Batter

It was the last lesson before the Christmas holidays. The children were already giddy with anticipation and their thoughts were miles from the subject of the lesson. Unfortunately they were to have double Potions with Professor Snape. Hermione Granger (and possibly Draco Malfoy) had read the next chapter about Spots be gone – cream in their Potions book, everyone else was thinking of their families and the holidays.

The Potions master swept into the classroom in his usual manner, robes flapping, scowl firmly in place. Said scowl deepend when he saw the raised hand of Gryffindor's know-it-all.

„Yes, Miss Granger?" he bit off.

„Professor Snape, there is a cat by the storeroom door."

„So?"

„The cream we are supposed to make contains hyssop, which would react with cat hair."

Snape's eyebrow rose and he looked at the cat, which was licking its paw with a supremely unconcerned mien.

„As Miss Granger is right she will get two points for paying attention."

The whole room froze. Never before had one of the Gryffindor first years earned points during a Potions lesson.

„And loose five for thinking she knows my classroom better than I!"

Granger blushed in anger and Weasley muttered something.

„You said, Mr Weasley?"

„Nothing, sir," Came through clenched teeth.

Potter seemed resigned through the whole exchange.

„Class, put away your books and your Potions kits. Hands off the benches!"

The children froze, clearly expecting some sort of pop-quiz. Snape waved his wand over the benches, cleaning them. Another waved opened a cupboard with metal cups and ingridients, while on the blackboard a recipe for chocolate cupcakes appeared. Harry squinted to read it through. It was similar to the one he had made often for the Dursleys, yet had more spices in it. A glance at the gobsmacked Purebloods made him smile. Finally a „potion" he would excel in!

Even though Snape stalked about the classroom, correcting mostly his pupils egg whipping technique, a festive atmosphere permeated the dungeon. After half an hour another wave of the Potion master's wand revealed a large baking oven. Harry's batter was ready to go into the cup and he sniffed it. It smelled heavenly. He really hoped that they would get to eat their cakes after they were done.

Snape was standing in front of the baking oven. He put each child's name on the cups and the proceeded to levitate them into the oven. When the last cup was done he set a timer and sent the children back to their benches.

„Now, onto the clean up. You may use your fingers."

The girls sniggered and started cleaning batter off their cauldrons with their fingers, licking them. The boys followed more slowly and soon Snape was faced with a classroom of chocolate smeared faces. Harry could not be sure but he thought the left corner of the bat's mouth had twitched slightly at the sight. He looked down into his cauldron and moved to put his finger into the remaining batter. His mind travelled back to the first time he had made chocolate cupcakes for the Dursleys. Harry could not have been more than five years old. In primary Miss Watson had read the children a story about a girl and a boy decorating gingerbread men with their grandmother, and when Aunt Petunia had called him into the kitchen to help with making cupcakes Harry thought that finally his aunt would do something nice with him, as Dudley was totally disinterested in baking with his mother. Women's stuff, as Uncle Vernon called it. Harry had been on his best behaviour and had followed his aunt's commands to the letter. The dough was rising as it ought to and the cakes looked good and smelled heavenly. As it had happened in the story Miss Watson had read the boy started to lick the remaining batter off the spoon. He had never tasted anything that good. He had put his pointer finger into the bowl so get more batter when Mrs Dursley had realised what he was doing.

She tore the spoon from his hands, put the bowl into the sink and sprinkled it with dishwashing liquid and then beat him with the spoon, all the while screeching, „Ungrateful brat, dirty freak!"

It had been that day that the orphan's hope of ever being loved by his family had died.

Harry was caught in that memory and zoned out. Unbeknownst to him the Potions master had been watching for a while and came now over to his station. The words were belittleing, but the voice wasn't as harsh as usual.

„Finger, bowl, mouth, Potter! It is not that difficult, for Morgana's sake!"

The child shook himself out of his stupor and finally tasted the batter. Snape was expecting wonderment – it was his grandmother's recipe after all – but not despair and suspiciously bright eyes.

„You are staying for the holidays?"

„Yes, sir."

„Well, then stay after the lesson. I need someone to turn out the cupcakes."

The Head of Slytherin knew that Minerva McGonagall would have to leave before the lesson ended, as she had to oversee the last minute packing in Gryffindor tower. He silently thanked his very organized and efficient prefects who had supervised the lower years with their packing yesterday evening. Snape was quite convinced that not even those who had grown up in the magical world had recognised his colleague in her Animagus form, supervising the cupcake lesson, a result of a lost bet on his side.

The remaining time of the lesson was spent quizzing the children on the properties of cocoa and cinnamon – the wording on the bet being that he had to do the whole lesson on chocolate cupcakes. There were quite a few raised hands, Potter's as well, from children who rarely participated during Potions.

Weasley and Granger looked questioningly at their friend who shooed them away with „Go, pack. I am sure Ron is not ready yet."

The boy seemed curiously deflated and watched with detachment as Snape tested the cupcakes for readyness, seperated them into Gryffindor and Slytherin and called for house elves to deliver them to the children, after keeping Potter's back. He then ordered hot chocolate and motioned the child to sit down in front of his table, after Transfiguring the highbacked chairs into a padded chair. He waited until the boy's tension was rising high, hoping to gain some much needed answers easier that way.

„Well, Mr Potter, have you ever made cupcakes before?"

The child looked relieved.

„Many times, sir."

„Made from scratch or just decorated?"

„Made from scratch."

„Do you have any food related intolerances or allergies?"

The sneer crossing the child's face was truly ugly, but gone quickly. Snape itched to use Legilimancy but held back.

„Non that I know of."

The Potions master tried to take a step back from his conceptions about Harry Potter and treat the conundrum like a logic puzzle. The boy, sitting so stoically before him right now, had nearly cried when tasting the batter.

