Chapter Text
The first time Harry Potter remembered doing magic was when he was five years old. Aunt Petunia was trying her hardest to get a hideous brown jumper with orange baubles on it over his head. It kept shrinking and shrinking until it was hardly big enough to fit on an action figure. Harry knew it was magic because his aunt shrieked about having none of that in her respectable home. That’s also the night she hit him on the head with a frying pan.
He could feel magic fixing him after she stuffed him in the cupboard under the stairs. His head was throbbing, and he couldn’t see out of his left eye. His right eye was pretty blurry, too. But the strange tingling sensation he felt when Aunt Petunia was wrestling the jumper onto him, was happening in his head. When they let him out of the cupboard in the morning, he managed to climb onto a short stepstool and look at himself in the bathroom mirror. What he thought was going to be really awful to look at was only a small bump on his forehead. He did notice that his lightning-bolt scar looked less red and angry today. Perhaps Aunt Petunia wouldn’t make him cover his forehead with his fringe.
Later that day, Harry was in the backyard pulling weeds from the azaleas. Sweat was dripping into the open graze over his left eye. His vision was still fuzzy, but he could see the back door fling open. Dudley came stomping into the yard with a scowl on his face. “Mummy said you have to go to school with me! Mrs. Figg down the road asked today if we were both ready to start next week. Now mummy has to sign you up. You’ll ruin all my fun at school! Stupid freak!”
Harry hunched over to protect his middle as Dudley started kicking him. School might be a chance to get away from being hit for a while. Harry was looking forward to school. He wasn’t allowed to eat that night. Uncle Vernon told him that good boys got to eat. Naughty little freaks didn’t get to eat, especially when the freak was costing them money. The following morning would start Harry’s new life.
******
Petunia dragged Harry behind her into the school office. He took the opportunity to look around at everything as he was pulled down the corridor. It wasn’t every day he was allowed out of the house. There were so many colors all mixed together! She shoved him into a chair when they reached the office. Dudley kicked him in the shins before he plopped his round bum into the next chair. Harry squinted at the pictures on the walls as Petunia spoke with the woman at the desk.
“Yes, my son is already registered. I wasn’t certain my nephew would be staying with us until very recently, so I need to do that now.”
Harry heard tapping and saw the woman behind the desk looking at a typewriter. She had very curly red hair, and a pointy face with glasses that were slightly too large for her face. Harry instantly liked her. “We can absolutely get him started with all the others tomorrow. You’ll need to send him in the same uniform as your son’s. Black trousers and socks, white collared shirt, we’ll provide a school tie on their first day. It’s a bit of a tradition. What is your nephew’s full name?”
Petunia sniffed and glanced back at him, “Harry James Potter.”
Desk Lady smiled at him over Petunia’s shoulder, “Nice to meet you Harry Potter!”
Harry smiled weakly, “It’s nice to meet you, ma’am.”
The grownups ignored Harry and Dudley while they finished the paperwork. Harry looked at every picture that was close enough for him to see clearly. All of the children were wearing the same clothes and had big smiles on their faces. Some pictures showed children painting or playing instruments. Harry hoped he was allowed to do those things. That was another thing! He had a name! Harry James Potter; it felt like a good name. It was lightyears better than freak, boy, vermin, and all the other names his family called him.
Petunia stuffed Dudley and Harry into the back of the car and grumbled the whole way to the shop that sold uniforms. He was quickly shoved into a dressing room and told to try on three different pairs of trousers, and three different shirts. Petunia purchased two of each in the size that fit, so Harry hoped he didn’t grow too much. He was even given new shoes! He got more new things in one day than he’d ever been given. Usually, Dudley’s clothes that were too small or too badly damaged was all Harry had.
He carefully folded his new things and hid them behind the loose board in his cupboard. His knapsack barely fit, but he finally wedged it in and used some of the tingly fingers magic to make the board look like a creepy shadow. Dudley would never reach back there. Harry wasn’t letting anything happen to *his* things. He fell asleep that night dreaming about going to school with other children and learning things. Now that Harry had a name, and knew that magic was real, everything would be better.
The weekend passed quickly enough, and Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia seemed like they didn’t want Harry to have any new bruises, so the frying pan bruise was all gone by Monday. He put his knapsack on his back proudly and followed behind Dudley, who was holding his mum’s hand. There were loads of children walking into the school building when they got there. A nice woman with soft brown hair looked at a clipboard for their names and told Aunt Petunia which rooms he and Dudley were assigned to.
