Of course it occurred to Albus to simply give the boy away to one of the many orphanages in the world. He could have placed Severus in a little room in the castle, surrounded by books and an enchanted view, maybe even allow his time to brew whenever he became interested. He could have killed the boy, erased him from existence like one would do an insignificant ant. There were dozens of plans that had been created only to be thrown to the side immediately regarding one de-aged Severus Snape.
Only now, standing in the muggle home of Petunia and Vernon Dursley, in the middle of the night a week before school would come to a close, did he really confirm that he had chosen the best path possible.
Severus had created actual Mares. Strong, healthy ones that completely took Albus by complete surprise. Twice, twice now the boy took him by surprise with an attack that actually landed. Ooh and what an attack Mares were.
To muggles, and even a few faint hearted wizards, the presence of such terrifying creatures would appall them, have them dialing the Ministry up to have the boy carted off—to prison or a mental ward was up in the air. But not Albus. Albus, as he knocked aside the demonic, screeching visage of his deceased sister, practically laughed. He was, without shame, impressed. Oh, it was almost lovely, this craftsmanship. He rounded another corner in the dark, dank hall. He wasn't in an actual dank hall, no it was the Mares. Large, black horses made of grains of the blackest sands. Their eyes were red as rubies and their breath left their nostrils in huge, billowing grey smoke clouds.
Typically it would require copious amounts of magic from a small group of wizards but Albus proposed that the boy had sent them! By owl! Probably over the course of several weeks he would have had to build and carefully weave his magic and then the actual curse would have to be set on a schedule to activate. It was all very complicated and Albus was almost giddy at such clever ruthlessness. It was purely his obsession with magic, of course. He loved any show of true talent and this was true talent.
Deep in his heart, in the spot that still recognized horror, he was appalled that Severus would even implement the creatures or have the knowledge to do it.
Some things just didn't change, it seemed.
"Please, I'm sorry uncle!"
Albus pulled himself from his thoughts, knocking away his sister once again. These weren't the strongest Mares he's ever seen, of course they weren't. Had they been Albus would be crumbled in fear, unable to move or even be aware that he should be able to move. The Mares managed to trap him in their curse but were not able to overcome his mind. But Severus was just a boy, so young. He had time to build himself into something fiercer.
"I didn't take any!"
Finally, Albus found what he was looking for and what an odd scene it was. Petunia laid curled on the floor, arms tucked over her head. A large man Albus recognized as a distorted adult Harry towered above her. Really, how odd was this? Mares were creatures that trapped their victims in never ending loops of worst fears, horrible insecurities and any source of guilt or sadness. Truly any negative emotion that typically based itself in the victim's life.
"You ungrateful little brat! Into your room!" Adult Harry bellowed at her. Petunia scrambled to her feet, moving slow—too slow. Another large man came out but this one was Severus, stretched impossibly tall and thin. He was silent but his fury was swift, a pan heavy and true in his hand went soaring through the air and cracked the woman across the skull. Blood splattered across the floors and wall.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the woman gurgled, hands shaking as they attempted to close her head wound.
"Go turn up the telly while I teach this brat a lesson," Severus finally spoke, his voice cold and calculated. Harry gave a sadistic grin before he left, waving sarcastically over his shoulder.
Was this…?
The woman couldn't possibly… no, she had to be scared of Severus and his power. This couldn't possibly be a scene of guilt, something that she had visited upon those boys and now had it coming back to her. But the muggle device was turned on and so loud that it echoed in Albus's ears. Then Severus began to beat the woman, a leather belt, a cord of some kind, a thin branch—anything was used to beat her but all he could hear was laughter, loud and joyous and odd like it was the same laughter over and over.
Albus turned away. There was nothing he could do for her at the moment. The muggle device was far too loud and her own screams and pain wouldn't allow her to hear him. So he continued down the dark hall, truly he would describe it as a bridge between their dreams. He found Vernon fairly quickly, proximity in their bodies making him much closer.
Again, he was greeted by a strange sight.
The man was curled under a faucet, tongue desperately stretching out to catch even the smallest drip of water. Even from this angle Albus could tell his lips were cracked and dry, bleeding from how dehydrated he was. His body was made thin, so thin each of his knobby vertebrae was on display, evidence pointing to weeks without proper food. He was clothed in nothing but stained, dirty underwear. As Albus took a step forward he found himself slapping a hand over his face. Merlin! The room reeked of human waste, of unwashed flesh, of pus and infection.
