S.S.

Severus stared at the layer of books that covered the surface of his desk and ignored the throbbing in his temple that told him he was overwhelmed and utterly out of his depth. There was no research on this, nothing about live subjects carrying horcruxes because it was a damn stupid idea to use a human as your soul’s container if you wanted to be immortal. Then there was the fact that he had managed to get only two books containing information on horcruxes. They were so dark that they focused on their making rather than their destruction. Reading books so heavily imbued with dark magic was putting him in a foul mood, then there was the constant underlying panic that the headmaster might be right, there might be nothing to tell him how to save his son.

Severus glanced at the carriage clock on the bookcase opposite his desk. It was well past midnight, so he could say to himself with a certain amount of dread that his preliminary adoption interview was that same day.

The Prophet had highlighted every reason that he shouldn’t be allowed near Harry, let alone become his parent. The ministry would be foolish to ignore everything that was written in that rag, but where that would that leave his application? He had in his favour the fact that Harry wanted to be adopted by him, the headmaster’s supposed support and his position as potion master at the school. None of those qualified him to be a parent. That he could protect Harry best from the Dark Lord wouldn’t even be factored into their decision with the Ministry’s refusal to believe he had returned.

Severus put down his quill as the screaming erupted. He hurried to Harry’s room, making far better time than he usually did. With a quick wave of his wand the lights were on, and he grabbed Harry firmly just below his shoulders to stop him thrashing.

'It's a dream. You are home. He cannot hurt you.' He repeated the same words, words Harry had no doubt become incredibly familiar with, as he blinked himself awake, his breathing harsh and ragged. Almost every night the child went without dreamless sleep, he woke up screaming; the nights he didn’t Severus was certain the child was reliving the elf’s death.

'I can feel it. It hurts,' Harry gasped, still partially trapped in his nightmare. He’d thrashed so hard he’d kicked his duvet off the end of his bed, and he was drenched with sweat.

'It's in your mind. The pain is a memory.' He made a deliberate effort to keep his voice calm and less than a minute later, Harry’s breathing evened out, and he shrugged off Severus' grip. His offer of a freshening charm was accepted with a jerky nod.

Harry made a grab for his duvet before Severus had a chance to lay it back over him. 'When do the nightmares stop?' he asked, knotting his hands beneath his covers to hide their shaking.

'In time. You'll train tomorrow evening. You might be less likely to have nightmares if you're physically exhausted.' A full night’s sleep would most likely do him a world of good. They came too few and far between and the longer the nightmares continued the more Harry was inclined to pretend he wasn’t affected by them.

'I shouldn't still be having them. It's been weeks now.'

'Yes, you should be completely unaffected by kidnapping and torture by now.'

'I've been through stuff before... getting the stone, the basilisk, all the dementors. I was younger then too.'

Severus sighed as he trailed his finger over the books on the shelf above Harry’s desk. He picked out one he hadn’t seen him read. 'It is normal,’ he said as he offered him the book. ‘It is what we were told to expect.'

Harry took it, but tossed it onto his bedside table, flopping back down onto his pillow. 'Yeah, based on other people. Not me.'

'Contrary to what you've been led to believe, you aren't special,’ Severus remarked acerbically. ‘Sit up and read; you have to be able to occlude before you go back to sleep.'

Harry heaved a put-upon sigh and sat up. He flicked absently through the book, flipping it over to read the blurb. ‘You know, I was thinking that if I take the dreamless sleep on Fridays and Saturdays then I could spend the whole weekend in the tower.'

'No.'

'Why not?' His petulant tone set Severus’ teeth on edge.

'I know very well that you're a teenager and that I'm saying you can't have your way, but I will not listen to you ask stupid questions that you already know the answer to.'

Harry chose not to take the hint. 'I want to spend more time in the tower, and I want my friends to be all right with you adopting me. If you let me have weekends in the tower it'll help.'

'No,' Severus repeated.

'You'd rather I was in the tower than have Ron sleep over here.'

'Your presence in the tower is not required for the parts of the day when you should all be unconscious, so there is nothing to gain from you being there. Your priority should be being well rested in order to succeed in your lessons; that is why you take dreamless sleep during the week.'

'Why can't my friends sleep over? You're always working anyway, so what does it matter if they're here or not?'

'I have said no. My answer will not change no matter how much you continue to whine, but I have no intention of listening to it. I have work to do,' Severus replied, itching to return to his desk, sure that he was considering this problem from the wrong angle. There had to be a way that a live container was different to the others that meant the horcrux could be safely removed.

