A/N: I know I said this was on hiatus, but inspiration hit! I couldn't
help it, I had to post this! Hope you all enjoy and none of you kill me
for not posting on the other! ~Sylvia
Harry stumbled out of the Floo while Severus still managed to look graceful. "I will never figure out how you are able to do that." Harry complained while Severus brushed off the little dust that he had managed to gain from his trip.
"Time and practice, Liam, time and practice." Harry blinked at the choice of name and smiled. His father had remembered his decision to hide his identity for now. That was very nice of him.
Snape walked over to the receptionist and spoke with her in a low voice. Liam looked around the office. It looked very much like a normal doctor's office, except for the floating candles that served as lights and the phoenix sitting in the corner, as well as the owls that swooped in and out of a window. "Liam." Snape said, motioning him over. "Paperwork." Liam nodded and started filling out the paperwork, using his Muggle address and profession on the requested lines. It was a little difficult to get used to the quill again without looking too troubled by it, but the receptionist didn't seem to mind.
"Thank you." She said as he handed the forms back to her. "The doctor will see you in just a moment." She told the two men. Snape motioned Liam to a seat and took his own, unfolding his newspaper. Liam wondered what was going to happen and asked Severus the same question. He had never been to a mediwizard before and wondered if it would be like Madame Pomfrey.
"He'll just cast a few spells on you to diagnose what is wrong, cast a few others to set anything wrong right, and prescribe some potions if you need them." Snape told him. Liam nodded and sighed. "What's wrong, Liam?" Snape asked quietly, glad that they were the only ones in the room.
"What about my scars?" He asked.
"You have several." Severus told him.
"I know. I just don't like others to see them." Liam told him honestly.
"The man is a medical professional. He is a good friend of mine and I'm sure he's seen scarring before." He paused, taking in Liam's obvious nervousness. "Liam, have you ever been to see a regular doctor?" Liam shook his head.
"I was blessed with good health as a child." He muttered. That meant, 'the Dursleys could have cared less about my health as a child' to Severus.
"Would you like me to come back with you?" Severus asked. Liam appeared to struggle with himself on that. Accepting meant that he was a little scared of the unknown, and not accepting... He nodded before he had a chance to talk himself into the fact that he was going to be fine. "All right." Severus patted the hand resting on Liam's knee. Liam smiled in acknowledgement and settled himself into his chair, waiting for the doctor. The receptionist called his name far too soon for Liam's comfort and the two men went back with her to a small examination room.
"At least the walls are white." Liam said. Severus wondered at the comment and looked at his son. He motioned for Liam to sit on the examination table while he took the seat in the corner where he would be out of the way of the doctor. Liam folded his arms across his chest and kicked his feet back and forth. Severus wondered if he should have given the boy a calming draught before they left, because Liam was obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation.
"Are you okay?" Severus asked. Liam nodded, not saying anything. He wasn't okay. He was a basket of nerves. He felt like tearing from the room and running back to his Muggle house and curling up in his bed. After locking the door and grabbing his cricket bat. He looked up as the door opened and a man walked in.
"Hello, Severus!" the man greeted Severus in the corner. "It is so nice to see you under normal circumstances, of course." He let out a loud laugh while he shook Severus's hand.
"Hello, Galen." Severus said, returning the handshake and smile. "This is Liam, the young man I owled you about." Severus said, motioning towards Liam. "Liam, this is Doctor Galen Saeed. He's an old friend of mine from university." Liam swallowed and took the man's offered hand. "Galen, Liam Harrison." Galen smiled at Liam and took a seat.
"It is nice to meet you, Liam. Severus told me a little about your injuries you received during the way, but is there anything that you would like to tell me?" Liam shrugged.
"I was treated by Muggles." He told him. From Severus's face, he knew that the man forgot to add that little detail to the doctor's information. The doctor paled.
