My Very first Harry Potter fanfiction. I've always like the Harry and Snape father/son Mentor/student stories, so I figured would write one myself. And be weary, I don't have a beta for my story yet. So any spelling and or grammar errors, please try to look past them. I'm not perfect. But if this chapter gets enough reviews then I will try my very best to try and continue it along with my other stories I am writing.
Disclaimer: Me own Harry Potter? You MUST be out of you flipping mind…
Chapter One
A boy of the age of ten sat inside of his cupboard, staying as silent as a mouse as he possibly could. It was dark and the only light that came into the tiny space was just tiny slivers that filtered through the cracks on the door frame. He couldn't make out much of his small living quarters- if you wanted to call it that- except for whatever the sliver of light touched. Mostly just tattered and dirty bed sheets.
Not that he cared. He was used to this. He lived in the cupboard ever since he could remember. And the dark didn't bother him either. Matter a fact, he loved the dark. He lived in it for over half of his life, he was bound to learn to embrace and welcome it. After all, it could hide him if he didn't want to be seen, and it scared everyone else away.
The boy's vivid green eyes slowly blinked as he heard heavy footsteps from above him. He could tell just who those footfalls belonged to. With a quiet sigh he, sighed and brace himself and closed his eyes as the steps thundered down the stairs just feet above his head before they maneuvered and started moving towards the door to his right.
With a loud 'clank' as the dead bolt to his door came undone, the door swung open as his Uncle's massive frame filled the doorway as bright assaulting light flooded the boys tiny space.
"Get up boy! We are going shopping to get our Dudley a present. After all, his birthday is next month. We want to search for one ahead of time so we can have his chance to pick something he will want." Vernon spat, reaching in a grabbing the boy by the scruff of his overly large shirt and yanking him forcibly form the cupboard and into the hallway.
The boy, named Harry Potter, didn't even make a sound as he was pulled from his only safe haven and out into the cruel world before him. He simply nodded his head and moved out of his uncle's way as the man slammed the cupboard door shut and waddled the little ways down the hall to the door that led to the front yard and squeezed through the frame that seemed too small for his large mass- almost causing Harry to smirk.
Instead Harry tilted his head curiously, wondering why they were bringing him along with them. Normally they always leave him here at the house to clean and do chores and labor over his Aunt Petunia's flower garden. But he didn't voice his curiosity. After all, questions were not allowed to be asked by a freak.
Freak. That was all he was called in this house. Oh- that and Boy. They never called him by name. Sometimes they would call him Potter, but never Harry.
Freak.
Harry sighed, having grown to accept that insult as a name from his only living relatives. After all, it must be true, right? Strange things always happened around him. Things he could never fully explain. So shouldn't that make him a freak by default?
"Boy! Move it! We don't have all day!" Vernon's loud voice sounded from outside, spurring the child into moving with haste as to avoid angering the oversized man. Else he'll get another beating.
Harry moved quickly moved outside, seeing his Aunt, Uncle and Cousin- who looked so much like his whale of a father. Dudley- his cousin sneered at the smaller boy, but Harry refused to flinch, simply stared back blankly. He learned that if he showed his bully of a cousin that he was scared or weak, he would come after him later. So Harry mostly ignored him.
Vernon sniffed with distaste at the petite child before turning around and unlocking the car, allowing everyone to climb in. Harry quickly followed and climbed into the back seat, shutting the door silently behind him.
He hated the car. It meant he had to be in close quarters with his spiteful relatives, and endure his cousins bullying for the whole trip.
The boy simply tuned them out and turned to look out the window, ignoring the paper projectiles that were being launched his way. Some of them that successfully managed to land on the boy seemed suspiciously wet.
Spit balls.
Harry barely held back a grimace of disgust, and kept looking out the window, watching the trees and buildings pass by in a blur of color. Pleased that after a few minutes of attempting to annoy him and failing, Dudley gave up and chattered with his parents or looked out his window every now and then.
The thirty minute drive to the pet store seemed to go by slowly, but Harry had never been more thankful to get out of the car when they finally pulled into the parking lot. The boy hopped out and stretched before moving a few feet away from the vehicle, making sure to remain out of grabbing range of his relatives. As they walked to the pet store- Petsco, Harry trailed quietly behind them as they entered through the sliding glass doors.
