"Papa!" The child yelled once more, before letting go of the Slytherin's leg and gesturing his hands up, a sign of wanting to be carried. "Papa!"
Lily was the first, once again, to recover from the shock, walking closer to the child, kneeling next to him and prompting him. "Severus is your dad?" she asked the child, who nodded vigorously, before returning to looking at his papa with outstretched arms. "Papa, up!" the child demanded.
This shook Severus out of his stupor, as he startled backwards, staring at the child with fear and disgust.
"There is absolutely no way this waddling snot machine is my child!" he yelled, in complete disbelief.
"Severus!" Lily reprimanded with a stern look on her face, effectively shutting him up. She glanced over at the child next to her, whose smile had faded as the child acknowledge the lack of a positive response from his papa. The child scrunched up his face, determined to get his way, before toddling over to the raven, hands still outstretched. "Papa!"
Severus took another step back in defense, causing the child to pause, his hands faltering and retreating back to his body. The child looked down sadly, then stomped his feet, looking up at his papa with tears in his eyes, making Severus's supposedly black heart clench.
"Papa…" he said, voice cracking and tears falling out of his eyes. He took another step forwards, stretching his arms out towards Severus once again. "Papa, carry, pwease," he sobbed, the words distorted by the sorrow in his tone.
Severus wanted to ignore the child gesturing to him. He wanted to forget this all happened. He wanted to go back in time and avoid going down this hall of tapestries, because then his life wouldn't have gotten so much more complicated. He wouldn't have this child in front of him calling him papa.
However, despite everything he told himself and everything he tried to convince himself of, every single sound of despair from the child in front of him was making his heart clench, making him feel sick. He didn't know why. All he knew was that he wanted this child to stop crying. Not because it was annoying, but because he didn't want the child to feel this heart wrenching unhappiness (maybe a little because it was annoying).
Relenting, the Slytherin moved forward and scooped the child into his arms, holding him to his chest. The child immediately stopped crying, grasping the raven's cloak in his chubby hand, smiling lovingly up towards the Slytherin. Severus felt a strange, warm feeling in his chest as the child snuggled into him.
"I think he is your child, Sev," the man heard from behind him. Severus spun around, surprised. Due to his attention on the child, he hadn't noticed Lily moving to look at the child over his shoulder.
"Look," she murmured, gesturing to the child's face, who had been curiously looking at the redhead. "He has your eyes."
Severus turned his head to look closely at the child, who had turned his attention back onto his papa, and the Gryffindor was right: The child's dark, midnight blue eyes matched Severus' perfectly. Only the child had adorable big doe eyes, instead of the beady, pointed pair that adorned his own face.
Lily must have noticed the scrunch on her friend's face as he contemplated their eyes, as she began to giggle. "Severus, I know exactly what you are thinking, and I already told you, you don't have small eyes! In fact, your eyes are bigger than normal, and I will not have this conversation with you again!" she stammered laughing, walking to move in front of her friend.
She leaned forward, attention on the child as she began to investigate. "So, Severus is your papa?" she asked again, leading her to her next question when the boy nodded. Lily bit her lip, grinning as she looked up at the raven, then looked back down to the child.
"Well then, do you know who your mommy is?" Lily said, with the notion that she was being sly. Severus gaped at her, mouth open as he tried to formulate his thoughts.
"Lily!" the Slytherin whispered harshly towards her as she chuckled. Their attention was then caught when the child shook his head in answer to her question.
"I don't have mommy," he said, moving to put his index and middle finger in his mouth and sucking. Severus and Lily made eye contact. Lily looked shocked, but then her expression twisted, looking very apologetic.
"So you're a single dad… I'm sorry, Sev," She whispered, lost in thought, only meaning for her best friend to hear. However, the child overheard her, and he contradicted her around the wet fingers in his mouth.
"No! I have papa and daddy," he said, grinning before resting his head on his papa's chest, letting the fingers fall onto his papa's robes, smearing saliva onto the black fabric. He was unaware of the effect of his words on the two students around him, who both swivelled to stare at each other in shock, mouths gaping.
"You're gay, Severus!" Lily half yelled, not really asking a question of her friend. Severus merely looked shocked and confused. He subconsciously tightened his hold on the warm body in his arms, chin lightly resting in the tangle of dark soft hair as he pondered the information revealed to him. The child smiled, snuggling closer.