"What have you done?" Albus sighed, closing his eyes hard. He wasn't sure if he was talking to the emaciated man or himself. He remembered some years ago there had been an Incident, one he quickly cleaned before anyone caught wind of it. He remembered Kingsley being strongly affected by the man's thoughts, babbling how he was a monster who didn't see his nephews as humans. But he had simply assumed that the man simply fantasized about harming the boys, perhaps occasionally slapping them while showering them with gifts as many purebloods did to their children.
But no, this was much, much worse than his assumption. Another, plain reason why Severus didn't trust him, why he resented him so strongly.
Well, it was too late for regret. He stomped up to Vernon Dursley and grabbed the man by his bone thin shoulders. "Wake up! This is a dream!"
"No!" Vernon shrieked, surprisingly strong for a near skeleton. He knocked Albus's hands away and scrambled into the other corner, hands and knees slipping through the excrement, "I won't be tricked again!"
"I—."
"You say it's a dream and you say I can leave and you say my punishment is over and you lie! You're a liar, Boy!" Vernon pointed a shaky, dirty finger at him. Albus sighed once again.
He sure had his work cut out for him.
-/+
Petunia sat at her kitchen table, a warm cup of hot chocolate between her hands. The old man had tipped half the contents down her throat already, insisting that it would make her feel better.
It did not.
Like a movie on loop her nightmares played over and over behind her open eyes. She couldn't stop it or the fresh tears that poured down her face. Over and over. Being verbally abused like Harry. Being beaten like Severus. Lily rising from the grave, her corpse half rotted and covered in maggots, screaming at her for hurting her children. Dragging her below the dirt, her nails finding no purchase and her mouth filling with earth. Her eyes, her nose, her lungs. Everything filled with dirt. Their mother, Rose, sitting in that big, stupid rocking chair, looking down her nose at her as she complained, hemmed, hawed, sneered. Picking her apart until she was completely bare then bringing her sister in to praise.
"Mrs. Dursley, I cannot imagine what you have gone through."
Petunia flinched at the soft voice, heart suddenly pounding in her chest. With her hands shaking almost too hard she took another sip of her hot chocolate.
"I… have to call Dudley," Petunia pressed her lips together and gulped down another mouthful of chocolate. She was sure it should have been stone cold by now and maybe she shouldn't still have more chocolate to drink but that's what magic did, she supposed. That and ruined her life from beginning to end.
She needed to call Dudley.
"Your son?" Albus looked around as though it just occurred to him that there was a third person in the home. Petunia nodded firmly at the old man. She wouldn't be grateful to that monster but she would acknowledge that he did warn her to send Dudley away until summer vacation. She shouldn't have opened his letter, shouldn't have walked into such an obvious trap. How could she be so stupid? Severus had warned—he warned her what he would do. He stated plainly that he would retaliate for poisoning him and she hadn't listened.
Thank God she got Dudley out on time.
"I have to call him and have him come home," Petunia explained.
"He is not welcome back to my home," a new voice joined them. Petunia nearly broke her hip as she jumped to her feet, eyes immediately finding her husband. She opened her mouth, an apology already halfway forming but Vernon wasn't done speaking. Leaned against the wall, he looked so old, so tired but there was a stubborn set to his jaw and his hand was firm on the rail. "That freak cannot come back here. I absolutely forbid it. Harry can come back but that other one? He's a goddamn animal and needs to be put down."
"He's an animal you cornered, I'm afraid," Albus gave a half shrug, dismissing the words. "I viewed what your Mares crafted. Starvation, dehydration, beatings, false promises… you have quite the gall, Mr. Dursley." Albus frowned. Now that he thought on it, that meant that that burst of violence from Severus was not an overreaction to a single event. Sweet Merlin, how could he be this blind? He thought Harry and Severus would be spoiled in this muggle home. Albus chuckled, he truly was becoming foolish in his old age. "I never quite believe anyone is truly stupid but I do believe I have been corrected."
"I have never laid a finger on—."
Liar.
Albus waved his hand and a pulse of magic slammed into the fat man's chest. Despite his dreams, Mares preserved the body perfectly so he was still a large man. If he didn't know better the headmaster might even say he was twice as large than the last time Albus saw him.
"Do not insult those more intelligent," Albus warned calmly. He was angry, besides himself in anger. The fat man and his cowardly wife almost murdered both the destined savior of the Wizarding World and his former spy. "You were given one task, just one. Raise human beings. Feed them three times a day, bathe at least once a day, a bed to sleep in and clothes to wear. Do you even understand the damage you could have done in killing the boy?"
