Snape sat in his office, a cup of coffee in his lap. A stack of papers that needed to be graded lay forgotten in his lap as her stared into the fire that was cracking merrily in its grate.
He had seen the horrors Potter had had to suffer at the hands of his relatives. Lily's son. The child he had sworn to protect.
But for him to take the child in after he had so blatantly let the image of his father blind him into believing that the child was nothing but a pampered, rule breaking nuisance.
Would the child even be willing to give this relationship a chance?
He sighed.
A knock on door broke his train of thought.
"Enter."
"Ah Severus. So nice to see you!" Dumbledore said his eyes twinkling as he entered the office with Harry trailing behind him barely even daring to look up. Snape? His guardian? The man practically despised him.
"Have a seat Mr Potter."
Snape's voice broke Harry's internal monologue and brought him back to reality. Dumbledore had already made himself comfortable on a couch positioned near the fire. Harry occupied the only vacant chair in the room next to the couch.
"Severus, the legal documents and paper work regarding the guardianship can be dealt with tomorrow in my office." Dumbledore said effectively breaking the tension in the room.
"Yes headmaster."
"That's it for me then." Dumbledore said gently smiling in Harry's direction.
An awkward silence filled the room after Dumbledore's departure. Neither of the two knew how to initiate a conversation given their rocky past.
"How was your summer Mr. Potter?"
"Fine."
Snape could've sworn the boy was making this harder then it had to be simply out of spite.
"Mr. Potter. It seems we have both been blinded by a biased view of each other. Perhaps we could give each other a second chance?"
"Yes sir."
"However, under my care you have to adhere to certain rules in addition to the school rules."
An audible groan could be heard which Snape chose to ignore.
"You will have three proper meals a day and will refrain from recklessly endangering yourselves as you have a very strong tendency to do so." Snape continued.
Snape heard a grumble which he deciphered as "not my fault trouble seems to follow me"
"Trouble does not seem to follow you Mr. Potter. You have needlessly put your life in danger on multiple occasions."
There was no response which Snape took as his cue to continue.
"I will not pressure you about your academic performance as I believe you are more than capable of managing that on your own and having Miss Granger as an acquaintance will definitely help matters in that aspect."
"Yes sir."
Snape sighed. They sat in silence for another few minutes while Harry tried to absorb the prospect of having Snape as his guardian and Snape silently studied the boy.
"Ron and Hermione are waiting for me for in the Great Hall for dinner. Can I leave?"
"Yes."
Harry was almost at the door when he heard Snape's voice.
"Mr. Potter."
"Yes sir?"
"If you need help with anything, feel free to ask me."
Harry smiled for the first time since he had set foot in that room.
"Thank you sir."
And as he walked up the steps leading to the Great Hall from the dungeons, he could've sworn he saw his professor's lips almost curve into a smile too, but with Snape you could never tell.