They stopped in front of room seven, and Petunia nudged Harry toward the door. A young woman with a colorful skirt popped out and smiled wide at them, “Good morning! My name is Miss Emsworth, which one of these delightful boys is coming with me?”
Petunia looked like she smelled something awful, “This is my nephew, Harry Potter. I should really get my Dudley to his class.” She turned away and led Dudley across the corridor to room six, where an older woman with a stern face was waiting for them.
Harry followed Miss Emsworth into the classroom and squinted at the new surroundings. She took him to a small round table with four chairs, “This is the green table, and this chair has your name on the back. You’ll have three other tablemates when everyone arrives. We’ll learn more about things when everyone else is here, ok?”
Harry nodded quietly and settled into his seat. Soon a little girl with pale blonde hair was sitting with him; then a little boy with short brown hair; and finally, a girl with very dark brown skin and black hair. They sat in nervous silence until Miss Emsworth closed the door and stood at the front of the classroom. Harry was really pleased he was close to the board; he never would have seen it from the back!
“Welcome to your very first year of school! Every morning you’ll come in and hang your knapsacks on the hook with your name. If you have bag lunch, sit it on the shelf over your hook. I’d like you to sit quietly every morning until the bell rings, then we’ll start our day!” She told them all about how she would check for attendance every day, and then they saw their names with jobs pinned to them on a corkboard. Harry had to squint real hard to see that he was the line leader for their first week. After they talked about the different jobs, they went around the classroom and told their names.
Harry couldn’t see anyone clearly to match a name with a face, but he could tell their voices apart, and he had a pretty good memory. Blonde hair at his table was Melody Sweet, short brown hair was Ricky Benton, and Black hair was Sarah Graves. They learned each other’s favorite color, and favorite flavor of ice cream. Harry had never tasted ice cream, so he just said he liked chocolate like Ricky. They were allowed to play on the playground for a bit before lunch. Harry stuck to the kids from the green table, and they didn’t seem to mind. Dudley came over with his new friends, a whole bunch of boys that Dudley just happened to be the biggest of. He and his buddies hit Harry’s new friends and told them to stay away from the disgusting freak. Harry went back inside and sat at the table alone.
That afternoon, Harry wasn’t ready to go home. Aunt Petunia picked up Dudley from his class, and was about to leave without Harry, when Miss Emsworth caught her attention. Harry looked at his shoes while Petunia glared down at him.
Miss Emsworth pretended not to see the look on Petunia’s face, “Could you please step into my classroom? I’d like a word in private, please.”
Petunia stalked into the room and visibly flinched when the door clicked shut behind her, “What is this about? What has the boy done already?”
Miss Emsworth recoiled at the tone, “Mrs. Dursley, Harry is a delightful young man. He proved to be very attentive and willing to learn. I asked you in here to suggest you take him for a vision test. I don’t think he sees well. I would also like you to have a word with Dudley about his behavior toward his cousin. He showed an excessive amount of aggression on the playground today. I could tell that it made Harry and his classmates very uncomfortable. We also need money for Harry’s lunch account.”
Petunia’s acid glare landed on Harry, “I’ll see to it he gets glasses. Thank you for bringing the matter to my attention.”
Harry tried to hold on to the reassuring smile that followed him out of the building. Miss Emsworth didn’t know she was setting Harry up for another beating. Uncle Vernon was waiting with his belt off when they got home.
******
Petunia did take Harry to get his eyes checked. He had terrible vision, and needed glasses to see more than a foot in front of him. He was beyond excited when she tossed the little case holding his glasses to him after school two weeks after the appointment. He shuffled into the cupboard and hid his knapsack. He quickly took off his uniform and put it in the hiding place. Once he was in Dudley’s castoffs, he opened the case and slid the glasses onto his nose. He didn’t want to turn on the light in the cupboard. Uncle Vernon always got so angry about wasted electricity. He decided in the end to wait until morning to see clearly for the first time. He knew if he came out of the cupboard now, he would get hit for being ungrateful.
Harry snuck out of the cupboard before the sun came up the next morning. He could tell by the sound of the crickets outside that he had just enough time to use the toilet and the mirror to tie his tie before Aunt Petunia woke up to make breakfast. He quickly ducked into the kitchen and hid a banana and an orange in his knapsack before sneaking up the stairs to the bathroom. He was just closing the front door behind him when he heard Aunt Petunia’s alarm beep.
He walked to the school as the sun came up. Little Whinging School had children all the way up until they left to go to university. He learned just yesterday that the school library opened early so the students who wanted to work on essays had time to do research. He planned to go straight to the library and read as many books as he could until it was time for school to start. If he wasn’t in the house, they couldn’t hurt him. He would just have to sneak into his cupboard before anyone noticed him after school.
