Chance Meeting at the Ink Pot
by Healer Teddylonglong

All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.

COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC!

It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse.

Petunia kept Harry busy with chores until late in the evening, as if she wanted to prevent him from reading his book. Uncle Vernon tried, of course, to take his book away from him and even ordered him to throw it into the bin – to no avail. It was nearly nine o'clock when Harry was finally allowed to drag himself back into his cupboard with a red backside and Uncle Vernon's growling voice still in his mind, "I'm going to show you what'll happen to freakish books tomorrow."

'I hope he won't be able to do any harm to the book,' Harry thought frantically. 'At least he can't take it from me. If he tries to burn it like he always does with letters he doesn't like, he'll have to try to burn me as well.'

"Now get finally inside," Petunia scoffed from behind and gave him a slight push, before she shut and locked the door behind him.

'I must write a thank you note to the man. What was his name? He didn't say anything, but the man at the pay desk said something like 'Customer'. That's probably his name,' Harry thought and tiredly pulled the book out from under his mattress. 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard,' Harry read the title, before he finally opened the light blue book. 'Ah, that's probably the paper the man spoke about. He used a strange word for it though. Anyway, I'll try to write on it.' He quickly fetched a pencil out of his school bag and began to write.

'Hello Mr. Customer,
I'm not sure if thats your name but I think thats what the man in the bookshop sait. Thanks for the book. I havent had time to look at it because Aunt Petunia made me do so many chors. She and Dudley and Uncle Vernon triet to take the book away from me but it always came back and even faught back so that Dudley landed on his bum. I never had so much fun befor. Today was the happiest day of my life. Thank you very much. Good night sir.'

Harry sighed, relieved that he had finally managed to thank the kind man. He quickly put the pencil back into his school bag and slipped into bed, placing the book under his pillow, just to be sure that nothing could happen to it during the night.

However, he had just drifted off to sleep that was for once filled with happy dreams about bookshops and kind men in black clothes that gave him books, when he woke up to a strange sensation under his head as the book began to vibrate. 'The book,' he realised, 'it's shaking.' Frightened, he switched the light on and pulled the book out from under the pillow and opened it with shaking fingers, only to realise that a message had appeared under his own letter.

'Harry, you're welcome. I'm glad that I met you in The Ink Pot today. The book is one that every child in the magical world knows. I remember that I gave it to your mother for her seventh birthday, which was shortly after I had realised that she was a witch and had told her that I'm a wizard. Don't worry if your aunt calls you names, by the way; she always hated the magical world. When you turn eleven, you'll come here and attend Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the school at which I am a professor. Good night Harry, and contact me again whenever you want.'

Harry stared at the text in disbelief, before he read it a second, a third and a fourth time. 'Magic?' he thought, raising his eyebrows. 'Witch? Wizard? Am I dreaming?' He once more fetched his pencil from his school bag and wrote under the other text.

'Mr. Customer, I'm not sure about somefing. Is mashic real? Are you really a wizhard and my Mum was a which? Uncle Vernon says there is no such a thing as mashic.'

Before he could even decide if he should write anything more, an answer appeared under his question.

'Yes Harry, magic is real. You and I are both wizards. However, a small wizard like you should be long asleep at this time of the night.'

Harry chuckled. 'Yes sir I was asleep but the book woke me up because it was shaking under my pillow. I don't think anyone will enter my cuppot during the night because it's too small for anyone but me but I wanted to be sure the book is safe so I took it to bed with me. Good night sir.'

The answer came immediately. 'Your cupboard?'

Harry eagerly licked his lips and began to compose another reply. 'Yes sir I lif in the cuppot under the stairs. I make sure to keep the book save. I'll take it to school with me.'

セベルスの見方

Severus stared at the parchment in disbelief, keeping himself from writing back, because it was already two o'clock in the morning and the boy had to sleep. 'They keep him in the cupboard under the stairs? Albus must be completely nuts to make him live with those people,' he thought in disbelief, resolving to have a confidential discussion with Minerva at the first opportunity.

本屋さんでの偶然の出会い

In the morning, Harry eagerly slid his book into his jeans pocket. 'I'll read it during lunch break,' he thought happily, recalling that Mr. Customer had said every child in the magical world knew the book. 'The magical world. I am a wizard,' Harry mused, his emotions wavering between amazement and disbelief. 'Is that really true, or did I only dream about reading things in the book?' He quickly pulled the book out of his pocket and opened the cover, sighing in relief as he noticed that his nightly conversation with the kind man, the wizard, had really taken place.

