Chapter 2

1990

There were only ten minutes left to one o'clock in the afternoon. Lunch was almost ready , and Snape had asked Harry to go get plates, knives and forks, glasses, among others, and to set the table.

The boy immediately did what was asked of him. With Snape out of the room , Harry walked to a cabinet and opened it, starting to get things and put them on the wooden table. While getting the last cup , he noticed an hidden bag, perhaps intentionally , in the lower part of the cabinet . Looking quickly to both his sides, and seeing no one, he tried to see inside.

He noticed a package, with a burgundy color, and it wasn't big. He was curious, but je would have to tear the wrapping to see inside and he knew that he couldn't do that.

"Harry it's ready ." He heard Snape say. Quickly, he rose from the floor again and, getting another cup, he closed the cabinet doors with more strength than he wanted, and walked away.

A few minutes later, they were sitting at table, eating in silence. Occasionally. he would look at his right side, where he could see the cabinet further in the room, something that Snape didn't fail to notice, but that Harry was trying to hide.

"What are you so interested in today?" The man asked, putting down the silverware and looking at him, which made him swallow hard. "Always looking to your side when you're eating."

"Oh, it's nothing." He answered. "I was just thinking."

Snape raised an eyebrow, still looking at the boy and took a few seconds to respond.

"Alright then. Eat, or it gets cold."

Harry nodded his head slightly and took the fork to his mouth. Just two minutes later he raised his head and looked at the man beside him.

"Severus?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Well it's just that I was curious..." He began. "There's a bag with a package inside the cabinet, and I wondered.. what is it."

"It's nothing. Just something that was given to me a few years ago, nothing that you need to know." Snape replied, continuing to eat, without looking at him. Harry just accepted the answer , even tho it wasn't the one he expected to receive. He knew that insisting , would probably come down to nothing, and didn't really want to bother with it.

Two days later. Harry still thought about what he had seen in the bag. He knew that it would be wiser to let it go, but he couldn't help but think and also feel , for some reason, maybe because of the way Snape had answered him , that the content of it was just something uninteresting that was given to him .

It was almost seven o'clock in the morning. Harry had planned to wake up earlier than normal, and sooner than he thought Snape usually woke up, so he could see what was really in the bag, and not be caught. He got up and started heading to the living room. The open windows let in the morning light , that wasn't much but it was enough for everything to be seen clearly. As he had thought, he took the bag from the cabinet, leaving it open when he went to sit on the couch with the bag.

He carefully took the package out of the bag. Then, slowly and trying to make as little noise as possible, rip the paper. He didn't realize immediately what was that he took out of the wrapping. It seemed to have more than two colors , but the ones that prevailed were black and dark green. By touching, he felt that the fabric was extremely soft. Shortly after , he realized it was probably a cloak. Putting it around him, he got more than ecstatic . With wide eyes and mouth half open , he tried to look at himself from top to bottom , more than once or twice, not only to admire even more what he was seeing , but to make sure it was real.

Part of his body was invisible. Now he obviously knew some things about the magical world , and had seen some others too , that Snape had shown him but he still was very excited when he saw things like that .

This is amazing, Harry thought, smiling. After taking out and putting the cloak on a few more times , he sat down again , putting it on top of his legs, also noticing an envelope on the floor, which he presumed to have fallen from the middle of the cloak when he got up.

Picking it up, he was more than surprised to see 'For Harry' on the front . Now even more tempted to discover everything about it , he opened the envelope and the piece of parchment that was in it a hurry, starting to read what it said.

Harry,

this is a Cloak of Invisibility, if you're still wondering.

I want you to have it as my gift. It has been in our family for many years, it's very old and important.

It can not fall into the wrong hands and remember that it can protect you. I know that if you're like me, you'll be tempted to get the Cloak on several occasions, but use it well .

Never forget that we love you very much,

your father, James Potter.

Harry felt emotional. He could only sit with the letter in his hand, rereading it. But a few minutes later, he heard a sound of clearing throat. Looking up , he saw Snape in front of him , still in his pajamas and looking like he hoped not to be seeing what he knew was happening.

"What are you doing, boy?" He asked.

"Me?" Harry said, grabbing the letter with more strength and keeping it near him. "I was just opening my gift."

"And who gave you the right to get the bag? We talked about it, but I do not remember saying that you could come here without my consent and simply open it."

"Yeah, I didn't get your consent. But from what I read in here, apparently I have every right, yes." Harry said. "Why were you hiding this from me? Were you not going to give it to me?"

"Harry, don't look at me like that." Snape said, reacting to the discontent and disappointed look that the boy had. "I knew this was for you , but I do not know who is it from, or what it was."

"I think you knew perfectly from who it is." He said , shaking his head slightly in denial . "I now realize you never liked my dad, and I don't know why , but like my mother , he loved me . And like her, he's dead . That's the only thing besides a picture of him. I had the right..."

When Snape didn't even retort, and just looked at the boy, Harry , with the letter in one hand and grabbing the Cloak with another , he stood up and began to walk quickly to his room .

"Harry!" The man called , but it ended up in nothing. The door closing was heard . He sighed with a strange sense of regret within him . As much as he didn't like to admit it, he worried about the boy .


1991

It hadn't been long after Harry turned 11 years old. He had received a letter from Hogwarts , with which he had been extremely enthusiastic about, and didn't know why Snape didn't react as animatedly as he did. He became very upset when , a few days later, Snape told him that he wouldn't go to Hogwarts that year . He thought it should have to do with the fact that Snape wasn't teaching there anymore, knowing that he had before he took him.

Faster than they both thought, Harry overcame the situation and everything was now normal. That morning , with open sun and little wind , Snape had said that both were going to Diagon Alley to buy some items needed for Harry to start studying and for Snape to teach him.

With that , Harry felt excited and satisfied again. It wasn't long before both got there and all he saw in front got him fascinated.

The streets were very narrow, and the buildings with all those stores were inclined , many of them in completely absurd angles that Harry understood that without the support of magic , they would certainly fall.

First, they bought Harry's wand , which was 11 inches long, made of holly and had a phoenix feather core. Then they went to Flourish and Blotts, where it took much more time to buy all the books needed . Finally, and after an immense insistence from Harry , they stopped at the Quidditch shop, where the boy was nearly lost in the middle of all those items that he found amazing and in which he got a broom.

When they came out , and this being more pleasing to Snape , they quickly returned home , where in a hurry , and under Snape's amused look , Harry sat on top of his new broom , and tried to fly.


Guest (LibraMoon) - Thanks for reading and commenting, I'm glad you're liking where it's going, I hope you continue liking it! Yeah, it's very clear that Severus loved Lily but hated James, and it's good that he learned to see more of Lily in Harry, than James at times, despite his appearance! Again thank you!