Raising Harry

PetuniaxSeverus, Harry

Rated T

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or its characters from the franchise. That honor belongs to JK Rowling

Raising Harry

Chapter 11: The Dinner

"Are you ready, Mr. Potter?" Professor Snape asked as they stood in front of his fireplace. They were preparing to use the Floo Network to get to Petunia's house for dinner and Severus had just finished explaining how it worked to the Ravenclaw First Year.

Harry nodded and watched as the Potions professor tossed some of the Floo Powder into the flames burning in the fireplace, his eyes widening as they turned green. Severus stepped inside the fireplace and beckoned for Harry to join him. Harry did so cautiously, surprised when the green flames did not burn him or his robes.

Severus wrapped a strong arm around the boy and held him close to his body before saying in a loud, clear voice, "Petunia Dursley's house."

Before Harry knew it, he and Professor Snape were being swept away through the soot and ashes of the fireplace and the Floo Network.


Petunia sighed for what seemed like the hundredth time that evening as she willed herself to calm down. She was still very angry from the letter Severus had sent her explaining why her nephew wanted so badly to come home from Hogwarts. She honestly couldn't believe Dumbledore! If she could she would rip into him so fast his head would spin. But she made sure that she wasn't angry this night because Harry was coming home for a few hours for dinner, and she didn't want to be upset in front of her little boy.

The blonde woman had just put the last plate of food at a space on the table when suddenly there was a loud crash coming from the living room. Petunia jumped and let out a scream before hurrying to the room to see what had happened. Her blue eyes widened when she saw that through all the dust and smoke, her living room in ruins and a large hole in her wall where her fireplace was supposed to be. And among the debris were Harry and Severus, both covered in dust and looking a little worse for wear. Before she could say anything Severus let out a cough before whirling towards Harry, his black eyes glaring as he asked, "Why didn't you say that her fireplace wasn't connected to the Floo Network?"

"Sorry sir, but I didn't know how the Floo worked; you didn't tell me when you were tutoring me," Harry answered before turning to see his aunt standing on the other side of the room. He gave her a sheepish smile as he said, "Hello, mum."

"Hello," Petunia replied slowly, her eyes looking from him to Severus. She noticed him giving her a confused look at the fact that Harry had called her 'mum'. Shaking her head she told him, "Say nothing of it, Severus. Now please fix what you have destroyed."

It was apparent that she was making no room for argument and Severus nodded, acknowledging that he indeed caused the giant hole in her wall. She watched as Severus repaired her wall and fireplace with his wand, putting everything back to normal as if it was never destroyed. He then cleaned himself and Harry before putting it away.

Harry ran towards Petunia and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and as tight as he could without squeezing her too hard. She returned his hug with just as much love, a smile making its way on her face as he kissed the top of his head.

"I missed you," Petunia told him before pulling away. Harry grinned up at her before replying, "I missed you, too."

Petunia looked up as the tall man walked towards them and greeted, "Good evening, Severus."

Severus nodded before saying, "Thank you for inviting me to dinner tonight, Petunia."

"You're welcome. Now both of you wash your hands and we can eat."

Harry nodded and grabbed the Potions Master's hands, dragging him towards the stairs so they could go wash their hands. Severus' black eyes widened as he allowed himself to be pulled by the eleven year old boy. Petunia couldn't help but giggle softly at the sight of seeing Severus Snape, supposedly feared professor and strict wizard being drug away by a sweet, happy eleven year old. Severus had written in his letter to her that he had comforted Harry and that her nephew had cheered up significantly. The news had made her very happy and wanted to thank the man personally.

It wasn't long before Severus and Harry descended the stairs and they met Petunia at the table, both of them taking a place at the table to eat. Severus observed what the blonde woman had made and found on his plate roasted hen, baked potato, and steamed broccoli. Petunia had already poured them glasses of tea to drink and after the woman blessed the food, they all began to eat.

Severus was very impressed and pleased with Petunia's culinary skills. He couldn't remember the last time he had a cooked meal that wasn't made by House Elves or tasted as good as this. He voiced his thoughts to the blonde woman, complimenting her cooking much to her surprise and causing a slight blush to rise on her cheeks. As he ate he listened to Harry tell Petunia about what he's learned and how much more he wants to learn. The boy even told her about the friends he made and what they were like. Severus couldn't help but snort when he started to talk about Draco.

"Draco is really smart, mum. He answers so many questions and he's really good at every subject, especially Potions. But outside of that, I think Hermione bests him in all the other subjects," Harry told Petunia before taking a sip of his tea.

"Which one is Hermione again?" Petunia asked with a smile on her face.

"She's the friend that I met on the Hogwarts Express and she got into Ravenclaw with me. I swear she brings in the most points for our House. I think she's even more intelligent than Draco is." He gave Severus an amused smile before he continued. "And she gets on Professor Snape's nerves."

