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Harry Potter And The Father
Chapter 13
A New Room For Harry
For Those That Do Not Realize Or Know - This Story Was Edited Big Time And Re-Named. It Used To Be Called Harry Potter And The Uncle (Didn't Make Sense So I Changed It).
"Ah Filius come in" said Severus in his kindest voice. One he had taken ever since Harry had come into his life. Filius looked shocked, he liked Severus he was a Master in his subject like him. For that alone he respected him, and his sarcasm when it wasn't directed at you was funny as hell. To be spoken to kindly made Filius on his guard. Looking at Severus funnily, he nodded curtly and with his small legs he walked into Severus' quarters. He had gotten a floo call earlier on that morning, just before breakfast to come down. So here he was wondering what on earth was going on, and why Severus was calling him here.
"Who is this Severus?" asked Filius curiously, looking at the child on the couch, he could only be what one and a half year's old if he was lucky. He looked very sick and skinny; he hadn't known Severus knew any children other than his godson. He knew this wasn't Lucius' offspring; he didn't have the blonde hair to go with it.
"This is the reason you are down, sit would you like some coffee? And perhaps a breakfast?" asked Severus sitting down only once Filius had sat down on his chair. Severus sat on the couch beside Harry who was looking at Filius curiously. Harry had never seen such a small man before in his life, but he wasn't scared like he had been with the Malfoy's Severus took that as a good sign.
"If you don't mind" said Filius, still surprised, he knew Severus was a very private person. To ask him to breakfast was a first; the most he had been in there was for five minutes getting a potion or book.
Once breakfast was served by Blinky and drinks poured, Severus waited until they had eaten a bit before starting with his story. Severus knew for Harry to get better he needed as many people on his side.
"Do you know much about this glamour charm?" asked Severus handing over a very obscure book to Filius. It didn't tell Severus much at all and he was rather baffled by it.
"Indeed I do! I wrote a paper on it to pass my mastery many years ago" explained Filius looking at the incantation to make sure he had it right.
"Can you tell me more about it?" asked Severus curiously.
"Well it changes the features of the person under it; it hurts its one of the most powerful charms in the world. Nothing can unlock it only the counter charm, Severus I'd advice against using it on this child it really is painful." said Filius softly.
"You misunderstand, I have no plan on using it on him, it's already been applied. It was done the day he was born to protect him" said Severus.
"What? On a child? That's preposterous! Who would do such a thing" stuttered Flitwick his jaw hanging open in shock.
"The woman that did this was born to a pureblood family; she was the second born twin. The mother knew what would happen, so when she realized she was having twins she misinformed her husband. He was late for the birth and had no idea his wife had Glamoured the daughter and put her into an orphanage. It was probably the hardest thing she ever did" said Severus.
"Who?" asked Flitwick surprised.
"The twin girl was adopted by the Evan's" said Severus knowing that Filius would get the gist of the situation.
"Lily?" asked Flitwick shocked the core.
"Indeed, she found out just as she was leaving school, when she gave birth she knew she had to glamour him. He looked too much like her twin brother and herself, she had seen under her glamour don't ask me how! In the end he was Glamoured Lily felt she had no choice. I asked so I could know so I can figure things out. I had planned on removing it once Harry was well again and I just wanted someone's opinion I don't want to hurt him" said Severus simply.
"Lily was your twin?" asked Filius gaping at Severus in a very undignified way.
"Yes, I don't like to think on that too much" said Severus sheepishly, he had almost married his sister, so no wonder he didn't like to think about it.
"So this is Harry Potter?" asked Filius looking at the child curiously he didn't even look his age it was very daunting to see.
"Well technically he is Harrison Snape" said Severus possessively.
"You adopted him? I had heard he was with his Aunt and Uncle…I mean well, before I knew she was adopted that Aunt and Uncle!" said Filius flustered.
"He was until two weeks ago, they were abusing him, very badly" said Severus sadly, handing over the file to Filius. Filius only had to look at three pictures before he shut it with a bang and handed it over refusing to look at anything else.
