Severus apparated in an alley close to his house, ran to the house and lost no time in sending his patronus.
Just in case.
He had put some protection spells on the room, but there was only so much you could do if you were expected to return the room in a condition that allowed anyone whatsoever to use it.
Brewing a potion specifically against pneumonia was a lot more challenging than the usually used pepperup, but he couldn’t take any chances.
Should he have caught the boy earlier? There had been lots of opportunities. The first sandwich had lured him close enough to apply a full body-bind ... but Severus hadn’t been able to bring himself to do it. Blasted empathy.
Potter probably preferred safety to respect and freedom ... or did he?
Severus carefully measured five grains of sundew. An expensive ingredient, as the muggles had destroyed most of its natural habitats, and it had to be collected in dragon reservations and the like for fear of running afoul of the muggle ban on collecting it.
Wasted if Potter didn’t actually have pneumonia, but he couldn’t take chances.
One owl’s feather, kindly donated by Potter’s snowy owl, one gran of fir resin – the recipe called for three, but Severus had found that worked only with low-quality materials. Too high a dose and the etheric oils would worsen the cough and make the lungs cramp up. Most commercially available potions were overdosed in such a way, according to Madam Pomfrey.
When the potion settled, a beautiful, light blue liquid with the pearly sheen that, according to the school healer, only Severus’ creations ever achieved, he felt more at rest than he had for several days.
Nothing better to calm his nerves than some light brewing.
“Professor Snape?”, a frantic voice called.
Damn, the floo.
He hurried upstairs. In the flames was the head of Arthur Weasley.
Severus looked down at the fire. “Is something amiss?”
“No – sorry – I was just getting worried because we couldn’t reach anyone. I just wanted to tell you that Ginny’s puffskein has made a full recovery, so ...”
“Calm down, man. What puffskein?”
Weasley blinked. “Ah, right, you don’t know. I had to punish the boys because they used Ginny’s puffskein as Quidditch ball.”
They what? This was so very like Potter!
“I thought if you could let Harry know that there’s no lasting damage done, he’d not be as scared to return.”
“And make him believe that his actions don’t have consequences?” As if Potter didn’t already act like that.
“The fact that this had consequences is the whole reason you are looking for him”, Weasley reminded him. “Perhaps I am sometimes too lenient with the boys, but not this time.”
Severus really didn’t have the time to argue with Weasley. “Very well. Thank you for the information. I believe I will be soon able to deliver the joyous news to Potter.”
Of course Potter mistreated a helpless animal. Of course he did. A very Potter thing to do.
Or was it?
Certainly, it was something James Potter would have done. Harry Potter ... Severus had to admit the boy seemed to care a great deal about his owl.
Of course a snowy owl was very valuable ... and the boy had actually been willing to give it away to save its life.
Not that that had to mean much. There were plenty people who loved ‘cute’ animals and hated others.
Puffskeins were generally considered the epitome of cuteness. Severus found them rather unsettling, personally. An animal that would stick its tongue into your nose while you slept and had a proclivity for drinking out of the toilet bowl? Not very sanitary, to say the least.
That wasn’t an opinion shared by many, though. Perhaps Potter was more like Hagrid, considering cute animals to be food for his monsters? Hagrid never was outright cruel to his chickens or other boring, harmless animals, though.
Regardless of which it was, Severus would see to it that Potter learnt some respect for all animals.
Since when were the Potter brat’s ethics his business?
Oh, right. Ever since he had considered taking him into his care. Which was only a ruse, of course, but one he had to believe in –
Severus closed his eyes, conjuring an image of Potter in his living room. He had to believe it. He had to.
And anyways, he owed it to Lily that her son didn’t become a completely horrible person.
**
Harry woke up when the doe faded.
Shortly after that, probably the reason why she left, Snape reappeared. “Do you need anything, Potter? Food? Water?” he asked in a tone that reminded Harry uncomfortably of that Aunt Petunia had when he was sick – the implication that he would be kept alive, but no more than that.
“I – I’m ...” Could he risk it? The one trek he had made to the bathroom today had been exhausting. “Can I have a glass of water, please? Sir?”
