The High Road by Anesidora Nichole

The boy looked sullen after being sorted into Slytherin house, Severus noted with annoyance. Well, Harry had another thing coming if he thought Severus was any happier about the situation. He would need to write Lily like he had promised and tell her where her son had been sorted. Though he was sure the boy would have a complaint out to his mother as soon as humanly possible. She would probably think it was a good thing, and tell her husband that it was the perfect opportunity for them to work out their differences. He loved Lily, but sometimes she could be very naive.

Severus had gotten very good at guessing what first years would be sorted into his house. Admittedly, Harry ending up in his house was a surprise because if forced to guess, Severus would have placed him in Gryffindor. The boy was too like the senior Potter to be placed anywhere else. He and Lily had been fighting a lot lately about the boy which definitely wasn't doing much to endear Harry to him. Lily had told him when they got married that she wanted someone who could be a father for Harry. The woman wanted nothing more than for them to be a family and she tried so hard; family dinners, family picnics, family game nights. He cringed at the last one; why couldn't she see it was torture for everyone? And there was nothing for an adult's self-esteem like being reduced to arguing with an eleven-year-old about the rules of gobstones. Lily had left these efforts in tears a few times, telling them to just 'forget it' for which both Harry and Severus blamed each other.

"Severus, you have to try harder to get along with him. He's getting to that age where he's going to need a father figure."

"What do you propose I do, Lily? He doesn't like me. He doesn't even respect me. Am I just supposed to let him do whatever he wants? Run wild?"

"Well, it certainly wouldn't kill you to let a few things go once in a while."

It would, though. He refused to let the child run his household and be openly disrespectful. Anyway, when he did go easy on the child, it went unappreciated. Just like two weeks ago then the boy had thrown the whole dinner they had been making on the floor like a maniac. That should have earned him at least ten swats but Severus had tried to be understanding that he was upset about missing out on going over Black's and had just grounded him instead. The boy had proceeded to walk around the house for the next two weeks giving Severus death glares and refusing to talk to him directly.

Severus had lost his appetite and pushed the plate away that he had initially piled with food. Minerva, who was sitting next to him, smiled and said obnoxiously, "Severus, you must be happy to have Harry in your house. I must say I was thinking he might be with me this year considering that's where both of his parents were but I'm sure Lily will be very relieved to know you're looking out for him."

It wasn't her fault, really. Minerva didn't know the extent of the problems they had been having at home. Severus didn't talk to anyone about it though he supposed it would become evident when the boy inevitably disrespected him in class. He didn't have much faith in Harry's ability to control himself. Yes, the boy was the son of James Potter through and through with just enough of his mother's temperament to keep Snape from completely throttling him.

He realized Minerva was waiting for an answer and said, "Yes, I'm sure Lily will be very happy about it."

SSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHP

The prefects had gathered everyone in the Slytherin Common Room as Severus instructed them to do every year. Really, the older students already knew what this was about, but Severus didn't think a reminder of his rules would hurt them. By seventh year, most of the students could recite his speech verbatim. He entered the room and waiting for the chatter to quiet as his students noticed him. When every single student was silent and looking at him, he began to speak.

"First of all, congratulation to our first years on being sorted into Slytherin. I'm sure you'll all have a successful first year and find your place here at Hogwarts within this house." Some of the first years beamed at him; as a rule, he tried to go easier on his first years just because it was more conductive to earning their trust. Young students, he noticed, tended to mistake his effort to better them as him being mean. "There are just a few rules that must be followed for all of us to get along. First and foremost, you are to show respect to every professor at Hogwarts. A lesson you all need to learn early in life is that you must show respect for authority, whether you like that person of authority or not."

He glanced at Harry, thinking about giving him a pointed look, but the boy wasn't paying attention. More than that, he was purposefully not paying attention, sitting toward the back of the group with his back to Snape. Severus was tempted to call him out and make an example of him but changed his mind at the last moment. No, he wouldn't embarrass Harry publically because he knew this would make him a target in his own house. He didn't get along with the boy but he didn't want to make him a target of bullies either.