At lunchtime, when his classmates began to eat their lunch packets, Harry pulled his book out and engrossed himself in his reading, unaware of the fact that the teacher was observing him with interest as a small smile began to play on his lips.

"May I ask what you're reading, Harry?" the teacher asked softly, already used to the fact that Harry never brought anything to eat with him. "Oh, 'The Little Prince'. That's one of my favourite books too. I'd love to hear from you what you liked most when you're through with it."

"Okay," Harry replied in a small voice and anxiously averted his eyes to the floor, following the shoelace of his left shoe with his eyes as he frantically pondered how he could manage to read the book as it appeared for the non magical people. 'I'll ask the Customer tonight. Maybe he knows a way how I can read it,' he resolved and returned to his reading in determination.

本屋さんでの偶然の出会い

Unfortunately, his relatives didn't take the thought of having an obviously magical book in their household too well. As soon as Vernon came home from work, he turned to Harry and hissed in a menacing voice, "Fetch your book, you good for nothing freak."

"Yes sir," Harry replied in a small voice and anxiously went to fetch the book, suddenly remembering that the teacher had told them to pray if there was something they wanted to ask for. 'To whom did she say?' he tried to recall, and, lacking a better idea, he silently prayed, 'Dear Father Christmas, please help me to keep my book safe.' As he followed his uncle into the living room, he resolved to ask Mr. Customer if there was any way he could contact him in case something happened to his treasure.

Vernon suddenly grabbed the book from Harry's hands and threw it forcefully into the fireplace. Harry stood there in shock, observing in disbelief how the flames engulfed the most valuable thing he had ever possessed. However, an instant later, the book returned and was back in his hands before he could even see it coming. 'Ouch, that hurt,' he thought and incredulously looked at the book, realising that the right lower corner had been slightly burned, and his right hand that had touched the spot had become a bit sore. A small tear made its way over Harry's cheek, and he hurriedly wiped it away, glad that his book had made it back to him relatively unharmed.

"You ungrateful freak! Don't let me ever see that freakish book again!" Vernon shouted enraged and tried to kick Harry, who raced back into his cupboard, sighing in relief as he heard the lock being shut, knowing that he and his book were safe for the moment.

Harry settled down on his bed, pulled his pencil out of the school bag and began to write into the book.

'Hello Mr. Customer,
I need to ask you a few things. I read my book at school during lunch breik and my teacher told me I had to tell her which part I liked most. Is it possible for me to read the Little Prince story as well? And is there a way how I can contact you if somefing hapens to my book? Uncle Vernon was very angry and the thru it into the fire but it came out only a bit burnt.
Yours sincerely
Harry.'

Harry waited for a few minutes, but no reply came, and he finally went to bed, feeling very disappointed. 'Maybe he'll reply later on,' he thought and once again placed the book under his pillow, jumping up in delight as the book suddenly began to vibrate.

'Dear Harry,' the newest entry began,

'First of all, I'm going to attach the book 'The Little Prince' here to your parchment. Your parchment is going to add new pages as we continue to write, and it'll make enough new space for the book to fit in. Don't worry though; your book won't become thicker and no one will notice. The book has seventy-six pages, and I read it first when I was about your age. I loved it very much; that's why I still have it here.
Secondly, I'd like to ask you to write something on your parchment every evening. If you don't have much time, a small 'Hello' will suffice. That way, I know that you and your book are all right. If I don't hear from you for more than two nights, I'll come and check on you.
Are you sure that you weren't injured when your uncle threw the book into the fire? Please tell me if you are in pain.
By the way, my name is Severus.
Good night, Harry. SS'

Harry sighed happily. Never before had he felt so cared for. 'It only stings a bit; it's not bad enough to tell him. Otherwise, he'd think I'm whiny, and it hurts a bit to hold the pencil. I'll just go back to bed,' he mused, yawning.

本屋さんでの偶然の出会い

During the following days, Severus and Harry continued their daily conversation, and Severus had to admit to himself that it felt good to take care of Lily's small boy, even if it was only through a few sentences each evening.

On Christmas Eve, Harry's message arrived much earlier than normal.

'Dear Severus, today I'm back in my cuppot early cause I finished all Chrismis cooking for the Durseys. I finished both books and I love them. I'll read them again cause I have 3 free days in my cuppot while they have their Chrismis. Bye now, Harry.'

Severus read the three lines over and over again. 'Does that mean they leave Harry in his cupboard for three days, while they're celebrating Christmas?' he thought in disbelief. When he glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece, noticing that it was already dinnertime, he jumped up in shock, realising that he had spent a whole hour mulling over the boy's few lines. 'I wonder if they at least give him a present,' he thought, when all of a sudden the conversation he had witnessed at The Ink Pot came to mind.

