This is an outtake from Letters: The Year with the Snake, which is the sequel to Letters: The Year with the Stone. This is a set of one shots, mostly PWP-like, though showing a little bit of progression.
Not mine, just my sandbox :)
The Second Day – Harry POV
"I hate them!" Harry yelled into his pillow, kicking his feet uselessly against the covers. "I hate them, I hate them, I hate them!"
Harry knew, in a small part of his mind, that throwing a temper tantrum wasn't going to help him deal with his relatives but it did make him feel better.
"Harry?" Harry refused to raise his head and acknowledge his Dad's soft call from outside his door. "Harry, I know you're in there."
"Go away," Harry said, still talking into his pillow. There was a moment's pause and then Severus opened his bedroom door and came in.
"Oh Harry," Severus sighed, sitting on the side of the bed.
"Go away," Harry repeated, not caring that he was being rude.
"If you're sure," Severus said, trailing off at the end of the question. Harry didn't answer, but he felt the bed move as Severus stood.
"No, wait!" Harry protested, barely lifting his face from the pillow. He heard Severus pause but was reassured when the bed dipped as Severus sat back down.
"What happened to make you so upset?" Severus asked softly, referring to how Harry had yelled at Dudley not ten minutes past.
Harry sniffed and turned his head away from Severus, feeling incredibly foolish all of a sudden. "Dudley spilt juice on my book," Harry admitted quietly.
"The one Lupin gave you?" Severus asked, placing his hand between Harry's shoulder blades and rubbing comforting circles.
"Uh uh," Harry said, shaking his head.
"Which one then?"
"The one you gave me." Severus had given Harry a copy of a book called The Chronicles of Narnia, with a cloth cover. It was the nicest looking book Harry had ever owned.
"Ah," Severus said and Harry struggled to decipher his tone.
"I was being really careful with it and making sure that it didn't get dirty and then that blond pig came along and spilt juice all over it," Harry's voice had risen to a wail by the end of his sentence and he was ashamed to feel hot tears on his cheeks. He was acting like a baby!
"It's okay, Harry. I know you were being careful with it and I don't blame you," Severus said, making soothing noises. "And I can always replace it if the damage is irreparable," Severus added when that didn't calm Harry down.
"You shouldn't have to," Harry sobbed. "Dudley ruins everything."
Severus didn't reply as Harry dissolved into tears, but he didn't stop rubbing Harry's back reassuringly either. After Harry's tears stopped, Harry sat up, scrubbing at his face with his arm. Severus put his arm around his shoulder and pulled him into a hug. Harry leant into his Dad's shoulder, feeling tired from his outburst of emotion. "Feel better now?"
"Yeah," Harry muttered, not looking up.
"Good," Severus said. Harry felt Severus brush the hair back from his forehead and leaned into the reassuring touch. "How have you been sleeping?"
"Not well," Harry admitted, thinking about how late he'd been awake last night.
"Perhaps you might want to take a nap now, then?" Severus suggested. Harry nodded, feeling too tired to protest. "And maybe, after that, you could apologise to Dudley?"
"Dad!" Harry protested, sitting up and looking him in the face.
"Dudley will say sorry to you as well, and I'll ban him from taking drinks or food into the library," Severus promised.
"I don't want to," Harry said, pouting stubbornly.
"Harry," Severus said warningly.
Harry looked at his Dad, frowning stubbornly. "Only if he apologises first," Harry said, relenting at the hard look on his Dad's face.
"He will," Severus said. "I'll make sure he knows what he did was wrong."
The Fourth Day – Severus POV
"That boy is a menace! If you won't let me pull him into line, you do it!" Vernon Dursley yelled as Severus came out up the stairs from his Potions lab.
Severus raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms, waiting for Vernon to give him more information. When he continued to make useless comments, Severus said, "If you tell me what Harry supposedly did, I can decide what consequences are appropriate."
"That stupid boy was threatening my son," Vernon said. "He was using that, that stick, and pointing it at Dudley!"
