A Different Life
Chapter 2 - The special place
Harry wasn't sure how long he was asleep for, but the next time he opened his eyes, he knew it was night-time, as he could see the moon from outside his window, which was just beside his bed. It was strange, all he had been doing was sleeping, and yet he was still tired.
He looked around the room to see if that man was still there, Severus. But he wasn't. The room was completely empty. The door was closed but he could hear voices floating through the room. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he knew one of the voices did not sound happy, he decided to go have a look and see if one of them was Severus.
He quietly got out of bed, and walked up to the door, he silently opened it and stuck his head out the door, and saw that the voices were coming from another room, down the other end. Through the open door way he could see Severus and he did not look very happy at what had been said, he couldn't see the other person. It was quiet at the moment, he was about to go over there when he heard his name being said, he decided to stay where he was and listen.
"...Harry needs someone to take care of him, and at the moment you-"
Was Severus going to take care of him? Harry smiled.
"Albus, you CANT be serious!" Severus yelled.
Albus? Who was that, and then he remembered that the man last night who had the long white beard was called something like that, maybe it was him?
"Yes, I'm afraid I am quiet serious Severus, it won't be that bad, Harry is a good boy, and he seems to have taken a liking to you." Albus said.
"But I don't want to take care of him, what happens when I have classes to teach? I need time to prepare for them, I do not have time for a 5-year-old kid, and a dungeon is nowhere where a child should be. Can't you get someone else to take him? Lupin, what about him, I'm sure he'll be more then happy to take him!" Severus voice sounded desperate.
Harry felt a tear roll down his check. Severus didn't want him, he was just causing problems, he should have stayed with the Dursleys. Harry suddenly felt very cold and lonely, he just wanted to get out of this place, and maybe he could still get back to his house, it couldn't be to far right?
Making sure Severus wasn't looking anywhere in his direction, he ran to the door leading out to the hall. He quietly snuck out and began to run.
He didn't realise how big this place was, he swore that he saw some paintings move, but he didn't dwell on it, he had to get out of here, which was proving to be a harder task then he expected, he kept going down stairs, and around corners, but no matter where he went, he still seemed to be high up, and nowhere near the bottom floor, he was starting to get tired, his legs felt like they were going to drop off, he needed a break. He leaned against the wall, and slowly slid down it, he just felt like sleeping, tears were still falling down his face. He felt cold, he didn't have anything on his feet and the ground was freezing.
He started to hear noises from the stairs near him, he didn't think he had gone up there yet, as the noises continued, Harry's curiosity got bigger and bigger.
He got up and slowly made his way up the stairs, with each step, the noise got louder and louder. Once at the top, he poked his head around the corner, and what he saw was enough to lighten his mood, he felt a big smile making its way up his face through his tears. He quickly decided that he liked this place very much.
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"Even if it was possible for Remus to adopt Harry, which it's not as you might remember when he was turned down when James' and Lily died because of him being a werewolf, you know very well why he wouldn't be able to take care of Harry, even though his werewolf transformations may only come once a month, it takes him a week to fully recover from it. He wouldn't get a break if he had to look after Harry between that time, plus he also has teaching commitments as DADA teacher this year, as Professor Quirrell has gone away, and wont be back for quite a while, and besides, Remus has said that he would like to spend time with Harry, so he would not be with you all the time, you would have time to yourself, plus I'm sure the staff would love to help out.
We both know that you are just scared of having responsibility for someone so young, and don't tell me about him being James' son. I do not want to hear anything on that matter." Dumbledore quickly said, seeing Severus open his mouth.
"Now I understand that you do not want to do this, and if you can give me one good reason, I will find someone else, keeping in mind that for the moment this is just temporarily." Albus finished, looking quite flush at saying so much at once.
Severus thought long and hard for a good reason that the headmaster wouldn't be able to shoot down, but was unable to find one, beside, he didn't think Albus would take to kindly on him if he just said he didn't want to, so he gave in, as he did every time.
