When Pigs Fly

by MoonlightEtherealAria

Summary:

Severus had always believed that romance wasn’t for him. Everyone else believed him to be filthy death eater scum, and he agreed, never fathoming the concept of someone liking him enough to actually pursue a relationship with him.

Until one fine day in sixth year, when he finds himself with a small, adorable child clinging to his right leg, calling him Papa.

Cross posted on Wattpad under MoonlightEtherAria

Notes:

So this is my first fic in this fandom! I love snames, and I also love snape being harry's parent, so I decided to write this. I couldn't think of a title, so I just randomly put one in, so I might change it during the process of this story.

I also am currently at university, and writing does not come easy for me, so I cannot guarantee any regularity to updating. I apologize in advance. I will update after I've proof read it. If any of you catch any grammar mistakes, please mention it.

That being said, please enjoy! Kudos and comments are welcome!

On tumblr.

Chapter 1: The Dawning of the Arc

Albus Dumbledore was sitting in his office, lost in thought, as most renowned headmasters do. In his tired state, he reached across his desk, opening a small jar and taking out a lemon drop, popping it in his mouth. It was nearing midnight. Most everyone would be asleep at this time, aside from the random professor, busy grading papers into the night. 

 

He sighed around the candy in his mouth, and was about to stand up and call it quits for the night when he felt it. He instantly looked out, all senses on alert, then looked down at his desk as everything around him began to shift. There was a change in the magical energy around him, with enough of an effect on the physical plane that it shook his desk, shifting trinkets left and right and leaving the portraits of former headmasters tilting from side to side, the painted professors swearing and yelling in fright. After a few seconds everything steadied, but Albus could not ignore the change in the magical atmosphere that he had felt. He needed to learn the cause.

 

While he was pondering the magical blast that had just occurred, outside his office, another muttered the password, frantic and out of breath, and entered.

 

Albus looked up at the guest. “Minerva. Good of you to come. I assume you are here to discuss the very same thing I felt?”

 

Minerva McGonagall stood by the entrance to the office, the stoic professor a mess, normally styled flat hair sticking out of her tight bun. She was breathing deeply, as if she had run all the way there. “You felt it too, Albus?”

 

At Albus’ nod she continued. “We must-”

 

“Please take a seat, Minerva. No use hovering over by the doorway,” Albus interrupted, gesturing to the chairs in front of his desk. Minerva paused, yet slowly found herself moving towards the closest chair and taking a seat.

 

“We must find the source of this as quickly as possible,” she started once again, repeating her previous thoughts. “We are both aware of how difficult it is to affect the magical energy in the air. It only occurs-”

 

“When something has taken place that affects time or space, right you are, Minerva.” Minerva, miffed at the second interruption, pursed her lips together as Albus smiled innocently at her, but his expression became serious as he began speaking again, quietly. “And you and I are aware of how terrible the effects can be to the present if the disturbance is not mended.”

 

Minerva clenched her jaw, nodding with determination as she straightened. “I assume I should alert the rest of the faculty? Ask them to keep an eye out?”

 

“No,” Albus answered. At Minerva’s questioning glare, he explained. “The ones that are awake currently will be alert and watching for the source. That should be plenty. The others we can inform once we figure out what the issue is. No need to cause panic so suddenly.” Albus waved Minerva out of his office, dismissing her with finality. “You know what you must do.”

 

“Personally, I believe this is important enough to need to inform everyone of this,” Minerva muttered as she rose, leaving the office while straightening out her hair, pressing it into her bun. Albus watched her exit.

 

“And that is precisely why I wish to let them be ignorant a little while longer,” Albus confided quietly, the room frozen and empty around him.

 

A week later, Severus found himself in the Great Hall, finishing up his small dinner as the other Slytherins ignored him, the spots surrounding him empty. He scraped his plate clean, and after debating whether to take more food or not, decided against, standing up and heading towards the doors, ready to head to the dungeons for the night. He stopped in his tracks, however, when he heard a familiar, unmistakable voice calling his name.

 

“Severus! Wait for me!” Lily called as she stepped over the bench of the Gryffindor table, bounding over to Severus. She smiled at him, grabbing the bag of books in her hand and swinging it over her shoulder. “We should go to the astronomy tower. I want to go over the potions essay with you, make sure that it’s acceptable enough to turn in.” She groaned as she remembered the painstaking memory of poring over book after book to write the damn essay.

 

“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Severus stated. “Slughorn likes you.”

 

“Yeah, but-” Lily continued, ranting about the impossible essay as Severus smiled sweetly at her. He still felt undeserving of her friendship, after what he said at the lake in fifth year, but he’s grateful for her company, despite the guilt he felt occasionally. After spending the rest of fifth year alone and miserable, along the summer with his alcoholic b*stard of a father, on the second day of sixth year the fiery redhead approached him after his charms class, dragging him off to the Great Lake, where she lectured him on his Slytherin friendships and how they were negatively affecting the person he is and could be, eventually ending with her hugging him, admitting softly to missing him as she then declared that she forgave him. 

 

From that moment on they were best friends again, Lily constantly hanging out with Severus despite the opinions of her Gryffindor friends. The Slytherins Severus had been hanging out with had begun to shun him once he befriended the muggleborn again, which didn’t bother Severus in the slightest. To him, the friendship of Lily was much more valuable than the company of those leeches, who only wanted him around to do their assignments, as he was a filthy half-blood.

 

He knew many of them believed him to be courting Lily, but this was blatantly untrue. While when he was younger he believed that he had felt romantic love for his friend, even resenting Potter since he started pursuing her, being away from Lily for so long enlightened him to the pure platonic feelings he felt towards her, and after they were able to spend time together once again, he was aware that he merely wished to keep the close friendship he had with the girl next to him. He still despised James though, since the Gryffindor’s bullying had not ceased at all, despite the maturity that should have taken place throughout the years at Hogwarts.

 

Severus broke out of his stupor, on alert, when he realized that he felt glaring at the back of his head. He sighed. “Lily, we should probably get going. I can feel someone angrily staring at me.” Lily squinted her eyes, turning and directing her gaze to the Gryffindor table, where she saw Sirius Black turning away abruptly and joining the conversation next to him, and James Potter smiling at her, ready to sit up and approach her. She broke eye contact and turned around before he’d think she wanted to speak to him. 

 

“Those barmy arses,” she muttered under her breath, glaring back at the table. “Let’s go, Sev.” The two walked out of the Great Hall, heading up towards the astronomy tower. 

 

“Hey, Sev,” Lily asked, clutching his arm. “Did you hear the rumors?”

 

Severus looked over at her, curious. “No, what rumors?”

 

Lily grinned, biting her lip, clearly thrilled at sharing the rumor with her friend. She leaned in close, as if sharing a secret. 

 

“Apparently, ever since last week, people have been catching glimpses of a child at Hogwarts!” Her excitement betrayed herself as she concluded, her bright green eyes sparkling as she looked at Severus, waiting for a reaction.

 

Severus looked at her, raising his eyebrows, then just looked around in disbelief. “Lily,” he started, highly exaggerated. “I don’t know if you realize , but we are at a school . There are first years everywhere!”

 

Lily hit his shoulder. “Not first years! People said the child was like three or four. Definitely not an eleven year old!”

 

“So one of the teachers brought their spawn to Hogwarts, not a big enough deal to gossip about.”

 

“But that’s just it!” Lily exclaimed, eyes wide. “No one knows who this kid is!”

 

Severus sighed. “Lily, someone is clearly playing a prank on the school. Or some seventh year got knocked up a while back. The point is, someone must know the kid, if the kid really exists and isn’t the product of some nitwit that wants some short-lived publicity. ”

 

“But-!” Lily started, then stopped herself, huffing. “Alright, fine. We’ll drop it for now.”

 

“How about forever?” Lily smiled, crinkling her nose in contempt and nudging him.

 

After the topic was dropped the two chatted about classes, Lily rambling on about everything while Severus listened and interjected with disbelieving comments and witty remarks. It was when they were nearing the tower, in a hallway of tapestries, when something Lily mentioned made him pause.

 

“What did you say?” he exclaimed, eyes blown wide. Lily paused, confusion evident on her face.

 

“You mean… the test in transfiguration?”

 

“No, not that! You said you were studying in the common room, and Lupin was with you. What the hell were you doing with that tosser?”

 

“Oh,” Lily uttered, brows furrowed. “He asked to study together. We were studying the same thing, so I thought ‘Why not?’”

 

“Why not?!” Severus exclaimed, in disbelief. “I don’t know, maybe the fact that his group of friends have been tormenting me since first year because they’re immature little halfwit children that can’t handle a filthy half-blood slytherin being your friend-”

 

“You know just as much as I do that those four could care less about blood status!” Lily countered, hands on her hips defiantly. “And only Potter and Black torment you, Lupin has never joined in-”

 

“He didn’t bloody stop them either, even when he became a prefect,” Snape argued, disgusted sneer evident on his face. The two glared at each other in a silent battle.

 

Lily sighed, breaking eye contact and schooling her expression. “Look, I’m sorry. I know that you have bad memories with them, and it’s unfair to me to rag on your friends for hating ‘my type’, while I hang out with people that bully you for ‘your type’. I don’t want to break our friendship over this,” she expressed, bringing her hands up and using finger quotes at the appropriate times.

 

Snape’s features softened as he took in Lily’s words. “Alright, I agree. I’m sorry.”

 

“No, don’t apologize. You didn’t do anything wrong. I just-” Lily gasped, cutting herself off, eyes widening as she looked down at the floor. Severus raised his eyebrow, but at her lack of willingness to continue, he grabbed her arm gently, urging her to continue with a pointed look when she turned towards him. She steeled herself, taking a deep breath, and then looked up to look at Severus in the eye.

 

“They’re not as bad as they used to be, right?” Severus just stared at her, shocked.

 

“What, so now you actually like Potter? After years of stalking you, he succeeded!?” he blurted out, half-serious. 

 

“Of course not!” the redhead proclaimed. Severus raised his eyebrows, expression of doubt on his face. Lily rolled her eyes and lightly shoved him. “I’m aware that he’s still an arrogant toerag, and I’d rather not see that mug of his for a long, long time!”

 

“Even though you think he’s attractive?” Severus prompted, smirking as he saw Lily sputtering, cheeks glowing red. He could see her attempting to deny, trying to formulate the words, but he was well aware of Lily’s physical types, which unfortunately Potter, the git, would be proud to know he was a part of. 

 

But unbeknownst to both, at this moment, something in the room shifted, as one of the tapestries was gently lifted and then replaced.

 

“Fine!” Lily admitted. “I consider him attractive. But that doesn’t change the fact that his personality is atrocious. I’d rather date the giant squid than that arsehole!”

 

Severus, satisfied at the reaction his teasing got from his best friend, let the smile drop off his face. “I know I’m teasing you now, but I truthfully don’t want you to get hurt.”

 

Lily smiled at him sincerely, the two starting to walk forward on their path again. “Yeah, I feel like Potter and I are not a good match,” she stated, shaking her head. “I have no clue why he’s after me so desperately. If he took a moment to stop and evaluate, he’d see that we’d be terrible together. We’re both way too headstrong.”

 

“You think of him too highly to think that he’d be capable of self-reflection,” Severus divulged, years of resentment fueling him as he rambled on about his oppressor. “Otherwise he wouldn’t have stalked you all this time and maybe he would have realized that he should befriend the best friend of his crush instead of bullying them. Face it, you’re a challenge to him. His ego’s so big that any possible love interest daft enough to want him would have to fall at his feet and worship him in order to deal with him.”

 

Lily hummed, looking away. "Who knows, maybe one day someone will come along and Potter will become a better person for them."

 

Severus snorted. "Just as long as that person isn't you,” he urged, completely doubtful. “If that idiot were to actually change for someone, then I look forward to witnessing the pigs flying around that day." He replied with the muggle phrase, to which Lily chuckled, hiding her laughter behind a dainty hand.

 

Just then, as the two walked, Severus once again felt a similar sensation to what he had felt previously in the day. He stopped, sighed deeply, then, raising his head, he turned around sharply.

 

“Sev?” Lily questioned, looking at the raven curiously. Severus didn’t acknowledge her, instead opting to take a deep breath in.

 

“Potter! Black! I know you’re there! If you’re going to hex me, just come out and do it, I don’t have all day to deal with your childish antics, and I just want to spend some time with my best friend, so come out and face me!” Severus panted after the outburst, breath heaving, hand clutching at his wand, waiting for the two Gryffindors to reveal themselves.

 

For a moment, there was only silence. But then, Severus heard shuffling, and then a tapestry at the end of the hall moved, pushing forward as someone made their way around it from where they had been hiding behind it. 

 

Lily’s jaw drop and her eyes widened, while Severus just stayed still, eyes wide and eyebrows high, frozen and unmoving, as they both stared at the person.

 

It was a child. Roughly toddler age, the child seemed to be male, from the male muggle cargo pants and faded large t-shirt with a tiger on it the child was wearing. The child had tanned skin, but not as tanned as Severus had seen people get after a day in the sun. They had messy, untameable hair that seemed as though it hadn’t been brushed in a while, in probably the darkest raven black shade possible. And then when the child looked up at the two frozen sixth years, he revealed the dark, near black eyes that sat hugely on the child’s anxious face, as the two watched him put his index and middle fingers into his mouth and began to suck them.

 

Lily broke out of her frozen state first, smiling gently at the boy and moving closer. Severus, who was still shell-shocked, glanced at her worriedly before fixing his gaze back at the child.

 

“Hi there!” Lily said gently, “I’m Lily, and this is Severus,” she introduced themselves, pointing to herself and then to Severus. “Can you tell us your name?”

 

The child didn’t say anything. He had looked over to Lily when she spoke and introduced herself, her bright nature drawing his attention, but once she introduced Severus, the child looked over and paused, eyes widening.

 

Severus was scared. He didn’t know why the child was so fixated on him. The child was even ignoring Lily’s attempts to grab his attention and get his name, instead focusing on staring at Severus. As Severus watched with rising uneasiness, the child broke out into a wide, face splitting grin, saliva covered fingers falling out of his mouth as he moved past Lily's outreaching arms and started sprinting towards Severus at top speed.

 

Severus had no time to react before the child collided with him, latching onto his right leg. “What the- Hey!?” Severus exclaimed, no longer frozen, as he looked down at the boy adamantly hugging his leg, the slytherin confused and shocked. The boy snuggled into the leg, hugging it tightly before looking up at Severus, smiling, and yelling something that left both Severus and Lily stunned, unable to comprehend anything.

 

“Papa!” the child yelled, looking up with an adorable smile at the Slytherin who had an expression of growing shock and horror displayed on his face.

Chapter 2: Big Changes Have Come

Notes:

Yeah, so sorry this took so long (although, this is actually very quick for my posting records). I originally had thought that this would be shorter than the first, but I kept adding stuff to make this flow, which ended up in this behemoth (it's not even that big).

Also, if you didn't notice from the first chapter, I am not British. I am American, and because of that I don't know much of the lingo. Please don't judge me, but if you have suggestions or tips for the language, please share them with me. Also tell me if there are any grammar/punctuation/spelling errors in this please. I'd highly appreciate it.

Also, while I do love Harry Potter, it has been a while since I read the books, and I never watched the films, so if there are any inconsistencies or plain wrong information, please tell me so I can fix it (ideally with how it is in the books/films).

Now, without further ado, please enjoy! Comment and Kudos if you can!

“Papa!” The child yelled once more, before letting go of the Slytherin’s leg and gesturing his hands up, a sign of wanting to be carried. “Papa!”

 

Lily was the first, once again, to recover from the shock, walking closer to the child, kneeling next to him and prompting him. “Severus is your dad?” she asked the child, who nodded vigorously, before returning to looking at his papa with outstretched arms. “Papa, up!” the child demanded. 

 

This shook Severus out of his stupor, as he startled backwards, staring at the child with fear and disgust. 

 

“There is absolutely no way this waddling snot machine is my child!” he yelled, in complete disbelief. 

 

“Severus!” Lily reprimanded with a stern look on her face, effectively shutting him up. She glanced over at the child next to her, whose smile had faded as the child acknowledged the lack of a positive response from his papa. The child scrunched up his face, determined to get his way, before toddling over to the raven, hands still outstretched. “Papa!”

 

Severus took another step back in defense, causing the child to pause, his hands faltering and retreating back to his body. The child looked down sadly, then stomped his feet, looking up at his papa with tears in his eyes, making Severus’s supposedly black heart clench.

 

“Papa…” he said, voice cracking and tears falling out of his eyes. He took another step forwards, stretching his arms out towards Severus once again. “Papa, carry, pwease,” he sobbed, the words distorted by the sorrow in his tone.

 

Severus wanted to ignore the child gesturing to him. He wanted to forget this all happened. He wanted to go back in time and avoid going down this hall of tapestries, because then his life wouldn’t have gotten so much more complicated. He wouldn’t have this child in front of him calling him papa. 

 

However, despite everything he told himself and everything he tried to convince himself of, every single sound of despair from the child in front of him was making his heart clench, making him feel sick. He didn’t know why. All he knew was that he wanted this child to stop crying. Not because it was annoying, but because he didn’t want the child to feel this heart wrenching unhappiness (maybe a little because it was annoying). 

 

Relenting, the Slytherin moved forward and scooped the child into his arms, holding him to his chest. The child immediately stopped crying, grasping the raven’s cloak in his chubby hand, smiling lovingly up towards the Slytherin. Severus felt a strange, warm feeling in his chest as the child snuggled into him.

 

“I think he is your child, Sev,” the man heard from behind him. Severus spun around, surprised. Due to his attention on the child, he hadn’t noticed Lily moving to look at the child over his shoulder. 

 

“Look,” she murmured, gesturing to the child’s face, who had been curiously looking at the redhead. “He has your eyes.”

 

Severus turned his head to look closely at the child, who had turned his attention back onto his papa, and the Gryffindor was right: The child’s dark, midnight blue eyes matched Severus’ perfectly. Only the child had adorable big doe eyes, instead of the beady, pointed pair that adorned his own face.

 

Lily must have noticed the scrunch on her friend’s face as he contemplated their eyes, as she began to giggle. “Severus, I know exactly what you are thinking, and I already told you, you don’t have small eyes! In fact, your eyes are bigger than normal, and I will not have this conversation with you again!” she stammered laughing, walking to move in front of her friend. 

 

She leaned forward, attention on the child as she began to investigate. “So, Severus is your papa?” she asked again, leading her to her next question when the boy nodded. Lily bit her lip, grinning as she looked up at the raven, then looked back down to the child.

 

“Well then, do you know who your mum is?” Lily said, with the notion that she was being sly. Severus gaped at her, mouth open as he tried to formulate his thoughts.

 

“Lily!” the Slytherin whispered harshly towards her as she chuckled. Their attention was then caught when the child shook his head in answer to her question.

 

“I don't have mummy,” he said, moving to put his index and middle finger in his mouth and sucking. Severus and Lily made eye contact. Lily looked shocked, but then her expression twisted, looking very apologetic. 

 

“So you’re a single dad… I’m sorry, Sev,” She whispered, lost in thought, only meaning for her best friend to hear. However, the child overheard her, and he contradicted her around the wet fingers in his mouth.

 

“No! I have papa and daddy,” he said, grinning before resting his head on his papa’s chest, letting the fingers fall onto his papa’s robes, smearing saliva onto the black fabric. He was unaware of the effect of his words on the two students around him, who both swiveled to stare at each other in shock, mouths gaping.

 

“You’re gay, Severus!” Lily half yelled, not really asking a question of her friend. Severus merely looked shocked and confused. He subconsciously tightened his hold on the warm body in his arms, chin lightly resting in the tangle of dark soft hair as he pondered the information revealed to him. The child smiled, snuggling closer.

 

“I don’t know,” he answered, lost in thought, eyes dazed. “I guess I just never tried to figure out my preferences. I always thought I’d be… alone … in life.”

 

“Well, clearly you won’t be alone, Severus,” Lily assured, smiling at him. “I mean, you are currently carrying your future child .” She gestured to the boy in his arms, who giggled cutely, grabbing onto Severus’ robes with both hands as the Slytherin adjusted his grip. The boy looked up at his papa, giggling and smiling, to which Severus couldn’t help but smile back. Lily nearly cooed at the two of them. Until she realized the gravity of the words she had just uttered.

 

“Severus, I think we need to go to Professor Dumbledore,” Lily uttered. Severus looked over at her, in the process of moving the child onto his hip. “I mean, he’s adorable, and I’m so glad that we know that you’ll have him, but you shouldn’t know this. He shouldn’t be here. He needs to be back in his time.”

 

She gasped and looked up at her friend half-mockingly, hand going to cover her mouth in fake shock. “Unless-!”

 

“No Lily, I have not had any relations so far that could have even remotely resulted in a child,” Severus deadpanned, dismissing the thought. The child watched the interaction, chuckling at the exaggeration.

 

The two, or more accurately two with a third on one’s hip, headed for the Headmaster’s tower, cutting through secret passages at Severus’ wish to avoid other nosy students who would spread some nasty rumors if the two were caught. Soon they found themselves in front of the headmasters door, next to the gargoyle, as they debated passwords.

 

“It’s some kind of muggle candy, correct? It must be, the headmaster is crazy for those,” Lily debated, glaring at the gargoyle.

 

Severus raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think we need to guess every single sweet in the world, Lily. I’m fairly certain we can just knock.” 

 

Lily scrunched her nose, doubtful. Nevertheless, she lifted her hand past the gargoyle and rapped three times sharply on the door. The two waited several seconds with no response, but as Lily was about to turn to Severus and make a comment, to her astonishment the gargoyle jumped to the side as the door started creaking, the heavy door swinging inwards. 

 

The two entered, where they found the headmaster seated at his desk with Professor McGonagall standing over him with a stern expression on her face, clearly lecturing him on something. The conversation paused, the professor looking sternly for the interruption until her eyes laid on the child, to which her stern face melted away, replaced by trepidation. The headmaster’s expression did not change once he saw the boy. However, his eyes changed from lighthearted to serious. 

 

The two students stood up straight, anxiety rising in the presence of their serious professors. Severus held the boy tighter against him, moving the boy off his hip to his front once again.

 

The transfiguration professor cleared her throat. “Mr. Snape. Ms. Evans. Do either of you care to tell me why there is a young child in Mr. Snape’s arms?”

 

“Now, now, Minerva,” Albus interjected, smiling gently at the three opposite him. “We don’t need to intimidate them. They came to us because they had a concern they wanted us to hear. Why not let them speak?” He gestured to the students, encouraging them to talk. Severus steeled himself.

 

“Well, headmaster,” Severus started, wrapping his arm around the child as he thought about the scenario that the boy arrived in. “I was walking with Lily to the astronomy tower when I thought I felt someone else’s presence in the hallway. I told whoever it was to come out, but instead of another student, this young boy came out. And, uh…” Severus halted, tightening his hold on the boy even further, unconsciously seeking comfort.

 

Seeing his hesitation, Lily continued. “And the boy, well,” She glanced over to her friend. She took a breath in, then faced the professors again. “The boy called him ‘papa’.”

 

All the people in the room glanced over at the father son duo, neither of which were aware of the eyes on them. Albus smiled at the child, who shyly hid in his papa’s chest.

 

“Ahem, well,” Minerva started, drawing the attention to herself. “Would one of you please inform me of the child’s name?”

 

Lily bit her lip and made eye contact with Severus, who was looking at her with wide eyes. After Lily’s first inquiry with the child, which failed, being left unanswered, it slipped past both of their minds to ask for a name. 

 

Minerva huffed. “Honestly, can’t even ask for basic information. You two are supposed to be sixth years!”

 

“Now then, Minerva,” Albus said, quieting the professor. He gestured to the chairs in front of him. “Why don’t you three sit down? The young child can sit on Mr. Snape’s lap.” 

 

The two students sat down, Lily in the right chair and Severus in the left. Severus was carefully holding the child when taking the seat, but then he propped the child up against his torso in his lap, so the child had his back to him. He snaked his arms around the child’s middle, resting his head once again in the child’s soft, wild hair. Albus observed the two, then once they were finished sitting, with a gentle smile, he directed his attention to the child in front of him.

 

“So then, child. Do you think you could tell us your name?” Albus prompted, leaning forward on his desk.

 

The child was burying himself in his papa’s lap, sucking on his two main fingers. After a couple of seconds he opened his mouth and responded. “Hawwy,” he responded quietly, with a slight adorable lisp from his shy behavior.

 

“Harry? Such a nice name.” Harry smiled, around his fingers, at the headmaster, who smiled back with his own lopsided grin. “Now Harry, do you know how old you are?” 

 

The child nodded, but stayed quiet. The two students shared looks, attempting not to smirk at the lack of success (and failing).

 

 “Could you tell us please?” Albus requested. Harry frowned in concentration, before holding out his spit covered hand, his other arm grabbing onto Severus’. With his exposed hand, he folded in his thumb and pinky, showing three fingers to the professors. “Thwee!” he cried, excited at informing others of his age.

 

“You’re three years old? Now do you think you can tell us about your home?” Albus inquired softly.

 

Harry frowned once again, but this time, it stayed on his face as he pondered the question. “Well, it’s big… and I have lot of toys! And the sun in the big woom feels so wawm! And-” Harry babbled on, but none of the information was relevant to the situation at hand.

 

“Alright child,” Minerva interjected, cutting of the child, who cowered back, eyes big. Her expression softened as she faced the child. “Do you know what year it is?” She asked softly, wanting to grab the situation by the roots.

 

The boy smiled at her, leaping slightly in his seat from excitement. “It’th 1983!” He answered enthusiastically, smiling broadly, excited at knowing the answer.

 

This brought a big reaction from the Slytherin. “What!?” he cried, in disbelief. 

 

Lily just looked astonished and confused, a strange mix of expressions on her face. “Only six years… that means that Severus must have the child, like, right after Hogwarts!”

 

“I don’t want a child yet!” The raven cried. He was clearly troubled by this piece of information. “I want to work in an apothecary, or in alchemy, after Hogwarts! I can’t do that if I have to take care of a child! I-”

 

“Mr. Snape!” Minerva commanded. Severus flinched. “Please think about where you are, particularly who is with you.”

 

Severus felt a small, warm hand press the exposed skin of his collarbone. He looked down to see Harry looking up at him apologetically. Once he got his attention, the child reached up and laid a gentle hand on his papa’s cheek, brushing his chin.

 

“You okay, papa?” the child asked softly, and Severus couldn’t help it. No one had ever given him the raw affection the child had in his eyes. The Slytherin's eyes softened, and he smiled.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m sorry if I scared you.” The child was satisfied, sitting in his papa’s lap, facing the front, though still a little perturbed. 

 

“Now, young man,” Albus prompted. “Do you think you could tell us how you got here? What happened? Anything you remember seeing?”

 

Harry sat in his papa’s lap, comfortably, grasping his papa’s arm with one chubby hand while sucking the fingers on the other. But he did not attempt to answer. Severus, confused, gently grasped the child’s hand, rubbing it gently in his own.

 

“Harry?” Harry looked up at Severus. “Would you please answer the headmaster’s questions?” Harry looked down, contemplating, then shook his head in finality. He adjusted himself in his father’s lap, seemingly done answering questions.

 

The adults, plus two students, looked around the room, making eye contact. It seemed like they weren’t going to get anything else out of the child at this moment.

 

Albus cleared his throat, drawing the attention to him. “Well then, Minerva. Please go fetch Poppy for me.” With a nod, the professor left, her cape billowing behind her.

 

“Would any of you care for a lemon drop? Harry?” the headmaster asked, then directing his attention to the child in front of him. Instead of answering, Harry looked up at Severus, eyes sparkling.

 

“Papa, can I have?” Harry asked, shyly hiding in the raven’s chest when asking, attempting to hide how much he wanted the candy. Severus blinked for a moment, then seriously pondered.

 

“You can take one if you wish,” Severus responded. “But only one.” Harry smiled, reaching out to take the candy that was held out by the headmaster. He grabbed it with his chubby fingers, then pushed the sour candy past his lips. He smiled as the sweet taste of sugar filled his mouth.

 

Lily tapped Severus’ shoulder and started chatting with him, passing the time. Albus was simply watching the child enjoy the sweet with a soft smile on his face.

 

Harry, having been impatient and biting his candy into small easily swallowed pieces, had finished his candy. But as he sneakily attempted to take another one, have reaching out with anticipation, the door veered open. Minerva entered swiftly, being followed by the intimidating school nurse. Harry glowered in his papa’s lap, upset at the lack of another candy. His expression brightened as Severus wrapped a tight arm around him, however.

 

“Poppy, if you would, please,” Albus stated, suddenly serious as the nurse headed over to Harry, seemingly investigating the boy, tilted his head left and right.

 

“I’ll need to do a proper check up on him, of course,” Madam Pomfrey answered, directed at Albus. “However, it does seem like there are no physical issues from travelling through time, at least from a first glance.” 

 

“All right, Mr. Snape. If you could please hand the boy over to Madam Pomfrey. She will take care of the young lad during his stay here,” Minerva urged.

 

Severus picked Harry up, who face was scrunched up, confused at what was happening. Once he felt the hold of his papa loosening around him, and the grip of another around him, he was done.

 

The moment Severus let go of his hold on Harry, the boy started shrieking at the top of his lungs. He full on wailed , tears streaming down his face in anguish as he pushed against Madam Pomfrey, attempting to get back to Severus. He squirmed heavily, nearly throwing himself out of the nurse's grip.

 

Severus' heart clenched when he heard the anguished cries, and before he knew it, he had moved forward and taken Harry back. He held him gently in his arms, holding the boy's head to his chest, running his hand through his hair. The child immediately stopped wailing, the only sign of the tantrum being the small sniffles coming from the boy and the wide, watery eyes as he buried his head into his papa’s chest.

 

Madam Pomfrey reached out in an attempt to try to take the child again, but she halted when she felt an old, calloused hand wrapping around her wrist.

 

“We can do the examination later, Poppy,” the headmaster stated. “Perhaps on a day where young Harry does not experience as much excitement as he did today. What we must discuss now would be which rooms would be suitable for the lad and Mr. Snape.”

 

“What!?” Severus exclaimed. “But I already live in the Slytherin dorms!”

 

“Yes, but we must take into account that the young lad does not want to be separated from you, and frankly I don’t think we could separate you two if we tried,” Minerva countered. Harry curled his fingers around the Slytherin’s cloak, squeezing his fist tightly. “And it would be much more beneficial for you to have a space of your own to take care of the child rather than a room with four other adolescent boys.”

 

“We have that old staff room, the one on the third floor that overlooks the Great Lake.” Madam Pomfrey interjected, having been simply listening to the conversation.

 

“Perfect!” Albus proclaimed. “Well, then, Mr. Snape. I will send for house elves to prepare the room for you and pack up your stuff.”

 

“But what about what Harry needs? I don’t have anything a child needs,” Severus asked, frantic. “And what about my classes!? You can’t expect me to skip my classes, I’m at the top of my year!” Severus grew angrier the more his concerns spilled out, ending with him glaring at the adults in the room, disregarding that they were his professors.

 

“The house elves will provide everything a child would need in the room, do not worry,” Albus calmly refuted. “And as for the matter of classes, it shouldn’t be a problem for him to accompany you. I plan on informing the other professors about this regardless. As for the school, I can make an announcement about the situation tomorrow in the Great Hall during breakfast. There are no classes tomorrow, so you can accompany Harry. Perhaps show him around campus tomorrow?”

 

Throughout the entirety of the headmasters proclamation, Severus stood there with his jaw agape, eyebrows furrowed in barely concealed fury. But as the raven was about to start a yelling match, he felt a tug on his cloak. 

 

Looking down into his arms, he saw the big beautiful eyes of the child, waiting to make sure his papa was looking before directing a big, joyful smile at his papa, before moving forward and wrapping his stubby arms halfway around his papa in the attempt of a hug. Once his arms were satisfyingly around the larger male, Harry once again directed the biggest smile at the Slytherin, who was simply flabbergasted.

 

Severus felt all his anger melt away from the radiance of the child’s smile, as he wrapped his arms tightly around Harry, returning the hug.

