Severus couldn't believe he had gotten used to this scenario. It had only been a week since the first day he brought Harry to his classes, but now all the students in his classes and his teachers were used to seeing the two of them. There were definitely still people looking over at them and whispering to each other, but it had changed from confused, wary speculations to excited chatter and squeals about Harry. They stopped tiptoeing around Severus and just spoke outright about how cute Harry was.
I mean, Severus couldn't disagree with them.
Severus wasn't used to the sudden rush of people coming up to him randomly and greeting Harry and asking to carry him. Even more when they accepted his refusal, after a bit of whining usually, and just ruffled the boy's hair. He was used to people not acknowledging him, or if they did, looking at him like he was dirt brought in from the underside of a boot. Not people speaking to him like he was normal.
It was all so strange.
What was even stranger was the constant presence of Potter in his life.
Well, that wasn't strange. The Slytherin quite expected that since he was used to the Gryffindors seeking him out to torment him relentlessly.
No, what was strange was that Potter was acting kind and actually treating him nicely, and even more that their conversations were actually engaging! They spent a lot of time together when Potter would spend time with Harry, and Severus got a shock every time he realized that he was actually enjoying the conversation.
By Merlin's soiled pantaloons, at one point he even found himself laughing at the Gryffindor's jokes!
Another new thing was that Black now seemed to be ignoring him. Severus felt himself stiffen up in the Great Hall a week ago when he noticed the Gryffindor Head speaking to Black and him fuming in response. Severus knew that Professor McGonagall was giving him his detentions for the potions incident earlier that day, and he braced for Black to come seek revenge on him.
Surprisingly, Black did no such thing. The two made eye contact, Severus pausing the hand that was bringing a spoonful of food to Harry's mouth and bracing himself for what he thought would come. Instead, the initial rage that he saw on Black's face settled as his thoughts seemed to drift elsewhere, and the encounter ended with the Gryffindor sticking his tongue out at Severus before returning to his favorite activity of annoying Lupin. Severus was knocked out of his befuddled stupor by Harry's whining, which was irritatingly similar to Potter's because of course it was.
Instead of dwelling on the matter, Severus resolved to just not think about Black whenever possible. That seemed to be the best choice of action.
Severus had just finished his first potion class of the week, where he and Lily spent the class making Veritaserum. Severus was a bit concerned in this class, as Harry clearly hadn't forgotten what had happened the week prior. He stayed in his chair, but unlike other classes where he was bubbly and reciprocated to other's energy, in potions he was quiet and ignored other people in favor of watching his papa, asking after the class if the Slytherin was okay.
It made Severus feel really guilty, even though it really shouldn't have. He didn't want Harry to be so concerned, but he didn't know what to do.
But thankfully, though it pained Severus to say it, Potter actually recognized that Harry was having problems and ended up approaching them after class.
"Hey Se-Snape," Potter began, changing the name he chose to use once Severus glared at him. Harry leaned forward so Severus relinquished his hold to Potter, observing the pair and remarking how stupid he was to not recognize the similarities as he considered the identical bright expressions he was seeing.
Severus braced himself to have to deal with Potter again, but strangely (though it wasn't that strange that everything was strange now ironically) the Gryffindor didn't continue speaking, instead looking at the Slytherin with a gentle smile on his face, which Severus was still off put by, thank you very much. He assuredly was not starting to become used to the warmth he felt when the other smiled at him.
And he assuredly did not feel an urge to smile back at him! What was happening to him?!
Severus finally could not take the comfortable silence anymore and blurted out his confusion. Well, at least one small part of his confusion. "Why are you here? Do you want to spend time with, with Harry again?"
Severus was wondering if he had somehow gotten a concussion without knowing, because he had almost said "me" instead of "Harry" in his question, which did not make any sense whatsoever.
"Actually," James responded. "Today is the day that my parents are coming to campus to meet Harry."
Severus's eyes widened in recognition as he regarded that statement. Even though he had brooded over the remembrance of his family that had burst the nice bubble that he had with Harry, it had somehow slipped his mind that Potter's family would be meeting Harry.
"Okay, so you want to take Harry to meet your parents."