"James would turn in his grave knowing that I was going to look after his son! Besides, if the board don't want a werewolf looking after Potter, why would they allow a death eater to?" Severus answered back.
"James would be happy to know that someone was going to be looking after his son that would be treating him the right way and you were not a death eater, you were a spy. The ministry knows that and they will be forever in your det for the help you provided in bringing Voldemort down."
Severus just shook his head, looking down at the ground.
"Severus, please... for me!" Albus pleaded.
Damn! I hate when he does that. "Well as long as he doesn't give me any, and I mean ANY trouble, and the rest of the staff do their share, then I guess its okay..." Severus said, but again hating himself for being so weak when it came to Albus.
Albus smiled, happy with himself for being able to convince Severus to take Harry in, at least for a while.
"Now let's hope they give us his adoption papers instead of temporary ones."
Albus clasped his hands together and began to talk again. "Well, should we go see if he is awake yet?"
Severus only nodded.
As they walked towards Harry's room, they noticed that the door was open, wondering why that was; Severus and Albus entered the room, only to find it empty.
They both had two words go through there minds. 'Oh no!'
Severus, Dumbledore, Filch and Madam Pomfrey were all searching the castle, looking for Harry, as they were the only people left there, but it wouldn't be for a few hours that Severus would stumble across him.
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Harry had never seen so many owls before, actually he wasn't even sure if he had even seen one before, not in the flesh anyway, he remembered seeing a picture in one of Dudley's storybooks.
They looked beautiful. There were so many of them, some were sleeping, some were just flying around, and some were eating and drinking. He felt peaceful just watching them.
He went up to one and it hooted at him. He smiled at it and started to pat it. It cooed him as he did.
After a while he started to feel tired again, and as if the owl could sense it, it nipped his finger and flew off. Harry smiled seeing it fly away. He wished he could fly. He went over to the wall on the opposite corner and lay down next to it.
He fell asleep with a smile on his face, imaging himself being able to fly.
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It was getting late and Severus was really begin to worry, this was why he hadn't wanted to look after Harry, at this rate he would be having a heart attack before the end of this year. He couldn't be a father figure to this boy, what was Albus thinking. He started heading up the stairs of the Owlery.
When Severus entered the Owlery, he didn't see anyone. Only owls. He sighed, and turned around about to go back down the stairs when he heard something from the other end of the Owlery, it sounded like a voice. Narrowing his eyes at where he had heard the voice, he started to head over there.
"Potter?" he didn't hear a response,
"Potter is that you?" still nothing.
But once he was over there, he could see in the shadows, a little boy lay on the hard cold stone floor, facing away from him, and towards the wall.
"Harry..." this time it was said with relief. He turned the sleeping boy over to him and could see dried tears all over his face. He lightly touched his check and it felt immensely cold.
He took out his wand and conjured a warm blanket up, wrapping it tightly around Harry. He picked him up and headed towards the hospital wing. Knowing Harry was now safe, he slowly felt his heart rate slowing back down to normal.
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"I think it would be best for now if you took Harry back to your house, we could put some protections on it, plus the ones that you already had from when you were a spy, he should be safe there. I just don't want a repeat of tonight to happen again. This castle to too big for a 5-year-old to be wondering around alone, it might be alright when it is full of students as he is bound to be able to find someone if he is lost, but when there are only a handful of people, it is not very safe.
But perhaps it would be best if you tell Harry what he is. Just the basics, we will start off slow." Albus said while talking to Severus, as Harry was sleeping in the other room, Poppy attending to him.
"I don't know Albus; I haven't been in that house for what? 3 years. I'm not even sure what condition it is in." Severus said, looking at the door, which lead to where Harry currently was.
"It will be fine, you can fix it up when you and Harry get there, I'm sure Harry could stay in one of your many guest rooms. I suggest you leave soon, we can't have Harry getting attached to much this place, and we can not keep moving him around." Albus said, while carefully looking at the man in front of him.
