Dumbledore had been busy the day of Harry's eighth birthday and was not able to make the party. There had been a huge trial going on at the Ministry and Dumbledore had needed to be there, the older wizard had been sure to visit Harry and say, "Happy birthday," before leaving.

Harry hadn't held it against him but Severus had seen how much he had missed the man he considered a grandfather. Snape made sure to reassure Harry that once Dumbledore was done they would go have a picnic.

That came three days later, it was a sunny summer afternoon, grass kissed with dew and food all around. Harry was racing about by the edge of the lake, waving every time the giant squid, which Harry had named Owen, peaked above the edge of the water. Everything was perfect.

That was until Harry sat down close to their blanket and started hissing. Severus jumped up, running to the boy, automatically worried that something was wrong, that he was cursed. Severus snatched the boy up grabbing him close and looking around for the threat.

What Snape found was a small Adder snake, bathing in the sun. He was completely dumbfounded about what was going on. The snake hissed and Harry turned, struggling to get out of Severus grasp, and hissed at it again. It sounded alien, and ominous. And he finally understood why this had sent off automatic alarm bells.

He had heard this before. Years ago, from a time he wished he could forget.

To hear this, thing, that Severus had always associated with pure evil come out of his son's mouth.

Snape held Harry up, staring into his eyes and seeing for the first time what this boy could be. To suddenly understand the powers that Harry could have. That he could use. For the first time ever he didn't see Lily in Harry's eyes, all he saw was darkness.

For a split second a horrible thought rushed through Severus' mind. Kill him now, before he becomes a monster. It scared Severus more than he ever thought he could feel. Not just the possibility of what Harry might be but also what he might have to do.

Severus knew he would never be able to do it. That he would follow Harry to Hell and back.

They continued to stare at each other, Harry confused and a little scared, all of Severus emotions must have shown on his face. Snape couldn't imagine what was showing that scared the child but he hoped it wasn't the thought of murder. He hope to all things it wasn't that.

Dumbledore broke this staring match. Humming in thought, stroking at his beard before he let out a little, "Curious." Thinking for a second and then smiling. Severus was confused. He couldn't understand how Dumbledore didn't see what he did. He had thought Dumbledore would realize it more than him. That the man would strike Harry down right then and there. That he would not let another Dark Lord exist. And unlike Severus he would not be bogged down by these feelings of affection and love.

What Dumbledore said next was an even bigger surprise. "All is well Severus, snakes make the fiercest of friends." The older man winked as if knowing all of Severus' thoughts and knowing just what to say to make him relax.

Despite this assurance Severus couldn't stop the rolling of his nerves.


Severus found, as Harry got older, that his magic grew more wild than ever expected. Harry's accidental magic seemed to fly out of him with each moment, mostly coming out in little bursts. And it had happened more than once that the boy had been next to Severus as he was brewing a delicate potion (all the while teaching Harry what he could and the boy taking it in like a sponge) and the waves of magic coming off the boy had disrupted the potion and almost making them unsavable.

Luckily, Snape had acted fast and saved it. Severus had asked the boy to step back a bit but after a few minutes of Harry standing on his tippy toes trying to get a look into the cauldron Harry fell over, magic spreading around him and cushioning his fall. With this a gust of wind blew up Severus robes and they landed in the pot.

Snape rushed to remove them as the potion started to soak into the cloth which then started to disintegrate the material. With a flick of his wand Severus banished the potion. And scooped Harry off the floor. The boy's lip was wobbling and his eyes were glassy. There was a big red spot on the boy's chin where it had hit the floor, and he was lucky that that was all with how hard he had fallen. Tears started to trickle down Harry's face and Severus could feel a meltdown coming on.

Severus sat the boy up on the now empty workbench, quickly walking over to his potions cabinet and pulling out a bruise paste that had a little bit of numbing agent in it. He made his way back over to table and pulled the boy into a quick hug before kissing his forehead and then rubbing the paste onto the boy's chin.

Harry giggled at the tingling sensation and seemed to forget the pain he had been in. Snape knew his tears had been more from shock than anything else. They then continued making potions, this time working on less temperamental ones. Harry knew all these potions by heart and could easily make them by himself but Snape liked to watch over the boy and they always bonded over potions making.

While they did this Severus was planning on a way to fix this mess. Harry's magic was growing faster than his body and bursting out of its container looking for more room. Normally a child's magic grew with them and by usually had steadied after they were two or three. But when it came to Harry it seemed the older he got the more unsteady his magic grew, and the only thing for it was to have the boy start practicing magic so that he could learn to gain control over it.

Once Harry was asleep for the night Snape made his way to Dumbledore's office. They sat and talked over tea about Harry needing a practice wand. Luckily, the Ollivanders' Branch within the village carried just such wands.

