AN: When Microsoft word wants to change your "goblin who was…" to "goblin that was…" and make you sound like a wizard supremacist asshole. Smh, Microsoft word. Anyway, as always I loved your feedback and support; a million thanks are sent your way. Second to last chapter!

Chapter 21- A Birthday Surprise

It was five o'clock in the morning on Saturday July 31st and everyone in the rural town a few hours out of London was lying fast asleep. That is everyone except a raven haired, pale blue eyed boy who sat in bed wide awake, practically trembling with excitement.

Today was his birthday, the first birthday in his memory that he had ever looked forward to. At the Dursley's the birthday beatings made him pray that his birthday was just forgotten, but this time around he knew it wouldn't be forgotten. And this time instead of getting a fist to the stomach he was getting actual, real presents. Needless to say, Ben had been looking forward to this for a while.

Ben watched the clock tick by for a while, forcing himself to stay in bed. He swore that time must be moving slower than normal. At 5:18 he gave up and tiptoed out of bed. He started playing with random toys on his ground- a game of self-playing wizards chess, a mini quidditch arena, and his favorite a potions kit from Severus (which sadly contained nothing that could cause an explosion).

He played with everything for a little bit and then looked back at the clock. It was 5:25. Ben gave an outraged squeak- he thought he had waited at least a half an hour! His clock was definitely broken. Despairingly he threw himself back into his soft, deep blue bed and stared up at the ceiling which had been bewitched to show twinkling stars.

As Ben stared up at it he couldn't help but smile. He remembered the day it had been put in. It was the day after he had officially became Benjamin Severus Snape and they had spent all day shopping at Diagon Alley to make up his new room. By the time they had returned Ben had been exhausted and greatly overwhelmed from his first experience with a fully- magical town.

He guessed he hadn't realized how tired he was because when the adults suggested that they go outside to the backyard in the warm summer evening Ben insisted he go along. He had fallen asleep almost instantly as he gazed up at the millions of tiny, shimmering stars blanketing the velvet sky. He had awoken briefly as Severus carried him back to his room- a room that was entirely his own.

He had laid Ben gently on the bed, pulling the charmed- for- softness blankets over him. Ben had been groggy and half asleep and had said, "I wish I could fall asleep to the stars every night." The next day he had opened his eyes to find himself staring up at a perfectly preserved night sky with stars twinkling just as brightly even in the morning light.

Now, as Ben stared up at his ceiling he was filled with the same sense of warmth he had felt that day. He had a family who cared about him enough to put stars on his ceiling simply because he asked. He, Ben Snape, had the best Dad in the entire world and he could wait the extra hour for said Dad to wake up and make him breakfast. Ben drifted off into a light sleep with the soft smile still fixed on his face.

Severus was halfway through cooking breakfast (pancakes with extra chocolate chips formed into a perfectly crafted smiley face) when Ben with a mop of messy hair came hurtling into the room. "I'm 11!" he shouted joyfully at Severus as greeting and sat down at the table. "When is everyone coming over?!"

Severus smiled, "Happy birthday, son. They should all be here in about a half an hour."

He stacked a plate sky high with pancakes and placed them in front of the enthusiastic boy who had devoured them in an alarmingly small amount of time. "Now I have your first birthday gift to give you before Tucker, Albus and Minerva arrive."

Ben beamed at him, "What is it?!" Severus watched Ben's face fall as he saw the assortment of potions being summoned in with a small smirk. "Erm… thanks," Ben forced out, sounding very ungrateful.

Severus couldn't help but letting out a snort of laughter. "The potions themselves are not the present."

"Do I get double the chocolate?" Ben cut in with the bright smile returning.

"No- well I mean yes you do but that's not the present."

Ben looked confused, "Do I get better tasting potions?"

"No…"

"Or potions that give me special abilities?!"

"No! Just listen, the present is that this is the last day you will have to take any of these potions."

Ben's smile with that news was blinding. He launched himself at Severus and hugged him tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is the best birthday ever!"

"That isn't your only present."

"It's not?" Ben asked with his eyes wide.

"Just drink your potions," Severus snapped back, his fond smile taking out all the bite. Ben smiled back and chugged all the potions in record timing. He looked expectantly up at Severus who dished out the two pieces of jumbo sized milk chocolate bars which Ben accepted gratefully.

