Anyway, getting away from my excuses….
OH MY GOD!!! I now have 124 reviews!! Oh, wow, I'm floored, stunned, shocked. I didn't think my story would get such a strong response. I'd like to thank all of my reviewers for reviewing, thank you very much, you all humble me greatly.
Also, I'd like to mention that I'll do a big personal review thank-you thingy at the end of every fifth chapter. I think that's evening it out enough, huh?
Anyway, I'll stop babbling and once again thank all those who reviewed me, and told me to hurry up, you're all amazing. Now, on with chapter four!
Chapter Four-Ten minutes after the confrontation between Harry and Malfoy, Hermione and Ron had to go to the Prefect carriage. Hermione had become the Head Girl for that year, along with Terry Boot from Ravenclaw as Head Boy.
Harry, once his friends had left, had placed a rather complex ward on the compartment door, spelling it so only friends may enter the compartment. After completing the ward, Harry sat down with a sigh.
Since his friends weren't there to distract him, he could concentrate on what his magic was doing. The only other time that he had glimpsed at something even remotely similar was when he had seen his godfather during the Triwizard Tournament in his fourth year, and at the beginning of his fifth year. It seemed that both his and Sirius's magic had created a hesitant, fragile bond between the two of them, though it was nothing compared to what he had seen in Severus.
After Sirius's death, Harry had refused to let anyone touch his guarded heart again. He closed himself off, unwilling to leave himself open to that sort of pain again. Even those close to his heart; the Weasleys, Hermione, Remus, Neville and Dumbledore, were treated with a coolness that belied his true feelings on occasion. Though, this coolness was nothing compared to what he treated the rest of the world with.
But somehow, somehow this tiny, quiet babe, this shadow of the mean tempered, sarcastic man he once knew and hated had managed to reach past all his defences and secure himself a place in Harry's heart with his timid smiles and hesitant touches.
As Harry sat there, contemplating this new realisation, the compartment door opened and in walked in a sandy-haired young man who had a calm, confident aura of power about him.
Harry smiled a true smile at the young man. "Hey Neville." He said softly, his eyes softening.
The young man smiled back, as he sat opposite Harry, his movements soft. "Hello Harry." He replied, his eyes widening as they settled on the sleeping bundle in Harry's arms, before a calm acceptance and curiosity appeared in his eyes.
Harry's smile grew as he saw these emotions flash through Neville's eyes. He had grown closer to the young man the previous year, coming to rely on his quiet and unquestioning attitude when Hermione and Ron attempted to interrogate him. Neville's very attitude had endeared him greatly to Harry, as he had the tendency to wait for Harry to inform him of things, instead of pressing for whatever secrets Harry had hidden. Harry was so relaxed in Neville's company that he had chosen to tell Neville about the Prophecy, something he still hadn't told Ron or Hermione.
"Neville, this is Severus Snape, and yes, he was our Potions Professor." Harry said softly, chuckling slightly at the stunned look on Neville's face.
Neville's soft laughter joined Harry's a few moments later. "Of all the things I was expecting you to say, that was not one of them." He admitted.
Harry shrugged. "Since when have I done what is expected?" Harry asked wryly.
Neville nodded. "Never really." His eyes lit up with amusement. "How badly did Ron react?" He asked curiously.
Harry snicked. "He's already claimed that he isn't going to be 'Uncle Ron', and that he's not going to baby-sit him."
Neville started to laugh once more, then he stopped suddenly when a pair of onyx eyes opened sleepily, and looked at him curiously, before Severus snuggled in closer to Harry.
"Shh…" Harry whispered gently to the now awake Severus. "Severus, I would like you to meet my friend Neville." Harry introduced, watching as Severus smiled shyly at Neville and carefully showed him the ward crystal he held.
Neville looked shocked for a moment before he smiled gently at the timid child. "Hi Severus, is Harry letting you take care of that?" He asked, pointing to the ward crystal.
Severus nodded shyly.
"Well, you're doing a very good job, isn't he Harry?" Neville continued, and grinned at the look of complete joy on Severus's face as he looked up to Harry for confirmation.
Harry nodded. "Yes Neville, he's doing a great job." He said, smiling at Severus, who lit up with joy at these words.
He was gently jolted from his sleep to hear his Daddy and someone else laughing softly. He opened his eyes to see a sandy-haired young man sitting opposite him. The young man had stopped laughing the minute he had opened his eyes.
He snuggled in closer to his Daddy, and listened to his Daddy's gentle voice introducing the new person to him.
He smiled shyly at the young man. 'He nice.' He thought to himself, as he showed the man the pretty magic crystal Daddy gave him.
