The Potter Boy

A few months ago - 9 months to be exact - there was an invite sent out from Hogwarts to all the students who had graduated from the school four years ago. It was a reunion to see your old friends again and to recreate ties between your fellow witches and wizards that may have been disconnected as Dumbledore put it. The students were to spend two weeks back at the castle during the summer in the same houses they had been in before and in the same rooms. Everyone who had received an invite thought they had a grand time returning to the magical castle, but one person was in complete disagreement. In Severes Snape's opinion, it was one of the worst times in his life - and he had many of those.

He had always been by himself. His parents didn't care about him and they barely gave him the time of day. At the age of eleven he had recieved his letter to Hogwarts. The crisp parchment with its cursive black ink had felt like gold in the palm of his sweaty pale hands. He had thought that maybe his life would take a complete turn and actually set itself on the right tracks.

Where the hell did he get that idea?

School was no better than life at home. When he had been attending Hogwarts he had been the black sheep of the school. He had always thought that life would get better if he tried to keep happy thoughts - though there was rarely any of those. But he tried to believe that life couldn't possibly get any worse - yet, life always managed to bite him in the arse and show him it could.

When he returned to Hogwarts for the reunion, he dared to have high hopes that this experience would be different. That everyone he had gone to school with had matured over the years and became different people with new - and better - attitudes. His family hadn't changed, but then again, they weren't the ones who hadn't seen him in four years, though it was close. During his years at the castle he had to endure repeated bullying, not only from his arch nemeses James Potter and Sirius Black - the Dark Brothers as he repeatedly thought to himself - but from other students and even his own housemates. Snape had always been alone, not seeming to fit in with anyone else. And even as he stepped back into the castle four years later with sweaty palms and his heart beating fast as if he was that eleven year old boy again, things hadn't changed.

Everyone still looked at him in disgust. He was rather used to that look. After have been on the receiving end of it for his entire life by the Snape family, it wasn't something new, and one got used to the expression after a time. He had tried to clean his hair, but there seemed to be nothing he could do about it. Even the best spell he could find couldn't seem to hide the grease that somehow managed to stay in his hair like a fungus you didn't want. Snape was still being ignored, but he reckoned that was better than being sneered at and whilst one was in Slytherin, you could count on getting that expression a lot as well. There was still a few rude comments now and then, but what surprised him the most was that the Dark Brothers didn't seem to want anything to do with him.

At one time during breakfast Snape had tried to get eye contact with Potter and Black, but all either of them did was nod at him curtly and continue eating and talking. He had set himself on edge for the rest of the day wondering what scheme they had planned for him, but like his family, they didn't pay any attention to him. It was good, yet disconcerning at the same time.

Not only did Snape return to the castle hoping people thought differently of him, but he was also there to see Lily. They hadn't spoken since their confrontation in seventh year. He had to admit he did miss her and while at the reunion he was hoping he could talk to her privately. He had seen her on the streets at times, in stores, walking to her house, etc, but Snape only said a few words like, "hi" or "how are you?" and during the times he had seen her, she was always with her husband. Potter. And given the men's history together, it didn't feel right just to walk up and say hi.

Snape's worst enemy and someone he greatly dispised his whole life, was married to the woman he loved. That's what really made him grit his teeth. After everything the blasted man had done to him, after all the times Potter had pissed Lily off, she ended up married to him. When he had first heard they were even dating, it had felt like a punch in the gut. Like she had betrayed him.

He hadn't seen Lily or Potter around lately and he was hoping it was because they were getting a divorce, but unfortunately when he arrived at Hogwarts a few days ago, he had seen the happy couple walking off the Hogwarts Express hand in hand, hugging, smiling, and kissing. It made Snape sick. But it wasn't until a few days later could he officially say one of the worst days of his life had happened...

•

Snape was sitting at the Slytherin table for breakfast that sunny Friday morning. He wasnt eating. Instead he was glaring at the happy couple presently sitting at the Gryffindor table, and stabbing the sausages on his plate with his fork.

He almost growled in distaste as he watched the happy couple glancing at each other, smiling, kissing, holding hands, and feeding each other breakfast as if they couldn't do it themselves like a pair of normal adults. He kept glancing at the sparkling wedding ring shinning mockingly at him on Lily's left hand and the gold ring on the right hand of Potter - a ring that he should be wearing.

Snape glared till his eyes were almost slits and stabbed the sausages with his fork hard enough to make a loud scrapping noise against his plate. A few Slytherins looked up at the source of the noise. Snape glared at one of the Slytherins who looked away in disgust and when he looked back at Potter and Lily, he watched curiously as they stood up and smiled at one another. Potter, with Lily in tow by the hand, led the way to the front of the school where everyone could see them.

By the time they got to the front of the Great Hall, everyone in the Great Hall stopped talking. Everyone was watching Potter and Lily curiously, so were the teachers.

