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.
"I don't have a problem with the name that my former wife gave to my son, and it is his name. I have no right to take it from him just because of a stupid childhood grudge," Severus replied in a slightly angry voice. Turning to his son, he explained, "My former childhood nemesis, who even tried to kill me here at Hogwarts and who was never punished for his deeds, had the name Sirius. However, this has nothing to do with you, and I love you, irrespectively of the fact that you share the same name as him."
"All right, Severus," Harry replied unsurely, trusting that Severus would explain about his choice of name to him later on in private.
"If that's all, Headmaster," Severus queried and raised an eyebrow at the old wizard.
"Yes my boy. Thank you for coming and introducing your son to me," Dumbledore replied pleasantly. "Bye Sirius and Severus. I'll see you at the welcoming feast."
Severus and Harry quietly left the office and returned to Severus' quarters. "I believe that you have several questions," Severus stated, motioning Harry to take a seat on one of the comfortable looking sofas around the fireplace.
"I'm sorry, sir, err... Severus, but if you don't mind me asking about the matter with my name and with... Was it my father the conversation was about?"
Severus let out a pensive sigh. "First of all, Sirius, remember that I love you and that I'm glad and proud of having you as my son. Secondly, your birth mother was my best friend, and I loved her dearly."
"All right," Harry replied in a small voice, giving his adoptive father an apprehensive look.
"Your birth father, James Potter, as well as his best friend, Sirius Black, and I did not have a good relationship. Frankly speaking it couldn't have been worse. Both of them were bullies. However, this has nothing to do with you. You're much more like your mother, and I'm glad that you still have your green eyes. They are your mother's eyes." Severus smiled, unobtrusively wiping a tear out of his left eye.
"Concerning my choice of your name," Severus continued, "I chose that name for a reason. It is necessary so that the headmaster won't discover your real identity. You heard him earlier. Do you think he'd believe that I willingly gave my son the name 'Sirius'?"
"No," Harry replied, chuckling. "That's the best disguise you could possibly have thought of. Is that what they always describe as 'the Slytherin way of thinking'?"
Severus smirked. "Exactly, my son. That's Slytherin thinking. I am a Slytherin to the core. Are you still all right with your name?"
"Of course," Harry said in surprise. "I like my name. Sirius Severus Snape really sounds cool. If you're all right with it, so am I."
"Very well," Severus nodded contentedly. "The corporal copy I made from you before I took you away from the Dursleys..."
"It must be really good if the headmaster believes it to be Harry Potter," Harry interrupted him excitedly, grinning. "What's going to happen with him though?"
"I don't know if he is going to wake up from his coma of course. However, he will only last for a few weeks or months, maybe months considering that my magic is relatively strong, but then he'll just vanish as if he hadn't been there at all."
"Will Dumbledore take him here, so that we have to have lessons together?" Harry asked, feeling uncomfortable at the thought of interacting with a copy of his former self. 'I wouldn't know how to behave towards the copy, and maybe Dumbledore would get suspicious if I acted strangely.'
"I won't allow him to have lessons together with you, Sirius; don't worry," Severus replied soothingly. "If it comes to this, I'll think of something. Just trust me, son."
"All right," Harry replied, feeling very consoled not to be alone with the problem.
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
During the following weeks, Severus and Minerva allowed Harry to accompany them to their first year classes, and Harry enjoyed himself so much that he even insisted on attending both, the Gryffindor-Slytherin and the Ravenclaw-Hufflepuff classes. Additionally, Cicero was teaching him Maths, and Severus taught him Potions as well as easy charms and spells, which he could perform with a children's wand.
In the evenings after curfew, Minerva, Poppy and Severus often met in the Snape quarters for tea, discussing Sirius' progress, Harry Potter's situation, the headmaster's latest ideas and Severus' possible plans for the future.
"If Harry likes to do spells, I could teach him easy healing spells," Poppy offered one day, pointing out, "I could teach him while you're in class."
Severus gratefully accepted the offer, knowing that his son loved to use his wand and learn new spells. From that time onwards, Harry spent much time assisting his godmother, who confirmed to his father that he was not only adept at learning new spells but that his magic was extremely powerful for his age.
It was on a bright spring day towards the end of March, when Harry was just brewing an easy healing potion under Poppy's supervision in the small potions lab behind the hospital wing, that the Headmaster made an appearance.
"Sirius, there you are," he said pleasantly, "just the boy I was looking for. Please follow me into my office."
Harry threw Poppy an anxious glance, feeling very reassured when the Mediwitch replied on his behalf. "I'm sorry, Albus, but Severus instructed the boy to remain here with me and not to leave the hospital wing."
