Harry opened his eyes when he heard a little tune being hummed. He looked
up to find Gran sitting there, stroking his hair and humming. "Gran?" He
said, sitting up.
"Oh, hello dear. You gave Severus quite a fright." She smiled at his general direction.
"I did?" He asked, moving to the edge of the bed.
"Yes. I haven't heard such a tense tone to his voice before." She told him. She smiled. "Do you feel up to a walk around the grounds? I feel like stretching my limbs." Harry found his shoes and robe at the foot of his bed.
"I would like to take a walk, yes." He pulled on his shoes and held the robe for just a minute before donning that article of clothing as well. He stood and Gran took his arm. "Where's.?" He drifted off, not sure of what to call his father with Gran standing in front of him.
"Your father?" She asked. Harry told her that that was what he was asking. "I banished him to his dungeons. I have a feeling that he has submerged himself in making potions." She chuckled a little to herself as Harry led her out of the house. "To the left. I believe the flower gardens are in that direction." Harry turned to the left and found a small path. "Harry, what are your feelings about all of this?" She asked.
"You get right to the point, don't you, Gran?" She smiled.
"That I do. Now then, your feelings are." She stopped and waited for her grandson to answer.
"I'm a bit confused." She made a noise of understanding and motioned for him to continue. "Upset. A little sad. Angry." She nodded as Harry fell silent.
"What makes you angry, Harry?" Harry thought about it as Gran seemed to find her way to a bench. Harry figured that she knew it from memory. He stood in front of her, searching for some direct cause of his anger. He wasn't sure what had caused it. Gran seemed to be biding her time, waiting for Harry to say something.
"I don't know what makes me angry. I just am." Gran patted the seat next to her. Harry took it and sighed. "It's just that I went through so much, and it seemed like no one cared." Gran took his hand.
"The whole Boy-Who-Lived thing, right?" She asked, squeezing his hand.
"Yes!" He growled. "No one asked me if I wanted to be famous, never mind my parents were dead because of it, or that others died because they were near me when Voldemort came after me. No one asked if I wanted to fight him to the death." He sighed. "No one asked me if I wanted to kill him." He whispered. Gran squeezed his hand again. "And now, I'm here. With the man that is my biological father." He shook his head, which Gran felt through his hand. "No one asked me." Gran reached up and stroked his head.
"Had you been asked to do all of that, would you have said yes?" Gran asked, running her hands through Harry's hair. Harry sat back a little and thought. What would he have said?
"I would have said yes. For the reason that no one else could have done what I did." She smiled.
"That's right, Harry. No one else could have done what you did." She answered. She pulled him to her with a hug. "You've been strong, Harry, much stronger than anyone could have expected from a little boy. Don't protest." She said when Harry made a noise at being called little. "You were little, and no one should have asked you to do what you did, much less expect you to carry out such acts." She reached up a hand to stroke his hair. "I understand that you are confused by having a new family thrust into your life when you have gotten used to the fact that you had no family. And hurt that no one was there, sad because now you have family and you're not sure how to act. That's okay." Harry leaned against his grandmother as she stroked his hair. "Accept us for who we are to you now. Your father and I are here for you now, and I for one would like to claim you as my grandson, if you will let me."
Harry looked up at the small woman who was staring into space with her sightless eyes. She looked as though what she had said was genuine. A grandmother who wanted him, not because of something who had done something in his past, but one who cared. "Really?" He whispered. Gran looked a little surprised.
"Of course, Harry! I would love to make up all sorts of pet names for you and brag about you to the old biddies I call my friends." She laughed slightly, while Harry smiled. "I would love to be your grandmother." She pulled him close for a hug again. He leaned into it.
"Well, Gran, I must say that I would like to give you something to brag about." He smiled, even though she couldn't see it. "I would like to be your grandson." She chuckled and patted his face.
"Good, because I was going to claim you anyway." She stood and pulled him up after her. "Let's take that walk now, and you can tell me how much of a git my son was towards all of the students at school." Harry barely hid his laughter at hearing the aged women pronounce the word "git". The pair of them walked around the grounds for almost two hours. Harry looked up when he heard a horse.