 

The two students stood up at the direction of the professors, who started herding everyone out. Albus summoned a house elf, giving the commands previously discussed, before sending the elf away. Madam Pomfrey left the group, having been away from the infirmary for “much too long!” (in her words). 

 

Once the remaining five had exited the headmaster’s office, Minerva sent Lily back to her common room, exclaiming that the issue no longer concerned her. Lily was miffed, until she was informed that she is able to visit Severus and Harry in the new room, to which her mood brightened heavily, strutting away from her friend with a mere “Good luck!”

 

The four left started up towards the new room, Albus directing them. However, they didn’t take more than several steps before Harry turned in Severus’ grip, asking for his attention.

 

“Papa!” He called, waiting for his papa’s attention. Severus halted, directing his attention towards the child. Just past him, the two professors also paused, waiting.

 

“Papa! We need to go back to woom of carpets!” the child uttered, adamant.

 

“Room of carpets…? Oh, the hallway of tapestries? Why do you need to go back there?” Severus asked, genuinely curious as to why the child wanted to go back there.

 

“My plushie is there. I need my plushie!” Harry stated, stubborn.

 

Severus just stared at the child, but as he looked up to see the small smirks on the faces of his professors, he knew what he had to do. “Uh, yeah, sure...” he said, uncertain, looking off to the side. The professors just smiled at him, to which he glared.

 

The three took a detour from their journey, making a stop at the hallway of tapestries where all of this started. Severus found himself hesitating unconsciously for a split second, before marching forward into the hall. 

 

Once they had crossed the halfway point Harry squirmed in his papa’s arms. Severus lowered him to the ground, where the boy started stumbling and running over to the tapestry he had first hidden behind. He disappeared behind it, then emerged, cradling a stuffed phoenix plush toy in his arms. 

 

As he approached Severus, he held his arms out, as the universal sign of wanting to be carried. Severus absentmindedly picked him up again, attention having been focused on the plush toy instead. Harry noticed, and he giggled cutely, hiding behind the plushie before pushing the plushy into his papa’s face. He laughed at the bewildered expression on his papa’s face, then snuggled into the raven’s chest, cuddling the plushie.

 

The three adults (or near adults, in Severus’s case) headed to the third floor, approaching the room that the father and child would be living in for an indefinite amount of time. Once they got to the room, the headmaster turned to Severus.

 

“Since this is to be your room, I will allow you to select your password for the door.” The portrait, which was of a young, beautiful blonde woman in Victorian-esque fashion, looked over at the Slytherin with disinterest, waiting.

 

Severus thought hard, despite his mind blanking on any terms, but once he felt slight shifting in his arms, and he looked down to see Harry asleep in his arms, babbling softly in sleep, he knew exactly what he would use. 

 

“I want the password to be… trust,” Severus expressed, shyly looking away, not making eye contact with anyone. However, he found his eyes drawn to the sleeping child in his arms, and as he started observing the boy, he smiled softly, brushing his chin against the soft dark hair.

 

Albus smiled as well, looking at the two. “Trust it shall be then.” He nodded at the portrayed woman, who rolled her eyes, but nevertheless allowed the wall behind her to swing open, revealing the contents of the room. “We will leave you here, Mr. Snape. We wish you the best of luck.” And with that, the two professors departed.

 

Severus watched them leave, then turned towards the doorway, taking a deep breath. He stepped inside, looking around the room with wonderment.

 

The room as a whole was about the size of his dorm room, which was amazing to him, since that housed five people, and this would only house one and a half. The walls were painted white and green. Not Slytherin green, Severus noticed, but a lighter, more pastel shade. But what really got his attention were the contents of the room.

 

There was one full sized bed along the back wall, fully made with sheets and more pillows that one person could possibly need. There was a nightstand to the left of the bed, which held a small night lamp on it. Near the nightstand, against the wall with the front entrance, was a desk, equipped with several drawers and a chair, inkpot and feather already placed on it. Opposite the bed was a large dresser, in a slightly darker shade of green than the walls. On the other side of the dressers, there was a decently large playpen, with a basket of plushies and toys propped up and ready. On the right side of the bed was a white door, that Severus assumed led to the bathroom.

 

Despite his desire to look through the contents of both the room and the presumed bathroom, Severus had a more pressing concern at hand. Namely the sleeping child in his hands. 

 

Carefully, as he tried not to wake up Harry, he shifted to holding the child with only one hand. Moving towards the bed, he pulled the blanket to the side, and using both hands, he gently placed Harry on the bed. He tenderly placed the blanket over the child, tucking it over him, not wanting him to get cold.

 

Severus then moved over to the desk, gently pulling the chair out to be as quiet as possible before sitting, gently moving the chair forward so he was level with the desk. He then placed his head in his hands, then slumped onto the desk as he pondered exactly what happened in the last several hours.

Chapter 3: Revelations

Notes:

You know who's terrible at insults? Me. You know what has a lot of insults? This chapter.

I actually managed to update this quickly. That being said, I don't know if I'm fully happy with this (insults are the bane of my existence). Also, a note, updates will most likely slow down from here, because my college has started and I had only fully planned the story until this point. I have a lot of ideas for what to do next, but nothing concrete.

Also, I don't swear, so when there's a swear word in this story, I replace the first vowel with an asterix (*). The words should still be clear, but just be aware that they're there.

Please enjoy the chapter! Comments and Kudos are always welcome!

Severus was enjoying the nice, soft bed he was in. He snuggled into the mattress further, content and happy. Before he remembered that the dorm beds were not soft at all. Before his eyes could shoot open from the sudden panic, he was interrupted by a sudden warm, heavy presence on his chest, that was actually making it hard to breathe. 

 

He separated his eyelids only to see the extremely hot mass on his chest, namely Harry. Harry’s face was barely an inch away from his papa, and once he saw that his papa was awake, he grinned broadly.

 

“Papa!” he cried in excitement, before moving forward and placing a sloppy wet kiss on what was supposed to be his cheek- he missed, spreading saliva over the corner of Severus’ lips instead.

 

Severus promptly sat up, jostling Harry off his chest and onto his lap, as he wiped off the saliva with his hand. He groaned on the inside when he took in his surroundings. He had hoped all the stuff from yesterday had been a dream. Guess not.

 

The Slytherin was going to make his way to the bathroom, but before he could fully get off the bed, he felt a tug on his cloak (which he forgot to change out of), and he looked back to see the child holding the cloak in his fists, kneeling and grinning.

 

“Papa! You up!” he cried again, excitement still not wavering. He held his arms out, wanting to be carried. Severus was about to deny him in favor of the bathroom, but then he stopped, debating. If he took Harry into the bathroom with him, he could get both of them ready quicker, and then he can relax for a bit before having to face the inevitable: breakfast in the Great Hall. With Harry.

 

Relenting, Severus picked Harry up, who started wriggling in excitement. He grabbed the handle to the bathroom and opened it, once again in awe at how large the bathroom was. He saw it last night when he tiredly brushed his teeth, but he didn’t really acknowledge it at the time. 

 

The bathroom did not follow a green theme, like the room, but rather a very soft, pastel purple and white. There was a large sink that could easily fit Harry inside if he wanted, with a stool underneath it, clearly for Harry to reach. The sink was surrounded by marble counter top, stretching a few feet in both directions. Several feet from it to the left was the toilet, already equipped with the child’s potty training seat on top. Severus furrowed his brow, annoyed; He’d have to remove the seat every time he needed to use it and place it back after he was finished. To the left of the toilet was the real masterpiece: both a shower and a large bathtub were ready to use, pristine, with different soaps and shampoos lining the inside of both.

 

Severus placed Harry on the counter top, then leaned down. “Harry, tell me honestly, because I will be very upset if you lie to me, and I have to deal with it later. Do you need to use the bathroom?” 

 

Harry, still grinning up with joy at his papa, shook his head. “No potty!”

 

“Are you sure?” Harry nodded, wiggling on the counter. Severus sighed.

 

“Alright then.” And then Severus stepped away from the boy, grabbing his toothbrush and swiftly brushing his teeth. He then place the stool in front of him, picking up Harry and placing him on it. The child’s chin just barely reached over the edge of the counter top. Severus first handed the toothbrush to Harry, but after a few moments where it was clear that Harry had no clue what to do, the raven snatched it back, opening the child’s mouth and brushing it himself.

 

God, what is my future self doing? He thought to himself as Harry was rinsing his mouth. The ramifications of what he had just said didn’t register until a moment later, where he took a step back in shock, gasping softly and covering his mouth.

 

Severus couldn’t believe what he had just admitted. Does he now think that Harry is his child? That’s what everyone has told him so far, but he never truly accepted it. Until now apparently. Is it true? Does he feel parental responsibility and, daresay, love for this child? As Severus glanced at the child, who was hopping off the stool, face wet as he rubbed his hands on his face in a clear imitation of his papa, he felt a warm, deep feeling start in his chest, spreading throughout his body to the very tips of his fingers. He could feel himself involuntarily smiling at the child. And that scared him.

 

Severus absentmindedly continued his tasks, mind focused on that one realization. He stripped Harry of his clothes, bathing him as the child giggled and squealed at him, slapping the surface of the water and getting them both sopping wet. He dried Harry off with a large, fuzzy green towel, before placing the child in a Slytherin green sweater top with black trousers and shoes. 

 

Previously he had been surprised when he found this article of clothing in the wardrobe, but now, as he draped the child-size black robe on Harry, he admitted that the child looked adorable in it. The boy’s hands barely poked out of the sleeves, and the robe went all the way down to the floor, swarming him. 

 

Severus then took a bath himself, after leaving Harry in the playpen with all the toys. After he came out fully clean, he approached Harry, kneeling down and watching him introduce a rag doll that looked strangely similar to Arthur Weasely to his phoenix, making them out to be best friends. 

 

Severus just wanted to let Harry play, but he knew that if the two of them arrived late to breakfast, everyone would stop and stare at them. Severus would get the least stares (at least all at once) if he was one of the first people there. Cemented in his decision, he picked Harry up out of the pen, ready to head out to breakfast. Harry, content to just be with his papa, snuggled into the Slytherin’s chest.

 

Severus made his way down to the Great Hall, pointedly looking down at the ground as he walked, avoiding the few people lining the halls. He could see, however, the slight glances of people towards him that transformed into full on double takes as they registered the situation he was in. He could feel the people staring at him in shock as he walked past them. 

 

Once he got to the doors of the Great Halls, he swung them open as quietly as he could, entering and making a beeline to the Slytherin table. There were roughly 15 to 20 people there, spread out across the tables, with only a few professors present at the head table. Severus somewhat regretting coming so early, because then any smaller noises would be louder and more noticeable. There was a steady stream of chatter within the Hall, but once people heard the door open and swerved to look, the noise suddenly quieted, the room becoming completely silent. Everyone stared at the two.

 

Severus quickly sat down at the edge of the Slytherin table, ignoring all the stares from around him. He propped up Harry in his lap, before getting both himself and Harry a plate of food.

 

People started feeding into the room as breakfast continued, and Severus was correct: While there were a good many people that noticed him and Harry (mostly other Slytherins that had to pass by him to sit at the table), the majority of others didn’t. He knew that the people who had seen him would spread the word, but it wouldn’t be the big whiplash that would have occurred if he had arrived late.

 

Severus and Harry had continued to eat throughout the entrance of people, finishing before everyone had made an appearance. Despite Severus’ desperate desire to dash out of the hall with Harry, he knew that he had to be there for Dumbledore’s announcement. He just stared at the table, occasionally paying attention to Harry’s whims while he waited for the headmaster. 

 

Regulus, someone Severus would consider an acquaintance but not a friend, was one of the last people to enter. He spotted Severus, but clearly seeing the other person in the Slytherin’s lap, he had the most bewildered expression on his face, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. He sat across from Severus, and opened his mouth to ask about it before he was interrupted by the Headmaster’s clapping.

 

Once everyone had entered the Great Hall, sitting at their respective tables, the Headmaster stood up and clapped three times, quieting the students and bringing the attention to himself. Once everyone was looking at him, he smiled, lowering his hands and bringing them together.

 

“Students of Hogwarts,” he began. “I am aware that about a week ago a rumor began that a child was present at Hogwarts.” The crowd tittered, unaware of why Albus was bringing it up. “Well, I am here to inform you that the rumor is indeed true.” Many students gasped, surprised. “We have determined that the child hails from the future,” and here even more students gasped, before turning and attempting to chatter quietly with their friends about this revelation. 

 

“...And while the staff and I attempt to find him safe passage back home, he will be taken care of by Severus Snape.” Here was the biggest reaction from any part of the speech. More than the knowledge that the rumor was true or that the child is from the future. No, everyone was most shocked that, out of anyone that could take care of the child, it was Severus Snape that was selected to. Everyone, even the people who saw that Severus had the child with him veered their heads to observe the pair, eyes nearly bulging out of their heads when they could see it with their eyes. Severus did not see the initial reaction of everyone, attention being drawn to one of Harry’s antics, but after feeling the uncomfortable sensation of everyone’s eyes on him, he glanced up, eyes widening before he pointedly looked at the table, avoiding everyone’s stares.

 

“For those in Mr. Snape’s year, please understand that the child will be brought to all of Mr. Snape’s classes for an indefinite amount of time. That will be all for now. The other staff and I will be having a meeting currently to discuss this. I leave the Head Boy and Girl in charge.” The headmaster concluded, sitting down and peacefully placing food on his plate, before standing up and leaving with the other professors in tow, like he didn’t just unleash a bomb on the students. 

 

The chatter was replaced by hushed murmurs, as everyone continued to glance every other second at Severus and the child. As everyone watched, the other Slytherins attempted to get some more information out of Severus or the child.

 

“Why in Merlin’s pants do you have to take care of the child, Severus?” Regulus asked, pointing at the child with the prongs of his fork, disturbed by this turn of events. Harry attempted to grab it, but his chubby hand fell short.

 

“There is a reason, but-” Severus didn’t complete the response, instead moving to stop Harry from climbing onto the table in chase of the fork, pulling him back against his chest.

 

 “Why is the child with you , for Merlin’s sake!” Bellatrix screeched from down the table. “Surely any other person could take care of the brat! Why was he pawned off on you !”

 

“Well, Madam Pomfrey did try to take him away from me, but-” Severus retaliated coolly, but was interrupted by the child in his lap.

 

“No!” the child cried, clearly upset by what the raven was saying, his cry bouncing off the walls and drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Before Severus had a chance to calm him down, Harry finished his thought. 

 

“I wanna stay wiff Papa!” the child yelled. The sentence echoed around the Great Hall, leaving everyone in shocked silence, mouth hanging open. The silence gave way to loud whispers, as people moved to discuss what they had just learned.

 

“ Papa ?” Regulus asked, appalled. Severus just shrugged, not making eye contact.

 

“I guess I’m his... father ...in the future,” he uttered slowly, tone of incredulity and disgust in his voice. 

 

But anyone watching the two (which was basically everyone) saw how, after answering, the Slytherin’s face softened as he looked at the child, and how he tightened his hold on Harry, who clutched onto his papa’s arms. They saw the Slytherin place his chin in the child’s hair, clearly seeking comfort, and the child reciprocating and smiling , and they were all astonished. Severus had always been the sallow, brooding wallflower, but now people saw him taking care of a child . It was like whiplash for all of them. However, a lot of students were disbelieving of the friendliness of the duo, leading to nasty remarks and gossip.

 

Severus, feeling awkward and uncomfortable, decided to leave for the room to get ready for classes. He was used to being constantly ignored or, when he was bullied, being constantly laughed and jeered at. Having people curiously stare at him so openly was new, and it made him self-conscious in a way he had never been before. 

 

He picked up Harry, holding the child across his middle as he started hastening towards the door. He was interrupted, however, when he heard a taunting voice from across the hall.

 

“Hey, Snivellius!” Sirius called, strutting towards the pair, broad smirk present on his face. On his right was Peter, twitchy yet seemingly very eager. To his left was James, then Remus. James seemed disinterested, but the smirk on his face told Severus very clearly how he truly felt. Remus, on the other hand, was actually disinterested, holding a book in front of him and ignoring his friends.

 

He pretends he doesn’t see anything happen while he walks around with that shiny prefects badge , Severus thought bitterly. He scowled, wanting to turn around and leave, but he knew that it’d be less of a hassle to let them verbally abuse him. They wouldn’t try to physically bully him and put the child at risk, so only words would be thrown, which Severus could deal with. 

 

Despite his thought process, however, Severus unconsciously turned Harry so he was completely facing his torso, holding his waist securely with one arm while using his other hand to protectively press the child’s head into his chest. Harry, having been toying with his papa’s cloak, did not see the four people provoking the raven before being held against his papa’s chest.

 

“Oh, lookie there, a little lad!” Sirius taunted, cruel smirk on his face as he saw the child Severus was carrying. “Where did you get him from, Snivellius? Make a horrid potion to make some poor woman hand hers over? Because I can’t believe any broad would ever let your slimy *ss f*ck her!”

 

Severus sneered at the Gryffindor, disgusted. He moved his hand slightly, attempting to cover Harry’s ears while still shielding him from the marauders. “I know you don’t have a shred of human decency, Black, but I would have thought even a gormless b*stard like you would know not to use such foul language in front of a child.”

 

“If that child is yours, then it must already be used to everything foul that exist in the world.” Sirius retaliated. “He has to smell and feel that disgusting hair of yours. Tell me, boy, how does it feel being that close to the filthiest man on earth? Must be pure torture.” Harry nearly turned, thinking that he was being addressed, but Severus stopped him with his hand. 

 

Sirius, not noticing the child’s action, continued his barrage. “And I still can’t believe any self respecting broad let you be on top of them. Even with a love potion, which would work for any other person, any woman would fight off the effects once they even saw you, let alone letting you bed them! It definitely wouldn’t last long enough for anything that would lead to a child .”

 

Severus stood up straight, raising an eyebrow towards the group. “Didn’t you hear the headmaster? I am simply taking care of this child until he is returned to the future . But I understand that your minuscule brain couldn’t register that piece of information, Black. I really pity you.”

 

Black’s smirk was wiped off his face, and he gritted his teeth. “You must be deaf then, because I clearly heard the child calling you papa just a while back. Despite my disgust, he must be a Gryffindor. It takes a lot of courage to admit that he’s your spawn. I wouldn’t be able to.”

 

“Well I always did think you’d been misplaced, Black. Perhaps a new house meant for students that never matured past toddler age? Who knows? Maybe you’d actually be considered to be a prefect there!”

 

Sirius clenched his fist, wanting desperately to reach for his wand. This is how it always worked. The group would taunt the Slytherin, who instead of acknowledging his imminent defeat would retaliate and insult the Gryffindors, who were clearly better than the slimy git, so they’d hex the Slytherin and put him in his place. It was the plan that always worked.

 

But the child threw everything out of whack. Sirius couldn’t hex the Slytherin despite his maddening unruly insults because the Gryffindor would never risk hurting a child. He wasn’t a Death Eater .

 

While Sirius was bathing in his rage, a twitchy voice came from next to him, restless. “T-that child would have a much b-better life in the future if he was taken away from you and given to a family that had the emotional capacity to care .” Peter said, wide grin on his face at having delivered the insult.

 

“I could say the same to you, Pettigrew.” Severus spat out, unaffected. “And if we’re done here, I’d like to leave, so that I can actually prepare for my classes instead of winging it like you lot. Wouldn’t want even the slightest similarity to imbecilic trolls.”

 

“Well maybe we should take that child away from you before he becomes a Death Eater! We can’t have the constant spawning of new Death Eaters. But, if he is truly your blood, that child is clearly predisposed to evil. Evil spawns evil after all. Well then, he’s hopeless! He’d be better off if we make him a squib .” Sirius pushed past the line with this insult, which he was aware of. He just wanted to cut into Severus, make him hurt.

 

Severus’ nostrils flared, alerted. “Do not say anything about the child, Black! As can be clearly seen from your lot, apples don’t fall far from the tree! I hear that your mother is horrendous. You must be so proud to be following in her footsteps. But despite my Slytherin background, at least I have the decency to-?” But Severus was cut off by wriggling in his arms, his attention moving down to Harry.

 

What Severus didn’t realize was, as he became more and more immersed in the fight, he had let his focus move off of the child in his arms. His hand on Harry’s head had become looser, not holding as tight, giving the boy the chance to move his head. 

 

The child had turned around and looked at the attackers.

 

Once he saw the quartet, Harry twisted his torso so he faced the front, alarming Severus who had to adjust his grip to not drop him. Harry enthusiastically thrust his arms out, grinning, and he said that one word that left everyone in the room in shocked silence. 

 

“Daddy!”

 

Severus’ jaw dropped in horror. As everyone watched, the child leaned out towards the four, arms reaching out in search of his other father. Severus blanched.

 

No, it can’t be , he thought, before he moved his head to see who Harry was addressing. He felt like he was moving in slow motion, as his line of vision left the child and moved up, pinpointing onto a certain bespectacled Gryffindor, who looked extremely alarmed at the attention from the child. Sirius was just staring back and forth from the child to James. Remus had taken his attention off the book, staring wide eyed at the Slytherin. And Peter just looked aghast at James, staring in disgust.

 

Severus couldn’t handle it. There was no way James was the other father. No way !

 

Severus abruptly turned the child back around, picking him up and placing him on the ground. Severus kneeled, before grabbing Harry firmly on both shoulders. “Harry, listen to me,” he said, voice serious and unwavering. “I need you to answer me, and I need you to answer me truthfully .”

 

He paused for a second, getting his bearings for a second before spitting out the demand. “Now tell me, what is your full name ?”

 

Harry just stared at his father for a moment, before grinning widely, excited at knowing the answer to the question his papa was asking. With a big flourish of his hands, Harry answered.

 

“Hawwy James Sevewus Potter!” the child exclaimed. The declaration echoed around the Great Hall, having been deadly silent previously.

 

Severus couldn’t breathe. He just stared in shock at the child, hands limp on the boy’s shoulders. As he looked at the child, he could see a whole bunch of realizations open up in his view. 

 

Severus had noticed the dark eyes and dark hair that would originate from himself, but now he could see how much of a perfect mess the hair was arranged in, akin to a certain Gryffindor. And the skin, though slightly lighter than the seekers (most likely due to how pale Severus was), resembled the other sixth year so much. And even slightly the structure of the face, despite the child being a toddler, was visible. It was almost a wonder how no one had seen it so far.

 

The raven could feel his throat dry, mouth hanging open. He could feel his body tremble uncontrollably, hands trembling as he loosely held onto the child. He could feel the way it felt like his heart had fallen into his stomach. He felt immensely sick. His stomach was rolling, and he felt nauseous. He couldn’t handle anything. He couldn’t see, or hear, anything. He couldn’t move in the slightest. He was both mentally and physically stuck.

 

Severus didn’t notice any of the other stares around him. Nor did he notice James Potter approaching him. It wasn’t until James reached a hand out for the child did Severus notice him in his peripheral view, snapping back into action. 

 

Severus jumped away, grabbing Harry and shielding him from James with his body. He had his side to James, head tilted towards the Gryffindor. Harry was pushed into his papa’s chest once again, but he could see this time, eyes peering curiously over his papa’s shoulder.

 

“Don’t touch him!” Severus cried, panicked. James halted, expression of irritation on his face. 

 

“Well, according to him, I am his father too! And I should have a right to my son!” James demanded, eyebrows furrowed. He was still in disbelief that he’d ever have a child with Severus of all people, but if the child was his… he wanted to see him.

 

Severus flared his nostrils, gritting his teeth, eyes wide as he stared at James. The Gryffindor, confused at the hostility radiating from the Slytherin, took a preservative step back. Severus took a deep breath in, filling his lungs with air in preparation.

 

“He is my son, and you will STAY AWAY FROM HIM, POTTER!” Severus hollered, the sentence raising in volume until he was screaming at James at the end. With a whip of his cloak, Severus swerved around and ran out of the room, leaving everyone else in shocked silence.

 

“What the?” Sirius uttered, walking forward and placing a hand on James’ shoulder. He chuckled. “Wow, did you know that snakes could scream? Cause I didn't.” he glanced over at James, expecting a reaction, but with no response, his hand fell off the other’s shoulder and Sirius’ smile changed into concern. “James?”

 

James hadn’t moved, still staring at the place that the Slytherin had stood moments ago.

Notes:

Oh My God, Severus finally admitted that Harry is his son! *cheers all around*

Chapter 4: Effect of the child

Notes:

OMG, you guys are the best. This story now has the most kudos, hits, and comments of any story I've written. After only three chapters! And oh my god, the last chapter got THREE PAGES of comments. I have NEVER gone over one before! Thank you guys so much for your support! It brings me so much joy every time I read your comments.

Despite that, it has been a long while. And I'm actually coming here earlier than I planned. There was supposed to be the whole next scene in here as well, but as I continued writing, seeing the lack of time I had to write prompted me to push that to the next chapter. Plus, I seem to write waaayyy too much in chapters. You know I had originally planned to have each chapter be around 1000 words? This chapter is more than double that.

I'd like to mention an Alternate Universe detail that was brought to my attention by Trickster32. I had originally thought that the Shrieking Shack incident happened later into their sixth year, so I didn't mention it, since this is set at the beginning of sixth year, about a month in. I was informed, however, that it takes place in fifth year. So, just to mention it, in this au the Shrieking Shack incident didn't happen.

Another thing is that I worked in something proposed to me by Blacksunangel, into this chapter. However it does include a trigger warning. WARNING: There are concerns of rape in this chapter. There will be no actual rape in this fic. They are merely possibilities developed by a teenager going through an awful crisis. They are not graphic. However, if you do not wish to read that content, you can skip the paragraph that starts with "Severus tightened his hold on the child, fists clenching..." Thank you for your understanding.

Another thing I'd like to mention is that, as I was reading back on my previous chapters, I realized that I wrote that Harry's supposed to be three years old, but I've been writing his speech like he was one year old. I went back and fixed it a bit, so his speech should be a bit more formal now. He'll still have a lisp in certain cases, don't worry.

Also, there are most likely going to be errors. If you could mention any contextual or grammatical errors you catch in the comments please, it'd be much appreciated.

That being said, I apologize for taking your time with these long notes. Please enjoy the chapter! Comments and Kudos are always welcome :)

The Slytherin rushed up the stairs, tightly clutching Harry in his arms as he sprinted towards the room they occupied. Once he reached the portrait, he managed to heave out the password, eyes dazed, a horrified expression visible on his face. The blonde gave him a pitying expression before swinging the door open, and Severus rushed in, sitting on the edge of the bed and holding the passive but curious child in his arms.

 

Once he was in the safety of the room, with no eyes on him (as Harry was currently held in a way that he couldn’t see his papa’s face), the raven began to sob, the tears falling down his face as he let the realizations of the day’s events swarm him.

 

There had been so many times Severus had obtained something that made him hopeful, something that gave him faith in the world. And every single time it reached its fruition, it was stolen from him, robbed from him, by a certain bespectacled, messy haired Gryffindor seeker. 

 

And once again, it had happened. The world had given him a child, a beautiful, unbiased being who loved him for him and who looked at him with those wide, innocent eyes filled with unbridled feelings of affection and care. But then finding out that the child was James’, that it was their child together, crushed Severus’ heart. Severus felt like his heart had been crushed beyond repair, like the blood the heart was supposed to pump was spilling out, spreading everywhere and tainting it with its dark, unyielding color. Once again, his light and hope was ruined and tainted by the knowledge of the Gryffindor’s looming figure behind it.

 

Severus took a choked breath in. He didn’t know how it would happen in the future, how the two of them were able to make a child, how they were together. He brushed his cheek against the child’s hair, seeking comfort in the soft tendrils, but it also resulted in anguish as he was reminded of just from whom the child got his messy hair from. 

 

Thoughts began to swerve in his head, imagining how on earth this would happen, doubtful. Even if they were together in the future, it’d most likely be in a toxic relationship full of hatred behind the scenes, while putting on a happy face in front of the child. But Severus couldn’t fathom how on earth he would have even gotten with James to begin with. 

 

Severus tightened his hold on the child, fists clenching as he thought of a horrifying yet very real possibility: what if Potter had raped him? But even as he thought this, he asked himself, why him ? Why the Slytherin the Gryffindor hated with a passion of all people? But the reminder of their roles and attitudes towards each other led him down a path. Maybe one day at the end of seventh year, or even a little further out, the two run into each other. Potter would hex him, but instead of being satisfied with just using magic to torment the Slytherin, he decides to use the ultimate “punishment”, the ultimate way to scar Severus. And then, when he finds out about what his sordid act had created, he forces his way into the “family” because of his desire for the familial bonds. Maybe that’s what will happen.

 

Severus was taken out of his state of fear when he felt a small pressure on his collarbone. Taking a gulp and collecting himself, he looked down, towards the boy in his arms who was looking up curiously at the raven. Once Harry got Severus’ attention, the boy reached his hands up and gently placed them on his father’s face, hands cupping the cheekbones. Slowly, while his father just stared at him, the boy moved his thumbs to wipe the tears from under his papa’s eyes.

 

“Papa, don’ cry,” they child said, looking up into his father’s eyes. He smiled innocently, broad and sincere on his face. “Papa is cuter when smiling.”

 

Severus just stared at the child in front of him, in disbelief. In a matter of seconds, he began to tear up again, hugging the child tightly as he attempted to get his tears in check. This time, it wasn’t tears of despair and fear. No, rather, it was tears of disbelief and pure, loving emotion. 

 

It didn’t even matter if the child’s other father was James anymore. This child was the most beautiful thing in Severus’ life. He didn’t know what would happen in his life to give him this child, but he would go through all of it as long as he could hold this child in his arms by the end. 

 

Harry got more panicked as he felt his papa crying again. He racked his brain for ideas of how to cheer his papa up, and as he settle on the best one (in his opinion), he wiggled in the Slytherin’s hold, loosening the grip and slipping out of his papa’s lap. As Severus watched, the child darted towards the playpen, waddling all over the oversized black coat, before grabbing his stuffed phoenix and dashing back to his father. Harry climbed back into his papa’s lap, kneeling and facing him before thrusting the plush toy out.

 

“Papa! When I am sad, I have Hawky! I hug him and I feel all better!” Harry determinedly pushed the toy into Severus’ chest, not letting go until the raven’s hands moved up to grasp at the toy. When his papa didn’t do anything, Harry huffed. “Hug ‘im, papa! You will feel be’er, I pwomise!”

 

Severus laughed under his breath in disbelief, before going along with the boy’s antics and squeezing the doll tight, closing his eyes. While he does admit that he felt a little lighter after he hugged the toy, it was when he opened his eyes and saw the beautiful wide grin on Harry’s face that he truly felt like his heart was healing, a smile making his way on his face as he looked at the child. He could feel his chest warm up, and as he gently wrapped his arms around the boy and pulled him into a hug again, he finally admitted exactly what he was feeling, to himself.

 

“Harry,” Severus uttered, still smiling. The child looked up at his papa in response. “Please tell me that you are aware that the bird is a phoenix, and not a hawk?”

 

Harry just grinned broadly, biting his lip in what he believed to be mischievousness. “O’ couwse, papa, I know!” he stated in a sing song tone, moving his head back and forth as he answered. He then chucked loudly, increasing in pitch when Severus began to tickle him gently.

 

Severus’ attention was taken away from the child in his lap by a soft knock on the door. 

 

“Sev?” a soft, gentle voice called through the door. “Is it okay if I come in?”

 

Severus rubbed at his eyes, roughly wiping away the tear streaks along as he answered. “Yeah, you can come in,” he said, making sure he was loud enough for the portrait to hear him.

 

As he looked over, he saw the door gently open, and a familiar head of red hair poking through the opening.

 

Lily entered the room, no emotion on her face. However, Severus could see the depth of emotion she felt in her eyes, as she dropped to her knees next to the pair and engulfed them both in a tight, warm comforting hug.

 

“I’m so sorry, Severus,” she lamented, attempting to prevent her voice from trembling as she blinked back her tears. “I know I said that those four, he , was getting better, but that was towards me, not to you. They treat you like cr*p, make your life miserable, and then you find out that you have a child with that- that toerag . I’m so sorry.”