"Well, as all of you know Lily and I are married," Potter started to say and had to halt for the applauding and cheering to stop. Snape snored. Appeared Mr. Popular was still popular. Pompous arse...

Potter continued. "As I'm sure some of you remember Lily and I had gotten engaged in our last year of Hogwarts and now we have another announcement."

He opened his mouth to say what the hushed crowd leaned foward to hear, but Lily beat him to it.

"We're having a baby!" Lily said happily.

The Great Hall errupted with cheers and applause as everyone stood up, minus the Slytherins of course, to cheer, whistle, and applauded for the couple. Even the teachers stood up to congratulate them.

"Also," Potter said loudly and the Great Hall quieted down but remained standing. "We would be honoured if my good mate, Sirius Black, would be godfather to our child."

The Great Hall was quiet as they waited for Black's answer, who was standing on top of the bench, hands in mid-clap with his mouth hanging open in shock. It didn't take long but soon Black was running towards them, yelling, only to throw himself on the couple in a hug. Snape on the other hand was frozen in his seat. He couldn't breath. The loud cheers and the sneers of the Slytherins sounded mute to his ears. His breathing sounded rugged.

A baby? Pregnant?

It couldn't be true...it was a lie...

Snape couldn't believe it. Here he was, planning on talking to her alone and trying to convince her to leave Potter and be to him. To be his fiancee, to be his wife, to love him, to be the mother of his children, to be with him forever. He didn't think she could possibly love someone like Potter. Now his plans were being thrown out the window like a chamber pot of shit. She was going to be the mother of Potter's child. he couldn't stop staring at her stomach that showed no signs of life. She had to be lying... She couldn't possibly...

It was supposed to be a good day. It was supposed to be a new beginning for him...

9 Months Later

Snape stood outside a large, beautiful mansion. It was dark and the stars were out. He stood behind one of the trees in front of a mansion owned by Potter and Lily. Potter was extremely wealthy so he could afford expensive and extravagent things. They're house made his look like a run down shack. Well...it was a run down shack.

He was on a mission. He had to know. The last nine months had been killing him, but he refused to see a glimpse of Lily during the last few months. He wanted to see if there really was a Potter boy. If Lily really had been pregnant. He had to see the truth. Hearing about it wasn't going to make him believe it, though he prayed to God - if there really was one - that it wasn't true.

There were many lights on in several of the rooms of the mansion. After careful thought Snape decided to carefully apparate into the mansion and then find the child. It shouldn't be too difficult to just to go in and out. He apparated inside the mansion, holding his breath as he looked around himself for sight of someone to give away his position. He found himself in the middle of a fancy and empty corridor. He breathed a sigh of relief. Looking to his left, he spotted French doors and he went towards them. He opened the doors and found himself in a large bedroom. He walked in a bit further and he could tell the moment he opened the door that this was the Potters' bedroom.

On one side of the room was a fancy mirror table with jewellery, hair brushes, make up, and other...'womanly' stuff on it. At seeing the many pictures arranged on it, he walked closer for further inspection. There were pictures of Lily and Potter and a few pictures of her friends. One of the pictures that stuck out to Snape was a picture from their wedding. It was of the two of them in an up close picture smiling at the camera.

Heart clenching, Snape walked away from the table, too hurt to look at it anymore. When he turned around, he froze. Laying on the floor in a heap of dark red blankets, in front of a roaring warm fire in the fireplace was James and Lily. Two glass goblets surrounded them and half a bottle of wine layed beside them. They were cuddled on the floor asleep.

He walked a bit closer. He looked down at Lily who was sleeping peacefully under the blankets and under Potter's arm which was drapped tightly around her. Lily looked as if she was smiling as she slept. His lips tightened as a light sigh left his lips. She was probably smiling because she was with Potter, he thought disgruntled. Snape glanced at him. All he felt as he stared at the man before him was stabs of hatred. All he had ever felt of doing was stabbing Potter with a knife and take Lily away. Perhaps he could also put a spell on her so she wouldn't remember ever being with Potter...

Snape finally pulled himself away and exited through the French doors. He slowly and quietly closed the door.

"The brat's room has got to be close to their's," Snape muttered under his breath as he looked around the corridor, searching for another door which were right across the hall. He walked towards it to open it slowly.

He found the right room.

The room was large but not quite as big as the Potters'. It was a warm cozy room for a baby. A wooden, chestnut coloured crib stood near the large bay window. A warm breeze blow through, rippling through the light curtains. Snape slowly walked towards the crib, his breathing coming in gasps. It was true...they did have a child...

Shit...

He stood at the end of the crib, looking down at a small baby boy, sleeping peacefully in his crib with his thumb in his mouth. Snape stared. He couldn't believe it. His hands clenched in fists, his nails digging in his skin.

"Damn," he breathed.

This was Lily's child. A little warmth spred through him until he remembered who the other half was. He examined the boy in disgust. The boy looked exactly like his father. From the brat's messy black hair to his arrogant chin. The baby moved his head to the other side with his thumb still in his mouth.