"What was that?" He asked. Gran stopped and listened.
"We're near the stables, Harry. Don't tell me you've never seen a horse?" She said, urging him forward. Around the bend came stables into view with a man exercising a horse in a yard. "Hello, Sean!" She shouted to the man. The man raised a hand in greeting and clicked his tongue at the horse. He reined it in and came over to the gate.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Snape." He said, eyeing Harry. "How are you today?" She smiled at the man.
"Just fine, Sean. How's the animals?" Sean smiled and took her hand.
"All four are doing fine. We have a little one on the way. I've just sent a note up to Master Severus about it. Affie is almost ready to have a little one." Harry smiled at the man. "Who's this?" He asked.
"This is my grandson, Harry. Harry, Sean." Harry shook the man's hand.
"You're Master Severus's boy?" He asked. Gran nodded. "Pleased to meet you, Harry. You ever feel like a ride, just come on down and I'll make sure you have a horse ready." Harry thanked the man, although he didn't know the first thing about riding. He also didn't think that he would be able to with his leg. Gran led Harry away and back towards the house.
"Do you ride, Harry?" She asked. Harry smiled.
"Only broomsticks." He told her. She laughed and patted his hand.
"You should ask your father to teach you." She told him. "He loves riding. We've kept a stable since he was a little baby. His father swore that his first word was 'horse'." She smiled off into space and looked up when she heard a noise. "I have a feeling that your father has become a bit frantic. Is he standing at the door?" Harry looked up and saw Snape standing at the front door, looking around. He visibly relaxed when he saw Harry and his mother together and waved.
"Yes. He just waved." She nodded.
"It's dinnertime. Let's go have something to eat." Harry went up to the door.
"Where did you two disappear off to?" Snape asked.
"Harry and I went for a walk." Gran told Severus. He nodded.
"Lucky has dinner ready." He told them, leading Harry and Gran to the dining room. "Some more potions, Harry, if you should need one this evening." He said, handing a few vials to his son. Harry reached out and took them, finding a pocket in which to place them. Harry took his place after his grandmother found her seat. He and Snape nodded to each other as they sat.
"Well, Severus, it seems that you've kept the place up pretty well." Gran said to her son. "There are amazing stories about your father, Harry." She said, launching into a tale of Severus when he had been just a boy. Harry listened and laughed at the funny parts. When they had reached the dessert part, all three were surprised to hear Lucky shouting at someone as he tore down the hall. Minn burst into the room, barking as though to tell Harry that she was still alive and he had neglected her.
"Crazy Muggle dog!" Lucky said, coming into the room. "Disturbing the masters and the mistress at dinner!" Harry calmed Minn down while Severus called off the house elf.
"Have you a dog, Harry?" Gran asked. Harry took Minn over to meet Gran.
"This is Minn. She's kind of protective of me." He explained. Gran chuckled as Minn shook hands with her and wagged her tail. "She must want to go for a walk. She has her leash." Severus smiled.
"Well, you go take Minn for that walk and coming to the sitting room when you are done." Harry took up Minn's leash and led her outside, much to the disbelief of Severus.
"He listened to you, Mother." Gran smiled in the direction of her son.
"I know. So did you when you were younger." She sat back. "Harry and I had a nice long talk today." Severus looked up. "While you were in the dungeons." She waited for him to say something. When he didn't she continued. "He has a lot of anger of the life he was forced to led, and some anger at a 'greasy git' for some of his misconceptions." Severus sighed. "But on top of all of that, he said that he would allow me to claim him as my grandson." She smiled.
"Really?" Severus asked.
"Yes, really. Even better, I have found an activity for the two of you to do together that doesn't involve cauldrons." She said, perking up. "He doesn't know how to ride, and since you love to, I thought that it would be a good idea for you to teach him how to ride." She told her son, who looked thoughtful at the idea. "What do you think?" She asked.
