Author: HatefulRodeo
Story: Of Unexpected Deliveries and Doorsteps
Notes: Hello Lovelies! So more plot this chapter and then we will have time skips coming in later chapters. I don't think you all want a day to day report of Severus and Harry's lives. And Lucius makes an appearance this chapter; he may be a bit OOC but he's with the man he loves so I doubt he'd be too much of an uptight brat. Anywho, THANKS TO ALL THAT REVIEWED, FAV'D, AND FOLLOWED! I really was surprised to see the response this story got! Gracias Loves!
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I will make no money from the posting of this story.
Previously:
With a huff he picked up his tea and took a sip; he did love warming charms! His tea was still pleasantly hot even though it was sitting there for a good ten minutes. He was just about to summon a quill, ink, and parchment for his missive to his lover when a horrid stench hit his sensitive nose.
Crinkling his nose he looked at a very focused, and determined looking, Harry and immediately knew what the little child was doing. With a grimace he rose, picked up the now reeking baby and made his way back to the kitchen where he left the bag full of baby things.
Merlin! The boy stunk to high heaven! Hopefully, the horse face had given him diapers! Lucius' letter could wait until the child in his arms wasn't considered a biohazard to most people. A cooing noise left Harry as Severus made his way to the kitchen; "I'm glad you're pleased with yourself Harry. I think you could Stinksap a run for its money. Merlin! Child what did that foul woman feed you?!"
~*~*~*Chapter 2*~*~*~
Severus and Harry settled in during that first day; wherever Severus went Harry was right behind him. Granted the child really couldn't keep up with the tall man but when the little boy fell too far behind he'd plop down on his bum until his new caretaker noticed him and picked him up.
It amused the Potions Master that the child was already so attached to him. But it was to be expected; over the past three days the boy had lost everything he ever knew. Harry lost his mother and father along with his dogfather, who was probably useless but at least the mutt was familiar to the small boy. Harry lost his home and all his familiar surroundings.
So it only made sense that the little Potter, soon to be Potter-Snape if Severus got his way, would latch onto the first constant presence in his little world. Snape also cackled inwardly when he thought of what James Potter would do if he knew his heir was now being looked after by his schoolyard nemesis, Severus Snape. The bastard was probably rolling in his grave; something that pleased the onyx eyed man to no end.
A high pitched wail brought his attention from the stew on the stove and back onto his little ward seated at the table in his transfigured highchair; again Severus thanked his experience in taking care of his godson. He would have been lost without it; "What can I do for you, Harry?" A fist showed into Harry's mouth accompanied by more babbling was what he got in terms of an answer.
"Ah, so you're hungry then? Well it is to be expected but we have to wait a bit longer until Lucius and Draco joins us. According to his letter he should be here in ten minutes and Lucius is always on time." Harry cooed, in what Severus believed to be an irritated manner, but stopped fussing so much.
The Potions Master smiled at his charge; the boy really was a good kid. He ate quietly with little fuss, granted he smelled to high heaven when he went to the bathroom but he never threw a fit when he needed to be changed, and he was interested in everything. This fascination led Severus to believe the boy had inherited Lily's intelligence; which pleased Snape to no end.
He would not abide a stupid dunderheaded child! Not in a million years! However, Severus didn't have to worry about that. Harry would get the best he could give him; the child wouldn't want for anything, within reason. He had no time for spoiled brats but he would indulge Harry's curiosity and drive to learn to the child's content.
The Potions Master heard the floo alarm go off and turned back to the stew to turn down the burner so it wouldn't scald to the bottom of the pot. The raven haired man enjoyed cooking, it was like potion brewing without the risk of explosions, most of the time.
With purposeful strides he scooped Harry out of his little chair and made his way toward the floo to greet his lover. When he stepped into the living room he watched Lucius place Draco on the ground and dust him off, removing any ash from the little blonde.