"I don't know," he answered, lost in thought, eyes dazed. "I guess I just never tried to figure out my preferences. I always thought I'd be… alone… in life."
"Well, clearly you won't be alone, Severus," Lily assured, smiling at him. "I mean, you are currently carrying your future child." She gestured to the boy in his arms, who giggled cutely, grabbing onto Severus' robes with both hands as the slytherin adjusted his grip. The boy looked up at his papa, giggling and smiling, to which Severus couldn't help but smile back. Lily nearly cooed at the two of them. Until she realized the gravity of the words she had just uttered.
"Severus, I think we need to go to Professor Dumbledore," Lily uttered. Severus looked over at her, in the process of moving the child onto his hip. "I mean, he's adorable, and I'm so glad that we know that you'll have him, but you shouldn't know this. He shouldn't be here. He needs to be back in his time."
She gasped and looked up at her friend half-mockingly, hand going to cover her mouth in fake shock. "Unless-!"
"No Lily, I have not had any relations so far that could have even remotely resulted in a child," Severus deadpanned, dismissing the thought. The child watched the interaction, chuckling at the exaggeration.
The two, or more accurately two with a third on one's hip, headed for the Headmaster's tower, cutting through secret passages at Severus' wish to avoid other nosy students who would spread some nasty rumors if the two were caught. Soon they found themselves in front of the headmasters door, next to the gargoyle, as they debated passwords.
"It's some kind of muggle candy, correct? It must be, the headmaster is crazy for those," Lily debated, glaring at the gargoyle.
Severus raised an eyebrow. "I don't think we need to guess every single sweet in the world, Lily. I'm fairly certain we can just knock."
Lily scrunched her nose, doubtful. Nevertheless, she lifted her hand past the gargoyle and rapped three times sharply on the door. The two waited several seconds with no response, but as Lily was about to turn to Severus and make a comment, to her astonishment the gargoyle jumped to the side as the door started creaking, the heavy door swinging inwards.
The two entered, where they found the headmaster seated at his desk with Professor McGonagall standing over him with a stern expression on her face, clearly lecturing him on something. The conversation paused, the professor looking sternly for the interruption until her eyes laid on the child, to which her stern face melted away, replaced by trepidation. The headmaster's expression did not change once he saw the boy. However, his eyes changed from lighthearted to serious.
The two students stood up straight, anxiety rising in the presence of their serious professors. Severus held the boy tighter against him, moving the boy off his hip to his front once again.
The transfiguration professor cleared her throat. "Mr. Snape. Ms. Evans. Do either of you care to tell me why there is a young child in Mr. Snape's arms?"
"Now, now, Minerva," Albus interjected, smiling gently at the three opposite him. "We don't need to intimidate them. They came to us because they had a concern they wanted us to hear. Why not let them speak?" He gestured to the students, encouraging them to talk. Severus steeled himself.
"Well, headmaster," Severus started, wrapping his arm around the child as he thought about the scenario that the boy arrived in. "I was walking with Lily to the astronomy tower when I thought I felt someone else's presence in the hallway. I told whoever it was to come out, but instead of another student, this young boy came out. And, uh…" Severus halted, tightening his hold on the boy even further, unconsciously seeking comfort.
Seeing his hesitation, Lily continued. "And the boy, well," She glanced over to her friend. She took a breath in, then faced the professors again. "The boy called him 'papa'."
All the people in the room glanced over at the father son duo, neither of which were aware of the eyes on them. Albus smiled at the child, who shyly hid in his papa's chest.
"Ahem, well," Minerva started, drawing the attention to herself. "Would one of you please inform me of the child's name?"
Lily bit her lip and made eye contact with Severus, who was looking at her with wide eyes. After Lily's first inquiry with the child, which failed, being left unanswered, it slipped past both of their minds to ask for a name.
Minerva huffed. "Honestly, can't even ask for basic information. You two are supposed to be sixth years!"
"Now then, Minerva," Albus said, quieting the professor. He gestured to the chairs in front of him. "Why don't you three sit down? The young child can sit on Mr. Snape's lap."
