Just a one-shot story based loosely on A Christmas Carol.
It was Christmas eve and all Severus could think about was retreating to his potions lab and do his best to ignore all of the students. Most of his students were going home for the holidays. Severus had convinced Dumbledore to send all children home for the holidays which meant for a few weeks, Severus wouldn't have to worry about any students and he especially wouldn't have to worry about Dumbledore's golden boy Harry Potter.
Severus knew Harry would be pampered and spoiled when he got home for the holidays. To think, the brat had come by earlier that day to try and convince Severus to let him stay at the castle. Of course Potter, like his father, wanted to be held to special circumstances like his father. Severus had simply scowled at Potter, bitterly enjoying what was probably the brat's first real taste of rejection.
While Severus couldn't understand why an eleven-year-old boy wanted to stay at the castle alone, it was easy to figure that the child had nothing good planned; like father, like son. But Severus dismissed the thought and made his way back to his potions lab. Severus had just had super with the staff and tomorrow would be a nice, quiet, Christmas dinner.
But Severus dismissed the thought and made his way back to his potions lab. Severus had just had super with the staff and tomorrow would be a nice, quiet, Christmas dinner. Tonight, Severus was working on preparing potions ingredients for the next few classes. Severus had just finished preparing flubber worms when he heard a voice that sent still sent chills down his spine.
"Severus, what has happened to you?" Severus glanced up from his potions to find the ghost of Lily Evans standing in front of him. Severus completely forgot about the potion ingredients and turned his focus to the ghost of the woman who had stolen his heart all those years ago. Severus was too shocked by the presence of Lily to even process a response. Severus was once again astounded at how this woman could reduce his mind to mush.
She looked as amazing as ever; even as a ghost. She wasn't as transparent as a regular ghost. Instead, she had the translucency of a poltergeist. She carried what looked like an invisibility potion, but not exactly, in her hand and was gripping it tightly in her hand, like she was scared it would fall through and break. It seemed to glow a little bit which was unusual for an invisibility potion.
"Severus, it's Christmas and you worry more about your potions and hatred for my husband that you can't even listen to what my son is trying to communicate to you," Lily spoke in a soft but sad voice. At first Severus' initial reaction was to run his hand along Lily's face but then he realised what she had said.
"He just wants to stay here and cause trouble..." Severus started but was cut off when Lily gave one of her famous glare that could cause even Severus to fear for his life. Lily looked livid now but she quickly neutralised her expression.
"And why would you think that? Did you even think for a second to ask why he wanted to stay here for the holidays? Even after he knew there'd be no other students here to keep him company. Does this sound normal to you?"
"The boy is spoiled. He just wants to get his way and for once in his life, someone isn't bowing down to meet his every whim. I'd feel sorry for him but I can't be bothered. I'm sorry, Lily," Severus informed Lily causing her to laugh darkly. The sound frightened Severus more than anything he'd ever experienced in his life. More than the Dark Lord, his father on a bad day, the day Sirius had set Remus on him during the full moon all paled in comparison to the look on Lily's face right now.
"You think you have it all figured out, don't you, Sev? My spoiled son simply wants to remain here for the holidays so he can cause trouble, eh? Alright then, let me show you my son's Christmas and you'll see just how spoiled he is!" Lily ripped something from out of her pocket and held it in front of Severus' face for him to see. It was a gold chain with some type of charm... no, it was a time turner! How had Lily managed to get a time turner? More importantly, what did Lily have planned with it?
"Drink this, Severus. We're going on a field trip," Lily said, thrusting the potion into Severus' hand. The look Lily was giving him made Severus terrified not to do as told. Severus knew what poltergeists were capable of and Lily was three times more dangerous. Severus drank the potion and stared at his hands as they began to vanish but not completely. It was more like Severus had become a ghost... no, like a poltergeist! But that wasn't possible, was it? But sure enough when Severus tried to grab something, his hands fell through; Severus was unable to make physical contact with anything.
Severus knew it took time for poltergeists to learn to interact with the physical realm, so this wasn't all that shocking. But why in Merlin's name was he a poltergeist?!
Before Severus could say anything or even question what was happening, Lily had thrown the time turner around his neck.
"Where are we going?" Severus asked. Of all the questions Severus should have asked, this should have been the least of his worries. Severus should be questioning why he was suddenly noncorporeal and worry about their destination later. But once again, Lily rendered Severus unable to form basic thoughts.
"You'll see," was all Lily said before she began to turn the time turner. Before Severus could question the idea of being sent to some unknown time, it had already begun spinning and the feeling of being sucked down a long tube overwhelmed him.
The first thing Severus became aware of was the fact that he was standing in the snow. The next thing that registered into his mind was the fact that he couldn't feel the snow or the cold, despite the fact that he was only wearing trousers and a thin jumper. They were standing outside of a nice house with elaborate Christmas decorations. The windows were warmly lit and Severus could hear voices happily talking.