Ms. Tingle was just unlocking the library when Harry made it to the top step, “Well, now. What have we here? What’s a young bairn like yerself doin here at such a time, eh?”
Harry smiled shyly, “Good morning, Ms. Tingle. I hope you don’t mind that I’m here. I was hoping to read something before school.”
Ms. Tingle moved aside and made way for Harry to enter the library, “Come right on in, then. You’re one of the newest bunch then, aren’t ya?”
Harry followed her to the aisles in the early readers section, “Yes, ma’am. I’m Harry Potter, year one.”
Ms. Tingle looked closely at the little boy. He was a bit scrawny, and had thick round glasses perched on his nose. His hair was past due for a cut, and she clearly remembers seeing this one limping on the way home from school a few days last week. “Well, Harry Potter, how well can you read?”
Harry looked at the spines of the books on the shelf at his eye level. He found one he knew he could read. Dudley left this one torn in the yard last year. Harry kept it hidden in the hiding spot. “ Green Eggs and Ham,” Harry read, “I can read this one really well. Are there more like this?”
Ms. Tingle showed Harry the whole shelf of Dr. Seuss books. With his new glasses in place, he could read them all and move on to even longer books. He didn’t get a headache from squinting, either! Harry read ten Dr. Seuss books before it was time to go to class.
After school, Ms. Tingle cornered Miss Emsworth and Mrs. Medlowe in the car park. “What do you two think about that Dudley Dursley and Harry Potter?”
Mrs. Medlowe glowered up at the other two women, “I’ve been teaching for twenty-five years, and I know a bully when I see one. We need to make sure those two are kept apart. Dursley is much bigger than his cousin, and I fear for the smaller boy.”
Miss Emsworth sagged in relief, “I’m so glad there are more of you concerned for Harry. All we can do for Dudley is try to get him to see the error of his ways while he is here. I’ve already got Headmaster Whitaker to approve Harry’s lunches come out of the poverty fund. I’ve asked five times for that awful woman to add money so her nephew can eat! I’m truly concerned he doesn’t get food at home.”
Ms. Tingle nodded sorrowfully, “The poor dear had a banana and an orange with him when he arrived this morning. I’ll be sure to have something for him in the mornings if he continues coming as soon as I open the door.”
Mrs. Medlowe grunted and unlocked her car door, “I’ll do my best to keep his oaf of a cousin away from him. I’ll swap recess with Alphonso first thing tomorrow. He’s been begging me since the first day as it is.”
And so, Harry’s first year of school went on. In December, a coat appeared on the hook with his knapsack. His name was written on the tag, and he never figured out who it came from. In February, Harry realized his trousers were too short. He focused for a really long time until he got the tingly fingers magic to make his trousers longer. In April, Dudley threw a huge tree branch in front of Harry when he was running home from school. When Harry hit the pavement, he felt his glasses crunch and his sleeve tear. He drug himself home and into the safety of his cupboard and used the last of his energy that day to fix his glasses and shirt.
When summer came, Harry learned that the local library opened just as early as his school library. He also learned that Ms. Tingle worked at the local library when the school was closed on holiday. Ms. Tingle made him promise not to tell anyone about the egg sandwiches and leftovers she brought him every day. He thanked her and promised that someday he would come back and repay her for the kindness.
He carried on this way for five whole years. But when the summer he would turn ten came, his uncle decided he was old enough to do chores. The first day of summer, Harry woke up ready to go to the library, unaware that he was expected to remain home. He opened the cupboard door and found Vernon waiting for him.
His great bristly mustache puffed out under his nose as his face turned red, “And where do you think you’re going,” he growled.
Harry tried to breathe calmly, “I was going to go to the library, sir. I stay out of the way, just how you like, sir.”
Vernon squinted his beady eyes at the trembling boy, “You think I believe that you go to the library all day? We haven’t bought you a new uniform for three years, but somehow yours always fits. We feed you as little as possible, yet you still grow. I know you're doing something freaky and unnatural to get new clothes and keep yourself alive. Are you stealing!?”
Harry flinched and tried to shift back into the cupboard, “No, Uncle Vernon! I promise, I only use what you’ve given me, and eat what’s provided. I would never steal, please believe me.”
