Three days later a Polyjuiced Tobias Snape put on fairly new chinos and a pressed shirt and an equally Polyjuiced Valerie donned her second-best accountant suit. They borrowed a car from one of her Manchester friends and took care to park out of view of 4, Privet Drive. The purpose of their visit today was reconnaissance. Armed with a clipboard and several official looking forms collected from three different Social Service departments they got Vernon Dursley to invite them in under the guise of evaluating government grants for foster children, letting the man assume that he could possibly get a refund. Petunia and their son were fortunately absent while the obese man extolled on the difficulties of taking in the disturbed son of his deceased sister-in-law. It soon became clear that they had to take the boy away immediately.
After he showed them the cupboard under the stairs Valerie had to grit her teeth when listening to the explanation that this closed place was good for traumatised children according to several very expensive child psychiatrists. Hinting again at a refund and her fear that Dudley might be unduly influenced by such a difficult cousin she got Dursley as far as thinking that turning the responsibility for his troublesome nephew over to someone else was his own idea. At this point Toby interfered and asked to see Harry. He was somewhat more prepared for the boy's appearance than Val, who could not suppress a gasp as Dursley dragged a small boy by his stick-thin arms into the kitchen.
"Boy, you talk to the nice lady and tell her what we do for you! And no funny business, or else – " the man uttered before placing himself in the boy's line of sight, hooking his thumbs under his belt. Toby managed to wink at the child without Vernon noticing. Harry obviously had been working in the garden, but this alone did not explain his dirty and unkempt appearance. Kneeling in front of the tyke Valerie began to explain that sometimes really troublesome children had to be taken away for special care.
"Mr Dursley, might I trouble you for the boy's documents? That might speed things up."
After his uncle had stomped up the stairs Harry risked a hesitant smile towards Toby, seemingly recognising his voice.
Val addressed him, "Harry, do you want to leave here forever?"
"Oh, yes, Ma'm, please. But don't tell!"
Being attuned to the sounds of the house and his inhabitants the boy rose his voice, "Yes, Ma'am, my aunt and uncle take very good care of me. I do lack nothing."
Valerie played her role as well, "I see you are reluctant to leave your family, but I fear it has to be done. Wait over there while I speak to your guardian."
Sitting down at the kitchen table the young woman dutifully ticked various boxes on her forms before turning to Vernon Dursley, "Mr Dursley, I will make this brief. You have done an admirable job so far but I fear the boy will soon be too much for you and your family. You have to consider your own child. I will have to talk to my superior but we might allow your nephew to stay with you if you agree to a tight supervision of the development of Dudley and to the institutionalisation of Harry at the first sign of trouble."
Predictably `tight supervision´ did not sit well with the man and – after another half hour of finagling guardianship agreements and refunds – a very much put on Val agreed with a sigh to take the child with her immediately. Toby went with the boy to collect his belongings while Val accompanied Vernon Dursley to the attic where she was presented with a box that had belonged to the boy's mother.
They set off, Harry dragging a black rubbish bag. As soon as the child was settled in the car-seat Toby drove off. He took some back roads and, after a few more minutes parked at the side of a field. Val felt the prickle that signalled the end of the Polyjuice potion working. The child tensed, presumable thinking of what happened to children that went away with strangers in a car. When he saw his kidnappers change appearance in front of his very eyes he froze.
Val turned around and introduced them.
"I am sorry, Harry, if we frightened you. We had to pretend to be mean in front of your uncle or he would not have let you go away with us. Toby here told his son, who told me, that you are not treated well. We then decided to get you away from your relatives. Because you are a very special child – "
"Do you mean the freaky stuff? That I can fly to the roof or make my hair grow faster?"
"Yes, partly. Sev, that is Toby's son, will explain more later. First I have a question for you: would you like to live with me as your foster mother? You would have to leave your friends behind, as I live in the North."
"I have no friends. If someone wants to befriend me, Dudley and his gang beat them up. What do you mean live with you? Like with Aunt P'tunia?"
"I hope better. You would have a room of your own, for example."
"Would let me eat every day?"
Val fought valiantly not to tear up while she nodded and Toby's knuckles whitened on the steering wheel.
"If I do not finish my chores, will you take the belt or just your hands?"
"Harry, I will never beat you, either with my bare hands or with anything else."
"Then yes, Miss Valerie, I would like to live at your place."
The boy's stomach rumbled audibly.
"`m sorry, I'm sorry, if I drink some water I'll be quiet."
"Nonsense," Toby said, "I know a small shopping centre not too far away, they have a burger restaurant and we can get some decent clothes for you there as well."