"Second rule, I do not tolerate bullying in my house. Not of your housemates and not of other students," He gave Draco a pointed look for this one. This was a hard rule to enforce as his students would almost always deny it and could get quite resentful when Severus didn't believe them, saying that he was just like the other professors.

"Third rule; curfew is at eight for first and second years, nine for third and fourth years, and ten for fifth, sixth, and seventh year students. I don't care if you go to bed, though 'I'm tired' isn't an excuse for not performing your best the next day, but you will be in this common room by your designated time and you will not leave under any circumstances." He surveyed his students and they all seemed to understand. Just to be sure, he added, "I take all three rules very seriously and if you break any one of them you will be very unhappy. I have an endless amount of work in these dungeons that needs to be done and I assure you that in my detentions you will not be allowed to sit and stare at your wristwatch until we are finished."

Finally, he wrapped it up by saying, "There are other rules and for details feel free to approach your prefects. A good rule of thumb is that if you wouldn't want me to find out about it, don't do it. Dismissed. Oh, except for you, Harry. Come here." The boy looked at him and it was necessary to add, "Now."

Harry walked over to stand in front of his stepfather, "What do you want, Snape?"

"First of all, I want you to refer to me as 'professor' or 'sir' for as long as we are at this school. I called you up here since apparently you cannot participate in a group setting like a normal person and need to be personally informed of the rules."

"I heard you when you were telling everyone," the boy was clearly annoyed but so was Severus.

"So, that little display was simply to make a point?" Harry shrugged and Severus sighed, "Harry, I want to make it clear to you that just because we're at school doesn't mean the usual punishments at home don't apply. I'm going to try to be tolerant but if you won't show me respect and can't behave yourself, I will not hesitate to give you the switch."

Harry muttered something to himself and Severus said,

"What was that?"

"I said fine. Can I go to my room now?"

Severus nodded and the boy fled up the stairs to his dormitory.

SSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHP

Severus really should have been going over his lesson plan for the next day but he didn't feel like it. He felt like a stiff drink which wasn't an urge he got very often anymore. His father had been a very mean drunk and Severus had avoided the stuff as a rule until he'd gotten heavily involved with the deatheaters. He wasn't a very nice person to begin with, he knew, and Narcissa Malfoy had assured him that alcohol definitely didn't improve him. It had been a form of self-medicating, Severus supposed, but one he had stopped when he had begun courting Lily. It wasn't safe to drink around her or her child when he still felt so much resentment for James Potter. He was afraid what might come spilling out; what he might say or do that would make Lily hate him again.

Besides, he couldn't get drunk at the castle because occasionally one of his students did have a problem in the middle of the night and came looking for him. He decided to go to bed early, instead, and get up early the next day to work on his lesson plans. Despite thinking he might have trouble falling asleep - he usually did at the beginning of the school year without Lily there - but that wasn't the case and he was asleep almost as soon as his head touched the pillow.

SSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHP

They had just moved into their new house last week and it was still a bit of a wreck because Lily hadn't decided where she wanted everything. Severus was looking after Harry while Lily was working at St. Mungo's. She had applied for the healer training program after that Halloween night and had just recently begun actually working the floors. Severus was very proud of her because she'd always been exceptionally bright and he was glad she was putting her skills to use. Unfortunately, this often left him and Harry alone together for long periods of time during the summer.

"Ask Black to take him," he had argued just this afternoon.

"He would love to, Sev, but he already had plans tonight. It's not going to hurt Harry to spend an evening with his stepfather."

She emphasized that word, trying to make Severus feel guilty for not being more invested in the child. It wasn't working and he was annoyed to be stuck with the child for the evening. Admittedly, the child wasn't that badly behaved even though he was clumsy and tended to get into things he shouldn't. But Harry made him uncomfortable. Lily had insisted when they started dating that Severus would get more comfortable with the little boy as time went on. That hadn't happened as of yet. And Severus went through the motions. He disciplined the boy, he bought him gifts on his birthday, and he'd even read him a bedtime story a couple of times. He had tried to force himself to care about the child. Well, that wasn't fair; he did care to some extent. He cared that the boy not come to harm and that he ate and had somewhere warm to sleep. But love was out of the question, it seemed.