"I do hope they are suffering for what they did" snarled Filius furiously. It was easy to see how he had become a very good tournament winner fighting people. He did look scary, and despite his size Severus knew he would be a formidable opponent if provoked.
"Dumbledore healed Petunia's son Dudley he was dying of Cancer. In turn he demanded she take Harry in, or he would remove the charm stopping it. Petunia had no choice, and she knew what would happen if she gave Harry up. She loved her son, and no I'm not excusing her! Far from it she will get what she deserves one way or another. Just not in the way I had originally planned. Vernon Dursley had no excuse, and he will suffer enough for both of them…however I cannot do it illegally as it would be the opportunity Dumbledore is waiting for. He has already tried to take Harry back twice since I got him a fortnight ago" explained Severus.
"He wants to send him back?" cried Filius shocked to the core. He looked utterly sick, he had only seen a few pictures and damn it Dumbledore had no doubt seen the results for his own eyes. Yet he continued trying to send the child back? Well he wouldn't allow it.
"If you ever need me you know where my door is especially regarding Dumbledore" said Filius his eyes narrowed in distaste and fury.
"Thank you…Filius you know Harry's powerful right? I mean it's pretty obvious he did survive Voldemort's attack?" asked Severus.
"Of course" said Filius curiously.
"We gave him those magical trainers the train that whistles when magic is poured into it for a three year old. He broke it, his magic was too vast for the toy and it burst" explained Severus. "Do I need to buy him a wand?"
"No, a focus stone will help him, in either a ring or a pendant" said Filius.
"Will that be enough?" asked Severus, surprised he hadn't actually thought about focus stones.
"I do not know Severus, there's only one way to find out" said Filius softly.
"Thank you for your help" said Severus grudgingly "the main reason I actually asked you here was to ask if you could create a room for Harry. He cannot continue sleeping in my room, he's going to have to get used to sleeping without supervision"
"No problem Severus! Shall I use co-joined rooms? Or would you rather just the one door?" asked Filius curiously.
"Hm…good question perhaps it might be ideal to have them co-joined for now" said Severus at least until Harry got used to having his own space. He had noticed Harry preferred small enclosed spaces, no doubt thanks to those vicious animals he had been put with.
"Very well" said Filius who then got out his wand and began chanting; from nowhere a door began stretching out filling a room out of nothing. Opening the door he nodded in satisfaction, it was perfect. He then began chanting again, Severus watched curiously. He preferred potions brewing than anything that required a wand. He had always been that way; he got it from his mother. The room ceiling began to appear cloudy, he had done a small replica of the Great Hall Harry was going to love it. He had it going half way down the wall, making the room seem smaller. Severus nodded in approval, it was perfect.
"Do you need furniture?" asked Filius "Or are you going to ask a house elf to get it for you?" they had mountains of furniture down in the very bottom dungeons of Hogwarts. Nothing was ever thrown away; there wasn't a need not with magic.
"I will get the House elf's to do it thanks Filius, Harry should be very happy here" nodded Severus there was two storage cupboards and two doors, one leading out to the hall and the other into his room.
"No problem Severus, I meant what I said anything you need just ask" said Filius adamantly.
"I shall take you up on it" grinned Severus; he had changed in the space of a fortnight. Severus didn't know the last time he had truly grinned that happy grin.
X.X.X
"I'm glad to see you awake again" said Severus from beside Harry, after Filius had left he had began reading his book once more. He hadn't really noticed when Harry had fallen asleep to deeply into his conversation with Filius.
Harry just smiled sweetly at Severus.
"How much of the conversation with Filius did you hear?" asked Severus softly, keeping eye contact with Harry. Trying to reassure Harry he wasn't upset with him in any way.
"Not much" said Harry eyeing Severus warily wondering if he was in trouble.
"What can you remember then? Do not worry I'm not cross, angry or upset with you. If I hadn't wanted you to hear I would have put you in the bedroom" said Severus honestly, he didn't like being that way but he knew Harry wouldn't believe him otherwise. Sometimes you have to be cruel to be kind.
Instead of being hurt Harry just smiled again, he was more comfortable with someone being nasty than nice. To Harry nice meant danger, his Uncle had played that game with him one to many times.