Green eyes widen in awe at the size of the store and all the pets and supplies need in order to take care of them. When an employee came to greet them with an overly large smile that seemed fake, Harry tuned them out once more and opted to explore this store on his own. He snuck away and disappeared down a random aisle. Making sure to keep his relatives in sight- but not to where they could see him, the ten year old explored the vast variety of animals that inhabited the store.
The most interesting aisle was the one filled with reptiles. There was only one person down that aisle anyways. Someone with should length greasy black hair with his back to him picking things up of the shelves to read them before putting them back. Harry cautiously walked down the aisle filled with lizards and snakes of all kinds. The boy came to a stop at one tank and looked in when he heard arguing coming from inside the tank.
'I told you that the female snake in the tank next to us would turn you down.' On orange snake, maybe a foot long said.
The second orange snake, this one smaller by a few inches sighed. 'I know, but it was worth a shoot. She really is pretty.'
Harry glanced at the next tank curiously to see a pretty black red and yellow striped snake resting on a log under a heat lamp. He checked the name of the snake and saw Milk Snake typed there with a small description. He looked back at the two in the tank in front of him and read off their species as well. Corn Snakes.
'Hello.' Harry hissed a greeting softly.
Both small heads whipped around in alarming speeds. The larger one spoke. 'Did that human just speak our language?'
The second one nodded and replied back. 'I think he just did. Amazing. A Snake Speaker.' He said before asking the boy. 'Tell me, what is your name, Speaker?'
Harry blinked confused before responding. 'Harry Potter. Yours?'
The first one replied. 'It is-'
"Boy!" a booming voice yelled, causing Harry to flinch violently from fright as he jerked back away from the tanks, turning to see his Uncle marching down the aisle towards him with a furious expression as he shouted at the boy, words that Harry quickly tuned out with fear. Harry took a stumbling step back as realization hit him.
He was doing freakish things again. He knew no normal person could talk to snakes and understand them.
Harry took shaky steps back as fear flooded through his body, causing him to tremble. He could hear the snakes he had been speaking to react to the boy's sudden fear by hissing and throwing insults and threats at the larger man. He felt himself bump into something- no, someone as he tried to get away from his murderous looking uncle. Harry quickly remembered the person that had been in the same row as him when he first came in. A hand quickly placed itself on one of his shoulder to steady him, as a cold voice spoke out from above him.
" Cease your infernal racket, muggle."
Muggle? Harry thought. Was that some new form of insult I never heard before.
To his surprise, his Uncle stopped both his advances and words, as he glared at the person behind him. "And who the hell are you."
"My, my, what language to use around such a young boy." the voice drawled with a tone that was laced thickly with sarcasm. "I could ask you the very same question."
Vernon opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off when Petunia walked into the aisle with Dudley in tow behind her. "Vernon, honey, what's taking so long to grab that frea-" Her words cut off when she saw the man standing behind Harry. Her face went through a series of expressions. Recognition, shock, and fear before settling on anger as her face turned red. "You!" she spat.
"Ah, hello to you too Tuney." The voice drawled.
Harry, curious as to who was behind him and as to who knew his relatives- and obviously not on good terms, turned and peeked up at the adult. A very stern face and long shoulder length black hair and black eyes glared at his family member's. Harry swallowed in fear and glanced back over at his Aunt and Uncle.
His Aunt still glared at the man as she spoke. "And what are you doing here, freak."
At first Harry thought she had spoken to him, and was about to reply back with a 'you brought me here.' But snapped his mouth shut when he realized it wasn't him she was speaking to, but the scary man behind him.
Freak? Why did she call him a freak? The boy thought.
The man shrugged a shoulder. "I was here shopping for supplies for this kitten I had found about a week ago. For some reason it likes muggle treats that I won't be able to find in a wizarding store, so I needed to come to a muggle one."
Harry's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. Wizarding?
The man continued to speak. "But to my surprise I find myself in an aisle with a boy who can speak Parseltongue…" at his relatives confused looks he elaborated "Snake language. I was curious at first and just watched him interact with the reptiles until this whale of a husband of yours came and interrupted him with his thundering racket he calls words."
Harry let a miniscule grin appear on his face when the man repeated his earlier observation.
"Now, seeing as how you are here, Tuney, apparently with this oaf and his offspring, I take it this young man here must be Mr. Harry Potter."
Shocked that the man knew his name, Harry looked up at him with surprise.
The man was looking down at him with an unreadable expression. But the man's eyes seemed focus on some something above his eyes, on his forehead somewhere. But Harry didn't know why. The only interesting thing on his forehead was the lightning bolt shaped scare he's had for as long as he could remember.