When the man said that he was doing a good job taking care of Daddy's magic crystal, he smiled brightly. This man was nice and he wasn't loud like Daddy's other two friends. What did Daddy say his name was again?… Nevlil. This was his Uncle Nevlil.
Harry watched as Severus smiled at Neville with a curious air. He hadn't reacted to Ron and Hermione this way. Maybe Severus took comfort in the soft, gentle aura that Neville excluded, much like he, himself, did.
"Has he talked yet?" Neville's soft voice interrupting his thoughts.
Harry shook his head. "Not yet. I'm a little worried because his behaviour is disturbingly familiar." Harry said softly.
Neville's eyes widened slightly, but he knew not to push. "He'll talk when he's ready. Don't worry."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, I guess." He shook himself lightly. "How are the treatments going?" Harry asked, referring to the new treatments that Neville's parents were undergoing.
Neville's parents, insane due to being placed under the Cruciatus Curse for too long, had been the first to try out a new treatment that had been discovered.
Neville's smile was a mixture of joy and sadness. "Alright, I think. Mum actually recognised me the other day for a few minutes, before…" Neville broke off.
Harry's smile was reassuring. "Don't worry Neville. Everything will be fine." His look turned mischievous. "Guess who's going to teach Potions?"
Neville caught the mischief in Harry's voice and looked up. "Who?"
Harry smirked. "Dumbledore." He said simply, watching as a smile crossed the young man's face. "And want to know what's even better? Tonks is going to be the Slytherin Head of House." Harry's smirk grew as he watched Neville's eyes light up with humour.
"He's going to kill them when he returned to his true age, huh?"
Harry nodded. "Yes, yes he is."
They spent the rest of the trip talking quietly about their holidays and other things.
When the train pulled into the station at Hogsmeade, the two young men stood and strode out of the compartment, to an awaiting carriage, ignoring the glances sent there way due to the infant in Harry's arms.
As Harry watched Neville enter the carriage, he felt something nuzzle at his arm. Turning slightly, he smiled gently at the thestral, who was begging for attention.
Giving it a quick pat before promising to visit later, Harry climbed into the carriage, noticing how the crowd of students was surging forwards towards him.
As the door shut on many curious faces, Harry sighed as the carriage started to move. "And that wasn't the whole lot of them. They're going to scare Severus." He mumbled to himself.
Neville shook his head, a small smile on his face. He knew that Harry had refused to let anyone else get close to him after his Godfather's death, and that he had been lucky to get as close as he had to him. But it seemed that Harry wasn't immune to the charms of ten-month-old Severus. Even he, who had feared the Potions Master dreadfully in his first five years of Hogwarts, though he had slowly lost that fear in the last year, having seen things far more terrifying than an angry Professor Snape, had fallen for the infant child.
The carriage gave a sharp jolt as it stopped, and Harry stepped out of the carriage smoothly, Neville close behind him, moving with a confident grace that only comes to those who have power and know it. He made his way through the gawking crowds, and took his seat at the Gryffindor table, Neville sitting beside him, as they waited for Hermione and Ron to join them.
Harry held Severus close and whispered soothingly to the child, who's whimpers of fear were growing louder and louder as the noise level in the Great Hall grew.
"Come on Severus, hush. I won't let anyone hurt you. You're safe." Harry whispered softly, rocking Severus back and forth.
Neville lent over to stroke the silky raven locks that adorned the child's head. "That's right, and I'm here too. Harry and I won't let anyone hurt you." He whispered, trying to soothe the child.
Harry smiled gently as Severus looked up at him, trust evident in his onyx eyes. The whimpers stopped as Severus carefully looked around the Great Hall, but, spying everyone looking at him, he hid his face in Harry's robes.
'They so loud!'
Why did they have to be so loud? He moved closer to Daddy and felt Daddy tighten his hold on him.
He knew he was making scared noises, but he couldn't make them stop! There were so many people there, and they were so loud!
Suddenly, Daddy's voice reached him over the noise.
"Come on Severus, hush. I won't let anyone hurt you. You're safe." Daddy rocked him back and forth, rubbing a hand up and down his back, like he did when he had nightmares.
Then, he felt a hand on his head, stroking his hair, and Uncle Nevlil's voice was attempting to soothe him as well.
"That's right, and I'm here too. Harry and I won't let anyone hurt you."
They were promising to take care of him, to keep him safe. Yes, safe.
'Daddy will keep me safe.'
He looked up at his Daddy and started to relax, seeing Daddy's gentle smile. The scared noises stopped and he carefully looked around the big room they were in.