 

Severus stayed silent, just squeezing her back in the hug, arms wrapped securely around her. “It’s okay, Lily. I- I don’t know how on earth it happens, but I know-” and Severus halted, looking down to see Harry wriggling out of the tight hug he was sandwiched between, uncomfortable,  before looking up at his papa and smiling brightly at him. Severus smiled back, fondness in his eyes. “I know that I’d go through it if I get Harry.”

 

Lily moved back from the hug, staring wide eyed at Severus, before breaking out into a huge grin. “So does that mean that you’ve accepted Harry as your child? That you are his father?”

 

Severus grinned back, not answering, but that was enough for the redhead as she wrapped his arms around them again. This time from joy.

 

As the two were hugging and smiling, a young child was looking up at his father quizzingly. His papa wasn’t crying anymore, but he wanted to make sure his papa would always smile. He could see that his papa scowled a lot more than usual, though he was smiling more already, but Harry wanted to help him.

 

Severus felt a tug on the front of his robes. Unwrapping his arms from around Lily, he peered down to see the child looking up at him. Smiling down at him, Severus threaded his arms around Harry and picked him up on his lap, so that Harry was leaning on his chest. “What is it, Harry? What do you want?”

 

Harry bit his lip in an attempt to conceal his excitement, before discarding the act and smiling broadly up at his papa. “Papa, can we see Daddy?”

 

The gentle smile was wiped off of Severus’s face in that instant. Looking over the boy in shock, he made eye contact with Lily, who’s green eyes were also widened in shock.

 

“I- Harry,-” Severus stammered, clearly wanting to reason with the child for his own benefit. He didn’t want to be around Potter. Especially not now. Not with his concerns and worries about their relationship in the future. However, he found himself jumping slightly in his seat as he was  enthusiastically interrupted by the child in his lap.

 

“Pwease! Pwease papa! I wanna see an’ pway wiff!” Harry pleaded, his determination causing his slight lisp.

 

Lily was observing the duo. Even though she could see how much Severus wanted to go along with the child, she could see the slight trembles in his arms as he tried to talk down the child. But Harry was being strangely stubborn, and she could see the effect it was having on her best friend. She wanted to help, and as a thought popped into her head, she moved forward towards the raven.

 

“Hey, Sev,” she proposed. “If you allow it, I can bring Harry to the Gryffindor common room to see Potter. I promise, I won’t take my eyes off him, I won’t be more than a meter away from him at any time. That way, Harry can see his father, and you don’t have to deal with them.”

 

Severus had listened intently to this plan, but before he could act, the young child in his lap, who had heard the plan as well, gave his own opinion.

 

“No!” Harry cried, plump bottom lip pushing out into a pout as he thought he wasn’t heard. “Wan’ papa and daddy together!”

 

“But Harry-” Severus started, but before he could say more, Harry cried out and rolled out of his father’s lap onto the floor, resting on his tummy. Then came Severus’s first experience with this weapon of mass destruction: the tantrum.

 

“No, no, no! Wan’ papa and daddy! NO!” Harry bawled, kicking his legs into the air, beating his tiny fists against the floor. Tears streamed down his face as his eyes puckered in anger.

 

Now, Severus had no clue what his future self did when Harry threw tantrums. Heck, he had no clue what any respectable parent did with tantrums. But he was a tired, mentally spent teenage Slytherin who had just nearly had a nervous breakdown after learning that he would have a child with his schoolyard bully. He was not having it.

 

Severus sternly picked up the child under his arms and held him out in front of him. Harry was kicking and screaming in the air, wailing as he wiggled, trying to get out of his papa’s hold so he could scream some more.

 

“Harry, Harry, listen to me! ” Severus commanded, his harsh tone quieting down the child, though still fussy. 

 

Even though the raven was upset, he still acknowledged in the back of his mind who most definitely Harry got his glare from. Lily, who had been a bystander to all of this, was trying not to laugh as she saw the identical glares from the father and son.

 

Severus continued. “You will not cry and make a fuss when you don’t get your way. I will not tolerate such misbehavior. Do you understand me?”

 

Harry sniffled, defiant. “I said, do you understand me, Harry?”

 

Harry didn’t move, perhaps hoping he could attempt to try to get his way again, but at the look from his father he nodded, tearing up at the failure of his tantrum.

 

“Good,” Severus concluded, calmly. He took a deep breath in at the sight of the teary child, who had gone from anger to sorrow. Rearranging his arms around the child, he brought Harry to his chest, hugging him. As he looked down to the depressed, pouty face of his child, cheeks trembling and eyes glistening, he found himself giving in.

 

“Lily, please go call him and bring him here.” Severus said, a defeated look in his eyes. The other two in the room had vastly different reactions, as Lily looked at him in shock, while Harry gasped adorably, his eyes sparkling as he babbled incoherently in his papa’s lap.

 

“Sev, are you sure? You don’t have to,” Lily mentioned, just wanting the best for her friend.

 

Severus gave her a sad smile, before looking down at the excitable toddler in his lap, whose babbles had turned into joyful squeals. “I’ll be okay, Lily. Don’t worry,” he responded, facing her again.

 

Lily pursued her lips, making Severus grimace as he was reminded of a certain Gryffindor Head of House. He didn’t understand how the resemblance was so uncanny.

 

Lily stood up, heading for the door. Before exiting, she looked back towards him. “Alright. I trust you. But if he does anything, you tell me, okay Sev? That’s my only condition.”

 

Severus grinned in fond exasperation at the redhead. “Alright, I will,” he confirmed, as he watched his friend exit the room, the door swinging closed behind her.

 

His bright grin faded off his face, however, as he recalled exactly what would be happening soon, and even the playful antics of his child couldn’t bring it back.

Chapter 5: Defiance

Notes:

Hey, so I'm not completely happy with the end of this, but I thought I'd left you guys in radio silence for too long. Also, this chapter is somewhat sorter than the previous one, but I think it's still a good length.

Also, I'm aware that many people wanted to see the interactions between the family in this chapter. However, I thought that this chapter would most certainly happen in this timeline, and I know some of you will be somewhat happy with...developments, in this chapter (let's see if people notice). You'll have to wait for the next chapter for the family.

Once again, If I have any errors in the setting at Hogwarts, or if you have a suggestion to make this more British, or if I just made a bunch of grammatical errors, please inform me below.

So, thank you for your patience and all your support so far, and please enjoy the next chapter! Comment and Kudos if you can!

The four marauders were in their dorm room. Normally, this would be a time of rowdy fun, where the four would play exploding snap, or discuss the next big prank that they’d pull. 

 

However, the four at this time were silent, frustrations rising high. James, Sirius, and Peter were seated at the main table. Sirius was glaring at the parchment in front of him, rubbing his head as James furiously scribbled onto his parchment, handwriting positively atrocious. Peter simply sat, confusion clear in his expression as his blank parchment clearly showed his lack of understanding.

 

Remus, who had been smart enough to not procrastinate on the transfiguration essay, simply sat on his bed with a book in hand, silently immersed in his novel. Occasionally he would peer over the book at his friends and raise an eyebrow at them, before returning to his task.

 

The four were interrupted from their terrible habits when they heard their door slam open. Normally this wouldn’t bother them, but the force of the door opening drew all their attention, high on alert.

 

What, or who they saw rather, made Peter and Remus share shocked glances, while Sirius just stared, brows furrowed. James relaxed, running a hand through his hair and smirking, but even he was surprised by who it was. After all, everyone knew of Lily Evans’ hatred for James Potter.

 

Lily entered the room, which thankfully was quite clean for a group of four boys, and approached James. James just smiled broader, thankful for the distraction from his horrid essay.

 

“Hey, Evans! Never thought you would approach me here of all places, but I knew you’d give in to my advances eventually.” he said, in what he clearly felt was a charming way. Lily just paused.

 

“I’m not here for whatever it is your empty head thinks I’m here for. I’m here-”

 

“To save me from this awful mess of an essay? Preferably with your dear attention?” James interrupted, playing damsel in distress before smiling at Lily again. She bristled, irritated at being interrupted.

 

Lily paused, about to verbally lash out at James, before remembering. She crossed her arms and smirked, knowing full well that what she’d say would cause a reaction.

 

“No. Rather, I am here to take you to Severus’s room. Harry wants to be with you, but he won’t leave Sev alone.”

 

Lily was right; her words did spark a reaction from all people present. James’s smirk was wiped off his face as he moved back from her, alarm in his expression. Just past him, Sirius scrunched his face in clear disgust. Peter frowned deeply, disgust also present in his face. Remus placed his book down on the bed, but didn’t move. Clearly the action out here was better than the action in there.

 

James snorted in disbelief, eyebrow raised. He exaggerated bringing a hand up to his ear, sticking a finger in and rotating it, as if the buildup of earwax had manipulated the words coming out of the redhead’s mouth. “Um, excuse me, Miss Evans, but I think I misheard you. You see, I apparently heard that you want me to go to Sniv- Snape’s room, but that can’t-”

 

“You are right, Potter.” Lily confirmed smirking, happy to interrupt the egotistical Gryffindor.

 

“But why?” James whined, an expression of deep pain on his face.

 

“I already told you why,” Lily enunciated, annoyed. “Harry wants to be with you. You know, your future son ?”

 

This phrasing brought a reaction from the rest of the room who had previously been frozen, silently watching. Peter moved back, face scrunched into a sneer of disgust. Remus swung his legs off the edge of his bed, but stayed sitting, wanting to be ready in case of, well, anything. They both stayed silent, not wanting to interrupt the discussion.

 

Sirius, on the other hand, had no such qualms, and leaned back with an expression of suffering on his face. “Come on, you can’t be serious.”

 

“Because you’re ‘Sirius’,” Peter uttered. He let out a squeak when Sirius glared at him, shrinking into his seat. Sirius just shook his head and returned his attention to the rest of the room. Usually the joke would be well received, but right now was not the time.

 

“As I was saying, you can’t seriously expect Prongs to-”

 

“I’ll go,” James, who had been silently pondering with a serious expression very uncommon for the Gryffindor, interrupted, facing Lily. He ignored Sirius’s squawk of outrage.

 

“Oh,” Lily blurted out, eyes widened at her disbelief. She may have asked, but she didn’t believe that Potter would actually agree. “Okay. I’ll need to take you, since there’s a password. Shall we leave?”

 

“Evans,” Sirius proclaimed, also very urgent, again very uncommon. “Do you think you can wait in the common room.” His eyes swiveled over his dorm mates. “I think the four of us have things to discuss.”

 

“Alright, but hurry, Potter. Harry is a sweet child, and I want to keep him happy.” Lily commanded, before swerving and exiting briskly. The door swung shut behind her, and for a moment, there was only silence in the room. Just for a moment though.

 

“What the f*ck, Prongs?! What do you mean, you’ll go and see Snivellus’s spawn? Why would you even want to be in the same room as him?” Sirius yelled, angered.

 

“Shut the hell up, Siri, before I cast a f*cking silencing spell on you,” James replied, glaring at his best friend. Sirius just stared, not used to the serious manner from the other. Especially not due to Snivellus .

 

James sighed, seeing the affronted expression on his best friends face. “Look, you know that I really value family, and that child-”

 

“ That child is not your son, Prongs!” Sirius barked, leaning forward in his seat. James gritted his teeth.

 

“How do you know?” spat out the prospective father in question. Sirius just looked at him like he was insane.

 

“Because you’d never shack up with Snivellus .”

 

“But then why would that child call me Daddy?! And have my names? Since Snape is taking care of him right now, Snape is clearly his other father.” Plus, he has his name too , the Gryffindor thought .

 

Sirius just leaned back in his chair, propping his legs onto the table, completely relaxed. He was not concerned in the slightest that he could be wrong. “That slimeball probably just wanted to marry a rich pureblood to make his life so much easi-”

 

“Snape isn’t that kind of person! He’d shack up with a hippogriff well before he’d ever even consider shacking up with me.” In the back of his mind, James secretly thought about how it used to be the same for him in regards to Snape. Until that moment in the Great Hall.

 

“At this point,” Sirius said, lips twisting into a wicked grin as the words came out, “I’d gather that Snivellus has learned from our ‘lessons’ that being a snake isn’t a good thing, but he’s dug himself too deep in slime to get out! He’s using you to get out of the sludge. He got the child to claim you’re his father-”

 

James just gestured in front of him, heavily exasperated. And not in a good way. “Fine, let’s say that somehow for the ever loving pants of Merlin, Snape thought to try to have a child pretend to be mine. How would the child even know how to do that?! He’s a tyke! Even if Snape told him to say that, which I seriously doubt, as I’ve told you , that child won’t be able to follow along . He doesn’t understand how to act!” 

 

And, James thought, the reaction of the child, the pure joy in his eyes as he looked at the Gryffindor, was just too genuine to be fake. It just couldn’t be.

 

“I think you should go, Prongs,” a calm voice called over from the bed. The other three swerved their heads towards Remus. Sirius made a choked sound in the back of his throat.

 

“Moony!” Sirius howled, betrayed by his favorite werewolf. He opened his mouth again to yell, but Remus held up a hand towards him, halting the dog’s incoming anger.

 

“No, listen to me, Padfoot. If he goes, he can figure out if the child truly is his or not.”

 

This stopped Sirius straight in his tracks. As he thought about what Remus had said, a grin slowly made his way onto his face.

 

He turned to James, who had just been confusingly looking at Sirius, not sure why this sentence had stopped his incoming barrage. 

 

“Yeah, mate!” Sirius barked out, excited at having found a solution for his mate. “Just go and prove that the child isn’t yours, and then you’re scot free to pursue Evans again!” James just sat agape at this, stammering in shock. 

 

“But, but that’s not-” James started, then paused, sighing deeply as he recognized that Sirius would not understand his motives for him wanting to go and meet the child (and Severus). Unfortunately for James, who had been hoping Sirius would be his normal dense self, Sirius picked up on his hesitance, and called him out on it.

 

“What, Prongs?!” Sirius called out, hostile. He just couldn’t understand what was wrong with his best mate. Why all this for Snivellus ? “Why are you wavering ? Snivellus is a slimy scumbag! Just accept that he probably stole that child and tortured him into thinking you’re his father. Maybe even brainwashed him with those god-awful potions of hi-”

 

“He f*cking yelled, Sirius!” James roared into the room, silencing any other words from Sirius. James’s expression went from furious to resigned, hand going up to rub his forehead, as he took a deep breath in regards to Sirius’s belligerent, yet befuddled expression.

 

“We’ve been tormenting Snape for the better part of six years, Siri.” James stated, tone sounding fatigued, which was not becoming of the sixth year Gryffindor seeker. “In that entire time, he hasn’t yelled once. He’s sneered, he’s hexed us back, he’s spat out scathing insults, but he’s never yelled like that. Not in that way.”

 

“What way?” Peter asked, clearly repulsed by the subject matter.

 

“It was raw ,” James enlightened, showing the smallest bit of awe at it. “Full of emotion. Especially paired with his expression, when I tried to approach his child.” James paused, eyes moving across the other inhabitants of the room.

 

“He was terrified . Absolutely bloody terrified.” James leaned forward in his chair, gazing intensely at Sirius, unyielding in his stare as he reached his conclusion.

 

“He had absolutely no bloody clue I was the other father. And he absolutely loathed that piece of information.”

 

And with that, James stood up and left the room, slamming the door behind him, leaving the rest of his dormmates in shocked (and on Remus’s part, contemplative) silence.

 

James’s line of sight drifted around as he walked to the common room, until he spotted a fiery red head of hair poking out from the top of the couch. As he approached her, she noticed him, shutting her book and looking up at him. 

 

“Ready to go?” she asked, still somewhat disbelieving of his willingness to go with her.

 

James paused for a split second, hesitation on his face, before he steeled his expression and  made eye contact, nodding at her.

 

“Let’s go,” he uttered, knowing he was not prepared to be in a room with either the child, or the father.

Chapter 6: The Nuclear Family

Notes:

I'm so sorry for making you wait so long for this. It was a lot of really hard workloads from my classes that left me too drained to write. I've changed my major, so I should have a lot more time next quarter. Thank you so much to everyone that supported me and commented, I've read all of them and they really bring me up and improve my mood.

So I know a lot of you really anticipated this chapter! I hope it is to your liking, while being in character with the characters. Please enjoy it!

Same as the previous chapters, if there are any British words/phrases I could use, if there are canon inconsistencies, or if there are any grammar/punctuation errors, please inform me in the comments below.

Please comment and leave kudos! And please enjoy!

The two Gryffindors walked in silence. Others around them were confused, seeing the outspoken redhead with whom they knew she despised, but they shrugged it off and ignored them. They just assumed that Potter’s advances were finally taking effect. 

 

Lily, on the other hand, didn’t notice the people around her. Instead, her mind was focused on the Gryffindor next to her. He was being too quiet, which was unheard of from Mr. Potter. She kept glancing over at the bespeckled seeker, wanting to break the silence, but couldn’t find her voice to do it. 

 

James just looked down, serious. It was clear that, for some reason, his mind wasn’t on the beautiful redhead next to him. You know, the one he had been pursuing for the last six years. James gritted his teeth as he walked, half looking forward to and half dreading what was to come. He continued striding forward, brisk in his pace until he felt a delicate hand firmly grasp his forearm.

 

“We’re here,” Lily uttered as James glanced at her. Recognition flashed in his eyes when she gestured to the portrait of the heavily made up blond woman on the wall.

 

Letting go of James, Lily continued to speak. “You’re going to have to step back. No offense, but I don’t trust you enough to let you know what the password is.” In her head, Lily was smirking at the irony, but none of that made its way onto her stern face.

 

James just raised his hands in surrender and stepped back until his back was against the opposite wall. He crossed his arms and watched as the redhead finally took her suspicious gaze off of him and whispered the password to the painting. 

 

He didn’t know what to expect, but he was surprised when he saw that the piece of the wall the painting was on swung open, with the same dimensions of a door. He was slightly jealous. He had to crawl into a hole in the wall.

 

He saw Lily gesture towards him as she stood in the doorway, waving her hand for him to come. James stood up straight, taking a deep breath in before attempting to stride into the room. But before he could enter, he felt himself being slammed against the wall to the left of the opening, with the wide piece of wall to his left. He had to physically restrain himself from attacking, but his defiance became subdued as he felt a wand poking at his throat, knowing exactly why this was happening.

 

“Potter,” Lily uttered, determination clear in her eyes as she held James against the wall. “If you do anything, anything at all to hurt Sev, I will personally make a slow and torturous affair of your arrogant pride and everything else you hold dear until you are begging and pleading at my feet. Got it?”

 

Lily waited, anticipating a normal response to this being that she was kinky in the bedroom, that she was a fiery woman, all things that would be ordinary of James Potter. 

 

But, if we’re being fair, right now nothing about anything was ordinary.

 

James looked her in the eye and simply said, “I don’t plan to.” Lily held her pose a little longer, before finally letting him go, swerving to enter the room. Potter followed, wincing and massaging his throat.

 

Once he entered, he immediately noticed the pastel green undertones in the room, and he couldn’t stop himself from smirking. Once a Slytherin, always a Slytherin, huh. The strange thing, as James realized it and his smirk fell off, was that it wasn’t a menacing smirk. No, no it wasn’t. Rather, it was a fond one. 

 

Towards Severus. 

 

A Slytherin. 

 

What was happening to him?

 

His eyes wandered the room, before they looked to his left and settled onto the two people on the bed. And what’s meant by settle is that he froze, and he could not take his eyes off the people on the bed.

 

Snape was sitting in an unfolded crisscross formation, hunched over. However, it wasn’t the hunched over James was used to seeing in the school, where the Slytherin attempted to make himself smaller so he could blend into the shadows. No, he was hunched over like he was protecting the small child in his lap, who was babbling away in excitement at the redhead who had just appeared in front of him.

 

James could see Lily pointing towards himself, and he saw the child’s face turn towards him. The child gasped adorably before smiling widely, wiggling to get out of his papa’s lap. James, however, was not focused on the boy, but rather the man behind him. Severus had looked up, and James had seen the small smile and fond eyes the raven had towards his child. But once they landed on him , he could see the exact moment that Severus first recognized what was in front of his eyes. 

 

James felt a slight pang in his chest as the once expressive eyes turned guarded, the smile disappearing into a scowl so fast, that for a moment James wondered if he had imagined it. 

 

But he knew he hadn’t.

 

“Daddy!” he heard a high pitched voice squeal, before he felt a force attach itself to his legs. Looking down, James almost exclaimed out loud in shock. The child had wrapped his arms around the legs of the seeker, and was looking up, giving a blinding smile full of excitement. James just couldn’t help but stare at the child. His mind hadn’t caught up with him yet.

 

“Harry, why don’t you show Po- your daddy , your toys? I’m sure he’d love to play with you,” Lily prompted. Harry, who had turned to face the redhead, nodded vigorously before tugging on his father’s legs, nearly causing the Gryffindor to fall over. 

 

“Daddy, come!” Lost in his element, James simply allowed the child to drag him over to the playpen. He did make sure to grab the boy’s hand in his own instead of risking both of their safety with him falling over.

 

Severus watched the two with barely concealed anxiety before being distracted by Lily tugging him to the opposite side of the room from the child and parent. Lily grabbed his shoulders, facing him head on. “Listen to me Sev. Are you absolutely certain you don’t need me to stay? I can just sit to the side. I won’t interfere if you don’t want me to.”

 

Severus chuckled. “As much as I would love your constant threatening presence looming over Potter, I’m,” and here Severus faltered, looking around, trying to find the words for what he wants to say. For what he was somewhat hesitant to admit.

 

“I’m doing this for Harry. He’s used to having just the two parents, and he’ll notice if you’re always with us every time I have to be with the imbecile. At some point, I have to get used to just the three of us, right?”

 

“Are you sure?” Lily questioned again, grip softer as she tried to reason with her friend. “What if he hurts you again?”

 

“I’m hoping that Gryffindor pride and ethics you all have will prevent Potter from attacking me while in the presence of a child. I most certainly would never attempt it to be just Potter and I together. I’m only tolerating him for Harry.”

 

On the other side of the room sat a bespeckled messy haired Gryffindor, who was currently watching Harry play with his toys. As the boy babbled about his dolls and presented them to the other, who responded with smiles and nods, he was lost in thought, only speaking rarely to the child. He was a little too busy studying the boy in great detail.

 

James didn’t know what he had expected. Earlier, in the great hall, he hadn’t gotten a very good look at the boy, only a guess at the child’s age. Now that they were sitting so close, he could see so many things that he kept having to remind himself were true of the boy in front of him.

 

James’s eyes moved over the boy, taking in everything. He indeed saw the features from Snape in the child: the extremely dark black hair and piercing black eyes were, shall we say, attributed by all of Hogwarts to belong to the Slytherin located across the room.

 

However, despite everything Sirius said, and the small doubts (and/or hopes ) in James’s brain, he could see how the boy’s messy hair, even at that age, resembled his to a tee. He could see, when the boy looked over to him, sometimes looking curiously or smiling broadly, the pure resemblance to his own childhood pictures at his parent’s estate. And he looked down at the back of his arm, glancing up at the child and seeing how his own skin tone was much closer to the child’s than Snape’s, with the child only being slightly paler than him. Once again most likely the result of Snape.

 

Back across the room again, Severus had a mild concern. “Lily, how in Merlin’s pants did you know my password? You weren’t there when I made it.”

 

Lily just smiled brightly, before side hugging Severus in a show of friendship. “Professor McGonagall approached me in the Great Hall during breakfast. I have to say, I wouldn’t have pegged you for such a sap, but I guess children do that to you.”

 

“Lily!” Severus exclaimed, smacking Lily lightly in irritation, but he betrayed himself as his eyes glanced over at the playpen, his sight laying on Harry. Lily smirked as she saw the face of her friend grow soft as he looked upon the child.

 

The redhead then sighed heavily, resting her hands on her hips. “Alright Sev, I guess I’m leaving now. But!” And here she leaned closer to Severus and started whispering aggressively. “You better inform me at once if Potter does anything , you hear me!?”

 

Severus smiled in fond exasperation. “Yes I do. Thanks, Lily.” The two hugged, holding each other close in comfort for a little bit, before they broke apart. Lily headed for the door, and looked back at Severus as she exited. 

 

They both clearly knew what the reality of this situation was. And they were worried.

 

Harry’s attention turned away from his toys once he heard the slam of the door. When he turned his head in curiosity, his eyes laid on his papa, and he gasped from excitement. He stood up, and started walking towards his papa. 

 

However, when passing his father, he stopped and grabbed his daddy’s sleeve, pulling him with all his determination. He wanted all of them to be together after all.

 

When the Griffyndor felt the slight, but determined tugging on his sleeve, he looked up, ready to entertain the child with a smile prepared on his face. However, when he saw exactly where exactly the boy was heading and his eyes fell on the Slytherin, he felt his smile wobble, falling off his face as his eyes widened in alarm. 

 

He saw how the Slytherin looked up at the incoming toddler, with a gentle gaze that was so… foreign , on the raven’s face. But when Snape’s eyes moved along his child’s arm, and James saw the piercing black eyes lay on him, the gentle eyes widened, a grimace appearing on his face as he moved backward in alarm. 

 

Harry climbed on the bed, letting go of his daddy in order to pull himself up. He bounced on his feet, pushing his head on the bed as an anchor as he pushed himself forward onto the bed. He giggled cutely, biting his bottom lip and grinning as he looked at his papa, tilting his head at his papa’s expression. His papa seemed worried, and even though his papa smiled down at him in an attempt to reassure him, the boy wasn’t convinced. 

 

Remembering his mission, Harry turned around on the bed, reaching out for the other man in the room. The Gryffindor placed his hand in front of him, allowing Harry to take his hand, the child grinning happily up at him. The child, probably thinking he’s being mischievous, bit his lip, gently tugging to get his daddy on the bed.

 

Severus was terrified. He had promised himself he wouldn’t have to get close to Potter! It would be the two of them on opposite sides of the room as they entertained Harry, the child not knowing the wiser. He should have known that Harry would be smarter than that. And now the Slytherin was suffering the consequences.

 

The two students sat on the bed, being only separated by the single child, which, as can be guessed, was not a lot of space between them. Harry seemed deadfast on having both his supposed parents right next to him, and while Severus desired to keep Harry happy, being this close to the Gryffindor imbecile was making him seize up. Most definitely because the Gryffindor was so moronic that even the dumbest of trolls could perform better at Hogwarts than him. Not because Severus was in fear because of his continuous torment. Definitely not.   

 

Harry clutched both parents, grinning at both of them, but he didn’t actually start communicating with them. Instead, he opted to babble to himself while playing with his stuffed phoenix, which left a very awkward silence above the adorable three year old.

 

Severus kept his eyes straight in front of him, uneasy as he sat lost in thought. However, he felt himself stiffen up, taking a sharp breath in, eyes widening in trepidation as he saw in his peripheral vision a certain Gryffindor turning his head to face him. Severus immensely hoped that the pillock simply got very suddenly interested in the front door that was located just past Severus. No such luck.

 

“So, uh Sni- Snape ,” James started. “How... are... you doing?” He concluded awkwardly, cringing inwardly as he observes the raven glancing at him without changing his distraught sneer and then returning back to staring into space. 

 

“I mean,” James attempted again. “How… is… being a parent? Is it difficult?” 

 

Severus just stared at James with barely concealed disgust. Actually, he may not have even been trying to conceal it. “Potter, I know responsibility isn’t something any Gryffindor but Lily emulates, but you should be aware that... if , what Harry says is true, then you are also a parent.”

 

“Yeah, but I mean, I was always going to have a kid,” James replied, leaning back on his hands as he relaxed into the conversation. “But you , on the other hand, it’s quite unbelievable.”

 

Severus didn’t look over, keeping his head down to gaze at the boy next to him, but secretly he agreed with the bespeckled man. 

 

James, spurred on by the lack of hostility, continued. Perhaps when he should have stopped. “No one would have thought a Slytherin like you would have done more than use any child, of course. Definitely not actually caring for them. But-” 

 

“ Excuse me ?!” James heard coming from next to him, and when he turned he found the Slytherin with a scowl deep set on his face, eyes embedded with raw hatred, piercing into his own.

 

James just looked back at the raven, confused. Why was he glaring at him?

 

Severus, if possible, grew even angrier when he saw that James was so oblivious to what he had done wrong. Gritting his teeth to prevent from outright hexing the seeker, he turned back to the front, murderous glare on full display, ending the somewhat amiable conversation.

 

James just sat like a gaping fish, wanting to say something but not being able to. There was now a large wall between the two, and James couldn’t bring himself to break through it. He had just turned back to the front at the cold shut down from the Slytherin, when a sharp knock on the door sent the Gryffindor jumping in surprise. Severus turned towards the door, anticipating the explanation from the arrival.

 

From outside, a poised, yet caring voice called out. “It is Madam Pomfrey, Mr. Snape.”

 

Snape got off the bed and opened the door, letting Madam Pomfrey enter a couple of feet. Before Severus could ask why she was there, the nurse turned promptly towards him. “I think it’s time I do an analysis on the young boy. Better sooner than later, don’t you agree, Mr. Snape?”

 

“Yes, Madam. Should we go to the hospital wing, or?” Severus asked, trailing off at the end.

 

“Yes, that would be the most ideal, but I came here first in the circumstance that the young Mr. Potter decides he does not wish to leave the room.”

 

Severus smirked inwardly at the reminder of the spoiled child, but at a look from the nurse he moved towards Harry, who had noticed him and was holding his arms out to be carried.

 

“Papa, potty!” Harry proclaimed, pausing what Severus was about to explain to him as he picked the child up and held him in his arms.

 

“Okay, but after we go, we are going to accompany the nice madam to her office and she is going to check that you are all right, okay, Harry? Nod if you understand.”

 

The boy nodded, slobbering on the fingers in his mouth. Satisfied, Severus headed into the bathroom with the boy, leaving just the stoic nurse next to the door and the Gryffindor on the bed.

 

There was a moment of silence. That is, until James turned to the nurse with a request of his own. “Madam Pomfrey?”

 

The woman turned to face the boy, as a silent answer. 

 

“Could-” The boy started, hesitating while somewhat lost in thought. He bit his lip, then steeled his nerves and asked. “Could I accompany you guys? I want to know how he- Harry, is doing.”

 

“Of course,” the nurse replied, not phased by the request. “I expected you to come anyway. I also planned on doing paternity tests on you and the boy, along with Mr. Snape and the boy.”

 

“Yeah- that. Yeah.” James stammered out, somewhat surprised.

 

He had forgotten that there was a possibility for Harry not to be his son. But even as that thought crossed his head, he found himself immediately dismissing it. If the last hour was anything to go by…

 

James sat in silence on the bed, waiting for the other two to arrive. This day had already been full of more surprises than he’d need in a year. Why not discover some more?

Notes:

Goddamn it James! I gave you everything you needed, and you had to mess it up. You were so close! ;D

Chapter 7: First Family Outing

Notes:

WAAAHH! I'm so sorry this took so long. I've seen many authors here updating purely because it was quarantine and they had nothing to do, but sadly quarantine put me in a bit of a downer. It was hard to write for a while.

But I pulled through and I wrote! Finally, after so long I'm delivering the next chapter. I literally have so many assignments to do this weekend, but I decided that'd I;d left you waiting for too long! Please enjoy!

Oh yeah, also, there's FANART?!?!? WHAT?!?!? The purely amazing AkiieLoo did fanart for this story! I'm like, whAT? I'm so honored! I don't really know how to link, but hopefully I do it right! It's here and here. Click here for the blog. Also, of course, if anyone else has done fanart please let me know!

As always, if there's anything I can do to make it more British, more accurate to canon, or more grammatically accurate, please let me know!

Madam Pomfrey walked promptly, descending the winding staircase in front of her. As the head nurse at Hogwarts, she was hardworking and straightforward in her role, which she took pride in. After all, she made it her sworn business to complete all of her supposed tasks. 

 

Can’t expect less from the head nurse at a school of magic, of course.

 

Traveling several paces behind her were the two and a half students, at a somewhat slower rhythm. The madam was so fixated on her task that she didn’t recognize the immensely uncomfortable air just behind her.

 

Severus walked briskly with Harry in his arms, resembling the strict nurse in front of them. However, his torso was hunched more forward, unconsciously aiming to support his child more. People around them weren’t really focusing on his posture however, as their attention was fully drawn to the intense seething expression on his face. His lips were pulled into a harsh scowl, his glare wishing death among all who dared make eye contact with him.