"Lily, what did you do to me?" Severus asked Lily as he stared at his hands once again, completely unnerved by the fact that he lacked a corporeal body. Clearly Lily hadn't killed him but he'd never heard of a potion that could do this to someone.
"Relax, Sev! It will reverse in a couple hours. By then, we will be back," Lily said, her voice strained. "We are one day in the future. Happy Christmas!"
It was such a strange experience to hear Lily's voice dripping with sarcasm; it was enough to make Severus shudder. Lily's voice was always sweet and loving but never sarcastic. Severus didn't know Lily was even capable of sarcasm. Lily was staring at Severus with an indifferent expression.
"Come on, Severus. Let's go inside," Lily said, tugging Severus towards the house and through the front door. Severus couldn't believe how tidy the house was and how good the food smelled. Severus immediately spotted Petunia sitting at the table with her husband and son; both were remarkably fat and pink. They were shoving Christmas chocolates into their mouths while Petunia was muttering something to their son. Lily and Severus hid behind a coat rack and carefully watched the scene before them; the muggles wouldn't see them but Harry would if they were too visible.
"Now, Duddykins, I know you didn't like the present Aunt Marge got you and we will get you a new one tomorrow," Petunia muttered to Duddykins. Severus felt a smirk forming on his face as Dudley began pouting at the idea of waiting a whole day to get his new present. If this was their son, Severus could imagine just how spoiled the golden boy was.
"Vernon, the potatoes," Petunia as the water began boiling over, causing a burnt smell to smell the air.
"Boy! Get your good-for-nothing arse down here!" Vernon called out, his voice was filled with more anger than Severus expected. It took everything Severus had to keep his expression neutral as Harry nervously made his way down the stairs and approached his uncle. Harry was dressed in oversized, ratty clothes and had bruises on his face.
"Yes, Uncle Vernon," Harry said in an obedient tone. Vernon didn't speak but instead started smacking Harry's face and chest with his almost curled into fists.
"You trying to burn my house down, you freak! I promise you; if you do, you will not return to that freak school of yours because I will end you!" Vernon sneered, looking at Harry with such hatred. "Now fix those potatoes, you ungrateful bastard!"
Severus watched as Harry attended to the food with a nervous expression. Every once and a while Vernon would grunt something about the food needing something or Petunia would demand a glass of tea but neither Vernon or Petunia stood up at any point to help prepare the food. They just demanded Harry do it and smacked him around when it appeared he wasn't doing something right.
When the meal was finished cooking, Harry set up the meal on the table and set up three plates with food. Harry stared at his work with pride before calling his relatives to the meal. Petunia sat quietly at a seat, Vernon demanded that Harry bring him some salt because he didn't trust Harry to flavour the meal properly. Dudley stomped on Harry's foot before snickering and taking the seat next to his horse faced mother.
Harry brought the family drinks and that's when Severus realised that Harry had not set a seat for himself. Severus stared at the scene with a look of horror. Vernon stood up and smacked Harry over the head. Before Severus could even ask himself why the boy was being smacked now Vernon sneered at Harry with a look of pure hatred and dragged Harry out of the room.
"Get out of our faces, you freak! We don't want to look at your ugly face while we eat," Vernon shouted, throwing Harry into the living room with such force that the boy smacked his face against the end table. "Now go clean the toilet. We'll call you when we're ready for you to clear the table and don't you dare take a single bite of our food, you little thief!"
Severus watched as Vernon went back into the dining room with a satisfied smirk on his face. But what made him feel like a pile of dirt was when Harry made his way up to toilet with tears streaming down his cheeks so he could start cleaning the toilet. Severus turned to face Lily who was watching her son with a look of devastation and pain. Severus couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Wasn't Potter supposed to be spoiled rotten? Harry was being treated worse than a house elf. Even the Malfoys treated their elves with kindness on Christmas and they were always allowed to eat the leftovers. This wasn't right.
"Yeah, I'm starting to see how spoiled Harry is," Lily sneered at Severus but even that couldn't make Severus feel any lower than he felt right now. "Let's return back now. I think you've seen enough and your potion is wearing off." Before Severus could object, Lily threw the time turner around him once again once again, Severus was sucked into the time turners vortex.
Severus and Lily arrived back to Hogwarts and Severus sat down with his face in his hands. Severus couldn't believe what he'd learned about the 'golden boy'. Not only was he not spoiled, he wasn't even treated with basic human respect. Severus understood completely why Harry hadn't wanted to go home for Christmas break.
"Lily, I'm sorry I treated your son so poorly. You asked me to protect him and I failed," Severus said after the longest time, knowing Lily was still there.