They did just that. After Harry had fallen asleep in the backseat Val asked Toby, who at the shopping centre had chosen a rather remote parking spot because of the cameras how he knew where to avoid cameras so well. He explained about his moonlighting jobs and why it was better not be captured on camera driving the company van of a friend of a friend full of borrowed equipment on a Sunday morning. By the time they approached Cokeworth Harry had woken up again. Toby drove by a Tesco, as Val wanted to make most of the car. She also wanted to grant Harry one item from the sweets aisle. The child took nearly ten minutes to decide and it was clear to his new foster mother that he had taken the cheapest bag of drops he could find. She vowed to change that.
Severus Snape looked like a goldfish when he saw his father, Valerie and a boy no older than five drag bag after bag into his kitchen. Toby introduced him. The boy squinted up at him and the Potions master made a note to himself to get him to an eye-healer as soon as possible.
"H'llo, Mr Sev, sir. Valerie told me you can `splain to me why everything has to be super-secret?"
"Explain is the correct word."
The tensing of Valerie's shoulders reminded him that his automatic teacher's response had been too harsh for an abused child that had it beaten out of him to expect anything from the adults around him. Kneeling down in front of the miniscule child – he had to brew nutrition potions for him – he deliberately gentled his voice, "Yes, Harry, I will explain everything to you. I am a teacher, that's why I correct everyone left and right, it is an automatic response."
Harry relaxed a little bit and seemed to have more questions.
"I live with Valerie in this house but come September I have to go away again until Christmas, as I work in a boarding school in Scotland. Valerie and I went to school with your mother and we know Petunia, which is why we were worried about you, as your Aunt was not a nice girl even then. And for now let me find something for you to play with."
Severus took great care to move his wand visibly and slowly when he raised the legs of a kitchen chair to make it more comfortable to sit for Harry. He cleared a corner of the table and rummaged in the kitchen drawer where every odd bit and end landed. Producing several stubs of colour pencils had sharpened them with his wand, Harry watching with big eyes. The child mumbled, "Thank you, sir."
"Harry, call me Severus, or even Sev, but not sir. It reminds me of work, this is home."
After putting away the tons of groceries the three adults sat down to tea (and apple-juice for Harry). The boy was busily filling sheet after sheet with quite accomplished pictures of his day so far but ever so often he froze, cocked his head and listened carefully. Severus guessed that it had served him well to gauge the Dursley's moods and whereabouts. At the moment Toby and Val were arguing whether it was necessary to change Harry's name.
Still dumbfounded by the events Severus was listening to the discussion between Valerie and his father. The Potter boy meanwhile was drawing quietly but suddenly piped up, "If I get a new name I want to be called Peter Parker." Valerie laughed out at this.
"That might not be a good name for you, the other kids will tease you something awful."
"They did that in Little Whinging as well, I don't care. I will have a cool name."
Severus suppressed his reflex to cheer inwardly that James Potter's son would drop that famous name for a hero from a comic. Lily would have wanted her boy to be proud of his name. Tobias put forth, "Harry, what about Peter Harrison Parker, called Harry? We could tell people that your parents were with a religious sect and wanted to name you after Saint Peter. Such people would not know about Spiderman."
Hopeful green eyes turned to the Potions master.
"Can I, Mr Sev?" Great, now even his father joined in with Valerie's mirth. Despite everything Severus was glad that the child was asking for anything.
"May I. You are old enough for proper grammar. And yes, you may." Harry beamed at him, "Thank you!"
Turning to the other two he explained, "It will be safer for Harry if there is no Muggle trace of the Potter name. Harry is old enough for us to tell him his birth name and what it means in the wizarding world. He can go back to being Harry Potter when he goes to Hogwarts, if he wishes so, and if it is safe to do so. Until then let him be Peter Parker to his heart's content."
Tobias mumbled something about Severus being soppy but relented quickly. He had argued about the importance of one's name, even if he had to see that for Harry this would be different, as he had very few associations with being Harry Potter, because the Dursleys had called him boy, freak or waste-of-space. Valerie took Harry upstairs to his room and tried to discuss its decorations. She gave up soon, seeing that the child was entranced with stroking over the bedding and his new clothes. This would take time.
After a simple dinner of pasta and salad, where Harry at first went to eat on the floor next to the dustbin, Toby took his leave, promising to come back on the weekend to help with the garden and the shed, both of which had been left undisturbed for nearly ten years.
Valerie went upstairs to Harry to read to him before bed while Severus brewed some nutritional potions. Later, on his way to the bathroom, he went into the boy's room because he heard quiet sniffling.
Conjuring a little night light he asked, "Do you miss your old home, Harry?" Val and he had decided to call him Harry as often as possible.
"No, sir, Sev, sir!" Severus guessed correctly that the child was not yet ready to talk about his emotions and that he was overwhelmed by the changes in his life. He gave the boy a handkerchief and drew slow circles on his back until Harry's breathing changed and he was asleep. The Potions master cast a mild sleeping charm over the boy as he and Valerie would be busy tonight, finalising Peter H. Parker's papers.