 

James trailed behind Severus, hands in his pockets as he gently kicked up his feet with every step. On his face was a disheartened and clueless expression, as he continued to stare at the back of the raven’s head throughout the walk to the hospital wing. He kept squinting his eyes while looking at the Slytherin, eyebrows furrowing in frustration; he truly didn’t understand the other’s reaction.

 

Once they arrived at the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey led the two to the nearest bed, with a wooden chair next to the bed and a white curtain around the area, to provide privacy. She conjured a second chair and placed it next to the first, gesturing for the boys to sit.

 

Once sat, Severus handed over Harry, who panicked slightly at being taken away from his papa. He calmed once the nurse turned him around to give him full view of the Slytherin while placing the child on the bed.

 

Severus couldn’t stop his heart from warming when he saw the boy looking around curiously, eyes darting around inquisitively but never letting them wander for long before returning to his papa, the child giggling and smiling when their eyes met. It was only with the notice of a slight shift on his left that Severus realized that the bespectacled Gryffindor was looking at him, and the soft smile the raven had on his face was wiped off, the student hunching slightly at the unwanted attention.

 

“Alright, young man,” the head nurse said, cutting into the silence and making Severus jolt before he realized that she was referring to Harry. “Please cooperate with me here, I simply want to make sure you are alright after your journey.”

 

Harry grinned at the older woman. “Okay!” he exclaimed, wiggling his feet excitedly. He’s not scared. How could he be scared? He had both his daddy and papa right there with him, barely a few feet away. He was the happiest boy alive!

 

Madam Pomfrey moved closer and grabbed the boy’s chin, turning his face from side to side. After observing him for a second, she let go of him, and began casting several wordless spells. All the spells glowed upon impact, but faded fairly quickly, seemingly having no effect on the boy in front of them. Harry just continued grinning adorably throughout the entire process. 

 

The head nurse took a step back from the child and faced the two students briskly, arms behind her back. “Alright. I have determined that there are no harmful everlasting effects of the time travel. He is completely healthy and in tip-top shape.”

 

Madam Pomfrey paused, moving to cross her arms in front of her. “I will leave now to go fetch the paternity potions and to attend to another patient of mine. It may take a while. Now, in that time,” she stated, pointing a very fixed expression towards the two boys in front of her, her stare lingering on both for several seconds, “I better not find out anything happened between you two, especially anything that could harm the young lad. Do I make myself clear?” 

 

She clearly remembered the relationship between the two students in front of her.

 

The boys nodded jerkily, not taking their eyes off the woman in front of them. She stared the boys down, unyielding. Finally relenting after a moment, she swished open the curtain to leave, the curtains magically closing right after she left. 

 

The head nurse at Hogwarts was truly a formidable woman.

 

Left behind was once again a very awkward silence, only interrupted by the murmured babbles coming from the boy on the bed. He made no move to approach his papa or daddy, too focused on crunching the blanket he was currently sitting on in his little baby fists, somehow focused purely on the blanket. Severus didn’t understand.

 

As he sat watching the boy, he saw out of the corner of his vision Potter straightening, and he knew he’d have to interact with the Gryffindor, which was something he did not want happening. He’d much prefer to jump out a window, which he was seriously contemplating. It was only a few meters away.

 

Sadly, he just couldn’t leave Harry behind, so Severus also straightened out, awaiting the godforsaken exchange. Unfortunately, he didn’t wait long.

 

“Uhm, Snape…” James started, looking down at the ground while moving a hand through his hair. “I uh- I’m sorry, I guess? I just- I really don’t know what I did wrong. It felt like we were getting along, um, cordially I suppose, but then you got really angry, and everything got really tense.”

 

Severus could only stare at him, which he did for several seconds, affronted. “You really don’t understand what you did wrong? What you said?”

 

The cluelessness on the seeker’s face was enough. Severus gritted his teeth. Ignorant fool .

 

“You said that no Slytherin would ever truly care for a child. Only using them,” the raven replied, seething rage embedded in every slow and precise delivery of the words. He wanted Potter to understand exactly what was unacceptable. 

 

Alas, Severus was disappointed when, instead of looking shocked with comprehension, James lowered his hand with an expression of irritation growing on his face.

 

“What’s wrong with that?” James countered, outraged. “Slytherins are evil . You- They would use anyone to get what they want!”

 

Severus’s nostrils flared as he sat up briskly, eyes brimming with hate as he glared at the brunette across from him. With a level, scathing tone, he retaliated.

 

“Clearly not all evil is Slytherin. Just look at your best friend.”

 

“Black isn’t evil!” James leaned forward, hand slamming down on the armrest of the chair in clear offense at the raven’s statement.

 

“Well I’m certain I heard him say Harry deserves to be a squib purely because he’s my child !” Severus cried out, level voice wavering at the last several words. 

 

He couldn’t take it anymore. He could feel his throat drying up, burning, as he looked away from the Gryffindor, taking a couple of seconds to will his turbulent emotions not to fall from his eyes. There was only silence.

 

“You’re right,” the Slytherin heard from next to him, the words calm and quiet. It was so unexpected that Severus nearly started retorting out of habit before realizing what was said.

 

“What?” Severus brows furrowed in confusion as he stared at James in shock, mouth slightly agape. 

 

“You’re right,” James replied again, looking calm and mature in a way that was so foreign on the Gryffindor. It made Severus lean away, even more wary than before.

 

James just sighed at Severus’s reaction. “Sirius was- what he said, was out of line. And I’m going to talk to him about that. Makes sure he understands.”

 

Severus was still wary, but he most definitely had some opinions to input. “Excuse me, you seem to have forgotten that this is Black we’re talking about. He encompasses the complete and utter stubbornness you Gryffindors seem to take pride in to a tee.”

 

The Slytherin didn’t expect to see James smiling at that. “Yeah, Padfoot would be the guy to never admit he’s wrong. Up until his death that is, where he has it written on his gravestone. ‘I was wrong that one time, and no other!’” James chuckled lowly to himself at the visual, before taking on a serious tone once again.

 

“But really, I’ll make sure to talk to him. About this, how that was a horrible thing to say.” James said, looking earnestly at the Slytherin. 

 

Severus was just taken by surprise with the Gryffindor’s actions, but as the seeker’s words started to sink in, he could feel an intense, deep seated resentment rising in him. If it wasn’t for Harry, you would have been perfectly fine with what Black said , the raven thought bitterly. But all that came out was, “Are you serious?”

 

“No, that’s Padfoot.” James replied instinctively. 

 

Severus automatically rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t stop a slight smile at the Gryffindor’s stunned laughter. He covertly bit his lip to hide it. 

 

He wasn’t going to give Potter that satisfaction.

 

Severus felt himself startle out of whatever state he was in when the curtains zipped open, Madam Pomfrey entering with three potions floating behind her. All three were a gold yellow color, but one bottle was larger with a slightly more opaque shade.

 

Swishing her wand, she sent the two smaller bottles to the students, then handed Harry the larger one.

 

“Alright, here are the paternity tests. The young lad has the basis potion. You two have the responsive potions. After being ingested at the same time, the basis potion will read the child's magical core, and produce a glow that surrounds the child. If there is a parental link between the child’s core and one of your cores, then you both will glow. If you two are indeed the parents, then all three of you should glow.”

 

Turning to the child, the nurse smiled softly. “Go on,” she said, placing her hand under the bottle and pushing it upwards towards the child's mouth, “You must drink it. It should taste good.”

 

Looking up at the nurse, the boy then turned his head to look at his papa. Once his papa smiled at him, Harry took the leap, and took a sip. He found that it tasted fairly similar to the lemon drops from the headmaster’s office, and liking the taste, he gulped down the rest.

 

Severus watched the child drink the potion happily, then looked down at his own bottle. Twisting off the cap, the Slytherin downed the potion, smacking his lips while grimacing, as the liquid was a little too sickly sweet for him. The Gryffindor next to him did the same, after a slight bout of hesitation where his eyes darted from Severus to the potion in his own hand.

 

Severus looked forward towards the child on the bed, waiting. It was with the widening of his eyes that he saw the boy begin to glow a bright, orange color, with what the raven swore to be  thin lines of green scattered about. Remembering the goal of the potions, he hurriedly looked down at himself, only to find himself glowing too, though his was more of a pastel yellow with the green being more prominent, and the glow was faded.

 

Severus felt so much relief at seeing the glow on his body. He was almost mesmerized by the glow, refusing to look away from the curve of the back of his hand. He objectively had known  that Harry was his child. But of course, no matter what, there would always be the slight doubts that appeared right before taking the potion. After all, Harry was adorable, bright, and enjoyed the presence of others. Nothing like himself.

 

Now there was no doubt. Harry was truly his son. He would truly have a child with someone.

 

Severus felt a rush of air enter his lungs as he remembered that. As he remembered who else was there. He hesitated, refusing to look over, even tilting his head in the opposite direction. 

 

But finally, he had to look. 

 

And Potter was glowing.

 

James was glowing a more golden yellow color than Harry, richer and more opaque. There were no streaks of green, but there was a red undertone, and his glow was also faded. It was like the two parents' glows together made up the intense glow of their child. 

 

Severus, however, was not focused on that. The moment he had turned and seen the glowing Gryffindor, his heart had turned to stone. His expression grew emotionless. 

 

He didn’t want to deal with this.

 

“Papa! Look!” Severus heard, his attention drawn to the grinning child on the bed. The child was looking with wonder at the glow on his body, but once he looked up and saw that his papa’s attention was on him, he crawled to the edge of the bed and reached his arms out. Severus, recognizing the universal sign, reached over and picked him up, setting him in his lap facing him. 

 

Harry thrust his hand into his papa’s face. “Look! I’m orange!” Severus just smiled at the adorable antics of the child, who’s attention was now drawn to the Slytherin’s glowing arm.

 

“Wow,” Severus heard from next to him. He looked over to the Gryffindor, who had his hands out in front of him, just gazing at the glow spread all across them. “I’m,” James started, then paused, a fond smile slowly growing onto his face. “I’m his father.”

 

Against his better judgement, Severus heard himself saying, “He looks just like you.”

 

“I know,” James replied, attention still on the glow of his arms. “But this- this makes it real.”

 

Severus didn’t reply, turning his head to look down at the child, the glow fading from all three. Secretly, he agreed.

 

The glow was gone in the next couple of seconds. 

 

“Well,” Madam Pomfrey determined. “It seems as if the two of you are indeed the child’s parents. Now hurry along, I have other patients to take care of. Unless you want me keeping you here all night.” 

 

She didn’t have to tell Severus twice. He gently picked up Harry, who was frowning at his hands. Severus hid a smile at the clear disappointment the child had at the lack of a glow. Passing the Gryffindor, Severus exited the enclosed area, determined to forget everything that had just transpired, fail at that, and then wallow in his room. 

 

He stopped short when fiery red hair danced past his vision.

 

“Lily?” Severus pondered. “What are you doing here?”

 

The redhead turned around, a look of surprise on her face as well. Understanding dawned on her face when she saw the boy in his arms, however. She left her location right outside another curtained off area and bounded over to the duo.

 

“Hey, Sev!” She greeted him, waving at Harry. “Did Pomprey check up on him? How is he?” She then rested a hand on his shoulder, pulling them closer with a serious expression. Talking quietly, she inquired, “Did you two do the paternity test? What were the results?”

 

Based on Severus noticing that Lily’s eyes had darted past the pair in front of her, the Slytherin could tell that she was referring to both aforementioned parents.

 

“Yeah, he’s fine. In full health. And,” he leaned closer and whispered, “both the tests were successful. He is indeed-” And here Severus paused. He needed to take a breath. “Indeed the other father.”

 

Severus watched Lily not respond, just keeping eye contact with him, but he knew she was a forward pushing woman. She would have more to say. And he’s really been through a lot in the last two days. He should really be allowed a break. He did not want to have to discuss this matter yet. Truthfully at all, but he knew that with the redhead as a best friend, that wish was a lost cause.

 

“So,” Severus cut in, noticing that her mouth had opened, preparing to speak. “You never informed me as to why you are here currently.”

 

“Oh,” the woman uttered, taken aback. She looked away, dazed with a concerned expression, as if arguing with herself as to whether or not to tell the raven. She bit her lip, and relented, making eye contact with Severus. “It’s my friend, Mary. She, well, she can’t remember anything from when she was five to when she arrived at  Hogwarts. And it’s not the natural way we forget things; she can’t remember anything from then. At all.” She broke eye contact, looking down. “I’m worried for her.”

 

Severus didn’t respond, busy contemplating what he had just heard. What could have caused that? He had a few ideas drifting around in his head, nothing with certainty sadly, but Harry interrupted before he could voice any.

 

He felt the boy moving against him and glanced down, only to see the boy’s outstretched hand grasp at the long, red hair of the Gryffindor. “Hi, Auntie Lily.” the boy shyly muttered, looking up at the woman with what could only be the widest, most adorable eyes in existence.

 

Lily couldn’t help but coo. She reached her hand over and tapped the little boy briefly on the nose. “Boop!”

 

Harry moved back slightly, scrunching his nose, before he looked up and grinned widely, giggling at the woman in front of him. He let go of the hair, turning and burying his head in his papa’s chest, embarrassed but still looking at the woman from the side of his vision gleefully. 

 

Severus could see the stupid, dopey smile on Lily’s face, and he refused to think about his own face. He knew that it was reflecting hers.

 

Lily’s eyes skimmed past the father-son pair, and Severus noticed the smile on her face fading. Still looking past him, she calmly stated. “Don’t look now, but a certain Gryffindor seeker is loitering at the entrance to the hospital wing.”

 

Severus had to physically stop himself from turning in shock. Why was Potter still here?! He got the paternity test. He knew that Harry had potter blood flowing through his veins. He knew at some point he and Severus would end up… making a baby in some way. What else did he want!?

 

“Hey, so,” Lily continued, drawing Severus out of his turmoil. “Did anything happen during the, uh, get together? Did Potter do something stupid? You said you’d tell me.”

 

She was right. Severus had promised her that he’d mention anything bad that happened. And he did have something to say. Something had happened. Potter had insulted him and, now that Severus had looked back, he hadn’t really apologized. He hesitated.

 

“No, nothing really happened,” was the response that ended up coming out, shocking even Severus, and certainly shocking Lily.

 

“Are you sure?” She prodded, eyebrows raised. Clearly she didn’t believe him.

 

“Yeah, I- I just stayed away from him. Didn’t really interact much except for Potter attempting to make some very awkward small talk.”

 

“Yeah, that would be really awkward, wouldn’t it.” She grimaced, the unwanted image popping up in her head. Severus just held Harry closer, not wanting to acknowledge what he had just done.

Notes:

Uhm, there's FANART?!? If you want to see, go to the beginning notes!

Also, on a more serious note, I hope everyone stays healthy and safe wherever you may be.

Chapter 8: A Walk in the Park

Notes:

I'm sorry it's been so long since the last chapter! I could give a lot of reasons, but the only real one is my current really bad writer's block. As such, I can't guarantee any future chapters being any faster.

However, regardless of that, I am here now with a new chapter! I hope you all enjoy it!

Please give comments and kudos! I love reading them, and they were very supportive. As always, if there are any grammatical errors, anything to be more British, and any canon issues, please inform me!

Have a wonderful day, and stay safe everyone~

Severus sighed, knowing that he wouldn’t be able to put it off much longer. Not with Madam Pomfrey giving him a very pointed look saying that, unless he wanted to be treated like a bedridden patient, he should leave.

 

He decided to very wisely heed her advice.

 

He could feel himself dragging his feet as he made his way closer to the entrance to the hospital wing. And it most certainly didn’t help that Lily was holding his upper arm and was not-so-sneakily trying to pull Severus towards the entrance. And towards him .

 

“Hello, Potter!” Severus heard from next to him, way sooner than he’d like to hear it. Had he really already reached the Gryffindor? He could have sworn that they had only been moving for  a couple of seconds. He averted his gaze for as long as possible, childishly putting off the interaction as long as he could.

 

“Hey Evans,” Severus heard from the side, in the cocky, boorish way that was common for Potter towards Lily. Severus grimaced and rolled his eyes at the playboy behavior. Of course Potter hadn’t changed at all after the discovery. With Severus caring for a child of all things and being forced to the limits of his comfort zones to accommodate everyone else, of course Potter would get off easy.

 

He froze up when he heard a calmly muttered “Hi, Snape,” in a much more mature way than was expected. Not that he was expecting to be addressed at all. Or wanted to be addressed.

 

Severus stubbornly kept his eye contact on the floor, unknowingly pouting slightly. His attention was diverted from the frankly very interesting floor to the child in his arms when Harry started giggling. “Papa is so cute!” he declared, bringing his chubby hand up and poking the Slytherin in the cheek. 

 

Severus just stared at the child, affronted, not being able to say anything in response. Where did this child see any cuteness in this lanky, slimy individual? The almost exaggerated expression of pure dubiety on his face just made Harry giggle harder.

 

Unbeknownst to both, James had been focusing on the duo. And he almost didn’t admit to himself that he saw, and understood, what Harry was talking about.

 

James just shook his head slightly, looking away and biting his lip. He just didn’t know.

 

Both males got shaken out of their stupors when they heard a bright “Daddy!” Severus had to quickly readjust his hold on the child as Harry turned in his hands, reaching out to the Gryffindor. 

 

James didn’t have a moment to think before he suddenly had an armful of toddler, adorably grinning up at him, eyes sparkling. Harry’s attention was diverted by the red and gold tie in front of him, and he moved his small chubby hand to grab at it curiously. 

 

James unconsciously tightened his hold.

 

“So, Potter... why are you still here? Waiting for someone?” The redhead asked, clearly trying to  prompt something out of the seeker. Her eyes very obviously darted over to Severus, who met her gaze with a scorching glare.

 

“Well, I just, um…” James started in response, not concluding as he was distracted by Harry tugging his tie a little too hard. “Uhhh…”

 

“How articulate, Potter” Severus uttered dryly, a little too loud to be muttering under his breath.

 

James pursued his lips, attempting to not rise up to the bait, and choosing to focus on trying to get his tie back from Harry instead. Severus looked away awkwardly. The Gryffindor was apparently trying to be civil, but since their entire relationship was defined only by severe animosity, there wasn’t really anything else that connected them.

 

Besides the child right there of course. How that fact fell out of Severus’s mind for even a second made no sense to him. This was a very big factor that literally changed EVERYTHING in his life! 

 

Severus glanced back up at the duo, finding himself grimace as he witnessed them. It also didn’t help that Harry being in Potter’s hands emphasized just how similar the two looked.

 

“I just- I wanted to spend more time with Harry,” James finally provided, gingerly placing a hand on the child- his son’s - head. 

 

Severus and Lily exchanged a glance, and he knew in an instance what she was going to suggest. Sadly, he didn’t respond fast enough to prevent it. 

 

He also may not have completely tried because, as a Slytherin, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to stop Lily. He knew to quit while he was ahead.

 

“Well, Dumbledore suggested that Sev could show Harry around the campus since it’s a free day today. Maybe you could join them?”

 

Harry gasped and grinned widely, resorting to nod rapidly to express his excitement. He wiggled around, forcing his daddy to reinforce his grip on the child so he wouldn’t fall. 

 

James, on the other hand, didn’t respond immediately. He just looked at Lily, blinking. His eyes darted over to the Slytherin, who simply broke eye contact without saying anything, which surprised James. He would have expected the other to protest considering everything that happened so far in the day. “Uhm, yeah. I’d really enjoy that,” he concluded. 

 

Harry squealed, his arms gripping his daddy’s. “Me and daddy and papa goin’ outside an’ we’re goin’ to play and have so much fun an’-” he continued, babbling on and on in excitement, and making Severus feel a confusion meld of emotions. He felt very heartwarmed and loving with how excited the boy was, but he also started to feel guilty as the boy went on. He knew he wouldn’t enjoy the outing as much as Harry would hope.

 

“Anyway, Sev,” Lily said, turning to address the Slytherin. “I’m going to stay here with Mary for now, but I think I’ll drop by your room in the afternoon. Have fun without me, and tell me everything that happens, alright?” Lily gave him a pointed look, before waving goodbye to Harry and skipping back into the main part of the office.

 

“Bye-bye,” Harry uttered softly, waving a small hand from his position in his Daddy’s arms, before reaching out to his gobsmacked papa, who absentmindedly took the child while looking at the redhead’s retreating back.

 

Next thing Severus knew, he was outside walking on the grass alongside the Great Lake with a child in his arms and motherf*cking Potter walking next to him. No wonder everyone was staring at them.

 

Harry didn’t seem to mind from where he was being carried in the raven’s arms. He was waving at the people behind the trio as he peeked above his papa’s shoulder with his sparkling eyes.

 

Severus wanted so badly to yell at the man besides him and let all of his concerns spill onto the grass hill below, but all he could do was grit his teeth. And even that didn’t work since Harry quite easily noticed the tenseness, expressing concern and making Severus feel guilty. 

 

All of this turmoil because of him.

 

Severus could feel the Gryffindor beside him leaning closer, most likely to grab Harry (Severus couldn’t tell since his eyes were stuck to the grassy floor), but Potter was halted when Severus stopped short.

 

Maybe Severus was clairvoyant, or maybe he just had a gram of a terror-filled self-preserving sixth sense, but somehow Severus knew something was about to go wrong. And when he raised his head his eyes rested on a certain pair, standing far enough that he wouldn’t hear them easily but close enough for them to notice him easily, who were currently missing their leader and their pet rat. 

 

Severus was extremely tempted to turn around and book it, because even though he could take on the marauders if he wanted to, somehow he wasn’t feeling up to having a repeat of what happened earlier that day, where the entirety of his world turned upside down and covered him in rotting wildlife and sewage. Okay, maybe the description was a bit much, but he earned it, by Merlin!

 

But before he could act on his decision, he stiffened up at the blatant intrusion of a large hand on his shoulder. Just there without permission. How dare he? The raven turned his head with barely sealed contempt towards the seeker, who surprisingly was not looking at the raven. Rather, he was looking ahead towards his group of idiot Gryffindors.

 

“Wait here,” Potter said calmly, and before Severus could get a scathing word in, James started making his way towards the pair, leaving the Slytherin fairly gobsmacked.

 

Severus just stood there holding Harry, who started wiggling with his desire to be put down. The raven absentmindedly placed him down and squatted, engaging the toddler, but still not fully present. He was wary of the others, but they were unluckily out of earshot for him, leaving him a bit frustrated. 

 

His attention was taken off the Gryffindors at Harry’s incessant attempts to capture his papa’s regard, holding up several blades of grass and a flower up to his papa. Unknowingly, the child did an excellent job of distracting the Slytherin from the most probable imminent doom, and he even managed to almost forget about the tormentors.

 

Sadly, that didn’t last very long.

 

Severus was startled when a large foot stomped into his line of vision, subconsciously bringing Harry into his arms to protect him. 

 

Feeling like he was stuck moving in slow motion, his eyes travelled up the leg of the intruder to land on the face of the very livid guard dog of the moronic pranksters.

 

Severus could almost see the cartoonish puff of air exuding from the Gryffindor’s nostrils, but this situation was not the exaggerated anger that resulted in childish amusement. This would undoubtedly be much more crippling. “That CHILD-” 

 

Sirius was halted when James caught up to him and grabbed his shoulder, intending to accost his friend judging from his stern expression. However, neither of them were able to start the unquestionable yelling spout due to someone else interrupting them.

 

“Unkie Padfoot!” Harry called with glittering eyes from his place in Severus’s arms. This exclamation caused a reaction similar to the one earlier that day; the present marauders and Severus were shocked into silence. At least until the child started wiggling in the Slytherin’s arms from excitement.

 

Remus, who at this point had leisurely caught up and was standing on the other side of Sirius, merely stared at the boy, almost lost in thought. “Unkie?” he remarked softly.

 

Severus was startled once again when James leaned closer to him, basically jumping as he sat and jostling Harry enough to have the boy be concerned about his papa. Wow, it’s not like the emotional trauma Severus went through that morning was happening again against every one of his conceivable wishes. 

 

Why can he never get a break?

 

Although this time Potter wasn’t being very forceful with his demands. Which was actually even more unsettling to Severus. 

 

Potter held his hands up, attempting to calm the panic the raven was going through. “Hey, uh, I just wanted to ask if Siri can carry him? He seems really excited to see him,” not fully being able to hide his joy. The Gryffindor was elated that his friends were seemingly in his child’s life in the future, having to bite his lip to avoid the giant smile from spreading on his face.

 

Severus gazed at James, still overwhelmed and tense, but it was very clear by the tightening of his grip on Harry what his response to the question was.

 

This no doubt miffed the dog, who started snarling at the Slytherin, stepping forward and intimidatingly hovering over him. “You sleazy, slimy snake. How dare you act like that boy would be in danger with me, I am a much better role model to him than any Slytherin would be, let alone his papa Snivellus .”

 

Severus’s expression hardened with each sentence said, and a sneer emerged on his face when the Gryffindor attempted to reach a hand out towards the child. He tightened his hold on his son, but it turns out that Severus didn’t need to do anything, as Harry scrunched his face and batted the Gryffindor’s arm away.

 

“Don’t hurt papa!” The child declared, adorably and stubbornly glaring at his godfather, who just stared back at him in utter shock. “Papa is kind,” he continued softly, wrapping his arms around his papa’s.

 

Sirius shook himself out of his shock, where he then tried to inform the child of the blatant lies he was clearly fed. “Harry-”

 

“No!” Harry cried, rubbing his face against his papa’s arm. “I’m mad at you. Say sorry to papa!”

 

Sirius’s calm expression started showing his trepidation. “Harry-” he attempted again.

 

“Say sorry!” It was clear that Harry would not allow him to continue without apologizing to the Slytherin, who himself was just watching in anxious dismay as to what was happening.

 

Severus watched Sirius, alarmed at what could end up happening. He didn’t want any interaction with the Gryffindor, not even a coerced apology. Though Severus would have normally enjoyed seeing the other squirm with long-coming comeuppance, this was not the time and place for it. 

 

Sirius's eyes shifted around, trying to determine what he should do. Once he locked eyes with Severus, however, he clearly made a decision, as he grit his teeth in anger, turned around, and stormed off towards the castle. Remus looked back at the father-son duo, before turning and following his friend.

 

Severus watched them retreat, before remembering that there was another member of the group still present and shifting his gaze towards the final Gryffindor. 

 

James had stood up, focused also on the retreating pair, before drawing his attention back at the Slytherin. “I’m sorry, uh, about him.” It seemed like James wanted to promise a change in his friend’s behavior, but he just sighed, not letting the words leave his lips.

 

He smiled down at Harry, with a loving expression that was so foreign to Severus, though he knew what it was. He had lost hope that the expression would ever be shown towards him by anyone anymore.

 

“Bye Harry. I’ll see you again soon,” James promised lovingly, before his eyes darted up towards the other father, his smile fading, as he then turned and ran off after his friends.

 

Severus was left kneeling with Harry tightly clutching his arm, completely befuddled, with the boy waving at his daddy’s retreating back.

Chapter 9: Crying Over Spilled Wormwood Essence

Notes:

*crawls out from under rock* Hey, guys...

I'm sorry this took so long. But now that it's here I hope you all will enjoy it! Late Thanksgiving present?

I know I typically ask for you guys to point out inaccuracies in Harry Potter canon, but for this one I think there needs to be a little suspension of disbelief purely because I may not know how it works and it may ruin this chapter if it doesn't work like I thought. So uh, I guess it's a favor?

Also, I'm not sure how it happened, but it seems like all my chapter titles from now on will be magic world transformed common phrases. I look forward to the possible puns I can make in the future.

As always, grammatical errors or more ways to be British are always welcome. Again, the next update will probably be slow, but hopefully you all will wait for it. Please enjoy the chapter!

Severus’s day started with a light but somewhat inconsiderate patting on his face. As he scrunched up his face in mild irritation, he opened his eyes, squinting at the bright light coming in from the window. Once his eyes focused to the light, a little bit away from him lay a small boy that was doing a really bad job of hiding from his papa in the blankets.

 

Severus felt himself smiling uncontrollably at the sight. “Hey Harry, you know I can hear you giggling right?” The boy merely giggled harder, at which Severus picked him up from under the blankets and brought him close for a hug.

 

As Severus hugged his child, a realization passed through his mind that made the grin fall off his face. 

 

“Oh no, it’s Monday isn’t it” he sighed, remembering what was going to happen that day. The next big hurdle: taking Harry to his classes for the first time. A bunch of teenagers experimenting with dangerous spells and hazardous materials. Surely nothing could go wrong.

 

After all the events from the previous Saturday- the memories of which Severus is attempting to not remember, thank you very much- Severus spent the next day huddled up in his room with Harry, having the house-elves bring them their meals. It was nice not having to see anyone else that day, except for Lily of course, who spent several hours with Severus in an attempt at a study session that was interrupted quite frequently by an adorable nuisance.

 

Sadly Severus can’t escape the imbecilic Gryffindors any longer. Especially today.

 

“Papa, potty!” Harry called, hands outstretched. Severus responded by swiftly ferrying them both off to the bathroom, and made the wise decision to get the both of them ready at the same time. So after brushing their teeth and having a nice bath, both were dressed and ready for the day. 

 

At least on the outside in Severus’s case.

 

Severus dragged on when putting his school materials in his bag. He didn’t want to have to go outside. He wanted to stay in his little bubble with Harry and occasionally Lily. But, he reasoned, doing well in academics was his thing. 

 

And as he turned back and looked at his child, who was attempting to carry at least five stuffed toys with him and not making any progress because he kept dropping one and dropping another when trying to pick up the first, he resolved that he couldn’t change that aspect of himself. He knew he needed to have that for himself at least. 

 

Smiling, Severus placed the bag strap on his shoulder and turned to the boy. “Harry, you won’t need those toys.”

 

“But papa! I need!” And he widened his eyes and pushed his lips out in an exaggerated pout, knowing from experience that his papa would give in. And while this action should have given Severus a huge dopey grin (and absolutely giving in to the spoiled child), the love he felt was dampened by a pool of fear and rage. Because he had seen that same pout on the face of a certain pompous Gryffindor during his many inconsiderate interactions with Lily.

 

One more thing that ignorant Potter has ruined for me , he thought bitterly. But as he looked back at his child, he could see that the boy was shocked and disappointed that the raven didn’t respond as he expected. Now his eyes were wide with worry and his lips were getting legitimately pouty and were starting to shake. 

 

Severus felt himself panic, and before it became too much, he strolled over, picked up the child, and found himself saying, “Fine. Bring one toy .” He reached his hand over and plucked out a certain familiar plushie that was only hanging on by a wing in Harry’s arms. “I’m assuming you want Hawky?”

 

Harry nodded simply, not wanting to be put down yet, and started sucking his fingers while grinning widely at his papa. Severus gave the toy back to the boy, and taking a deep breath in and out, he opened the door and exited his safe zone.

 

His transfiguration class was no issue truthfully. He shared this class with the Ravenclaws, and they mainly kept to their own in order to do well, as sixth year really ramped up the difficulty in the class. When he entered, Professor McGonagall actually smiled at the young boy, before bringing Severus’s attention to a small chair located next to his desk. That period was spent with the students doing a safe transformation of cauldron cakes to cabbages, which he suspects was done to prevent any possible injuries to the boy. The professor paused to check in with Severus about the whole situation, but he suspected that there was a separate reason for the interaction based on the sticky dark brown crumbs around Harry’s mouth after. 

 

Really. Harry even managed to melt the heart of the deputy headmistress.

 

After that was his charms class, which was a bit more eventful in that he happened to share it with Hufflepuffs, and they were quite eager to spend time with and chat with Harry. After attempting to rally his class together for a bit, Professor Flitwick gave up, shrugging and smiling as he sat at his desk, before inevitably joining the Hufflepuffs. Although his questions for the boy had more to do with his time traveling than the boy himself. 

 

Severus was completely uncomfortable under all the attention and ended up shrinking back and letting Harry take the stage. And he was a natural, spoiled with attention from his parents and loving the other students paying attention to him. Yet another thing that didn’t come from me , Severus thought bitterly, though he did acknowledge that it would be better for Harry to be good with people than to be like him, standoffish and unsociable.

