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.
"And what might that be?" Severus queried, raising an eyebrow at his older colleague.
"You must blood adopt him, Severus. That's the only way to hide him from Albus and take him to Hogwarts," Minerva said softly. "You must pretend that he is your son."
Suddenly, Cicero entered the room. "Master Severus, Master Harry is having a nightmare."
Minerva and Poppy quietly followed Severus into Harry's room and observed in amazement as their younger colleague sat on the edge of the boy's bed and gently shook his shoulder, whispering, "It's all right, Harry. You're not at your relatives' anymore. You're here with me, safe and sound. No one can hurt you here."
Harry finally stirred, calming down immediately as he saw Severus leaning over him. "I'm sorry," he mumbled sleepily, still shaken by the scene he had just witnessed.
"You don't have to be sorry, child. Will you tell me what your nightmare was about?" Severus asked in his soft, silky voice, while his hand soothingly remained on Harry's shoulder.
Harry hesitantly told him how his uncle had thrown the first Christmas presents he had ever received into the fire. "I know that it's not true and that I'm safe here with you, but everything was so real," he added in a barely audible voice.
"Oh, that was a horrible dream," Severus said softly. "Harry, if you want to stay with me, you'll never have to return to your relatives. Aunt Poppy and another colleague are here tonight," he said, pointing to Poppy and Minerva, whom Harry hadn't noticed yet because they were still standing by the door, "and we were just discussing how to hide you from our headmaster, so that I'll be able to take you to Hogwarts with me."
Suddenly, Harry was fully awake. "Really sir? And do you know what to do? Will I be able to come with you?" he asked excitedly, causing the two witches at the door to laugh and step closer.
"In fact, Professor McGonagall came up with an idea," Severus explained carefully. "She suggested..."
"Professor McGonagall?" Harry interrupted him eagerly. "I've read about her. She is the Transfiguration professor and Head of Gryffindor, and she helped Professor Dumbledore in the fight against Grindelwald."
Minerva stepped towards Harry's bed and said gently, "That's me, sweetie, and in face we've already met before, because I often baby-sat you when your mother was still alive."
"Hello Professor," Harry said shyly.
"In private, you may call me Minerva," the witch offered gently, "but now I'll let Severus explain."
Severus let out a long sigh. "Harry, the suggestion is that we pretend to be father and son. I could give you a potion, which will make you resemble me and officially make you my son. We would also change your name, at least your last name, so that no one will know who you really are, except for Minerva, Poppy and us of course."
Harry's eyes began to twinkle happily. "Will you really do that for me?" he asked incredulously. "Make me your son? Although I'm..." He slowly trailed off, continuing just for himself, 'Although I'm a freak and a burden?'
"Yes Harry, if that's what you want," Severus replied, smiling. "However, you don't have to decide tonight. You hardly know me, and we still have a week of holidays left. I suggest that you keep the matter in mind and think about it, and we'll speak about it again in a week's time."
Harry shook his head in desperation. "No sir, I already decided. I want to become your son. I've known you for a year, and my life became so much better by knowing you. Please... I'm sorry. Only if it's all right with you of course," he added in a smaller voice. 'He should get to know how much of a burden I am beforehand.'
"Very well then; nevertheless, it's very late tonight, and we're going to plan all the details in the morning. Do you think you're ready to go back to sleep?"
"Yes sir," Harry replied, feeling consoled by the professor's kind words.
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
Over the following few days, Severus and Harry discussed the adoption matter in detail. In order to give Harry a bit of time to adapt to the situation and to recover completely, Severus decided to give him the potion on Saturday, the day before he was due to return to Hogwarts.
In the meantime, the two wizards spent much time together playing with the train set. When Severus sat at the desk in his office, working on the stacks of parchments he had to grade, Harry was curled up in the chair opposite the desk reading the book that had been included with his potions kit.
"Finished," he finally said and carefully placed the book on the desk in front of him, throwing the professor an expectant look.
Severus glanced up from his parchments and put his quill aside. "That's very good. Would you like to try the first potion? In fact, I need to brew several potions for the hospital wing, and I'd like to spend the rest of the afternoon in the lab."
"Of course," Harry agreed in excitement, eagerly jumping from his chair.
For the next two hours, Severus and Harry busied themselves in the potions lab. Severus was simultaneously brewing three healing potions and watching Harry brew his first simple potion at the same time. From time to time, Severus gently corrected the child if he cut the ingredients into pieces that were too large or hacked something instead of slicing it. However, he realised soon that Harry was able to follow the instructions in detail and always checked the recipe thoroughly before proceeding to the next step. After an hour of adding ingredients and carefully stirring the liquid clockwise, a light pink potion was simmering in the cauldron.