"I remember you talking about a glmor and a girl called Lily" said Harry his voice very low so low that Severus had to strain to hear him.
"That's right Harry, would you like to know more?" asked Severus softly, no matter what the child didn't seem to want to ask questions. He was hesitant enough answering questions without anything else. Harry seemed petrified of his own shadow.
Harry just looked at him fear evident on his face, and Severus was truly getting exasperated.
"Why are you so afraid to ask and answer questions? The truth if you please" said Severus his voice grave. The demand for the answer was evident in that question and the voice. He wouldn't be giving up until he got a truthful answer from Harry.
Harry gulped and flinched, his eyes suddenly found the couch interesting battling with himself should or shouldn't he answer that question. His black man hadn't hurt him yet, but there was time for that to happen. Suddenly he so desperately wanted to trust this man; this was the moment of truth to see if he was right or wrong.
"I'm not allowed to ask questions or speak unless I'm spoken to" said Harry simply, as if he was explaining the weather. Harry truly didn't see the bad in that sentence its all he knew. His Uncle roaring purple in the face that he wasn't allowed to speak or ask questions. He had learned that lesson very early on in life.
"What other rules are there?" asked Severus hiding his fury, Vernon Dursley was going down.
"Don't cry, it's for babies" said Harry blankly trying to remember all the rules his Uncle Vernon had given him.
"Don't be freakish, don't scream, don't tell, Do as I'm told, don't fight back, don't as questions, don't speak unless I'm asked something" said Harry as if it had been told to him millions of times in the past.
"And what would happen if you disobeyed them?" asked Severus his heart felt like it was going to be squashed. It was as if someone had attached clamps to them and was slowly tightening them. His heart had never hurt so much, seeing this little boy sitting there saying those things hurt more than he could bear. He needed to let Harry get it out, or there would be no moving forward for him.
Harry visibly shuddered so badly that Severus picked him up and curled the petrified child close to his chest. He was close to crying, and he hadn't cried since he was a little boy (when he read the letter was not included he thought he didn't cry!) or so he told himself. What Harry said next broke that restraint, a loan tear did make its way down Severus' face "I tried so hard not to break them! I really did but it hurt so much" whispered Harry the agony you could hear in his voice. Severus tightened his hold on the scared child, feeling like an utter failure. Why hadn't he opened that letter straight away? Why oh why hadn't he? The child had remained there a year too long, Harry was three years old. He had the letter for a year almost, and damn it; it filled him with so much guilt.
"You couldn't help it little one, nobody could have what that man did was bad he was the bad one" said Severus adamantly as he rocked the child back and forth. He stopped himself wincing when Harry grabbed his hair and cloak in a tight grip refusing to let go, not that Severus had instructed him too.
And the dam opened for the battered three year old, tears ran down his face. Finally he realized he was safe here, his black man wouldn't hurt him. Someone finally cared, he wasn't bad, he hadn't been bad at all. He believed his black man when he said the red faced man was wrong. He knew it deep down in his heart, or his cousin the fat baby would have been treated the same. The fat boy had been louder than him, ate more than him too.
"I need you to listen to me very closely Harry can you do that?" asked Severus, his mouth right next to Harry's ear. The voice was so soft and caring, like his horse faced aunt had been with his fat cousin.
Harry nodded his head not wanting to get into trouble.
"Good boy," whispered Severus, rubbing soothingly on the too skinny by far child's back. Harry felt a warm glow settle in his tummy, he was being good! And it felt nice to be told that.
"I got a letter, which I read two weeks ago, telling me that your mummy was my sister. Twin sister, you see your grandfather, your mums and mines father didn't want twins. He only wanted one child, so your grandmother, mine and your mummy's mummy changed your mummy's looks and sent her to an orphanage where she would be safe from grandfather. Do you understand so far Harry?" asked Severus wondering if this was too much for a child to take in.
Harry frowned trying to process all the information "Why didn't grandfather want twins?"
Severus smiled sadly, go figure that's what he would ask, it also meant Harry had understood so he continued as he meant to - answering Harry's question feeling elated. Harry truly trusted him; he was pushing the boundaries the only boundaries he knew even if they were horrific ones.