Just then a tawny barn owl swooped in through the open kitchen window and dropped a letter on Ben's head. It flew back out with a joyous hoot. Ben took the letter off his head looking mystified at the yellow parchment addressed with dark green ink. "I got a letter," he said in shock, staring at the neatly printed words "Benjamin Severus Snape, Number 133 Hemming's Way, The Biggest Bedroom." Ben looked up mystified at Severus who smiled brightly back at him.

"This is your second present. Go ahead, open it."

Ben delicately tore open the top of the envelope with trembling fingers, pulling out a letter written on the same yellow parchment. He unfolded the letter and read aloud to Severus.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore

(Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock,
Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)

Dear Mr. Snape,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on 1 September. We await your owl by no later than 31 July.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Ben stared at the letter for a moment before a huge smile broke over his face. "I got in!"

"Of course you got in; you're practically related to the headmaster and deputy headmistress. Speaking of which, I think they've arrived."

Sure enough they heard a knocking at the door. Ben ran to the entrance with the letter in hand, ripping the door open with the exclamation of, "Look what I got!"

"Happy birthday!" chorused the three beaming guests outside and looked with forced interest (and jealously in Tucker's case) at Ben's letter as he babbled on about how excited he was to go to Hogwarts. Severus had to practically pull the boy aside to let the guests enter.

Ben gushed on in excitement until Severus forced him to go get ready for their trip to Diagon Alley, leaving the four adults to talk.

"He seems quite excited," Minerva commented.

"It is his first real birthday, I think his response is quite normal," Tucker said saving Severus from having to a respond.

"I think it's brilliant," Albus said beaming, "I've never seen a pupil more excited to go to Hogwarts, you're going to have to look after him closely when he's in your house Minerva."

"Oh I will," she said chuckling as at the same time Severus retorted, "Your house? You really think Ben will be in Gryffindor?"

Tucker bit back a smile as Albus and Minerva turned to Severus with looks of genuine horror. "Where else would he be?"

"My house," Severus answered easily, "He is a Slytherin if I ever saw one."

Albus literally gasped at the thought and Minerva turned an odd shade of green. "He will not! James and Lily were the very pinnacle of Gryffindor house, Ben belongs there."

"You seem to be forgetting that Lily and James are no longer Ben's parents," Severus said with a proud smirk, "I am."

Tucker sighed, "As entertaining as this all is, I believe young Ben is ready and would prefer to have his birthday spent with more useful matters than arguing about silly house rivalries." Especially considering Ben's patronus- he fit each house just as well, so it was a rather circular argument.

The three of them looked guilty. "They aren't silly," Minerva muttered but ended the conversation nevertheless.

"I'm sure whatever house you're put in will be just fine," Tucker told Ben, ignoring the glares shot his way by the three other adults. "Now I am quite ready for Florean Fortescue's Peanut Butter and Jelly Ice Cream, so what do you say we get a move on?"

They spent the day shopping (and eating ice cream). With four wizards the shopping was done in record time and soon Ben had his robes, books, potion supplies, and many other things that weren't on the list that Severus insisted he buy. Ben had at first protested on the price but Severus had quickly waived it off ("It's a father job to support his child financially.") Besides, Albus had under- the- table transferred the large sum of gold in Harry's vault to Severus after explaining the situation to a goblin who was sworn to secrecy, so money was not a problem.

Ben unfurled his list, mentally checking off everything they had already bought. "Alright so now all I need is a pet and a wand." He looked up at Severus, "What should I get first?"

"Let's go to Ollivander's first." The group trekked over to the tiny wand shop and crowded into the small room. Ben jumped as a man- he assumed Mr. Ollivander- popped out from behind a giant stack of wands and fixed his milky eyes on them.

His stare was strangely unsettling, although Ben couldn't determine exactly why. He went through the room, stating each of their wands except for Tucker who'd received a family wand and then his eyes fixed on Ben. He stared at him for a moment, "Benjamin Snape. I was wondering when you might show up."

Ben glanced nervously back at the frail man, "Errr… Well I'm here I guess."

Ollivander finally broke his gaze from Ben's and started rooting through the large stacks of haphazardly piled wands. He pulled out a thin, gray, dusty case and brought it over to the counter. He pulled out the long, knobbed wand delicately, like he was cradling a baby and handed it tip facing towards him to Ben.

Ben had no sooner touched the wand before Ollivander grabbed it crying, "No, no," in an alarmingly distressed voice. He snatched another wand and handed it to Ben, this time letting him give it a wave. A large fireball shot out from the tip, blowing up a stack of wands and sending them flying everywhere. Ollivander shouted in alarm and quickly extinguished the flames with an auguamente.