"Well," Potter paused, biting his lip and looking to the side, clearly hesitating which confused Severus. "I wanted you to uh, meet them too."
"Why?" Severus was just confused, not even trying to figure it out himself. Why would Potter want him to come too?
"Uh, no reason. I mean! You probably won't let Harry spend time with me alone, so you may as well come too right?"
This made sense to Severus. After all, in the last week there hasn't been a single time where Severus let Harry out of his sight with any Gryffindor but Lily. But for some reason, Severus had a nagging thought that the Gryffindor was disappointed by what he had ended up saying.
But that made no sense, because that would mean that there was another reason for James to want him to come. Especially for eternal enemies such as them, the Gryffindor should be actively avoiding trying to spend time with him.
"Um, sure. I guess you are right."
Potter smiled brightly at him, and widely swept his arm out in a large gesture. Well, at least as large as the gesture could be with a child on his hips. "Well then, chérie, off we go!"
Severus couldn't stop the slight upturn of the corner of his lips at that. "Chérie? Please Potter, save your pet names for someone who would actually appreciate it."
Potter mocked fake outrage, gasping exaggeratingly loudly. "What? You mean to tell me you not only do not appreciate my hilarious creative genius, but that you also understood what I was saying!?"
Severus's mood soured at that. "I may not be a pureblood like you Potter, but I'm not an idiot."
Severus was about to walk past him in a bid of silent rage, but he felt a hand grasping his arm gently and another holding his cloak. Turning, he saw Harry holding his cloak firmly and reaching his other hand out, and Severus shook off the hold on his arm to grab him again. But before he could leave, the arm reappeared around his wrist.
"I'm sorry, Snape." And Severus had to look away from the look of genuine regret on the other's face. He should have been used to everything being so different, but surprises kept popping up and it was still overwhelming. "I really am. I- I don't think before I speak sometimes," and Severus couldn't stop his snort at that. He felt himself flush with embarrassment, but unbeknownst to him, the Gryffindor ended up brightening up and smiling at that. "I… well, I'm an idiot."
"How brave of you to finally admit it, Potter." Severus retorted dryly, but he couldn't stop the smile that came onto his face as he and Potter started walking side by side. "However, I will concede that… maybe… I overreacted." Severus for some reason could not hold eye contact with Potter when the other smiled at that.
Amazingly, the two stayed in a comfortable rhythm on their way to the event, with Potter leading Severus since he didn't know where they were going. But that honestly did not matter to Severus because he was actually… having a good time with Potter. Somehow the other didn't end up saying anything stupid or confrontational. And Harry just triumphantly smiled up at his papa, who didn't understand why the boy would have a smug smile on his face.
Severus was so wrapped up in both the conversation and the awe that the conversation was actually doing well that he was startled by the sinking of his feet into grass. He didn't realize that Potter had led him outside. But the other just grabbed his arm to prevent him from falling. "We're almost there. It should be just around the corner."
Severus braced himself to have to interact with the people that created, well, the abomination next to him, but as he turned the corner to look out onto the field, his eyes widened in shock at what he saw.
"Mrs. Evans?"
Severus almost couldn't believe what he was seeing, but there they were. Lily's mother and father were both here. But why?
"Severus!" The madam of the Evans household swiftly made her way over to the surprised Slytherin and wrapped him up in a bear hug, letting go after Severus pushed back against her arms. "It is so good to see you! You must come and visit more often. And please, call me Evelyn."
Severus retreated a bit, stepping back. He wasn't used to such motherly affection, or affection in general rather, and even though he knew it was genuine it was hard to accept that someone was giving him that. Having Harry around helped, but he still was not used to people being kind. "Okay Mrs. Evans."
"Evelyn!"
"... Evelyn."
"Good. Now, is that the darling baby I've heard about?" Evelyn gasped as James brought Harry over to her, and she gasped once again when Harry exclaimed "Nanny Ev'lyn!"
Severus felt a smile come onto his face at that. He always knew the Evans head of households were amazing, and so knowing that Harry would be exposed to them was heartwarming for him. Although he did hope that the boy had never met Petunia, who had always been pretty mean and discriminatory to not only him but Lily as well.
