Chapter 2

The moment Severus' feet touched Hogwarts grounds he began making his way straight to the Dumbledore's office, not wanting to waste a second.

"Fizzing Whizbees," Severus whispered, not wanting to wake the sleeping child. The gargoyle moved and Severus climbed the stairs to Albus' office, opening the door with wandless magic instead of bothering to knock.

Albus was sitting at this desk, paper spread out all over it. When he looked up he opened his mouth to say something but then suddenly stopped, shock clearly written all over his face.

"Severus, is that…?" Albus asked quietly, having noted the sleeping state of the child.

"Yes, Albus, it is," Severus snapped out, surprising himself. He hadn't realized how truly upset he had been with the Headmaster. Albus stood up and walked around to where Severus was standing.

"Severus, I merely said check on the boy – not bring him home," Albus said with amusement. Severus only glared at him.

"I am well aware of what you said, Albus, do not think me deaf. I brought this child back with me because of the careless conditions that you left him in!" Severus spat with contempt. Realization began to dawn on Albus' face.

"You don't mean… he wasn't…."

"Yes, Albus. He was." Albus' look of utter grief was a lot for even Severus to handle.

"Oh, Merlin, Severus," Albus said, falling back to lean against his desk. "How bad was it?" Albus asked, looking like he didn't want to know the answer.

"Bad. Worse than you can imagine," Severus said, his voice a little less harsh than before. It hadn't been the Headmaster's fault, he should have just been a bit more careful.

"Is the child currently injured?" Albus asked, beginning to try and pull himself together.

"Yes, but I don't think there is anything of immediate danger at the moment. I would have taken him straight to the infirmary to get checked out, but Harry does not exactly know that he has been taken away from the Dursleys," Severus said, hesitating towards the end. Albus raised an eyebrow.

"You took the child without his permission? Are you sure that Harry was being – " Albus began to ask.

"Yes, of course, Albus! I wasn't about to just take the child whom I thought was "The Golden Boy" away from his palace for no reason! You are also forgetting I have had first-hand experience with this subject matter," Severus whispered angrily. He took a deep breath before continuing. "However, you have a point. I used Ligilimency on Dursley and saw everything with my own eyes. The reason I had to take the boy away without him knowing is because when I was in the throes of that awful man's mind, the child saw and panicked. Obviously, being the weak muggle that he is, Dursley gave in to massive amounts of bleeding from the eyes, nose, and mouth. Obviously seeing this, the child thought that I had murdered the only… guardian… he had ever had." Severus had to work hard to say the word guardian in the place of a million other curse words he had forever at the ready. "When I was done assaulting Dursley's mind, I went to go look for Harry and found him in what you could call his bedroom under what you could call his bed, but he was in what was actually a cupboard under the stairs under a pile of rags. I told him that I was going to take him away from the Dursleys and he began to wail, saying some nonsense about being a freak and not deserving a proper home or some nonsense. Oh, and I forgot to mention, Albus: the child does not even know his own name!" Severus expressed in a furious hiss. "The child refers to himself in third person as Freak, Albus. As Freak."

Severus had to stick to a seething whisper because he knew if he allowed for his voice to rise a little more he would be screaming at the top of his lungs. Well, actually, swearing at the top of his lungs. And he didn't want Albus to have to go into his mind himself and look through Severus' memories of what he saw in Dursley's mind. Severus was angry with the old Headmaster, but he still regarded him as his mentor and had no intentions of hurting his mentor like that.

Albus had to pull out his wand and conjure two chintz armchairs before sinking into one, his face in his hand. Severus had never seen his mentor so subdued and it was beginning to worry him. But not enough to express it.

"Pull yourself together, Albus! We need to figure out what to do about this, and to do that you need to let me finish the recount of what happened at those disgusting muggle creatures' abode," Severus demanded, ignoring the armchair Albus had conjured for him. Albus took a deep breath and sat back against the back of the chair, nodding.

"Of course, Severus, you are absolutely correct. My apologies, you may continue."

"Well, the child panicked. Then when I told him that his "Uncle" was not dead and that I wanted to… take the child with me… he panicked." Severus knew he had to pay close attention to word choice so that Albus would be unable to turn those blasted constantly twinkling eyes on him. Before Severus could continue Albus spoke.

"Well, Severus, maybe you're wrong – maybe the reason Harry began to panic is because he thought he was being taken away from his family's home," Albus said softly, and Severus knew it was too late. Severus clenched his teeth.

"No, Headmaster, I am pretty sure that that is not the case," Severus slowly ground out, not wanting to fall prey to the famous puppet master's sneaky ploy.

"Why, Severus, how can you be so sure?" Albus asked, his voice feigning innocence. Severus knew that Albus was teasing him, but the old man's eyes were still not twinkling so he knew that the powerful wizard had not forgotten the issue at hand. Severus took some more deep breaths before speaking.

"Because… I told him I wanted him to come with me and be my son," Severus forced himself to say. A ghost of a twinkle appeared in the Headmaster's eyes.

"Really, Severus? Why ever would you say something like that?" Severus knew it was coming so he just decided to say it himself.

"Because I will be taking the boy in. And if you have a problem with that, Dumbledore, you can keep your mouth shut and let me be, or else you'll lose yourself a Potions Professor!" Severus snapped out the idle threat. Albus chuckled.

"Not to worry, Severus. I have nothing more to add to what you have already said. I do have one question though: how did you manage to get young Harry to go with you if he was in a state of panic?" Severus Snape was a great many things, but the last thing he was, and ever wanted to be known as, was a coddler. Well, that reputation is out the door, he thought to himself, pretending to be upset more for the sake of it than anything. Secretly he was actually very at peace with the whole situation. Oh, he knew that it would take lots of work and effort and patience (which he did not have but would have to come up with from somewhere), but, for some reason, he had a feeling it would all be worth it.

"I… I hugged the boy against my chest and made him listen to the beat of my heart until he fell asleep." Severus waited for the incredulity that was sure to come from the King of Coddling himself, but it didn't come.

"Good thinking, Severus. Alright, I will firecall Poppy to let her know the situation and that you're on your way down so she expects you and has everything ready." Albus got up and walked to the fireplace as Severus walked over to the door. As Severus was closing the door behind him, Albus called out, "Oh and Severus, I would suggest walking. It looks like any minute now Harry will awaken, and I have a distinct feeling him seeing magic right now will not help his state of mind." Severus nodded in response before closing the door completely.

Severus walked down the steps and past the gargoyle before looking down at the child in his arms. Albus was right, Severus thought to himself as he watched the sweet-looking child begin to stir. That's when it dawned on Severus. The moment that this child woke up, nothing in his life would ever be the same again. Instead of feeling a sense of mourning, Severus found himself almost smiling and feeling something he hadn't felt in a long time: excitement.

"Here we go," Severus whispered as the child opened his eyes.


Hey guys! So that was the second chapter to my one-shot! I hope you guys liked it and please give me all the feedback possible! I want to make this actually a good story! :)

If you guys feel like there is anything lacking, or like I'm losing the characters please tell me! I'm at the moment looking for a Beta to help me with keeping everything together and as good as chapter one, so if you guys know anyone or are one please give me a holler! :)

Thanks again - I'll update soon!

And before I forget, I want to thank all of you who told me to continue this story - this is dedicated to all of you! :)