Severus just nodded, and then left to go check on Harry and make sure he was okay.
He walked in and saw that Harry was awake.
Harry looked up at Severus when he entered, but quickly looked away.
Severus was a bit surprised by this, but his mask was firmly in place, covering any expression from coming out. He also looked away and walked over to Madam Pomfrey.
"Is he ok?" Severus asked, a tiny bit of worry seeping through his voice.
Poppy looked up and smiled a bit at him.
She nodded and said, "Just a small cold, nothing one of your potions can't fix. But he does seem to be a bit upset about something, but he wont tell me, are you sure he just went wondering around?"
"That is the only answer that we can come up with; why else would he have left? Maybe he saw something around the castle that upset him? I'll talk to him." Severus said looking again, over at Harry, who still wasn't looking at him.
Madam Pomfrey nodded and then left the room, leaving Severus and Harry alone. Severus walked over to Harry and sat in the chair by his bed.
"Are you okay Harry?" not receiving a response, or even getting him to turn his head to face him, Severus continued, trying a different approach.
"Why did you leave your room?" still nothing. Sighing, getting a bit frustrated. "Potter, what is wrong with you? Answer my questions!" Severus nearly shouted, but immediately regretted it. Harry, for the first time since Severus started talking, looked at him, with fear in his eyes. Severus visibly flinched. He shouldn't have said that. He quickly tried to apologise. "Harry, I'm-" but Harry interrupted.
"You hate me. I 'm just an inconvenience. I'm really sorry I've caused so much trouble. I can go back to my aunt and uncles, I don't mind." Harry said in a small voice, a tear falling down his check as he spoke.
Severus was shocked, is this really what he thought.
"Of course I don't hate you, whatever gave you that idea." He decided to start of with that, leaving the other parts Harry had said for later questioning.
"I heard you and that man talking before, I heard what you said." Harry looked down at the bed sheets.
Severus closed his eyes, and a few colourful words went through his mind. Harry had only obviously heard some of the conversation because otherwise, he would have known that he did not hate him, but was just not ready for the responsibility. That and the fact that Harry was James' son.
"Well, I don't know how much you heard, but obviously not the whole conversation, am I correct?"
Harry nodded.
"Harry, the reason I didn't want to be the one to look after you, was not because I hated you or anything like that. I just didn't want the one responsible for the-boy-who-lived."
Harry looked up, not understanding what he meant by what he had called him.
"I'll tell you about that another time, for now, just know that I am going to look after you, you will be staying at my house if that is alright with you, and I promise you that you will never go back to your Aunt and Uncle ever again."
Harry smiled.
"When are we going to leave? I'm not sure I like this room, it's too white." Harry said as he looked around at the walls.
"Tomorrow after we both get some well needed rest. But first I have to tell you something important. Now I will need you to listen carefully."
Harry nodded, now looking at Severus.
"Harry, you are not just a normal boy, you're a wizard..."
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All Harry could think was 'wow'. He was a wizard, boring little Harry Potter, a wizard. He wondered why he couldn't do magic, but then he remembered Severus saying he had to be older. But Harry wanted to see some with his own eyes.
"Show me some." Harry asked eagerly.
"Show you some what? Magic? Severus said, looking confused.
Harry nodded again.
"Okay..." Severus thought for a moment. He took out his wand and pointed it at the dresser beside Harry's bed.
"Accio book" he said while pointing his wand at a book, which was on top of the dresser.
The book went flying over towards him and he easily caught it.
Harry smiled. So it was true.
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The next morning Severus went into the hospital wing to get Harry. When he entered Harry was wide awake, already dressed and just sitting in a chair waiting.
"Ready?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
Harry smiled, only just noticing that Severus had entered, and replied with a quick "yes"
"Well come along then." And without looking back, Severus left the room.