"Harry and Dudley were told to practice their wandwork today, so it would stand to reason that they would have their wands out, possibly even pointing at each other. Did you actually see them cast any spells?" Severus asked, looking towards the library where the children were meant to be studying.
"I don't even know what that looks like!" Vernon yelled.
"Colourful sparks, usually," Severus drawled, enjoying Vernon's discomfit. "Harry, Dudley!" Severus called, summoning the boys to the lounge room.
Harry came out of the library, looking mildly curious. Dudley, on the other hand, came from the kitchen, with a piece of cake in each hand. Severus closed his eyes and sighed, mentally kissing his quiet afternoon goodbye.
"Harry, did you cast any spells today?" Severus asked, glaring at Dudley. Dudley looked at Severus and paled. Severus shook his head minutely as Dudley went to put the cake down on coffee table.
"No, Dad. We were just trying the wand motions," Severus looked back at Harry in time to see him glare at Vernon, which gave Severus the rest of the story.
"In that case, Harry, feel free to go back to your book," Severus said. When Harry shrugged and went back into the library, Severus turned to Dudley. "Dudley, why did Madame Pomfrey and I set out a food plan for you?"
Dudley's eyes were wide and he looked to his parents quickly. When they looked back with equally blank eyes, Dudley ventured, "Because you think I eat too much?"
Severus shook his head and sighed. "No. Guess again."
"I don't know," Dudley said, looking distressed.
"We are following your food plan because your weight is in a dangerous range and in order for you to be healthy, you need to lose weight. If you were hungry, you know that there is a list of foods on the fridge that you could have eaten. Why did you feel like you needed cake instead?" Severus asked, trying to see Dudley as any student on a diet instead of the boy who had spent the last two days tormenting his son at every opportunity.
"Because cake tastes better. Carrots are icky," Dudley complained.
"So you wanted something sweet?" Severus clarified.
"Yeah," Dudley agreed. Severus ignored the twitch that made him want to correct Dudley and went with the conversation.
"Have you tried any of the teas that I recommended you?" Severus asked, thinking of the loose leaf teas that he kept in the kitchen for Draco.
"No, tea is stupid," Dudley said stubbornly.
"Well, next time you want cake, I want you to make some of the tea I showed you. If you still feel like you want something sweet after finishing that, then you can have one slice of cake. But try the tea first," Severus said. "And since you've already had your dessert today, you aren't allowed to have any tonight."
"That's not fair," Dudley started. Severus glared, just a little and Dudley stopped talking.
"Good choice," Severus drawled before walking towards the kitchen. "And put the rest of that in the bin. When you eat, you use plates and utensils. Or at least a plate," Severus spat.
The Seventh Day – Severus POV
"Mum, where's my Gameboy?" Dudley yelled from the bottom of the stairs. Severus glared at Harry's bedroom door, resisting the urge to yell at the boy.
"Dudley, enough yelling," Severus heard Petunia say back to her son. "It's where you left it."
"Mum," Dudley whined loudly.
"You know where you left it, Dudley," Petunia's voice said from closer.
"I've never heard her make Dudley do something," Harry said, quietly. "Is the sky falling? Are there flying pigs?"
Severus smirked, trying not to laugh. "Harry," he warned.
"Don't pretend it wasn't funny. Because if I can laugh about it, then so can you," Harry said, offering Severus a edge piece of the puzzle they were completing.
"Then perhaps they're changing, a little bit," Severus suggested. Harry still laughed disbelievingly.
The Tenth Day – Harry POV
"Potter, do my homework for me," Dudley said, sitting close enough to Harry to make him uncomfortable.
"Hmm, let's see, no," Harry replied, shifting away.
"Come on, Potter, I don't understand Potions and you do, so you should do my homework for me," Dudley said matter-of-factly.
Harry was about to reply when he realised that there was someone else in the room. "Convince me, Dudley."
"I won't beat you up for like three weeks next year," Dudley offered. Harry grimaced at him and rolled his eyes. "Okay, I won't talk to you at all for like three weeks next year."
