Severus' POV
I waited patiently outside the quaint little building that was Number Four Privet Drive, with it's perfectly manicured garden beds with ordinary flowers, bushes and freshly mowed lawn, looking every bit the embodiment of a muggle home. Why Minerva requested me to collect the boy was beyond me, she surely could've done this meaningless task herself. The only reason that Hagrid wasn't doing this task was that he was sick with a bad case of dragon pox that his body was struggling to combat even with the potions and spells Poppy was regularly providing him with. I plastered a smile on my face when Petunia opened the door, looking every bit the bony sister I remembered her to be.
'Pleasure as always to see you, Petunia, is there anything I need to know before I leave?' I asked, seeing Harry walk slowly up the hall with a small backpack, looking as if it was second hand and as old six years. I ignored the state of the backpack, remembering that Dumbledore had beyond assured me that the boy was being well looked after. Although that didn't explain the state of his clothes, clearly hand-me-downs from a much larger boy and looked as if they were rags you'd see on a house elf.
'Vernon wants him to be back no earlier than seven tonight. Can't have the boy messing up the house you see,' As she turned to address Harry, I noticed him slip into a mask that screamed 'Don't worry, I'm being well looked after.' 'Got everything you need?' Harry glanced down at his feet and nodded, walking out the door as if Petunia saying goodbye to him was a call for alarm, and the tone she had just used wasn't uncaring or full of disgusting hatred.
Deciding to get away from Petunia's obvious death glare, I led Harry down the street to an apparition point a couple of streets over, glancing back so often to see if he would ask questions or talk about how excited he was to be going to Diagon Alley, but he didn't say a word, hell there was times I couldn't be sure that he was breathing, as if he had been taught over time feelings quiet as possible. Just like a house elf.
Deciding to strike a conversation with the boy myself, I tried to work out where to start. 'Did you read your letter?' Should be a good place to start, and to find out just how much he knows. Perhaps he knows just how famous he is? God, I hope not...
'S-sorry sir but I-er- I don't know what l-letter you're referring to. Uncle Ve-vernon just told me this morning that you were… you were coming to pick me up af-after I handed him a letter th-that didn't belong to anyone who-who lives at home b-but had our address.'
Didn't belong to anyone who lived there? Did he not know his name or how to read? And what is with that stutter?
'What could you possibly mean by not live there. Surely, you'd recognize your own name, Mr. Potter.' I glanced behind me to see Harry stopped and staring at me as if he had never heard his own name in his life, as if the mere fact he had a name was shocking. He quickly schooled his face to one of curiosity.
'W-who's Mr. Potter?' The boy asked with a look of indifference and a voice laced with the knowledge of punishment for asking such a ridiculous question. Just how much has Albus been lying about Harry's treatment? No one can act so confused upon hearing their own name, not unless they didn't know it.
'You are Harry,' I crouched down to his level, pulling his letter from my pocket before gazing at the address, stating his bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs. What was Harry doing sleeping there? Shaking my head and handing him the letter, he looked at me confused and in awe before slipping his mask of uncaring and indifference slipped back into place. 'Surely you knew that.' I stated but couldn't help the right my brain slipped on the end that made it a question.
'O-of course, h-how silly of me t-to forget.' He hesitated for a moment before turning to me, a look of respect on his face, I had only ever seen in my older students. 'Wh-what's your n-name, sir?' Not even my godson was this respectful, and he had been given lessons on how to respect many strangers in many different circumstances. For Harry, it seemed to be the way he was simply expected to act no matter who he was around. Just like a house elf.
'My name and title are Professor Snape, but outside of classes and school, you may call me Severus or just Sev if you so wish.' He nodded and I stood back up with a slight smile on my face before both hearing and feeling my joints groan and creak from being in the position for so long. Surely, I'm not that old, right? I'm only thirty-one, my bones can't be needing oil already. Giving a stretch upwards and feeling my back crack I gave a sigh, knowing that my body was protesting long hours spent hunched over my desk marking the essays of the dunderheads who couldn't possibly appreciate the subtle art and science that was the subject of potions.
Harry chuckled and I glanced at him, only for him to shrug. 'I-it sounds a bit like… like Dudley ea-eating a packet of ch-chips. I-I don't know why I la-laughed.' He then glanced down as if I was going to berate him for his statement and threaten him with harsh punishment.