 

After a pretty grueling experience for Severus, though a very fun one for Harry, came the one class Severus was dreading: Potions. Which would normally be fine, as Severus was quite fond of potions, but he shared this class with the Gryffindors. Because of course he did. And he was quite used to things happening in that class that would affect him in some way, usually ruining his robes or sending him to the hospital wing. 

 

Hopefully that won't happen this time. Hopefully.

 

Severus entered with very little time before the class started, as he may have been dragging his feet a bit. Once he entered, he avoided eye contact and rushed to his desk. At least, he attempted it.

 

“Ah, Mr. Snape!” a jovial voice came from behind him. Severus felt more bitterness well up inside him. Besides Lily, there wasn’t really any person at this school that he had good experiences with. This person, Severus felt, was especially bad.

 

Professor Slughorn. Head of Slytherin. He was supposed to help his Slytherins and care for all his students, but the old man only cared about image and acquainted himself with people he deemed worthy. He fawned over Lily’s potion abilities often, despite the fact that Severus was usually right next to her having done more to advance their potion. He was ignored outright, and the professor didn’t do anything when Black or Potter picked on him except for occasionally lightly scolding them verbally.

 

The professor waved him over, and began to speak apologetically when Severus strode over. “I’m sorry my boy, but the young lad will have to sit here during the class. Today we are creating the Draught of Living Death, which as I’m sure you know would be way too dangerous for a tot to be close to.” While talking, he brought Severus’s attention to a small chair next to the professor’s desk.

 

Severus pursed his lips, but ultimately agreed with the Professor. The Draught of Living Death was easy to mess up and was difficult to counter if inflicted. And while he trusted (let’s be honest, hoped ) that Harry was more intelligent than to put himself in harm’s way, the Slytherin had to acknowledge that the child was only three years old and would not know any better. Also the fact that he unfortunately happened to have some... reckless blood in him.

 

He placed Harry down in the chair, who tried to hold onto his papa when he straightened up. “Papa,” he said, eyes wide, clearly wanting to voice his concern. Severus gave him an understanding half-smile. 

 

“I’m sorry Harry, but it’s only for this class, okay? You’ll have Hawky during it as well.” Harry puffed out his cheeks and pouted, cuddling his plushy in his crossed arms. He didn’t answer his papa verbally, but he gave a small nod in order to convey that he understood. He pouted even harder to convey that he wasn’t going to be happy about it though.

 

Severus couldn’t help but smile lovingly at that, patting Harry on the head before he turned to return to his desk, his smile disappearing. Looking up, he saw that, thankfully, Lily had taken the spot next to him. Relieved, he sat next to his best friend, who started excitedly talking to him, and they were able to relax and it was almost like it used to be.

 

Except, if Severus had been a little more attentive, he would have seen the two individuals a desk to the right and back from the duo, who were both watching them. James’s gaze wandered from the duo and landed on Harry, who noticed and waved vigorously, nearly falling out of his chair. James smiled at his antics, not noticing that his lab partner’s gaze had wavered and landed on the seeker, a perplexed expression on his face with his eyes narrowed. It was clear that Sirius did not understand what was going through his best friend’s head.

 

He had to do something about this.

 

The class started, and Professor Slughorn boisterously announced the potion for the day, instructing the students to begin with the potion before sitting at his desk and quietly engaging Harry. 

 

Severus managed to take his mind off his child and was one of the first people to get all the ingredients and return to his desk. This was potions, where he thrived. This was his moment to shine.

 

Lily knew how to work with Severus. Let him take the lead and have everything ready for him. Much like a head chef and a sous chef in the muggle world, as she had described it to him several times before. He had the mind to know how to better their potions, even beyond what the textbook said. Lily had seen him write new instructions in his potions books that worked better than the official ones.

 

While Severus and Lily were getting started by prepping the ingredients, another duo were collecting theirs. James had delayed them a bit by waving to Harry and holding a small conversation with the boy, so they were one of the last groups in the ingredient store room. The two Gryffindors went around grabbing the ingredients, but while James was finishing up, Sirius hesitated before sneakily grabbed something extra.

 

Before the two could leave the store room, however, Sirius decided to take action and grabbed James’s arm before he exited.

 

James turned around, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “Padfoot?”

 

Sirius did not have a specific reason to grab his arm, but as he was trying to word it, rage built up in Sirius’s head until he sharply spat out his next words. “I cannot believe you are blindly accepting what Snivellus is saying.”

 

James’s expression shifted from confusion to annoyance once he understood what Sirius had stopped him for. He sighed. “Sirius, I got the bloody parental test and the child even f*cking looks like me! What more do you want? I’m hoping that because he recognized you you’ll clearly be in his life, which means that you’ll eventually come around to him. Please can we drop this? He is clearly my child.”

 

“Fine. Even so, why are you being nicer to slimy Snivellus? You don’t need to be nicer to him to have Harry as your child.”

 

James sighed again, suddenly feeling tired and bringing a hand up to his head, before turning to exit the store room. “Let’s just go and finish the potion. And don’t call him that.”

 

Sirius fumed, but relented, following James as they made their way to their desk. But as Sirius’s anger raged, he decided to do what he did best: he acted on his reckless plan. He messed with Snivellus.

 

As Sirius approached Severus’s desk in order to reach his own, the Slytherin had just finished adding the wormwood essence and had just straightened out his cauldron. To Sirius, it seemed like the universe itself approved of his plan, as Severus turned his head to the side to instruct Lily as he passed. Sirius, without looking over, straightened out his hand and dropped some mallowsweet stalks into Severus’s cauldron.

 

Severus immediately knew something was up as he turned back and glared at Black accusingly, who just smirked. Sirius was surprised when James grabbed him, stealthily but harshly. 

 

James had seen Severus glaring at Sirius. “What did you do?” he demanded.

 

But before Sirius could snarl back, a loud rumble diverted their attention, and to James’s horror, it came from the cauldron they had just passed. Severus could see that the potion was rolling and active, which Black should have known because the potion was very vulnerable at this stage, as now it had become unstable. 

 

The class was almost in chaos, with people pausing to watch the disaster build up, tentative with whether they should retreat to the back of the classroom.

 

“Professor Slughorn!” Lily called urgently. “Please help us!” The professor replied with an affirmation, pushing himself up to stride over.

 

“Papa?” Severus somehow heard quietly, and he could tell that Harry was very worried about what was happening. 

 

“It’s okay, Harry,” Severus consoled, not certain if the boy could even hear him or if he was even able to convey the sincerity convincingly. Severus wanted to be sure, but he had no clue what was going to happen.

 

And suddenly, things took a turn for the worse. The potion, which had been rolling at a smaller level, started bubbling and rising rapidly. It was all happening too quickly. Severus didn’t know what Black had put in, so he couldn’t try to counter what was happening. The potion was bubbling and rising almost out of the pot.

 

Severus in a flash knew what would happen. He tried to reach for his wand, but it happened too quickly. Before anyone could do anything, before the professor reached them, before Lily could move out of the way, the potion exploded.

 

Severus closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable feeling of the liquid hitting him and drenching his clothes, possibly resulting in burns or hives that would send him to the nurse’s office. But nothing happened. Everything was silent after the explosion, other than the loud shrieking of his son. And yet that wasn’t what held everyone’s attention.

 

Severus opened his eyes to see a powerful shield charm in front of him and Lily, which was covered by the now dark blue viscous liquid. As he saw it drip onto the floor and burn through the wood, Severus thought Thank Merlin that didn’t land on me or Lily .

 

Severus gasped, taking his attention off the shield charm and landing on Harry. Other students in the front had moved forward cautiously and were trying to calm him down, but to no avail. Harry was wailing at the top of his lungs, choked gasps in between his cries with tears streaming down his face. The raven immediately stood up and hurriedly walked towards Harry, walking around the shield charm. He picked the child, who burrowed his face in his robes, still crying loudly.

 

“Harry, wha-? Harry, it’s okay. Why are you crying?” Severus said. He didn’t expect an answer, but to his surprise, Harry hiccuped, and started speaking.

 

“Papa wa’ gonna be hur’,” he said softly, taking choked gasps between the words, before going back to wailing. Severus just found himself rocking the boy in his arms gently, not knowing what to do to calm him down.

 

“I didn’t cast that shield charm, Sev,” the raven heard from behind him, As he turned to face Lily bewildered, he halted at her shocked expression. Holding eye contact, she continued. “I don’t think anyone casted that charm, Severus.” And the meaning of her words became clear to him when her eyes landed on the sobbing, sniffling child in his arms.

 

Severus stood, shell-shocked at what she was implying. But this wasn’t the time. The class was in chaos, and no matter what he tried, Harry would not stop crying.

 

Walking back towards his desk, he addressed the professor, who had disabled the shield charm and was fixing the burned through floor.

 

“Professor, I don’t think he is going to calm down right now. Could we leave the class period?”

 

Professor Slughorn looked up from the floor. “Of course,” he said. Simple as that.

 

Severus left the classroom with Harry in his hands. As he started making his way back to their room, with still absolutely no clue as to what to do here, he heard footsteps approaching him, and before he could turn to address them, they made themselves known.

 

“Hey,” Potter said, breathing a bit heavily as he ran over. 

 

Severus grimaced. “Why are you out of class?”

 

Potter held eye contact with the raven after that question, as if the Slytherin should know why. “Professor Slughorn allowed me too. Because I’m his father. It’s not like I wanted to just skip out on class. I wanted to make sure he’s all right.” As he said this, the Gryffindor reached his hand over and stroked Harry’s head, wiping a tear away from the boy’s cheekbone with his thumb. 

 

Severus would never admit it, but his heart clenched a bit when he saw that. 

 

At this point, Harry had stopped bawling, but he was still sniffling and crying quietly. It was clear that he was really scared, and Severus’s eyes softened every time he focused on Harry. It was off putting to him; Harry was the bright child that led the way for Severus and lightened his day. 

 

Seeing him like this was wrong. But he didn’t know what to do.

 

“Harry, Aunt Lily and I are okay. You don’t need to cry anymore.” Despite his reassurances, Harry did not cheer up even a little.

 

James watched this interaction, brainstorming on his own for how to restore Harry to his bright self. As he watched Harry sniffle once more, an idea popped into his head, and he smiled. He knew this would work.

 

Darting forward, he grabbed Snape’s wrist, who flinched his hand away at once. James’s smile faltered a bit, but he pushed that aside and carried on. “I know a place,” he cryptically uttered, gesturing for Snape to follow him before turning and walking towards a stairwell.

 

Severus obviously had reservations, but it was so clear to him that James was starting to take on his role as a father. He wanted to cheer Harry up as much as Severus did. And so, against his better judgement, he trusted him.

 

Several minutes later, Severus found himself in the hallway leading to the Hufflepuff common room. He was baffled as to where Potter was leading them. Looking down, he shifted his grip, moving Harry to his other side. The boy had quieted down and wasn’t crying anymore, but he was clearly still upset.

 

Severus slowed when he saw that the Gryffindor seeker had stopped. As Potter turned to him, he smirked and started making embellished movements, speaking in a tour guide’s voice.

 

Severus knew that he was doing this to try to cheer up Harry, and he indeed had the boy’s attention. However, he had a nagging feeling at the back of his head that it was somehow also for him. But that, of course, clearly made no sense, so Severus tossed that thought out of his mind’s hypothetical window.

 

“And here we have reached our final destination. This intricate painting was made in the 12th century, by an up and coming modern wizard, or at least that’s what he was thought to be until it was revealed to be a young maiden under several glamors! What a wonderful rich history this painting has!”

 

Well, Severus could see a small smirk on Harry’s face, so he guessed that the Gryffindor’s performance was acceptable. But not for him.

 

“It’s a bunch of fruit,” he deadpanned, before turning to Potter. “What are we doing here?” He dryly uttered this, clearly unamused.

 

“Ah, but you see, dear visitor,” Potter exclaimed, still keeping up the theatrics. “Here I will show you, gasp! A magic trick . Oh, you will be so amazed!”

 

Severus merely raised an eyebrow. He could feel Harry silently giggling, but he didn’t know that the boy was laughing at his reaction in particular. James did see this, however, and he felt his grin grow wider.

 

Moving forwards exaggeratingly, he thrusted a hand out and started tickling the pear. After a few tense seconds where Severus was questioning the Gryffindor’s sanity, to his surprise the pear turned into a handle, which Potter grabbed and turned.

 

The painting swished open, and as Severus entered, he realized where they were. “We’re in the kitchens?” He asked, surprised.

 

James smiled proudly, as he actually managed to get a reaction out of the stone-faced Slytherin. “Yes it is! What was it that tipped you off? The many frankly scrumptious aromas that permeate the air? Or was it the many house elves, going through an honest day’s work in the Hogwarts kitchens?”

 

Severus, ignoring his words, turned towards the seeker. “How did you know this was here?”

 

James (a moment too late, according to Severus) dropped the act, but not the smirk on his face. “I know many of the secrets this old school has. Are you impressed?”

 

Severus didn’t answer, but hated the fact that he was indeed a little impressed with the Gryffindor. But his mood soured once again. Must be one of those many times he was out after curfew without ever getting punished .

 

James could tell his answer from the raven’s former pursed lips, but he decided to keep that information to himself.

 

“Alright, let's sit down and ask the house elves for some food. What do you want to eat, Harry?”

 

Harry didn’t answer right away, waiting for his papa to place him in a chair, and for his papa and daddy to sit down themselves. Smiling, he answered “Treacle tart!”

 

Severus's parental instincts instantly went off. “Harry, you haven’t had lunch yet. If you’re going to eat something, eat something healthy.”

 

“Come on, Snape,” James prompted, smiling softly. He sighed, the smile turning into a concerned expression as he looked away. “He just went through something… frankly, traumatizing.”

 

James made eye contact with Severus again, who was a little shocked by how mature he was being. “He thought the person he loved most was going to get hurt. Considering that, maybe he should be allowed to have a sweet?”

 

Severus pursed his lips, but looking down at Harry, ultimately relented. “Okay Harry,” he said softly with a smile, resolving that it was definitely not the child’s puppy dog eyes that changed his mind. 

 

James watched the interaction smiling, then waved over a house elf. “Can we have…,” directing back towards Severus, “Do you want one?” At the shake of the head, James finished his order. “Can we have two treacle tarts and three pumpkin juices please?”

 

At Severus’s inquisitive look, James just smiled looking at Harry, who was finally excited again. “I guess we know where he got his love of treacle tart from.”

 

“One more thing from you,” Severus said quietly.

 

“Yup! Seems like he’ll grow to be a proper Gryffindor! He’s excitable and open to new adventures with a bright attitude, and he has the fierce protectiveness that we all stand by!” James stated this with pride, but as he gazed at the Slytherin who had turned away from him, his pride softened as he realized something.

 

“Actually,” the Gryffindor said softly, “I think he got that last trait from you.”

 

Severus turned his head towards him, perturbed, but as Potter raised one eyebrow slightly, his mind went back to two day ago, when he had yelled at the other in the Great Hall. Severus lowered his head. I guess I did get a bit emotional there , the raven thought, biting his lip in slight embarrassment. 

 

Severus glared at the Gryffindor when he heard him snickering, which only made him start laughing outright.

 

The house elf interrupted, thankfully, with the food for them, setting the glasses down in front of each person and setting the dishes in front of the father and son. Severus had to quickly intervene before Harry dug his hands in it, tucking a napkin into the collar of his top as a makeshift bib before letting the child enjoy it.

 

Before Severus could take a well deserved sip of his pumpkin juice, another house elf approached their table.

 

“Misters James Potter, Severus Snape, and the young Harry Potter have been summoned to the headmaster’s office as soon as your meal is finished.” The house elf walked off before anyone could respond.

 

Severus just looked back at Potter, who also looked confused. “What is that about? Why are we being summoned?” 

 

James shrugged. “I don’t know. But I guess I should start my treacle tart so we can go and find out.”

 

Severus didn’t respond to that, opting to take a sip from his glass. He looked over to see that Harry had finished his treat, with crumbs all over his face, the table, and in his plate. Grabbing a napkin, he started gently wiping the boy’s face, mind drifting off to the possibilities of what by Merlin Headmaster Dumbledore was calling them for.

Notes:

So slight explanation here: I fully believe Harry would have been able to cast a shield charm here. We know he's capable of powerful magic, even Pre-Hogwarts (he apparated to the top of his school), and it can be directed (he kept shrinking the sweater because he didn't want to wear it). As such, I believe that since he's very panicked and worried for his papa's safety, his magic might do something to protect him, in this case casting a shield charm.
Also, if you couldn't tell, the shield charm was the element that I needed the suspension of disbelief for, mostly because I'm not entirely sure if it can block potions? But you can see how this chapter would need to be rewritten completely if it couldn't.
Thank you all once again for going along with this, and with following this story in general! Thank you so much!

Chapter 10: The Lion in the Room

Notes:

Hello! It's really been a while, hasn't it? Sorry about that. A LOT (well, compared to normal) has happened in my personal life, but finally I bring you the new chapter!

I want to mention that I got an inbox message on Wattpad from a shady fanfiction site. I want to reiterate that you should not be paying for my stories. I have only posted this story on Archiveofourown under BooksR4ever, on Wattpad under BooksR4ever18, and on fanfiction.net under BooksR4ever. Please inform me if you see anyone other user posting this story or if it is on any other site.

As always, if there are any grammatical, British, or canon inaccuracies, please inform me in the comments! Constructive criticism is always welcome. Please call me out when I make a mistake, that's the only way I catch things.

I hope you enjoy!

Severus found himself once again walking with Potter and, oh by Merlin, their child . 

 

What is the world coming to?

 

This time, however, they did not have an audience of shell shocked students, as most students at this time were in classes or studying. After finishing their treats, the three were making their way to the headmaster’s office. Harry had opted to actually walk instead of being carried by the Slytherin, and Potter was doing an okay job at keeping him occupied. 

 

It certainly didn’t make Severus’s heart warm when he saw Potter grab the child and sweep him up before gently placing it back down and doing it all over again several seconds later. Certainly not.

 

Once the three of them reached the entrance to the headmaster’s office, the gargoyle immediately jumped to the side and revealed the entrance, to the surprise of the two students and to the awe of the small child clutching his papa’s leg. Severus glanced over to the Gryffindor, hesitating to move forward, but once Potter met his eyes he broke eye contact and strode forward. 

 

The three entered, Severus nearly tripping when Harry ran between his legs, asking to be carried. 

 

Sitting at his desk, the headmaster smiled gently at all of them and gestured wordlessly towards the chairs in front of him. Standing behind him were the deputy headmaster in all her glory and an auror, which Severus noticed piqued the Gryffindor’s interests.

 

Severus took the seat furthest into the office, picking Harry up and placing him on his lap, the child wriggling until his papa wrapped his arms around him. James sat down in the remaining chair, then when everyone was settled, started speaking. “So, why were we called here, headmaster?”

 

Albus continued smiling gently, opting to pick up the jar of sweets on his desk rather than answer the question. He held it out to the students. “Would any of you like a sweet? Harry?”

 

The child immediately nodded his head, but Severus’s expression soured. “No, Harry, you just had a treacle tart,” he said, his paternal instincts taking over again. He was too focused on the whining child to see James looking at his antics and smiling what would definitely be an unfamiliar expression on his face to the Slytherin. 

 

They straightened when they heard the auror clear his throat in a clear attempt to get them on track. Severus sat up straight. “So, professor?”

 

Albus kept the smile on his face, but his expression became more serious as he started getting into the matter at hand. “Yes. We have gotten an update from the aurors on the time travel situation. It seems that they do not have any idea what caused the portal that sent the young lad through time.” 

 

“What this means is that we do not have a clue on how to send young Harry back.”

 

At Severus’s more alert look, Albus continued with his conclusion. “It seems that the boy will be staying with us for longer than we expected.”

 

“What does that mean?” Severus inquired harshly, becoming irritated at the old man’s drawn out rhetoric. “How long will he be with us?” he posed, his tone becoming softer as he asked the question.

 

Albus paused, knowing that the answer would not be satisfying to the teen. At his hesitation, Minerva stepped in. “We cannot be sure, Mr. Snape. It could be several years in the extreme scenario, but we are certain that with the lack of information for the case, he will most likely be with us for at least a couple of months or so.”

 

Severus looked alarmed at this fact, with everyone else sharing his serious expression. Except for two individuals.

 

Harry, of course, was one of them, because he either couldn’t understand what was being said around him or didn’t care to pay attention. The second was a certain bespeckled Gryffindor.

 

James was confused looking around him at the others, but seeing the same expression on all of them he had no choice but to speak up. 

 

“Um, I understand that this is an issue, but I already didn’t believe that Harry would be able to quickly go home. Is there a particular reason you called us in here to tell us that? Or was this it?”

 

Minerva was the one to hesitate here, as all the adults in the room knew why this was truly concerning. However, Albus spoke before she could decide to inform the students of the predicament.

 

“It’s merely that, since the boy will be here longer, letters should be sent out informing your parents of this situation.”

 

Three different responses came out simultaneously at this, with James’s thrilled “Really!?” and Harry’s incomprehensible squeal clashing with Severus’s panicked “No!” Once coming down from his excited high, James registered the differing reaction from the other and looked over at the Slytherin, eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the other, with Severus hunching his shoulders and looking down, affrighted. James wisely decided not to say anything. 

 

“Papa?” Harry asked, looking up at the raven’s face, reaching up with his hand and gently touching his cheek. His papa gently raised his hand and started stroking the boy’s back, but his expression did not change at all. Harry did not like that expression on his papa’s face.

 

“Mr. Snape? Do you want to explain your outburst?” the deputy headmistress questioned.

 

Severus stalled his response, not responding to the professor, before raising his head and looking straight into the headmaster’s eyes. “Headmaster Dumbledore, please do not tell my parents,” he uttered, holding the professor’s gaze in a silent challenge. After a tense moment, the headmaster relented, blinking and sitting back, a smile growing on his face once more.

 

“Very well, Mr. Snape. Mr. Potter? I assume you have no issue with us informing your parents?”

 

“Uh, I mean…” James started, before looking over at Severus, asking a silent question. It took a little bit for Severus to realize that Potter was addressing him, but once he did, they held eye contact for just a moment more before the raven broke their eye contact and slightly shrugged his shoulders.

 

James held his gaze for a few more seconds before looking back to address his professors. “Yes. I mean no! I don’t have any issues with you telling my parents. Please tell them.”

 

“Excellent. Well, students, that is all that was to be discussed in this session. I understand that the news may be trying, but I believe the two of you can handle this responsibility.” Albus’s eyes twinkled as he regarded the students.

 

Severus stood up, making his way to leave, but stopped just shy of the entrance when he heard the Gryffindor speak. He seized up, but his panic lessened when he realized that the seeker’s words weren’t directed towards him.

 

“Hey, uh professor?” James inquired. When he had his professor’s attention, he hesitated, deliberating upon whether to go through with his sentiments, but ultimately he opted to go through with what he had set out to do.

 

“Just a while ago, uh... in potions, Siri meddled with Sev- Snape’s potion, and it nearly severely hurt him and Evans, and distressed Harry. If it wasn’t for the tot, the two would have absolutely had to go to the nurse’s office, or even St. Mungo’s. I knew he was up to something, though I didn’t know what, and I didn’t do anything. That was a bad thing to do, and I want us to be given the consequences.”

 

Albus raised an eyebrow, with Minerva fuming behind him. “My goodness, Mr. Potter! Mr. Black could have done so much harm!”

 

Albus settled the room with a harsh stare at the Gryffindor. “From what I had observed over the past six years, I would not have ever imagined you giving your partner up, Mr. Potter,” he uttered calmly in a low tone.

 

James didn’t say anything, merely bowing his head. With that, the headmaster leaned back to rest in his chair, the serious glare gone. “Very well. Mr. Black will be getting three months of detention with Mr. Filch for his punishment…” James, winced inwardly, knowing that the detentions with the Hogwarts caretaker were the worst kind, but he knew the other kind of deserved it. Doesn’t mean he can’t cringe on his behalf.

 

“As for you, Mr. Potter…” James steeled himself, ready for any punishment. “From what I have been told, you did not actually participate in this sabotage, instead aiming to prevent it? I’m not certain of the full details, I’ll have to speak to professor Slughorn and the sixth years present to truly reach a verdict, but for right now you won’t be punished for this.”

 

“What!” James exclaimed, affronted. “But I knew he was going to do something and didn’t confront him! I only stepped up when it was too late.”

 

Albus smiled gently, with a knowing glance in his eye. “Well maybe,” he paused, his eye gently flickering over to the entrance of his office. “Your punishment will be being a main caregiver for a certain child that will be on campus grounds for a while.”

 

James paused, still shell shocked, but straightened soon enough. Before making his way to the door he turned back to the headmaster. “Spending time with him isn’t a punishment, sir.”

 

James made his way to exit after that declaration, but stopped short when he saw Snape standing in the entrance, back towards him, not having left yet.

 

“Sever-,” James tried, but the raven darted out the entrance, and the seeker swiftly found himself alone. Disappointed at the blatant refusal, James found himself thinking over the conversation that was just had. He strolled out of the office, a new idea in his head that he for sure needed to implement.

 

The other teen meanwhile was making his way swiftly towards his room, not paying attention to any people around him. He was too in his head to focus on anything else.

 

Why had Potter turned Black in? What was that? Just like Dumbledore said, it was practically inconceivable for Potter to do that. Why was everything changing around him?

 

It was too much for Severus, who really needed to spend some time away from people (excluding Harry of course). Once he reached his abode he mumbled the password under his breath and entered when the door swung open. Once there he placed Harry down with his toys and took a seat on his bed for some very cathartic lack of activity. Although this was interrupted by Harry who asked his papa to play with him.

 

Severus refuses to admit that playing dolls with Harry was just as cathartic as what he was doing before.

 

He wasn’t aware of how long he spent playing with Harry, but he was eventually shaken out of his stupor when he heard a knock on the door. This immediately made Severus freeze up, on alert, as Lily already knew his password and he really wasn’t in the mood to speak with the Gryffindor seeker. He needed to let the weird, confused feelings he had disappear, and being around the Gryffindor really didn’t help the situation.

 

“Hello? Snape?” The words came through the door, and Severus was shocked to hear that familiar voice.

 

“Reg- I mean, Black?” Severus questioned, fixing his mistake. He wasn’t the closest to the younger Slytherin, but he always referred to him as Regulus in his head to distinguish him from his brother. “Uh, you can open the door,” he uttered, directed to the portrait.

 

The door swung open to reveal the nervous, awkward Slytherin, and Severus immediately noticed something in the boy’s arms that he didn’t even realize he had forgotten.

 

“Um, here’s your bag,” the younger boy said nervously. “It has your homework from potions in it too. Professor Slughorn told me to give it to you.”

 

“Oh, thank you Black.” Severus had stood at this point and had strolled towards the door entrance, taking the bag. “Is that all?”

 

Severus could see the boy biting his lip and looking down nervously, twisting his hands. “That’s not all, is it?” Regulus hesitated, but before he could answer, Severus heard some motions from behind him. 

 

Turning, he could see Harry on the opposite side of the bed to them, peering over the edge at the newcomer with his hands clutching the top of the bed. At his papa’s attention, he squeaked before ducking his head under the edge, but ended up walking past the bed and approaching the Slytherin duo. He clutched his papa’s right leg, and looking up at the slightly alarmed younger student, he blurted out, “Uncle Reggy?”

 

This exclamation made Severus’s eyes widen as he turned towards his child, and it certainly did not help the younger Slytherin’s alarm.

 

“You know Regulus, Harry?” Severus exclaimed in surprise. At Harry’s nod, Severus began to wonder. What did it mean that Harry recognized Regulus?

 

Sadly, as always, his bright wonder was interrupted by a Gryffindor. And this time, it wasn’t one of the good ones. Or even one he could handle tolerating.

 

“Hey, Snivellus!” Severus heard, feeling dread creep up in him, and lo and behold at the entrance to his room approached the Gryffindor Black. Now the pair was in front of him.

 

“Hey Regulus,” Sirius addressed coolly. He wasn’t a fan of what his brother was doing, but he was his brother and they didn’t have any immediate bad blood. Regulus for his part looked like a deer in headlights, eyes wide, clearly uncomfortable. For some reason, he didn’t attempt to leave though.

 

Severus took a step backwards in preemptive self defense. He would have taken more, but Harry was still gripping his leg and Severus had no clue how the kid was so strong.

 

Sirius raised his hands in a show of surrender. “Hey, hey! I’m not here to prank you, though that would be very fun.”

 

Severus’s disturbed expression didn’t change. It was clear that he didn’t believe the Gryffindor.

 

Realizing that, Sirius was irritated but decided to cut his losses. “Look man, I’m not even going to try to begin to understand what is happening. It seems like Harry is actually Prongs’s child, which means he’s spending time with him. I don’t know why that means he has to spend time with you , but it’s fine I guess.”

 

Through this articulation, Severus had calmed down from his alarmed state. He was still wary, but now his arms were crossed and he was glaring at the older Black. “Alright, is that all you came to say, Black? Or do you plan to force me to bear your presence even more?” Severus remarked scornfully.

 

Sirius took his hand off the edge of the door frame where he had been leaning and started slightly pacing from side to side. He was clearly hesitating, hand in his hair, looking down and biting his lip. I guess they really are brothers . 

 

Severus was slightly startled when the Gryffindor stopped pacing, looking up at the ceiling. After a moment he took a deep breath in and exhaled, and he lowered his head to match Severus’s line of sight.

 

“Sss.. uh, Sssnnna- Look, I’m not going to stop calling you Snivellus! Anyway, Snivellus , I’m sorry.”

 

Out of all the things Severus was expecting, that wasn’t it. And while he was able to control his mouth before blurting something out, he wasn’t able to school his expression, which showed intense befuddlement.

 

“I’m… sorry. About potions. I knew that the potion was dangerous in that situation and yet I still sabotaged it. I nearly hurt Evans and, you , and I terrified Harry.”

 

Despite this confession, Severus was still skeptical. “Did Potter force you into doing this?”

 

“No!” Sirius started, defensive at first but then relenting. “Evans did corner me and nearly take my head off for endangering you, and Moony called me stupid. But I did feel bad after the potions thing, it just took them yelling at me for me to actually get off my arse and apologize.”

 

Severus accepted the first claims, as he could fully believe Lily and even Lupin would do those things. But something was still on his mind.

 

“What about Potter?” Severus asked suspiciously.

 

Sirius got a peculiar expression on his face after the question. “Prongs? No, I haven’t seen him since Potions. He was with you and the tot, wasn’t he?”

 

Severus held his gaze a little longer, willing Black to say that Potter did something , before breaking eye contact. “Yeah, we were together until a little while ago. I don’t know where he is now.” Severus picked Harry up and moved to sit on the edge of the bed, lost in thought. He assumed the conversation with the Gryffindor was over, and honestly he forgot that Regulus was there, as the boy had moved so he wasn’t in the entrance anymore.

 

The conversation wasn’t over, at least according to Sirius. “So, what’s your response?”

 

Severus really didn’t want to hear the Gryffindor Black’s voice currently. But he knew that the impatient Gryffindor wouldn’t leave without an answer. And frankly Severus had no desire to soften this for the other.

 

“If I say I forgive you, can we pretend this never happened and go back to not talking to each other?”

 

“Works for me, I’d rather not have to see your ugly mug in my life again.” Sirius was going to follow that with a scathing comment about how it was great that Harry looked like James instead of Snape, but ended up holding his tongue in a surprising act of self control. Having had the last word, Sirius left, though he did brightly address Harry and his brother before leaving. 

 

It was the farewell from the Gryffindor that made Severus remember that the younger Slytherin was still there.

 

“Oh! Uh, sorry Black. What were you going to say before all the interruptions?”

 

Regulus clearly looked uncomfortable being there, which confused Severus, but he didn’t make any attempts to speak. Severus watched as the younger Black’s eyes darted towards the child playing with his tie in his lap.

 

Severus instantly knew something was up.