Chapter 2 - The special place
Harry wasn't sure how long he was asleep for, but the next time he opened his eyes, he knew it was night-time, as he could see the moon from outside his window, which was just beside his bed. It was strange, all he had been doing was sleeping, and yet he was still tired.
He looked around the room to see if that man was still there, Severus. But he wasn't. The room was completely empty. The door was closed but he could hear voices floating through the room. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but he knew one of the voices did not sound happy, he decided to go have a look and see if one of them was Severus.
He quietly got out of bed, and walked up to the door, he silently opened it and stuck his head out the door, and saw that the voices were coming from another room, down the other end. Through the open door way he could see Severus and he did not look very happy at what had been said, he couldn't see the other person. It was quiet at the moment, he was about to go over there when he heard his name being said, he decided to stay where he was and listen.
"...Harry needs someone to take care of him, and at the moment you-"
Was Severus going to take care of him? Harry smiled.
"Albus, you CANT be serious!" Severus yelled.
Albus? Who was that, and then he remembered that the man last night who had the long white beard was called something like that, maybe it was him?
"Yes, I'm afraid I am quiet serious Severus, it won't be that bad, Harry is a good boy, and he seems to have taken a liking to you." Albus said.
"But I don't want to take care of him, what happens when I have classes to teach? I need time to prepare for them, I do not have time for a 5-year-old kid, and a dungeon is nowhere where a child should be. Can't you get someone else to take him? Lupin, what about him, I'm sure he'll be more then happy to take him!" Severus voice sounded desperate.
Harry felt a tear roll down his check. Severus didn't want him, he was just causing problems, he should have stayed with the Dursleys. Harry suddenly felt very cold and lonely, he just wanted to get out of this place, and maybe he could still get back to his house, it couldn't be to far right?
Making sure Severus wasn't looking anywhere in his direction, he ran to the door leading out to the hall. He quietly snuck out and began to run.
He didn't realise how big this place was, he swore that he saw some paintings move, but he didn't dwell on it, he had to get out of here, which was proving to be a harder task then he expected, he kept going down stairs, and around corners, but no matter where he went, he still seemed to be high up, and nowhere near the bottom floor, he was starting to get tired, his legs felt like they were going to drop off, he needed a break. He leaned against the wall, and slowly slid down it, he just felt like sleeping, tears were still falling down his face. He felt cold, he didn't have anything on his feet and the ground was freezing.
He started to hear noises from the stairs near him, he didn't think he had gone up there yet, as the noises continued, Harry's curiosity got bigger and bigger.
He got up and slowly made his way up the stairs, with each step, the noise got louder and louder. Once at the top, he poked his head around the corner, and what he saw was enough to lighten his mood, he felt a big smile making its way up his face through his tears. He quickly decided that he liked this place very much.
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"Even if it was possible for Remus to adopt Harry, which it's not as you might remember when he was turned down when James' and Lily died because of him being a werewolf, you know very well why he wouldn't be able to take care of Harry, even though his werewolf transformations may only come once a month, it takes him a week to fully recover from it. He wouldn't get a break if he had to look after Harry between that time, plus he also has teaching commitments as DADA teacher this year, as Professor Quirrell has gone away, and wont be back for quite a while, and besides, Remus has said that he would like to spend time with Harry, so he would not be with you all the time, you would have time to yourself, plus I'm sure the staff would love to help out.
We both know that you are just scared of having responsibility for someone so young, and don't tell me about him being James' son. I do not want to hear anything on that matter." Dumbledore quickly said, seeing Severus open his mouth.
"Now I understand that you do not want to do this, and if you can give me one good reason, I will find someone else, keeping in mind that for the moment this is just temporarily." Albus finished, looking quite flush at saying so much at once.
Severus thought long and hard for a good reason that the headmaster wouldn't be able to shoot down, but was unable to find one, beside, he didn't think Albus would take to kindly on him if he just said he didn't want to, so he gave in, as he did every time.