H.P.

‘So, this should be fun,’ Ron joked as they queued up in the dungeons for their first potions class since the article in the Prophet. Neville was so nervous he’d gone pale and hadn’t eaten anything all morning. Harry had thought about saying something consoling, but if Snape’s new tactic was to terrify everyone into behaving in his classroom, then Neville was right to be worried.

They’d already agreed that Harry was going to pair up with Hermione if they were brewing. That way there was minimal chance of Snape being able to complain about the state of it. Ron said he was going to pair with Neville, but he whispered to Harry as they left the hall that it was only because Snape was more likely to lay into Neville if he really lost it.

When the dungeon door opened, everyone in the corridor fell silent. Word had spread of Snape’s new point taking and detention policy and no one wanted to be the one in an all-night detention with Filch. Malfoy and the Slytherins, on the other hand, looked surly more than anything else. It seemed Slytherin couldn’t decide what was worse, adopting Harry or dropping the favouritism.

Snape didn’t speak until the whole class stood behind their desks. ‘Instructions are on the board. Ingredients are in the store cupboard. You will need the full hour. Go.’

The students rushed to set up their equipment as if they were worried it was part of the scoring system.

‘I’m going to grab the ingredients while you set up,’ Harry whispered, hesitant to disturb the quiet that had yet to turn into the normal hum of voices that came with group work.

The store cupboard was cramped with students shoving past each other and grabbing the same ingredients. Twice, the jar of salamander tails was yanked out of Harry’s grasp, and he winced as someone stamped on his foot, hard. When the shelves rattled ominously beside him, he was quick to thrust out a hand to steady them, but not quick enough to stop a jar of murtlap tentacles from tipping and spilling over his robes.

‘I’ve got yours,’ Ron muttered, gesturing at the ingredients he was carrying as Harry flicked tentacles off his neck. Harry nodded gratefully and they shouldered their way out of the cupboard.

Ron dumped the ingredients onto their desks before heading back to his own cauldron and Harry sorted through them while Hermione read through the instructions. ‘You think someone’s curious to see how he acts with me?’ he asked.

‘I think most of the room are, really.’ Hermione waved her wand and the front of his robes dried, but the sharp smell of pickled tentacles lingered. She passed over the pestle and mortar. ‘You can grind the doxy wings while I slice the salamander tails.’

Snape seemed content to stalk up and down the room, sneering at each pair’s potion as he passed by. He started on the furthest side of the room and Harry kept a wary eye on his progress, determined not to be surprised by him. He wasn’t sure what Snape’s plan was, but Harry wasn’t going to give the Slytherins anything to be smug about or the Gryffindors anything to gloat about.

‘For goodness’ sake,’ Hermione exclaimed as something splashed into their cauldron. Before Harry could say anything, Snape’s voice rang out across the dungeon.

‘Mr Malfoy, where is your potion?’

‘Here, sir,’ he replied in a tone that was bordering on insolent, but a slight smirk still played about his lips.

Harry recognised the look on Snape’s face all too well and he doubted that Malfoy was going to like what was coming. ‘Not this cauldron?’ he asked, coming to a stop beside Harry and Hermione’s desks. Everyone in the room had stopped working to watch Snape and Malfoy.

‘No, sir.’ The smirk had disappeared now.

‘Miss Granger, swap cauldrons with Mr Malfoy.’

‘I’m not working with their potion,’ he replied, outraged.

‘You added ingredients to this cauldron so you will be marked on this potion. Dear me,’ Snape drawled in feigned concern. ‘It would appear you added the toad’s eyes far too early, I do hope you’ll be able to correct it in the time you have left.’

‘When my father hears about this–’ Malfoy started to mumble under his breath, but Snape didn’t even let him finish his sentence, looming over the blonde Slytherin as he interrupted him with an icy hiss.

‘Your father will doubtless be disappointed to hear you’ve marred your record with a fail so early in the term. Do not presume to issue threats in my classroom. You will find that I can make your life at this school very difficult. I am your head of house, unless you were planning to request to change? From your behaviour today, Ravenclaw would not suit you.’

‘No, sir,’ Malfoy replied, his pale cheeks now a blazing red.