Vernon began to pull Harry out of the cupboard by his ankle. Harry struggled and kicked out. His free heel caught on a thick shoulder. The most damage he did was a small bruise. Vernon was twisting his lower leg so hard Harry could feel the bones grinding together. Harry felt tears falling down his cheeks unbidden, he was gasping for breath and clawing at Vernon’s meaty hands to release his leg. When he felt something in his leg snap, his vision went white.
A loud ringing was all he could hear for the longest time. He could feel the tingly magic... heh... Ms. Tingle is the librarian... no wait... the tingly magic was now sharp spikes stabbing at his shattered leg. The sharp stabs faded back to slightly painful zaps, as the ringing in his ears lessened and his vision returned. Harry pushed himself into a sitting position gingerly and surveyed his surroundings. Everything was fuzzy again so he reached up for his glasses to adjust the lenses with magic again. When he pulled the glasses off, the world became clear. He put them back on and blinked at the blurred world, then pulled them off and scanned again.
Deciding he would deal with that later, he saw Vernon slumped on the floor, hardly breathing. Shit. How was he gonna make this work? He stood up and tested his leg. Not as broken as he thought; in fact, it may have felt better than ever. He slowly crept toward his uncle and continued his observation. The lightbulbs were blown in the hall. The window of the front door was cracked. A family picture was on the floor and smoking. Petunia was standing on the stairs with her hands over her mouth. Dudley was behind her with a look of terror on his face.
Vernon groaned and opened his eyes. Harry sighed, “Alright. Family meeting, in the kitchen.” He led the way into the kitchen and pointed at the table until his three family members sat down. He put the kettle on and passed out mugs. When the pot whistled, he added tea and then poured for everyone. Once he was happy with his own tea he took a sip and sat back, “To answer your earlier question, Uncle Vernon, yes. I am doing something freaky and unnatural to make sure my uniform stays clean and properly fitting. And I think it’s about time someone explained why you’ve both tried so hard to beat it into me that magic isn’t real, when it very. Clearly. Is.”
Vernon started to bluster, “Now see here!” but decided to stop when he saw sparks at the ends of Harry’s fingers. “Fine. Petunia, this is your fault. Explain.”
Petunia turned her nose up to the ceiling ant crossed her arms petulantly, “Oh, fine. I never wanted to speak of her again, but you insist. My *sister*,” she shuddered, “your mother, was a witch. She was making dead flowers live, and talking to the bushes almost as soon as she could walk. When she met the Snape boy in the park, he only confirmed what mother and father suspected. Magic is real. And just as the foul Snape boy predicted, Lily received a letter from Hogwarts when she turned eleven. She and Snape went off to learn magic, and I was left alone. And then I was left with you, because she fell in with Potter and got murdered.”
Dudley fidgeted in his seat and Harry made the sparks come back. “That’s a lot to unpack. Ok. Do you have anything of hers?”
Petunia scoffed, “Of course not. We found you on the doorstep and had to feed and clothe you ourselves. You had nothing but the clothes you were in and a letter from Dumbledore.”
Harry knew he wouldn’t forget any of this, but still planned to write it all down later. He liked writing to keep his thoughts organized. “Ok. Things are going to change. As you can see, I can do magic. And now that I know I can cause harm if I feel like I’m in danger, I will. I’ve lived on your scraps since the day I arrived here. I didn’t even know I had a name until I was registered for school. I’ve used magic to keep my clothes clean and fitting since then! Dudley has bullied me, and scared off any friend I ever thought I might make. I don’t see that changing now. I turn ten in a few weeks, and eleven next year. So, that means I should get my letter for Hogwarts next year. Correct?”
Vernon turned red and slammed a hand on the table, “Who do you think you are!?”
Harry glared at him, “I’m your nephew! I’m a child you should have cared for! Even if you hate my parents, you had no reason to hate an innocent baby!” He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down, “I don’t want much from you. I want clothes that fit, I want access to the washing machine so I can clean them. I want access to the bathroom whenever I want. I *am* taking the spare bedroom with all of Dudley’s broken things. I *might* fix some of it, the rest I’m throwing in the rubbish bins. I’ll eat when I’m hungry, but I will only cook for myself. I’ll go where I want, when I want, and I won’t bother you at all. To save even more contact, you could just give me an allowance, and I’ll make sure I have what I need, and you’ll only see me in passing. When I go to Hogwarts, you won’t see me at all.”
Petunia and Vernon whispered behind their hands while Dudley cowered in his chair. He was quaking so hard Harry feared the chair might collapse under Dudley’s weight. At last, the adults turned to him with severe looks on them. Vernon spoke for them, “We can’t throw you out without the police finding out. You seem smart enough to tell someone if I try to beat it out of you again. We agree to your terms. You will leave this house and never return when you leave for your final year at Hogwarts.”
