Last Days of Summer
Summary: Harry Potter finds solace in Church, only he's not the only person from Hogwarts to find this holy place a refuge from the outside world.
A/N: This originally came from Harry Potter And 365 Days (Which is currently being written) , I just decided to A) Continue with it and B) play around with the dynamics of the two. I started to write this January eleventh, which was a Sunday and well it's grown on me since lol
I would like to point out also that I am not a religious person and am mostly unaware of which words to use for certain religions-of which I am sorry to those who do know-if you're willing please share any corrections to mistakes I have made about religion-this is not to mean to bash on my story or anything but If you notice a mistake I make please politely point it out.
Pairing: Harry?Severus Whether this actually turns out to be a romantic relationship or more of a family relationship I still haven't figured, though I figured you dear reader might be able to help me with that.
Total WC: 4,457
Please Review, thank you
I am distraugh by the noise of the enemy, because of the oppression of the wicked. For they bring trouble upon me, and in anger they cherish enmity against me.
My heart is in anguish within me, the terrors of death have fallen upon me.
Fear and trembling come upon me, and horror overwhelms me.
-Psalms, to the choirmaster: With stringed instruments, A maskil of David
He wasn't sure if he actually believed in god or if he just wanted somewhere that wasn't at the Dursely's. But, sitting here and listening to the pastor talk of god and all the good that god gave his children gave him odd feelings, his family didn't give two hoots what happened to him so why would anyone else? "My son, keep sound wisdom and discretion; Let them not escape from your sight and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck, then you will walk on your way securely and your foot will not stumble, if you sit down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet."
"I didn't figure you on a religious person Potter." He started at the soft voice, turning he spotted Snape of all people sitting down next to him, what was Snape doing here? "I would say the same to you sir." Snape chuckled; "I use to come here every Sunday with your mother Potter, it's an old habit that I've found to be useful for contemplation." He wasn't quite sure how to take that, his mother and Snape went to this church when they were younger... "I didn't know you two were friends." Snape looked down at him, he was much taller than Harry was after all. "We were for a long time, but I pushed her away like a fool." But why was the man telling him all of this? "I'm not sure what to say." There was a slight upturn to Snape's thin lips, "You don't have to say anything Potter." They sat there for a while just listening to the pastor, If there was any man on the world who kept wisdom and discretion in his pocket and didn't allow others to see just what kind of person he really was it was this one. It was rather nice sitting next to the man, he wasn't yelling at least-but why would he show himself now rather than before?
When service let out he smiled at a few of the others as they said their hello's but found himself drifting over to Snape who'd gotten a cup of coffee and was sitting at one of the tables in the sunlight, and with a start Harry realized that Snape was in muggle attire, A dark jean jacket, a dark gray tee shirt, jeans, and black converse. This wasn't the kind of clothes that he thought Snape would be wearing... Than again he never thought that Snape would be wearing muggle clothes to begin with. Snape's brow rose as he sat at the table with his cup of tea. "I suppose you would like to ask me some questions mister Potter." He nodded, but maybe not the one's Snape thought he would be asking. "When did you and my mum start coming here?" Snape let out a breath; "Our first summer at Hogwarts." That was interesting in it's own right, but there was so much he could ask about it all. "Did she believe in god?" Snape smiled; "I think she wanted to, because she always wondered why god made people so different." So that was a maybe? They talked about his mother for a bit longer before he got up the courage to ask the question that had been burning in his chest.
"Have you known I was coming here the whole time or?" Snape laughed; "No actually I didn't spot you until last week, how long have you been coming?" Oh, but Snape was a good liar though... "Since the summer of my third year." Since before the crazy started to happen too much. "Ah, I'm surprised Black didn't try to talk to you here." No name calling? They were in the house of god, it would be considerably rude to bad mouth someone here. "I am too actually."
The pastor passed them with a smile and a side hug for Snape, who apparently didn't find that distasteful for whatever reason-Harry had never really thought of Snape as a tactile person. They both followed Pastor Henry Morel, Snape glanced at him as they walked out of the church. "I know it's not my place Potter, but your relatives are abusing you aren't they." It wasn't so much a question as rather a comment. "It's not like their hitting me anymore." Snape's eye's which Harry had realized in the sunlight was a dark brown rather than black darkened suddenly-closer to black. "You shouldn't have to do that. Defend them." Was he? "It's not like I have anywhere to go Professor, I go to church and I stay out of the house when I can." Snape sucked in a breath; "If you ever need somewhere to go, you can always tell me Potter-I won't let them keep hurting you." And he was blown away; "You know I have to stay." Snape tilted his head downwards, it was the truth and they both knew it. "Even if it's for a night, just to get away." He nodded; "If it ever gets that bad, I'll tell you."
