Ok people here's chapter 5!
Please enjoy and see author notes below.
Chapter 5: The sun shines, what a revelation!
Weeks later:
It was a beautiful morning in the school of magic known as Hogwarts. In the upper towers, children were awakening and getting ready to meet the new day. In the lower dungeons, the Potions Master was grading papers at a desk on the right side of the sitting room. Evan Snape was seated on one of the smaller chairs, recently showered and ready to go, and Harry Potter was on the couch tying his shoes.
He had slept overnight at the Snapes' because the night before there had been an Order meeting followed by a Death Eater raid in which Snape had participated and been lightly wounded. When Snape had come back at five in the morning, he had seen no point in waking Potter to send him to his tower for another half an hour of sleep when he looked so comfortable curled up with Julian on the child's small bed, and truthfully Severus just didn't have the energy at that hour to be his usual prickly self in front of the teen. So he had let him sleep, and woken them all up at 6:30 to start the day.
So, out came young Julian Snape, dressed in swimming shorts and a fluffy white towel wrapped around his neck. "We are going swimming," he announced with propriety and his little hands parked on his hips. For a moment he looked the part of a mini Severus Snape with lighter hair.
Since Julian had said it while looking at Harry, Severus decided to just watch from the sidelines to see how the teen would solve such a problem.
"We're going swimming, huh?"
"Yes, we are!"
"But it's cold outside."
"You can do a warming charm on the water."
"I can, can I?"
"Yes, you can Hawwy; you put it on my scarf and my robes when we go outside!"
"That I do... then what about the grindylows and the Merpeople and the giant squid?" "I'm not scared of them, and besides you'll be with me."
A snort was heard from the other side of the room but Harry paid no mind to it. He continued his conversation with the child.
"Come here, Julian." The child settled on his lap. "You know I would love to go swimming with you, right?"
"I know," Julian answered, getting excited that he was getting what he wanted.
"But, we have to be rational about it. You remember what I said about being rational?"
A little frown marred Julian's brow. "You said that being rational is when there's a good reason not to do something and that you have to think about it first and about the consepuences." Evan corrected him, "Consequences," and Julian continued, "That's what I said, consetuences, and you said that if the consetuences are more than the good things of what I want to do then not to do it because it's not worth it."
He sat in Harry's lap so proud of himself for being able to remember that conversation.
"You are right, Julian. Now, think, am I really able to take on a hundred grindylows, some more Merpeople and the giant squid and at the same time produce a heating charm strong enough to defrost a lake and take care of you?"
Julian scrunched up his little face in thought and came up with a tentative "No?"
Harry gave him a negative shake of the head and asked, "Do you know how to swim, Julian?"
Another tentative "No?" was the response.
"Then can you imagine me doing all of that and at the same time teaching you how to swim?"
Now came a "No" followed by a pout. "Does that mean we're not going swimming?"
"How about we do this: when summer comes and the weather is nice, I promise to take you down to the lake and teach you how to swim, what do you think?"
A scrunch of the nose, and seconds later a bright smile illuminated the child's face. "Deal!" He put out his hand for a handshake and Harry shook it with all the propriety required. He then lowered Julian, saying, "Go on kid, change into your robes so we can take you to Madam Pomfrey. Evan, go help him."
He was again attempting to tie his shoes when a voice interrupted. "I must say I am impressed Mr. Potter, you not only averted a possible war and an enormous tantrum, you also managed to make him think."
The relationship between the teen and Professor Snape had, as of late, become less strenuous, although not yet amicable. They had made a sort of peace with their past; Occlumency lessons had gone smoothly and as long as one didn't talk about what the other saw, all was well. Snape was no less nasty than normal in classes, but at least he no longer felt the need to attack Harry every waking moment they shared, which had the positive effect of letting Harry concentrate on potion making, which in turn raised his grades.
"He's a smart kid, Professor, and he's as stubborn as they come. When I say no to him, I don't just say no, I say why not and what possible consequences his actions might have. He thinks about it, and if he still wants to, I explain until I make him understand why not." He paused and gave a small laugh "There are times when he comes up with his own logic and beats me at my own game, but most of the time he relents."
"My, my, Potter, when did you become such a barrel of wisdom?" The irony was heavy in his voice.
"I did learn some things from last year, Professor. I'm learning to use my inner Slytherin, I try not to jump to conclusions, and I try to have a cool head when faced with a problem. I won't let more people die because of me."
The serious look on his face, the determination with which he spoke, made Severus think that maybe there was more to Harry Potter than fame and arrogance. Maybe, just maybe, he was more than his father's son. To that, Severus added what he had seen in the teen's head, the way his family had treated him for years, the long nights in a cupboard, the way he was shunned by his peers when it was revealed he was a parselmouth, the hurt when his best friend had abandoned him in fourth year, and the realization that he might have been wrong about the boy hit Severus like a brick wall.
