Happy Saint Patrick's Day! And no, I haven't forgotten about the Friendship Is Magic episode that I'm currently working on, I just wanted to give the fans of the original Harry Snape (and I can't believe how many there are holy cow you guys are amazing!) a little cut oneshot with the Harry that we all fell in love with. So enjoy! Also, don't forget A Very Hoppy Harry Easter comes out April 1st!
Lily stepped off of the Hogwarts Express holding Tobey inside her arms and the diaper bag over her shoulder. Meanwhile Harry and Cowboy stepped off the train behind her. That's when all of a sudden Hagrid and his faithful canine companion Fang came over to greet them. Tobey smiled at him while he continued sucking on his pacifier.
"Well bless my soul, if it isn't the Snape family." He said with a grin while he came to a stop in front of them. Harry's face lit up with excitement as he ran over to greet him.
"Hagrid!" he hollered as the joyful giant chuckled and lifted the little boy up inside his arms.
"Well hullo there Harry, my aren't you getting big." He said while he adjusted his grip and held him up by his hip. "And so is your little brother. How old is he now?" he wondered.
"He just turned a year old." Lily told him.
"Wow, only ten more years and he'll be starting Hogwarts himself." He said as Harry held up one of his hands.
"Yeah and I've only got five more years to go." He told him.
"Yep, I know. That's pretty amazing. Anyway, I imagine that you lot probably aren't interested in staying here and talking to me. I reckon that you boys probably want to go see your father now." He said as Harry grinned and nodded. As much as he liked Hagrid, he had to admit he was right. He couldn't wait to see his father. "I figured. Well, he should be outside the castle waiting for you." He said setting Harry back down on the ground.
That's when without thinking Harry started to run. Cowboy barked and chased after him. "Be careful Harry, don't run so fast you'll trip." His mother warned while she ran after him as fast as she could so that she wouldn't lose track of him. Snape watched his family coming towards him as he stood on top of the hill. Then he grinned as he saw his son running towards him and grinning back at him flung out his arms before he leapt into them.
"Well hullo there, who might you be young sir?" he questioned him.
"You're being silly Daddy you know who I am. It's me Harry." He replied.
"Oh really? I'm not too sure about that. You seem a little too big to be Harry." His father told him making him giggle.
"Daddy!" he exclaimed as Snape chuckled and kissed him on the cheek before he turned over to give Lily a quick peck on the lips.
"And my goodness, look at Tobey. I think there should be a law that says little boys aren't allowed to grow up so quickly." He said.
"But what if we have a little girl this time?" Lily questioned him since she had just recently found out that she was pregnant again with her third child. Snape simply just shrugged at her.
"Well, children in general then." He said before he carried Harry inside while Lily carried Tobey and then he started to cry. "What's the matter buddy?" he asked him.
"I do believe he needs his nappy changed." Lily explained while her husband made a disgusted face.
"Oh." He said.
"Don't worry Severus, I'll take care of it. Why don't you show Harry the leprechauns? I'm sure he would love to see them." His wife told him while continuing to hush her youngest son and soothe his crying as she carried him away.
"Where are the leprechauns Daddy?" Harry asked him.
"They're outside in the woods. Your friends the Weasleys are out there with them and listening to them play their flutes and bagpipes." He explained.
"I want to go listen too then." Harry told him.
"Alright then, I'm sure your mother will be able to find us later." His father said as he carried him back outside.
"So what exactly is a Shamrock Festival?" Harry wondered.
"Oh that's right you were sick last year and that was our first year that we had it." Snape began. "Well, anyway, The Shamrock Festival is an event where wizarding families come together to play lots of games and there's a lot of music to listen and dance to and lots of food to eat." He explained.
"What kinds of games Daddy?" Harry asked him.
"Things like unicorn shoes and the cauldron cake walk. There's also dragling rides and stuff like that." He told him as Harry grinned and his face lit up with excitement again.
"I love the cauldron cake walk." He began. "And the dragling rides are pretty fun too." He said as his father finished carrying him back down the hill and sat him back down on the ground. Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny Weasley were busy dancing to the music that a couple of leprechauns were playing on a pair of tiny piccolos that they had inside their mouths.