“Cease the begging, Potter”, Snape growled. “Like I ever denied you food.” He took the tray with the rest of the vegetable broth and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
Harry hid his face in the mattress. This was so much like being back at the Dursleys’. Only that the mattress was softer.
The door creaked, he heard Snape’s footsteps and instinctively cowered.
“There.” Something heavy was placed on the nightstand. “Sit up, Potter, you will take your second dose of potion now.”
Deciding to not anger Snape more, Harry sat up. There was a glass of water on the nightstand, and next to it a pitcher of water.
Snape held out a vial to him. It looked different from the first, but the liquid inside was of the same colour.
Harry took it, cautious to not touch Snape’s hand in the process, opened it and downed the contents.
This time, he didn’t notice much of an effect, but he certainly didn’t feel worse. No poison, then.
Next, he took the water. He hadn’t even noticed how thirsty he was!
Snape watched him all the while, brows furrowed angrily.
Harry almost felt a bit disappointed. But what had he expected? This was Snape. Of course his strange behaviour wouldn’t last. Now he was back to normal, so what? Harry knew how to cope with normal Snape.
It shouldn’t have been humanly possible to fall asleep with Snape sitting in the armchair, watching him, but eventually, Harry did.
When he woke again, the rain had stopped and bright sunlight fell through the dusty window.
And Harry felt ... good. Really good. Good enough to run away. Only when he sat up he realized he didn’t have any clothes on.
“Potter.” Snape was, of course, still in the room. “How do you feel?”
“Um. Fine?”
“Do you feel up to a short walk?”
Harry frowned. What if he said yes? Where did Snape intend to take him?
“I am admittedly curious about your alleged ability of talking to snakes. We could walk to the Magical Menagerie and see if you still possess the gift.” Snape sounded much less angry, now, but that could be a trap.
“What’s it to you?”
“Respect, Potter”, Snape scolded, but there didn’t seem to be the usual venom in it. “I am the head of Slytherin house and therefore rather partial to snakes. The ability to talk to them is relatively rare and I will not forego an opportunity to find out what goes on in a snake’s mind.”
“And why should I do you a favour?”
The change in Snape’s expression was an instant one, and Harry knew he had said the wrong thing.
“So you don’t deem it worthy of acknowledgement that I provided you with food, a bed and two very expensive healing potions?” There was ice in Snape’s voice.
Harry felt his face heat. He actually had – somehow – forgotten about that for a moment. “You just did that because you had to!”
“And your mother only sacrificed her life for yours because she had to. I see. That is why you so recklessly put your life in danger, you do not think doing things because one has to entitles someone to any gratitude whatsoever, do you?”
What? “What do you mean, my mother had to sacrifice her life for me?” The one thing he had thought he could be sure of was that his mother loved him!
“I mean that she could not have lived with herself had she not done it.” Snape turned his back to Harry, folding his hands. “That is, I believe, generally the case with mothers, although there are exceptions.”
Oh, so that was what it was like! Snape had just wanted to scare him!
“You are, of course, correct, that the only possible course of action for any responsible adult is to help an ill child, but nevertheless, I would have expected at least some gratitude.”
Since when was Snape a responsible adult? “I didn’t mean it like that! You hate me! You only helped me because – because Dumbledore forced you, or something!”
“Force me?” Finally, Snape turned around, his face blank. He raised an eyebrow. “Did he, now? How, exactly, do you fancy he did so? Was he, perhaps, standing behind me with his wand drawn? Is that the kind of person you think he is?”
“No”, Harry had to admit. “I – I don’t know.” But something had to have forced Snape to do it, right?
“And if you are so sure I am so very easily intimidated, then why did you suspect me of intending to poison you earlier?”, Snape continued mercilessly.
“Because you hate me, okay? There’s no way you’d just be ... be nice to me just because I’m a child.” Harry tried his best to hide from Snape’s angry gaze, and after some crawling underneath the blanket, his foot touched the hot water bottle. Oh. Snape really didn’t have to do that. Not the towel, at least. Harry had survived plenty burns. Perhaps ... unlikely as it was ... he had really been just ... nice?
He cautiously peered out from under the blanket. Snape didn’t look very angry. And he hadn’t moved towards Harry, so perhaps he wouldn’t hit him. “Okay, fine. I will go talk to a snake for you.”