"You poor boy." He said with as much drama he could muster. The doctor's statement brought Fred and George to mind and caused Liam to smile a little bit. "Well, let's see the damage they did." He turned and pulled out his wand. "Shirt off, please." Liam looked to Severus for reassurance as he undid the buttons on his shirt. He slid it off his shoulders and ignored the slight intake of air from his father. The doctor said nothing and started looking him over, allowed a quill to magically take down what he was saying. As the possible causes of each scar was given and Liam confirmed what had been said, Severus grew more and more angry. Had not the other Death Eaters already died, they would be dead now.
"Deep scarring across the wrists, horizontally. Possibly causes could be an accident, restraints of some kind, or attempts at suicide." He looked to Liam for confirmation, who only mumbled that the last guess was correct. "Correct in assumption of suicide attempt." Snape sighed. When had his son tried that particular method of ending his problems? He wasn't sure whether or not he should approach it, and in fact was not sure how to start on such a delicate subject with this man who was now his son. Would the boy still be having such thoughts, or was he completely recovered? How old were his scars? When had he tried, how long ago, and how many times? "Once, it appears, several years ago." Galen said to the quill as he continued to run the wand over Harry. There, questions answered. The largest however, still was why.
The rest of the examination went quickly, with Galen looking at Harry's range of motion in his leg. Severus watched as Harry gritted his teeth and moved his leg as the doctor said. His son was a remarkable person, all in all. He was intelligent, thoughtful, and stubborn to a fault. Severus made a mental note to see if he could not change his son's ideas on that particular trait.
"All right, Liam. That should do it for now." Galen said. "I'm going to give you some prescriptions for potions that should help ease your movement in that leg of yours. There is very little I can do for your scars besides fade them. They won't go away completely, but they'll be less noticeable. I assume that you do some kind of exercises for your leg?" Harry nodded. "Good, continue doing them as long as you're comfortable with them. With your permission, I'll consult some of my colleagues about your leg and see if any of them have the knowledge to give you some better movement."
"Thank you, Dr. Saeed." Liam said, pulling his robes back on over his now buttoned shirt. "That would be nice." Dr. Saeed only nodded and wished the both of them a good day after handing Liam a slip of parchment with all the potions he thought would help. The minute they were out of the office, Severus snatched the small parchment and read through it.
"These are easily made. In fact, I think I have most of them already in stores." Harry rolled his eyes. He could just see Severus doing nothing but brewing potions for hours on end to make sure that neither Hogwarts nor his own home went without the more useful potions. "What?" Severus asked, seeing Harry's face.
"Nothing, Severus." Harry answered. The two reached the Floo and headed back home, again with Harry stumbling and Severus just stepping out. "I hate the Floo." Harry mumbled. Lucky appeared out of nowhere and scoured the soot off the wizards and their clothes, muttering something about soot getting everywhere. Severus endured these actions with the air of someone who had silent suffering in relation to the elf's actions, and had experienced it before. Severus looked over Harry before leaving for his dungeons.
"Are you alright?" Severus asked his son before leaving the room. Harry nodded.
"I think that I'm going to go find Nan and ask her for more embarrassing stories about you." Harry answered. Severus nodded. He would ask the boy later about his suicide attempts. Now, he had potions to brew. Severus swept out of the room and down to his laboratory. Harry called Lucky and asked where Gran was. He thanked the elf and went to find his grandmother in the sunroom.
"Hello, Gran." Harry greeted from the doorway. Gran looked up and smiled in Harry's direction.
"Hello, Harry. How was your visit to the mediwizard's office?" She asked, closing her Braille book.
"It was okay, actually. Not too different from the school's nurse when I attended Hogwarts." He answered, coming over and taking a seat next to Gran. "What are you reading?" Gran's face broke out into a broad smile at the mention of her book.
"Pride and Prejudice. Muggle, I know, but that Mr. Darcy!" she sighed like a schoolgirl while Harry gave a small chuckle. He had read it on the insistence of Mr. Davidson's wife, and he had liked it, but not loved it as Gran obviously did. She sighed again and set the book aside. "I'm guessing that your father is ensconced in his laboratory, preparing some kind of potion?" She asked.
"Yes, something about one of the potions not being in his stores." Harry answered. Gran chuckled and sighed.