Severus was startled out of his stupor when he felt a hand on his shoulder, and assuming it was Potter being too friendly, turned to face them to reprimand them. That notion died off once he locked eyes with Mr. Evans.
"Severus, Evelyn and I will always have a place for you at our house. It was hard on all of us, especially Lily, when the two of you weren't speaking. However, now that things have been resolved, I implore you to please come over more often. We all would love to spend more time with you. Well, maybe except for Petunia. And please, before you respond, call me Charlie."
Severus was at a loss for words. He could feel his throat start to hurt inside, and tears threatened to start forming in his eyes. But instead, he steeled himself and smiled at the other. "Yes, M- Charles."
The older man smiled gently at him, as if he could read the Slytherin's mind. He gave him two pats on the shoulder before moving over to his wife, who was fawning over their grandchild, still being held by James. Severus observed that Harry was clearly enjoying the attention and he felt more happiness at knowing that the child would have such loving influences in his life. His stupor was broken when Harry called for him and demanded to be held.
After spending some time with the Evans, with Harry speaking excitedly about everything that he had experienced in the castle, Severus was puzzled when Charles put his hand on Evelyn's shoulder and the two had a silent conversation, resulting in them stepping back. "Well, the two of us have had a lovely time with the young lad, but I believe there is another couple that has been waiting patiently, so we will take a step back for now."
Severus did not have time to ponder before Potter came along and grasped his hand gently, steering the two away from the Evans.
"How did you...?" Severus started, looking at the Gryffindor questioningly.
"I talked to Evans. I knew you two grew up in the same area, and I know you didn't want your parents coming, but I thought that perhaps you were acquainted with her parents, and if so then I wanted to ask her to consider bringing them for you. She agreed and, well, here they are."
Severus was taken aback. First because Potter did not inquire about his parents or why he wouldn't want them to meet Harry. Second because he just couldn't comprehend Potter doing something like this. For him?
That does not make any sense.
Besides that, Severus could not believe he had forgotten again that he was going to meet the Potters, but the appearance of the familiar faces had startled him enough for it to slip his mind.
Severus had been lost in thought long enough to not realize that Potter had stopped dragging him. Severus wanted to brace himself for meeting the Gryffindor's parents, but was unable to when he came out of his trance and looked forward. And when he did, he was startled again (though he hoped that it did not show). He did not expect this when imagining the Potter family.
Before him were two very nice looking people, but what was surprising was how old they were, or at least appeared to be. The male head of house had grey hair that was peppered with individual brown ones, while his spouse had a fully grey head of hair. Severus could somewhat see a resemblance between the father and Potter, but there was not nearly as stark a similarity as with Potter and Harry, as for one example the father happened to have short, straight hair. The mother had incredibly wavy hair, which is where Severus assumed the messy aspect of the Gryffindor's hair came from.
"Mother, father, this is Severus, and in his arms is Harry. Our child."
Hearing Potter speak, and acknowledge the shared parenthood, from next to him surprised the Slytherin. It was enough to get him to pay attention as he started to feel guilty about his shock and fascination as he glanced at Potter's encouraging smile and handed over Harry to the older man.
Harry immediately brightened up and exclaimed, "Grampfy Fleamon'!" Potter's father- Fleamont smiled at the boy in his arms, before his wife started twiddling her fingers in front of the child's face to get the boy's attention. Harry looked over to her, but did not say anything, which surprised Severus. Although once she started talking to Harry the boy became elated and started babbling to the two, who were gently going along with it.
Severus looked over to the Gryffindor, a bit befuddled at the boy's reaction. He was planning to speak up about his confusion, but couldn't get the words out when he saw the other's expression.
Potter looked strained, with a resigned look with a sad smile. Severus just watched as he straightened his expression and with a big smile expressed to his parents his desire to have them spend time with Harry, before grabbing the Slytherin's hand and starting to walk away from the couple with the expression returning as he turned his back.
Severus did not understand why Potter had that expression on his face. And he didn't understand the sharp pang in his chest when he saw that.
Maybe it was because the other looked so much like Harry that seeing him sad reminded him of seeing Harry sad and it made him paternal?
