It was the second week of Harry staying with Severus in his home and the two men were both sat eating their breakfast together in the kitchen.
"So, if you were best friends with my mum, you must have known my father also."
Severus hesitated when Harry said this but deciding that there was no point in denying the fact. "Yes I did," Severus said through tight lips.
"What was he like?"
"I did not know him personally. We were never friends."
"But you must have seen him around. Shared some classes. Something."
"Yes I did. Please leave it alone though Harry."
"But you've told me all about my mum, I just want to know a bit of what my father was like."
"You would be better off asking that question to someone else."
"I'm asking you."
"And I'm telling you, no." By this point their voices were shouting at one another and Severus could feel his patience beginning to wear thin and was about to snap.
"Tell me!"
"No."
"TELL ME!"
"HE WAS A BULLY!" Severus knew that if pushed he would snap at the boy and he did. He took no joy in watching Harry's face fall with this piece of information but he told the boy not to push him. What he was not expecting was for Harry's expression to morph and set into one of anger.
"No." That was it. That one clipped word broke Severus and he could no longer hold back his emotions.
"No? NO? What would you know about it?"
"He couldn't have been, everyone says how he was funny and intelligent. Besides my mum wouldn't be with a bully from what you've told me. You clearly didn't like him, was it because you loved mum? That's it, isn't it? You were jealous. Poor Snape didn't get the girl."
"Get out." Severus felt close to tears at Harry's words.
"What?" Harry whispered, he knew he'd gone too far when Snape said those two words.
"GET OUT! You're just like him. I told you to stop but you couldn't, could you? But then again I was a fool to think that a Potter could be anything other than arrogant and ungrateful and a bully. Just get out of my sight." The tears were flowing down both of their faces when Harry stood and ran.
Severus swore at himself and his foolishness, realising what he had just done. He did not hesitate to follow Harry to his bedroom in Snape Manor, only to reach the door as Harry slammed and locked it with magic.
Severus knocked on the door, dying inside at being the cause of the sobs coming from the other side of the dark mahogany door.
He slumped his frame down the piece of wood and began begging for the boy to listen to him. "Harry. I did not mean what I said. You are not arrogant. You are not ungrateful. You are NOT James Potter. I'm sorry Harry. Please talk to me. I don't like your father, he ruined my life at school, ruined my sanctuary, so I snapped when you wanted to know more about what he was like. It is understandable that you would wish to have knowledge of the parents that you never knew. Please Harry."
Severus waited but got no response other than tears so he decided that Harry wasn't going to talk to him for now, or that he had erected a silencing charm so that he couldn't hear what the older man was saying. He moved off the door to sit against the wall opposite.
When it came to be lunchtime the two men had not moved from their respective spots, Harry was curled up on his bed while Snape sat staring at the floor in front of the mahogany barricade between them. Snape's personal house elf, Dippy, appeared with a pop and place a plate of food in front of Severus before taking a plate into Harry. The only difference being that Snape neither acknowledged the food or the elf whereas Harry ate everything that was on the china.
Dippy repeated this procedure every meal, taking away the previous meals plates- empty or full- and leaving a new plate. Harry had an en suite room so it was nearly a week before he decided to leave the room and face the man.
He did not expect to face him as soon as he stepped out of the room though. Perhaps what shocked him more though was the state that the man was in.
Instantly Harry dove to his knees on the floor in front of the man, gaining no reaction from him. He looked at the man and knew that this man had not moved from this spot since their fight, still wearing the clothes from that very morning. A week's worth of tear tracks on his cheeks. Cheeks that were paler than usual and his flesh seemed to be even tighter drawn across his bones while his eyes had sunk and were ringed with dark circles.
The only movements that Snape was making were the occasional slow blinks and the slight rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. Harry tried talking to the man but got no response. No response until he placed his hand on Severus' left arm when the obsidian eyes looked to his tattoo.
An action that caused a fresh wave of tears to flow down the man's face. The lily did not bloom.
Harry noticed this fact but decided that it did not matter for the man in front of him was more important. He had to help Snape. "Come on Sir," he said as he lifted the unresponsive man and half-carried him down to one of the sofas in their living room.
Harry tried his best to get the man to respond to either food or water but with no luck so he resorted to more extreme measures. Moving to the lab he picked up a pair of knives, as he knew that items in the lab were kept completely sterile, before moving back to the potions master.
"I'm sorry Sir," he whispered before placing the knife against the man's palm and pushing down and creating a diagonal slice. Taking the second knife Harry repeated the action on himself using the second blade. Harry sat on the floor next to the man, linking their hands.
He placed his forehead on the cool leather of the sofa before willing his magic into the other man to heal him. Slowly Severus regained awareness of the world around him as Harry fixed the malnourishment, dehydration and fatigue.