That's when all of a sudden Ron turned his head and spotted his friend. "Harry!" he exclaimed excitedly as Ginny gasped and stopped dancing while she turned to look at him with her mouth gaped wide open. The leprechauns stopped playing and glanced up in Harry's direction as well.
"I don't believe it, it's Harry Potter." One of them said. Harry had never been this close to a leprechaun before. They were both larger than he had imagined. They were both dressed in green jackets and black trousers, with tiny black shoes on their feet. They also both wore tiny green bowties around their necks and had green bowler hats on the top of their heads covered by green feathers, and they both had rather large noses and tiny beady eyes.
The only difference was that the one who had spoken had bright red hair like the Weasley children and bright blue eyes while the other one had dark brown hair and shamrock green eyes. Harry was too afraid to say anything and took a step backwards. His mother had always told him that leprechauns were very tricky and she always warned him not to trust them for anything.
The leprechaun that had spoken before laughed. "It's alright Harry, Dumbledore wouldn't have invited us here if we couldn't be trusted." He told him.
"Good old Albus, I don't reckon that there will ever be another wizard like him." The other leprechaun said.
"No, but I think Harry here will come awfully close. After all, this young fellow defeated he-who-must-not-be-named when he was only a tot." The first leprechaun said. "By the way, my name is Keith and this is Patrick. That's a coincidence for you." He told him.
"Nice to meet you." Harry said unaware that Cowboy had followed them down the hill and the moment he saw the leprechauns he started to growl and bark playfully while wagging his tail.
"Look at that puppy Keith! I think he wants to play with us!" Patrick cried while pointing at Cowboy.
"Well maybe if we play a bit more music it'll settle him back down." Keith said before they raised their piccolos to their lips again and Keith counted them off before they started playing again. Fred and George did an Irish jig while Ron and Ginny took ahold of each other's hands and started to dance, twirl, and spin each other around. Then Harry took ahold of his father's hands and started to dance.
…
The next morning Harry woke up bright and early and got dressed. "Wow, it's a very rare occurrence to see Harry up and moving before his brother." Lily said as she met Harry and Severus at the breakfast table down in the great hall carrying Tobey inside his arms. The baby boy was sucking on a green pacifier and wearing a green T-shirt that matched Harry's that had a shamrock on it reading the words;
"Hogwarts Shamrock Festival 1987"
Lily sat Tobey down on her lap while she sat down next to Harry. Then she kissed the top of the baby's head before tying a bib around his neck. "I can't wait for the festival, I met two leprechauns yesterday named Patrick and Keith and they were very nice. They offered to paint my face for me." Harry told her. "Can I Mummy? Please?" he questioned her pleadingly as she took a deep breath and sighed heavily.
"Well, I still say that it's hard to trust a leprechaun. But I don't see any harm in it if Dumbledore does." She told him before they started eating their breakfast. Later on that morning they all went down to the grounds. Everything was already set up with the game and food tents. Harry could hear the sound of the Celtic music playing. That's when he spotted the two leprechauns he had met the day before and a wide grin stretched a crossed his face as they called to him and waved him over to their tent so that they could paint a shamrock on his cheek.
As soon as Harry was finished, Lily sat Tobey down since the leprechauns had promised him that they would paint his face next. Harry couldn't remember ever having so much fun with his father in his life. He did a pretty good job at the unicorn shoe toss even though he didn't win anything, but he did end up winning a very big cauldron cake, and won a stuffed dragon toy at the bowlers hat bowling tournament.
He also loved the dragling rides as well as the flying cars and the munchkin rollercoaster ride. Finally it was time to sit down for lunch. Harry, Lily, and Severus all had wanted pizza while Tobey got a hotdog and all of them shared a box of French fries. "So what do you think about today Harry?" Lily asked him.
"I think that someday I want to be able to have the chance to perform here." Harry said as he took a sip of his pop and gave out a rather large burp while bubbles escaped from his mouth. Harry grinned while his father laughed but Lily just simply rolled her eyes at him.
"Well who knows? You just might someday." His father told him while he ruffled his hair. Lily smiled warmly at him while Harry smiled up at his father before he kissed the top of his head and they continued eating their meal together.