Harry tried to control the grin that was threatening to spread over his face, even as Ron flashed him a quick thumbs up from the desk in front. He’d never liked watching Snape pick on the students but there was something so satisfying seeing him finally take Malfoy down a peg or two. The Gryffindors around him all exchanged gleeful looks, but the Slytherins looked furious. It was one thing to take points and issue detentions, but humiliating one of them was something else entirely.

Malfoy wasn’t far off Hermione’s standard when it came to potions, so they were barely set back by the swap. Snape had merely nodded when Hermione put the vial on his desk at the end of class. Malfoy’s vial, on the other hand, hadn’t been much better than sludge. ‘Dreadful,’ Snape had declared, and Malfoy had stalked back to his desk, trembling with barely suppressed fury.

‘It’s like being in some weird alternate reality,’ Ron said as they made their way out of the dungeons. ‘It was bloody good to see that look on Malfoy’s face. I’m going to treasure that memory.’

An abrupt ripping sound came from just over Harry’s shoulder and his rucksack became weightless as books tumbled onto the floor. His inkpot smashed, covering his shoes and the dungeon floor in a pool of spilled ink, coating his quills and books.

‘Oh, Harry,’ Hermione exclaimed in dismay at the state of his textbooks.

He swore and pulled out his wand as the Slytherins cackled with laughter, kicking aside his books as they passed. ‘Reparo.’ Harry jabbed his wand angrily at his bag, growling in frustration when his spell failed to take.

‘Not even a wizard anymore, are you Potter?’ Malfoy loitered at the end of the hall, his face still pink with anger. ‘Do you think those muggles will have you back now?’

‘Shove off, Malfoy,’ Ron spat.

Harry raised his wand again. ‘Expelliarmus!’ Malfoy’s mouth dropped open as his wand spun from his grasp. The spell came easily from hours of training with Snape. ‘You want to see what other spells I can do?’ he challenged as the blond boy scurried to scoop up his fallen wand.

‘Mr Potter,’ a cold voice rang out from the potions classroom behind him. Beside him, Ron swore under his breath. Malfoy took the opportunity to bolt, disappearing up the stairs to the entrance hall.

Harry took three deep breaths before he turned to face his dad. His black eyes were narrowed in anger as he crooked an imperious finger to summon Harry back inside. ‘Weasley, Granger,’ he barked. ‘Clear that mess up.’

‘He started it,’ Harry blurted as soon as the door shut. Snape’s only response was to cross his arms as he stared, his lips thinning in anger. ‘You never let people get away with hexing you when you were my age.’ The words were out before he could call them back, but it was true.

‘You think to use a Death Eater in training as a role model, do you? And what would you have done to Draco if I didn’t step in? Another brawl or would you have practiced your spell work on him?’ He didn’t let Harry answer, stepping close to snarl. ‘I have an interview with the adoption agency today. This is the behaviour you want them to see while you’re in my care? That mere feet from my classroom door, instead of asking for my help, you start a fight?’

Harry was about to repeat that he didn’t start it, but he clamped his lips shut. His stomach churned guiltily at the thought of heaping more stress on Snape when he was wound up about the interview. ‘I can’t just let them attack me. They’ll think I’m weak.’

‘A teenager who single-handedly faced down the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters?’ Snape replied scornfully. ‘You have nothing to prove. You know very well that you have permission to defend yourself, but a ripped backpack doesn’t require self-defence.’

‘I disarmed him; I didn’t hex him.’

‘Which is why we’re having a conversation and you’re not getting detention. Let me handle the Slytherins. I intend to make clear the world of trouble they will be in if they harm my son.’

Harry chanced a slight smile, the tension receding from his shoulders now that Snape wasn’t going to punish him. ‘That was alright, seeing you have a go at Malfoy for a change.’

Snape rolled his eyes and waved his wand to open the door where Ron and Hermione were waiting with his repaired bag. He bit his lip, wanting to ask about the interview but not knowing what to say. Was Snape prepared? What if the article had ruined everything and the agency has changed its mind about considering their application? What if it didn’t go well?

‘Um, so I’ll see you after the interview, then?’

Snape inclined his head. ‘Lupin will train with you after dinner tonight in my stead. Until then, behave,’ he said, stressing the final word.

S.S.

Class with Harry hadn’t gone quite as badly as he’d imagined, but the tension in his own house was proving to be far more acute in the fourth-year classes. Hexes and sabotaging volatile potions wouldn’t continue in his classroom. And then there was the question of how to control Draco. If the boy wanted to test the extent of Severus’ powers as his head of house, then so be it.