"I think that it is a good idea, but would he be willing to spend time with me to learn how to ride?" Snape asked. Gran shrugged at his question.
"He said that he only rides broomsticks, but the way he said it made me think that he has always wanted to learn." She told her son. "I have a feeling that he has missed out a lot in life in living with those Muggles. It's time we did something about that." She smiled to herself again and applied herself to her chocolate mousse. Severus looked over at his son's plate.
"The boy doesn't eat enough to keep a bird alive." He mumbled.
"I remember someone else doing exactly the same thing." His mother returned. Snape glared at her. He had not been a picky child! He stopped thinking right there. His son was not a child. He was an adult, and probably very angry and confused right now. Angry at him, as his mother had said. He sighed. He wished he had a instructions book or something on how to get to know his son. For now, though, he figured that he would have to tough it out before he and Harry killed each other through sheer frustration. Because he was frustrated. Harry was frustrated because he had to stay where he did not want to be, and Snape was frustrated with trying to even relate to the boy, er, man. Snape wondered if it would have been easier had Harry been a child. He was almost certain it would have been. There still would have been a mind there flexible enough to accept him. Now, he was dealing with a fully mature person with his own views and opinions, and Merlin, stubborn to a fault! Not that he hadn't been stubborn, so he wasn't worried about knowing how to deal with that. He would just, no wait, he couldn't act like his father, for the man had been just a bit cruel in the raising of Severus. He had tried to break him. Severus wouldn't do that.
He wanted to pound his head in frustration at the idea of him not being able to talk to Harry. But his mother was right there and she would hear. He wondered how normal parents dealt with their children. He had a small idea and decided to talk to Lucky later about it.
Harry finished walking with Minn and sat down on a handy stone. Minn nuzzled up against him and whined as though asking what was the matter. Harry reached down and absent-mindedly petted her. She panted and licked his hand. "What do you think of Gran, Minn?" He asked. Minn tossed her head. "Yeah, me too. She sounds genuine, like she wants me to be here, but, I just don't know." He thought back to his conversation with her. She had sounded like she was going to claim him whether he wanted her to or not. He had never had a grandmother before. It was kind of nice. She had allowed him to speak his mind and not corrected anything he said, nor had she interrupted him and said that he shouldn't be feeling that way. No expectations from her. No demands as to why he had run away. He didn't have to don his old masks that he had had while at Hogwarts. He almost shuddered. He had hated doing that day after day, hiding his feelings away from everyone while they constantly asked if he was okay.
He had not been okay, not since, his second year, perhaps. That had been the year that Voldemort had said that he wanted to kill him. He no longer cared why Harry had survived; he just wanted him dead. What could Harry say to that? He couldn't tell anyone or say that he just wanted to run away. He was a Gryffindor, he was brave, he was the Boy-Who-Lived. He sighed. After the battle, he couldn't face that life anymore, the fame and praise, the masks. He had cried after he Apparated, while laying in the alleyway. He had cried for the friends he had lost. He had cried away Harry Potter and become Liam Xavier Harrison, a person made up by Harry that was allowed to feel, allowed to say that he was angry, a person who was extremely private. A person respected for his actions, and not the luck that had kept him alive when he had really done nothing to begin with.
Harry reached up to his face and brushed some tears away. He calmed down and thought about Gran again. It seemed like she already loved him. Was that possible? He had heard about children having natural ties to their parents, but grandparents? What made her so accepting of someone who had run away from who he was? He didn't know. He almost didn't want to know. He dropped his head to his good leg and wondered why he sought out answers that could hurt him. Gryffindor curiousity, he guessed. He pulled himself together and went back to the house. Gran would worry if he was gone too long. He idly wondered how many wizards and witches knew he was back, that Harry Potter had been found alive, hiding out as a Muggle with a radically changed appearance. He would ask Severus later. He smirked as he opened the door. He had gone from calling Snape "snarky" to "Severus". Would wonders never cease? He sent Minn off with her leash to her dog bed and joined Gran and Severus in the sitting room.