Noticing that the man was waiting for a reply, Harry stuttered out. "Y-yes sir."
The man nodded slowly. "It is a…pleasure to meet you Mr. Potter." He seemed to force out the greeting bitterly. "My name is Severus Snape. Potion's Master and Professor at Hogwarts School of Witch Craft and Wizardry."
Harry's eyes widen to where he swore they were about to pop out of his head. "W-witch craft and w-wizardry?" he gasped out in shock and near disbelief.
Severus Snape nodded his head. "Correct. And if I am right, you should be starting in a few months as well."
Harry simply gapped at the dark man behind him.
"Absolutely not!" Vernon shouted, grabbing the attention from other people inside the store. "He will NOT be going to- to that Freak school!"
Harry noticed that Severus reach into his pocket and pull out a stick- wand?- and subtly pointed it at the overweight man, out of view of anyone who might be looking. He quietly hissed out in a cold voice. "I would suggest you watch who you speak to like that, muggle. Just because we are in public, doesn't mean I won't hesitate to turn you into a toad and use you for potion ingredients. Got it?"
Vernon went pale very quickly at those words and the threatening voice, but didn't back down. "I-I won't let him go. Not where he can learn to be more of a fre-"
"Finish those words and you will sorely regret it." The professor said, raising his wand so it was level with Vernon's heart.
Vernon quickly went silent, looking like he was about to pass out from fear, telling from the lack of color in his face.
Petunia and Dudley had gotten quite pale as well, but the horse faced woman recovered quickly. "If you're so adamant about that boy going to that school, than take him and leave." She huffed.
Severus raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"
Petunia sneered. "Take the boy. I don't want him under the same roof as my little precious little Dudders."
Harry's eyebrows furrowed, just a bit hurt that they would throw him to a complete stranger- supposed future Potions Professor or not. Although he must say he wasn't surprise by her words either. She was always saying that he was nothing but a burden to them.
Severus's hand that was still on the boys shoulder tightened slightly. "You truly are pathetic, Tuney. To throw away your own flesh and blood like that?" A moment of silence before the grip loosened once again. "Very well. I'll take the boy." –The Dursley's visibly sagged with relief. "But, we will be back." When Petunia opened her mouth to argue, Severus cut her off once more. "But only to pick up the boys belongings. Then we will be gone again."
She snapped her mouth shut.
Severus sneered once more at them before looking down at Harry. "Potter, why don't you say goodbye to your friends?" He suggested, nodding his head towards the snake tanks, who had gone silent after the man stepped in to defend the boy.
Harry smiled nervously before walking over to the tank to peer back in, seeing the two Corn Snakes watching with worried and curious expression on their small reptilian faces. 'Good bye. It was nice talking with you.' Harry hissed to them.
The snakes nodded their heads. 'It was our pleasure to speak with you as well, Speaker.' The first one said.
'And if you want, we would be more than willing to torment those foul humans…except for that one that protected you. He has our thanks and trust." Said the second one. "It's been so long since there has been a Speaker."
Harry nodded and smiled softly before walking back over to the Severus, giving his relatives one last glance before looking away and back at the stern looking man. "The snakes said that you have their thanks for defending me." He said softly.
The man raised an eyebrow, but his expression did not change otherwise. "Yes, well…you're welcome." He said bitterly before shooting a scathing look at the family that was rushing out of the store to get as far away from them as possible. "Let's get out of here. I'll come back later for the supplies I need for Nyx." At Harry's questioning look, Severus explained. "That's what I named the kitten at my manor. Nyx."
Harry nodded and followed the man out of the store, head down low, practically having to jog to keep up with the Professors longer strides. To the boys surprise, he did not take them to a car, instead, he lead them down to the back of the store before coming to a stop once they were out of sight of any prying eyes.
Severus looked down at the boy with cold black eyes. "Potter." He called, causing the boy to flinch. Raising an eyebrow but not commenting on the reaction he continued on. "I want you to hold onto my arm. I'm going to Apparate us to my manor."
Harry nodded and carefully grabbed onto the man's black jacket's sleeve. Not knowing what he meant by 'Apparate'.
Severus glanced down at the boy before sighing. "And just to warn you. It will feel very…unpleasant for your first time." He said carefully.
Harry nodded, still curious but now weary as well. Severus nodded once sharply before allowing them to disappear with a loud crack.
End of chapter one.
Yes, not much and it feels very...rushed on my part. But any suggestions? Comments? Concerns?