Harry nodded slowly, “I can accept that. Weekly allowance?” Vernon sounded like he was choking, but he pulled five hundred pounds out of his wallet and passed it across the table. “I think I can make this work to acquire a new wardrobe and toiletries. Do you know how I can get to the magic world? I want to find out how to get books so I can learn before I go to school.”
Petunia stood and pushed in her chair, “Send a letter to Severus Snape. He’s the only other person in that world I know. I wouldn’t trust Dumbledore if I were you.”
Harry let them scurry away. He finished his tea in peace, and even added a slice of chocolate cake. After washing his dishes, he collected his scant belongings and walked up the stairs. He turned into the first room on the left and surveyed his new domain. He placed his things on the broken bed and began separating the piles of junk into better categories. There was a rubbish pile that he took outside three times; then there was the try to use magic to fix pile; followed by the magic can definitely fix this pile.
A full-length mirror was tucked half-in the closet. Harry carefully ran his fingers down the crack and watched the seam melt together. He couldn’t wait to use the mirror to try on clothes tomorrow. He spent the whole day going through Dudley’s junk and repairing the furniture. It was too late to go shopping now. He did find a new hiding space in his closet. Dudley might be terrified of him now, but that didn’t mean he was any less stupid. Before crawling into his newly repaired bed, Harry pulled out a pad of lined paper and a pen.
Severus Snape,
I hope this finds you well. You don’t know me, but I was made to believe you were someone I could trust. I am currently living with people who don’t know magic, but I need to seek legal aid in the magic world. Please. I don’t know who else to ask.
A Hopeful Ally
******
Harry stuck the letter to Snape in the post box on his way to the bus stop. He didn’t know there was a charm on all public post poxes to transport all letters to people with magic names to the Owl Post Office, where they are then scanned to make sure they were actually for a magic person. If they weren’t, the letter went back to the post box; if they were, a post owl delivered the letter to the magical recipient.
Severus Snape received a letter by post owl roughly three hours after Harry put it in the box. He read the very brief letter over and over trying to figure out where it came from. But there were no clues. Only muggle paper, and muggle ink. The letter arriving by post owl suggests the sender may have even used the muggle mail. There was a stamp with the aging queen’s face... Severus summoned parchment and a quill and wrote:
Hopeful Ally,
You have not made it easy for me to communicate with you. I am not even certain my owl will be able to find you. If this letter makes it to you, please return your reply with the owl. She will remain with you until you have a letter to send. Can you take the Knight Bus to the Leaky Cauldron to meet with me? I will take you to Gringotts to acquire legal aid.
SS
Harry found the owl and letter from Severus after dinner. He spent the whole day buying clothes for himself, and new uniforms for school. He didn’t go too crazy, though, and made sure he still had a lot of the five hundred pounds left. He was sorting through his purchases when he heard the aggravated tapping at the window. He lifted it open and let the bird hop in. She waved her leg to show him her letter.
Harry giggled to himself as he untied the first letter he’d ever received. He read it twice and looked back at the owl, “I don’t know what the Knight Bus is, or how to get to the Leaky Cauldron. He’s gonna know I’m a kid, isn’t he?” The owl hooted rather unhelpfully. Harry looked at the strange paper of Severus’ letter. He pulled out another sheet of lined paper and his pen and wrote back:
SS,
I must admit my ignorance. I do not know how to summon the Knight Bus. Any other ideas?
HA
Harry looked at the owl, “Are you alright to fly back? I don’t know how far you have to go. I’ll try to stay awake if he sends you back tonight.” She hooted at him quietly and hopped back out the window. Harry settled into putting away his new things and securing his hiding spot.
Severus was startled when Iris flew back into the sitting room. “How far from Cokeworth are you going? Did they reply? He looked at the single line reply for a solid five minutes, “How old is this person? Iris, I need you to speak to me.” Iris did not speak to him.
HA,
Tell me a public location where we can meet tomorrow afternoon. After you send your reply, go to sleep.
SS
Iris snatched the parchment and swept out of the open window. When she landed at Harry’s again, she was rather pleased to see the window open for her there as well.
Harry leapt from his bed to the window, “Hi! You came back so fast. Oh, man. He wants to meet me tomorrow. Alright. I can do this. I’m sorry for making you fly so much. Thank you.” Iris nipped at Harry’s hair and watched him scrawl his reply underneath the letter he just received.