A few days later he found himself sitting at a table at the church, sewing a shirt that one of the older members of the church couldn't do due to the shaking of their hands, he didn't mind. He was pretty good at sewing now, after learning he'd realized just how much he enjoyed helping out the others with it. Sometimes some of the women would sit together at the church and chat while sewing and they had been more than happy to let him in their group, so he'd gotten much better at sewing quicker then he would if he had just learned on his own.
"Potter?" He looked up at his Professor, the sunlight that streamed pass his shoulder blocking part of his sight. "Hello Professor." He was so tired, it wasn't like he had much of a time hiding it because Snape wasn't the first person to have that tone in his voice. Said man sat at the table with him. "Potter, who hit you?" He frowned, was it that noticeable? He needed to get better at hiding that. "No one." Snape sneered at him, that wasn't something he wanted to see outside of school. "You can lie to them Potter but you can't to me. I know what it looks like when someone's trying to cover up a nasty bruise." How did he know that? He was as much a mage as Harry was, there were potions to heal that kind of stuff. "My uncle, but it was my fault." Snape shook his head; "It is never your fault for someone who hits you." Then whose was it? His uncles? Because if he said that to his uncle he would get the beating of his life.
"Potter...Harry, come to my place." He frowned at the pleading tone, was Snape seriously asking him, because the man would never plead with anyone. "It's not that bad, I've had worse." And that got Snape to sit up straight, "Worse? Seriously Potter you look like hell and you're saying this isn't the worst?" Did he really look that bad? "It's not like he used the belt." Snape let out a groan of frustration, "Potter, that is bad-so is this. You look like ground beef that someone forgot to put away and a few of the others asked me to do something about it, please say you'll come to my home and spend the night or I'll have a bunch of old ladies on my back." Harry couldn't help but to laugh at that mental image, it would be funny to see. "Alright, fine I'll come. But this is the only time, it's not like I get beat all the time." Snape shook his head; "As if that makes it any better."
His uncle looked at him suspiciously; "You're going where again?" Harry wanted to roll his eyes but if he did his uncle wouldn't let him go with out a sound beating. "The church is holding a little get together and someone mentioned how far I live from the church-so they asked me to stay over at someone else's house over night so I didn't have to walk back in the dark." His uncle nodded; "Fine, away with you." Harry didn't think twice and rushed out the door with his backpack. Thank god for that. He didn't seriously think his Uncle would let him go. There really was a get together though, because honestly when didn't the church get together?
He slowed down and ran a hand through his hair, why was he so nervous about this? It wasn't like Snape was setting him up or anything, with the things he had shared over the summer so far, it was obvious just how much he disliked being a Death Eater and a spy. He spied the church and relaxed, this was his true family. Yes, even Snape. Because, when the man was here he was much more relaxed and so much nicer than at school. Speaking of school they didn't have much more time before he started his seventh year, god that would be strange-seeing the 'old' Snape after this version of the man was going to drive him up a wall or two. "There you are Harry!" The pastor said happily before opening the door for him, "Hi Henry." He followed the older man into the main room, everyone was chatting happily and either sipping on drinks or nibbling on cookies. He snagged a cookie and went to look for Snape, who was busy in a conversation of all things baking.
That wasn't all that surprising since the man was a potions master and would no doubt know how to cook as well. Harry wandered off and talked with a few other people before the Potions master found him deep in a conversation about soccer. So he actually enjoyed the sport now that he'd played it, Dean would be happy to have someone else to talk about over the school year. He looked up at the taller man and wondered for a moment if he would ever be any taller than he was, because it hurt to look up at the man for long periods of time. "I see you've made plenty of friend since you've joined the congregation." Snape seemed much more relaxed with him now. "Yeah, Its been a blast." Snape had this amused little smile playing on his face; "How are you enjoying the cookies?" That wasn't too strange a question since he was eating one. "I like it fine, why?" Snape laughed; "I figured you wouldn't eat them because you'd be afraid I'd poison the whole lot of them." Snape did know how to bake because the cookies were really good.