"He believed twins shared magic, they don't really it's a silly tale and he shouldn't have listened to it. I didn't know that your mummy was my sister, not when I was in Hogwarts…not even when I left I found out two weeks ago" explained Severus.
"What's Hogwarts?" whispered Harry hesitantly from where he was burrowed into Severus feeling so safe and never want to leave again. Harry's small hands unconsciously began twirling Severus' hair in his hand almost petting it.
"Hogwarts…is a castle, a magic school that people come to learn at. This is Hogwart's Harry this is my rooms" explained Severus.
"Ohh I've never seen a castle before" whispered Harry excitedly.
"We shall see a lot more soon, when you are well enough to walk for long periods of time" said Severus softly, petting Harry's hair affectionately.
Harry just nodded shyly, unused to such displays of affection or getting what he wanted.
"With the letter I also got adoption forms, signed by your mummy and daddy. I signed them and made you mine so no one could take you away from me" said Severus tightening his hold unconsciously without even thinking about it.
"Like horsy and walrus?" asked Harry softly, he didn't know their names very well they never spoke to him or with him.
Severus had to stop the laugh bubbling up in his throat, it was harder to stop than Severus liked. It would have scared Harry should he have laughed like that; it was a very accurate description of them. How did a three year old know such names.
"And how did you know what those animals were?" asked Severus mildly.
"I stole a book…he didn't want it! He ripped it up I only wanted to look at it!" said Harry trying to get out of the man's hold suddenly afraid.
"Hey, hey, hey I'm not angry at you, never at you little one, calm down I still need to tell you something" said Severus calming the distraught three year old down.
It took five minutes to calm the emotional child down, finally when he realized his black man wasn't angry at him he relaxed. Feeling the heartbeat of the man he listened more closely centring himself.
"Do you understand what I said earlier little one?" asked Severus softly.
"You are my mummy's brother, you didn't know she was your sister" said Harry softly.
"That is correct little one, but no I meant about me adopting you, do you know what adopting means?" asked Severus softly.
Harry shook his head negatively.
"It means that you are my son, your name isn't Harry Potter anymore but Harry Snape, I will always keep you safe, and the rules you had at that house no longer apply. You can ask questions, answer them, talk when you please, cry when you need to and fight back against anyone do you understand me?" asked Severus a lot fiercer than he intended to, he didn't what Harry not fighting against someone who was hurting him.
"Yes" said Harry complying with the new rules, even if they were shocking. He wanted to be good, and he would try and follow the new rules. He wondered though if his black man would make up new rules just to make him out to be bad like the fat man had.
"Good, I know it's too soon for you to even think about calling me dad, I hope one day you want too until then perhaps you could call me Severus, or Sev for short" said Severus softly, he hated his shortened name, only Lily had gotten away with it. He couldn't expect a three year old to be able to say it, even if that three year old seemed to be a very clear talker.
Shock exploded in Harry, he hadn't expected that, his black man, Sev was his new daddy? Had adopted him? Wanted him? Why him? It made no sense to little Harry. One thing he did know was that he wasn't about to argue that fact. He was finally safe here, wanted, got food, warm bed, no cupboard, no spiders and no beatings. His black man was his, he finally belonged somewhere, he finally had a home.
"Are you tired?" asked Severus softly when Harry didn't respond.
Harry nodded his head his head bumping up and down on Severus' chest.
"Good then I can show you your new room" smirked Severus, wondering how Harry would react. Would he be scared of being alone? Love his new room? Be happy or need reassurances? Only one way to find out - by going ahead and showing him it.
How will Harry like his new room? will he love it but hate it at night? how long will it be before Severus can make harry sleep in his own bedroom? will Severus truly have the patients to deal with a child who needs constant reasurances? patience and kindness? or will Harry like that Severus snaps sometimes at him? lets him know that no matter how angry severus gets he wouldnt be beaten or hurt phisically? will harry grow up loving his 'fathers' sarcasm? will harry like his grandmother? will harry actually call severus dad? or will it be a while before that happens? will harry stay quiet? what blackmail material will lucius get on dumbledore? R&R please