Snape frowned. “I do not like to repeat myself, Potter. Do you feel up to walking to the Magical Menagerie, or do you not? I am no healer, so I am afraid I will have to rely on your judgement.”
“I’m fine.”
“Very well. Your clothes are in the bathroom. I do believe you could use a shower. Make sure to dry your hair thoroughly. I will be waiting downstairs.”
This time, Snape didn’t bang the door on his way out.
A shower did sound very good. Harry didn’t find any shampoo, but he was used to that, he could just use soap.
His clothes were neatly folded and blessedly dry. After dressing, Harry did feel quite a bit grateful to Snape.
And it wasn’t like it was a lot of work. Just go chat with a snake. He could do that.
When he arrived downstairs, Snape handed him a sandwich. Tomato and cheese, just like the one he had scavenged a couple days ago.
And it tasted just as lovely.
“Before we get to the Magical Menagerie”, Snape said as they stood before the brick wall entrance. “I should tell you that the ability to talk to snakes is not regarded very ... favourably by many people. I will put a spell on us that will make it impossible to eavesdrop, so do not try to talk to any of the snakes there until I say so.”
Was this true? Or did Snape just want an excuse to put a spell on Harry? On the other hand, he’d had plenty time to put a spell on Harry before.
“Okay. Um. Yes, sir.”
“Good.” Snape drew his wand, tapped the brick wall, and the entrance appeared. “Stay close to me.”
Harry didn’t talk on the way, as he was occupied with the sandwich. He did feel rather hungry by now.
When they entered the Magical Menagerie, Harry saw a basket of cuddly toys just like the one Ginny had. He’d get her a new one, he decided. They had really been mean to her.
“Now”, Snape said and gestured towards a terrarium with a snake in it.
“It is asleep”, Harry hissed. “I’m not going to disturb it.”
But just as he spoke, the snake raised its head. And then its other head. What?
“A runespoor. They tend to have three heads”, Snape explained.
Now, Harry could see it, too. There was a kind of stump where a third head must have been. “What happened?”
“Oh, a talking human.” The snake came closer to the glass. “What do you mean?”
“What happened to your third head. Um. I mean. If it is not rude to ask?” Was it? Harry didn’t know. The few times he had seen someone with a missing body part was when the Dursleys had had to take him with them, and he had thought it safer to keep his mouth shut all the time.
Of course there was Professor Kettleburn, but everyone knew what had happened to his limbs, and he didn’t mind talking about it.
“Not at all. We bit her off”, the snake – or rather, he realized now, one of the heads – declared.
“You what?!”
“That may not be in keeping with the categorical imperative”, the other head replied thoughtfully. “But, you see, she was always saying nasty things about absolutely everything we did.”
“We could not stand it anymore”, the first head added.
“You cannot imagine how it is. You can walk away from people who criticise you. We couldn’t walk away from her.”
“Actually”, Harry said. “I think I have a pretty good idea what it feels like. You’re right, I could walk away, but, you see, I’m a child. The adults don’t let me do anything on my own.”
“Ah, yes. You do look rather smallish”, the second head said. “We had eggs, once. I wonder what became of them after we were imprisoned.”
“What does it say?” Snape asked, startling Harry.
“You are right next to me, you must have heard it!”
“As I said, not everyone can talk to snakes. That includes understanding them. So?”
“They bit their third head off because it was always criticising them. And they, uh, miss their ... eggs. They couldn’t take care of them because they were imprisoned!” This just wasn’t right.
“Fascinating.”
“Where are they from? Runespoors, I mean?” The snake he freed must have had an awfully long way to Brazil. Perhaps it would be better to just send them home with owl post or something.
“Burkina Faso. Why do you ask?”
“I was just curious, sir. Are they very expensive?”
“What is the man saying?” the left head of the Runespoor inquired.
“He just told me he can’t understand what you say”, Harry explained. It was great, being able to do something Snape couldn’t. “Um. And he said you’re from Burkina Faso?”
“Yes?”
“Do you want to go back?”
“We could see what has become of our eggs”, the middle head pondered.
“But then, we might be attacked by something”, the left head threw in. “You see, child, she” – it gestured towards the stump. “Was the only one who had poison. We did not really think that through. Perhaps we’d better stay here. It is warm and we get enough food. Just a bit boring.”