"So you're the Potter boy," Snape muttered.

He stared up at the ceiling, running his hands through his hair. He had been hoping it wasn't true that the boy never existed. It was odd how until his moment he didn't think that Lily might actually love Potter. If she didn't then she wouldn't have sired the man's child. It wasn't the medieval ages after all where she would have to stay with the man. She really did love him. And God knew the truth hurt like an open wound...

He glanced at the kid and did a double-take as the boy opened his eyes. Snape stopped breathing when the baby looked straight at him. His eyes were a diamond emerald. Just like Lily's. Snape started to worry. If the boy made a noise he wouldn't have time to apparate before Potter and Lily came through the door to check on their kid.

The boy took his thumb out of his mouth and looking scared. The brat started whimpering and kicking his legs before letting out a loud wail. Snape cringed as he looked around for some where to hide. The brat sure had a pair of damn lungs. The sound of footsteps was coming their way and Snape quickly ran towards a nearby wardrobe. He hid inside just in time when the French doors of the Potter boy's room flew open.

Looking through the space between the doors of the wardrobe Snape saw Potter wearing only pajama bottoms, rush to the crib.

"Shh, shh. It's okay. Daddy's here," Potter cooed gently as he bent over the crib and lifted his son. Snape rolled his eyes. Potter hugged the boy against him and continued to comfort him. The baby wasnt crying anymore. He just kept whimpering, looking scared.

"Shhh, its ok. Daddy's here. Daddy's not going to let anything hurt you. Shh shh shhhh, its okay," Potter said slolwy rocking the boy.

The boy stopped whimpering and tightly hugged his father. Snape heard more footsteps and soon Lily walked in the room. She was wearing a red tank top, white shorts, and carrying a bottle of water. She walked towards Potter and handed him the bottle which he took and put in the boy's mouth, who quietly started drinking the water. Lily stroked her son's hair. She moved behind Potter and put her arms around her husband's waist, resting her head against his back with her eyes closed.

"Is he okay now?" Lily asked.

"Ya, he's just fine, aren't you little guy?" Potter said smiling at the Potter boy. "I think he just had a nightmare. When I got here he was looking pretty scared of something."

"Well at least it was just a nightmare. It would be awful if something had come into the room," Lily said and as she said this Snape froze and stopped breathing. "But that never happened, thank god. So he's all fine, arent you sweety?"

Snape breathed again as she reached over Potter's shoulder and gently held her son's hand.

"You're tired, Tiger Lily. You didn't sleep very well last night. You go on to sleep. I'll stay here with Harry," Potter said gently as he turned around to face his wife and hugged her to his chest.

So that's what the brat's name is. Harry Potter, Snape thought. He wrinkled his nose. Who the hell would name a kid Harry?

"All right, if you're sure," Lily said hesitantly.

"Yes, I'm sure. Now go off to bed and I'll be there soon."

"All right. Goodnight, darling. Goodnight, Harry, " Lily said kissing both Potter and Harry on their foreheads before kissing Potter goodnight and leaving the room to go to bed.

Potter hugged Harry and bounced him in his arm a little.

"You okay now? Do you wanna go to sleep?" Potter gently kissed his forehead.

Snape saw Harry glance at the wardrobe scared. The very one he was in. Snape froze again as he saw Potter glanced between his son and the wardrobe.

"There's nothing in there. Don't worry kiddo," Potter said, but Harry didn't look assured.

"All right. I'll go check the wardrobe for any monsters. Ok?" Potter said and he started walking towards the wardrobe with Harry in his arms who hugged his father tighter knowing what he would see when his father opened the door.

Snape panicked. What was he gonna do now?

Just as Potter opened the wardrobe door, Snape quickly ran to the other side of the wardrobe. Just in time.

"See? There's nothing there. You're safe," James said to Harry.

Potter closed the wardrobe door and Snape went back to his spot to look through the space again. He saw Potter walking back to the crib and he gently placed Harry in the crib and put the blanket over him.

"I'll stay here with you until you go to sleep, ok Harry?" James said gently pushing his son's hair back. "Goodnight Harry James Potter."

Snape hated the brat's name. Mostly because it had to do with his father. He stayed in the wardrobe watching Potter cover Harry in blankets and watching over him. After what seemed like hours Potter finally straighted, and took the bottle out of the crib to place it on a night table. He closed the window and after glancing at Harry again to make sure he was asleep, Potter left.

Snape waited a few minutes to make sure that no one would be coming back in the room before he got out of the wardrobe. He slowly walked towards the crib and stared at Harry James Potter who was sleeping soundly in the crib. He sighed glumly. Lily was happy and Snape knew that if he tried to convice her to leave the life she was living, she wouldn't do it. She wouldn't go for it. A tear rolled down his face. For the first time in his life despite everything he had gone through he allowed himself to shed a few tears. As Snape took one last look at the kid he knew he would dispise, and then in a blink of an eye, he was gone.