"James would turn in his grave knowing that I was going to look after his son! Besides, if the board don't want a werewolf looking after Potter, why would they allow a death eater to?" Severus answered back.
"James would be happy to know that someone was going to be looking after his son that would be treating him the right way and you were not a death eater, you were a spy. The ministry knows that and they will be forever in your det for the help you provided in bringing Voldemort down."
Severus just shook his head, looking down at the ground.
"Severus, please... for me!" Albus pleaded.
Damn! I hate when he does that. "Well as long as he doesn't give me any, and I mean ANY trouble, and the rest of the staff do their share, then I guess its okay..." Severus said, but again hating himself for being so weak when it came to Albus.
Albus smiled, happy with himself for being able to convince Severus to take Harry in, at least for a while.
"Now let's hope they give us his adoption papers instead of temporary ones."
Albus clasped his hands together and began to talk again. "Well, should we go see if he is awake yet?"
Severus only nodded.
As they walked towards Harry's room, they noticed that the door was open, wondering why that was; Severus and Albus entered the room, only to find it empty.
They both had two words go through there minds. 'Oh no!'
Severus, Dumbledore, Filch and Madam Pomfrey were all searching the castle, looking for Harry, as they were the only people left there, but it wouldn't be for a few hours that Severus would stumble across him.
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Harry had never seen so many owls before, actually he wasn't even sure if he had even seen one before, not in the flesh anyway, he remembered seeing a picture in one of Dudley's storybooks.
They looked beautiful. There were so many of them, some were sleeping, some were just flying around, and some were eating and drinking. He felt peaceful just watching them.
He went up to one and it hooted at him. He smiled at it and started to pat it. It cooed him as he did.
After a while he started to feel tired again, and as if the owl could sense it, it nipped his finger and flew off. Harry smiled seeing it fly away. He wished he could fly. He went over to the wall on the opposite corner and lay down next to it.
He fell asleep with a smile on his face, imaging himself being able to fly.
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It was getting late and Severus was really begin to worry, this was why he hadn't wanted to look after Harry, at this rate he would be having a heart attack before the end of this year. He couldn't be a father figure to this boy, what was Albus thinking. He started heading up the stairs of the Owlery.
When Severus entered the Owlery, he didn't see anyone. Only owls. He sighed, and turned around about to go back down the stairs when he heard something from the other end of the Owlery, it sounded like a voice. Narrowing his eyes at where he had heard the voice, he started to head over there.
"Potter?" he didn't hear a response,
"Potter is that you?" still nothing.
But once he was over there, he could see in the shadows, a little boy lay on the hard cold stone floor, facing away from him, and towards the wall.
"Harry..." this time it was said with relief. He turned the sleeping boy over to him and could see dried tears all over his face. He lightly touched his check and it felt immensely cold.
He took out his wand and conjured a warm blanket up, wrapping it tightly around Harry. He picked him up and headed towards the hospital wing. Knowing Harry was now safe, he slowly felt his heart rate slowing back down to normal.
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"I think it would be best for now if you took Harry back to your house, we could put some protections on it, plus the ones that you already had from when you were a spy, he should be safe there. I just don't want a repeat of tonight to happen again. This castle to too big for a 5-year-old to be wondering around alone, it might be alright when it is full of students as he is bound to be able to find someone if he is lost, but when there are only a handful of people, it is not very safe.
But perhaps it would be best if you tell Harry what he is. Just the basics, we will start off slow." Albus said while talking to Severus, as Harry was sleeping in the other room, Poppy attending to him.
"I don't know Albus; I haven't been in that house for what? 3 years. I'm not even sure what condition it is in." Severus said, looking at the door, which lead to where Harry currently was.
"It will be fine, you can fix it up when you and Harry get there, I'm sure Harry could stay in one of your many guest rooms. I suggest you leave soon, we can't have Harry getting attached to much this place, and we can not keep moving him around." Albus said, while carefully looking at the man in front of him.