"Ah but I'm sure Severus won't mind Sirius accompanying me to my office for a moment," the Headmaster objected, offering a lemon drop to Sirius, which the boy politely declined.
"I'm sorry, sir, but my father instructed me not to go anywhere. Could I perhaps ask for his permission after the end of the class?" Harry asked hesitantly.
"I'm afraid that's too late my boy. In fact, I'd like to introduce someone to you. Harry Potter, who is only a few months younger than you and will be in the same Hogwarts year in a few years' time, is just visiting me, and since I'd like the two of you to have classes together, I'd like you to get to know him."
Poppy firmly shook her head. "Albus, you can either wait until the end of the class, or I'm afraid..."
"Poppy, I can't wait. Harry was injured badly, and he is not well yet. And I have to take him back to the Dursleys, before Petunia notices that he is gone."
"You mean you abducted him," Poppy said sternly, glaring at the headmaster.
"Ah, but I merely borrowed him for a while. Maybe you could accompany Sirius and I and quickly check on the child to ensure that he is recovering, Poppy?"
'He'll never recover if he's stuck with the Dursleys',' Harry mused, throwing the Healer an anxious glance.
"Very well then," Poppy replied, sighing as she leaned down to Harry to be at his height and looked straight into his eyes. "Sirius, we'll go to the Headmaster's office just for a few minutes. I'm going to be with you all the time. Is that all right with you, dear?"
"Yes, of course," Harry replied, knowing that he was safe in his godmother's company and with the necklace with his father's pendant around his neck.
While the headmaster stepped into the fireplace, Poppy and Harry left through the door, and Poppy quickly sent a Patronus to Severus. Harry observed in amazement as a white bird appeared out of the tip of her wand only to disappear into thin air.
When they arrived in the Headmaster's office, Harry stared in shock and awe at the copy of himself that was sitting on a chair at the Headmaster's desk with his arms and legs in plaster. Even one of his cheeks held a huge wound that was still healing. 'I must be careful,' Harry told himself. 'I don't know the Dursleys. I've never heard of them.'
Dumbledore introduced Harry and Sirius and told Harry that he would probably be going to have lessons together with Sirius at Hogwarts as soon as he was properly recovered.
"Sirius Snape? Snape as in Professor Snape?" Harry asked in surprise, causing the Headmaster to throw him a confused look.
"Well Albus, your teachers are famous; apart from that I assume that Harry's aunt knows Severus from her own childhood, considering that Severus was Lily's best friend and they grew up together," Poppy quickly saved the situation and leaned down to Harry. "Harry, would you mind me quickly checking on you? Sometimes, magic is much better able to heal injuries than muggle medicine."
"All right," the copy of Harry said apprehensively.
Poppy thoroughly checked on the boy and, glad that the headmaster had no knowledge of healing spells at all, cast several diagnostic spells that allowed her to get an insight into the exact state of the copy. Finally, she slid her wand back into her robe pockets, before she explained, "His inner organs are still suffering from the injuries he received, and he needs a lot of rest, if possible bed rest for a few more weeks. It'll take at least a month if not more until he'll be in a condition to travel to and from Hogwarts on a daily basis."
Dumbledore threw the healer a thoughtful look. "In that case, we must think about taking Harry to Hogwarts. Maybe it'll suffice if he spends the summer with his aunt. Poppy, do you think Severus would be willing to take him in, considering that Sirius and Harry could be good friends?"
"That you have to ask Sirius' father, Albus," Poppy replied firmly. "If you would excuse Sirius and I now, we have a patient to look after."
"Of course," Dumbledore replied pleasantly. "Sirius, I'll speak with your father about the matter later on. Would you be all right having a brother?"
"Of course sir," Harry replied, feeling his stomach churn at the thought.
"Don't worry, sweetie. You know that your father won't agree to any of the headmaster's bizarre ideas," Poppy said soothingly as they returned to the hospital wing, where Severus showed up a few minutes later.
Poppy motioned for Severus to take a seat in her office and informed him about the conversation with the headmaster.
"That's it, Poppy," Severus said flatly after a few minutes of thoughtful silence, during which Harry had worriedly observed the emotions that flashed in his adoptive father's eyes.
"I'm sorry, Severus," Poppy said softly.
"Sirius," Severus addressed his son in a stern voice. "We're going to leave Hogwarts at the end of next week. Is that all right with you?"
Harry threw his father a sad smile. "Of course, Father. I'll go wherever you go. I'm sorry."