"Merlin forbid." She whispered in a conspirator's tone to Harry. Harry smiled and took her hand. He was really starting to enjoy her company. "Well now, how are we going to occupy ourselves Harry?" She asked, getting to her feet and taking Harry's arm. Harry shrugged with that arm, knowing Gran would be able to feel it. "I've an idea. Come on now." She called out her house elf's name and steered Harry towards the fire place.
"Um, Gran? What are we doing?" He asked as Gran took some Floo powder and handed it to Harry.
"Diagon Alley, Harry. Sadie, guide me after Harry goes through." Sadie motioned for Harry to go first. Well, if Gran wanted to go to Diagon Alley, Harry was happy to take her, but he had a feeling that there was more to this than just a shopping trip of some kind. He watched Gran step out of the Floo and figured that that was where Severus had gained his talent for flawless landings. He made a note to himself to ask Gran to teach him later. "Madame Malkin's, Harry." She told him, ushering him towards the street. Harry offered her his arm and she accepted gratefully.
"Why are we going to Madame Malkin's?" Harry asked.
"It's a surprise, now let's just get there!" She told him, her smile showing her excitement. Harry led her through the street and to the shop. The little bell jingled merrily as the trio entered, the house elf hovering anxiously. Madame Malkin came out herself and smiled when she saw Gran.
"Why, Mrs. Snape, it's been too long!" She said, coming over and taking Gran's hand. "And who is this young man? It's not Severus, is it?" She asked, taking in Harry's scars.
"No, no. This is Severus's son. I daresay you've met him before." Madame Malkin looked at Harry with no recognition in her eyes. "Now, we came in here for a riding habit for the boy." Harry looked up, surprised at her. Madame Malkin had him up on a stool in a second flat and the measuring tape started flying around.
"Um, Gran? You do know that it'll be unlikely that my leg will allow me to ride?" Harry asked.
"Nonsense. Let Madame Malkin do her work, there's a good lad." Harry rolled her eyes and quit fighting the measuring tape. Madame Malkin waited on him herself and brought out several color swatches and fabrics.
"Did you have any ideas as to how you wanted them to look, Mrs. Snape?" Madame Malkin asked as she started holding up fabrics to Harry's face.
"Do you remember how Severus's looks?" Gran asked.
"Yes, I do? Just like them, then?" With Gran's permission, Madame Malkin cast a spell on some scissors, which immediately went to work over three different kinds of fabric. Harry watched, fascinated, for he had never really seen this kind of spell before. It was like they almost had brains. Never mind, he reminded himself, been there, done that. Ten minutes later, Madame Malkin returned with an entire habit folded in her arms, which she promptly handed to Harry and firmly pushed him to the changing rooms. Harry came out five minutes later and faced Madame Malkin. "Wonderful!" she expressed. Gran smiled, but was not even looking towards Harry. Harry bit his lip and turned towards the mirror. He definitely looked like Severus now.
"I'm sure it is, Madame Malkin." Gran said from behind Harry. Harry reached for his magic, not something he did often, and fixed a firm picture in his mind of what he looked like. He then reached for Gran's mind and touched it, giving her his picture. Harry knew that he had succeeded when he heard Gran's small gasp. "Yes, it is indeed." She told Harry. "Thank you, dear." Harry gave her a one armed hug before he begged to go and change back into his other robes. "This will make a fine surprise for Severus."
Reviews:
JE aka Yessina: Thank you! Sorry it took so long!
Rachel A. Prongs: Thanks! Thanks for your continued support!
Trallgorda: Thanks sis! This update is a fluke. Glad you liked it and it reminded you of our fav guardian.
Vasquez1987: Yes there is. More soon. Thanks for reviewing!
Enhama: Thanks! Glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing!
Emeraldtwinklingstar: Sorry about the long wait. Killer times, let me tell you. Thanks for reviewing!
Whitewolf628: Thank you!
Silverfated: Thanks!
Kateri1: Thank you!
Athenakitty: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Magical. Thanks for your review!