The two students sat down, Lily in the right chair and Severus in the left. Severus was carefully holding the child when taking the seat, but then he propped the child up against his torso in his lap, so the child had his back to him. He snaked his arms around the child's middle, resting his head once again in the child's soft, wild hair. Albus observed the two, then once they were finished sitting, with a gentle smile, he directed his attention to the child in front of him.
"So then, child. Do you think you could tell us your name?" Albus prompted, leaning forward on his desk.
The child was burying himself in his papa's lap, sucking on his two main fingers. After a couple of seconds he opened his mouth and responded. "Hawwy," he responded quietly, with a slight adorable lisp from his shy behavior.
"Harry? Such a nice name." Harry smiled, around his fingers, at the headmaster, who smiled back with his own lopsided grin. "Now Harry, do you know how old you are?"
The child nodded, but stayed quiet. The two students shared looks, attempting not to smirk at the lack of success (and failing).
"Could you tell us please?" Albus requested. Harry frowned in concentration, before holding out his spit covered hand, his other arm grabbing onto Severus'. With his exposed hand, he folded in his thumb and pinky, showing three fingers to the professors. "Thwee!" he cried, excited at informing others of his age.
"You're three years old? Now do you think you can tell us about your home?" Albus inquired softly.
Harry frowned once again, but this time, it stayed on his face as he pondered the question. "Well, it's big… and I have lot of toys! And the sun in the big woom feels so wawm! And-" Harry babbled on, but none of the information was relevant to the situation at hand.
"Alright child," Minerva interjected, cutting of the child, who cowered back, eyes big. Her expression softened as she faced the child. "Do you know what year it is?" She asked softly, wanting to grab the situation by the roots.
The boy smiled at her, leaping slightly in his seat from excitement. "It'th 1983!" He answered enthusiastically, smiling broadly, excited at knowing the answer.
This brought a big reaction from the slytherin. "What!?" he cried, in disbelief.
Lily just looked astonished and confused, a strange mix of expressions on her face. "Only six years… that means that Severus must have the child, like, right after Hogwarts!"
"I don't want a child yet!" The raven cried. He was clearly troubled by this piece of information. "I want to work in an apothecary, or in alchemy, after Hogwarts! I can't do that if I have to take care of a child! I-"
"Mr. Snape!" Minerva commanded. Severus flinched. "Please think about where you are, particularly who is with you."
Severus felt a small, warm hand press the exposed skin of his collarbone. He looked down to see Harry looking up at him apologetically. Once he got his attention, the child reached up and laid a gentle hand on his papa's cheek, brushing his chin.
"You okay, papa?" the child asked softly, and Severus couldn't help it. No one had ever given him the raw affection the child had in his eyes. The slytherin's eyes softened, and he smiled.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm sorry if I scared you." The child was satisfied, sitting in his papa's lap, facing the front, though still a little perturbed.
"Now, young man," Albus prompted. "Do you think you could tell us how you got here? What happened? Anything you remember seeing?"
Harry sat in his papa's lap, comfortably, grasping his papa's arm with one chubby hand while sucking the fingers on the other. But he did not attempt to answer. Severus, confused, gently grasped the child's hand, rubbing it gently in his own.
"Harry?" Harry looked up at Severus. "Would you please answer the headmaster's questions?" Harry looked down, contemplating, then shook his head in finality. He adjusted himself in his father's lap, seemingly done answering questions.
The adults, plus two students, looked around the room, making eye contact. It seemed like they weren't going to get anything else out of the child at this moment.
Albus cleared his throat, drawing the attention to him. "Well then, Minerva. Please go fetch Poppy for me." With a nod, the professor left, her cape billowing behind her.
"Would any of you care for a lemon drop? Harry?" the headmaster asked, then directing his attention to the child in front of him. Instead of answering, Harry looked up at Severus, eyes sparkling.
"Papa, can I have?" Harry asked, shyly hiding in the raven's chest when asking, attempting to hide how much he wanted the candy. Severus blinked for a moment, then seriously pondered.
"You can take one if you wish," Severus responded. "But only one." Harry smiled, reaching out to take the candy that was held out by the headmaster. He grabbed it with his chubby fingers, then pushed the sour candy past his lips. He smiled as the sweet taste of sugar filled his mouth.
Lily tapped Severus' shoulder and started chatting with him, passing the time. Albus was simply watching the child enjoy the sweet with a soft smile on his face.