 

“Harry, why don’t you go play with your dolls. Papa has something to talk to… Uncle Reggy about.” Harry beamed up to his papa and nodded, eager to listen to his papa and make him happy, and slipped off the bed, flopping onto the ground and running to the other side of the room.

 

Severus immediately stood up and walked towards Regulus. “What is it?”

 

Regulus hesitated, almost looking a bit scared, before reaching into his bag and pulling out a folded up card, thrusting it out to Severus, who curiously took it. 

 

“Bella gave this to Cissa, who told me to give it to you. It’s from the Dark Lord.”

 

Severus’s eyes widened, but he made an effort to not show any other reactions in front of the younger Slytherin. It seemed like the younger realized it though, and there was understanding in his eyes.

 

“It- It’s an invitation to one of his meetings. You need it to get into the meeting.”

 

There was only silence between the two for a moment, until it was broken by Severus, speaking as if he was far away from the present situation. “Okay, thank you, Regulus.”

 

Regulus waited a moment in case Severus was going to do anything else, but quickly shuffled away once he determined that wasn’t the case. The portrait closed the door, startling Severus. He went and stood next to his desk.

 

The Dark Lord. Back when Lily had stopped speaking to him and he had been bullied even more than before, he had felt more alone than ever. Despite being at the bottom of the social ladder in Slytherin for being a half-blood and for spending time with Lily, there were some that tried recruiting Severus for the new cause of the Dark Lord. To pledge to the Dark Lord and eventually become a Death Eater. At the time, he had expressed an interest because he had felt that there was nowhere else to go. That no one else would accept him.

 

The following school year, when Lily forgave him, this opportunity had completely slipped his mind. But now it’s in his hand, which Severus held over the trash bin next to his desk.

 

Why would he want to join that group? He had Lily now, and Harry. There was no reason for him to go. And Lily had verbalized real concerns with the group, like how he would undoubtedly have to hurt muggles and muggleborns if he was a Death Eater. He didn’t want to lose her again.

 

And yet, there were still doubts prickling the back on his mind. And despite all the rationales against it in his head, Severus for some reason could not loosen his grip on the card. Giving in, he abandoned his plan and rashly placed the card underneath his box of quills on his desk.

 

He got distracted when Harry declared that he needed to use the bathroom, but as he carted the child off, he found his thoughts drifting to the card hidden on his desk, but shook his head to dismiss any thoughts of it.

 

That was a problem for another day.

Notes:

Wow! I guess some stuff happened this chapter huh. Please feel free to yell at me about it in the comments. Comments and kudos are always welcome.

Please have an amazing day, week, month, year, and lifetime. Stay safe <3

Chapter 11: Get the Quaffle Rolling

Notes:

Hello everyone! I hope you are all doing amazing.

I apologize for the large difference between this chapter and the last one. A lot of stuff happened and it affected both my mental and physical state so it was hard to write for a while. But I am doing better, and have a new chapter for you to enjoy. Thank you to everyone who waited for this.

As always, if there are any canonical or grammatical errors or if there is a way to make this more British please inform me in the comments. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

Or just comment whatever you want. I read all of them an they fill me with joy. So please enjoy this next chapter!

Severus couldn’t believe he had gotten used to this scenario. It had only been a week since the first day he brought Harry to his classes, but now all the students in his classes and his teachers were used to seeing the two of them. There were definitely still people looking over at them and whispering to each other, but it had changed from confused, wary speculations to excited chatter and squeals about Harry. They stopped tiptoeing around Severus and just spoke outright about how cute Harry was.

 

I mean, Severus couldn’t disagree with them.

 

Severus wasn’t used to the sudden rush of people coming up to him randomly and greeting Harry and asking to carry him. Even more when they accepted his refusal, after a bit of whining usually, and just ruffled the boy’s hair. He was used to people not acknowledging him, or if they did, looking at him like he was dirt brought in from the underside of a boot. Not people speaking to him like he was normal .

 

It was all so strange. 

 

What was even stranger was the constant presence of Potter in his life. 

 

Well, that wasn’t strange. The Slytherin quite expected that since he was used to the Gryffindors seeking him out to torment him relentlessly.

 

No, what was strange was that Potter was acting kind and actually treating him nicely, and even more that their conversations were actually engaging! They spent a lot of time together when Potter would spend time with Harry, and Severus got a shock every time he realized that he was actually enjoying the conversation. 

 

By Merlin’s soiled pantaloons, at one point he even found himself laughing at the Gryffindor’s jokes!

 

Another new thing was that Black now seemed to be ignoring him. Severus felt himself stiffen up in the Great Hall a week ago when he noticed the Gryffindor Head speaking to Black and him fuming in response. Severus knew that Professor McGonagall was giving him his detentions for the potions incident earlier that day, and he braced for Black to come seek revenge on him.

 

Surprisingly, Black did no such thing. The two made eye contact, Severus pausing the hand that was bringing a spoonful of food to Harry’s mouth and bracing himself for what he thought would come. Instead, the initial rage that he saw on Black’s face settled as his thoughts seemed to drift elsewhere, and the encounter ended with the Gryffindor sticking his tongue out at Severus before returning to his favorite activity of annoying Lupin. Severus was knocked out of his befuddled stupor by Harry’s whining, which was irritatingly similar to Potter’s because of course it was.

 

Instead of dwelling on the matter, Severus resolved to just not think about Black whenever possible. That seemed to be the best choice of action.

 

Severus had just finished his first potion class of the week, where he and Lily spent the class making Veritaserum. Severus was a bit concerned in this class, as Harry clearly hadn’t forgotten what had happened the week prior. He stayed in his chair, but unlike other classes where he was bubbly and reciprocated to other’s energy, in potions he was quiet and ignored other people in favor of watching his papa, asking after the class if the Slytherin was okay.

 

It made Severus feel really guilty, even though it really shouldn’t have. He didn’t want Harry to be so concerned, but he didn’t know what to do. 

 

But thankfully, though it pained Severus to say it, Potter actually recognized that Harry was having problems and ended up approaching them after class.

 

“Hey Se-Snape,” Potter began, changing the name he chose to use once Severus glared at him. Harry leaned forward so Severus relinquished his hold to Potter, observing the pair and remarking how stupid he was to not recognize the similarities as he considered the identical bright expressions he was seeing.

 

Severus braced himself to have to deal with Potter again, but strangely (though it wasn’t that strange that everything was strange now ironically) the Gryffindor didn’t continue speaking, instead looking at the Slytherin with a gentle smile on his face, which Severus was still off put by, thank you very much. He assuredly was not starting to become used to the warmth he felt when the other smiled at him. 

 

And he assuredly did not feel an urge to smile back at him! What was happening to him?!

 

Severus finally could not take the comfortable silence anymore and blurted out his confusion. Well, at least one small part of his confusion. “Why are you here? Do you want to spend time with, with Harry again?”

 

Severus was wondering if he had somehow gotten a concussion without knowing, because he had almost said “me” instead of “Harry” in his question, which did not make any sense whatsoever.

 

“Actually,” James responded. “Today is the day that my parents are coming to campus to meet Harry.”

 

Severus’s eyes widened in recognition as he regarded that statement. Even though he had brooded over the remembrance of his family that had burst the nice bubble that he had with Harry, it had somehow slipped his mind that Potter’s family would be meeting Harry.

 

“Okay, so you want to take Harry to meet your parents.”

 

“Well,” Potter paused, biting his lip and looking to the side, clearly hesitating which confused Severus. “I wanted you to uh, meet them too.”

 

“Why?” Severus was just confused, not even trying to figure it out himself. Why would Potter want him to come too?

 

“Uh, no reason. I mean! You probably won’t let Harry spend time with me alone, so you may as well come too right?”

 

This made sense to Severus. After all, in the last week there hasn’t been a single time where Severus let Harry out of his sight with any Gryffindor but Lily. But for some reason, Severus had a nagging thought that the Gryffindor was disappointed by what he had ended up saying. 

 

But that made no sense, because that would mean that there was another reason for James to want him to come. Especially for eternal enemies such as them, the Gryffindor should be actively avoiding trying to spend time with him.

 

“Um, sure. I guess you are right.”

 

Potter smiled brightly at him, and widely swept his arm out in a large gesture. Well, at least as large as the gesture could be with a child on his hips. “Well then, chérie, off we go!”

 

Severus couldn’t stop the slight upturn of the corner of his lips at that. “Chérie? Please Potter, save your pet names for someone who would actually appreciate it.”

 

Potter mocked fake outrage, gasping exaggeratingly loudly. “What? You mean to tell me you not only do not appreciate my hilarious creative genius, but that you also understood what I was saying!?”

 

Severus’s mood soured at that. “I may not be a pureblood like you Potter, but I’m not an idiot.”

 

Severus was about to walk past him in a bid of silent rage, but he felt a hand grasping his arm gently and another holding his cloak. Turning, he saw Harry holding his cloak firmly and reaching his other hand out, and Severus shook off the hold on his arm to grab him again. But before he could leave, the arm reappeared around his wrist.

 

“I’m sorry, Snape.” And Severus had to look away from the look of genuine regret on the other’s face. He should have been used to everything being so different, but surprises kept popping up and it was still overwhelming. “I really am. I- I don’t think before I speak sometimes,” and Severus couldn’t stop his snort at that. He felt himself flush with embarrassment, but unbeknownst to him, the Gryffindor ended up brightening up and smiling at that. “I… well, I’m an idiot.”

 

“How brave of you to finally admit it, Potter.” Severus retorted dryly, but he couldn’t stop the smile that came onto his face as he and Potter started walking side by side. “However, I will concede that… maybe … I overreacted.” Severus for some reason could not hold eye contact with Potter when the other smiled at that.

 

Amazingly, the two stayed in a comfortable rhythm on their way to the event, with Potter leading Severus since he didn’t know where they were going. But that honestly did not matter to Severus because he was actually… having a good time with Potter. Somehow the other didn’t end up saying anything stupid or confrontational. And Harry just triumphantly smiled up at his papa, who didn’t understand why the boy would have a smug smile on his face.

 

Severus was so wrapped up in both the conversation and the awe that the conversation was actually doing well that he was startled by the sinking of his feet into grass. He didn’t realize that Potter had led him outside. But the other just grabbed his arm to prevent him from falling. “We’re almost there. It should be just around the corner.”

 

Severus braced himself to have to interact with the people that created, well, the abomination next to him, but as he turned the corner to look out onto the field, his eyes widened in shock at what he saw. 

 

“Mrs. Evans?”

 

Severus almost couldn’t believe what he was seeing, but there they were. Lily’s mother and father were both here. But why?

 

“Severus!” The madam of the Evans household swiftly made her way over to the surprised Slytherin and wrapped him up in a bear hug, letting go after Severus pushed back against her arms. “It is so good to see you! You must come and visit more often. And please, call me Evelyn.”

 

Severus retreated a bit, stepping back. He wasn’t used to such motherly affection, or affection in general rather, and even though he knew it was genuine it was hard to accept that someone was giving him that. Having Harry around helped, but he still was not used to people being kind. “Okay Mrs. Evans.”

 

“Evelyn!”

 

“... Evelyn.”

 

“Good. Now, is that the darling baby I’ve heard about?” Evelyn gasped as James brought Harry over to her, and she gasped once again when Harry exclaimed “Nanny Ev’lyn!” 

 

Severus felt a smile come onto his face at that. He always knew the Evans head of households were amazing, and so knowing that Harry would be exposed to them was heartwarming for him. Although he did hope that the boy had never met Petunia, who had always been pretty mean and discriminatory to not only him but Lily as well.

 

Severus was startled out of his stupor when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and assuming it was Potter being too friendly, turned to face them to reprimand them. That notion died off once he locked eyes with Mr. Evans.

 

“Severus, Evelyn and I will always have a place for you at our house. It was hard on all of us, especially Lily, when the two of you weren’t speaking. However, now that things have been resolved, I implore you to please come over more often. We all would love to spend more time with you. Well, maybe except for Petunia. And please, before you respond, call me Charlie.”

 

Severus was at a loss for words. He could feel his throat start to hurt inside, and tears threatened to start forming in his eyes. But instead, he steeled himself and smiled at the other. “Yes, M- Charles.” 

 

The older man smiled gently at him, as if he could read the Slytherin’s mind. He gave him two pats on the shoulder before moving over to his wife, who was fawning over their grandchild, still being held by James. Severus observed that Harry was clearly enjoying the attention and he felt more happiness at knowing that the child would have such loving influences in his life. His stupor was broken when Harry called for him and demanded to be held.

 

After spending some time with the Evans, with Harry speaking excitedly about everything that he had experienced in the castle, Severus was puzzled when Charles put his hand on Evelyn’s shoulder and the two had a silent conversation, resulting in them stepping back. “Well, the two of us have had a lovely time with the young lad, but I believe there is another couple that has been waiting patiently, so we will take a step back for now.”

 

Severus did not have time to ponder before Potter came along and grasped his hand gently, steering the two away from the Evans. 

 

“How did you...?” Severus started, looking at the Gryffindor questioningly. 

 

“I talked to Evans. I knew you two grew up in the same area, and I know you didn’t want your parents coming, but I thought that perhaps you were acquainted with her parents, and if so then I wanted to ask her to consider bringing them for you. She agreed and, well, here they are.”

 

Severus was taken aback. First because Potter did not inquire about his parents or why he wouldn’t want them to meet Harry. Second because he just couldn’t comprehend Potter doing something like this. For him?

 

That does not make any sense.

 

Besides that, Severus could not believe he had forgotten again that he was going to meet the Potters, but the appearance of the familiar faces had startled him enough for it to slip his mind.

 

Severus had been lost in thought long enough to not realize that Potter had stopped dragging him. Severus wanted to brace himself for meeting the Gryffindor’s parents, but was unable to when he came out of his trance and looked forward. And when he did, he was startled again (though he hoped that it did not show). He did not expect this when imagining the Potter family.

 

Before him were two very nice looking people, but what was surprising was how old they were, or at least appeared to be. The male head of house had grey hair that was peppered with individual brown ones, while his spouse had a fully grey head of hair. Severus could somewhat see a resemblance between the father and Potter, but there was not nearly as stark a similarity as with Potter and Harry, as for one example the father happened to have short, straight hair. The mother had incredibly wavy hair, which is where Severus assumed the messy aspect of the Gryffindor’s hair came from.

 

“Mother, father, this is Severus, and in his arms is Harry. Our child.”

 

Hearing Potter speak, and acknowledge the shared parenthood, from next to him surprised the Slytherin. It was enough to get him to pay attention as he started to feel guilty about his shock and fascination as he glanced at Potter’s encouraging smile and handed over Harry to the older man. 

 

Harry immediately brightened up and exclaimed, “Grampfy Fleamon’!” Potter’s father- Fleamont smiled at the boy in his arms, before his wife started twiddling her fingers in front of the child’s face to get the boy’s attention. Harry looked over to her, but did not say anything, which surprised Severus. Although once she started talking to Harry the boy became elated and started babbling to the two, who were gently going along with it.

 

Severus looked over to the Gryffindor, a bit befuddled at the boy’s reaction. He was planning to speak up about his confusion, but couldn’t get the words out when he saw the other’s expression. 

 

Potter looked strained, with a resigned look with a sad smile. Severus just watched as he straightened his expression and with a big smile expressed to his parents his desire to have them spend time with Harry, before grabbing the Slytherin’s hand and starting to walk away from the couple with the expression returning as he turned his back.

 

Severus did not understand why Potter had that expression on his face. And he didn’t understand the sharp pang in his chest when he saw that.

 

Maybe it was because the other looked so much like Harry that seeing him sad reminded him of seeing Harry sad and it made him paternal?

 

Severus blinked and started heeding the other when Potter started talking. “You were surprised when you saw my parents, right?”

 

Severus immediately looked down, feeling ashamed. Potter just smiled sadly, slightly raising an eyebrow to convey his understanding before continuing. “My parents were wed young because of pureblood customs, but despite trying they couldn’t procure an heir for many years. My mom eventually got pregnant with me, but that plus the labor left her so weak that they could not afford to have her get pregnant again, along with her age at the time of course. Her health never fully recovered. My parents were always worried that because of their age that they’d never get to meet their grandchild and well, I know since-” And Potter cut off, looking down with his resigned expression, but without the smile this time.

 

At this point the two had stopped walking. Severus acknowledged that the other’s hand was still around his wrist, but he found that he did not care about that right now. He for some reason wanted to know why Potter was sad. Probably because it was such a change from what Severus saw from the Gryffindor all those years in school. 

 

He waited a bit for Potter to continue, but when he didn’t the raven prompted him. “Since what?”

 

Potter looked at him dejectedly, letting go of his wrist. “You didn’t notice?” At Severus’s confused expression the Gryffindor simply chuckled woefully. 

 

“Harry didn’t recognize my mum.”

 

Severus’s eyes widened at that realization. He grabbed the Gryffindor’s arm as he contemplated the repercussions of that. “Oh no. I’m… I’m so sorry.”

 

He could see the Gryffindor blinking quickly, and Severus knew that he was blinking tears away. The Gryffindor put on a smile and faced the other, who was frozen in his gaze. “Don’t be sorry. If anything, I’m grateful that you allowed them to meet Harry. So, thank you for that.”

 

Severus was at a loss. This was all so overwhelming to him. He never wanted to know more about Potter, but now that he did he just… didn’t understand what he was feeling. He just knew he did not like the other being unhappy, but he didn’t understand that either. All of this is unfamiliar, that’s why , he thought.

 

Potter sighed beside him, looking on with resigned determination. “At least I know now so I can make an effort to spend more time with her.”

 

Severus stayed silent, still full of dismay over the realization. Potter smiled at him, but unlike the one he gave to his parents, this one was genuine. “Hey, it’s okay. I knew my parents would… pass on sooner than I ever wanted.”

 

“It’s just… your mum seems so kind from the one interaction I’ve had with her.”

 

Potter genuinely laughed this time, bringing a hand up to mess up his hair. “She’s the kindest woman you’ll ever meet. She’s also really intelligent and has helped me out with my issues on numerous occasions.”

 

“Well, that means your tomfoolery came from nowhere. Unless your father is amused by that stuff as well?”

 

Potter laughed at that again, and Severus will never admit that it made him feel warm to know that Potter was cheering up. “Yeah, I’ve caused my parents a lot of grief over the years. Meeting Padfoot didn’t help matters.” He looked back at his parents and turned towards them, causing the Slytherin to do the same. “I’m sure Harry is going through withdrawal right now, so how about we head back towards my parents?”

 

Severus huffed, rolling his eyes with a smile. “Excuse me, Harry and I have a very healthy relationship.”

 

“Are you sure?”

 

Severus was jokingly affronted at that, retaliating with his sharp tongue. The two started strolling back, bantering gently along the way. Severus was having a good time conversing with the other before the Gryffindor broke their easy jesting with something that paralyzed the Slytherin in place.

 

“Do you think you can call me James now?”

 

Severus was stiff, mouth open with no words coming out as he processed this absurd request. But eventually, for some reason, against his better judgement, he agreed. “Okay.”

 

Potter’s- James’s eyebrows shot up as he moved towards the other, causing Severus to take a step back. “Really? Then... can I call you Sev?

 

“No. Only Lily can call me Sev.”

 

“Then Severus?”

 

The Slytherin was itching to say no, but one look at the Gryffindor’s hopeful, hesitant expression and he again for some reason found his rejection crumbling. “I suppose so.”

 

James beamed at him before starting his pace again. As Severus was pulled forward he realized that he never let go of the Gryffindor’s arm that he grabbed. His hand jerked away, moving to fiddle with his robe and leaving him with many unanswered questions, the main one being why didn’t Pot- James shrug his arm off in all that time?

 

Thankfully the Gryffindor didn’t notice his inner turmoil, and the two managed to make their way towards Harry and the Potters peacefully. Or at least as peacefully as Severus could be with everything that happened swirling around his head.

Chapter 12: Doe in Headlights

Notes:

Hey everyone! I'm back from the dead!

No but seriously, I'm so sorry for taking so long to post the next chapter. My health went down the drain both physically and mentally, and I spent the last year dealing with it and somewhat recovering from it. It's still affecting me, but I was able to crank out a chapter for you guys. And its a long one!

On another note, I probably won't be able to reply to comments anymore. I do read all of them though (though it took me a while for the ones over the last year cause I felt so guilty) and I'm very thankful for every single one that's left. Thank you so much for enjoying my story and I'm so sorry to have to make you wait so long.

Also a note: The shrieking shack incident did not happen in this fanfic.

Today was a strange day. Severus was awake before Harry for once. Severus hadn’t gotten out of bed yet though, just content with a hand on Harry’s tummy as the boy laid sprawled out on his back. Well, maybe content was not the right word, since it was concern that had prevented the Slytherin from sleeping. 

 

See, he concluded that he had to have gone insane over the last few weeks. He had completely fallen into his role as a parent, which was something that two weeks prior he did not expect would happen at all, even slightly, at any part in his life. But now here he is, laying next to his child. Dear Merlin, his child . It still surprises him when he is hit with a moment of clarity and he realizes that he’s gotten used to being called Papa.

 

But that’s not what concerns him. No, instead, he has plans to take Harry along for the next Hogsmeade trip, which he had forgotten was coming up because of everything with Po- James and his parents at the beginning of the week. 

 

Speaking of the Gryffindor, the worrisome part was how he had inexplicably, without argument, agreed to walk around Hogsmeade with not only Harry and Lily, but also the marauders! 

 

Severus swore the pastel green paint in his room was releasing fumes that were causing him to make illogical decisions.

 

Severus just wanted things to slow down a bit. Everything was changing around him and he was not able to register it quick enough to understand everything, let alone settle his emotions. He wasn’t actively avoiding Black anymore because the other was surprisingly being civil . Lupin was smiling at him now where before he was clearly ignored by the other. Pettigrew, well, he was acting the same if not worse, and James…

 

Severus really did not want to think about James. Not now. 

 

It was all too much.

 

Severus wished that he could stall the impending trip and just lay here with his son, but now he could hear a gentle giggling accompanying the light rumbling under his hand. Harry’s awake now, which means they have to get ready for the day because Harry would not allow him to do anything else. 

 

Severus would admit (not out loud, of course) that this trait of Harry’s gave him a feeling of pride despite the anguish it caused because this was something that clearly came from him. The Slytherin refused to be anything but punctual. 

 

Severus also needed to make sure that Harry knew that this wouldn’t be like attending his classes, and that Harry really needed to behave and stay with the group, which is what the raven told the child as they were getting ready. He also miraculously managed to convince Harry that he did not need any stuffed animals for this trip, let alone the five that Harry was asking for.

 

After getting ready in the bathroom and taking a nice bath, Severus dressed Harry up in a simple pair of slacks and a long sleeved top, and then thinking about the England weather in October he decided to add a sweater, scarf, and gloves. Perhaps it was out of spite or loneliness because he would be surrounded by Gryffindors, but Severus decided to give him the Slytherin scarf that was present in the dresser. 

 

Although he was unable to part Harry from the yellow and black gloves, so maybe Severus wasn’t successful at his attempt at solidarity.

 

Severus felt like his feet were dragging when he made his way over to the entrance to Hogsmeade. Probably because they were. It got to the point where Harry was irritated enough to wiggle out of his Papa’s hold and run ahead, causing Severus to chase after him and chastise him for that. When the child was in his arms once more, Severus wisely decided to speed up to prevent the boy from doing that again. Harry did have Gryffindor blood after all.

 

Once Severus entered Hogsmeade, he was surprised when he finally spotted the group he had inexplicably agreed to travel with. Lily was as normal as ever, holding a conversation with James as Black and Lupin listened in. But for one thing, the group’s pet, which is what he had dubbed Pettigrew at this point, was nowhere to be seen. And for another thing, all the marauders looked very much the worse for wear. James and Black both had impressive cuts and bruises along their bodies, and while Lupin had less scarring on him, he looked very pale and sickly, almost resembling a sleep-deprived Severus. 

 

He really wondered whether he should just ship the three off to the nurse’s office. Not only did it seem like they needed it, that would happily result in him spending that day just with Lily. What? He was a Slytherin after all.

 

Alas, the day was not going his way when James spotted him and called the two over, where Harry was tugging at his Papa’s robes to get him moving. Severus wouldn’t be able to escape this one. 

 

But why was he okay with that?

 

“Sev! How are you doing? Hello, Harry.” Lily started petting Harry’s head, which made him squeal in delight as he reached his chubby hands out to meet hers.

 

Severus heard Black say "Nice gloves," before snickering, but he definitely would never day that Black deserved the painful cough that came after. He did feel his lips twitch at that.

 

Severus relinquished his grip on the child and allowed him to go into Lily's arms. He would have loved to simply talk to Lily this entire time, but it was his own curiosity that betrayed him this time.

 

Turning to face Po- James, he found himself uttering, "What happened to Pettigrew? I haven't seen him around you lot lately."

 

Severus didn't know what he was expecting, but the irritated scrunch in the three marauders faces was not it, though it seemed that both James and Black regretted it as they winced in pain. 

 

Lupin took the liberty of answering. "We've… split , from Peter, as of right now. It seems like he doesn't… a-approve of, homosexual relations. We didn't know until, well…"

 

Until Harry and I came into the picture. Severus's nose scrunched up just like the marauders, which believe him, gave him no joy. But there didn't seem to be any other sane reaction to learning that Pettigrew was homophobic. Besides cursing his entire existence out but Severus considered himself a little more classy than that, thank you very much.

 

The conversation lulled after that exchange, which was thankfully broken by the fiery redhead who somehow turned herself away from the adorable antics of the child in her arms.

 

"So, where to?"

 

After deliberating for a bit, the group found themselves heading to Zonko's first, to Severus's detriment. 

 

He remembered plenty of stuff from there being used on him after all.

 

But surprisingly it didn't go that badly, if at all. Once they entered the store James and Black dissolved into the children Severus knew they were and excitedly discussed different new toys and pranks that these stuff could do, with Lupin standing by listening and occasionally offering ideas. That wasn't surprising obviously, though he did notice the concerned glance at the three from others inside the store. They really did have a lot of injuries.

 

What was the surprising part was that he could see Po- James (Severus shook his head; he needed to remember to call him James) and Black to an extent would be discussing a prank, but then look over at him briefly, then resume while altering the prank to be less problematic to the victim.

 

Severus didn't know if that meant they were still going to prank him, but at least it wouldn't land him in the hospital wing.

 

The second surprising thing was that, when Severus was close enough to hear the two when they discussed their ideas, they were actually really intelligent about their pranks. They had even been discussing adjusting a spell to fit their idea better. It was almost shocking really. 

 

I mean they never really did badly in any of their classes even if they weren't the best in the class , he thought. But he did have another thought that crossed his mind that made him a bit bitter. Namely, that they'd probably be close to the top of the class if they applied their knowledge in their assignments. Because of course. 

 

Moving to focus on Harry and Lily, definitely not since James also moved to focus on Harry, he was thankfully and pleasantly surprised to see that Harry was disinterested in any of the pranking stuff that James tried to involve him in. He was content to look- and frankly drool- at the toys in the shop. Severus wished he had brought tissues of some kind.

 

"This looks wike my broom!" Harry exclaimed, wiggling excitedly, pointing to a child's toy broom up on the third shelf. Severus didn't need to be looking at him to know that James's ears perked up at that. 

 

"You have a broom, Harry?" James couldn't even disguise his smile. He kneeled down on one leg to be closer to the child.

 

"Yesh! I wuv flying around the house!"

 

James chuckled at that, imagining it. As the picture grew clearly in his mind, he got closer and leaned down towards Harry. He quietly asked, "I bet Papa isn't happy when you knock stuff over. Maybe even concerned about you flying at all?"

 

"Yup!" Harry exclaimed gleefully. But, maybe in an attempt to imitate his Daddy, he leaned in closer and quieted down to say, "But I shee Papa smiling when I do it!"

 

That left a soft grin on James's face as he picked up Harry, stood up, and turned back to look at the Slytherin, which confused Severus. Why was the Gryffindor looking at him like that?

 

After they made their purchases, though Harry miraculously ( and thankfully Severus thought) didn't actually ask for anything, they headed to Honeydukes.

 

Here Seveus knew they'd have a bit of trouble. The kid had a serious sweet tooth and looking at the kid's face, unlike Zonko's, here he'd be begging Severus to buy him stuff. 

 

How could he tell his son that he didn’t have the money to do so?

 

Once he entered, Severus’s fears came true: Harry immediately excitedly looked around and then hopped back to him, asking for everything that grabbed his attention.

 

"Choco fwogs! Can I have them? Ooh! Cauwdon cakes! Pwease Papa, pwease? Ah lookie there!-"

 

It broke Severus to hear the child's hopeful excitement.

 

Lily was aware of Severus's financial situation, and she saw how her friend looked so saddened at every request because he knew he couldn't fulfill them. Lily kneeled down and held Harry's shoulder, keeping him in place as she was about to tell him gently that his Papa couldn't get him everything he wanted. 

 

Lily was also going to offer to get him some stuff herself even though she knew she'd have Severus on her tail for that, but before she could say anything a voice came from a little bit away from them.

 

"Come here, Harry, I'll get you them."

 

Harry gasped happily and ran to his Daddy, blabbering many thanks (which Severus felt proud of despite the situation) as James picked him up and walked closer to the duo. 

 

Severus held James's gaze as the other looked at him with a slight, though somewhat confused, well meaning grin, but that did nothing to soothe him. James probably didn't realize why Severus wasn't saying yes, but it didn't matter. Severus hated getting other’s pity, but as he looked at the small, excited child in the other's hands, he unhappily steeled his feelings. 

 

"Don't get him everything he wants, otherwise his teeth will fall out." James smirked at that, and Severus had a feeling that the stupid Gryffindor wouldn't heed what he said. 

 

Well, with James bringing Harry around the store indulging his every desire ( that idiot ), Severus didn't have much to do but wander around the store with Lily. When he first came to Hogsmeade, it upset him to walk around the stores, knowing that he couldn't get anything. But now he was used to it, detachedly looking at the chocolates and candies around him, even though he couldn't deny that there were a few he wanted.

 

Once all the students bought their goodies, with Severus sighing irritably at the giant bag of treats James, amused, handed him when he passed Harry to him as well, the strange group walked out of the store.

 

It was pretty clear at this point that the walking around was taking its toll on the three injured Gryffindors. The bags in their arms, though they weren't as big as the one Severus was carrying, certainly didn't help.

 

Lily held her hand out to Severus, who passed Harry to her. Adjusting her grip on the child, she said what everyone, even people outside of the group, were thinking.

 

"The three of you look, frankly, terrible. Maybe we should go to the Three Broomsticks and sit down, get some butterbeer too."

 

Lupin and Black nodded painfully, with Harry seeming interested as well if his energetic babbling was any indication. Severus wasn't so keen however. The idea of being in a hot, crowded, area sipping too-sweet butterbeer while yelling to even hear each other was NOT appealing to Severus at this point.

 

"Sorry, I'll probably just, maybe, wander the edge of the woods or something. Maybe find some potions ingredients."

 

Lily pouted, but understood that Severus wasn't interested, and she wasn't going to force him. "Okay, but give me the bag," she said, extending her hand, to which he obliged.

 

Severus then addressed Harry. "I won't be joining you guys, but I'll be just around here, I promise. It won't be for very long okay?"

 

Harry just looked at him while sucking his fingers and sputtered out "Okay!"

 

Severus was happy that Harry didn't seem to be too clingy, but for some reason he felt a little pang that he wasn't.

 

The group parted, with Severus heading off past the Shrieking Shack to the woods behind it. He wasn't lying when he said that he was just going to stay on the edge; he wasn't an idiot that would run into the Forbidden Forest of course. Not with all the creatures around, even though Severus knew a good portion wouldn't actually harm him.

 

Which made his hairs stand on end when he heard footsteps from behind him getting closer.

 

He swerved around drawing his wand out, ready to defend himself, but his alert fear was replaced by deadpan irritation as he saw what, or rather who , it was.

 

"Hey Sev- Snape, how- how are you?" The Slytherin just watched as James bent over, resting his hands on his knees as he breathed in and out trying to catch his breath.

 

Severus was almost shocked. The fit Gryffindor, out of breath like this?

