Pairing: Severus/Harry (implications of Severus/OFC, Harry/OMC, Adrian/Hermione, Blaise/Draco, Remus/Ron, Sirius/Luna, Neville/Cho)
Warnings: (please continue to warn for DH spoilers) Non-magic, Implied M/M relations, AU, OOC-ness, Angst, Romance, Possible Book/Movie spoilers
Disclaimer: All original characters belong to the author. JK Rowling, and her associates strictly own all Harry Potter characters, places, and canon ideas. The lyrics, Blame it on the Mistletoe, belong to Toby Keith. No money is being made on this story. It is being done for the pure enjoyment to others and to myself. Copyright infringement not intended.
Summary: With the help of his son, Severus Snape finds out the real meaning of Christmas.
A Very Special Note to my Betas: Thank you to my wonderful betas for helping me through this: Jen, Shannon, and Joji. Without you, I doubt I would have made it through. With all my respect to you all, Mistress Vamp.
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Chapter II: Meeting Harry Potter
Since he was a little boy, Harry Potter always knew that he was different. He always knew he stood out from his friends, no matter how many or how few of them he had. As a little boy, his mother always told him he had a sixth sense that could tell them or others when something strange or bad was about to happen. His mother called it a gift but to him, especially as he got older, he often thought it was a curse.
Harry had always known that he would end up doing something that would change the world. That feat came when he was barely 18 years of age. He was drafted into a war that seemed to be known only to a handful of people, but the harsh reality of what he had accomplished was heard around the world. During his brief stay within the tunnels on the enemy grounds, himself and a well-known Alchemist and former Hogwarts Institute of the Gifted & Talented instructor, Severus Snape, created a poison that would take down the enemy on his own territory. The poison that had been infiltrated into the water system, eventually spreading to kill more than just the enemy; a fact Harry had not made easy peace with for many years. With this result, it left him a household name for several years. Some even said he would go down in the history books as a hero. How the world remembered him, it was up to them. If Harry had his way, he wouldn't be remembered at all.
After the war, Harry had thought things would settle down for him. For a little while, they did. He and Severus, much to the chagrin of his parents, had begun a relationship. They had had a brief interlude between them during the war, but in the time of war, you seek whomever you can for comfort. Both believed it wouldn't last and when it came to depart, they went their separate ways. However, it didn't last. They had contact with each other due to the idea they had the same associates in the same circle. For three years, they lived in complete bliss. They were inseparable and where one was, the other was usually close by.
Unfortunately, for Harry, his happiness came to an end a few days after his 21st birthday. He had foreseen the day through the sixth sense his mother often told him to use to his advantage, but he had not wanted to believe it. He thought he meant more to Severus than what he had seen in his visions. To know, that for once, his sense had led him to the truth, he decided to follow his mother's words. Once Severus left, Harry had locked himself in his apartment to hone in on the gift he had been given. If he didn't, he would have driven himself to madness with sadness at losing the one man he thought he could spend his life with.
By the age of 25, Harry had followed in his father's footsteps by becoming a detective. Though, much different from his father, Harry became what most people often believed to be frauds...a psychic detective. With the gift his mother believed he had been blessed with for a reason, Harry became a household name for a different reason than the war. With his gift of sight, past cases had been reopened and the murderers, rapists, robbers, and others had been brought to justice. It was during one of these cases that brought Harry to the point in his life that he was at now.
On his 34th birthday, which was just barely three weeks past, his boyfriend of seven years, Sorien du Monte, proposed to him. Sorien told Harry that there was no one else that he would ever want to be with but when he expected the same sentiments from Harry, they were undelivered. Harry had not hid the fact that he still wished for Severus' return. Sorien, who Harry believed was far too nice for his own heart, thought that he could help Harry heal from the broken heart that had plagued Harry for over a decade. Unfortunately, the day after his birthday, for the second time in his life, Harry's significant other walked out and left him behind.
Though, as Harry had told his two longest and dearest of friends Hermione Granger-Pucey, and Ronald Weasley, Sorien's departure hadn't hurt him as badly as Severus' walking out. Ron had looked at him with wonderment and Hermione had looked at him with calmness. When Harry had asked her why it would hurt more with Severus than with Sorien, she had given him an answer he couldn't deny; Severus was his other half and Sorien wasn't. It had made sense to Harry to see it that way. He had spent seven years under Severus' tutelage at the Institute, close to a year with him in the war, then three years as his significant other. They had spent eleven years together even if only three of those were as a couple.
Severus was always a constant in his life. After all, his mother, Lily, and Severus were friends while Severus and Harry's father, James, spent years loathing each other, even upon Lily and James' marriage. When Severus had left, Harry remembered as his father held back the words I 'I told you so' /I so as not disappoint his son. That thought alone had made Harry cry for days before he started to make his gift worth something.
As the days passed after Sorien's departure, Harry's heart began to heal from not only those wounds, but also the wounds of his first broken heart. His Godfather, Sirius Black, told him to take it day by day and not to jump into the future. It was his advice that Harry took to heart. Before Sirius became involved with one of Harry's classmates, Luna Black nee Lovegood, a longtime lover had broken his heart, as well. It had taken Luna close to a year to even get Sirius to notice she wasn't just a friend of Harry's, but a woman who was also healing from a broken heart.
With the help of others, Sirius and Luna became timid friends. As the months progressed, Sirius got permission from Luna's father to court her then after another year, they consummated their relationship. It was six months after that they married with Harry as Sirius' best man and Hermione as Luna's matron-of-honor. Harry had listened to his friends around him, had taken their advice to live his life day by day, and it was because of that advice that it led Harry Potter to opening a book of memories that he never thought he would open again.
As he thumbed through the book, those he cared for most were discussing his life.
"No."
"'Mione..."
"Ronald, no."
"Come on, Hermione. You know she'll help us contact him."
Hermione Granger-Pucey took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Although they were now 35 years old, she believed that Ronald Weasley would never act his age. "Ron, listen to me. Harry has told us more than once that he does not want us interfering with his life. This doesn't just include his career path, but his love life as well."
"But, 'Mione..."
Hermione sighed. "Don't, Ron. I know you mean well, but leave Harry and his love life alone."
Ronald Weasley, long time friend of Harry Potter, sighed and shook his head. He didn't understand why Hermione wasn't willing to accept the fact that they needed to help their friend. "Hermione, you know just as well as I do that he's not been happy since his separation with Severus." When Hermione opened her mouth to retort, Ron raised a hand to stop her. "Now you listen to me for once in your bloody life, Hermione Granger-Pucey," he said with a serious look in his eyes. "Harry has done all he can for the rest of us and what have we ever done in return for him?
"We've all tried to help him in the ways we thought we knew were best for him, but all failed. I will admit that. But, 'Mione, you do know as well as I do that since Severus, he hasn't been happy. Not even with Sorien."
Hermione shook her head and took a seat beside Ron. "I know this, Ron, really I do. But Severus is married and he ha..."
"Was married, Hermione."
Hermione blinked, this being something new to her. "Was?"
Ron smirked. "I had an interesting meeting with a certain former professor of ours at Hogwarts. She has informed me that, for the past several years, another former professor of ours is no longer married and is now a single father raising his young son."
With a new glint in her eyes, Hermione Granger-Pucey bit her lower lip. 'This is definitely a new development,' she thought to herself. When she looked at Ron, she could tell he was getting the same idea. With a small nod of acceptance, she watched as his smirk grew to a smile and somehow knew that this could either be the greatest thing or the biggest disaster. For Harry, she was willing to chance both.
End Chapter II: Meeting Harry Potter