Potions and Snitches
Snape and Harry Gen Fanfiction Archive

Chapter 2
As he climbed out of the tunnel, he looked around the spot where he knew he had been slain and saw nothing more than a bundle of black robes. He looked around startled, where had he gone, surely the body could not have just disappeared he thought as he scanned the room back and forth until his eyes finally settled on something.

There in the far corner, there was something, he could hear something. He approached cautiously, there was a noise which sounded like a very quiet sobbing coming from the black bundle. He approached to get a closer look, surely he was imagining it but it looked like there was a small child with a nest of dark hair huddled and trembling wrapped in a sea of black robes that engulfed him making him look even smaller and more helpless and vulnerable.

He paused, shocked, wondering what the heck was going on and trying to make sense of this and at that moment the boy looked up at him. He looked somehow familiar, his young thin face unnaturally pale and tear-stained, but it was those dark eyes wide and fearful that so captivated him, he knew he'd seen eyes like that before. He had been about to put a hand gently on his shoulder but hesitated as the child gasped in shock and fright cowering away from him.

For a minute they stood frozen in that exchange, he decided to kneel so he was at the child's level instead of towering above him. Speaking softly and looking into his dark obsidian-like eyes he decided to try and reassure him "hey it's ok, I'm not going to hurt you" he said holding up his hands to show he wasn't a threat, the boy continued to eye him warily, perhaps introductions were in order "I'm Harry" he said holding out his hand.

The boy's eyes darted to his hand which he continued to eye warily before looking back up at him nervously "Severus" he said introducing himself.

"Snape!?" Harry breathed sitting back, his mind reeling from this new revelation. He took him in more closely. Of course, it seemed so obvious now. He looked different of course, he was much younger of course but there was still a striking resemblance when you looked closer.

His face was still rounded, not yet marked by the angular features, hooked nose or trademark sneer that had transformed his features so to make him look ugly and menacing as an adult. His skin was an unhealthy pale colour as though he were malnourished, but it had not yet acquired the sallow look he was familiar with. His hair was shorter framing his round face and almost hiding his dark eyes, it was still dirty and matted as though no one had done anything with it in a while but it looked slightly softer and less greasy. In fact, he was surprisingly appealing as a young child, almost cute, he shook himself internally, there was a word he never thought he would use to describe Snape.

The boy's head shot up at this and he looked at him astonished "that's right but how did you know that?" He asked, looking puzzled.

Harry stared at him wondering how the hell he could answer that. How could he even begin to go into that to start explaining the complicated and bitter man that had been Severus Snape, he wasn't even sure he knew himself the man was such an intricate web of mystery. No, whoever he might once have been this boy appeared to be an innocent child, he couldn't let him shoulder that burden. No, he decided it would be easiest to tell him a half-truth "I knew someone else who went by that name, one of my teachers. He was a very brave man, you remind me of him."

"Oh, ok" he said with a shrug, seeming to accept that, apparently heartened slightly by the fact that he shared a name with a brave man. There was silence for a minute as they tried to figure out what to do.

"I'm cold and scared, I didn't want to wear these clothes" he blurted out, startling Harry out of his revere and gesturing miserably at the blood-soaked robes that swamped his tiny frame, clearly ashamed at having to wear the stained garments, "but I woke up here and my clothes were gone."

"Hey it's ok, it's not your fault, we'll get you some warm clean clothes in a minute but for now ..." he got out his wand carefully so as not to scare him and cast a scourgify on the robes to clean them followed by a warming charm around him.

The boy looked at him in shock, his face a mixture of horror and wonder as though this small act of magic was something he'd only dreamed of witnessing.

"There, better?" he asked, the boy looked at him awestruck and nodded slowly as though in a daze "what's the matter don't your parents use magic?" he asked kindly in concern.

He looked up at him nervously "Dad doesn't like magic" he explained despondently "he gets angry and hits us if we use magic even if it's an accident like last night"

"What happened?" Harry asked him softly.

He needn't have bothered as he continued anyway, his eyes had glazed over and he had a faraway look in his eyes as though recalling a traumatic memory "didn't mean to do it, just floated by mistake, he hit me hard, I was screaming, begging him not to, she tried to make him stop, I pleaded with him, he hit her too, I screamed at him to stop!" he recalled his voice rising with emotion before deflating as he continued "I must have blacked out, next thing I woke up here, so cold, all alone" he stated his voice trembling and quiet, his small body shaking and shivering.

He listened his heart breaking for this poor little child, it was clearly a traumatic thing for him to remember and by the sound of it something which might be a regular occurrence. He felt the strong desire to hug him and hold him tight and tell him everything was going to be alright but he sensed that may be the wrong thing for a child who was quite possibly deprived of love and affection, instead he moved to sit next to him and put an arm around him gently, offering him comfort.

The boy froze at the contact until he realised that nothing else had happened and he wasn't going to be struck before looking up at him with sad tear-filled eyes. He leaned slightly into the comforting touch. "It's going to be ok, I won't let him hurt you" Harry told him, feeling just as awkward and unused to offering comfort having grown up for so many years without it.

He took this in with shocked wide eyes, before nodding and burrowing his head in Harry's robes and letting the tears flow, while Harry carefully rubbed his back. He looked down and noticed he was clutching onto something tightly "hey what's that you got there?" he asked.

He looked up at him in confusion before following his gaze "oh this" he said holding the object out "I found it in one of the pockets"

Harry took the object reverently. It was a wand, long and thin and made of pure black Ebony wood with an intricately detailed handle, he'd recognise it anywhere, he'd seen it in the hands of his potions professor often enough. It was beautifully crafted and elegant just like its former owner.