Upon waking fully he realised that Harry was healing him by taking the problems on himself. Instantly he broke the connection and the boy's magic snapped back into his own body. Snape stood and placed the boy on the sofa he had just vacated before rushing to get some water and the strongest nutrient potion that he had in his stocks, as well as a pepper-up potion.
Giving Harry first the nutrient potion, massaging his throat to make him swallow, then he repeated the process with the pepper-up potion. Once the boy was alert he sat behind the boy, propping him up against his chest to keep him upright as Harry drunk three glasses of water and ate the bowl of soup that Snape requested from Dippy.
Almost straight after that Harry fell asleep, still lead against Snape so the older man decided against waking him. Repeatedly running his fingers through the boy's hair he slowly joined the boy in slumber.
Severus awoke first and requested that Dippy get them both some breakfast to eat in there as well as a second nutrient potion for Harry. Snape felt the need to test if he had imagined something and was disheartened to find that it was real. The tattoo did not react to Harry any longer although he could also sense the remorse that Harry was feeling.
It was not much longer before Harry drifted into consciousness and realised who he was using as a pillow. He moved to sit next to him and the two of them ate in an awkward silence.
"I'm sorry Harry."
"Don't. Don't apologise. You have no reason to. I should have listened to you. I shouldn't have kept pushing you to answer me when you clearly didn't want to do so. How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine Harry, thank you. Slightly mad that you did what you did rather than using potions to heal me. How long was I sat there, I think I may have zoned out after the second or third day?"
"I'm not going to apologise for using my magic to heal you. I was panicking and I didn't want to waste time hunting for them when I had a quicker solution. As for how long, well I locked you out on the 24th, today's the 30th, essentially the answer to your question is too long. I left you sat there for far too long."
"It was not your fault Harry. I shouldn't have snapped. I shouldn't have said the things that I did. They were not true, I apologise for saying them to you. I promise you that you are none of the things that I called you, none of the things that I accused you of being. Now, lighter topic, what did you wish to do tomorrow?"
"What? Nothing."
"That is your birthday is it not?" Severus asked, unsure as to why Harry had acted that way, although he had his suspicions.
"Yes it is but-"
"But you've never celebrated your birthday." The older man finished with a small smile. "If you could do absolutely anything, go anywhere, what and where would it be?"
"Well there is one thing."
"Yes," Severus prompted when Harry did not continue.
"Never mind. It does not matter. It's silly."
"Tell me."
"I just want to spend the day with you and-"
"And what?" he asked when the young man stopped talking once more.
"I'veneverseensand,Iwanttogotothebeach."
"What was that Harry?" the man asked with a small chuckle.
"I've, well, I've never seen sand before. I would like to go to the beach. It doesn't matter though. I told you it was silly."
"Hey, it sounds perfect if that is what you want to do."
"Thank you."
"My pleasure. I have need to go into the local muggle town and to Diagon Alley today. Do you wish to accompany me?"
"That sounds great. I'll just get changed and I'll be ready. I suggest that you shave though," he joked, well half joked.
"Come on then brat. Get moving."
Once they were both ready Snape apparated the two of them to the local town, they wandered through the market that was set up, buying some strawberries and a cake each. Severus asked Harry to wait outside while he went into the bank and Harry walked to the book stall in front of the white building and purchased four new books, paying just as Snape reappeared.
They went into a deserted side road and Snape apparated them again, this time landing in Diagon Alley. Snape went into the apothecary where he and Harry both picked up the ingredients that they had used, as well as ones that they needed for some new potions that they wanted to try.
Harry decided that he would get all of his school bits that trip so he dragged Snape into all of the necessary shops, although Snape went off when Harry was being fitted for some new robes in Madam Malkins.
Their final stop was Gringotts where they went to both of their vaults, getting enough money for the school year ahead while Severus also removed an item small enough to fit in his pocket but Harry could not tell what it was.
Once they were done there they went back to Snape Manor where they put away all off their purchases before eating dinner since they had set out rather late in the day.
Severus thought that Harry had gone up to bed once they had finished eating their meal so he was shocked when he walked into the library, drawn by the light, at 23:30 to find the boy watching the grandfather clock, struggling to keep his eyes open.
"What are you doing up still Harry, you look exhausted?" The boy blearily looked at the man as if struggling to focus on whereabouts the man was stood.
"I always stay up until midnight to make a wish on my birthday at midnight. I had a hidden box of matches in my cupboard to blow out so I hope that you don't mind." With those final words Harry waved a hand towards the table where the box of matches from the kitchen was sat.
"Not at all. Although-" Severus took out one match and transfigured it into a candle shaped as a '15'. "Much better." They say there in silence until Snape lit the candle, "three, two, one, make a wish Harry."
Said boy screwed up his eyes as he made his wish by blowing out the candle.
"Happy birthday Harry."
"Thank you Sir. Goodnight," he said as he stood and yawned.
"Goodnight," he replied before standing up himself.
The two men slept soundly that night, pleased that they were no longer fighting.