Albus combed through his beard. No wonder the boy held such hostilities. Again his brain brought up Kingsley. He had said the man's mind had painted and twisted Severus into a monster, a being lower than human that needed to be killed, but he had brushed that off as the boy being an absolute horror. Sweet Merlin, he couldn't believe his own foolishness.
Should he kill them?
No! That was not the answer, crazy coot. Maybe back in his younger days he would consider it a little harder but he was older now, wiser.
"Then again…" no, their deaths wouldn't stir even the slightest of pity, much less hot vengeance. Useless, utterly useless. "The boys must come back here—including Severus. That is not up for discussion. I will not hear any more ill towards the boy."
"That monster will NOT—!"
Albus waved a hand and Vernon's lips glued themselves together. This sent the man into a frenzy, fingers clawing at his mouth and his face quickly turning a nasty shade of purple. He seemed to have enough sense to not physically attack Albus, instead running about and destroying his home in a fit of rage. Luckily it also seemed that the man's size had caused a lowering in stamina so he was soon leaned against his couch, panting and sweating profusely.
"Would you like to be removed?" Albus finally asked, a very fine solution popping into his head. He tapped his wand against his hand. "You are beyond useless, not even a pawn but that is good for you. A wave of my wand and your memory will be wiped of this family." The man found his second wind and went on another temper tantrum but Albus waited for it to dull once more, even faster now. "You can have a whole new life, far away from any danger. And yes, there will soon be very true danger but you have absolutely nothing to do with this."
"Vernon, tell him no," Petunia stumbled forward, unable to hear anymore. It was quiet, so quiet. She hated it even if it was just seconds long. She grabbed her husband by his shirt, clutching it desperately, "Tell him you love me too much to ever consider leaving us."
His eyes refused to meet hers and she let out a tiny whimper.
"I will allow you to think it over. You have until I finish my tea," Albus hummed, walking off to their rather drab kitchen.
-/+
It was finally! Finally! Over!
Harry flopped himself onto Severus's bed with a loud groan. His brother was nowhere to be seen, of course as he was serving his detention. Apparently Severus got a detention for every class he had missed and detentions rolled over at this school. So, in conclusion, Severus was going to serve detention until his third year. Maybe until after he graduated as the detentions did nothing to deter his twin.
If they were staying at Hogwarts, of course.
Harry crammed extra hard, hours having information poured into his skull. His hair hurt with how hard he worked his brain and his feelings were a little bruised because Severus could be a right berk when teaching something. He was absolutely positive that Severus would make a horrendous teacher and that was his favorite person in the whole world. Well, that didn't matter. It was all going to be worth it in the end because those scores would be the icing on the cake for a new school!
"Potter?" Harry opened one eye and saw Draco, of course. Harry closed his eye again. He didn't hate Draco. He really didn't hate him but still, there was still that little pit of irrational jealousy—a hot ball that simmered in the bottom of his gut and echoed in the back of his mind.
Good thing they were leaving Hogwarts.
No, bad Harry.
That wasn't a good reason to leave school! They were leaving because a crazy Dark Lord was after them and Hogwarts was likely not the best place.
"Would you and Severus like to come to Malfoy Manor?" Draco inquired, gliding over to his own bed and drawing Harry out of his own thoughts. Harry wasn't even looking at him and knew he was gliding effortlessly rather than walking like a normal person.
"Sev will probably be happy to go but Ron already invited me over for the summer," Harry forced himself to say. He wasn't some guardian of Severus, they were just blood related best friends and fraternal twins born from the same woman on the same day. That trumped any kind of friendship and sorta cousins kinship that Draco had. So there was no need to be jealous.
"Severus, did not wish to join?" Draco inquired, head in his trunk. What kind of kid even talked like that? The blond sounded nearly forty and not almost twelve. Ignoring that Severus sometimes talked like that too.
"More or less," Harry grinned. Severus had said, quite dryly and without looking up from his book, that he would rather stick quills through both his eyes and glue both his feet to the Great Squid before setting foot in that house. Or something like that. Yeah, Severus didn't like Ron that much or the thought of spending the summer in a cramped home with way too many people. To be fair three people was too much for the boy and that was including Harry.
