DISCLAIMER; I DO NOT OWN HARRY POTTER!

I'd like to give a shout out to Lady DestinyHope, Krysty (), VINCATH, jinx-tiger-13 and Jumeirah for their reviews and faves for this story. One of you pointed out that it was a little confusing and so I have made another version that hopefully explains some things for you.

This is also a gift to you for thinking that this story is good 3

The Promise That Was Made

Green eyes looked into dark eyes. The person that owned the green eyes was alive, and the person that owned the dark eyes was dead. The person that owned was a boy named Harry Potter, and the person that owned the dark eyes was a woman named Eileen Snape.

In Eileen's arms was an infant wrapped in bloody black robes. The infant was sleeping contently in his mother's arms despite her being dead.

Eileen shook her head at him as misty tears fell down her face. The infant babbling in his sleep for a moment.

"Please don't," she whimpered at Harry. She tightened her hold on her infant son when Harry moved closer to her.

"No. I'm begging you not to," she said a little louder. Harry stretched his arms out to Eileen to take the infant from her arms.

"No," she sobbed, burying her face into the robes she had wrapped her infant son in.

"You can't care for him," Harry said to the Slytherin mother. "I will take good care of him. Better than everything that Tobias had once been."

Eileen's body started shaking with her sadness. She didn't want to leave her son again. The last time she'd done that had had horrible consequences.

"Leave Severus to Harry." Eileen and Harry looked to see Lily above the water. "You can trust him."

"How can I trust your son after what you did," Eileen sneered.

"I deserve that, I'll admit it. I did wrong by Severus. But Harry came back for him. Harry, out of everyone else, came back for Severus." Eileen moved her gaze between Lily and her son with a protective sneer on her face. Harry remembered seeing that on Severus' face a few times over the years.

"I'll never let him get hurt," Harry said to the ghost. "I will do everything in my power to make sure that he is happier than what he had been before now. I won't let another group of Marauders hurt him like before."

Eileen drew her gaze away from the boy and his mother to her own child that had started to cry. She rocked him and whispered kindly to him to calm the fright he had got from the emotions running through the air.

"I promise you," Harry said kneeling in front of her, "that I'll make him happy and let him know that there are people that love him."

"How can I trust you," Eileen glared at the boy in front of her and her son. "You made him abandon his post and let that monster kill him."

"I'll give him what I never had," Harry said, looking Eileen dead in the eye as he did so. He reached his hand out to the infant and let the small hand take his finger. Eileen looked at her son from Harry when he giggled at the wiggling finger. A sad look crossed over her face as she watched him.

"Harry will care and love Severus as no one did for him after I died," Lily told Eileen. Tears began to fall down Eileen's face again before handing her son to Harry. Severus smiled when he saw the face of the person holding him and the warmth radiating to him. He laughed and wiggled in Harry's arms when he smiled at the infant that he held.

Looking up to Eileen his smile disappeared when he saw that she had.

"The only thing that can truly kill a mother is when they prefer another over them," Lily said. Harry looked at her with a sad look that mirrored her own. "Love Severus for Eileen and I, and protect him the way we couldn't."

"Always," Harry promised as he watched his mother disappear. "I'll never abandon you… Severus Potter."

Harry stood and began moving back up to the castle with baby Severus held tightly to him. He took a deep breath before he went into the Great Hall.

"Ready to have people adore you Severus," Harry asked. Severus cooed with a big smile in response, wiggling around more when they moved into the room.

Hermione and Ron were only a few metres away when Harry entered. They'd been going to look for him and greeted him with wide smiles before noticing the robe wrapped infant in his arms.

A few of the younger students moved from their seats to thank Harry for saving them and to have a look at the infant. Hermione and Ron looked at each other before moving towards Harry again to see whose baby he had in his arms. The two couldn't help but smile at the baby as he smiled, laughed, and cooed at the attention that he was receiving from the girls. He even tried to reach for the hands that wiggled their fingers at him.

Madame Pomfrey was on him and the baby when she noticed the commotion. Handing Severus to her, Harry allowed her to check him over while he spoke with his friends.

"Are you sure you can take care of a baby," Hermione asked. "With everything that's going on I'm sure a family can be found to foster him until you're ready for a child."

Harry's eyes betrayed him by flashing red at the mention of abandoning him like that. Particularly when he knew there weren't very nice people out there.

Hermione and Ron took a step back in surprise at seeing the colour change. Madame Pomfrey brought Severus back before either of the trio had anything more to say.

"I'm not abandoning him," Harry said, looking at them with his eyes turning red. "Ever!" They flashed back to green before he turned and left the Great Hall with the baby in his arms. Apparating away to a town that he knew there was someone he could trust.

There were aurors outside the house still, clearly uninformed of the Dark Lord's destruction. They saw him and narrowed their eyes suspiciously.

"He's gone forever," Harry told them. "Go home to your families and celebrate."

The aurors bowed at him with smiles before leaving. He'd rung the doorbell twice before anyone answered it. He smiled at the person that opened the door.

"How you doing Big D?" Dudley smiled and brought his cousin into a hug. Harry returned it with a free arm before they broke apart by the annoyed sound Severus made. His cheeks were puffed up with air inside his mouth and made him look adorable.

"You found time for that during the war," Dudley asked as he looked between the baby and his cousin.

"No. This is my old potions teacher," Harry said. "Somehow he got turned into a baby when he was left in the place that he'd died."

"Can I hold him," Dudley asked after he let Harry inside. Severus was gently handed to the muggle giant while Harry took his coat and shoes off.

"He's actually quite cute," Dudley told Harry as he gently and lightly bounced the baby in his arms.

"He had adored the attention some younger girls gave him before I came here," Harry said. Dudley led Harry to the living room where Petunia and Vernon looked up in surprise.

"Hi," Harry said awkwardly. Petunia stood abruptly and brought her nephew into a hug that was 16 years overdue. Tears ran down her thin face as she took his appearance in.

His body was covered in blood, dirt, dust, bruises and scars.

"You're a mess boy," she said.

"Dudley, take him to the bathroom," Vernon said before his wife could manage. His son nodded before he and his nephew shook hands.

"I'll just need a few days to get certain things in order," Harry informed them, "then I'll leave with Severus."

"Who's Severus?" Vernon asked. His and Petunia's eyes moved to the robe-clad bundle in Dudley's arms that squealed to get the attention that he'd wanted.

"That's Severus," Harry said with a smile. "He's my son."

There you go. Sort of a little background thing on how Harry got Severus from the shack and why he hasn't spoken to his friends in so long :)

Hope you like it.

Live long and prosper!