He cast a stasis spell on the cauldron at the sound of a knock on his lab door. Could dinner have already finished? He’d been too absorbed in his work to feel pangs of hunger as afternoon turned to evening.

‘You don’t look well, Severus,’ Lupin commented, waving away a haze of purple fumes.

‘I didn’t request a commentary on my appearance. I have an interview to attend.’

‘I wanted to speak with you before Harry gets back.’ Lupin took a breath to steel himself and Severus narrowed his eyes. He had a good idea where this was going and he didn’t want to hear it. He had an adoption process to deal with, a traumatised adolescent to care for, unruly classes five days a week and a cure for being a human horcrux to invent. He didn’t have time for this. ‘Have you spoken to him about Sirius?’

‘No and I have no intention of doing so.’

Lupin continued despite the glare Severus directed his way. He had that irritating look on his face that appeared whenever the wolf was going to start offering parenting advice that Severus neither wanted nor needed. ‘You care about Harry, so it’s in your interest that this is resolved. It does him no good to have this argument hanging over him. He should have a relationship with his godfather.’

Severus’ lip curled automatically into a sneer. He fully supported Harry’s decision not to see his godfather and not just because he despised the man. Harry didn’t need another source of stress and his godfather had proven to be nothing but. ‘Black has had ample opportunity to have a relationship with Harry. He has disappointed my son time and time again and I will not pressure Harry when he already has a significant amount of stress to deal with. If Black wants to see him then he can prove to me that he is mature enough.’

‘If Harry asks to see him?’ Lupin pressed.

‘Then I’ll discuss it with him, not you and not Black,’ Severus replied, effectively ending the conversation. He heard the portrait hole open and the usual sounds of Harry tossing his bag down and kicking off his shoes, and gestured for Lupin to go ahead.

‘Good luck,’ Lupin said. He reached out to lay a hand on Severus’ shoulder, but at a sharp look the wolf retracted his hand before it made contact. He cleared his throat. ‘A calming potion might be a good idea. You don’t make the best first impression when you’re tense.’

Severus’ head pounded, the edge taken off with a headache potion that could do little to cure tension compounded by a poor night’s sleep. The ministry official conducting his preliminary interview turned out to be a stern-faced woman of around fifty who had taken his seat in his own office, forcing him to sit on the student’s side like an adolescent who’d been caught misbehaving. He half expected the woman to place Monday morning’s copy of the Prophet between them and demand an explanation.

She wore her greying hair in a bob and her half-moon spectacles were of a similar sort to those of the headmaster. He imagined she had them simply so that she could look disapprovingly over the top of them. She shook his hand formally, introducing herself as Heather Parfitt. Thankfully, he didn’t recognise the surname. It would have done him no favours if he’d managed to fail a child of the ministry official carrying out his adoption interview.

He had no intention of appearing as though he were anxious. He sat waiting, his face showing nothing but polite interest as he endeavoured to appear as though he wasn’t in the slightest bit impatient for this interview to begin.

Ms Parfitt, tapped her quill with her wand and it sprang to life, poised over the page. It would seem that she intended to take a word-perfect transcript of his answers. ‘This is your first interview with the adoption services and, as such, we will only be discussing those aspects of your application that we consider the most pressing. This is to avoid drawing out the process, causing distress for you and the child in question should your answers to these questions be insufficient. Do you understand?’

‘Yes.’ The enchanted quill scratched out a large tick.

‘Professor Snape, I have here a transcript of a conversation you had with ministry officials regarding your feelings towards Harry Potter.’ She pushed the parchment towards him. It was hardly a transcript; the aurors had taken notes not word-for-word records of his conversation with them. Pointing that fact out may not put him in the best light and he controlled his urge to correct her. ‘Can you explain to me how in a matter of weeks you have gone from a position of “It is not a crime to dislike Harry Potter” to applying to adopt him.’

‘As I explained in my application, I had assumed temporary guardianship of Harry at that point with the permission of his legal guardians. The headmaster and I were concerned that Harry’s being entered into the Triwizard tournament amounted to a threat to his life. We agreed that it would be safer for Harry if it was not general knowledge that he was living with me.’

‘Putting aside that he was under your care at the time, did you dislike Harry Potter?’ she pressed.

‘No.’

‘Yet you knew that it put you under suspicion to be dishonest?’