******
Harry paced the human anatomy and physiology section at the Little Whinging Library. It was the least traveled section of a library Harry knew every inch of. He was freaking out about meeting a friend of his mum’s any second. He heard footsteps walking toward him and he froze like a deer in headlights. A tall man with long black hair came around the corner and stopped dead in his tracks. Harry smiled in what he hoped was a friendly way, but really came off more as a frightened grimace of pain.
Severus stared at the waif of a child standing exactly where the letter told him to go. Was he finally losing his mind? Was he truly meeting a *child* in a library? “You’d better have a very good explanation, Hopeful Ally,” Severus sneered.
Harry braced himself against the malice in the man’s voice. He was used to Vernon and Petunia, he could deal with this guy, “I think you knew my mother. I need help, and yours is the only name my aunt knows.”
Severus felt the boy’s recoil like a physical slap. This was a child who knew what it was like to be hurt, “Will you tell me your aunt’s name?”
Harry closed his eyes and released a breath slowly, “Petunia Dursley.”
Severus felt bile rise in his throat. This was Lily’s child. This was James’ child. He should turn and run in the opposite direction. But he had Lily’s wide green eyes, and he looked so frightened. Instead of running, Severus took a step forward, “Harry?”
Harry wavered between stepping forward or backward. In the end he took one hesitant step forward, “Yes, sir. Harry Potter.”
Severus tentatively touched the boy’s shoulder feeling relief when he didn’t cringe under the touch, “Come with me, please. I’ll take you to Gringotts and we’ll figure out what you need.” Harry leaned into the gentle touch and nodded his head. Severus apparated them to an alcove next to the bank and quickly guided his charge up the stairs and into the building.
When a teller was available, Severus walked calmly to them and nodded his head at the goblin, “Greetings, I need a very private and discreet meeting with the Potter account manager.”
Harry was careful not to stare, but he watched the creature write a message onto a piece of paper that disappeared in a puff of smoke. A few moments later the creature motioned for them to follow. They were led down a winding path that looked like it was carved right out of a mountain of black marble with veins of every color known to man running through it. Their guide stood next to a massive stone door and waved them in. Harry looked at Severus hesitantly but couldn’t see anything but a stony statue. He scooted back into the available chair in front of an enormous stone desk and felt silly with his feet dangling.
A being much like the one who brought them to this office stepped out from a hidden door at the back. They were slightly shorter than Harry, with an over-large head, sharp teeth, and a *huge* knife hanging at their thigh. He realized that he hadn’t heard the other being speak at all, so he was rather surprised by the smooth voice that greeted them.
“Greetings wizards, I am Thorn. I have managed the Potter account since my father, Grimthorn, retired and left it to me. This meeting is long overdue.” Thorn was a female! Well... if that’s how these beings thought of gender. Did they?
Harry tried not to fidget, “I apologize, Thorn, I don’t know... well, anything. I asked Mr. Snape for help, and he brought me here. For all I know, you both plan to kidnap me and sell me into slavery in Uganda.”
Severus snorted, surprised by his own burst of mirth, “I can assure you, Potter, I do not intend to send you into slavery.”
Harry shrugged and looked back at Thorn, “I don’t mean to be rude, but what are you? And how do I learn all the things I’ve been hidden from? And why is this meeting overdue?”
Thorn’s laugh was like rocks grinding together. She sounded a bit like Mrs. Medlowe, who smoked a lot of cigarettes, and coughed all the time. It did *not* match with her velvety calming speaking voice, “I am a goblin. Gringotts is the bank for all magickind. I will send you home with a book about goblin culture and how to interact with my kind. As for everything else you need to know,” she flicked a look at Severus, “you will need a guide in the magic world. Someone who can take you to the places you need to go and teach you the things you should have learned a long time ago. This meeting is overdue because you should have had your parents’ will read long ago. There were specific instructions in it for your care and upbringing.”
Harry felt his face turn red, “I only know that my mum’s name was Lily. My aunt and uncle have always refused to tell me anything. They told me for the longest time that they were alcoholics who died in a car crash. That’s where I got the scar on my head. But then Petunia just told me that mum was murdered,” Harry sniffed trying to hold back tears. Crying wasn’t useful. “I don’t know what to believe anymore.”
Severus couldn’t hide the horror he felt. He could see that the boy was nervous, but he could still feel the rage building in him. “Your mother was the best friend I ever had! She was infinitely kind, and so damned smart. She could have done anything in the world, but she fell in love with your *father* and had to go into hiding because of it.”