The Shadow Bandit: Hope this was a nice surprise for you. Thanks for your constant support and reviews!
Harry stumbled out of the Floo while Severus still managed to look graceful. "I will never figure out how you are able to do that." Harry complained while Severus brushed off the little dust that he had managed to gain from his trip.
"Time and practice, Liam, time and practice." Harry blinked at the choice of name and smiled. His father had remembered his decision to hide his identity for now. That was very nice of him.
Snape walked over to the receptionist and spoke with her in a low voice. Liam looked around the office. It looked very much like a normal doctor's office, except for the floating candles that served as lights and the phoenix sitting in the corner, as well as the owls that swooped in and out of a window. "Liam." Snape said, motioning him over. "Paperwork." Liam nodded and started filling out the paperwork, using his Muggle address and profession on the requested lines. It was a little difficult to get used to the quill again without looking too troubled by it, but the receptionist didn't seem to mind.
"Thank you." She said as he handed the forms back to her. "The doctor will see you in just a moment." She told the two men. Snape motioned Liam to a seat and took his own, unfolding his newspaper. Liam wondered what was going to happen and asked Severus the same question. He had never been to a mediwizard before and wondered if it would be like Madame Pomfrey.
"He'll just cast a few spells on you to diagnose what is wrong, cast a few others to set anything wrong right, and prescribe some potions if you need them." Snape told him. Liam nodded and sighed. "What's wrong, Liam?" Snape asked quietly, glad that they were the only ones in the room.
"What about my scars?" He asked.
"You have several." Severus told him.
"I know. I just don't like others to see them." Liam told him honestly.
"The man is a medical professional. He is a good friend of mine and I'm sure he's seen scarring before." He paused, taking in Liam's obvious nervousness. "Liam, have you ever been to see a regular doctor?" Liam shook his head.
"I was blessed with good health as a child." He muttered. That meant, 'the Dursleys could have cared less about my health as a child' to Severus.
"Would you like me to come back with you?" Severus asked. Liam appeared to struggle with himself on that. Accepting meant that he was a little scared of the unknown, and not accepting... He nodded before he had a chance to talk himself into the fact that he was going to be fine. "All right." Severus patted the hand resting on Liam's knee. Liam smiled in acknowledgement and settled himself into his chair, waiting for the doctor. The receptionist called his name far too soon for Liam's comfort and the two men went back with her to a small examination room.
"At least the walls are white." Liam said. Severus wondered at the comment and looked at his son. He motioned for Liam to sit on the examination table while he took the seat in the corner where he would be out of the way of the doctor. Liam folded his arms across his chest and kicked his feet back and forth. Severus wondered if he should have given the boy a calming draught before they left, because Liam was obviously uncomfortable with the whole situation.
"Are you okay?" Severus asked. Liam nodded, not saying anything. He wasn't okay. He was a basket of nerves. He felt like tearing from the room and running back to his Muggle house and curling up in his bed. After locking the door and grabbing his cricket bat. He looked up as the door opened and a man walked in.
"Hello, Severus!" the man greeted Severus in the corner. "It is so nice to see you under normal circumstances, of course." He let out a loud laugh while he shook Severus's hand.
"Hello, Galen." Severus said, returning the handshake and smile. "This is Liam, the young man I owled you about." Severus said, motioning towards Liam. "Liam, this is Doctor Galen Saeed. He's an old friend of mine from university." Liam swallowed and took the man's offered hand. "Galen, Liam Harrison." Galen smiled at Liam and took a seat.
"It is nice to meet you, Liam. Severus told me a little about your injuries you received during the way, but is there anything that you would like to tell me?" Liam shrugged.
"I was treated by Muggles." He told him. From Severus's face, he knew that the man forgot to add that little detail to the doctor's information. The doctor paled.
"You poor boy." He said with as much drama he could muster. The doctor's statement brought Fred and George to mind and caused Liam to smile a little bit. "Well, let's see the damage they did." He turned and pulled out his wand. "Shirt off, please." Liam looked to Severus for reassurance as he undid the buttons on his shirt. He slid it off his shoulders and ignored the slight intake of air from his father. The doctor said nothing and started looking him over, allowed a quill to magically take down what he was saying. As the possible causes of each scar was given and Liam confirmed what had been said, Severus grew more and more angry. Had not the other Death Eaters already died, they would be dead now.