"Still not good enough, Dudley," Harry said.
"If you do my Potions homework, I won't call you a Freak for a whole year," Dudley said, acting like he was offering Harry a great prize.
"Somehow, Dudley, I thought you were enjoying your homework," Severus said from behind the couch. Dudley jumped a foot and Harry snorted.
"Potter, you tricked me!" Dudley said, turning with an angry look.
Harry gave Dudley an annoyed look and stood up. "Well, duh, Dudley."
"Shut up, Potter," Dudley said angrily.
"Perhaps, boys, it would be better if you did your homework in separate rooms today?" Severus asked, picking up the piece of paper Dudley was writing his essay on. "Surely you've written more than this, Dudley?"
Harry smirked and left the room, listening to the lovely sounds of Dudley getting scolded. He peeked into the library and then decided that he wanted to study in the stable. Severus had given him permission to study down there as long as he didn't get distracted.
Harry walked down to the stable, humming the tune from one of Dudley's favourite shows. He gave Mickey a pat on the nose and then went up into the hayloft. He had spent about an hour shifting hay bales so that he had a place to sit and put his books. He hadn't told Severus about it but the next day, he'd found horse blankets covering the re-arranged hay bales, making it so that he couldn't get stabbed by the hay.
He settled on the hay bales, lying stomach down with his History work in front of him. He'd only been there for a few minutes before his white Snowy Owl flew in the open stable door and settled on his shoulder. Hedwig was the name that Harry had found for her when he received her. He'd sent for clothes from Madame Malkins and Hedwig had been the owl to carry them back to him. The invoice had a note that said the owl was his now, but Harry had no idea who had bought the Snowy for him.
"Don't do that, girl," Harry complained as she nibbled on his ear. She batted him around the head with her wings in rebuke but stopped doing it.
"Harry?" Harry startled awake at the sound of his Dad's voice, jerking up from his parchment. He knocked his parchment off his cheek, looking in dismay at the smeared essay. "Harry? Are you up there?"
"Yes, Dad, I'm here," Harry said, rubbing his cheek and hoping that the ink hadn't transferred to his cheek. He ran over to the ladder and climbed down. Severus was standing with Strider, patting the big horse on the face. "I fell asleep, I'm sorry, Dad. Am I late for dinner?"
Severus turned to face Harry. His eyes went wide and Harry saw his Dad's eyes light up like he'd heard a good joke. "Did you fall asleep on your essay?" Severus asked, drawing his wand and coming towards Harry.
"Yes, I think I ruined it," Harry explained.
"I dare say you have, Harry." One side of Severus' mouth quirked up in a smirk. "Since half of it is on your face."
"What? Oh no," Harry said, covering his face with his hands. Severus took his chin in his hand and tilted Harry's face up, knocking Harry's hands away gently. Severus waved his wand in front of Harry's face and then smiled.
"There, all better. Are you still not sleeping well?" Severus asked, turning and walking back towards the house.
"I am, I guess," Harry said. "I just always wake up tired and don't feel any better."
"Have you been having nightmares?" Severus asked.
"Not that I remember," Harry said, thinking about it.
"Will you take a Potion for me tonight? It should help you sleep more soundly and stop you from waking up tired. It won't keep you asleep if you have a nightmare and it shouldn't make you feel drowsy in the morning," Severus explained.
"Okay, I guess." Harry stopped walking. "Dad, can I have a potion for my stomach before dinner?"
Severus stopped walking and looked back with wide eyes. "Given your usual reluctance to drink that type of potion, I'm surprised that you're asking. Are you still feeling nauseous?"
"A little. Mostly just not hungry," Harry clarified.
"In that case, you can have the potion, but I'm taking you to see Madame Pomfrey tomorrow morning," Severus said. Harry grimaced but Severus just kept walking towards the house. "It's meatloaf tonight," Severus said when Harry didn't follow straight away. Harry frowned and then followed, happy to have Severus put an arm around him when he got next to him.
Review if you liked and look out for another outtake featuring the unwrapping of birthday presents :)