"Oh, hello dear. You gave Severus quite a fright." She smiled at his general direction.
"I did?" He asked, moving to the edge of the bed.
"Yes. I haven't heard such a tense tone to his voice before." She told him. She smiled. "Do you feel up to a walk around the grounds? I feel like stretching my limbs." Harry found his shoes and robe at the foot of his bed.
"I would like to take a walk, yes." He pulled on his shoes and held the robe for just a minute before donning that article of clothing as well. He stood and Gran took his arm. "Where's.?" He drifted off, not sure of what to call his father with Gran standing in front of him.
"Your father?" She asked. Harry told her that that was what he was asking. "I banished him to his dungeons. I have a feeling that he has submerged himself in making potions." She chuckled a little to herself as Harry led her out of the house. "To the left. I believe the flower gardens are in that direction." Harry turned to the left and found a small path. "Harry, what are your feelings about all of this?" She asked.
"You get right to the point, don't you, Gran?" She smiled.
"That I do. Now then, your feelings are." She stopped and waited for her grandson to answer.
"I'm a bit confused." She made a noise of understanding and motioned for him to continue. "Upset. A little sad. Angry." She nodded as Harry fell silent.
"What makes you angry, Harry?" Harry thought about it as Gran seemed to find her way to a bench. Harry figured that she knew it from memory. He stood in front of her, searching for some direct cause of his anger. He wasn't sure what had caused it. Gran seemed to be biding her time, waiting for Harry to say something.
"I don't know what makes me angry. I just am." Gran patted the seat next to her. Harry took it and sighed. "It's just that I went through so much, and it seemed like no one cared." Gran took his hand.
"The whole Boy-Who-Lived thing, right?" She asked, squeezing his hand.
"Yes!" He growled. "No one asked me if I wanted to be famous, never mind my parents were dead because of it, or that others died because they were near me when Voldemort came after me. No one asked if I wanted to fight him to the death." He sighed. "No one asked me if I wanted to kill him." He whispered. Gran squeezed his hand again. "And now, I'm here. With the man that is my biological father." He shook his head, which Gran felt through his hand. "No one asked me." Gran reached up and stroked his head.
"Had you been asked to do all of that, would you have said yes?" Gran asked, running her hands through Harry's hair. Harry sat back a little and thought. What would he have said?
"I would have said yes. For the reason that no one else could have done what I did." She smiled.
"That's right, Harry. No one else could have done what you did." She answered. She pulled him to her with a hug. "You've been strong, Harry, much stronger than anyone could have expected from a little boy. Don't protest." She said when Harry made a noise at being called little. "You were little, and no one should have asked you to do what you did, much less expect you to carry out such acts." She reached up a hand to stroke his hair. "I understand that you are confused by having a new family thrust into your life when you have gotten used to the fact that you had no family. And hurt that no one was there, sad because now you have family and you're not sure how to act. That's okay." Harry leaned against his grandmother as she stroked his hair. "Accept us for who we are to you now. Your father and I are here for you now, and I for one would like to claim you as my grandson, if you will let me."
Harry looked up at the small woman who was staring into space with her sightless eyes. She looked as though what she had said was genuine. A grandmother who wanted him, not because of something who had done something in his past, but one who cared. "Really?" He whispered. Gran looked a little surprised.
"Of course, Harry! I would love to make up all sorts of pet names for you and brag about you to the old biddies I call my friends." She laughed slightly, while Harry smiled. "I would love to be your grandmother." She pulled him close for a hug again. He leaned into it.
"Well, Gran, I must say that I would like to give you something to brag about." He smiled, even though she couldn't see it. "I would like to be your grandson." She chuckled and patted his face.
"Good, because I was going to claim you anyway." She stood and pulled him up after her. "Let's take that walk now, and you can tell me how much of a git my son was towards all of the students at school." Harry barely hid his laughter at hearing the aged women pronounce the word "git". The pair of them walked around the grounds for almost two hours. Harry looked up when he heard a horse.