Harry sat with his back pressed to the back of the chair. Whenever Vernon looked like that, a belt was about to come flying at him. Harry held his hands in front of him and whispered, “I’m sorry I didn’t know.”
Severus deflated. The fear radiating from Harry was like ice washing down his back. “I apologize for that, Harry.”
Harry shook his head and dropped his hands. His gaze shifted to Thorn, but he kept Severus in his peripheral, “My parents’ will. Can I... can we?”
Thorn eyed Snape carefully, then looked back at her account holder, “I need three drops of blood. That will give us proof that you are who you claim to be and will allow me to unlock the will.”
Harry managed to keep his hand steady as he reached across the desk. He hardly felt the tip of a needle pierce his left ring finger, but the blood welled up and dripped onto the weird paper. Harry waited while the blood spread out and made words. He glanced at Severus, who could see the words forming because he was so damn tall and watched all color drain from his face.
Severus clutched his throat and looked back and forth between the parchment and Harry. Harry yanked the parchment off the desk and read everything that had spread out from those three tiny drops. Severus knew both of their lives were about to change forever.
Harry James Potter Snape DOB 31/07/1980
Mother- Lily Jane Evans Potter
Father- Severus Tobias Snape
Adopted Father by blood adoption 31/07/1980- James Fleamont Potter
Godmother- Alice Mary Longbottom Godfather- Sirius Orion Black
Harry felt his gaze flicking between the weird paper and Severus, just like the other man’s gaze was doing before. The blood in his face drained the same, too, but then he felt hot all over. His throat felt dry and raspy, and he wasn’t sure why everything felt like it was spinning. He was just about to topple over, when a cold glass was pressed into his hand. He sipped ice cold water and felt his senses begin to settle.
Thorn tapped her long fingers on her lips, “That was unexpected. I think we should open that will now, don’t you?” She opened a file that wasn’t there before and skimmed the page before reading it out loud:
“Dearest Harry, if you are reading this, that means your father and I didn’t make it through the war. I hope that you are receiving this letter many, many years later, and that you’ve grown up with your biological father. There is a letter for him that I left with someone in trust. I’ll explain what I can in case things don’t go as planned, which they rarely do. Your father James and I were struggling to have a baby. We knew we were young, and that a war was going on, but we wanted a baby so badly. It’s a terrible excuse for wanting to bring a child into the world, but we were blinded by our love and fear of the unknown.
We had a terrible fight one night about the war, and a lot of other things you don’t need to know. I made a mistake and went to visit an old friend. We drank a lot of bad vodka and made a few more bad choices. I knew immediately what I did was wrong, and I begged Jamie for forgiveness. Nine months later, you were born. We had the blood adoption done the same day. There are memories in the vault with the Pensieve. When you’ve had time to process all of this, please watch them. Your father and I have some things we didn’t want to try to say in a letter. We love you, Harry.
Lily (Mummy)”
Silence sat heavy in the room. One could hear dust motes floating down from the ceiling, the merest breath was like a foghorn. Severus gasped and leaned forward in his chair. He fought the urge to recoil when a cold hand touched his right arm. “I never got the letter,” grief filled his tone, “you have to know I never would have left you there if I’d known.”
Harry kept his hand on Severus’ arm, “I believe you. I don’t know what we’re supposed to do about it, but I believe you. Thorn, is there anything that’s important right now in the will?”
Thorn glanced at the pages behind the letter, “Your godmother is in hospital for the rest of her life, and your godfather is in prison. You have a very impressive inheritance from both the Potters and the Blacks. Albus Dumbledore has been taking money out of your trust fund since 31 October, 1981. His claim was that the funds were being sent to your guardians for your upkeep.”
Harry collapsed back in his chair, “No money ever made it to them. Believe me, they complain constantly about how much of a burden I am on the household. If they were getting extra money for my upkeep, they’d make sure to rub it in my face as they used it all for themselves. There’s not a snowball’s chance in Hell that this Dumbledore was sending them my money.”
Thorn wrote something down and smiled wickedly, “That is very interesting, Mr. Potter. Gringotts will begin an inquiry immediately. This is a rather large amount of money that has been taken. If it wasn’t used for you, Dumbledore will have to return all of it. Would you like to proceed?”
Harry looked at Severus in panic. Severus took a steadying breath, “Proceed with caution. When the funds have been traced, we will schedule another meeting to go over the results. It is not wise to go after Dumbledore without a lot of irrefutable evidence.”