"Deep scarring across the wrists, horizontally. Possibly causes could be an accident, restraints of some kind, or attempts at suicide." He looked to Liam for confirmation, who only mumbled that the last guess was correct. "Correct in assumption of suicide attempt." Snape sighed. When had his son tried that particular method of ending his problems? He wasn't sure whether or not he should approach it, and in fact was not sure how to start on such a delicate subject with this man who was now his son. Would the boy still be having such thoughts, or was he completely recovered? How old were his scars? When had he tried, how long ago, and how many times? "Once, it appears, several years ago." Galen said to the quill as he continued to run the wand over Harry. There, questions answered. The largest however, still was why.
The rest of the examination went quickly, with Galen looking at Harry's range of motion in his leg. Severus watched as Harry gritted his teeth and moved his leg as the doctor said. His son was a remarkable person, all in all. He was intelligent, thoughtful, and stubborn to a fault. Severus made a mental note to see if he could not change his son's ideas on that particular trait.
"All right, Liam. That should do it for now." Galen said. "I'm going to give you some prescriptions for potions that should help ease your movement in that leg of yours. There is very little I can do for your scars besides fade them. They won't go away completely, but they'll be less noticeable. I assume that you do some kind of exercises for your leg?" Harry nodded. "Good, continue doing them as long as you're comfortable with them. With your permission, I'll consult some of my colleagues about your leg and see if any of them have the knowledge to give you some better movement."
"Thank you, Dr. Saeed." Liam said, pulling his robes back on over his now buttoned shirt. "That would be nice." Dr. Saeed only nodded and wished the both of them a good day after handing Liam a slip of parchment with all the potions he thought would help. The minute they were out of the office, Severus snatched the small parchment and read through it.
"These are easily made. In fact, I think I have most of them already in stores." Harry rolled his eyes. He could just see Severus doing nothing but brewing potions for hours on end to make sure that neither Hogwarts nor his own home went without the more useful potions. "What?" Severus asked, seeing Harry's face.
"Nothing, Severus." Harry answered. The two reached the Floo and headed back home, again with Harry stumbling and Severus just stepping out. "I hate the Floo." Harry mumbled. Lucky appeared out of nowhere and scoured the soot off the wizards and their clothes, muttering something about soot getting everywhere. Severus endured these actions with the air of someone who had silent suffering in relation to the elf's actions, and had experienced it before. Severus looked over Harry before leaving for his dungeons.
"Are you alright?" Severus asked his son before leaving the room. Harry nodded.
"I think that I'm going to go find Nan and ask her for more embarrassing stories about you." Harry answered. Severus nodded. He would ask the boy later about his suicide attempts. Now, he had potions to brew. Severus swept out of the room and down to his laboratory. Harry called Lucky and asked where Gran was. He thanked the elf and went to find his grandmother in the sunroom.
"Hello, Gran." Harry greeted from the doorway. Gran looked up and smiled in Harry's direction.
"Hello, Harry. How was your visit to the mediwizard's office?" She asked, closing her Braille book.
"It was okay, actually. Not too different from the school's nurse when I attended Hogwarts." He answered, coming over and taking a seat next to Gran. "What are you reading?" Gran's face broke out into a broad smile at the mention of her book.
"Pride and Prejudice. Muggle, I know, but that Mr. Darcy!" she sighed like a schoolgirl while Harry gave a small chuckle. He had read it on the insistence of Mr. Davidson's wife, and he had liked it, but not loved it as Gran obviously did. She sighed again and set the book aside. "I'm guessing that your father is ensconced in his laboratory, preparing some kind of potion?" She asked.
"Yes, something about one of the potions not being in his stores." Harry answered. Gran chuckled and sighed.