The next day, Harry happily with Minerva for the morning, Severus headed into the village to get the wand. The wand was thin and pretty short and made from Balsa wood with a hollow core lined with pixie dust. It was magical enough to help focus a child's magic but unlike other wands, pixie lined wands dulled magic, making sure that the caster could never caste anything lethal or dangerous.

It was also the best way to teach a child how to focus their magic. While it was great for most children since focus helped magnify their magic once they moved onto a real wand, for Harry it might help him learn to keep his magic within his body.

Ollivander's nephew Gareth was sitting behind the counter, flipping through the Gladrags Mag scowling at whatever crazy designs were inside. The man flipped to the next page before setting it down and looking up at Snape.

"Hello, welcome to Ollivanders, how can I help you?" The man's voice cracked towards the end as if he barely had occasion to use it.

Severus stepped closer, a set of bells tinkling overhead as the door closed behind him. "I need to pick up a practice wand for my son." Snape smiled at the thought, he didn't often call Harry his son out loud. It sent a thrill through him. To be a parent and to not have to hide it, to not have people know it wasn't true.

The man of course didn't care, and he strode to a shelve over in the corner, pulling out a thin short box before opening it and revealing it to Snape. It was short, thin, and light in color. It was plain with no decoration (since children were liable to break them).

Severus picked up for a moment before putting it down quickly as he could feel his magic start to try to splinter through the wand. Snape paid the man and headed into the Hog's Head to meet with a man about a snake.


As the students left the school again the next year Harry grew impatient to go outside. Dumbledore had made a room connected to theirs that was a small garden so that Harry could play outside while the school year was going. The room emulated what was outside of the castle, when it snowed in December it snowed in their gardens. Even though it was nice and worked for what was needed it wasn't the same as being actually outside with unlimited space to run.

So the moment the students left the school Harry had run outside ready to play in the grass. Harry flopped down, rolling around until he was covered in grass stains. Severus sighed but knew clothes were easily cleaned and that all the grass stains in the world didn't matter compared to Harry's smile.

Every day after the end of term Severus and Harry were out on the grounds. Severus normally reading or working on notes while Harry, ran, rolled, and flew around.

One day Severus looked out at the lake and something hit him. He realized that Harry had never been swimming and probably didn't even know it was something people did. While it wasn't something Snape enjoyed himself he felt a little bad for not giving Harry the chance to try.

The next day Severus left Harry with McGonagall so that he could pick out some bathing suits. Diagon Alley was busy but not packed and Snape easily made his way to Fladberry's Casual Clothing and Accessories, which was nearly empty. The young witch watching over the shop greeted him and directed him to the section he needed. Severus picked out a pair of swimming shorts he thought Harry would like, red, which was still his favorite color. Snape had long gotten used to it.

Snape had made it back up to the front of the shop before he realized that he also had to have a bathing suit. He sighed and headed back to the swimwear section. Almost everything was extremely bright and not to Severus' taste at all. He flipped through the rack until he found something that would work. There was really only one thing Severus liked, he was pretty sure the suit was fashioned after 1915's muggle swimsuits. He did like that it could cover his torso but the fact that it was black was what really drew his eye.

Finally he checked out and headed back home.

When Severus first showed Harry what he had gotten, the boy did not really understand what they were for but when Severus explained Harry automatically lit up like a lightbulb. Harry demanded they go out right now to do it. It was getting close to four in the afternoon already but Harry didn't care. They changed and then rushed out to the lake. Harry pulling Severus by his hand to go faster.

It suddenly hit Snape how much Harry had grown. The boy was already up to Severus' waist and he wasn't sure why it hit him now but it did. Harry was growing up, he would soon be entering Hogwarts and after that on his own with a family.

Severus knew he would long for these days. Of simple childhood memories and easy smiles.

They walked into the water, Harry holding Severus' hand tightly and laughing as the water lapped his knees. Harry's swim trunks ballooned as they got deeper into the water making Severus snicker. As the water got higher Harry started to hesitate but Snape knew the easiest way to learn was just to get into the deep end.

"Don't worry, just trust me and keep walking." Severus grabbed Harry's other hand so that they were facing each other, slowly backing farther and farther into the water.

Harry nodded, seeming to reassure himself. "Okay dad."

Harry struggled as his feet stopped being able to touch the sand but Snape held him up till he was floating. From there Severus taught Harry how to float on his back which took a handful of tries to get right before Snape could let go. At first when he tried to let go Harry had freaked out. But he got the hang of it and knew that Severus would be there to catch him if he started to go under. The next thing was pulling Harry by his arms and getting the boy to kick.

Severus thought that was enough for the day since it was starting to get late so they headed back to the shoreline. Little tadpoles swimming around their feet before they got back to the shore.

Harry slept like a log that night.