Something He Never Had

By: Mischief-Manager06

I still don't own Harry Potter…

Summary: Has Dumbledore finally lost it? Harry sure thinks so. Needless to say, he isn't too happy about being made Snape's guardian. Nothing's going to change that…or so he thinks.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews! All of you get pie! I've heard that you can get in trouble for responding to all your reviews at the beginning of the chapter, so I won't. If I'm wrong about that, someone please correct me. Thanks!

Chapter Two: The Day Albus Dumbledore Finally Lost It

"What!" Harry cried, shooting up off the bed he'd been sitting on.

Albus chose to ignore the exclamation and returned his attention to Poppy.

"You will alert us if Severus wakes up, of course?" he asked, and upon receiving a nod of affirmation, he began walking towards the infirmary door. "Come along, Harry," he said motioning for the teen to follow him.

Harry complied and followed the man out of the room, all the while giving him a death glare that would have made the Dark Lord shake in his boots…well, his…what kind of shoes does Voldemort wear anyway? The glare, of course, didn't faze Albus a bit. The pair did not go to Albus's office as Harry had expected. Instead, the headmaster led Harry outside. They walked in silence for a moment, but Harry couldn't keep quiet for long.

"Albus, are you mad?" he exclaimed, suddenly, stopping just in front of the lake.

"No Harry, though you're not the first to ask me that," Albus replied, smiling slightly, "I'm sure I'm quite sane."

"This is Snape we're talking about!" Harry continued ranting, pacing back and forth, and coming dangerously close to walking straight into the lake. "He hates me, in case you haven't noticed, and I'm not too fond of him, either. I'm sorry Albus. I know you care about him a lot, but there's no way I can possibly look after him. I mean, five years old or not, I doubt I'll be able to look at him without seeing my adult potion's professor glaring at me and trying to make my life a living hel—I mean bad place."

As mad as he was, Harry couldn't bring himself to curse in front of Albus. Besides, he thought, I'm sure I've already made him mad enough. He hates it when I talk badly about Snape. However, to Harry's great surprise, Albus didn't seem angry at all. In fact, the expression on his face was one of sadness, and the twinkle in his eyes was somewhat dimmed. Harry looked at him in confusion, but despite his yearning to know what was wrong, kept quiet. After what seemed like hours, Albus sighed tiredly.

"Harry," he began, "there's something you need to know about Severus." He brought his hands together and drummed his fingers against one another, as if debating how to continue. Harry leaned forward, eager to hear whatever Albus was about to say.

"Severus's childhood," the wizard continued, "was not one of happiness. The Snape family, as I'm sure you can imagine, was full of dark witches and wizards. His parents were, quite possibly, the most evil ones of all. They were both Death Eaters and quite loyal to Lord Voldemort. When Severus was born, the two were pleased to see that the family name would continue on. Of course, they planned for him to grow up believing that Voldemort was who he was meant to follow. They wanted him to become a Death Eater by the time he was sixteen.

"However, as Severus became older, he began to think that his parents were wrong about things. For some reason—one I have yet to find out--he went against what they taught him, and he didn't want to be a follower of Lord Voldemort."

Harry's eyes widened, and he gasped softly at this revelation. Snape hadn't wanted to become a Death Eater? He focused back on Albus's story.

"This naturally didn't please his parent's at all. They became very abusive. His father would beat him regularly, while his mother preferred to curse him with dark spells. They also threatened him, and told him that if he didn't change his way of thinking the beatings would get worse." Albus stopped and closed his eyes briefly. "That, Harry, is why he was in Slytherin. That's why he became a Death Eater. That's why he is the way he is."

Harry was shocked to say the least as Albus finished. He didn't know what to say. He never would have guessed that Severus Snape was abused as a child. That really did explain a lot.

"So, what made him decide to come back to Light?" Harry asked.

"He'd simply had enough," Albus replied. "He came to my office one evening after a particularly brutal attack and asked for my forgiveness. He even volunteered to be a spy for us."

The elderly man looked at Harry solemnly. "I trusted him then, Harry. I still trust him. You may not be fond of the adult Severus, but the child lying in the Hospital Wing needs you. We don't know whether he'll recall his childhood or not. Even if he doesn't, this experience will be hard for him. Now, I'll leave you out here to think it over. You don't have to be Severus's guardian if you don't want to, but, please, mull over what I've told you."

With that, Albus turned around and walked away, leaving Harry by himself. Harry turned to face the lake and sighed. He didn't know what to do. When Albus had first led him outside, his plan had been to adamantly refuse to be Snape's guardian. Now, however, he was beginning to rethink his decision. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

'Oh come on!' he thought to himself. 'Think what would happen when he changes back into an adult! He'd hate me even more'.

'Or' said a little voice in his head, 'he might be eternally grateful to you for pushing your hatred for him aside and looking after him.'

'Oh, don't be ridiculous! Like he'd ever be grateful for something I did to help him.'

'Think about it!' the annoying voice yelled. 'This is your chance. Your chance to give him a good childhood. Something he never had. Something you never had.'

'I don't know…'

'Admit it. Deep down inside you really want to give him all the things he should have had growing up.'

'Well, maybe…' Harry thought, giving in slightly.

'So go on!' the voice snapped. 'Give him what his parents didn't give him. Give him what the Dursley's didn't give you, and while you're at it, have some fun yourself.'

'You're right!' Harry cried.

Standing up, his decision made, he turned to walk back to the castle, but stopped after only a couple of steps.

"I just argued with a voice in my head," he muttered. "The voice won. I didn't even know there was a voice up there!"

Shaking his head slightly, he continued to walk back to the castle, a small smile playing on his lips. This was going to be one interesting summer.

A/N: Once again, sorry it took so long to update! Hopefully chapter 3 will be up much sooner. Also, I'm sorry that it was so short...following chapters will be longer.

Next Chapter: Harry tells Albus his decision, and Severus wakes up. What will his and Harry's reaction be to one another? Is Harry too young to be a guardian? Is Severus too broken by his past to accept a guardian?

R&R!...pretty please?