Ollivander slowly slipped the wand out of Ben's grasp who looked guiltily at the scorch marks on the wall.

"Something that can contain more power, perhaps?" Ollivander muttered to himself and dug through more piles, throwing random boxes of wands aside until he found one he liked. He handed it to Ben warning him, "Don't do anything with it. Just stand there."

Ben held it carefully, keeping his right hand still as he could. Ollivander closed his eyes for a moment, a searching look on his face before he shook his head, "No that's not right either." The stack of discarded wands quickly multiplied until they were spilling off the counter. Ollivander didn't seem discouraged by this; in fact he seemed excited by the challenge. Digging through a new pile of wands he paused whispering to himself, "I wonder…"

He walked back to the counter and reached under it to pull out a black velvet box with intricate carvings running along it. "This is the wand that contains the most power in this store," he said ominously as he popped open the box, "It is also… Well how about you try it out first."

Olivander picked up the wand delicately, shivering slightly as he felt the raw power emanating off of it. Not unlike the feeling young Mr. Snape had projected when he entered the shop. He handed it carefully to Ben, gasping as he felt the sudden change in the room when it touched Ben's hand.

Ben felt a rush of exalting energy run through him as his hand closed around the polished, thin wand. He inhaled sharply as his own magic rushed out to meet the power in the wand. They clashed angrily for a quick second and then suddenly they mixed. Ben let out a breath as a rush of euphoria hit him at the feeling of his magic mixing. He felt stronger, more pure.

Ollivander whistled under his breath, "I don't think I have ever felt a reaction quite like that Mr. Snape." Ben barely heard him as he flexed his wand hand experimentally, staring at his new wand in wonder. "The wand is clearly meant for you, which is very curious, very curios indeed."

He stared at Ben intently, as if searching for some prominent sign before continuing, "The wand you are holding has a core of phoenix feather. Each wand I make is unique, but yours is especially unique as the very phoenix that gave that feather only gave one other. Very curious indeed that its twin belongs to who many consider the darkest wizard ever- yes the other belonged to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

Ollivander pierced Ben with a sharp gaze, "I think we can expect great things from you Mr. Snape- after all You Know Who did great things- terrible things- but great nevertheless."

Ben felt a prickle of fear at the thought that the very man that had killed his parents and almost killed him shared a twin core with him, but it was quickly pushed aside with the feeling of sheer power and control the wand gave him. Ollivander stared at him for a moment longer, looking like a scientist studying a particularly interesting specimen until Severus cleared his throat loudly.

"We really must be moving on, Mr. Ollivander," he said coldly, "How much for the wand?"

Ollivander broke his gaze away from Ben. "Hm? Oh that will be 11 galleons." They paid for the wand and then walked silently to Ben's last destination- Magical Menagerie to buy his familiar.

"Wands are wicked," Ben told the group with a grin as he entered the store. The crowd in Diagon Alley was starting to thin out as it was approaching dinner time. The adults numbly nodded at him, their minds still whirring over what had happened in Ollivander's.

Severus was the first to break out of it and gently guided Ben away from the other three, "So what kind of pet were you thinking of getting?"

Ben was immediately drawn to one of the animals that was not on the list- the snake cages. He smiled hugely as he saw a giant cobra that must be seven feet long and thick enough to swallow a cat whole (and the sign said it was only a few months old). "What are you smiling about?" Snape asked.

Ben turned back to him, looking like he had just noticed Severus was there. "She just called you a bat that stank of potion fumes." He giggled and turned back to the snake and over the din of screeching owls and meowing cats Severus could just make out the hissing sound coming from Ben.

Severus sighed; he really should have learned not to be surprised of anything involving Ben. "You can speak to snakes?"

Ben apparently finished hissing his sentence to the snake because he turned back distractedly to Snape, "Yeah." Suddenly he looked worried, "Why? I thought everyone could."

Severus shook his head, "No, it is a talent that very few people have. I think it would be best to keep it a secret for now." Ben nodded obediently looking back at the snake and suddenly letting out another fit of giggles.

"What is it now?" Severus asked, greatly exasperated.

"She just said Tuck looked like a giant pygmy puff." Severus looked at their brightly dressed companion and couldn't help but snickering. He couldn't disagree with the snake there.

Ben suddenly turned his puppy- dog eyes on Severus and he knew he was in trouble. "Dad can I keep her, pleeaaasssee," he whined, "I promise I'll take care of her and everything. After all you only turn 11 once." He flashed Severus with the most innocent, obliviously manipulative smile Severus had ever seen.