Pulling Harry towards apparition point, I noticed he had at first flinched when I reached towards him and had rather quickly returned to the state of absolute muteness from earlier. Albus was definitely lying about how the boy was being treated by the Dursley's. Hell, why he was even there was a mystery in itself. Lily would've of sooner killed then let Harry stay with Petunia.
I was pulled from my musings by the pulsing magic surrounding the point and grasped onto Harry's disturbingly bony hand, bonier then even Petunia's, quickly apparating us to just outside the entrance.
'You alright?' I questioned, noting that I probably should've warned him about how dizzy and woozy apparition can make someone. I simply received a nod and started tapping out the pattern to part the brick wall.
'Welcome Harry, to Diagon Alley, home of shopping for witches and wizards across Britain.' I announced once the bricks had parted enough to see into the crowded street and began walking towards Gringotts at the end of the street.
Harry's POV
As Severus lead me down the overly crowded cobblestone street, I began wishing I had eight more eyes at least! There were so many things to look at! There were strangely dressed women and children complaining about prices outside a rather strangely smelling shop, a shop that seemed to be selling owls and another that appeared to be a rather cramped bookshop.
There were several boys around my age with their faces smashed up several windows similar to what Dudley did when he spotted something he wanted that was to be released soon. 'It's the new Nimbus Two Thousand - fastest broom ever –'I heard a few of them gush, causing confusion to wash over my face. Brooms were meant for cleaning, so why were they staring at it with such fascination? Maybe the broom was an enchanted one that could clean houses really quickly?
'First stop Harry, Gringotts, the only bank in Britain, of course, this is just their main branch.' Severus told me as he pulled me towards a large snowy-white building that completely towered over all the rest the crowded streets. We came up to a set of burnished brass doors and I gasped as we were ushered through to the second set of doors; these ones silver and with words on them that I couldn't make out, even when I had stopped.
'S-Severus, w-would you… would you mind reading wh-what's on the-the door to me?' I asked shyly, hoping it wouldn't reveal that I didn't know how to read. Besides, it was very difficult for me to see the letters from where I was standing, they appeared to be a little bit blurry. Why have I so quickly begun to trust this man won't lie or make fun of me? He cleared his throat a little and spoke in an authoritative voice that surely would silence even the rowdiest.
'Enter Stranger, but take heed, of what awaits the sin of greed. For those who take, but do not earn, must pay most dearly in their turn So if you seek beneath these floors, a treasure that was never yours, thief, you have been warned, beware, of finding more than treasure there,' He paused his performance pulled me back through the silver doors, where there were lots of little men walking around, 'The goblins put that warning up to help prevent people from thinking they can steal from here. They have many other deterrents as well, but most people decide not to even bother with the idea of stealing from the Goblins as Goblins aren't exactly ones to fake protective measures.' So that's what the strange little men walking around were.
Walking over to one of the free Goblins worry filled me for a second. I didn't have any money, let alone enough for school supplies. Maybe that's why Severus was here with me? To discuss loans or something? Sparing a glance to Severus, I saw that he had his face schooled and wasn't worried too much. Perhaps there was some type of payment system in place for students who couldn't pay for their books?
'Good day gentlemen, how may I assist you today?' The Goblin asked, gazing set upon me with an intense look of curiosity that made me nervous and want to hide behind Severus, which would be possible as he's much wider and taller than me, but I refrained to avoid having the goblin try to make Severus uncomfortable.
'Hello yes, I am hoping you can assist Mr. Potter in withdrawing funds from his vault. He's in need of enough money to buy his school supplies and anything else he might need before term starts.' Severus' spoke with air similar to when he was telling me about the warning the goblins had on the silver doors. 'I have his key in my possession, so this shouldn't be a problem.' It was then I realized as he was rummaging around in his pocket that I was still holding tightly onto his hand and slowly loosened my grip, hoping I hadn't caused any damage to his hand.
'Griphook! Take Mr. Potter and his escort down to the Potter vault. Would that be all gentlemen?' Severus nodded before a slightly younger looking goblin started to lead us through one of the doors I hadn't yet noticed behind the desk of this goblin. As we entered the stony room, a small mine cart pulled up on winding tracks, causing me to tremble slightly. I hadn't been on any type of ride before, or even to a theme park.
My fear must've shown because Severus was soon squatting in front of me again, whispering a few words of reassurance before helping me into the cart, my hand refusing to unclamp from his now that were speeding off down the tunnel. Why does this man have to come across as someone I can trust completely?