 

Severus didn't want to seem concerned about it, but how could anyone not be? It wouldn't be weird if he said something.

 

"You know, you should really be resting after what you guys did last night."

 

Severus could see alarm rise up in the other's expression, along with confusion.

 

"... what do you think I did last night?"

 

Severus just gave him a look, slightly raising an eyebrow. 

 

"James, I know Lupin is a werewolf."

 

James straightened up, shock in his expression. He was speechless for a moment, just staring at Severus, before managing to get out a "How?"

 

"Well, for one thing, he's always 'sick' around the full moon. For a second thing, his boggart is the moon."

 

James just looked at him while breathing heavily. "You didn't answer my question."

 

At Severus's confused expression, James continued. "What do you think I did last night?" James said carefully, trying to gage Severus’s expression. "You know how dangerous it is to be around a werewolf when they're transformed."

 

A pause settled over the two.

 

"Not if they're an animagus."

 

James closed his eyes, tilting his head up as if pained but resigned. "How long have you known?"

 

"For a while. I don't know when exactly you became animagi, but I realized once I saw that you three would have injuries or be in the hospital wing around the time of the full moon. You might be idiots, but even you wouldn't try to wrestle a werewolf as a human."

 

James smirked at that. "Are you calling me smart?"

 

Severus stiffened, playfully scrunching his nose. "No I'm just calling you less of an imbecile than you could be."

 

"I'll take it!" James pumped his hand in the air, but he clearly immediately regretted it when he stiffened, his eyes wide as he gritted his teeth and sighed, slowly lowering his arm.

 

Severus winced internally. That's got to hurt. 

 

He decided to change the subject. Or that's what he decided to do before his curiosity once again got the better of him.

 

"So, what animal is your animagus?"

 

"It's the same as my patronus."

 

Severus's mood instantly soured. And unfortunately James noticed.

 

"What's wrong?" James looked curiously at him, stepping closer. Severus just turned his head to the side, pursing his lips.

 

After a moment, James spoke. "You can't cast a patronus, can you?"

 

Severus gritted his teeth. "So what if I can't?"

 

James raised his arms, attempting to calm the situation. "Hey now, I'm not trying to insult you or anything. Casting a patronus is hard."

 

"I bet it wasn't hard for you."

 

"Well, yeah, but…" James trailed off, leaving a mildly uncomfortable silence.

 

Severus had no reason to speak, nor did he think that there was a reason for James to speak too, but he heard words coming out of the other's mouth anyway.

 

"Do you want to try?"

 

Severus just turned to look at the other with furrowed brows. "Why would I? I can't do it."

 

James shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, I just thought, maybe things have changed?"

 

Severus couldn't say anything to that. Sighing, he brought his wand out.

 

First, he thought of what he did back when they were learning it in class: the summers he spent with Lily and her parents. "Expecto Patronum!" 

 

Only a few silvery wisps came out of his wand.

 

Severus sighed, disappointed. He knew it wouldn't work but it still hurt.

 

Aware of James's eyes on him, he rolled his head and shoulders and prepared to try again, raising his wand. 

 

This time he'd think of Harry and Lily, together in the Three Broomsticks, drinking their butterbeers. Just the thought made him smile. "Expecto patronum!"

 

The wisps were way stronger this time, but still nothing corporeal.

 

Severus grit his teeth and closed his eyes. Of course even Harry wouldn't be able to do it. He was the best thing in his life, and still nothing. He felt almost hopeless.

 

Should he give up?

 

Quietly from the side, he heard James’s voice.

 

"Try again, Severus. I know you can do it."

 

Snape turned his head to face him, but couldn't say anything when he saw the Gryffindor's determined and encouraging expression. The sight made an image pop up in his mind: the bright, lovely smile of Harry, directed at him.

 

"Expecto patronum!"

 

A silvery doe erupted from his wand, elegantly prancing around in a circle before gently turning back towards her caster, nuzzling against Severus’s outstretched hand.

 

She's beautiful , Severus thought as he dismissed her. He watched the deer dissolve into the air. 

 

Severus didn't want to think about what part James had to play in conjuring her.

 

But hey, he felt like he was owed at least something now.

 

Severus felt smug as he turned back towards the other. "So, now that I cast it, you never answered what your patronus was?"

 

Severus was halted in his proud feeling when he saw James just looking at where his patronus last was, with a completely serious expression. Probably feeling Severus's eyes on him, he turned the same serious expression onto him, which was unnerving to the Slytherin.

 

James was rarely ever serious like this.

 

Severus could only watch as James wordlessly took his wand out of his pocket and got set to cast the spell. "Expecto patronum."

 

And Severus could only watch as a bright, broad stag burst out of the other's wand.

 

Severus felt like he couldn't breathe. His lungs were being squeezed. Crushed maybe. 

 

Despite this, he could hear himself uttering a single word. 

 

"Prongs…"

 

James put his wand back in his pocket while gently watching the Slytherin. "Sev-"

 

No. No. He couldn't handle this.

 

Severus felt himself turning and sprinting as fast as he could back to Hogsmeade. Did he have a plan? No. But he had to get away.

 

Why did this have to be this way? Why did he have to deal with all this?

 

He could barely understand anything now.

 

It felt like forever before Severus got back, despite it being the fastest he'd ever run. So fast, in fact, that he nearly ran into Lily and Harry at the edge of Hogsmeade.

 

"Severus! Are you okay? Did something happen?" Lily's face was so full of concern. Harry shared her expression as he reached out towards him.

 

Severus couldn't take him yet though since he was still out of breath. He just took deep breaths while waiting until he could actually respond.

 

The redheads gaze hardened. "Did Potter do something?" 

 

Despite his tiredness, he found himself vehemently shaking his head. "No," he managed to breathe out.

 

Lily held her hardened gaze a second more, trying to see any indication that he was lying. 

 

"Okay, well have some butterbeer." Lily basically shoved it at him, and he knew that she wouldn't take no for an answer.

 

He opened it and took a few too-sweet sips, since he didn't want to take too much, before handing it back. It did help a bit so he took Harry from her as she put the bottle back in her bag.

 

"Papa, you okay?" Harry looked just as concerned as Lily.

 

Severus was still out of breath, but he could speak now. "Yeah, it's just that, the Forbidden Forest is dangerous, okay Harry? Be careful when you're around there."

 

"Oh by Merlin what happened Sev?!"

 

Severus should have known that would have set Lily off. "Nothi- you know what, it doesn't matter. I'm fine now Lily."

 

"Alright then, let's go back to campus." Lily turned back and the two got into a rhythm walking side by side, but then she asked, "Also do you know where James is now? He was with you right?"

 

Severus felt his heart beating as he remembered that name; remembered what happened .

 

"He wanted to stay a little longer and walk back gently, since he was so injured."

 

"Ah makes sense, Lupin and Black went back early because of their injuries so I thought I'd come find you."

 

Severus looked down at the ground, seeing out of his peripheral vision Harry playing with his robe while babbling quietly.

 

"Do you want to hear what we overheard from some teachers?"

 

Considering that the last time he was told rumors by Lily he ended up with a child, he wasn't sure, but nothing could stop her. "Sure."

 

Unlike last time however, she was quite serious in her tone. "The Muggle Studies teacher apparently went missing. No one had any clue where she went. It's like she just disappeared."

 

Severus was taken aback by that. While he never took Muggle Studies, he was aware of the professor, and if there was anything he knew about her it was that she was dedicated to her class and students. She would never just leave.

 

"I don't know, it just seems like weird stuff keeps happening." She shook her head, concerned.

 

Looking down at the sleeping child in his arms, Severus couldn't do anything but agree. You don't have to tell me twice.

 

After the two walked back to campus, Severus parted from Lily and made his way to his room. As he walked alone- well, with Harry, but he was asleep- he couldn't help but think back on what happened. He felt bad about leaving James there. But it was too much for him; what could he have done?

 

In somewhat of a trend today, he nearly ran into Regulus. "Oh, sorry!"

 

The other was startled, but just nodded and said "It's fine." 

 

But as Severus turned to leave, Regulus said "You remember the meeting right? It's happening soon."

 

Severus felt himself stiffen. "Yeah, thanks for reminding me, Black." He gave him a smile.

 

Regulus just nodded again and continued on his way. 

 

Now Severus was thinking about something else on his way to his room, but he didn't think this was any better.

 

He had indeed forgotten about the meeting.

 

Once he got back, he set Harry carefully into the bed. Turning towards his desk, he took the letter out and plopped down in his chair, staring at it.

 

And he stared at it.

 

And stared.

 

After who knows how long, Severus took out his wand.

 

"Incendio."

 

He then threw the burning paper into the trash bin and watched as it completely turned to ash.

 

He didn't want to give up Lily. He didn't want to give up everything good in his life. And he knew that if he went down that path that's what would happen.

 

Severus couldn't understand why he wasn't able to throw it out before. He didn't understand what had changed.

 

He didn't understand anything.

Notes:

Please I hope you have a great day, week, month, year, and lifetime! Things can get better <3

Chapter 13: Close but No Butterbeer

Notes:

I'm so sorry for the long wait again! I felt bad so I really wanted to crank out a chapter for you. I managed to get this out. Hopefully you all enjoy it.

It had been a few weeks since the incident with Po- James. After that, Severus kept feeling himself freeze up whenever James got near him at first. It was almost like he was back to being afraid of him, but Severus knew that wasn’t it. He tried to ignore it, but in the back of his mind he knew it's because of what happened in the Forbidden Forest. He didn't want to confront that. What that meant.

Even though he knew that Harry meant the same thing, the Patronus thing was more, unsettling, to say the least. People with Patronuses that matched like that were those that would have strong, compatible relationships if they pursued them.

But he and James? How-? Severus always pushed the thought away when it surfaced.

Once, he found himself wishing that Harry wasn’t such a reminder of his Gryffindor father. He wished that Harry wasn’t James’s son. For all accounts, that thought should make all the sense in the world. But despite what he thought, his heart was never in it.

Why? What was his heart doing? What was it feeling?

Even if his heart was feeling the way it could have been, the thought that Severus pushed away, it didn’t matter. James didn’t feel that way. Severus didn’t feel that way.

Despite those thoughts, the Slytherin was surprised that James gave him space after seeing how uncomfortable he was. Severus felt guilty, only because Harry missed his father of course, and pushed himself to spend time in the Gryffindors' presence. It went back to their normal dynamic swiftly. Severus did notice James staring at him with fierce eyes several times, which always made him uncomfortable, always making his mind overthink it. Why would he do that?

Severus had just left the library after a study session with Lily, with Harry running by his side, heading to their room. He knew that Madam Pince wasn't the greatest fan of having a child in the library (for understandable reasons for a devoted protector of books, Severus thought) but he made sure that Harry knew not to cause mischief, leave his side, or damage any books, so she was tacitly accepting of the child being in there. Lily left him promptly, running in the other direction happily, which made Severus shake his head confused but he didn’t try to figure it out.

Before he could make it back to his room though, he was interrupted by an excited Gryffindor coming up behind him, running to stand in front of him and grabbing his hands.

At this point Severus was used to James's antics so he was only mildly startled by this. Honestly just recognizing that he was pretty much used to this now was weird to him. The hand grabbing was new though, and that made Severus jolt once he realized what was happening and jerkily pull his hands away. He could feel his face flush as he looked away from James’s gaze.

Harry gasped. "Daddy!" Harry ran and practically jumped into James's arms, who immediately started carrying him while straightening up.

"Yes, James?" Severus asked, nervously moving his eyes before he realized what he was doing and just looked straight at the other. What by Merlin constituted him being nervous here?

"Oh right." James was grinning from ear to ear and Severus could almost see him jumping from excitement. "Come with me to the second floor, there's an empty classroom where we set something up. "

James's expression faltered a bit when the raven questioned, "Who's we?"

Severus saw James’s eye flick to the side before they met back with his. "Me and Remus… and Sirius."

Severus could see James wincing as he could feel his own expression get stony. It was almost literal too, the red flush leaving his face and leaving an almost marble white skin behind.

James sighed. "Listen, I know you don't trust Siri with Harry after everything he's said and done, which I completely understand. But believe me, he is not planning anything bad. In fact, this was his idea, and I'm sure Harry will love it."

Severus was still not convinced, and he knew that James could tell, so the Gryffindor continued. "You'll be there too, and both you and I will protect him if anything happens."

James had a serious expression on his face that broke Severus’s rock hard expression. He truly meant it. Severus gulped. He looked down nervously but blinked it away. James saying that just meant he was a good parent to Harry. It had nothing to do with the dynamic between the two teenagers.

Severus found himself agreeing and going along, and after walking alongside James and chatting with him, avoiding eye contact for most of it, they made their way to the classroom. Here James excitedly handed Harry to the Slytherin, before pushing open the door with a dramatic flourish.

Severus’s jaw dropped.

The room was covered in at least 10 centimeters of snow. There was no furniture so it was just a blank sheet, though there were some footprints because of the people in the room. On the other side were Lupin, Black, and Lily.

Harry squealed in his arms. "Papa, papa! Snow!" He wriggled to be put down so he could play but after getting down Severus held him back.

"Not until we get you some winter clothing."

"Aww come on," Severus heard from a boisterous individual on the other side of the room, making him stiffen up. "Can't he just come in?"

Severus gave Black a pointed and civil stare. "I won't have him getting hypothermia."

"Well," came a voice from beside him, "we can put a warming charm on his clothes, right? And transfiguration him some gloves and snow shoes and a hat?"

While Severus heard what James was saying, he was a little preoccupied by the flush climbing up his neck for a second before comprehending it. The first thought he had when hearing the voice next to him was warm. Warm, rich, soothing. What in the wizarding world was coming over him?

Severus looked over at James’s tie (he couldn’t go higher) and pursed his lips, but he knew James was right. So after the two did so, Harry ran into the snow and fell face first into it.

"Harry!" Severus exclaimed, shocked and worried, but he calmed down when he saw the child get up and giggle.

All in all, the time spent in the room was a lot of fun.

Harry loved leaving footprints in the snow, jumping around and pushing his foot deep into the snow to leave defined holes. At least until Sirius taught him to make snowballs, which, in Severus’s opinion, turned him into a monster.

A cute, gleaming, clumsy monster, but a monster nonetheless.

Severus couldn’t help but smile though at the small misshapen snowballs that the boy attempted to throw at the people around him, especially his father.

It did result in the boy falling in the snow a lot, but the raven leashed his parental concern from rising up.

After casting a warming charm on himself, Severus believed that James expected him to play in the snow as well, but the Slytherin just sat against the wall by the door and simply watched Harry. But he’d never admit that he was also making glances at the bespeckled Gryffindor enabling the child’s antics.

His thoughts were still filled with the turmoil around the supposed other parent of his child. Why did he flush every time the other was near him? Why was his voice suddenly comforting? Maybe because I got used to it and Harry is safe around him. That’s it. Right?

James at first had been spending his time playing with Harry, lifting the boy out of the snow and being subjected to the boy’s projectiles. However, after some time he had left Harry to be taken care of by the other Gryffindors. He slid in next to Severus.

Severus was lost in his thoughts, but jolted once he heard the other sit down by him.

“Are you enjoying watching Harry have fun?” The Gryffindor smiled at him with that fond smirk that Severus had come to lov-

Nope nope nope, it was irritating. Irritating.

“Yeah I am,” Severus wrapped his arms around his knees. “I love seeing him happy so it's no surprise.”

James hesitated a bit before asking his next question. “Are you, um, satisfied with how Siri is acting?”

To this, Severus turned back to viewing the Gryffindors playing with Harry. He could see how Sirius was being a rascal, but he indeed wasn’t going too far and was being respectfully playful somehow. Severus wanted to think that a part of it was Lily’s presence next to him, but he had to admit what he had seen previously and what he was seeing currently.

Severus sighed. “I guess I am. Harry knows him in the future so at least I’m happy that he treats him well.”

James flashed that smile again. “Good. Siri is a stubborn destructive mess, but he comes around with enough people beating his head in.”

Severus was aware of Black’s new treatment of him. Just last week, Harry darting in front of him caused the Slytherin to drop his books. Wordlessly, the Gryffindor picked up his books and handed them to him.

It seemed that the other was getting kinder but knew not to push the friendliness. Severus couldn’t help but snicker at the thought that he was at least better at that than the guy next to him.

Speaking of which, James spoke up again, interrupting Severus’s thoughts about Black, which he was thankful for actually. “I know it must be thrilling to sit here and watch, but are you sure you don’t want to come and play with Harry?”

Severus didn’t really want to. He was happy that Harry had a good relationship with snow, but he didn’t. His home was falling apart, and cold drafts and snow in the winter entered the cracks and caused even more water damage. Not to mention that his father never paid the bill that would give him heating. There were many reasons Severus always signed to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays and this was one of them.

But once he looked straight into James’s eyes, which at this point was a feat, he could feel the other’s earnest, almost pleading look. It was clear that the Gryffindor wanted him to have fun, but wasn’t going to push him if he declined the offer.

That considerate respectful gesture from James was what ultimately broke Severus’s resolve. When did James start caring to the point that he wasn’t pushing his boundaries?

Once James carefully helped the flushing Slytherin move towards the others, he became barraged with Harry’s ferocious snowballs. While he did play along, his mind was stuck on the Gryffindor holding his hand to help him get there. He had to look in the opposite direction while he was doing that.

All of them spent a good couple hours playing in the snow. After that, Severus stood up, declaring that he needed to go for other reasons, but he didn’t tell them that honestly? He just needed to get a bit of time to himself. Well, and Harry, but he couldn’t really spend time away from him.

But Harry cried. Like full on tantrum cried. Severus sighed deeply, angry about this since he had already told the boy not to throw tantrums, but he had gotten a little more understanding about the boy being a toddler who isn’t really capable of considering things like an adult would. He still knew that Harry couldn’t get away from this.

However, before he could step in, James did first.

“Harry!” James said sternly, shocking Harry into paying attention. “I know you want to play more, and I will talk to your papa about it. But you cannot give him trouble like that.”

After this, Harry had quieted down to a sniffle, but he was listening intensely to his father’s words.

“Look at him. He cares so much for you and lets you do so much and what do you do when you don’t get your way? You cry and make him feel awful about needing to do what’s best for the two of you.” Severus was in awe about how James managed to use him to get Harry to feel bad about throwing a tantrum.

How Slytherin of him.

Harry looked sad and ashamed, but he continued to hold his ground. “Bu’ why can’t I pway?”

“Maybe you can.” James turned towards the Slytherin. “I know you need some alone time,” Severus looked shocked at James, who just gave him an all knowing smile.

The Slytherin didn’t know how to feel about the Gryffindor knowing him that well. Was it well? It didn’t matter, it was more than the Slytherin was comfortable with. But comfortable wasn’t the right word because he felt… happy, that the other was paying attention to him enough to know that.

Why? Why was he enjoying James’s eyes on him?

Severus came back to the present once James began speaking again. “So why don’t you let Harry play for a bit more? Not too long, since we don’t want to encourage his tantrums, but it’ll be a bit of a break for you. Is that okay?”

Severus continued to be shocked by this. He found himself agreeing to letting Harry play for 30 more minutes. Afterwards, he took his bag and cast a drying spell on himself. He said bye to the other Gryffindors and Harry, who was concerned about him leaving, but surprisingly remembered after James got his attention that he’d be seeing him soon. After leaving, he allowed his thoughts to wander.

It really was surprising to him how responsible of a parent James was being. He was surprised by himself being okay at it, but based on what he had experienced with James before Harry came along (which soured his mood a bit), he wouldn’t have expected it. Severus did ponder that the other’s desire for family might have something to do with it. But was it a natural instinct that the other had for his children?

That he had for his… spouse? The image that came to his mind made his heart hurt, almost making him tear up: Him in a warm lit living room, holding a baby boy in his arms, next to James who had one hand wrapping around his arm and the other on his back.

He shook his head. It would never happen. It couldn’t. He wouldn’t. He wouldn’t let himself do so.

Severus thought back to what he had been pondering earlier. Did Po- James learn how to parent? If he did, was it from his parents?

Or maybe, from Severus?

He shook his head again. Wow I really just brought up the nature vs nurture debate. Severus rolled his eyes at himself as he walked down the hall.

He made his way back to his room, definitely not thinking about the weird waves of feelings he has towards the Gryffindor and how new ones come along all the time. However, he stopped short when he saw an individual in front of his door.

“Reg- Black?” Regulus was standing in front of his door, and was jarred at the appearance of Severus.

“Oh, I- I knocked but you weren't there, so I was just waiting for you.”

Severus looked at him puzzled. “Okay, but why?”

Instead of answering, Regulus continued to look at him with wide eyes. Severus was confused until he recognized the emotions in his face.

Fear. Worry. Regret.

“Let’s go into my room.” Severus said the password and they entered the room once the door swung open, and the raven sat on his bed. “What’s wrong?”

Regulus hesitated, looking to the side and toying with his fingers. “Do- Ar- Are you going to, um, go to the meeting?”

Severus widened his eyes. He had completely forgotten about the Death Eater opportunity, and he looked down at this reminder. He knew that Regulus reported to Narcissa and Bellatrix and he didn’t know if he wanted them to know that he wasn’t planning to go. But he looked back up at the scared younger boy, and resolved to do what he needed to do.

“No, I’m not. And you don’t need to as well.”

Regulus made eye contact with him with wide, shocked eyes. “What? But- but,” he hesitated, and Severus saw him taking a deep breath. “Why-why would you say that? I want to do this.”

“Regulus, you look like you just saw a ghost.” The younger looked at him confused and Severus mentally slapped himself. “It’s a muggle phrase. What I meant is that you look terrified.”

Severus could see that saying that was making the other more stressed. The younger Black looked to the side, breathing fast and wringing his hands even harder. Severus didn’t want that to be the result of his words. He needed to help.

“You should talk to your brother.”

Regulus once again looked at him surprised. “Sirius?”

“I know you don’t want to be a death eater. Bellatrix is pushing you towards it. You can get out. Sirius managed to get out. He can help you too.”

Regulus looked at him, resigned. “But he’s a Gryffindor and I- I’m a Slytherin.”

Severus gave him an understanding look. “I am too, but it’s the Gryffindors in my life that kept me out of it.” Lily helped him out, because he didn't want to lose her. The thought of James doing so too came up even though he tried to avoid it.

“No, I meant that it’s not expected for him. Our parents disowned him. I am the heir. I need to do this.”

Severus just raised his hand face up and put it in his other hand, resolved. “Is your happiness worth that? Your safety? It will be hard and dangerous, but Black will help you, I promise.”

Regulus looked to the side. “He doesn’t like me. He wants nothing to do with me.”

Severus stood up and put his hand on the other arm. “I know he does. He cares for you so much and wishes that you weren’t going down this path.”

Severus could see the other boy looking more convinced and he happily noted that the boy had stopped wringing his fingers. “They are currently in a room at the end of this floor. Don’t be concerned by the snow on the floor.”

He once again felt confused eyes staring at him but he just continued speaking. “Ask him to come out to talk to you. Ask Potter too. They will help.”

Regulus stayed looking down, not removing Severus’s arm from his own. “Okay.”

Severus breathed out, and removed his arm, taking a step back and sitting on the bed. “Good.” He made eye contact again. “You deserve better than being a Death Eater.”

Regulus paused, swaying a little while looking down, then nodded. He turned to leave, but paused right before the door.

Severus noticed. “Yes?”

“Um,” Regulus looked back. “I thought you had started calling Potter by his first name.”

Severus widened his eyes. “How-?”

“Everyone kind of knows now. People were expecting it.” He shrugged a little then left the room, as if he didn’t just leave Severus sitting on the bed with even more thoughts swirling through his head.

Notes:

Wooow, Severus is starting to have emotions, and maybe even acknowledge them? Maybe lol.

Thank you for reading! I really appreciate it. Sorry for the slow updates but hey we're almost to the end so it should be too much longer hopefully.

Have a great day, week, month, year, and lifetime! Stay safe <3

Chapter 14: Faace the Music

Notes:

Sorry for being so late to update! I have been going through a lot mentla health wise, and it doesnt seem to be getting better :'). I'm also In my final year of college so things are getting pretty busy.

I'd also like to apologize for the angst this chapter. Sorryyyy.

As always, I really hope you enjoy it! Please let me know if there are any inconsistencies or issues with the chapter.

Btw, a looking time back someone asked me to make a Tumblr. I did so, but only now am I actually starting to use it. It's under BooksR4ever18 if ya wanna follow me

Severus was sitting in Potions chopping up ingredients. As he did he could feel Harry's eyes boring into him from his little chair at the front of the room. Harry really hadn't settled since that first potions session. Severus looked up from his chopping board at him and hid a chuckle at Harry’s intense scrunched up expression.

 

Lily got his attention and he went back to stirring their potion as she slowly added in the sprouts she had chopped up. Severus was focused on the potion so he didn't see the smug expression grow on her face.

 

“So… do you know when we’re supposed to start smelling things from the Amortentia?”

 

Severus just looked at her quizzingly. “When it’s done?”

 

“Ah drats! I would have loved to have known what you smelled.” Severus could now feel two sets of eyes boring into him.

 

“I do not appreciate the implications of what you are saying.”

 

"Come on!" she said, throwing her hands down, exasperated. "You, Harry, and Potter have really fallen into the family rhythm at this point. Almost like a nuclear family."

 

Severus tried to stop the blush blooming on his face, but to no avail. His skin was just too pale, and he knew the Gryffindor would just grab it and run with it.

 

"Wait, why are you blushing?" She gasped, delighted. "Is there something you're not telling me?!"

 

"Shhh! Quiet down Lily! By Merlin's pants."

 

She zipped her lips, but the Slytherin could see the redhead nearly jumping out of her chair with excitement.

 

Severus sighed. “Okay. There is something you should know.”

 

Lily couldn’t hide her squeal very well. “I knew it! What is it? What is it?”

 

Severus leaned closer, prompting Lily to lean closer as well, her eyes gleaming. Severus opened his mouth.

 

“It’s time to add the pearl dust.”

 

Lily just gaped at him. “Are you kidding me?!?”

 

“Come on now, chop chop!”

 

Severus couldn’t help but laugh at his best friend's giggly but frustrated expression as she sprinkled in the pearl dust.

 

But as he looked over at Harry, smiling encouragingly at him, he heard a small sigh from beside him.

 

“Are you really not going to tell me what’s happening?” She was downtrodden as she was cleaning up her workbench.

 

Severus sighed, irritated as he glanced at the instructions and started stirring the other way. “There’s nothing to tell, Lily. Nothing’s happening.” He tried to be calm but his words came out with a bit of an edge. And he refused to glance behind him, even though now that James was in his consciousness he wanted to do nothing else.

 

“... Really?” Lily uttered quietly, only to sigh when the Slytherin gave her a wide eyed nonverbal confirmation. “Alright, I believe you. But we’re best friends Sev. If something’s happening, you can tell me. Even if you don’t know what’s happening, I can help you figure it out.”

 

Severus was speechless. After blinking he said, “I know, Lils, and I appreciate it so much. But there really isn’t anything to say.” Because there isn’t , he thought. “I mean-”

 

Severus was cut off from the waft of the potion hitting him. He heard Lily exclaim from beside him, probably when the scent hit her nostrils too. Their Amortentia was finished. 

 

Severus took a deep breath in. Amortentia was designed to be the favorite scent of any person ever, combining all their favorite things. Severus took another breath in, attempting to differentiate the scents he smelled. He pinpointed the first one as the smell of the edge of the Forbidden forest. The grassy, wet, mossy smell. And as he leaned closer, he was shocked to smell Harry. The smell he gets when burying his face into Harry’s hair was wafting up from the potion, and it relaxed Severus, making the tension in his shoulders slowly melt off him. But there was one more, on the tip of his tongue that he couldn’t quite place. 

 

If he was smart, he would have left things as is. But he was too far now, and his curiosity got the better of him. He leaned in closer. And the final scent hit him like a train, making him gasp when he recognized the scent.

 

This time, he couldn't stop himself from looking back at the messy haired Gryffindor, but he was caught off guard when he noticed the eyes’ intense gaze from behind James’s glasses, and when he could no longer stand to meet the other’s gaze, he looked down to notice that their potion was complete too. 

 

As Severus looked down at the ground, from beside him he heard his best friend speak. “Hey, now that the potion’s done, what do-”

 

“Professor!” Severus found himself yelling, raising his hand. “Our potion is done! Please review it!”

 

Slughorn was surprised but chuckled, shaking his head slightly. “By Merlin, always done so quickly! Alright my boy, I’ll come take a look.” 

 

But while Severus was looking at his professor and pointedly avoiding looking at any Gryffindors, he found his eyes sliding to Harry. Joy quickly turned into concerned confusion.

 

Was it just Severus, or did it seem like Harry was slightly… fuzzy ? Visually? Like there weren’t clear edges to him.

 

Severus didn’t have much time to think about it however, as there were sudden cries coming from outside the classroom. There seemed to be a commotion for some reason. 

 

Severus instinctively looked towards Harry with intent to protect, and noticed immediately that the fuzziness was gone. He felt a pit begin to form in his stomach.

 

Slughorn started speaking. “Alright, stay here, I’ll monitor the- Snape?! Where are you going?!” As Severus had found himself running to grab Harry and running out of the classroom. He could vaguely hear other classmates following after him but his mind was focused on following the crowd and seeing what was causing everyone to panic.

 

As he found himself exiting the building and rounding the corner to stand with the crowd, he knew that his suspicions were correct as he looked up at the hallowed exterior of the majestic Hogwarts building.

 

Or rather, interior, as one side of the outer wall of the main Hogwarts building was gone. He could see inside classrooms, seeing the students and teachers looking at the crowd below them in disbelief, friends yelling at others incredulously. He saw empty storage rooms and other rooms he was never meant to see. He saw the edge of the walls dividing the rooms from each other. He could see into hallways leading to a door at the end of it and see people cross from the hallway into the room. It was like a two dimensional architectural plan of this side of the building. Only this was real as he saw the wind pick up strewn papers from a classroom and blow them into the lake. 

 

He heard Lily gasp beside him. “Oh my word! What happened?!”

 

Professor McGonagall had exited the building, briskly walking towards the crowd, but it seemed the wall wasn’t her primary purpose for that. It was obvious she already knew about the problem.

 

“Potter! Snape! Come with me!”

 

Sevverus felt his jaw drop as he looked into the crowd and met eyes with James, equally as shocked. “But- But we didn’t do this!” He found himself yelling back at her. The students had quieted at this point, all observing the interaction once their names had been called out.

 

“I know. Please just come with me.” Looking back at Lily panicked and confused, Severus obliged with James right next to him and Harry still in his arms.

 

Severus could barely remember the trek to the Headmaster’s office. He felt scared, worried, confused, and a bit irritated to say the least. How could the professors think he had something to do with this? And James may have been known for pranks, but not only would James never go this far, but Severus didn’t think James was even capable of magic at this magnitude.

 

He found himself taking a seat alongside James as he faced a somber serious Headmaster Dumbledore.

 

“We called you in here to inform you of why this happened. The effects have been getting worse, and as it has to do with you, you deserve to know.”

 

“We didn’t have anything to do with this though.” Severus heard hesitantly from beside him.

 

Albus held eye contact with James, as the student was starting to get a little antsy. “You two didn’t, but he did.” And Severus could only look in shock as the Headmaster gestured towards the tiny, young boy in his lap, who just looked up at his Papa, confused but content as he smiled up at him.

 

Severus felt his protective motherly instinct flare up. “But Harry couldn’t have done this! He’s-” but he fell silent as the Headmaster raised a hand to silence him, and began to speak.

 

“Time turners are very regulated magic. They went through much trial and error and careful monitoring by unspeakables to harness the magic to be used by us. Because time travel is a very tricky thing to handle.”

 

“But unstable time travel, done accidentally, will result in anomalies in the time it occurs in.” Albus held their gaze.

 

“Harry is not supposed to be here. And reality is breaking in on itself because of it.”

 

Severus could only stare in shock. But despite his best wishes, the Headmaster had more to say on the matter.

 

“The span of the anomalies are getting larger. The longer he’s here, the bigger and more often these things will occur. The Aurors and Unspeakables have teamed up to hopefully find a solution to returning young Mr. Potter back to his time as soon as can be done.”