"I will extend the invitation to him. Potter," Draco paused as he left the room, towel and bath supplies in hand. Harry rolled over to look at him, glasses sliding up into his hair. He squinted as though he couldn't see Draco clearly but, quite honestly, his vision was getting better and better each day. His glasses were little more than a fashion statement at this point. Not that anyone but he and Severus knew. "I am glad you are safe. You are Sev's brother so I consider you family as well. Please, be more careful from now on."
"I promise," Harry said solemnly, feeling a bit of warmth from the words. Draco nodded sharply and continued his walk to the showers. Harry groaned, squeezing his eyes shut as tight as possible. Maybe if he was in Slytherin as well it wouldn't be so hard to like the blond.
"Well, don't have to worry about that," Harry hummed to himself. He flipped forward, his glasses righting themselves with the motion. Then he skipped out of the Slytherin dorms and headed towards Lupin's private lab. As he suspected, the man was there, muttering under his breath and perhaps bungling a potion. Severus said that the man didn't know how to make even the simplest remedy without a book nearby. For normal wizards Harry supposed that wasn't so bad but when that wizard was the potions Professor… well, Harry could wonder some other time what went through their (soon to be ex) Headmaster's head.
"Hello Harry," the werewolf muttered then he choked a bit as though realizing just who he had greeted. He whipped his head around, eyes wide and a hesitant smile trying to spread across his face. "Harry!"
"Hellu, Professor!" Harry chirped, finding a seat across from the man and his potion. He peeped into the cauldron and gave a knowing nod. "Pepper up potion?"
"Ten points to Gryffindor," Remus grinned proudly. Harry resisted rolling his eyes, Severus was much more impressive at potions, he would be able to tell the man why his potion smelled a bit off but some strange thing stopped the golden eyed man from acknowledging him.
"It's okay, it's the end of the year and I'm not coming back next year," Harry waved him off cheerfully. He giggled at the startled, gaping expression Lupin adopted. "We have plans for a great school so it'll work out but I didn't come here for that! I came for stories!"
"Stories?" Remus parroted, tilting his head like a curious puppy.
"Yup! I want stories about my mum and dad! Severus says you were all good friends and I want to know more," Harry cheered then he sobered some at the look of distress on the man's face. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable but it would mean a lot to me if you could tell me just a little. Sev is okay not really knowing, he has me and he's okay with just that… I'm not like that. I know I look like my dad and I've—."
"Got Lily's eyes," Remus cut him off. He reached over hesitantly, brushing back the wild, black bangs. Bangs that James once had. "You really do look like James. Act like him too. Our first week here he found a secret room that led to a room full of spiders. It had no purpose. Just spiders."
Harry grinned and leaned forward, "How big were they?"
"Huge!" Remus held out his hand in measurement, "Nearly bigger than your head. The room was covered in their webs so of course the first thing Peter does is trip over his own feet and land in the biggest web possible."
Harry snorted and got more comfortable in his chair, now fully prepared to be dazzled with stories of his father and his friends.
And dazzled he was. For hours he listened to tales of awkward charm, broken glasses, and fun duels. His father was a fun boy, ready to live life to the fullest and always doing the right thing—except when it came to pranks. His father pranked everyone from professors to upperclassmen to ghosts.
It was well beyond curfew that Harry finally felt his eyes becoming heavy even as he huffed out another laugh, this time at the time that Sirius had insulted a girl and she cursed him into wearing a dress and heels the entire day.
A small hand landed on his shoulder and he turned to see Severus, the redhead looking all gooey and happy. He wasn't sure when the boy had come but he must have been there for quite some time. He guided Harry to his feet and they were leaving but Harry turned to their soon to be former professor before they could leave the lab.
"The Sirius from your stories doesn't sound like a Sirius that would betray our dad," he yawned. Harry wasn't quite sure as his eyes were becoming blurry with the need to sleep but he could have sworn there were tears in the man's eyes.
"Yeah, he sure doesn't, does he?"
-/+
The End
And that's it folks!
I'm debating if Vernon will take the deal or not. We'll find out in the next segment! I should be ready to debut Friday (tomorrow if I finish "proofreading" before midnight). I think I've settled on "Harry, Severus and the Serious Year". Or "Harry, Severus and the Year of Dog and Snake". I'm stewing between the two.
I know I always say stay safe at the end but this time stay extra safe. The world is going crazy, in a potentially good way and in a way that I hope pushes along change but still it's dangerous. So y'all stay extra safe, please.
Toodles!