“Not boring at all”, the middle head said. “I had the most beautiful dream just now before the humans woke us up.”
“Well, I would like some change of scenery once in a while. And some more space to move.”
“Runespoors are very expensive”, Snape said at last. “You might be able to afford one, but I would advise against it. This terrarium is rather too small and it is still too large for your dormitory.”
“Can’t it be made bigger on the inside? She would like that. The left head, I mean.”
“I am sure that could be done. Say goodbye. The shop will close soon.”
Harry nodded. “I have to go”, he explained to the two heads. “It was nice meeting you. I hope I can visit again. Uh, and, sorry we woke you.”
“That’s alright. You are the most interesting thing to happen ever since we arrived here”, the left head said cheerfully. “Do visit soon.”
Just when Harry wanted to turn around, he noticed something at his nose. He froze. It wasn’t a snake, but a ... a tongue? It was pink and soft and wet and ...
Snape snipped a finger against it, and the tongue retreated.
Relieved, Harry turned around to see what animal had attacked him.
There was nothing there, just the basket with cuddly toys.
But .. there, there was a pink tongue and there were ... eyes?
Eyes? “What ... what are those?”, he stammered. Were they ... alive? They looked just like Ginny’s ... exactly like Ginny’s ... what had they done?
“Sorry, sorry, I’m coming!” A young witch with a brown ponytail hurried towards them, swatting at the tongue. “The puffskeins are getting hungry, sorry – oh my. Are you actually afraid of them? They’re just puffskeins!”
“He was raised by muggles. The idea of an animal that would stick its tongue into his nose must be rather unsettling to someone who has never heard of it”, Snape said coldly. “Come along, boy, they want to close.”
“I’m in no hurry, sir! Just have to feed the puffs. We have plenty muggle-suitable animals. How about a cat?”
Harry heard Snape telling her about the terrarium being too small for the runespoor, but it sounded like very far away.
They’d used Ginny’s pet as a ball! No wonder she’d been crying!
“Come on, boy.”
Harry hurried to follow Snape out of the shop. “Sir, those puffskeins”, he managed to ask at last. “They’re not in a cage, wouldn’t they get hurt from falling out of the basket?” Perhaps they were really, really resilient? But then Ginny wouldn’t have cried so, would she?
“They likely would get hurt by the fall, but even though they look like giant balls, they do have feet and are quite well able to cling to objects, or each other, as the case may be.”
“Oh.” Poor Ginny. Poor puffskein. He had known he should say something!
“I am surprised you were so startled by them. Doesn’t young Miss Weasley own one?”, Snape said suddenly.
“I thought it was a toy!” He could have sworn he had never seen its eyes, but then, Ginny had kept away from him most of the time. “I didn’t know it was alive. It never did that tongue thing, either.” Let Snape think he had been scared by the tongue. That was better than Snape actually knowing what he had done. Snape hated him enough without a good reason, with a good reason, Harry didn’t even want to imagine what he’d be like.
Snape didn’t say anything while they walked back to the Leaky Cauldron. He led Harry up the stairs and opened the door.
The bed, which Harry now realized he had left unmade, was made and the sheets looked to be freshly ironed. There wasn’t a wrinkle.
Did that mean they were leaving and had just returned to get his belongings?
“Mr. Weasley told me Miss Weasley’s pet made a full recovery. He hope that fact might encourage you to return”, Snape said, out of the blue.
Harry felt like a rock was lifted off his chest. But return? To the place where his dreams had been dashed? “I don’t want to go back to them.” Not that Snape would care.
“Ah, yes. I thought so. Back to bed with you, then. I will not consider you recovered before the potion’s effect wears off.”
What? But ... that’d mean ... “You are not taking me back?”
“And have to waste the rest of my holidays on chasing after you? I do not think so, no.” Snape turned around, towards the open door. “I will return shortly. It would be better for you if you were in bed by then.”
When the door fell shut, Harry sat on the bed. This was decidedly weird. Was this talking to snakes thing really so important to Snape? He hadn’t been nasty ever since Harry had agreed to do it. Strange.
And now, Snape didn’t even want to take him back to the Weasleys. But what would he do instead?
Would he just let Harry stay here?
Chapter 8