Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me. I'm not making any profit off of this.

What If Snape Died?

Chapter 3 – First Days

Harry looked around their new home with his father right behind him. It had maroon carpet and white walls. There was a couch and a recliner that both matched the carpet. The bathroom was magnificent, and included a bathtub that Little Harry could almost swim in. He started smiling until he remembered something. He softly muttered, "Mummy used to give me baths," and started crying.

James gave Harry a small hug and replied, "That's right, Harry, she did. I know you miss her, and so do I. We've got to hold on to memories like that." James smiled. "I can remember you splashing her, getting her clothes so wet that I accused her of taking a shower with her clothes on." James took a deep breath. "She would want us to go on living and to be happy. Do you understand that, Harry?"

"Yes, daddy, but I can't. I miss her so much."

James hugged his son quickly and suggested, "Let's take a look at your new room!"

Harry excitedly peered into his room. It had a big four poster bed with maroon curtains that matched the floor he could pull around the bed. It also had a desk and chair. He jumped onto the bed and exclaimed, "Wow! This bed is soft."

"I'm glad you like it," responded James.

"When do I get to play with Neville?" asked Harry.

"I don't know. We'll probably see him and your Aunt Alice at lunch in a few hours. Until then, how about if I levitate you to the ceiling." James pointed his wand at Harry, and cast, "Wingardium Leviosa." He could have done it silently, but wanted his son to learn the spell.

As Harry started rising from the floor, he began laughing hysterically.

-WISD-

As James predicted, the Longbottoms were at lunch. As soon as Harry saw Neville at the table, he loudly shouted, "Neville," and ran to sit by him. Dumbledore smiled and McGonagall frowned, but no one said anything about it. James' ears went pink and he put his face in his right hand for a minute to hide his laughter. When he lifted his head back up, he saw Alice Longbottom smiling at him as Neville and Harry were busily talking with their mouths full. He sat down next to her at the table.

After lunch, Neville and Harry ran around the grounds of Hogwarts, with the parents walking behind them. Alice asked James, "How's Harry doing?"

James shrugged his shoulders. "I honestly don't know. Sometimes he's excited like now, and then sometimes he's crying. I don't want him to forget about his mother, but at the same time, I want him to stop crying." He sighed, "I don't know what to do. Hopefully this change will help."

"I know it helped Neville. I think the main thing is to be there when he needs to talk about Lily. I know some people try to forget about their loved ones, but that's an insult to their memory. Lily was a wonderful person and doesn't deserve to be forgotten."

He took a deep breath. "I know I'll never forget her." He smiled. "Why she ever fell in love with me I'll never know."

-WISD-

The day passed quickly, and before they knew it, the four of them were entering the Great Hall for dinner. When they walked into the room, it was pitch black. James pulled out his wand, and was about to cast the 'lumos' spell, when the lights came on and a bunch of voices, including Alice's, shouted, "Surprise!"

James looked around and saw Dumbledore wearing a weird party hat, along with his friends, Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. The entire staff of Hogwarts was there, as well as most of the Order. Dumbledore announced, "We wanted to properly welcome our new professor and his son."

"Uncle Sirius, Uncle Remus!" shouted Harry as he ran into first Sirius' and then Remus' arms.

James caught up with Sirius, asking about how things were going in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. According to Sirius, "Things are a lot better without Voldemort running loose. We've spent most of our time rounding up leftover Death Eaters. At least now that the ministry checks for the Dark Mark, we don't have a bunch of them claiming they were under the Imperius Curse."

James then turned to Lupin and asked, "How are the finances of the Potter and Black Estates?"

Remus smiled and said in his most business-like tone, "As your official financial manager, I can tell you that in financial terms, you and Mr. Black are still filthy-stinking rich."

"That's good," replied James.

"Now that the small talk is out of the way," asked Sirius, "How are you and Harry doing?"

"We're doing okay. I'm glad that Harry hasn't been around too many strangers since it, it happened. I'm not looking forward to taking him shopping next. Not only will it be the first time he's been shopping since his mum was killed in front of him, but he's likely to be swamped by a bunch of people wanting his autograph. I'm putting that off as long as I can." He sighed. "I wonder what it'll be like for Harry in a few weeks when the students arrive. At least he won't have to interact with them if he doesn't want to. Dumbledore said that if Harry wants, we can arrange to eat in our quarters after the term starts. I'll wait to see how Harry reacts to the other children."

"So," inquired Lupin, "Do you have any idea why Voldemort was vanquished?"

"Dumbledore said it was Lily's sacrifice. She jumped in front of Harry the first time that monster shot the killing curse at him. Dumbledore said that sacrifice put a protection on Harry that Voldemort couldn't penetrate. He says it's some sort of old magic."