Thorn nodded and scratched something else down with a feather quill, “Very well. That is a wise decision. As for Harry’s trust, all future withdrawals by Albus Dumbledore will be cancelled and his access will be revoked. I’m sure my colleagues and I can come up with a good reason why. Am I assuming correctly that everything we’ve learned here today is to remain top secret?”
Harry nodded his head emphatically, “Listen, Aunt Petunia is a rubbish human, but even she doesn’t trust Dumbledore. I’ve heard nothing good about him, and everything I’ve heard was within the last few days. It’s not looking good for my opinion of him.”
Thorn regarded the boy who was not yet ten who was wise beyond his years, “The Potter secrets have been kept by my family for centuries. They will not be shared by me. Mr. Snape’s secrets are just as safe with me.”
“Sir, do you... do you want a son? If not, I understand. This is a fucking mess to be dropped in your lap all at once. I’ll totally go back to the Dursleys if I have to. We have an agreement now, anyway. They won’t bother me anymore,” Harry was rambling. He couldn’t stop. It’s like his mouth just kept going and he didn’t know what it was going to say next.
Severus put up a hand for silence and felt relief when the boy stopped, “You are my child, you will never go back there if you do not want to. I have a home you are welcome in. It will take us some time to get to know one another, but we shall. I don’t know what I’ll tell Dumbledore. He’ll know right away if he sees you, there’s no way to hide the fact that you’re James and Lily’s child.”
Thorn’s smile widened, “Actually... we can fix that. The blood adoption is what gave Harry so much of James’ appearance. It’s a simple matter to reverse the effects without removing Harry’s ties to the Potter line entirely. He’d just shift back toward his true dominant features.”
Harry grinned, “Wicked! I can’t wait to learn everything about magic. How do we do it? Would I get to change my name? Are you sure you want me? I promise I’ll get good marks in school. I’m top of my class!”
Severus felt an unfamiliar chuckle bubble up from his chest, “Calm, please Harry.”
A phial appeared on Thorn’s desk suddenly, “This potion will reverse the physical effects of the adoption. You’ll still be James’ son, but you won’t look like him any longer.”
Harry watched the phial disappear into Severus’ pocket, “I don’t know what my parents look like. It doesn’t make any difference to me. I like my green eyes, no one else has eyes as green as mine. It makes me feel like I’m at least a little bit special.”
Severus felt his heart shatter, his child sounded like a young version of himself. “Come home with me, Harry. We have the summer to come up with a plan. But I will not be leaving you behind ever again. I never would have.”
Thorn didn’t want to intrude, but there was still much to do, “Do you want to see to the name change now or at a later date? I can also send photo albums and the memories mentioned in the letter along with the Pensieve. Mr. Snape can show you how to use it.”
Severus watched Harry’s face go through a handful of emotions in a very short period. His face finally settled on a now familiar determination, “Well, to hide the fact that I’m me, I’ll have to change my name all around. Harry James Potter can’t be Severus Snape’s son, Dumbledore would figure that out in a heartbeat.”
Severus quirked an eyebrow at this child, “And what do you suggest we call you? And how do we explain your sudden appearance?”
Harry grinned and crossed his arms over his chest, “Well, whatever you do for a living, I’m sure you know other people who do that. You had a fling with someone a few years ago and didn’t know a child was produced. My name is Harrison Snape, everyone calls me Harry. My birthday is first August 1980. My mum died somehow, and I landed on your doorstep. Congratulations! You’re a father.”
Severus laughed out loud and had to clap a hand over his mouth, “You little shit. Where did you learn all that at nine years old?”
Harry shrugged, “I spend as much time as I can in the library. I’ve read a lot. Coming up with a believable backstory wasn’t that hard. But what will happen to my aunt and uncle when Harry Potter goes missing?”
Thorn pushed some of the weird paper across the desk toward them, “Let the goblins deal with that. We’ll relocate the Dursleys and leave a paper trail and a few false memories of Harry Potter’s death by car accident. The Dursleys will leave England to escape all the death.”
The paper had the name Harrison Snape with a blank space for a middle name and his new birthday. His mother was listed as Silvia Montclair, a Potions Master from France who’d died recently. At Severus’ questioning look, Thorn explained that Ms. Montclair fit the criteria of their story, and happened to have been a recluse who never showed her face outside after a disaster at a potions convention in 1979. Thorn could not explain how she had that information so quickly. After some consideration, Harry and Severus settled on Drefan for his middle name. Severus explained that it meant trouble and was pronounced DRIH-fin. Harry just liked that he was getting a name from a father.
Harrison Drefan Snape left the bank filled with goblins through a fireplace. He had a father, and a home to explore, and a life to look forward to.