I tried to keep track of which path we're taking to – left, right, right, left, middle fork, right, left, but I eventually lost complete track of everything upon seeing a burst of fire followed quickly by the sharp of the cart and a grinding halt.
'Vault 687, Potter family vault.' Griphook announced, causing me to become confused.
'Bu-but I don't have any m-money, and-and my parents h-had nothing.' I've said too much. I'm going to get into trouble.
'Harry, you can't possibly think that they left you with nothing, can you?' Uncle Vernon will know what I've done, how do I avoid making the punishment even worse?
I shook my head because of course, they left me with something. Don't let them know you think otherwise, they can't know what the Durselys' tell me.
Griphook quickly opened the vault, revealing large stacks of bronze, gold, and silver. No way that this was all mine or my parents. Absolutely no way. They didn't have jobs or earn anything, so how could they have all this money?
Severus quickly entered the vault himself, piling handful after handful into soft velvet bags, then grabbing a coin each from three of the separate piles, kneeling back down in front of me. Almost like Uncle Vernon does with Dudley when explaining something to him...
'The gold coins, like this one,' He held up a large gold coin to show me, 'are called Galleons, they'll be the ones you'll use the most while we buy you supplies. The silver ones,' he held up a slightly smaller silver coin, placing it in my hand along with Galleon, 'are called Sickles, there are seventeen of these to one Galleon.' He then held up an even smaller bronze coin. 'And these are called Knuts,' he dropped the coin into my hand, 'twenty-nine of these are the same value as a Sickle.'
He then handed me one of the velvet bags. 'This one is for you to buy anything that isn't on your school list but that might be helpful to you, or any treats you might want. Anything not spent, you can keep for spending during the school year.' Severus quickly tucked the other bag into his strange clothes, before we were huddled back into the mine cart by Griphook.
After saying goodbye to the goblins, I turned to Severus, excited to do this shopping but also nervous. Was he going to leave me now, to try and find m way in this strange street?
Before I could stop myself, I began to ask, 'S-Severus, c-can I come with you t-to get my school things?' Hopefully, my voice didn't betray me and make it obvious that I didn't feel safe being left alone.
He chuckled as he kneeled in front of me, a smile on his face and warmth in his eyes that were the same shade as his dark hair. 'Of course, you can come along with me, Harry. And don't be afraid to ask me any questions about what we're doing. I just ask that you answer any questions of my own honestly.' There was no possible way for Uncle Vernon to find out that I had told Severus things, so I quickly nodded, hoping he wouldn't ask about anything I wasn't okay talking about.
Severus' POV
I smiled at the green-eyed boy before pulling out his letter, regarding once again the address stating that his bedroom was the cupboard under the stairs. Before I could stop myself, I looked at him with a small frown. 'You don't actually sleep in a cupboard under the stairs, do you?' I watched as his eyes widened as a surprise, shock and confusion ran across his face in a manner of seconds before he quickly schooled them into his seemingly signature look of indifference, although his voice betrayed him.
'M-my bedrooms a-a cupboard?'
Salazar, Merlin, my beloved and all other great Slytherins, may the Durselys fuck right off into the nearest available cell in Azkaban, wait no that's far too close. Before I allowed myself to spiral into a black hole of deep hatred, I decided to instead ask if he'd eaten. His look of confusion was answer enough.
This was going to be an even longer day then I'd planned, and I wished nothing more than for my beloved to be here with me because even though we were just friends, I knew that he'd have been able to start compiling a case to get Harry out of Petunia's dreadful hands based off the state of Harry's clothing, frame and stutter alone. Lord how I missed him... Pulling myself from my musings, I lead Harry to a shop that sold pastries, letting him try some of everything that he wanted to try before he settled on a chocolate muffin, a smile on his face as we began our shopping.
Authors Note: New update is up and published. Please share your thoughts with me! The encouragement would be greatly appreciated!
I already have a plan in place for the rest of Harry's first year, and I'll begin working on the rest of my draft for this year, because I have some points I wish to get too already, some taking place in Harry's third year, so I'll probably skip over a bit of Harry's first year, except for some very crucial points, and probably all of second year honestly.
Anyway, who is Severus' unrequited beloved? Because it's definitely not Lily,! You'll find out soon enough hopefully. A hint would be to check the character tags!
¬Andama