"It's a wand isn't it?" he looked up snapped out of his own thoughts and met the boy's wide hopeful eyes.

"Yes it is"

He nodded as though expecting this answer "I thought so, it felt warm when I touched it almost like it was alive and responding to me"

Harry thought that made sense, he could feel the faint hum of magic but it didn't feel warm or respond to him, yet another mystery or perhaps a sign that this boy was related to his deceased Professor.

"Do you know who it belonged to?" a tentative voice asked.

He looked down at the child "yes I do" he said solemnly "I think he'd want you to have this" he told him, noting the astonished hopeful look in his eyes, "but for now I think it's best if I look after it until you're old enough to control your magic, ok?" he sagged before eventually nodding "ok"

He looked around frowning at his surroundings and leaning further into Harry "where are we?" he asked nervously.

Harry looked down at him startled by the question before smiling "why we're at Hogwarts Severus"

He blinked at him with surprise written on his features before shaking his head looking confused "we can't be. My Mum says Hogwarts is an amazing place where everyone is happy. She says you're free to use magic and you can virtually feel it buzzing around you. This .. this place" he paused looking around and shivering, wrapping his arms around himself, "is creepy, it smells of death and sadness." he said shivering.

"Ok, you're right" Harry admitted "we're not actually in the castle, but we're on the grounds at Hogwarts, and yes you're right, this place is pretty creepy" he added thinking how he was right that it did have an overwhelming, almost claustrophobic atmosphere of death and sadness, hardly surprising given recent events and it's previous history holding a savage werewolf.

"I don't understand why? Why did she bring me here?" he asked after he'd taken that in, suddenly another more terrifying thought entered the boy's mind "where is she? She's gone isn't she?" he said, panicking.

Harry watched the confused and distraught child as he became more worked up as the inevitable conclusion came to him. He tried to imagine what to tell a small boy about his parents. The truth was he had no idea, he didn't know why he'd been brought back here, he had no idea what happened to his parents and whether or not they were even alive. It was possible he supposed, after all, Snape had only been in his 30's and he really didn't know anything about his family, but then again by the sounds of it the way his father treated him and his mother, it sounded like they would both be lucky to still be alive, for that matter would this boy even recognise them if they were alive.

Argh, he thought it was all too complicated. He decided an amended version of the truth was the best way to go. He knelt next to him and put a hand on his shoulder "honestly Severus, I don't know. I don't know what happened or why you're here, but if I was to guess I'd say that your Mum must have brought you here because she thought you'd be safe" he said hoping that would satisfy his curiosity.

"Safe?" he repeated, clearly confused, "from what?"

"There was a battle last night. An evil, dark wizard, who hated muggles like your Dad and his followers killed a lot of people he considered to be impure or unworthy" he told him, seeing his scared expression he ploughed on "don't worry he's gone now, we defeated him and his followers but I guess your Mum was worried he might come after you because of your father. She probably thought you'd be safe here at Hogwarts with all its protections and magic"

There he thought, it gave him an idea but hopefully didn't go into enough detail that it wouldn't scare him and perhaps it might even give him a different view on things. He was determined that this little boy wouldn't follow the same path and make the same mistakes that his namesake had, he would have a happy carefree childhood if he had anything to say about it.

"She's gone isn't she?" he was about to open his mouth to interrupt, but he continued, "She wouldn't have left me here all alone if she wasn't, she would have fetched me when it was safe. No one came, I heard the bangs and the screams and the flashes but no one came to find me and bring me back, she would have come if she was alright. I'm an orphan, aren't I? What's going to happen to me?" he asked sadly staring down at the floor.

His heart bled for this perceptive child who had spent all day and all night here unnoticed as everyone was too busy to attend to the body of the adult Snape they had all assumed would be there unknowing that instead there was a small child all alone and disorientated believing himself to be abandoned no doubt shivering both from the cold and fear as he heard people battling and dying in the near distance. It would have surely been a harrowing experience, it was hardly any wonder the poor child was terrified.

"Hey, it's alright, calm down. We don't know that your Mum's gone, she might just not have had a chance to come and get you" before he could raise any objections he ploughed on raising a finger to silence him "but even if she is gone then I'm sure she brought you to Hogwarts for a good reason. There are loads of people here who I'm sure would be willing to take you in and provide you with a loving home and family" he paused for just a moment, "including me, so don't you fret" he felt compelled to add, feeling somewhat awkward.

His head snapped up at that as he stared up at Harry in shock "you would? You'd be my family, I wouldn't have to go back and live with my Dad?" he asked in shock that someone might actually want him.

"Yes" he nodded, answering this time without hesitation "I would, I'll make sure you're safe and loved and I will make sure you never have to go back to your Dad. If you'd like that, that is?" he said the last part more uncertainly.

"I'd like that very much I think" he replied feeling tears welling up in him as he flung himself at Harry, who wrapped his arms around him, hugging him tightly and comfortingly.

"It's ok I'm not going anywhere so you don't have to decide right now, take your time and think about it ok?" he said softly to reassure him and felt him nod "I'm so sorry you were left here all alone, we didn't know you were here if we did we'd have come for you much sooner"

"It's alright, it's not your fault" came the mumbled reply.

"It kind of is though, I can't imagine how scared you must have been being here all alone but it's ok now you're safe. Now how about we go up to the castle and see if we can find out about your Mum and get you some nice clean, warm clothes and I'm sure a nice bath and a hot meal won't go amiss either hm?" he said and the boy was too worn down to do anything more than nod and mutter his assent or even point out that actually he didn't really like baths much.

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