"What was that?" He asked. Gran stopped and listened.
"We're near the stables, Harry. Don't tell me you've never seen a horse?" She said, urging him forward. Around the bend came stables into view with a man exercising a horse in a yard. "Hello, Sean!" She shouted to the man. The man raised a hand in greeting and clicked his tongue at the horse. He reined it in and came over to the gate.
"Good afternoon, Mrs. Snape." He said, eyeing Harry. "How are you today?" She smiled at the man.
"Just fine, Sean. How's the animals?" Sean smiled and took her hand.
"All four are doing fine. We have a little one on the way. I've just sent a note up to Master Severus about it. Affie is almost ready to have a little one." Harry smiled at the man. "Who's this?" He asked.
"This is my grandson, Harry. Harry, Sean." Harry shook the man's hand.
"You're Master Severus's boy?" He asked. Gran nodded. "Pleased to meet you, Harry. You ever feel like a ride, just come on down and I'll make sure you have a horse ready." Harry thanked the man, although he didn't know the first thing about riding. He also didn't think that he would be able to with his leg. Gran led Harry away and back towards the house.
"Do you ride, Harry?" She asked. Harry smiled.
"Only broomsticks." He told her. She laughed and patted his hand.
"You should ask your father to teach you." She told him. "He loves riding. We've kept a stable since he was a little baby. His father swore that his first word was 'horse'." She smiled off into space and looked up when she heard a noise. "I have a feeling that your father has become a bit frantic. Is he standing at the door?" Harry looked up and saw Snape standing at the front door, looking around. He visibly relaxed when he saw Harry and his mother together and waved.
"Yes. He just waved." She nodded.
"It's dinnertime. Let's go have something to eat." Harry went up to the door.
"Where did you two disappear off to?" Snape asked.
"Harry and I went for a walk." Gran told Severus. He nodded.
"Lucky has dinner ready." He told them, leading Harry and Gran to the dining room. "Some more potions, Harry, if you should need one this evening." He said, handing a few vials to his son. Harry reached out and took them, finding a pocket in which to place them. Harry took his place after his grandmother found her seat. He and Snape nodded to each other as they sat.
"Well, Severus, it seems that you've kept the place up pretty well." Gran said to her son. "There are amazing stories about your father, Harry." She said, launching into a tale of Severus when he had been just a boy. Harry listened and laughed at the funny parts. When they had reached the dessert part, all three were surprised to hear Lucky shouting at someone as he tore down the hall. Minn burst into the room, barking as though to tell Harry that she was still alive and he had neglected her.
"Crazy Muggle dog!" Lucky said, coming into the room. "Disturbing the masters and the mistress at dinner!" Harry calmed Minn down while Severus called off the house elf.
"Have you a dog, Harry?" Gran asked. Harry took Minn over to meet Gran.
"This is Minn. She's kind of protective of me." He explained. Gran chuckled as Minn shook hands with her and wagged her tail. "She must want to go for a walk. She has her leash." Severus smiled.
"Well, you go take Minn for that walk and coming to the sitting room when you are done." Harry took up Minn's leash and led her outside, much to the disbelief of Severus.
"He listened to you, Mother." Gran smiled in the direction of her son.
"I know. So did you when you were younger." She sat back. "Harry and I had a nice long talk today." Severus looked up. "While you were in the dungeons." She waited for him to say something. When he didn't she continued. "He has a lot of anger of the life he was forced to led, and some anger at a 'greasy git' for some of his misconceptions." Severus sighed. "But on top of all of that, he said that he would allow me to claim him as my grandson." She smiled.
"Really?" Severus asked.
"Yes, really. Even better, I have found an activity for the two of you to do together that doesn't involve cauldrons." She said, perking up. "He doesn't know how to ride, and since you love to, I thought that it would be a good idea for you to teach him how to ride." She told her son, who looked thoughtful at the idea. "What do you think?" She asked.