Severus smirked and put Harry down on the floor, interested on seeing what the little raven would do when he met someone new. Of course, the little Potter's curiosity spiked and he waddled over to the two blondes, babbling cutely. The onyx eyed man laughed outright when Lucius' silver eyes bugged out when he saw the child; "Severus, what is going on? I read your letter but it was so cryptic. Explain this!"
Rolling his dark eyed he stepped into the room and pecked Lucius on the cheek and stooped to greet his godson. Draco gave him a wet kiss on the nose before toddling over to Harry and grasping his hand; a stream of baby babbling from each boy was heard as they made each other's acquaintance. The two adults watched amused as their boys made friends.
Harry turned, still hand in hand with Draco, and led them toward the toys in the corner that Severus transfigured earlier. The two boys sat down, gracelessly, and began to play. This pleased Severus immensely to know that Draco and Harry could get along; it would have been hard to get on if his charge and his godson didn't like each other.
Lucius cleared his throat while giving Severus a sharp look that said 'Tell me or I'm going to have a fit, in a manner totally befitting a Malfoy, of course.' The dark man rolled his eyes again and indicated for them to sit on the sofa; where they could talk and still watch the boys. Apparently, Harry's appetite was a thing of the past now that he had someone to play with.
Smiling again he took Lucius smooth hand in his rougher one; "Alright, here's the situation I find myself in. This morning, as I said in my letter, I found an unexpected delivery on my doorstep. That delivery was on Harry James Potter." Here Lucius gasped in shock; "Wait, Severus! You mean to tell me that child is the very child who vanquished the Dark Lord?!"
Severus merely nodded while the blonde man looked over at Harry; "Severus, I think I love that boy!" Snape laughed; "Yes, it was due to Harry that our Lord fell. I have the letter from Dumbledore explaining vaguely how it happened, not to mention I've spoken to the old coot about that Halloween night, but nothing in depth."
"To sum it up Lily gave her life for her soon to live. How she accomplished it I cannot say but, you and I know, there are rituals. Certain life for life rituals, which would enable the woman to save her son. Lily was always extremely clever so I wouldn't put it past her to use one to save her son."
The Malfoy Lord nodded, tracking what Severus was saying so far. "Alright, I can understand how Harry could have defeated our Lord but why is here with you, love?" The slender raven haired male sighed; "That is where it gets wonky. Dumbledore's first choice for Harry's caretaker was Petunia, Lily's vile muggle sister."
Lucius looked ill; "That old codger wanted to leave a magical child with a muggle! It's disgusting, it's criminal, and to think that man would leave a magical child, not to mention the heir to an Ancient House, with hateful muggles." Severus just let Lucius rant for a bit before he squeezed the raving blonde's hand to shut him up. When his lover quieted down to grumbling Severus continued.
"Unfortunately, Dumbledore didn't take into account that Petunia wouldn't want him, or care enough, to take Harry in. The muggle bint bundled Harry up and drove him over to me. Now, Harry is in my care and I want to have legal custody over him. I have a feeling Dumbledore has something planned for Harry in the future and I will not let that man hurt that child."
"Lucius, that child has done enough for our world and he isn't even two years old! I will not let him become a pawn in the old man's crusade. Will you help me get custody over Harry?" The Malfoy Lord sat in thought, no doubt going over every scenario in his brilliant mind before he answered.
A smirk broke out on the blonde's handsome face; "Oh, Severus that won't be a problem! You see when Dumbledore ditched Harry on the muggle's doorstep he took himself out of the equation totally, surrendering any right he had over the child and gave them to Petunia. Then Petunia surrendered those same rights to you when she left the boy on your doorstep."
"I will need that letter, though. Also, we should pay Petunia a visit to collect her memories. When my contact in the Ministry sees all this they will have no choice but to see things our way and award you Harry's Magical Guardianship. May I see the letter?" Severus was smirking right back at his wily lover and waved his hand to summon the letter left with his charge.
The parchment flew into his hand and was promptly turned over to Lucius, who began to read it with great interest. There were several "Hmm's" and "Ah Hah's" from the blonde until he set the letter onto the coffee table; "Well, it seems to pretty straight forward; Dumbledore turned over custody and guardianship to Petunia."