Severus quickly put a stasis charm on his own potions and carefully sniffed at Harry's potion, before he took a small spoon and slowly tasted it. "Congratulations, Harry. You managed to brew your first potion flawlessly," he commended the child. "Now you only have to fill the liquid into the moulds," he pointed to a mould that was part of the kit and contained many small filling holes, "and let it cool down to get your strawberry milk drops." He gently showed Harry how to proceed, and the boy happily continued his work.
"Now clean up your work space," the professor instructed him, and Harry eagerly did as he was told.
Severus noticed in surprise how clean the spot was afterwards, although Harry had only been able to use Muggle methods. 'He seems to be quite adept at brewing,' he mused as he observed the child eagerly skim the book for another potion to try out.
"Sir, may I brew another potion?" Harry asked hesitantly, and his eyes began to twinkle happily when Severus threw him an encouraging smile and began to advise him which potion he should try next.
One day, Misty finally deemed Harry recovered enough to go flying, and when Severus asked if Harry wanted to try flying on his broom, which he had received for Christmas, Harry jumped up and down in excitement.
"Yes sir, I'd love to try it out. I'd love to play Quidditch at Hogwarts when I'm a student. It sounds so interesting."
Severus smirked. "Harry, as soon as I've given you the adoption potion, we'll go to Diagon Alley and buy proper clothes for you. For today, you'll just have to wear this." He conjured warm robes for Harry to pull over his trousers and jumper, from which he had transfigured his pyjamas earlier.
"Thank you," Harry smiled and headed outside behind the professor, noticing in surprise and amazement that he didn't feel cold at all in spite of the fact that snow was still covering the ground.
Severus, who had spent an hour trying to recall how Rolanda Hooch used to teach the first years how to fly, was just going to begin to instruct Harry how to mount his broom, when the small boy sat on his broom and took into the air without further ado. 'Oh my God, he flies as if he had grown up on a broom,' he realised soon and followed the child's example by flying together for a while.
"Flying is just wonderful," Harry said excitedly when they returned to the house two hours later with his cheeks red from the cold winter air, his hair messy from the wind and his eyes twinkling with happiness.
"I'm glad you like it," Severus said gently. To his surprise, he had enjoyed flying together with the boy as well. "The next time, we'll take a Snitch with us and try to catch it if you want," he promised, causing Harry to agree with excitement.
Harry really enjoyed living together with the professor. Never before did he have so much fun, learn so much and felt so cared for. Severus never became tired of answering his questions, he always made sure Harry was dressed warm enough, before they headed outside to fly, and he taught him many things.
Severus became used to the small boy's presence faster than he had anticipated. 'If only my students were as polite and obedient as Harry is,' he often thought when he observed the child follow his instructions in detail. 'Would Lily appreciate that he came to live with me? Potter definitely wouldn't, but I don't care.' He noticed with astonishment that he was looking forward to the day, on which Harry was going to take the adoption potion, as much as the boy, who couldn't wait for the event to come and became more excited as the days went by.
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
When Harry entered the dining room on Saturday morning for breakfast, he was astonished that Minerva and Poppy were joining them for the meal. 'Do we really have to eat breakfast first? Can't I just take the potion?' Harry mused, feeling much too excited to eat anything.
"Harry, you need to eat something," Severus chided him gently, and Harry grudgingly obeyed.
"I think you should consider changing Harry's first name, too," Minerva spoke up, slightly hesitating, both hands wrapped around her mug of tea.
"I'm afraid you're right," Severus replied, sighing. "How about Sirius?" he then suggested, giving Harry a questioning look.
"I'd like that," Harry replied, smiling, while the two ladies let out a simultaneous gasp.
"Sirius?" they asked in clear disbelief.
Severus let out a small snort. "Do you think anyone would believe that I'd have willingly chosen that name?" he then asked. "It's his name because my former wife named him."
"That sounds quite fool-proof," Poppy conceded, and Minerva nodded her agreement.
When the adults were finally contented with the amount Harry had eaten, they led him into the living room and motioned for him to sit down on the sofa.
"Harry, as I told you before, your whole body might change due to the potion, and this can cause you pain," Severus explained in his soft, silky voice. "Therefore, I suggest that you lie down as soon as you have taken the potion, and if you're in a lot of pain, just grip my hand or tell me, and Aunt Poppy will spell a pain relieving potion straight into your system."
Seeing that Harry shot Severus a frightened look, Poppy threw in softly, "I suggest giving Harry a pain relieving potion in advance. It won't harm him, and this way he won't experience any pain at all."
"Ah all right," Severus agreed immediately and placed a small goblet on the table.
Harry observed anxiously how Severus held his elbow over the goblet and waved his wand, causing two drops of blood to fall into the goblet. After another wave of his wand directed at the potion, Severus held out the goblet to Harry, instructing him not to dwell on the taste.
"Okay," Harry mumbled and greedily gulped the dark red liquid down, trying not to gag at the foul taste.
