A/N: This is just a one-shot about what Severus' reaction might be upon finding out that Harry Potter named his son Albus Severus. It is written in honor of the late, great Alan Rickman. May he rest in peace.
The office of the Headmaster of Hogwarts remained largely unchanged over the course of the last hundred years or so, due mostly to the fact that the Headmasters of Hogwarts had no interest in redecorating in any way. Many of the Headmasters, and Headmistresses, in question lined the walls of said office, in the form of portraits, not even bothering to pretend to be asleep, as was their normal course of action. Two of the portraits, one Headmaster Dumbledore and one Headmaster Snape, were particularly riveted to the commotion going on down below in the current Headmistresses office.
Headmistress McGonnagall was berating a young lad of about twelve for apparently getting caught out of his dormitory after hours. The boy was wearing Hufflepuff colors, so it would have been odd that he was in any sort of trouble at all, the Hufflepuffs generally being more lackadaisical than most students in any of the other houses, except that the boy in question was one Albus Severus Potter. The fact that he was a Potter had Snape's lip curling up in a sneer; the fact that he was a Potter had Dumbledore's lips curling up in a smile. The fact that he was in trouble had every portrait on the wall both curious and confused.
Headmistress McGonnagall ended her tirade by taking fifty points from Hufflepuff, possibly putting the house in the negatives, and sending the young man straight back to his dormitory. Perhaps it would have been prudent to allow Professor Longbottom, the current Head of Hufflepuff, to discipline the young boy, but she suspected he may have been a little too lenient on his friend's son. Heaving a great sigh, the current Headmistress leaned back in her chair, finding the entire situation to be quite exhausting.
"Albus, the boy is as bad as his father." She didn't even bother to look at what she knew would be twinkling blue eyes.
"Minerva, you know that those Potter boys only have the best of intentions. It hardly seems fair to continue to punish them when it always turns out that they were only breaking the rules for the greater good." Albus Dumbledore sounded the same in flesh as in paint.
"Oh, good Lord, Albus, surely you can't mean that all Potters should go unpunished for their duration at Hogwarts? Even you can't possibly be that biased." Severus Snape hissed in annoyance of the old man's reasoning capabilities.
"Severus, that boy happens to be named after two of the greatest Headmasters that this school has ever seen, perhaps try to find a bit of compassion?" Minerva was baiting him, he could always tell when she was, but, as always, it managed to work.
"Minerva, giving the boy the namesake 'Albus', while quite an awful name in and of itself, was already foisting far too much on his delicate shoulders. What other unfortunate soul could that child possibly been named for?" Severus' distaste for all things Potter was seeping through his words and coming out as if he had just eaten a particularly awful piece of fish.
Albus and Minerva exchanged a glance. How could Albus possibly know, their portraits were right next to each other and Snape didn't have another one to travel to, so was always in the same place? It was Minerva that answered the question.
"Why, you, Severus. Harry Potter gave his son the name Albus Severus Potter." The Headmistress continued to talk, even noticing the blank expression that came over Severus' face in the portrait. Albus and Minerva waited to see what the grumpy former potions' master would say, being known for being truly awful most of the time.
"Well, that's just—," Severus appeared to be at a loss for a moment, perhaps he was getting sentimental. "—disgusting. I guess I can't say that I'm surprised that Potter couldn't think of anything better, but, really, Albus Severus? It couldn't get any worse." The look on Severus Snape's face was one of utter disgust, as per usual. He wasn't honored in the least at the name sake, if anything it felt like a total slap in the face to hear his name uttered with the surname 'Potter'.
"Now, now, Severus, it doesn't due to look so unkindly upon someone whom was only trying to immortalize the people that he saw as responsible for his success in defeating Voldemort," Minerva chastised the portrait of her former colleague, having expected him to at least be somewhat touched by the gesture. In hindsight, perhaps she should have expected the reaction she received to the news.
"Minerva, it is hardly appropriate to name one's son after a Death Eater. Surely even Potter knows that." Severus was more than a little upset that the man had used his name in such a way. He liked having a reputation for anger and hatred; that was just whom he was.
He hated the Potters; all of them. He even hated the red-headed Weasely that married into the Potters just because he hated the name Potter so much; he would only ever admit in the privacy of his thoughts that he felt that Potters had excellent taste in women. He was just rolling his eyes at the thought, knowing that Minerva, Albus, and hundreds of other wandering eyes, were watching him.
"Severus, he was simply trying to thank you in the only way that he knew how. I'm sure you understand and are just being difficult because you can't help yourself." Minerva rolled her eyes as well, knowing that it would just annoy Snape further.
"Yes, I do believe that Potter would not have thought to thank me in person, he lacks the intelligence. However, I am not a forgiving person, Minerva, surely you've caught onto that after all these years." Snape let out a little smirk, having just insulted her favorite student ever and herself all in one breath.
"Severus, Harry probably never thought to worry about you finding out. He was raised by Muggles, remember, so he doesn't realize how magical portraits work. Don't worry, Severus, I'm sure Harry only meant to honor you, not offend you." Dumbledore looked at Snape as if he was actually disappointed in him for not being more open-minded.
Snape chose that moment to rudely elbow his way through the neighboring portraits. He wanted to remove himself from the situation, but having only one portrait, he was reduced to exiting the room the old fashioned way. After he was gone, Albus shook his head and turned back to look at Minerva.
"He'll come around. I'd even be willing to wager that he'll be mentoring that boy before he graduates Hogwarts in the next few years." Albus Dumbledore had his tell-tale twinkle in his eye that usually meant that he knew more than he was letting on; Minerva had known him far too long to miss said twinkle.
"Albus, I'm not so foolish as to disagree with your thoughts on the matter. I would only hope that he would come to his senses sooner rather than later." Minerva leaned forward on her desk to look Albus more fully in the eye.
"Minerva, he will come to see that Harry only meant to show the world that he was good the entire time, that maybe people shouldn't distrust an old man's judgement." Albus puffed his chest up a bit with the knowledge that he was the old man in question. Minerva chuckled a bit at the display.
"We shall see, Albus. We shall see." The two old colleagues shared a look before Minerva decided to douse the lights and retire to bed for the night.
A/N: Please let me know what you think, I'm not entirely happy with the flow of the conversations, but I couldn't wait to post it. RIP, Alan Rickman.