"Merlin forbid." She whispered in a conspirator's tone to Harry. Harry smiled and took her hand. He was really starting to enjoy her company. "Well now, how are we going to occupy ourselves Harry?" She asked, getting to her feet and taking Harry's arm. Harry shrugged with that arm, knowing Gran would be able to feel it. "I've an idea. Come on now." She called out her house elf's name and steered Harry towards the fire place.
"Um, Gran? What are we doing?" He asked as Gran took some Floo powder and handed it to Harry.
"Diagon Alley, Harry. Sadie, guide me after Harry goes through." Sadie motioned for Harry to go first. Well, if Gran wanted to go to Diagon Alley, Harry was happy to take her, but he had a feeling that there was more to this than just a shopping trip of some kind. He watched Gran step out of the Floo and figured that that was where Severus had gained his talent for flawless landings. He made a note to himself to ask Gran to teach him later. "Madame Malkin's, Harry." She told him, ushering him towards the street. Harry offered her his arm and she accepted gratefully.
"Why are we going to Madame Malkin's?" Harry asked.
"It's a surprise, now let's just get there!" She told him, her smile showing her excitement. Harry led her through the street and to the shop. The little bell jingled merrily as the trio entered, the house elf hovering anxiously. Madame Malkin came out herself and smiled when she saw Gran.
"Why, Mrs. Snape, it's been too long!" She said, coming over and taking Gran's hand. "And who is this young man? It's not Severus, is it?" She asked, taking in Harry's scars.
"No, no. This is Severus's son. I daresay you've met him before." Madame Malkin looked at Harry with no recognition in her eyes. "Now, we came in here for a riding habit for the boy." Harry looked up, surprised at her. Madame Malkin had him up on a stool in a second flat and the measuring tape started flying around.
"Um, Gran? You do know that it'll be unlikely that my leg will allow me to ride?" Harry asked.
"Nonsense. Let Madame Malkin do her work, there's a good lad." Harry rolled her eyes and quit fighting the measuring tape. Madame Malkin waited on him herself and brought out several color swatches and fabrics.
"Did you have any ideas as to how you wanted them to look, Mrs. Snape?" Madame Malkin asked as she started holding up fabrics to Harry's face.
"Do you remember how Severus's looks?" Gran asked.
"Yes, I do? Just like them, then?" With Gran's permission, Madame Malkin cast a spell on some scissors, which immediately went to work over three different kinds of fabric. Harry watched, fascinated, for he had never really seen this kind of spell before. It was like they almost had brains. Never mind, he reminded himself, been there, done that. Ten minutes later, Madame Malkin returned with an entire habit folded in her arms, which she promptly handed to Harry and firmly pushed him to the changing rooms. Harry came out five minutes later and faced Madame Malkin. "Wonderful!" she expressed. Gran smiled, but was not even looking towards Harry. Harry bit his lip and turned towards the mirror. He definitely looked like Severus now.
"I'm sure it is, Madame Malkin." Gran said from behind Harry. Harry reached for his magic, not something he did often, and fixed a firm picture in his mind of what he looked like. He then reached for Gran's mind and touched it, giving her his picture. Harry knew that he had succeeded when he heard Gran's small gasp. "Yes, it is indeed." She told Harry. "Thank you, dear." Harry gave her a one armed hug before he begged to go and change back into his other robes. "This will make a fine surprise for Severus."
Reviews:
JE aka Yessina: Thank you! Sorry it took so long!
Rachel A. Prongs: Thanks! Thanks for your continued support!
Trallgorda: Thanks sis! This update is a fluke. Glad you liked it and it reminded you of our fav guardian.
Vasquez1987: Yes there is. More soon. Thanks for reviewing!
Enhama: Thanks! Glad you liked it. Thanks for reviewing!
Emeraldtwinklingstar: Sorry about the long wait. Killer times, let me tell you. Thanks for reviewing!
Whitewolf628: Thank you!
Silverfated: Thanks!
Kateri1: Thank you!
Athenakitty: Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Magical. Thanks for your review!
The Shadow Bandit: Hope this was a nice surprise for you. Thanks for your constant support and reviews!