"Lie down, sweetheart," Minerva said softly when Harry handed the empty goblet to Severus and his features slowly began to change.
Harry felt himself being pushed into a lying position and noticed that his body felt extremely uncomfortable, even if it didn't hurt. Fortunately, his discomfort didn't go unnoticed by the adults, and Poppy unobtrusively cast a sleeping spell at the child.
By the time, his mind returned to awareness, the three adults were sitting around the table having tea and talking in quiet voices. Somehow, he felt strange, not bad, but so as if his body structure was different than before. He curiously looked at his hands, letting out a small gasp as he saw how slender his hands had become. His fingers were much longer than before and had a slightly whiter colour.
"Hello Sirius." Minerva was the first to notice that he had woken up.
"Hello," Harry said, sitting up quickly.
"How are you feeling, son?" Severus queried, standing up to sit next to Harry.
"You look very handsome," Minerva complimented the boy, causing Poppy to agree immediately.
"I'm glad he kept Lily's eyes and nose," Severus said softly and held a mirror Minerva had just conjured in front of his new son. "Now you're Sirius Severus Snape, my son."
Harry looked at the mirror in awe. His face had become slightly longer, and his hair wasn't as messy as before but had taken on a straighter form like Severus' hair. 'I'm glad too that my eyes remained green,' he thought. 'It's my favourite colour.' "Wow, this is amazing," he said, unconsciously flinching back when the mirror suddenly spoke to him.
"You're a handsome little man," it said in a gentle woman's voice, causing Harry to throw Severus a frightened look.
"Don't worry, sweetie. Mirrors in the magical world often speak. Indeed, they can be very cheeky," Poppy explained softly.
Harry threw the healer a grateful look and relaxed, when Severus' voice caught his attention. "Now Sirius, shall we take the Floo to the Ministry to complete the adoption by making it official?"
"All right," Harry said hesitantly. 'I just hope no one will recognise me and send me back to my relatives,' he thought as he anxiously stepped beside the professor into the fireplace. Of course, from all his reading he knew exactly what the Floo network was; however, stepping into the fireplace to actually use it was a completely different matter.
"Don't worry, son. Everything will be all right," Severus reassured him softly, gently laying his arm around Harry's back, before he threw in the Floo power and said firmly, "Ministry of Magic."
To Harry's relief, the woman at the family division of the Ministry was very kind, and everything went smoothly. A little more than an hour later, they found himself in front of the Ministry's huge fireplace again.
"Sirius, I suggest that we head to Diagon Alley to buy proper clothes for you before we return to Prince Manor," Severus suggested, causing Harry to throw him an uncertain look.
'No one ever bought clothes for me, but since I can't have Dudley's old ones anymore, I guess I just have to wait and see what Severus wants to do,' Harry mused, feeling very uncomfortable. This feeling even intensified when his adoptive father bought several piles of clothes and even wizard's robes, knowing that Harry would need them at Hogwarts.
Apparently noticing how uncomfortable Harry felt, Severus gave up on asking Harry what he wanted and contented himself gathering everything he deemed necessary. When he was finally sure that they had bought everything important, he slowly led Harry through Diagon Alley and the Leaky Cauldron into Muggle London, observing with amusement how Harry looked around in amazement.
"Where are we going, sir?" Harry asked in surprise. "This looks differently from the wizard's street, more like a normal street."
"Correct," Severus smirked. "We just left Diagon Alley, and this is just a normal street in Muggle London. Right around this corner is The Ink Pot, my favourite bookshop."
"Wow, this is the bookshop, where we met for the first time," Harry said excitedly as he followed Severus into the shop.
"Exactly, and you may choose a book," Severus said gently, leading his new son through the hidden door into the magical part of the shop.
It was nearly dinnertime, when they were back at Prince Manor, and Severus quickly enlarged their shopping bags and instructed Cicero to take everything into Harry's room, before he told Harry to wash his hands and get ready for dinner. When Harry obeyed, he sat at his desk for a moment, scribbling a short note on a parchment.
Shortly after Harry returned, Minerva and Poppy stepped out of the fireplace, and Cicero, who appeared and bowed slightly in front of the witches, motioned everyone to the dining room, announcing that dinner was already served.
"Congratulations, Severus and Sirius," Minerva said gently, raising her glass. "I'm very happy for both of you."
"So am I," Poppy threw in. I'd like to..." She interrupted herself when they suddenly heard the fireplace in Severus' study flare, and the headmaster's voice reached their ears.
"Severus, I'm sorry to disturb you. Since I can't step through, I hope you'll hear me from wherever you are. News reached me that Harry Potter has been injured in a car accident and is at a muggle hospital. I need to go and check if he's all right, but Minerva and Filius are both absent at the moment. Could you please return to Hogwarts and take over for me for an hour?"
tbc...
Thank you so much for your kind reviews!