Severus reached out, grabbing his son's shoulders and turned the boy to face him. Looking straight into the child's eyes, he said firmly, "Sirius, I am not sorry, and you don't have to be either. We're going to stay in contact with Aunt Poppy and Aunt Minerva through the wiz2wiz connection, and they can come and visit us during the summer if they want."
"Okay," Harry replied, leaning into his adoptive father's embrace.
"Poppy, during the next ten days I'll need your and Minerva's help, because I'll have to run several errands."
"Severus, Minerva and I will always be there if you or Sirius need us. You know that," Poppy replied softly, before she turned to Sirius. "Now, will you help me finish the potion and then check on the patient again?"
"Of course," Harry smiled. "May I stay here and help Aunt Poppy for a bit, Severus?"
Severus sighed. "Yes, that's a good idea, because it gives me the time to organise several matters. I'll come and fetch you later on when I'm back." He brushed a kiss on the child's forehead and stepped into the fireplace.
本屋さんでの偶然の出会い
Severus returned to his office, sat at his desk and pulled a wiz2wiz connection parchment out of a drawer, before he began to compose the most important letter he had written in years.
'Headmaster Abe,
Thank you for your earlier kind offer. I hereby accept the position as Potions Master and Potions Professor at your school from the coming school year onwards. I also wish for my son, Sirius Severus Snape, to be registered as a first year in the classes that are being held in English. He will be eight years old on the twenty-fifth of March. If I remember correctly, the new school year begins on the first of April, and students from eight years and older are accepted at your school.
I would appreciate a prompt acknowledgement.
Yours sincerely
Severus Snape.'
'Thank Merlin I gave Headmaster Abe the connecting parchment when I met him again at the conference last month,' he mused, impatiently glancing at the parchment, before he realised that it had to be in the middle of the night at the school, to which he intended to move. Pulling a normal, empty parchment over, he began to make notes, listing up all the errands he had to run in order to prepare everything for the change, before he called Cicero and discussed the matter with him.
"Oh Master Severus," Cicero replied in excitement, "that's no problem. I can take your whole potions lab with me and set it up again. Perhaps it would help if I could take Malcolm with me though."
Severus sighed and explained that only Minerva, Poppy and their respective elves, Malcolm and Misty, were allowed to know to which school he was moving.
"I understand, Master Severus. No problem. I will try to get some information about the new school," Cicero promised, before he popped away.
Late in the evening, when Harry was already soundly asleep, Headmaster Abe's reply popped up on the parchment, and Severus read aloud to Minerva and Poppy, who were sitting next to him on the sofa, craning their necks to decipher the writing on the parchment.
'Dear Professor Severus Snape,
We gladly welcome you and your son Sirius here for the new school year. I have registered Sirius for the Moon class, which is the class for the students, who do not yet speak our language but only English. After completing his first language course, he will be automatically accepted into the Mercury class.
Our house-elves will prepare your quarters; however, your house-elves are welcome to assist according to your preferences and arrange the relocation of your private potions lab etc.
We expect you here on the twenty-fifth of March. I shall wait for you and your son at the International Floo Port at ten o'clock in the morning to take you here by Portkey.
We are looking forward to seeing you next week.
Headmaster and (former) Potions Master Professor H. Abe'
"Congratulations Severus," Minerva said softly.
"I hope that you and Sirius will be very happy at your new school, where no one expects anything from both of you apart from being professor and student," Poppy said gently.
"Thank you," Severus replied gratefully, suddenly becoming pensive. "This is so sudden. Today is the sixteenth of March, and we'll have to leave on the day before Sirius' birthday. It's just a week until then. I hope Albus won't be too angry about the short notice."
Minerva let out a snort. "Let him be; it's his own fault. He was the one to suggest something as ridiculous as you becoming Harry Potter's guardian." She chuckled.
"Minerva, Poppy," Severus said sternly, "if he suspects you when the copy vanishes, you can come and stay with us at any time. Use your wiz2wiz parchments and keep me updated on everything."
"We'll do that," Minerva replied softly. "I'll make it a habit to scribble a quick note every night."
"So will I, but only if you or Sirius reply," Poppy added, smirking.
"Sirius is going to miss you. Oh well, no time for such thoughts. I have lots of things to arrange until then."
"Severus, don't forget to pay Gringotts a visit and inform the goblins about Harry Potter's name change and arrange with them how to access Sirius' vaults from abroad. You never know how everything develops," Minerva advised him, before the three colleagues retired for the night.
During the following week, Severus was extremely busy and sighed in relief as he pulled Sirius away from Minerva's and Poppy's embraces and motioned for him to step next to him into the fireplace, shouting, "Heathrow Floo Port."
tbc...
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