"I think that it is a good idea, but would he be willing to spend time with me to learn how to ride?" Snape asked. Gran shrugged at his question.
"He said that he only rides broomsticks, but the way he said it made me think that he has always wanted to learn." She told her son. "I have a feeling that he has missed out a lot in life in living with those Muggles. It's time we did something about that." She smiled to herself again and applied herself to her chocolate mousse. Severus looked over at his son's plate.
"The boy doesn't eat enough to keep a bird alive." He mumbled.
"I remember someone else doing exactly the same thing." His mother returned. Snape glared at her. He had not been a picky child! He stopped thinking right there. His son was not a child. He was an adult, and probably very angry and confused right now. Angry at him, as his mother had said. He sighed. He wished he had a instructions book or something on how to get to know his son. For now, though, he figured that he would have to tough it out before he and Harry killed each other through sheer frustration. Because he was frustrated. Harry was frustrated because he had to stay where he did not want to be, and Snape was frustrated with trying to even relate to the boy, er, man. Snape wondered if it would have been easier had Harry been a child. He was almost certain it would have been. There still would have been a mind there flexible enough to accept him. Now, he was dealing with a fully mature person with his own views and opinions, and Merlin, stubborn to a fault! Not that he hadn't been stubborn, so he wasn't worried about knowing how to deal with that. He would just, no wait, he couldn't act like his father, for the man had been just a bit cruel in the raising of Severus. He had tried to break him. Severus wouldn't do that.
He wanted to pound his head in frustration at the idea of him not being able to talk to Harry. But his mother was right there and she would hear. He wondered how normal parents dealt with their children. He had a small idea and decided to talk to Lucky later about it.
Harry finished walking with Minn and sat down on a handy stone. Minn nuzzled up against him and whined as though asking what was the matter. Harry reached down and absent-mindedly petted her. She panted and licked his hand. "What do you think of Gran, Minn?" He asked. Minn tossed her head. "Yeah, me too. She sounds genuine, like she wants me to be here, but, I just don't know." He thought back to his conversation with her. She had sounded like she was going to claim him whether he wanted her to or not. He had never had a grandmother before. It was kind of nice. She had allowed him to speak his mind and not corrected anything he said, nor had she interrupted him and said that he shouldn't be feeling that way. No expectations from her. No demands as to why he had run away. He didn't have to don his old masks that he had had while at Hogwarts. He almost shuddered. He had hated doing that day after day, hiding his feelings away from everyone while they constantly asked if he was okay.
He had not been okay, not since, his second year, perhaps. That had been the year that Voldemort had said that he wanted to kill him. He no longer cared why Harry had survived; he just wanted him dead. What could Harry say to that? He couldn't tell anyone or say that he just wanted to run away. He was a Gryffindor, he was brave, he was the Boy-Who-Lived. He sighed. After the battle, he couldn't face that life anymore, the fame and praise, the masks. He had cried after he Apparated, while laying in the alleyway. He had cried for the friends he had lost. He had cried away Harry Potter and become Liam Xavier Harrison, a person made up by Harry that was allowed to feel, allowed to say that he was angry, a person who was extremely private. A person respected for his actions, and not the luck that had kept him alive when he had really done nothing to begin with.
Harry reached up to his face and brushed some tears away. He calmed down and thought about Gran again. It seemed like she already loved him. Was that possible? He had heard about children having natural ties to their parents, but grandparents? What made her so accepting of someone who had run away from who he was? He didn't know. He almost didn't want to know. He dropped his head to his good leg and wondered why he sought out answers that could hurt him. Gryffindor curiousity, he guessed. He pulled himself together and went back to the house. Gran would worry if he was gone too long. He idly wondered how many wizards and witches knew he was back, that Harry Potter had been found alive, hiding out as a Muggle with a radically changed appearance. He would ask Severus later. He smirked as he opened the door. He had gone from calling Snape "snarky" to "Severus". Would wonders never cease? He sent Minn off with her leash to her dog bed and joined Gran and Severus in the sitting room.