 

Albus held his hands open and gestured them to the door. “You are dismissed. We will inform the students once a solution has been met, but we will not be informing the students of the reasons for the anomalies, in order to protect Harry.”

 

Severus found himself lost in thought as he walked down the hallway, speechless. Harry was the cause of this? Of everything? And things would just get worse?

 

The raven felt a hand on his cheek. “Papa, are you okay?”

 

Severus, at the sight of Harry’s concerned face, felt himself tear up. 

 

He didn’t want Harry to go. He didn’t want Harry to leave him.

 

Severus steeled his expression, blinking fast to prevent his tears from falling. He smiled at the boy. “I’m fine, Harry, I promise.”

 

Harry looked unconvinced, which just made Severus’s heart hurt more. 

 

He loved his child.

 

Severus went along the rest of his day as normal, but it felt like a farce with the new information he had. He told Lily of course, who was understandably shocked like he was, and he was sure James had told Lupin and Black.

 

But the next day, Lily confronted him.

 

“Severus, you’re kind of, clinging too tightly to Harry, since you heard the news.” Which Severus knew to be true. He always knew Harry would have to go back, but now the end of his fantasy of family really loomed over him. He could hear Harry fussing to be let go so he could play, but the raven couldn’t bring himself to listen.

 

“How about you let Harry stay with me? I’ll take him to Gryffindor tower, maybe have him hang out with Black and Lupin.”

 

Severus wasn’t keen on the plan to begin with, but he was surprised by what he had said, or rather, what she didn’t say.

 

“What about James?”

 

Lily smiled. “Oh, he could see that you got upset by what you learned. So, he made a special surprise for you.” Severus could feel her excitement radiating off of her.

 

Severus was hesitant, but even Harry insisted he go surprisingly, so Severus relented. He gave Harry to Lily and made his way down to the classroom she told him James was waiting in.

 

Once Severus reached it, he was expecting to find the classroom changed in some way, like with the snow they had conjured for Harry. Instead, it was just a normal classroom with the addition of James, looking nervous but happy, with his hands behind his back.

 

Severus walked in and crossed his arms, curious. “Yes, James?”

 

“Well, ” and the Slytherin was surprised to see how unsure the other was as he bit his lip before smiling and running his hand through his hair. “I- I just…”

 

And James stopped talking, smiled at Severus in a way that made his heart flutter and his face turn pink with blush, and held out a bouquet of flowers.

 

Severus didn’t say anything as he gazed upon the flowers.

 

James took a deep breath in before speaking. “I like you. I really like you. I might even… love you. And I would love if, well, you’d be my boyfriend.”

 

Severus could see the flowers held out in front of him. He could see James' nervous but hopeful expression on his face as he waited for the Slytherin to speak.

 

But it didn’t matter.

 

It didn’t matter because Severus could only feel the loathing rage building up inside him as he smiled, grimacing, and closed his eyes as he started quietly chuckling. As he opened his eyes he could see the other’s expression faltering, turning to confusion as he pulled the bouquet back.

 

“You think that flowers are enough to have me?” Severus said quietly and calmly, but with so much rage that James couldn’t help but take a step back.

 

“Let me tell you, Potter , that I come from a poor, abusive drug house. ALL MY LIFE I’ve had to scramble to get food to eat, to get warm at night in order to sleep on my mattress on the ground.” Severus spat out. “My father hates magic, and he beat me and my mother for it. I have scars ALL OVER MY BODY from the blood spilled from that.”

 

“But it was all okay. You know why?” And Severus paused as he stared down the disheartened Gryffindor in front of him. Despite James being taller than him, he was clearly shrinking into himself as Severus continued. 

 

“Because I had two things. I had Lily, and I had my hope for Hogwarts. They were my saving grace. The idea of a school of magic , where I’d cultivate my magic, where I’d get warm meals and a nice bed. And I’d be safe.”

 

“But then you came along.”

 

Severus had been stepping closer as James had been stepping backwards. “I said that I wanted to be a Slytherin on the train, and you decided that I didn’t deserve to exist. Because I wanted to be closer to my mother, you decided to TORMENT me from the beginning of my Hogwarts stay. You destroyed the few robes I had, made fun of me for the hair I couldn’t wash because of the shampoo I couldn’t afford , hexed me and HUMILIATED me for the better part of my time here. And it couldn’t just be you, couldn’t it? You had to turn everyone else against me too.”

 

Severus stopped to breathe, as his expression twisted into hate-filled rage. 

 

“I was not safe. I have scars coming from you too.”

 

Severus was breathing heavily at this point, but he still stared down the other. Because he wasn’t done.

 

“But I still had Lily. She was my saving grace. And then, because of you , I didn’t anymore. And my life stopped being worth living.”

 

“And you think that flowers will fix the problem?”

 

And then the rage spilled out. Severus started yelling.

 

“HOGWARTS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE MY SAFE HAVEN! AND BECAUSE YOU DECIDED THAT YOU OWNED LILY YOU DECIDED THAT I DIDN'T DESERVE TO BE NEAR HER!”

 

Severus stopped and sighed. “But it was still better than being at home , so I took what I could get.”

 

“But despite how you treated me this whole time, despite seeing me as subhuman. NOW you want to have me?”

 

Severus chuckled again, before staring down the desolate Gryffindor.

 

“You just want an heir. You just want me to birth Harry.”

 

Severus yelled once more. “I WAS NOT MADE TO CARRY YOUR SPAWN! There is more in life I want to do! You want me to be a stay at home TROPHY WIFE for you while you go off on your perfect Auror missions?! With your perfect life?!”

 

“Now that you’ve seen me as a MOTHER, you want me! Now that you've seen me in a SUBMISSIVE ROLE, you want me! What about what I want?!” Severus took a sharp breath in.

 

“ I want a career. I want Harry . And I won’t let you take anything else from me.”

 

Severus could feel himself choking up as he stared at the other, as he swallowed. “You didn’t see me as anything other than a target of hate until Harry showed up. Something to use and abuse.”

 

Severus paused, pain replacing most of the anger in his expression. His voice quivered. 

 

“You don’t love me.”

 

And it seemed like he wanted to say more, but instead, the raven swiftly turned and walked, nearly running, out of the room. Tears streamed down his face as he left the other against the wall in the classroom.

 

The Slytherin wanted to spit out that he’d never love him. That he’d never want to be with him.

 

But he couldn’t.

 

Because he did love him.

 

The Slytherin just started to sob.

Notes:

Again, sorry for the angst, but it was kind of necessary with how I characterized Severus. Hopefully he stops sabotaging himself lol.

I hope you have an amazing day, wekk, month, year, and lifetime! Please stay safe <3

Chapter 15: On the Rocks

Notes:

Yay I'm finally back!

No but for real guys, the last almost 2 years have been extremely stressful for me. To make a long story short, I got screwed over by my university, which resulted in me not taking my third quarter of a foreign language, which ended up being required for my major. As it's only offered in the spring and I had health issues last year, I had to take my final foreign language quarter a full 2 years after the first 2. It requires a certain grade too, which happened to be a 75%. It was also stressful because I have a full time job lined up to start later this month, and it would be a nightmare if I wasn't able to graduate. Well it was really difficult, but I slogged through and managed to get a surprising 88% (which I wasn't expecting at all let me tell you I thought I'd get around 75%)! I'm graduating!

Anyway, since my finals just ended and I found out my grade I thought I'd churn one out for you. I mean, you guys have been waiting in suspense this long right? And we're almost at the end! So I really hope you guys enjoy it!

The next day Severus found himself stubbornly walking around Hogwarts with a hardened gaze. He hadn’t seen Jam- Potter since he had stormed out of the classroom.

 

The previous day as he had headed back to his small room he had held in his tears, but once he entered and shut the door he had started weeping openly, collapsing at the foot of the bed with his head and arms pressed into the soft mattress.

 

Lily had dropped by a few hours later, but her concerned expression betrayed that Potter had returned to the common room after what happened. But Severus couldn’t understand why Harry seemed concerned not for him, but for Potter. He is only a child after all. He wouldn’t be able to understand the situation.

 

But it broke his heart, because Harry seemed to be mad at him. He was stubbornly refusing to answer him or come near him, choosing to play with his toys instead. It was to the point where Lily had told Severus to wander the campus while she stayed inside with him. 

 

Severus felt rage enter him. Potter must have badmouthed him once he got back to the dorm while Harry was there. He didn’t care about Lupin or Black’s opinion of him and he knew Lily had his back, but in front of Harry!? He was very impressionable at this age!

 

Was Potter once again trying to turn everything good in his life against him? As revenge?

 

Severus could see it happening. He could see Potter doing that. Being pissed off, lounging in his chair and planning another prank against him, this one more mean spirited than ever before. See Black eagerly replying, happy that Potter had come back to his senses.

 

But Severus knew he was lying to himself. In the past maybe Potter would do that. But it’s different now. He’s not Potter. He’s James. He’s trying to be better. He’s trying to be a good father to Harry. And he affected Severus in a way he never had before. He had made Severus fall in love with him.

 

It hurt.

 

It hurt so badly.

 

But what could Severus do? He can’t just forgive James can he? James did so much to him. Fixing the present doesn’t mean the past didn’t occur.

 

Feeling his tears starting to build up again, he ducked into the first empty classroom he could find, then wiped his eyes with the sleeve of his robe, but against his wishes the tears pooled out of his eyes. He angrily used the palm of his hands to wipe the tears away. 

 

Despite being occupied with this, he was still a Slytherin. Slytherins are known for being self preserving. So when he heard thunderous footsteps rapidly approach the door and harshly push it open, he swerved around and pulled out his wand, but it didn’t matter. The wand fell to the ground as he was pushed up against the wall, arm pressing against his neck holding him in place.

 

Struggling to breathe, Severus managed to spit out, “Black.” 

 

And there the Gryffindor was, seething in a way he never had before, at least against Severus. He had always had negative feelings towards Severus, but nothing compared to the rage expressed on his face right now.

 

“YOU! YOU PIECE OF SH*T! James treated you like a f*cking king, better than you ever deserved. And LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO HIM! He came back looking like utter CRAP! He’s not eating, he DIDN’T sleep, and I heard him crying ALL NIGHT LONG! I told him! I TOLD HIM THAT YOU WERE SCUM! Now look. You proved to be the pile of sludge under someone’s shoes. Evil Snivellus . At least now Prongs will find someone actually WORTH loving!”

 

Severus struggled against the other’s arm pressing against him, but the seething Gryffindor had always been more athletic than him. He managed to push the other’s arm away enough to choke out, “I did nothing wrong. Everything I said was true and James-”

 

“DON’T SAY HIS NAME! The likes of you aren’t allowed to say his name EVER AGAIN!”

 

Severus struggled once again, his eyes closing as Black pressed against him even more than before, but pushed the arm away enough once more to be able to open his eyes and finish. “James is suffering because of that!”

 

And the sentence he choked out made Severus feel both triumphant and pained. It was deserved in his eyes. But he loved James. He didn’t want to hurt him. But he needed to say it. He needed to hear it. Hear what he had done to him.

 

“YOU B*STARD!” And Severus suddenly felt a wand pointed under his chin.

 

At this moment, a second set of footsteps that came through the door informed him that the wolf had joined them too. But he didn’t expect Lupin to say, “Sirius, stop!”

 

Sirius turned around, stunned. It was enough to loosen the strength against Severus a little bit, allowing the other to cough and wheeze for air. 

 

“But Moony, you saw James! You saw what this, this,” and it seemed that Sirus couldn’t decide what word was bad enough to fit the rage that he felt towards the Slytherin as he elected instead to let out a primal angry growl. “ Did to him !”

 

“Yes I did,” Remus said, hands out calmly as he stepped closer to the two. “But Snape doesn’t deserve this.”

 

“MOONY-!”

 

“James wouldn’t want this. James wouldn’t think he deserved it. Think about it. James isn’t angry at all. He’s pained, sorrowful, heartbroken. But he’s not angry.”

There was silence in the room. “James wouldn’t want this. You know he wouldn’t. Do it for him.”

 

The next thing he knew, Severus fell into a coughing fit as he fell to the floor. Black stood above him, still seething through his teeth. But instead of doing anything else, he stormed out of the room, no less angry than before.

 

Severus once again didn’t expect the footsteps to come closer instead of following the other Gryffindor, and he didn’t expect Lupin to help him up. Once he realized what had happened, he moved away, eyes indignant. Lupin looked at him sadly. “I’m sorry, Snape.” Then he turned and after looking back once, he walked out of the room.

 

After catching his breath fully, Severus started stalking back to his room. He had had enough of the Hogwarts campus, thank you very much. 

 

But once he arrived, his anger dissipated as he halted, because there outside his room was Professor McGonagall, just about to knock. She noticed him and turned to him, addressing him.

 

“Snape. I am here to escort you and Harry to the Headmaster’s office. Where is the little one?”

 

Severus heard himself say “Inside the room. He’s with Lily.” But he barely noticed the Professor knocking on the door and it opening, Harry coming out and Professor McGonagall pressing him into the Slytherin’s arms, or the walk all the way to their destination. He felt a rising sense of dread emerging in him, as he had a feeling as to why he was being called.

 

As he walked into the room, he was startled to see James sitting in there. He knew that James would be in there, at least if what he thought the meeting was about was what it was about, but he didn’t expect the state the other was in.

 

He didn’t put much salt into the words of Sirius Black, but he was right on the money this time. James looked like utter sh*t. His eyes were puffy and red, clearly from crying, he had dark drooping bags under his eyes, his mouth was slightly open as he stared into nothing, and most surprisingly, his normal sense of Gryffindor pride was visibly gone. Instead he was slouching, almost trying to curl into himself. And when he turned to the entrance and saw Severus, he shrank back, his expression clearly showing pain and regret.

 

Severus felt a large pain in his chest, larger than ever before as he felt himself start to tear up. He blinked rapidly to keep them at bay as he hurriedly rushed to his seat. He felt himself looking forward, out into space much like James, looking horrified.

 

He didn’t expect this.

 

He blinked as Harry twisted in his lap and put his hand against his Papa’s chest, and looked up in concern. This was the first time since yesterday that Harry has acknowledged him without negative feelings.

 

Maybe he did understand more than Severus originally thought.

 

Severus also stubbornly looked ahead as he saw in his peripheral vision James looking at him inquisitively, blank expression gone. And James then gulped then sat up straight, turning to address the people before them.

 

Yes, people, because Severus was too caught up previously to see that, along with Professor McGonagall and the Headmaster, there were also an Auror and an Unspeakable in the room. 

 

“Why did you call us here Professor?”

 

Albus smiled at the two of them. “We are happy to report that the ministry has been able to deduce how to send this little one back to his time. We will be canceling classes tomorrow and holding a Good Bye party where they will open the portal for a brief window of time.”

 

“Why, this is great news!” Professor McGonagall exclaimed. “The space time continuum will be restored, everything can function as it once was, and Harry will be back with his parents.”

 

Severus had been feeling dread this whole time, it increasing when the Headmaster made his announcement, but that final part of her sentence was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Severus felt like an ice cold knife had stabbed his heart, and was twisting inside him. 

 

Severus saw James smiling, though it seemed a little strained as he reached his hand out and pet Harry’s head, making the Slytherin startle. Severus also noticed that the Gryffindor looked to be rapidly getting better during this meeting. His puffy eyes and dark under eyes were still there, but that Gryffindor air was coming back in full force. He glanced at Severus, meeting his eyes, and he was shocked to see the explicit determination in his eyes. 

 

James took a deep breath in. “That’s good. Things won’t go awry anymore and the tot will be at his familiar home.” He didn’t notice how the words made Severus’s breath catch for a moment. He chuckled, looking over at Severus. “I wonder how the future Sev-” he hesitated, then continued. “Severus will react to having Harry back. If they’re anything like this one,” and here James hesitated again, but Severus was taken aback to see a sense of admiration in the Gryffindor’s eyes. “Then Harry will be smothered and loved as fiercely as he is now.”

 

Severus held his gaze for a moment too long, nervous, then took a deep breath in and turned back to the front to see the Headmaster smiling, eyes twinkling. “Alright, you three are dismissed.”

 

As they exited the office, James stopped and looked at Severus, his arm twitching as if he was going to raise it, but instead his expression of sadness came back as he turned back to head to Gryffindor tower. Severus watched him go, then only started moving when he couldn’t see the other anymore. But as he got closer to his room he felt his feet drag. He slowed down, until he stopped in the middle of the hallway. He looked down at the boy in his arms, who was currently silently toying with his tie.

 

Harry’s family.

 

His real family.

 

His real family.

 

This wasn’t his family. This wasn’t his home. Severus wasn’t his home.

 

He would be, in time. But right now? He was practically a stranger.

 

How stupid was it for a stranger to get so attached. So attached to the bright, loving, energetic sun that the child was.

 

As if Severus had spoken out loud, Harry looked up at him. He smiled broadly, before wrapping his hands around him, holding eye contact the whole time. His papa was looking sad, so he wanted to help!

 

Unfortunately, Harry was unaware of why he was sad, and seeing the child try to reassure him so innocently just made Severus start sobbing. Harry’s smile dropped and his eyes widened in alarm, before he too started crying. 

 

Hearing Harry crying, Severus steeled himself, wiping his tears away with his palm before walking back to the room, trying to soothe the child. This was no time for him to be crying.

 

He spent as much of the rest of the day with Harry as possible, but once Harry was sleeping blissfully and Severus had extinguished the light and slipped into bed, he felt the tears emerge from his eyes once more. He silently weeped into his pillow, before he fell asleep, tear tracks still on his face.

Notes:

Sorry to tell you that there's angst for just a little bit longer. And sorry for the slowest slow burn in the history of slow burns lol.

I hope you have a wonderful day, week, month, year, and lifetime! Enjoy the sun (if you can; I tend to die when it's hot)

Chapter 16: Better Late than Never, Right?

Notes:

Guys it's the end!!! I know I posted yesterday, but I had to get this out for you guys. Think of it as a double feature as thanks for waiting so long. I had so many thoughts in my head for this and I decided to just write them down. Also I'm avoiding packing because I'm moving soon.

This story has been a journey for me and you guys. I started it in my first week of freshman year and now I'm ending it in the last week of my senior year. All works out huh? (Except that one year break, we don't talk about that)

I've really enjoyed all of your comments and support. They brighten me up whenever I read them. You guys are so amazing and deserve the world honestly.

I really hope you guys enjoy it! I have an epilogue planned but because it's me who knows when it'll come out.

Severus was late to the celebration in the hall. He knows he shouldn't be. But he couldn’t bring himself to walk out of the door to their room for the last time. The last time- The last time he’d see Harry. The last time he’d be with Harry.

 

But knowing everyone was waiting, he gulped, and picked up Harry, who was in the best clothes out of the ones he had. He may as well return him as best as he can look.

 

Severus entered the Great Hall, and he felt the knife twisting again when he saw the large banner with “Good Bye Harry! We’ll Miss You!” written on it.

 

The auror and unspeakable were waiting at the front of the hall, but were disgruntled when they heard the Headmaster declare that the first portion of the celebration would be Harry mingling with the crowd, with people saying their goodbyes.

 

Severus walked around in a haze, fake smile plastered on his face as he passed Harry around to people who cooed at him and hugged him. The professors even wanted a turn, as Harry had really endeared himself to them. Severus will be honest, seeing Professor McGonagall break her stern exterior to hug Harry was an entertaining, though strange, occurrence indeed. 

 

“Alright.” Dumbledore raised his hands. “It is now time for the portal to be opened.”

 

Severus made to turn, dread seeping into him, but he saw James in front of him. He was looking much better than yesterday, though still not at his usual prime. As James took Harry from him, serious expression on his face, Severus realized that James hadn’t interacted with Harry yet that day.

 

James hugged the boy tightly, bending into him as though protecting him and putting a hand in his hair. Much like Severus had done back in the Great Hall at the beginning of Harry’s stay. “I’ll miss you so much Harry.” The boy just giggled and hugged him back.

 

After a few more seconds, James let go and gave him back to Severus, and his heart panged as he saw James with a sad, grim expression on his face. As Severus turned and walked towards the ministry officials, he knew his expression was very similar.

 

Using magic that Severus had no clue about (though he would’ve been very eager to learn, especially because it somehow involved a potion), the unspeakable opened a bright white oval portal in the air. Severus took a step back. It was nothing he’d ever seen before. He looked down, but Harry didn’t seem to mind the portal at all. Always the brave Gryffindor.

 

Feeling the eyes on him, Severus stepped forward. He couldn’t just let Harry go in alone. He needed to make sure the boy would be in the right place. So taking a deep breath, Severus entered the portal.

 

Severus exited into a homey, comfortable living room. The house had red decorations with white lining the walls and floor, which was hardwood. 

 

But Severus could not take anything in as sitting in front of him, on a worn, inviting couch, was himself.

 

But was it himself? As the other calmly smiled at him and stood up, Severus noted that, despite being the same weight, same height, with the same features, he was different. There was a glow to him, an aura of freedom . There was color in his cheeks, and he was open in a way Severus had never been able to be before.

 

Despite everything that Severus wanted to say, the sentence that came out of his mouth was, “Why aren’t you concerned?”

 

The older Severus raised an eyebrow and smiled at him. “Why would I be? I knew he was in good hands.”

 

Severus let his curiosity get the better of him. “How did this happen?”

 

The older Severus smiled. “I was working in my potions lab,” and Severus brightened up at hearing that he could actually work with potions in the future, “and even though this knucklehead knows not to go in there, he did and ended up knocking over a bunch of potions, which as far as I can tell opened the portal. I wasn’t there but when I came in after and saw the mess, I made the assumption.” 

 

Severus felt shifting on his side, and his heart hurt so much as he put the boy down and he watched the child run to get picked up by his papa. His real Papa.

 

But Harry turned back. He turned back and grabbed Severus’s left leg. “Bye, papa.” And he put his head against his leg. “I love you.” And he ran to be picked up by this time’s Severus. Severus somehow felt a pang, but a warm feeling as he saw Harry playing with the other Severus, who was engaging him.

 

Severus heard a noise from the entrance to the living room, and he blushed scarlet as he saw James standing there. Severus noticed the slightly broader shoulders and fuller physique. James somehow got hotter in the few years after graduating. But this James was somehow still as cocky as he smirked at the younger Severus.

 

Severus’s attention was drawn back to himself as the other walked closer. He held his gaze warmly, which was so foreign to Severus. He could swear he’d never had that in his eyes.

 

“Trust your gut, okay?” The other smiled at him, in a way that made it clear to Severus that he understood his own position. “You deserve to be happy too.” 

 

And with that, the older Severus took a few steps backwards, and Severus watched as the future James stepped forward and wrapped an arm around the older Severus’s waist.

 

Could Severus get this? This… this loving family picture? It was almost too much for him as he saw the three warm, smiling faces looking at him. It made his heart hurt with how much warmth was burning him.

 

Looking at Harry one last time, Severus sighed, then turned back and walked through the portal. It shrank into itself and disappeared, leaving the family standing in their living room.

 

James hummed. “I forgot how cute you were at that age.”

 

Severus smiled, using his hand to play with Harry in his arms. “So I’m not cute now?”

 

James blanched. “That’s not- that’s not what I meant!”

 

Severus hummed at Harry. “Looks like someone’s sleeping on the couch tonight.” And Harry chanted “Deer house! Deer house! Daddy’s in the deer house!”

 

James’s expression changed from concern to smirking mischievously, and he pulled his arm towards himself. He moved his hand upwards to run through Severus’s hair as he pulled Severus closer and kissed him deeply.

 

Severus looked at him with that same teasing smile. “You really think a kiss will be enough to relieve you of your punishment?”

 

“Yes.” James tilted his head to the side. “Because you are crazy for me. And my kisses.”

 

Severus shrugged out of his grasp. “Stupid Gryffindor.” But he moved forward and kissed James. “I guess you can sleep in the bed tonight. The guest bed.”

 

James gasped, wrapping his arms around Severus and he kissed him once more, the two then smiling at each other and resting their foreheads against each other in a silent loving moment.

 

At least until Harry started fussing and they needed to put him down so he could run around and crash into things.

 

Back in the present time, Severus exited the portal as it closed behind him. Suddenly, the ground shook as the wall to Hogwarts reappeared, and people gasped as the Muggle Studies teacher popped into existence out of nowhere. She held her head in confusion as Madam Pomfrey led her to the nursing suite. Among the chaos, Severus could hear Mary McDonald exclaiming that she could remember everything again. And Severus saw food appear on the tables as people celebrated once again. 

 

His heart panged.

 

As the celebration continued, James pushed past people, looking everywhere. He swore he had gone through everyone in the celebration twice over. But he wasn’t able to find the pale skinned Slytherin anywhere.

 

He was stopped though when Sirius stood in front of him.

 

James’s expression hardened. “What do you want, Sirius?”

 

Sirius sighed. “Listen, after yesterday when Moony yelled at me and you came along and he told you what happened, you understandably got upset. But your anger mostly showed pain. And that made me decide to spend some time sitting on my bed to think.”

 

James opened his eyes in shock. Sirius bristled. “Hey, I can think!” At James’s pointed stare he relented. “Okay, sometimes I can think. But I needed to do it, because it was clear that you lo- love Severus, and there must be a reason why. You’re not insane after all. And I ended up thinking…” and here he sighed again, looking abashed. “Severus never did anything wrong, did he? At least not anything that we made fun of him for.”

 

As James stared blankly in shock, Sirius continued, wringing his hands. “I mean, f*ck man, he even sent Regulus to us! He knows, he knows that being a death eater isn’t good. I guess I just, I just had such a poisoned image of him as a Slytherin that I kept waiting for him to show that he was an awful person. But in doing so, I ended up becoming the awful person.”

 

James tilted his head. “This is quite a change in one day.”

 

Sirius looked to the side, embarrassed. “I kind of had a feeling rise, though very slowly, that he was a better person than I thought. But when you came back so upset, I went back to my old ways.”

 

Sirius sighed once more, determined but nervous. “I plan on making amends, to show that I’ve changed and that I treated him terribly.”

 

James felt a pang as he pursed his lips. “You know there’s a very high chance that he’ll never forgive…,” us , “you.”

 

“I know. But at least he’ll know I’m trying. And here’s the first way I’ll do that.” And James stared in shock as Sirius reached into his bag and pulled out the marauder’s map. 

 

James slowly took it. “Thank you Siri.” 

 

And Sirius gave him a sad but optimistic smile. “Hopefully he’ll allow me to see the tot.” And he chuckled.

 

James smiled brightly at him, then whisked away, staring at the map. He exited the Great Hall, running down several sets of stairs until he was outside the door of an empty classroom. He took a deep breath, before entering the room.

 

There Severus sat, on the floor near the back of the room, back facing Potter, muffled sobs emerging from him. Potter just looked on sadly at him. He gulped. “Severus?”

 

The sobs continued. James sighed. “I’m sorry. I treated you horribly these years at Hogwarts. When I learned you were a Slytherin, I stopped seeing you as a person. Instead, you were just evil. And I felt like everything I did was deserved. But it wasn’t. Because you were a kid just like me, excited to be at this magic school!” James extended his arms out, gesturing at the wide area of Hogwarts. “But I took that from you, and for what? A girl that I felt you didn’t deserve to be next to. ”

 

He sighed again, lowering his arms. “I was awful to you. And I don’t expect you to ever forgive me.” 

 

“I just want to let you know that I’d never keep Harry from you.”

 

And here James heard the sobs quiet down. He continued. “Even if- if- if you choose not to be with me…” and it was so hard for him to choke out that sentence, “I’ll let you have him. I don’t know how we’d do it, but I’d make sure it’d happen. I- I just hope you’d let me spend time with him. A- and…”

 

And James trailed off as he saw Severus still sitting in the same spot. He sighed. “I’ll leave you alone now.” He turned and moved to exit the room, but stopped when he felt a hand on his arm. He turned around, stunned.

 

Severus looked at him straight on, stunning James even more. “James.”

 

“I want to be happy.” 

 

And before James knew it, he felt lips against his own. But before he could react they retracted, and he just saw the smaller man looking down, hesitant, embarrassed, blushing, but hopeful as his eyes moved back up to meet the Gryffindor’s.

 

James twitched as he nearly put his arms around Severus, but he paused. He didn’t want to overstep the other’s boundaries, and he knew the other was a bit skittish. But he saw Severus step closer, and he hesitantly wrapped his arms around the Slytherin. They were so close. 

 

“Can I kiss you again? I- I really didn’t kiss you last time! I think I should get another chance to show how good I am-” And lips pressed against his own one more time, but once again left before he could react. He started blushing. “That’s not fair!” 

 

And Severus laughed. He laughed openly and full of joy and James was inwardly kicking himself for preventing this for the last 5 years. 

 

He felt like he was flying high in the sky. James could just look at the other’s smiling face forever.

 

The two walked back to the Great Hall, hands intertwined. James wanted to wrap a hand around the other’s waist but he knew that that’d probably be too forward at this point with Severus. 

 

But by Merlin, he wanted to shove Severus up against a wall and snog the life out of him.

 

Especially with the other’s small, embarrassed smile plastered on his face as they walked back. It was an understatement to say that James was working overtime to suppress that urge.

 

They entered the Great Hall and surprisingly not many people noticed them. They were too busy with the celebration. 

 

But he felt Severus stiffen as Sirius walked to stand in front of them. His eyes lingered on their hands. “So you’re all good now?” 

 

At James’s happy nod he turned to face Severus. “Listen, Snape, I’m sorry for the way I treated you. It was completely uncalled for and it wasn’t fair to you. I was and probably still am a terrible person. But I want to thank you for bringing my brother back to me.”

 

Severus just stared, shocked beyond belief. After stunned silence he blurted out, “This is a very quick change from yesterday when you were choking me.”

 

Sirius ran a hand through his hair, now humbled. “Yeah, I took some time to think yesterday-”

 

“ You were thinking?!” Severus couldn’t help it, it was just so hard to believe.

 

“Okay I get it! I don’t think very much. By Merlin you guys can stop now!” But Sirius’s smile through the whole thing showed his attitude on the matter. It was so foreign to Severus to see the smile directed at him. Well, them.

 

“But yes, I was thinking. And I plan to make amends. You deserve better than I gave to you.”

 

Severus genuinely smiled at him though it was hesitant, somehow feeling touched. “Thank you, Black.”

 

Sirius smiled at him playfully. “It is my pleasure.” But Sirius became wide eyed and confused when he saw James glowering at him.

 

“Uh, okay. Anyway, I’ve decided that the first of my amends is for me to stay away from you for a pretty long period of time so you don’t have to deal with me.” And with that Sirus walked away, still confused.

 

Severus looked at James, incredulous. He had an idea of what could be happening, but it was so bizarre that he couldn’t believe it. 

 

“James, are you jealous ?”

 

And at that James blushed. “It’s just that- I mean- Sirius was being flirty! And you’re smiling now, and you’re so cute, and-” And James blushed even harder when he heard Severus laugh at him.

 

Severus stopped and looked at him with a large smile. And James was struck with a realization. 

 

Harry’s smile came from Severus. 

 

“It doesn’t matter what anyone does.” Severus raised their joined hands. “I chose to be with you. For some reason.”

 

And James knew that he’d get in trouble for it, but he couldn’t help himself from grabbing Severus and kissing him hard. When he pulled back and saw Severus’s shocked, flustered expression, he couldn’t help himself once again. That is until Severus caught up on what was happening and pushed him away, sputtering and red faced. And James couldn’t help but laugh. 

 

Severus calmed down as he heard the other’s joy and joined their hands once more, smiling deeply. The warmth of the family that he saw may not be that far from him after all.

 

And then Severus was assaulted by Lily hugging him so hard that he swore some of his ribs broke. He turned alarmed to see the redhead's fiery eyes as she exclaimed joyfully that the two finally got their heads out of their arses.

 

And Severus smiled, turning his head once more as James intertwined their hands once more. Looking into the beautiful bright hazel eyes, Severus felt that everything was finally coming together for him.

 

Who knew that’d ever happen, right?

Notes:

I hope you have an amazing day, week, month, year, and lifetime! <3<3<3 I'll see you again once more with the epilogue!

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of Winged Beasts (also known as pigs)