„Won't you try your cupcake?"

With that he took a sip of his own hot chocolate. Potter relaxed just a little bit and nibbled on the still warm cake.

„Mmh. That's better than any cake they served the whole year here!"

„It is my grandmother's recipe."

„Is this a Hogwarts tradition, this baking in the last lesson before Christmas?"

Snape recognised the attempt at deflection for what it was.

„No."

„Then why? And why are you being nice?" the boy asked with slight suspicion in his voice.

„If you must know, I lost a bet with Professor McGonagall. You know what would happen if you told your little friends about it, do you?"

„Yes, buckets of toad innards to prepare for me."

„Quite right. That reminds me – while your potions are average at best because of your inattention during lessons, your ingredients are usually well prepared. You clearly know how to wield a cutting knife. Did you help your aunt a lot as a child?"

„Yes, I did."

Again Potter didn't elaborate, and he grew more tense again. From what he had noticed from the High Table the child did not appear to have an eating disorder. Could Petunia so cruel as to let the boy prepare food and then withholding it?

„And did you get to eat what you cooked?"

The child hesitated.

„Mostly."

„Would you say you are a picky eater?"

„No."

That answer came quickly, and the half defiant half sad sneer appeared again on his mien.

„Is your aunt very strict with sugar consumption?"

„Depends."

Snape's patience waned.

„Merlin, Potter! You know exactly where I am going with this questions! Do you always get food when you want it at the Dursleys?"

A mumble.

„Speak up."

„No."

„That's a starting point. What would you get for breakfast, typically?"

„Water and half a piece of toast. Sometimes Dudley's leftovers."

„That's your cousin, isn't it?"

„Yes."

„Is he treated the same as you by your aunt?"

„No, he get's whatever he wants, whenever he wants it. He makes Greg looking quite slim."

„Do you have any problems with your teeth? Or are your nails breaking often?"

„Dunno. I haven't been to a dentist. Why do you want to know?"

„If one eats too little while growing, or the wrong food, that can cause vitamin deficiencies and other problems. I think a visit to Madam Pomfrey is in order."

„Now? My friends are leaving in half an hour!"

„All right. Meet me at six in the infirmary."

To Snape's slight surprise the boy was punctual. Poppy's scan showed indeed a slight growth stunt due to insufficient nutrition and some mineral and vitamine deficiencies. Also traces of untreated older injuries that painted a rather dreary picture of the child's homelife. The Potions master knew that it would take time for Potter to open up to anybody. And he also knew that the evidence was not conclusive enough for bringing the case before the Headmaster. Therefore he paid Arabella Figg a visit. The old squib told him that the Dursleys did not curb their son's behaviour against his cousin but to her knowledge did not beat Potter. They were unkind and put him to work while Dudley did not a single chore. The Potions master did not need to think about it long. Tom Riddle had little food and no kindness, Severus Snape had little food, his mother and the odd walloping here and there. If not for the constant harrassing of the Marauders and the teacher's unwillingness to curb their behaviour Severus would not have thought of joining the Death Eaters. Potter had little food and no kindness safe from his friends so far. Maybe a primary teacher or Miss Figg had staved off the worst that could result from such an upbringing, as the the boy indeed seemed to posess an abundant capacity of kindness and so far had shown no cruel or vicious behaviour. Still, he could not go back there every summer, not without endangering further his physical and his emotional health. Snape saw clearly how to proceed, and he would use all his Slytherin cunning to get Dumbledore around to his line of thinking.

Harry Potter thoroughly enjoyed his first real Christmas. The best present was a framed Muggle picture of a stern looking old woman and a gangly, blackhaired boy in the background while a redhaired girl of about ten was grinning into the camera, face and hands smeared with chocolate-cookie batter. The present had no name-tag attached, but Harry knew who its giver was. Over the following months he received many `detentions' from him, where they talked, brewed and cooked together. Close to Easter Harry was ready to talk about his life with the Dursleys, yet not to the Headmaster. With Snape's help he made a collection of crucial memories, which were presented to Dumbledore together with Madam Pomfrey's scans. Still the Headmaster did not agree to completely remove Harry from the Dursleys, explaining the Blood wards. Therefore Professor Snape delivered the boy to Surrey and put the fear of God into the Dursleys to treat their nephew right during the first to weeks of the holidays. He took great pains to explain how the Blood wards protected them too and gave some examples of what the Death Eaters would do with the family should the wards fail. And fail they would if either Harry or Petunia stopped to consider Privet Drive as Harry's home.

Dudley took some time to correct his behaviour towards his nephew, but Vernon was clever enough to take his son away from home most of the time. Petunia made some effort to be nicer to Harry who realised that a lot of her attitude towards him came from crippling fear of all things magical. It did not help much at the moment but later he found comfort in the thought that her atrocious behaviour towards him as a small child was at least not personal.

At least every other day a jeans-clad Potions master rang the door of the Dursley's house to take Harry away. Snape obviously had a set plan of things to do at the start of the holidays, but he took Lily's son along whenever it was remotely feasable to bring a twelve year old. So Harry visited a large Muggle book store in London – Snape apparently stocked up on new Muggle books at the beginning of his summer – and got a new wardrobe at Manchester's Oxfam shop on Spear Street. For undies a smirking Snape took an embarrassed boy to Marks&Spencer. The next day they went to the Chelsea Flower Show and visited Kew Gardens.

While his professor still was his acerbic self Harry enjoyed himself greatly and was thankful. When, after two weeks at the Dursley's, he went to the Weasley's for the rest of his summer he got into a big row with Ron about his friend's name calling of the Potions master. After two days of sulking on both sides they agreed to disagree on that topic and the holidays progressed as they should.

The End