really make his son happy.

Harry’s eyes grew even wider. “I’d really like that. Could we go down to the beach, you know, not to get into the water or anything, but just to watch the waves?

“If you still feel like it after dinner, I don’t see why not. We are only five minutes away from the beach. The sunset would be most amazing there.” Severus reasoned. Most students or rather anyone he’d ever met, probably would not have taken the Slytherin as the type to enjoy nature’s beauty, but the truth was, he enjoyed every moment of it. There was no more awe-inspiring site as such as an ocean with its rhythmic waves crashing onto the sands of the beach. He hadn’t been to many oceans in his youth, but he thoroughly enjoyed them. He was glad that they were able to get a house so close to the secluded beach as he hoped it would bring Harry the same joy it had brought him.

“Yeah!” Harry whooped as he allowed Severus to aid him into the wheelchair. All evidence of sleepiness had worn off of the child as the prospect of having a fun day appealed to him.

“I’ll be arranging some matters, just send me a blue flashing light with your wand-“Severus demonstrated how to-“if you need me. Otherwise you can find me in this room-“ he gestured to an room with an open door. It was clearing designed with its solid oak furnishings to be an office. “Do not hesitate to interrupt me.”

                              SESESESESESE

Harry couldn’t believe his luck! Even though the Slytherin teacher had definitely become a much nicer man than he was just a short while ago, the Gryffindor certainly never expected that he’d be allowed to explore, or to even interrupt him. Then again, circumstances had definitely changed for him. He’d never expect to be wheelchair bound either. Maybe it wouldn’t be permanent. He knew everyone, even if they didn’t say it, expected that he’d never walk again. But then again, everyone expected the killing curse to be lethal, and well, just look at him. If anyone could beat the odds, maybe he could, with Snape’s-Severus! He corrected himself, help.

He slowly wheeled through the halls. Thankfully Severus had taught him a self-moving spell since with a broken arm, he couldn’t push the chair by himself. After the spell was set up, all Harry had to do would be to direct the chair, “forward, stop, left, right” and other simple commands and the chair would comply. As he traversed through the halls of royal blue painted walls and wooded floors, he came across a room with a set of oak double doors. Curiously, since all the other doors had been single ones, he commanded the doors to open and he rolled inside. Inside was a small hallway with a room to the left and further down , another door. The last door, he noticed wasn’t wood like the others, but rather a glass door. He got closer to the room and realized with delight that it contained a large indoor pool. He attempted to open the door but after his spell, a floating message written in red appeared.

                                             No Minor admittance allowed, except when accompanied by an adult.

Drat. Well, maybe Severus would come with him sometime. Harry had learned that even wheelchair bound people could still enjoy pools and many people even found therapy in them. Hopefully his therapists would be believers in this.

Harry turned to go and realized the room he’d seen previously was a changing room on closer inspection. Soon, he was back in the first hallway. He was about to explore another hallway when he spotted his teacher walking to him. “Dinner is ready.”

Within no time, the pair was enjoying a lovely dinner of lemon-baked grilled chicken, fresh string beans and carrots with a chocolate torte for dessert. Once the meal had been eaten and the dishes had been set to cleaning themselves, Severus turned to Harry.

“Do you feel like watching the sunset out at the beach tonight still?” He asked his son.

Harry beamed in response that was an obvious agreement to the idea. “We should have a nice view. It’s a pretty secluded area, so there won’t be many people around and you can enjoy the sunset.” His teacher informed him.

Soon both teacher and student were ready and making their way to the ocean. Just as Severus had said, it was a very short trip to the ocean. Also, like the Slytherin had thought, there wasn’t a crowd of people there. In fact, only one lone person was at the beach. A boy that looked to be Harry’s age paddled through the water on a surf board. Harry sat back watching the child. He seemed to be a natural at surfing, catching wave after wave expertly.

The boy finally looked up as the sky began to change into brilliant oranges and reds. He seemed to notice the other pair after a moment. Harry could tell the boy was trying to decide something. After a moment of apparent self-debating, the boy left the water and took his board and walked to them. Harry noticed that the boy had longish blond hair, was very skinny and had green eyes, similar to his. He also noticed his teacher looking up from the chair he had brought with him and watching the boy with caution. His hand went to his other wrist and Harry knew he was fingering his wand.

“Hi, my name’s Robert Chase. Most people just call me Chase though.” He greeted them. He didn’t seem uncomfortable with Harry’s wheelchair nor did he seem threatening in any way. Harry knew his teacher was starting to relax.

“Hi. Mine’s Harry.” He didn’t give his last name. It was so nice to be somewhere and not be known as Harry Potter. ‘Potter’ was the only thing most people saw. “And that’s “Professor Snape.” He introduced his teacher, unsure of what the other boy should call the man.

“Oh, hello Professor Snape.” Chase greeted with a firm handshake. The boy obviously had grown up with a formal background.

“Hello Mr. Chase.” Severus seemed unable to talk informally to anyone other than Harry. At least, Harry thought, ‘He wasn’t being the Dungeon Bat’ to the kid. His teacher continued, “Mr. Chase, you seem awfully young to be at an ocean by yourself, where are your parents?”

“Oh, I’ve been coming by myself for years.” The boy eluded the question about his parents.

Chase smiled at the Potions Master and then quietly looked from Harry to Severus.

“You’re wizards too.”