Everyone was looking at him! He quickly hid his face in his Daddy's robes, not noticing the small smile his Daddy and Uncle Nevlil shared.
The sorting was now over, and Dumbledore stood to make his speech.
Harry smirked to himself, wondering how he was going to explain the absence of the Potions Master. Already, whispers had filled the Hall as people wondered where the intimidating man was, though these whispers had died down once the Headmaster had stood.
"Ah, students, welcome back to another year at Hogwarts. As many of you can see, there happens to be one of our staff missing from our table. Unfortunately, Professor Snape was in a potions accident that left him… changed. The result of said accident is sitting with Mr. Potter at the Gryffindor Table." Almost everyone's head swivelled to stare at Harry and his young charge. Harry groaned softly, but the Headmaster continued. "Now, I don't want anyone bothering Mr. Potter, or his charge." His usually twinkling blue eyes were as hard as steel as he gazed around the Great Hall, evidently warning people from harassing Harry.
Suddenly, the twinkle was back again, as he sent a discreet glance over at the Slytherin table, before glancing, just as discreetly at Tonks, who's hair was a startling shade of blue. "Now, as for who will be teaching his classes, I will be taking Professor Snape's potion classes, and the Slytherin Head of House will be our dear Professor Tonks, whom, might I be the first to congratulate on being here for a second year in a row." Scattered applause, as well as murmurs echoed through the Hall as Tonks grinned and waved at everyone.
Harry turned his attention to Severus, who still had his face buried in his robes, while Dumbledore went on about the rules and if anyone wanted to see the list of rules, then they were located in Filch's office.
There was a clap of hands and food appeared on the tables. Harry quickly filled his plate, then grabbed the second plate that was before him that was filled with soft foods for Severus.
Smiling, he leant down next to Severus's ear. "Hey there, are you going to hide all night, or do you want something to eat?" He said softly, watching as Severus unburied himself to look at Harry.
Filling a spoon, he held it in front of Severus and watched as Severus ate the food quietly, obviously aware of all the looks he was getting.
Dinner was soon done and Harry found himself on the familiar path to Dumbledore's office. Standing before the gargoyle, he watched as it opened for him, without a password. Dumbledore had decided the year before that his magical signature would be programmed, if you will, into the gargoyle, so he wouldn't need a password to enter. This was decided due to the face that Harry visited the Headmaster's office numerous times during the previous year, and it was too tiring to inform him of all the password changes. Most of the staff had had their magical signatures programmed into the stone gargoyle too, but when in the presence of a student, they said the password to be more discreet.
The best thing about this was that even if a person was under polyjuice, their magical signature would remain faithful to their original form. So if Ron was under polyjuice in the form of Flitwick, he still wouldn't be able to enter due to the fact that his magical signature remained the same.
Also, if someone put, say, Professor Sprout under Imperious and tried to gain entry to the office that way, the gargoyle would recognise that a spell was interfering with the cursed person's magic and wouldn't open for them.
That was why Umbridge, in their fifth year, could never enter Dumbledore's office. The castle wards were devoted to their chosen Headmaster/Headmistress, and they hadn't approved of Umbridge, so she couldn't enter Dumbledore's office via password or magical signature.
As Harry took a seat before the Headmaster's desk, there was a sudden movement to his right and as Harry turned to look, he saw Fawkes flying towards him.
"Hey there Fawkes." He said softly, watching as the beautiful phoenix landed on the arm of the chair. "How have you been? I really must thank you for bringing Severus's clothes and other things throughout the holidays. He really liked them." Harry said with a smile as he looked down at Severus, chuckling at what he saw.
Severus was staring at Fawkes with awe, and he was carefully reaching for Fawkes, his little hand shaking slightly.
"It's alright Severus." Harry said softly, grasping Severus's tiny hand in his. "Just be gentle with Fawkes, okay?" Harry carefully rubbed Severus's hand over Fawkes's plumage.
Fawkes cooed softly, arching into the caress, causing both Harry and Severus to smile.
Severus giggled softly began to chatter to the phoenix in baby talk softly, causing Harry to look down at his charge in surprise.
The sound of the door opening caused Severus to stop talking, as both he and Harry looked up to see Dumbledore entering his office.
"Ah, Harry, did you enjoy the feast?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes twinkling.
Harry sighed. "Yes Headmaster, I did. I especially enjoyed your last two announcements. How long do you think it is before the Slytherins start to riot and protest about me taking care of their Head of House?"
Dumbledore chuckled softly. "I'd give it a few hours, at least." He said with a smile, before he turned his gaze to Severus. "And how has Severus been?"