Harry, having been impatient and biting his candy into small easily swallowed pieces, had finished his candy. But as he sneakily attempted to take another one, have reaching out with anticipation, the door veered open. Minerva entered swiftly, being followed by the intimidating school nurse. Harry glowered in his papa's lap, upset at the lack of another candy. His expression brightened as Severus wrapped a tight arm around him, however.
"Poppy, if you would, please," Albus stated, suddenly serious as the nurse headed over to Harry, seemingly investigating the boy, tilted his head left and right.
"I'll need to do a proper check up on him, of course," Madam Pomfrey answered, directed at Albus. "However, it does seem like there are no physical issues from travelling through time, at least from a first glance."
"All right, Mr. Snape. If you could please hand the boy over to Madam Pomfrey. She will take care of the young lad during his stay here," Minerva urged.
Severus picked Harry up, who face was scrunched up, confused at what was happening. Once he felt the hold of his papa loosening around him, and the grip of another around him, he was done.
The moment Severus let go of his hold on Harry, the boy started shrieking at the top of his lungs. He full on wailed, tears streaming down his face in anguish as he pushed against Madam Pomfrey, attempting to get back to Severus. He squirmed heavily, nearly throwing himself out of the nurse's grip.
Severus' heart clenched when he heard the anguished cries, and before he knew it, he had moved forward and taken Harry back. He held him gently in his arms, holding the boy's head to his chest, running his hand through his hair. The child immediately stopped wailing, the only sign of the tantrum being the small sniffles coming from the boy and the wide, watery eyes as he buried his head into his papa's chest.
Madam Pomfrey reached out in an attempt to try to take the child again, but she halted when she felt an old, calloused hand wrapping around her wrist.
"We can do the examination later, Poppy," the headmaster stated. "Perhaps on a day where young Harry does not experience as much excitement as he did today. What we must discuss now would be which rooms would be suitable for the lad and Mr. Snape."
"What!?" Severus exclaimed. "But I already live in the Slytherin dorms!"
"Yes, but we must take into account that the young lad does not want to be separated from you, and frankly I don't think we could separate you two if we tried," Minerva countered. Harry curled his fingers around the Slytherin's cloak, squeezing his fist tightly. "And it would be much more beneficial for you to have a space of your own to take care of the child rather than a room with four other adolescent boys."
"We have that old staff room, the one on the third floor that overlooks the Great Lake." Madam Pomfrey interjected, having been simply listening to the conversation.
"Perfect!" Albus proclaimed. "Well, then, Mr. Snape. I will send for house elves to prepare the room for you and pack up your stuff."
"But what about what Harry needs? I don't have anything a child needs," Severus asked, frantic. "And what about my classes!? You can't expect me to skip my classes, I'm at the top of my year!" Severus grew angrier the more his concerns spilled out, ending with him glaring at the adults in the room, disregarding that they were his professors.
"The house elves will provide everything a child would need in the room, do not worry," Albus calmly refuted. "And as for the matter of classes, it shouldn't be a problem for him to accompany you. I plan on informing the other professors about this regardless. As for the school, I can make an announcement about the situation tomorrow in the Great Hall during breakfast. There are no classes tomorrow, so you can accompany Harry. Perhaps show him around campus tomorrow?"
Throughout the entirety of the headmasters proclamation, Severus stood there with his jaw agape, eyebrows furrowed in barely concealed fury. But as the raven was about to start a yelling match, he felt a tug on his cloak.
Looking down into his arms, he saw the big beautiful eyes of the child, waiting to make sure his papa was looking before directing a big, joyful smile at his papa, before moving forward and wrapping his stubby arms halfway around his papa in the attempt of a hug. Once his arms were satisfyingly around the larger male, Harry once again directed the biggest smile at the Slytherin, who was simply flabbergasted.
Severus felt all his anger melt away from the radiance of the child's smile, as he wrapped his arms tightly around Harry, returning the hug.
The two students stood up at the direction of the professors, who started herding everyone out. Albus summoned a house elf, giving the commands previously discussed, before sending the elf away. Madam Pomfrey left the group, having been away from the infirmary for "much too long!" (in her words).
Once the remaining five had exited the headmaster's office, Minerva sent Lily back to her common room, exclaiming that the issue no longer concerned her. Lily was miffed, until she was informed that she will be able to visit Severus and Harry in the new room, to which her mood brightened heavily, strutting away from her friend with a mere "Good luck!"