The conversation was stopped by the entrance of the children, now wearing normal robes. Well, not entirely normal since Julian's was of a bright lime green, although Evan's was a more common royal blue.
Harry stood up from his chair and asked, "Ready, guys?" A chorus of "yep's" answered.
"Well, have a good day Professor, thank you for letting me spend the night. I'll drop the kids off at the infirmary. Will you be needing me tonight?"
Severus was still rendered speechless by his revelation, but managed to respond as if nothing had happened. "No, Mr. Potter, that's all right, just tell Poppy I'll pick them up at the usual time."
"All right, sir."
"Oh, and Potter?"
Harry turned from the door where he held each child by the hand, "Yes?"
"Thank you for your assistance."
Harry had no idea how to respond to that. Snape never, ever had thanked him for anything and thus this came as a shock. The only thing that could come from his stunned mouth was a "You're welcome," and as Julian was starting to get impatient, they left, leaving behind a very confused Potions Master.
LooB 4 Reviews: First of all thanks to my great and wonderful beta EireVerde, you're honest in your critics and although I know you didn't like chp 5 that much I know I made it up to you on chp 6.
Anyway, thanks to the following for reviewing, I love them and they keep me interested enough to continue writting. Critiques, comments and such are very welcomed so thanks to: borne-shadow-childe, Tazthedevilman thanks 4 the 4 reviews, wwwendy (yes, it's just a coincidence, one of my favorite male names, plus my sixth grade crush name is Evan), Dracula5555, Wolflady, Blacks-honey, ShiTiger, xikum (the Evan issue won't be addressed yet but it's comming, I want harry and draco to be friends but this story is kind of writting itself so I have no idea what's going to happen, and the slash takes a bit), Winnie2 (a 3 year old on a sugar high, I really pity the victim), nymphean (Jazbo? Really? And you're right on the quote), CrimsonTearsOfPain (Connor must be a handful), Anarane Anwamane, wolfawaken, Bristow child (romantic entanglement but not just yet), SiLvErFaTeD, ataraxis, Luana Araceli (as always), Kaaera, Abinikai (just when you wanted it), abraxis, QueenStrata and Bound-to-Evanesce (for your review of chp 3).
The Quote: "You are are god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different" Magneto; X-men 2. ILuvSS you got it right but you couldn't send your price because I don't have your mail!!! Review chp 5 with it and I'll send it to you. The price is a sneak peak of chp 6.
Please enjoy and see author notes below.
Chapter 5: The sun shines, what a revelation!
Weeks later:
It was a beautiful morning in the school of magic known as Hogwarts. In the upper towers, children were awakening and getting ready to meet the new day. In the lower dungeons, the Potions Master was grading papers at a desk on the right side of the sitting room. Evan Snape was seated on one of the smaller chairs, recently showered and ready to go, and Harry Potter was on the couch tying his shoes.
He had slept overnight at the Snapes' because the night before there had been an Order meeting followed by a Death Eater raid in which Snape had participated and been lightly wounded. When Snape had come back at five in the morning, he had seen no point in waking Potter to send him to his tower for another half an hour of sleep when he looked so comfortable curled up with Julian on the child's small bed, and truthfully Severus just didn't have the energy at that hour to be his usual prickly self in front of the teen. So he had let him sleep, and woken them all up at 6:30 to start the day.
So, out came young Julian Snape, dressed in swimming shorts and a fluffy white towel wrapped around his neck. "We are going swimming," he announced with propriety and his little hands parked on his hips. For a moment he looked the part of a mini Severus Snape with lighter hair.
Since Julian had said it while looking at Harry, Severus decided to just watch from the sidelines to see how the teen would solve such a problem.
"We're going swimming, huh?"
"Yes, we are!"
"But it's cold outside."
"You can do a warming charm on the water."
"I can, can I?"
"Yes, you can Hawwy; you put it on my scarf and my robes when we go outside!"
"That I do... then what about the grindylows and the Merpeople and the giant squid?" "I'm not scared of them, and besides you'll be with me."
A snort was heard from the other side of the room but Harry paid no mind to it. He continued his conversation with the child.
"Come here, Julian." The child settled on his lap. "You know I would love to go swimming with you, right?"
"I know," Julian answered, getting excited that he was getting what he wanted.
"But, we have to be rational about it. You remember what I said about being rational?"
A little frown marred Julian's brow. "You said that being rational is when there's a good reason not to do something and that you have to think about it first and about the consepuences." Evan corrected him, "Consequences," and Julian continued, "That's what I said, consetuences, and you said that if the consetuences are more than the good things of what I want to do then not to do it because it's not worth it."
He sat in Harry's lap so proud of himself for being able to remember that conversation.
"You are right, Julian. Now, think, am I really able to take on a hundred grindylows, some more Merpeople and the giant squid and at the same time produce a heating charm strong enough to defrost a lake and take care of you?"