Severus bit back a less than polite retort, having to take a moment to consider a more acceptable way of phrasing his response. Obviously, he would have to be dishonest in order to protect Harry in that circumstance, he had just said as much. ‘I have been honest about my past. I was a Death Eater before I became a spy for the headmaster. I was prepared to do that once more, if the Dark Lord were to return. That has meant that I have had a certain reputation to maintain, one that didn’t permit me to be seen to have anything but a negative relationship with Harry.’

‘Harry is aware of your past affiliation?’ she questioned, and her raised eyebrows conveyed more than enough criticism to strike a nerve.

‘Yes.’

‘You do not think this will pose any additional difficulties what with his recent traumatic experience?’

He paused, his eyebrows drawing together in confusion. Where was she going with this line of questioning? Harry was hardly frightened of him. ‘I helped to save him. I brought him back from that graveyard.’

‘However, Harry has seemed disturbed. He claims that You-Know-Who was responsible for his kidnapping.’

‘He was tortured for an extended period. The man who took him claimed to have been working for the Dark Lord. Whatever your or the ministry’s position on the matter, there is more than adequate reason for him to believe the Dark Lord was involved.’

‘You say you do not dislike Harry Potter now. Was that always the case? Do you claim that you were neutral towards him when he entered this school?’

‘My behaviour would show otherwise. Harry understands that I had a reputation to maintain,’ Severus answered, twisting the truth slightly. He would not have it on parchment in this interview that he despised the child.

Ms Parfitt cleared her throat, scanning through the parchment at a leisurely pace. ‘Financially, I see that you have no problems taking care of a child, but obviously Harry has his own inheritance…’

‘Which he will have no need of until he is of age,’ he responded immediately.

‘You are aware that as part of the follow-up process, we will be ensuring that the child’s finances aren’t abused.’

Severus’ eyes narrowed at the implied accusation. ‘He will retain access to it in case of emergency, but he will receive an allowance and a new account to do with as he wishes. Anything else he needs, as we’ve ascertained, I’m financially capable of providing.’ She nodded again, her expression entirely neutral, so much that it was impossible to tell if she approved of his answer.

She shuffled through her parchments again. ‘According to the information we have here, Harry is fourteen. That leaves three years until he is of age. What has motivated you to make this decision now?’

‘I wasn’t aware that he needed an alternative guardian until last summer. His aunt and uncle were unsuitable and, after having him in my care, I considered that I could provide him with what he needs.’

‘And that would be?’

‘Stability, protection, discipline and the basics that he was lacking with his relatives.’

‘Such as?’

‘Adequate food and clothing.’

‘Teenagers, Professor Snape, are very rarely placed when they are under the care of the ministry. The vast majority of children who have not been adopted by Harry’s age will not be. How prepared are you to take full responsibility for a teenager and one who, despite all the good things on his school record, has displayed some challenging behaviour?’

Severus raised an eyebrow at the fact that this witch would patronise him. ‘I have been a teacher for over a decade. I am more than familiar with the challenges teenagers present.’

‘And you have a reputation for being… strict. The word “intimidating” has been used.’

‘I assure you, Harry does not find me in the least intimidating. I have slightly more relaxed standards where Harry is concerned. In the classroom I am in charge of twenty unruly teenagers and ten unstable potions; that isn’t the case at home.’

‘If Harry challenges your authority, how would you handle that situation?’

‘It would depend on his transgression. If he misbehaves in a way that puts himself in danger, I’d most likely ground him and set him in an essay. Otherwise, chores or lines would suffice.’

‘I think we have a good deal to consider here, so I suggest we end the interview at this point. If we have satisfactory interviews with your colleagues and your employer, then we will have a more in-depth discussion to ascertain your suitability pending successful completion of the Ministry’s parenting course.’ She handed him a leaflet with a couple waving happily on the cover. ‘It’s a requirement for all potential adoptive parents,’ she explained as Severus eyed the parchment dubiously.

‘And Harry?’

‘Harry’s interview will be last. Children can find these interviews stressful and if anything comes up from the other interviews that shows you aren’t suitable, it would be better for Harry not to have participated in the process.’

Severus clamped his lips together, hiding the stab of fear in his chest at the thought of his application failing. Would the headmaster permit Harry to live with him in his quarters when he’d been so combative? Or would he decide that Harry was better off without Severus’ influence, the better to mould the child into the sacrificial lamb Albus originally had in mind?