"Well that's a nice thought to put in my head when I've eaten several of them." Snape shook his head; "It's almost ten, I was going to head home now-unless of course you wish to stay longer?" He shook his head; "No, I'm getting pretty tired actually." Which was beyond him, hadn't he just come here and stated talking to people? But, no Snape had said it was near ten-they had been there for four hours already. He followed the man out of the church and down the sidewalk, apparently he lived a handful of minutes away from the church because it didn't seem like they walked very far before Snape was heading up to a porch that had a light on and was unlocking the door, allowing Harry entrance to his home.
Snape didn't have bad taste in decoration, everything was in a cream, bronze, or wood finish. The walls painted an light tan color, he had a television-one of those flat ones. He followed the man towards the back and he showed him a guest bedroom, it was done up tastefully in the same tan as the living room but had burst of red through out the room, the bed had a red comforter and there were paintings of various things, mostly big cats like lions.
"I'm just down the hall if you need me." And he was left to go to bed. He jumped up onto the bed and laughed at how soft it was, Snape really hid himself at school because this wasn't what he expected of the man...
He woke with a start, maybe the smell of something rather edible had woken him? Wait...Food? He was the one who got up and cooked. Oh right, he was at Snape's rather nice place. Harry relaxed into the soft covers, He expected something dark and brooding for a house like the man himself, but that was far from the reality of it. Snape and his home were surprisingly refreshing, it was nice though to see behind the mask of hatred and irritation. There was much more to Snape then anyone would have guessed that was for sure, the man was nicer-he seemed so much more relaxed in this environment than at Hogwarts.
Why did he subject himself to Hogwarts and spying? He could stay here and do something else, there were plenty of opportunities as a potions master after all-and he wouldn't dare say he'd looked it up if anyone ever asked him about it. He pulled on his clothes and made his way towards the kitchen, Snape hadn't shown him where it was but the smell of food was all he needed to find it. Snape had his back turned and he flipped what for a second looked like a pancake, it smelled wonderful in the kitchen, of coffee, bacon and sweet things. "Good morning." Snape jumped a mile into the air and turned, "Don't sneak up on me." Harry snorted; "I didn't. I wasn't sneaking around-besides you'd hear me if I tried, I've been told I stomp when I walk."
Snape snorted and flicked his spatula, "There are some pancakes already done as well as other things." Harry followed the spatula's direction as Snape turned back to his pan on the stove and found some empty plates next to the full plates of bacon, hash browns, and fruit. The man really went all out for breakfast, he was certain however that if Snape baked as good as he did then his cooking would be just as good.
Part Two
A/N: Bit of a time skip and I couldn't figure on how the end the last bit, so sorry about that!
Snape looked furious at the group surrounding Harry. It wasn't his fault his cousin and Dudley's moronic friends decided to try and beat the stuffing out of him. "Leave him." The boys and his cousin seemed cowed and muttered curses under their breaths but they walked off, Snape helped Harry to his feet. "You're coming with me." He wasn't about to disagree with that, but his ribs hurt pretty bad as did his ankle. He stumbled as the pain flashed through said ankle, Snape sighed and hauled Harry into his arms. "Hey!" Snape simply shook his head, Snape wasn't about to put him back down.
Harry sighed as Snape set him on the couch, the man looked so angry still. "Stay here, I'll be right back." As if he had a way to go anywhere because his ankle hurt-either he'd sprained it or broke it. Which both could be fixed fairly quickly if he was at Hogwarts, but he wasn't...Though he was with Snape, and the man was a potions master but he wasn't about to hope that he would help-not with the look that had been on his face as he left.
"Harry, why were they beating you?" Snape asked as he came back into the room with a jar in his hands. "Because they could." Snape shakes his head and kneels down, using his wand he lets out a breath; "Your ankle's not broken, just sprained Harry." He pushes up Harry's pant leg and smeared some of the contents of the jar across his throbbing ankle. It tingled and the pain started to fade away. "Thank you." Snape nodded and flopped onto a recliner, it seemed to be his favorite seat in his living room, his long fingered hands hanging off the sides, so as to not get any of the potion on the recliner. "How long has this been going on?"