Severus just nodded, and then left to go check on Harry and make sure he was okay.
He walked in and saw that Harry was awake.
Harry looked up at Severus when he entered, but quickly looked away.
Severus was a bit surprised by this, but his mask was firmly in place, covering any expression from coming out. He also looked away and walked over to Madam Pomfrey.
"Is he ok?" Severus asked, a tiny bit of worry seeping through his voice.
Poppy looked up and smiled a bit at him.
She nodded and said, "Just a small cold, nothing one of your potions can't fix. But he does seem to be a bit upset about something, but he wont tell me, are you sure he just went wondering around?"
"That is the only answer that we can come up with; why else would he have left? Maybe he saw something around the castle that upset him? I'll talk to him." Severus said looking again, over at Harry, who still wasn't looking at him.
Madam Pomfrey nodded and then left the room, leaving Severus and Harry alone. Severus walked over to Harry and sat in the chair by his bed.
"Are you okay Harry?" not receiving a response, or even getting him to turn his head to face him, Severus continued, trying a different approach.
"Why did you leave your room?" still nothing. Sighing, getting a bit frustrated. "Potter, what is wrong with you? Answer my questions!" Severus nearly shouted, but immediately regretted it. Harry, for the first time since Severus started talking, looked at him, with fear in his eyes. Severus visibly flinched. He shouldn't have said that. He quickly tried to apologise. "Harry, I'm-" but Harry interrupted.
"You hate me. I 'm just an inconvenience. I'm really sorry I've caused so much trouble. I can go back to my aunt and uncles, I don't mind." Harry said in a small voice, a tear falling down his check as he spoke.
Severus was shocked, is this really what he thought.
"Of course I don't hate you, whatever gave you that idea." He decided to start of with that, leaving the other parts Harry had said for later questioning.
"I heard you and that man talking before, I heard what you said." Harry looked down at the bed sheets.
Severus closed his eyes, and a few colourful words went through his mind. Harry had only obviously heard some of the conversation because otherwise, he would have known that he did not hate him, but was just not ready for the responsibility. That and the fact that Harry was James' son.
"Well, I don't know how much you heard, but obviously not the whole conversation, am I correct?"
Harry nodded.
"Harry, the reason I didn't want to be the one to look after you, was not because I hated you or anything like that. I just didn't want the one responsible for the-boy-who-lived."
Harry looked up, not understanding what he meant by what he had called him.
"I'll tell you about that another time, for now, just know that I am going to look after you, you will be staying at my house if that is alright with you, and I promise you that you will never go back to your Aunt and Uncle ever again."
Harry smiled.
"When are we going to leave? I'm not sure I like this room, it's too white." Harry said as he looked around at the walls.
"Tomorrow after we both get some well needed rest. But first I have to tell you something important. Now I will need you to listen carefully."
Harry nodded, now looking at Severus.
"Harry, you are not just a normal boy, you're a wizard..."
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All Harry could think was 'wow'. He was a wizard, boring little Harry Potter, a wizard. He wondered why he couldn't do magic, but then he remembered Severus saying he had to be older. But Harry wanted to see some with his own eyes.
"Show me some." Harry asked eagerly.
"Show you some what? Magic? Severus said, looking confused.
Harry nodded again.
"Okay..." Severus thought for a moment. He took out his wand and pointed it at the dresser beside Harry's bed.
"Accio book" he said while pointing his wand at a book, which was on top of the dresser.
The book went flying over towards him and he easily caught it.
Harry smiled. So it was true.
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The next morning Severus went into the hospital wing to get Harry. When he entered Harry was wide awake, already dressed and just sitting in a chair waiting.
"Ready?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
Harry smiled, only just noticing that Severus had entered, and replied with a quick "yes"
"Well come along then." And without looking back, Severus left the room.