Severus sighed- this boy would be the death of him. "Fine." Ben let out a little cheer which he cut off with a glare, "But you are not to share your parselmouth abilities with anyone, discounting Tucker, Dumbledore, McGonagall and myself, understand?" At Ben's confused look he added, "Parselmouths have the ability to speak to snakes."

"Ohhh, yeah of course, I pinky promise I will never tell anyone else." He connected pinkies with Severus to seal the deal and then ran over to the other three adults to tell them the joyous news. Severus walked over to the shop keeper with a resigned sigh; he was now apparently the owner of a giant cobra as well as a boy who most likely contained the Dark Lord inside him. Why couldn't he just have an ordinary life?

They returned to Severus's house at 6 with a greatly shrunken truck filled with school supplies, a new wand, and a new snake curled up in a cage who Ben had named "Silvia." (He had insisted that was the closest translation to her real name, which he had told the greatly overwhelmed adults in Parsletongue as well.)

Ben rushed to his room to put away his new belongings and make his new snake comfortable. By the time he returned the table was staggering under the weight of giant steaming platters of all his favorite foods provided by house elves Albus had summoned from Hogwarts. The group of five had quite a feast, eating until they were ready to burst. When the last scraps had been cleared from all the plates the platters disappeared with a pop and were replaced instantly by a dessert bar made entirely of chocolate.

Ben's eyes nearly popped out of his head as he made the impossible decision of whether to start with triple- chocolate fudge cake or chocolate ice cream with chocolate chips swirled in topped with hot fudge. He decided to start with a little bit of everything. The food disappeared fast.

As the adults watched Ben dig in with amusement Albus, Minerva, and Tuck shared a meaningful look. Albus cleared his throat. "Ben, as you know you will be going to Hogwarts in a few months."

Ben swallowed a large bite of frosting covered chocolate cake and nodded. Albus continued, "The last Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is currently… disposed with something so we were wondering how you would feel if Tucker became your new teacher."

Ben flashed an amazed smile at Tucker, "That would be awesome!"

Albus's eyes twinkled, "It's decided then."

All too soon dessert was over and Ben started to feel his eyes drooping after the ginormous meal he had just eaten and the busy day they had just had. He stifled a yawn that was not missed by Severus who smiled softly. "Ben why don't you go to bed, we can open the rest of your presents tomorrow?"

Ben couldn't stifle his next yawn. "I have more presents?"

Severus nodded, "Why don't you say goodnight to your guests and then I can tuck you in?" He ignored Tucker's barely muffled snicker.

Ben was too tired to protest. He hugged Tucker, Minerva, and Dumbledore and mumbled, "Good night, thanks for everything."

Severus guided him gently to his bed. Ben collapsed into it immediately. "Good night, son," Severus whispered and kissed Ben on the forehead smiling as Ben's breathing evened out and he fell into a deep sleep.

He returned to his kitchen where his three friends stood, ready to leave. "Thank you all for coming. Minerva, can you stay for a little bit I wish to speak with you about something."

Albus and Tucker took that as their cue to leave and apparated back to their houses. Minerva took a seat, knowing exactly what Severus wanted to discuss. She didn't even wait for him to ask the question, "Madame Pomfrey wants me to teach Ben how to be an animagus." Minerva cast a muffling spell just in time as, just as she expected, Severus exploded.

"What would that do? Becoming an animagus is dangerous even for full grown wizards, Ben may have power but that does not change the fact that he is only 11. Not only that, knowing what his animagus will be it would be a huge risk of exposure to the rest of the world. If anyone found out he was a wolf the press would go insane. He would be even more famous than he was as Harry Potter, which is one of the reasons we changed his identity in the first place. It is a ridiculous idea."

Minerva calmly waited for his rant to finish. Once he trailed off she told him in a leveled voice, "Pomfrey believes it might help remove him from the control of Voldemort, if even only for a little while. She believes that whatever power Voldemort has over Ben will not be able to be maintained in a foreign form. I've done my research and I believe she may be right."

Severus let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. "Are you certain it will help?"

"If I wasn't I wouldn't have asked."

Severus nodded reluctantly, giving in, "Alright. You can start Monday; I believe you are scheduled to watch over the boy that day anyway."

"There's another thing," Minerva hesitated. "Pomfrey believed it would be beneficial to have someone else learn to become an animagus with Ben; it would help him learn it while reassuring him it is not a sign that he is a freak."

She sighed when she saw Severus's dull eyes, he clearly wasn't getting it. "She suggested you."

"What?!"