"If I tell you, promise me you won't do anything against them?" That didn't make Snape all that happy. "I promise." Though he sounded like he would rather walk on glass, then promise something like that. "Almost my whole life." Snape growled and stood-"You promised!" The man froze and the look he sent Harry really should have set him on fire. "Why haven't you told anyone about this?" That wasn't quite true..."I have." Snape frowned at him, as if wondering if Harry was lying to him-but he knew Harry couldn't lie to him and they did have eye contact, if Snape really wanted to he could find out. "Who did you tell?" Harry let out a breath; "The headmaster, but I need my aunt and cousin's blood to protect me." Snape slid back into his seat, "He knows about the beatings?" Harry nodded, he'd told Dumbledore as much as he could and still... "And the shouting and crazy long chores list." Snape let out a long breath; "Why didn't you tell anyone at the church-why not me?" He knew better than to do that, after the way Dumbledore had treated it all...How could Harry expect anyone else would treat it differently? "I can't leave their home, not until I turn seventeen when the protection will end."
Snape snorted, "I could protect you here-you don't need the blood protections, as you don't actually have any." Wait what? "What are you talking about?" Snape looked irritated; "The headmaster obviously didn't do his homework because your aunt is adopted." His aunt...Well, then he had no reason to stay with them now did he? "It's not like I have somewhere else to go." Snape rolled his eyes. "I don't mind if you stay with me over the summer, we both leave for the school year about the same time." Didn't the teachers have meetings before school started? Well, it didn't matter..."I would like that." Snape's lip twitched, he still hadn't seen the man smile just yet at him.
"Hi Harry!" He turned and smiled at Susan, she was an older woman who had taught him how to sew. Her steel gray hair was down in curly waves, sunlight glinting off of her glasses. "Hi Susan, how are you?" She smiled brightly; "Fantastic, you?" He couldn't help but to smile at her, "Great." Susan gave him a side hug. "So I've heard that you moved in with Severus." Oh no, he wasn't about to let that cat out of the bag. "I don't know who told you that." Susan snorted, "He has neighbors you know-we all know. I'm sure someone is going to grill him on that one, because we all know he's also bi." The-wait a second, Snape was bisexual? "What are you talking about?" Susan frowned; "Didn't you know? Ah, well I suppose he didn't let you come live with him because of that-more because of what your family was doing." Did every one know everything about him? It was kind of funny really, that these people of his church knew him better than his friends and the people who considered him family and that he in returned felt as family. "Wait, so how dose everyone know that Snape's bi?" Susan and him wandered to a table, Snape was actually not that far off talking to Selma and her husband Howard.
"Everyone knows because a few years ago, before you joined the congregation he was in a few relationships, one of them was a man, I think his name was Edgar. Though it turned out that he wasn't right for Severus. They ended up breaking up and Edgar ended up leaving the church, actually he ended up getting a job that took him out of the area, and then Severus ended up dating a nice lady by the name Fay Morris, though sadly she ended up in a car accident and passed away."
And there was another piece of Severus Snape that he hadn't known about the man, it wasn't even his choice for Harry to find out either-but he couldn't...Wouldn't try to ask about any of it because he didn't want Snape to be angry with him for once. "I think I shouldn't have known-he's not exactly one to tell people about himself..." Susan blinked; "I thought you two were close?" Harry's jaw dropped; "Close? I don't know, I keep learning new things about him that I wouldn't have even suspected about him." Susan laughed; "That's what good friend are. You keep learning from them, and Severus is certainly someone you could learn lots from."
Apparently that was true. Because he would have never guessed that Snape was capable of love let alone love for both genders, it was hard not to wonder what it would be like to learn more about the man, about his past? Living with him would be different, it would be interesting to say the least. Harry knew that this summer had changed him quite a bit, he felt lighter, more willing to protect those he cared for. They chatted for a bit about sewing before Snape found his way to them. He sat down with a huff, Susan greeted him cheerily. "Let me guess, you asked Harry about his living arrangements." Susan nodded brightly, "Of course, he said nothing about it. But, I bet he is living with you." Snape nodded; "Because I can't stand him being beaten." She nodded; "We're all very glad you did that. Most of us are too old to take care of him." Harry nudged her; "You're not old." She laughed; "Honey, I'm nearly sixty years old." He hadn't known that actually.