Both of them were sitting on the sofa in the living room with Severus reading a professional journal pertaining to potions and Harry flipping through a picture book. For the past fifteen minutes, the boy had slowly been trying to encroach on Severus' personal space. At this point, Severus was flush against the arm of the sofa. The boy appeared to be trying to get into his lap which horrified him for a reason he couldn't explain or identify. Finally, he stood up and announced he was going to go make some tea. What was wrong with the boy? They never cuddled or hugged; Severus was not a very physically affectionate person.

Harry followed him out into the kitchen; he was about four at this time. He stood in the doorway watching Severus as he cast the spell to boil the water and got together the supplies to make tea. Severus looked at the clock on the wall in the kitchen. Lily would be home in less than an hour.

"Snape?" Harry spoke tentatively; the little boy could not for the life of him pronounce his first name so he and Lily had settled on his last name as an alternative.

"What?"

"I have a question, but I'm afraid you'll get mad."

Well, it was a safe bet considering Severus was already annoyed, but he said, "I won't get mad. You should never be afraid to ask a question."

Harry watched him for a moment and then nodded and said softly, "Are you my daddy?"

Severus nearly dropped the tea cup he was holding but managed to just barely save it. In a harsh voice, he snapped, "No!"

The little boy looked stricken and Severus regretted speaking so harshly to him. His heart was beating wildly, but in a calmer voice he said, "No, Harry. Your dad died when you were very young. You know that. Mummy has told you that."

Harry nodded and they were both silent for a moment and then Harry tried again, "But you're married to Mummy."

"Yes," Severus wondered if it would be totally unreasonable to go upstairs and lock himself in the bathroom until Lily got home.

"So . . . you're like my second daddy."

"No," Severus sighed and wondered how long the little boy had been thinking about this, "I'm just . . . I don't know, Harry. I'm just your Mum's husband. That's all."

Apparently this was the wrong thing to say because the little boy's eyes filled with tears. What was wrong with the boy? He had Sirius and Remus who both seemed to adore him. Harry hardly needed Severus who had no idea how to be a father to someone. There was nothing he could give the boy save a roof over his head and clothes on his back. Still, it probably wasn't good that he had made Harry cry, and he went over to try to comfort the boy and maybe try to explain things a little better but Harry made a run for it. Severus followed him far enough to see him hobble up the steps and disappear into his room. Well, like hell was he going after him.

SSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHP

Severus woke up and checked the time. It was only four in the morning, apparently, and he cursed that brat for invading his dreams. Unfortunately, it wasn't just a dream but a memory. He would openly admit that was not his finest moment since he’d gotten involved with Lily and Harry. Lily had not been happy with him when she got home but she was trying to pretend she wasn't angry. Severus could tell she wasn't pleased, though.

"He caught me off guard," he tried to explain.

"Severus," she took a deep breath and held up her hand. When she looked at him there was coldness in her eyes but she spoke very calmly, "If you don't feel it, you don't feel it. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Severus had gotten to feeling a little guilty that night but couldn't think how to correct things. It was impossible to explain to a four-year-old the complicated situation. He vowed that he would talk to Harry about their relationship when he was a little older. He hadn't gotten around to it yet.

Severus sat up and decided he should get ready for the day since it was unlikely he would be able to get back to sleep. He quickly pulled on a pair of trousers and a shirt before putting on his robes. In the kitchen, a letter from Lily was waiting on the kitchen table. It must have been delivered the night before. He plucked it up and read the letter.

Sev -

I'm glad to hear that Harry got there safely. You must be pleased that he was sorted into your house. I told you that the two of you are more alike than you think. Please remember that he's one of your snakes now. I know that even if you can't get along with him as your stepson, you'll learn to care about him as one of your own students.

Love,

Lily.

He sighed and folded the parchment and stuck it in the pocket of his robes. While he made tea, he resolved to try to get along with the boy. It was a resolution that he'd made many time before. He wondered if it could survive through the first class with the child.