Harry smiled softly. "He's been fine. He learnt how to walk a few days ago," A proud glint flashed in Harry's eyes, and it coloured his tone, causing the Headmaster to smirk slightly, before changing his expression back to the happy, gentle smile he usually wore in the presence of his boy. "And he really loves to fly." Harry continued with a smile, but then the smile disappeared and he frowned slightly.
"What is it?" Dumbledore asked, noticing the frown.
"He hasn't talked yet, and the book you gave me said that babies can start to talk at five months old. He's twice that age and he still hasn't said anything. The only time he has talked is when he was in the Room of Magic when you were there that day, and just before when he was talking to Fawkes, and even then it was in baby talk." Harry said, a frown still marring his face. He then continued on, talking to himself. "It's like he's learnt that if you don't talk, you don't get noticed, and if you don't get noticed, then there are less chances of you getting hurt." He finished softly, not noticing how the Headmaster's eyes widened, then narrowed in anger at the personal tone of the subject.
Albus shook his head. "It's alright my boy. Severus will talk when he wants to talk. Don't worry about it."
Harry nodded, then he smiled softly. "So Headmaster…"
"Harry, how many times have I told you to call me Albus when we're like this?" Albus said, interrupting Harry.
Harry flushed slightly. "It's difficult H.. Albus. I'm sorry." He looked down, then he looked at Albus, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "How about I call you Papa Albus?"
Albus looked shocked, before he laughed. "You do and I'll have you in detention till you graduate."
Harry smirked and shrugged. "It was worth a try. Now, back on subject, are you going to show me where my rooms are? Severus needs to get some sleep."
Albus nodded and proceeded to lead Harry out of his office and down several halls to where a portrait of a young man with brilliant emerald eyes hung.
"It's not often that you visit me, Headmaster." The portrait said in a drawl.
Albus nodded his head. "Greetings, Lord Slytherin. Here is your charge that I told you of." He indicated to Harry.
Harry felt his eyes widen a fraction as Albus greeted the portrait. When Slytherin turned his gaze to Harry, he nodded his head in respect. /Greetings, Lord Slytherin./ He hissed in parseltongue, watching with amusement as Slytherin first looked at him in bemusement, then with respect.
/Greetings young speaker. It has been a while since I have met another like me. Well over a hundred years./ Slytherin greeted him.
Harry raised an eyebrow. 'So Riddle never found the portrait to talk to him. Interesting.' He thought to himself, and would have continued his thoughts along that line, had Slytherin's hissing not interrupted him.
/What is your name, young speaker?/
/I am Harry Potter, Lord Slytherin./ He then looked down at Severus, who was practically falling asleep in his arms. /I do not wish to seem rude, Lord Slytherin, but may I enter? My young charge requires sleep after such a busy day./
Slytherin nodded. /I don't think you will need a password, seeing as I doubt there are many speakers here, but if you think you will require one, we can talk of it in the morning. Goodnight, young Harry./
/Goodnight Lord Slytherin./ Harry said, and watched as the portrait swung open to allow him into the room.
Entering the room, Albus close behind him, he watched as the torches lit the room up and he got a good look at his rooms.
The room he had entered was like that of a living room, a dining room and a study all combined. There was a small table, which seated six people, to his left for meals, to his right, there was a large fireplace and comfy-looking chairs done in black material, and towards the end wall in front of him was a desk and numerous book shelves. There was also three other doors, which he assumed led to the bathroom, his bedroom and Dobby and Winky's quarters.
"Thank you for the room, Albus." Harry said softly.
Albus nodded. "That's fine, my boy."
Harry smiled. "Well, I'm guessing Severus's bed is in my room, so, I think I'll
put him to bed." He said, before calling out softly. "Winky."
Winky appeared with a soft crack of magic. "Yes, Master Harry Potter sir?"
Harry smiled at Winky. "Do you have Severus's bottle ready?"
Winky nodded and produced said bottle with a smile. "It's being all nice and warm for Master Severus."
"Thank you Winky. That is all." Harry said as he took the bottle from her and watched as she disappeared. He then turned his gaze to Albus and smiled. "Albus, could you hold Severus while I go get his clothes ready?"
Albus's eyes widened, but he nodded, taking the near-asleep child from Harry, after Harry explained to Severus what was happening.
Harry entered what he expected to be his room and smiled. Both his and Severus's belongings were set out in separate chest of drawers and wardrobes.
Going to Severus's cot, he grabbed his pyjamas and called Albus into the bedroom.
If he had known what was going through his young charge's mind at that moment, he would have smiled.
Severus was looking at the old man who was holding him with a sleepy smile. Just before he drifted off to sleep, he thought of one thing.
'Grandpa.'