Severus blinked and started heeding the other when Potter started talking. "You were surprised when you saw my parents, right?"
Severus immediately looked down, feeling ashamed. Potter just smiled sadly, slightly raising an eyebrow to convey his understanding before continuing. "My parents were wed young because of pureblood customs, but despite trying they couldn't procure an heir for many years. My mom eventually got pregnant with me, but that plus the labor left her so weak that they could not afford to have her get pregnant again, along with her age at the time of course. Her health never fully recovered. My parents were always worried that because of their age that they'd never get to meet their grandchild and well, I know since-" And Potter cut off, looking down with his resigned expression, but without the smile this time.
At this point the two had stopped walking. Severus acknowledged that the other's hand was still around his wrist, but he found that he did not care about that right now. He for some reason wanted to know why Potter was sad. Probably because it was such a change from what Severus saw from the Gryffindor all those years in school.
He waited a bit for Potter to continue, but when he didn't the raven prompted him. "Since what?"
Potter looked at him dejectedly, letting go of his wrist. "You didn't notice?" At Severus's confused expression the Gryffindor simply chuckled woefully.
"Harry didn't recognize my mum."
Severus's eyes widened at that realization. He grabbed the Gryffindor's arm as he contemplated the repercussions of that. "Oh no. I'm… I'm so sorry."
He could see the Gryffindor blinking quickly, and Severus knew that he was blinking tears away. The Gryffindor put on a smile and faced the other, who was frozen in his gaze. "Don't be sorry. If anything, I'm grateful that you allowed them to meet Harry. So, thank you for that."
Severus was at a loss. This was all so overwhelming to him. He never wanted to know more about Potter, but now that he did he just… didn't understand what he was feeling. He just knew he did not like the other being unhappy, but he didn't understand that either. All of this is unfamiliar, that's why, he thought.
Potter sighed beside him, looking on with resigned determination. "At least I know now so I can make an effort to spend more time with her."
Severus stayed silent, still full of dismay over the realization. Potter smiled at him, but unlike the one he gave to his parents, this one was genuine. "Hey, it's okay. I knew my parents would… pass on sooner than I ever wanted."
"It's just… your mum seems so kind from the one interaction I've had with her."
Potter genuinely laughed this time, bringing a hand up to mess up his hair. "She's the kindest woman you'll ever meet. She's also really intelligent and has helped me out with my issues on numerous occasions."
"Well, that means your tomfoolery came from nowhere. Unless your father is amused by that stuff as well?"
Potter laughed at that again, and Severus will never admit that it made him feel warm to know that Potter was cheering up. "Yeah, I've caused my parents a lot of grief over the years. Meeting Padfoot didn't help matters." He looked back at his parents and turned towards them, causing the Slytherin to do the same. "I'm sure Harry is going through withdrawal right now, so how about we head back towards my parents?"
Severus huffed, rolling his eyes with a smile. "Excuse me, Harry and I have a very healthy relationship."
"Are you sure?"
Severus was jokingly affronted at that, retaliating with his sharp tongue. The two started strolling back, bantering gently along the way. Severus was having a good time conversing with the other before the Gryffindor broke their easy jesting with something that paralyzed the Slytherin in place.
"Do you think you can call me James now?"
Severus was stiff, mouth open with no words coming out as he processed this absurd request. But eventually, for some reason, against his better judgement, he agreed. "Okay."
Potter's- James's eyebrows shot up as he moved towards the other, causing Severus to take a step back. "Really? Then... can I call you Sev?
"No. Only Lily can call me Sev."
"Then Severus?"
The Slytherin was itching to say no, but one look at the Gryffindor's hopeful, hesitant expression and he again for some reason found his rejection crumbling. "I suppose so."
James beamed at him before starting his pace again. As Severus was pulled forward he realized that he never let go of the Gryffindor's arm that he grabbed. His hand jerked away, moving to fiddle with his robe and leaving him with many unanswered questions, the main one being why didn't Pot- James shrug his arm off in all that time?
Thankfully the Gryffindor didn't notice his inner turmoil, and the two managed to make their way towards Harry and the Potters peacefully. Or at least as peacefully as Severus could be with everything that happened swirling around his head.