Julian scrunched up his little face in thought and came up with a tentative "No?"
Harry gave him a negative shake of the head and asked, "Do you know how to swim, Julian?"
Another tentative "No?" was the response.
"Then can you imagine me doing all of that and at the same time teaching you how to swim?"
Now came a "No" followed by a pout. "Does that mean we're not going swimming?"
"How about we do this: when summer comes and the weather is nice, I promise to take you down to the lake and teach you how to swim, what do you think?"
A scrunch of the nose, and seconds later a bright smile illuminated the child's face. "Deal!" He put out his hand for a handshake and Harry shook it with all the propriety required. He then lowered Julian, saying, "Go on kid, change into your robes so we can take you to Madam Pomfrey. Evan, go help him."
He was again attempting to tie his shoes when a voice interrupted. "I must say I am impressed Mr. Potter, you not only averted a possible war and an enormous tantrum, you also managed to make him think."
The relationship between the teen and Professor Snape had, as of late, become less strenuous, although not yet amicable. They had made a sort of peace with their past; Occlumency lessons had gone smoothly and as long as one didn't talk about what the other saw, all was well. Snape was no less nasty than normal in classes, but at least he no longer felt the need to attack Harry every waking moment they shared, which had the positive effect of letting Harry concentrate on potion making, which in turn raised his grades.
"He's a smart kid, Professor, and he's as stubborn as they come. When I say no to him, I don't just say no, I say why not and what possible consequences his actions might have. He thinks about it, and if he still wants to, I explain until I make him understand why not." He paused and gave a small laugh "There are times when he comes up with his own logic and beats me at my own game, but most of the time he relents."
"My, my, Potter, when did you become such a barrel of wisdom?" The irony was heavy in his voice.
"I did learn some things from last year, Professor. I'm learning to use my inner Slytherin, I try not to jump to conclusions, and I try to have a cool head when faced with a problem. I won't let more people die because of me."
The serious look on his face, the determination with which he spoke, made Severus think that maybe there was more to Harry Potter than fame and arrogance. Maybe, just maybe, he was more than his father's son. To that, Severus added what he had seen in the teen's head, the way his family had treated him for years, the long nights in a cupboard, the way he was shunned by his peers when it was revealed he was a parselmouth, the hurt when his best friend had abandoned him in fourth year, and the realization that he might have been wrong about the boy hit Severus like a brick wall.
The conversation was stopped by the entrance of the children, now wearing normal robes. Well, not entirely normal since Julian's was of a bright lime green, although Evan's was a more common royal blue.
Harry stood up from his chair and asked, "Ready, guys?" A chorus of "yep's" answered.
"Well, have a good day Professor, thank you for letting me spend the night. I'll drop the kids off at the infirmary. Will you be needing me tonight?"
Severus was still rendered speechless by his revelation, but managed to respond as if nothing had happened. "No, Mr. Potter, that's all right, just tell Poppy I'll pick them up at the usual time."
"All right, sir."
"Oh, and Potter?"
Harry turned from the door where he held each child by the hand, "Yes?"
"Thank you for your assistance."
Harry had no idea how to respond to that. Snape never, ever had thanked him for anything and thus this came as a shock. The only thing that could come from his stunned mouth was a "You're welcome," and as Julian was starting to get impatient, they left, leaving behind a very confused Potions Master.
LooB 4 Reviews: First of all thanks to my great and wonderful beta EireVerde, you're honest in your critics and although I know you didn't like chp 5 that much I know I made it up to you on chp 6.
Anyway, thanks to the following for reviewing, I love them and they keep me interested enough to continue writting. Critiques, comments and such are very welcomed so thanks to: borne-shadow-childe, Tazthedevilman thanks 4 the 4 reviews, wwwendy (yes, it's just a coincidence, one of my favorite male names, plus my sixth grade crush name is Evan), Dracula5555, Wolflady, Blacks-honey, ShiTiger, xikum (the Evan issue won't be addressed yet but it's comming, I want harry and draco to be friends but this story is kind of writting itself so I have no idea what's going to happen, and the slash takes a bit), Winnie2 (a 3 year old on a sugar high, I really pity the victim), nymphean (Jazbo? Really? And you're right on the quote), CrimsonTearsOfPain (Connor must be a handful), Anarane Anwamane, wolfawaken, Bristow child (romantic entanglement but not just yet), SiLvErFaTeD, ataraxis, Luana Araceli (as always), Kaaera, Abinikai (just when you wanted it), abraxis, QueenStrata and Bound-to-Evanesce (for your review of chp 3).
The Quote: "You are are god among insects. Never let anyone tell you different" Magneto; X-men 2. ILuvSS you got it right but you couldn't send your price because I don't have your mail!!! Review chp 5 with it and I'll send it to you. The price is a sneak peak of chp 6.