"Does Harry like it here?" asked Sirius. "This place can be pretty lonely for a small child."

"Well," answered James, smiling, "At least he has Neville Longbottom to play with."

-WISD-

Time passed quickly with Harry and Neville playing together every day while James and Alice watched them. There were times when Harry (or James for that matter) would break down crying in their quarters, but that was happening less and less often. Before they knew it, it was September first, at dinnertime. The students who had just arrived on the train were walking into the Great Hall. Harry watched the tables fill up with returning students, mainly keeping his eyes on the Gryffindor table, where his mum and dad used to sit, and where one day he hoped to sit.

He noticed one of the youngest Gryffindor students, a boy with red hair, pointing at him. Harry thought he was probably a second year, since Harry knew the first years had yet to be sorted. Harry could barely make out that the boy was saying, "That's Harry Potter!" Harry knew immediately that it made him uncomfortable. He watched as an older boy with red hair slapped the younger boy's hand down, saying something. Harry wished that the Gryffindor table was closer to staff table so he could hear them.

While he was thinking this, he noticed that almost all the students had begun staring at him. His daddy had warned him that this might happen, but talking about it was a lot easier than watching it happen. He asked, "Daddy, can we go?" desperately to his father.

James looked at the crowd, and then at his son. "Okay, Harry, we'll go now." James got up, took his son who was on the verge of tears, by the hand, and walked toward the door. As they were passing the Gryffindor table, the older redhead got up and walked up to them, dragging the younger one with him.

"Professor Potter," began the boy, "My name's Bill Weasley, and this is my little brother Charlie. He'd like to apologize for calling attention to Harry," he then looked menacingly at Charlie, who appeared frightened, "Wouldn't you, Charlie?"

"Y-yes, sir, P-Professor Potter, H-Harry Potter, I'm sorry," the twelve-year old boy said with his head hung down.

James put his hand on Charlie's red head. "That's okay, son. We forgive you. Isn't that right, Harry?"

"Y-Yes," replied Harry.

They continued walking out of the hall. They didn't hear Professor Dumbledore address the whole hall. "I'm very disappointed in you all. Harry Potter is a scared five-year-old boy who watched his mother murdered in front of him less than a month ago. He is not an exhibit at the zoo. I am informing you now that from this moment on, anyone caught gawking at young Harry, or harassing him with questions about what happened that day, will lose ten points for their house, twenty if it's not their first offence. Hopefully, I'll be able to convince Professor Potter, who for those of you who are unaware, is our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, and Harry to come back to the Great Hall for breakfast and give us another chance."

-WISD-

James and Harry stopped by the kitchens to ask the house elves to bring some dinner to their quarters. When they arrived, they found that two small folding tables had been set up in the living room, one in front of the couch, and the other in front of the easy chair. Each of the tables had a tray of food. The two immediately tucked in to their meal. Shortly after they finished eating, the tables and leftovers disappeared. When that happened, James, who'd been sitting on the recliner, leaned back and got comfortable. "Harry," he began.

"Yes, daddy," asked Harry.

"I'm afraid that you're going to have to deal with that your whole life. I know you don't like it, but what happened that day makes people curious about you. When your mum d-died for you, it put a protection over you that even Voldemort couldn't defeat. People think you defeated Voldemort, but it was your mum that did it. She's the real hero of our world. Her love for you vanquished that monster, but people are going to keep on looking at you and that scar."

"I hate that scar! It reminds me of mummy's death!" shouted Harry crying.

"That scar should remind you of how much your mother loves you!" stated James firmly. "When people look at your scar, they're really looking at how much your mum loves you."

At that moment, they heard a knock. James pointed his wand at the door, and it opened, revealing Professor Dumbledore. "May I come in?" he asked.

"Sure, professor, come on in," invited James.

"Hello, Harry," greeted Dumbledore, as he sat on the couch next to him.

"Hello, Professor Dumbledore," replied Harry politely.

"On behalf of all the students at Hogwarts, I wish to apologize," said Dumbledore. "I have informed the student body that you are not a display at the zoo, and that it is quite rude to stare at you as they were doing. I request that you give the students one more chance tomorrow, and join us for breakfast."

Harry smiled at this apology. He asked, "Daddy, should we go?"

James smiled at his son. "That's up to you, Harry. They were rude to you, not me."

"Well," decided Harry, closing his eyes in concentration, "I would prefer to eat in the hall with everyone else, as long as they're not pointing at me, so we'll give them one more chance."

"Splendid," replied Albus, getting up from his seat. "Then I must be going. It's the first day of classes tomorrow, and I've got a ton of parchmentwork to do. Good Evening."

-WISD-

Chapter end