The four left started up towards the new room, Albus directing them. However, they didn't take more than several steps before Harry turned in Severus' grip, asking for his attention.
"Papa!" He called, waiting for his papa's attention. Severus halted, directing his attention towards the child. Just past him, the two professors also paused, waiting.
"Papa! We need to go back to woom of carpets!" the child uttered, adamant.
"Room of carpets…? Oh, the hallway of tapestries? Why do you need to go back there?" Severus asked, genuinely curious as to why the child wanted to go back there.
"My plushie is there. I need my plushie!" Harry stated, stubborn.
Severus just stared at the child, but as he looked up to see the small smirks on the faces of his professors, he knew what he had to do. "Uh, yeah, sure..." he said, uncertain, looking off to the side. The professors just smiled at him, to which he glared.
The three took a detour from their journey, making a stop at the hallway of tapestries where all of this started. Severus found himself hesitating unconsciously for a split second, before marching forward into the hall.
Once they had crossed the halfway point Harry squirmed in his papa's arms. Severus lowered him to the ground, where the boy started stumbling and running over to the tapestry he had first hidden behind. He disappeared behind it, then emerged, cradling a stuffed phoenix plush toy in his arms.
As he approached Severus, he held his arms out, as the universal sign of wanting to be carried. Severus absentmindedly picked him up again, attention having been focused on the plush toy instead. Harry noticed, and he giggled cutely, hiding behind the plushie before pushing the plushy into his papa's face. He laughed at the bewildered expression on his papa's face, then snuggled into the raven's chest, cuddling the plushie.
The three adults (or near adults, in Severus' case) headed to the third floor, approaching the room that the father and child would be living in for an indefinite amount of time. Once they got to the room, the headmaster turned to Severus.
"Since this is to be your room, I will allow you to select your password for the door." The portrait, which was of a young, beautiful blonde woman in Victorian-esque fashion, boredly looked over at the slytherin, waiting.
Severus thought hard, despite his mind blanking on any terms, but once he felt slight shifting in his arms, and he looked down to see Harry asleep in his arms, babbling softly in sleep, he knew exactly what he would use.
"I want the password to be… trust," Severus expressed, shyly looking away, not making eye contact with anyone. However, he found his eyes drawn to the sleeping child in his arms, and as he started observing the boy, he smiled softly, brushing his chin against the soft dark hair.
Albus smiled as well, looking at the two. "Trust it shall be then." He nodded at the portrayed woman, who rolled her eyes, but nevertheless allowed the wall behind her to swing open, revealing the contents of the room. "We will leave you here, Mr. Snape. We wish you the best of luck." And with that, the two professors departed.
Severus watched them leave, then turned towards the doorway, taking a deep breath. He stepped inside, looking around the room with wonderment.
The room as a whole was about the size of his dorm room, which was amazing to him, since that housed five people, and this would only house one and a half. The walls were painted white and green. Not Slytherin green, Severus noticed, but a lighter, more pastel shade. But what really got his attention were the contents of the room.
There was one full sized bed along the back wall, fully made with sheets and more pillows that one person could possibly need. There was a nightstand to the left of the bed, which held a small night lamp on it. Near the nightstand, against the wall with the front entrance, was a desk, equipped with several drawers and a chair, inkpot and feather already placed on it. Opposite the bed was a large dresser, in a slightly darker shade of green than the walls. On the other side of the dressers, there was a decently large playpen, with a basket of plushies and toys propped up and ready. On the right side of the bed was a white door, that Severus assumed led to the bathroom.
Despite his desire to look through the contents of both the room and the presumed bathroom, Severus had a more pressing concern at hand. Namely the sleeping child in his hands.
Carefully, as he tried not to wake up Harry, he shifted to holding the child with only one hand. Moving towards the bed, he pulled the blanket to the side, and using both hands, he gently placed Harry on the bed. He tenderly placed the blanket over the child, tucking it over him, not wanting him to get cold.
Severus then moved over to the desk, gently pulling the chair out to be as quiet as possible before sitting, gently moving the chair forward so he was level with the desk. He then placed his head in his hands, then slumped onto the desk as he pondered exactly what happened in the last several hours.