Petunia giggled and looked over at Severus. Severus cleared his throat before inputting, "Miss Granger is too eager for my taste and seems to have an urge to answer without being called on. I've never seen such a know-it-all in my life."

"Now Severus, if I recall correctly, you were a bit of one yourself," Petunia said, giving the younger man a sly look. "I'm sure I can think of several instances where Lily came running home excited to talk all about what you told her and how you knew so much to be a child. I can tell you now I could retell those stories in a much more embarrassing way than Lily did."

"Don't you dare because I will deny it," Severus said with a scowl, though his ears had turned a tad shade of pink.

Harry laughed along with Petunia, finding it funny to see his professor rather flustered thanks to his aunt. Petunia too thought it funny, though she couldn't help but find Severus' flustered and grumbling under his breath in embarrassment rather endearing. Deciding to not poke more fun at the man, she asked more questions about Harry's school life and how his scores were looking, to which Harry was happy to answer.

Severus, glad that the attention was taken off of him, took this time to observe Petunia. His black eyes looked at the older woman closely, his black eyes taking in her blonde hair and bright blue eyes that seemed to sparkle and no longer held any resentment towards him or anything magical. He also took in her fair toned skin and the curves of her face, noticing how her pink lips would turn up in a smile or would spread to show her teeth as she grinned or laughed, how her eyes would have a slight crinkle in the corners when she smiled. He used to think that she had an overly long and skinny neck when he was younger, but now he thought that her neck seemed to compliment her body frame and with the way her hair fell down framing her face, she appeared younger than she was, considering she was at least three to four years older than him; he knew for a fact he probably looked older than he really was. Petunia was, in lack of a better word to come to his brilliant brain, lovely. It amazed him that she was still single.

He shook his head of these thoughts, berating himself for thinking them just as Petunia picked his plate up from in front of him. As she cleared the table, Severus checked the time and saw that he and Harry had at least half an hour left before curfew. He told Petunia this as she returned with three plates with a slice of cherry pie balanced on her arms. Nodding she said, "Alright then, at least have some pie before you go."

While eating the sweet dessert, Petunia said, "I just wanted to thank you, Severus."

"For what?" Severus asked before taking a bite of pie.

"For talking to Harry for me and even comforting him. You didn't have to, but you did and I thank you for it."

"It was no trouble, Petunia."

Petunia smiled as she ate her pie, glad that Severus didn't seem annoyed about the request. It wasn't long before they finished their slices of pie and soon it was time for Severus and Harry to leave. The blonde haired woman suggested that they leave from the backyard since it was fenced in and they couldn't leave through the fireplace again or leave from the front of the house lest they be seen. Harry gave his aunt a hug 'goodbye' before telling her he would write to her tomorrow and heading on into the backyard. Severus walked towards the backyard as well, Petunia following behind him.

Severus stopped and turned to face Petunia before saying, "Thank you for dinner tonight, Petunia."

"You're welcome. And thank you for allowing Harry to come see me," Petunia replied with a soft smile. Her face hardened suddenly as she said, "I just wish that I could tell that old coot what for. How dare he make Harry uncomfortable and try to reassign him to a different Hogwarts House? If I could I'd let send him one of your screaming letter things."

"You mean a Howler?"

"Is that what it's called? Then yes, a Howler."

Severus chuckled softly as he listened to Petunia's rant in amusement. She certainly had gotten fired up in a matter of seconds. Though knowing it was impossible, he had to admit that it would be entertaining to see the old man get a Howler from Petunia. Everyone knew one did not mess with a mother or her child unless they wanted to feel her wrath, especially when it came to their child. But still, he would enjoy watching a Howler from the blonde scream at Dumbledore.

A thought struck him and he said, "If you're not busy tomorrow, I could bring you to Hogwarts so you can have a word or two with the old man."

Petunia looked up at Severus in surprise before smiling deviously and saying, "I'm off work tomorrow. How does noon sound?"

"Perfect. Goodnight, Petunia."

"Goodnight, Severus."

Severus walked over towards Harry, watching as the boy waved and called 'goodbye' and 'goodnight' to his aunt before placing a hand on his shoulder and Disapparating away. Seconds later they landed in the Astronomy Tower and Harry told the Potions Master 'goodnight' before running off to make it to the Ravenclaw Tower before curfew, which was in roughly five minutes.

The Potions Master left the Astronomy Tower and made his way towards the dungeons to get to Slytherin Dungeon to make sure all of his snakes were there and not anywhere they weren't supposed to be. And as he went along his way, he couldn't help but think that he had a nice night and was looking forward to seeing Petunia again the next day, especially when he brought her to the giant castle for her "chat" with Dumbledore.