'I'll reply straight after dinner. If he likes reading so much, I'll attach another book to my parchment; maybe a Potions book,' he thought, smirking as he strode through the empty halls of the castle that seemed to have gone into hibernation. He absentmindedly took his seat at the Head table, deeply engrossed in his thoughts.

"Severus, are you feeling all right?" said a voice, bringing him back to reality, and he felt a warm hand cover his own in a gentle touch.

"Of course." His reply came automatically as he looked up straight into the green eyes of his colleague and good friend, Minerva. "What makes you believe that I wasn't?" he queried, raising an eyebrow at the older witch.

Before the Scottish lioness could even think of an adequate reply, Poppy uttered, "Maybe because you've been staring into space for a few minutes without touching your meal. What makes you so absentminded on this peaceful Christmas Eve? Are you missing our lovely students, Severus?"

Severus rolled his eyes, before he took a deep breath, determined to share his thoughts with the two witches. "Let's have tea together in my quarters afterwards," he mumbled, before he proceeded to spoon a few peas into his mouth, ignoring the concerned looks Minerva and Poppy exchanged.

He was about to leave the Great Hall, when the headmaster called him back. "Severus, don't forget that it's Christmas day tomorrow. Please dine with us for breakfast and Christmas dinner."

"Very well," Severus replied, inwardly groaning as he strode back to the dungeons. He fetched the parchment with Harry's letters from his office and settled down in his favourite armchair in front of the fireplace in his living room. Letting his eyes wander over the mahogany bookshelves that covered the walls around his living room from the floor to the ceiling, he pondered which book he should send the child for Christmas.

A knock at the door pulled him out of his thoughts, and he waved his wand to let his colleagues in. Minerva and Poppy made themselves comfortable on the leather sofa right next to his seat.

"Cicero!" Severus called his personal house-elf and ordered tea for the three of them, before he began to speak in his soft baritone voice, explaining to the two witches how he had met Harry together with his aunt and his cousin at The Ink Pot.

"You had the chance to speak with him?" Minerva let out a gasp.

"No Minerva; I merely communicated with him telepathically," Severus corrected her softly. "However, I bought a book for him and attached a parchment for a secure wiz2wiz connection, for which I have the master parchment."

"You're using a wiz2wiz connection with Harry?" Minerva queried and her eyes began to shine in excitement.

"Yes, we have been using this connection daily during the last week," Severus replied, smirking as he laid the parchment on the table for his colleagues to read.

The two witches eagerly began to read through Severus' messages with Harry. Minerva began to chuckle after the first letter. "He is so cute, just like he was as a baby!"

Poppy however frowned. "He is cute and he must be very intelligent, considering how well he writes. However, I'm concerned at how much he writes in one go. This first letter is extremely long for a six-year-old, and I'm afraid that he is forced to do chores that take much longer than the normal attention span of a child of his age."

Severus nodded grimly. "Unfortunately, I have to agree with your assessment, but maybe you should read on first."

"I can't believe it," Minerva blurted out. "He got so soaked that his book, which was in the pocket of his jeans jacket, became wet? Why did he have to walk when his cousin was taken to school by car?"

"And why was he wearing a jeans jacket in winter? It's much too cold," Poppy added in an equally upset voice.

Severus leaned back in his seat and patiently waited for the next outburst that was sure to come.

"Harry has to do the Christmas cooking for the Dursleys, and then they lock him into his cupboard?" Minerva asked in disbelief. "The poor child. Let's at least hope they'll love him enough to get him a Christmas present."

"I'm afraid not," Severus replied, quickly repeating the conversation he had witnessed at The Ink Pot. "I am planning to send the boy a book though. I just haven't decided on a title."

"Through your wiz2wiz connection you mean?" Minerva queried thoughtfully. "Why don't you send him a copy of the booklet you always give to your Muggle first-years? I can imagine that it would be of great interest to Harry."

"I believe that's a brilliant idea, Severus," Poppy said warmly, "and considering that it was written by you, it's also a rather personal present."

Severus let out a long sigh. "Both of you should know by now that it's only for Slytherin students. I have no idea ..."

All of a sudden, he was interrupted when the fireplace flared green, and the headmaster stepped out. "I'm sorry to intrude, my boy," he apologized, before he looked around, taking in that three members of his staff were sitting together, completely engrossed in some kind of parchments. "Excuse me, am I missing something?" he queried in a gentle voice, causing Severus to groan inwardly.

tbc...

Thank you so much for your kind reviews for the first chapter!