"But you know, it's not too late to save him now," Lily informed, her voice serious. Severus knew what she was saying. "Severus, I have to go now but I know that you'll do what's right for my boy. I was only giving a few hours to come back and my time is almost up and I still need to go see Fudge to clarify a mistake regarding Sirius Black. He innocent, you know? Sirius wasn't our secret keeper. Tell Harry I love him."
With those last words, Lily disappeared leaving Severus alone with his thoughts. It was too late to go now but Severus had a plan to save Harry but he was going to need time to plan.
Severus arrived at the Dursleys a little bit after five, he had spent the afternoon figuring out the best way to pay back the Dursleys for ruining Harry's Christmas. When Severus heard Harry setting up the Christmas table, Severus began to smirk evilly. Everything he was about to do, he had been granted permission from Dumbledore and Fudge. Revenge on Harry's behalf was going to be sweet.
Severus opened the door and slipped into the house as quietly as he could. He waited until the Dursleys were seated at the table before loudly barging into the room. Using several different spells, Severus blew up the food and cast an instant karma spell on the whole Dursley family before turning to face Harry. Harry was staring at Severus with a look of confusion and admiration.
"Come along, Mr Potter. You will be spending the rest of the holiday at Hogwarts. Please hurry, we don't want to be late for Christmas dinner," Severus said, smiling when Harry process what was happening. Harry gave a timid smile and followed Severus out the front door.
"Harry, I'm sorry I didn't listen when you asked to spend the holidays at school. I was so caught up in comparing you to your father that I never thought to think of you as an individual. Please accept my apology," Severus said, remembering everything he'd seen Harry go through today.
"I forgive you, and I understand. Professor McGonagall told me of some of the things he did to you and I wouldn't have liked me very much either," Harry said with a shrug causing Severus to stare at the boy with astonishment. He couldn't believe the amount of maturity Harry was showing at that moment.
"Well, I think it's best we get going, we're going to be late for dinner," Severus said holding out his arm for Harry to grab. "We're going to apparate, so please hold on tightly."
Harry seemed confused by the idea but gripped Severus' arm anyway. Once the initial shock to Harry's body wore off, he looked around at the castle which was covered in amazing Christmas decorations.
"Your mother loved you very much, Harry. And from here on out, I will be keeping the promise I made when you were young," Severus said, breaking the silence. Harry stopped staring at the Christmas decorations and stared at Severus with a look of bewilderment.
"What was that promise, sir?" Harry asked, staring at Severus with an ever-present grin. He'd been grinning since he'd been taken away from the Dursleys and couldn't see himself stopping for a while.
"I promised to protect you and it's about time I start," Severus said guiding Harry into the Great Hall. "But for now, let's have Christmas dinner so you can go open your presents."
"I got presents?" Harry asked excitedly. He'd never had Christmas presents before.
"Yes, Harry. Let's start with mine. I promise that you will never be going to the Dursleys ever again," Severus said with a firm look on his face. Harry stared at Severus because he couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"When we're done Christmas dinner, we will go retrieve your presents and go to my quarters. It would be unfair and irresponsible to expect you to stay in your tower completely alone. You can use my guest room over breaks," Severus informed Harry causing the boy to break into a wide smile. Harry smiled at Severus and began to think about how this was the most wonderful Christmas he'd ever had.
Weeks after Christmas, the story of Sirius Black's release from Azkaban hit the wizarding community. Minister Fudge had received word from an anonymous source that Sirius was innocent and that a proper trial should be pushed through. Severus found it amusing when he learnt that Lily had appeared in Fudge's bedroom in the middle of the night.
Once the true traitor, Peter Pettigrew and his animagus form were released to the word, the Weasleys immediately made the connection to Percy's rat and handed the vile creature over to the ministry. Mrs Weasley was very disturbed to have had such a vile man sharing beds with all of her children at one point or another. It took all of her restraint not to snap the rat's neck with her bare hands instead of caging the creature and sending him to the ministry.
Sirius made his way back into Harry's life and after earning the trust of the young boy; gained custody of Harry.
Harry noticed a change in his relationship with Severus and the other Slytherins; especially once he told Severus about almost being sorted into Slytherin. It was then that Harry was declared an honorary Slytherin. He forged a strong friendship with Draco Malfoy and found the blonde boy to be a really strong and powerful ally. His father even helped go after the Dursleys for all of the money that had been given to them to care for Harry. Harry hadn't known they'd been given money to care for him because they were alway whining about how expensive it was to care for Harry.
Severus found his life had changed so much, just like Harry's. Severus had begun working with Harry to bring up the boy's marks until his marks rivalled Grangers. By they time second year approached, Harry and Hermione were both at the top of their year. And to think it all began on Christmas eve.