"The muggle woman turned that guardianship over to you when she left the boy on your doorstep. But I've said all that already. However, I believe there may be Blood Wards surrounding the muggle's home. If that's the case we need to move quickly before the wards fall; which they will since Harry isn't there to anchor and charge them. If the wards fall then Dumbledore may be alerted to Harry not being at his aunt's home and the old coot will come looking for him."
Severus merely nodded; "I came to the same conclusion about the Blood Wards. I won't let that ma take Harry away, not after he just left him on that muggle's doorstep. That was why I wanted you to come here tonight." Lucius cocked an eyebrow in mock affront and spoke in a sultry tone; "Now, Severus, is that the only reason you wanted me to come tonight..." The Potions Master smirked and answered in a husky voice; "Oh no that's not the only reason I wanted you to come tonight."
Before he could press his thin lips to the blonde's plump ones his pant leg was grabbed and tugged by a very happy Harry. With a huff he looked down at his little charge who was now trying to climb into his lap, chuckling he scooped his little brat into his lap; "And what do you want, Harry?" He looked over and saw Lucius was in the same position he was; an adorably squirming blonde boy in his lap.
Both men looked at each other with looks of fond amusement on their face; "Well, Sev, it seems the boys like each other." The Malfoy Lord looked down at his son; "Draco," the little blonde looked up at his father with those trademark Malfoy silver eyes. With his son's attention firmly on him Lucius continued; "This is Harry, Draco. Can you day 'Hello' to Harry?"
Severus watched his little raven in his lap turn toward the two blondes when he heard his name, both dark haired males watching the two across from them. Draco looked thoughtful for a moment before a happy grin broke out on his cherubic face; "Hewwo Haree."
Both adults laughed lightly while Harry bounced and clapped his little hands together as if to applaud Draco's hard work. Severus looked down at his charge and thought what the hell; if Harry couldn't do it it was no big deal but it would be good to see where the child was in terms of speaking; "Harry, can you say 'Hello' to Draco, too."
The green eyed baby pouted then clenched his little fists in determination; "Heooo Daco." Severus and Lucius verbally praised Harry's attempt at speaking while Draco clapped for his new friend.
The feeling of levity left Severus in a second when he thought of something; "Lucius, what if the Ministry won't let me have Harry? What if they say I'm too dangerous or unfit to care for him? It's disgusting how much I care for the child and it's only been one day, not even a whole day!"
Lucius gave his lover a sad smile, both of them knew Severus may appear to be cold but the dark man had a big heart and once you got inside of his walls he never let you go. It appeared that Harry had already, unknowingly, weaseled his way into Severus' heart and life; "Severus, love, they won't say a word. The man I'm going to see doesn't care about Dumbledore or the Dark Lord."
"The man only cares about Galleons and as long as I pay him enough he'll put the papers through. Once those papers are filed they are irrevocable. Once those papers are filed Harry will be become your son in all but blood and if you chose later on you can blood adopt him to strengthen your claim on him even further. No one will be able to legally take him from you."
"However, if it comes out that Harry is now your son someone may try to take him from you. I think we need to ward this house to the teeth and I'll allow one of my house elves to come during the day to stay with Harry; Draco can visit to keep the boy company while you're at work. He won't be safe at Hogwarts so close to Dumbledore and his meddling."
"I also think that after this school year you should take a sabbatical from teaching and move to another home where no one knows you and cannot report back to Dumbledore. I'll go through my list of properties and once I find one suitable I'll transfer it over to you. You and Harry will have a safe place to live and you can brew your potions to your heart's content."
"Draco can even come visit during the day while I'm working; we'll be like the little family we always wanted." Severus just sat there with Harry squirming in lap and let the boy chew on his hair. The Potions Master was deep in thought; what Lucius said made sense. He knew at some level he'd have to leave Hogwarts, not that he had an issue there. He despised teaching those dunderheaded idiots!
He would go back to that school when Harry got his Hogwarts letter but no sooner. With him no longer teaching at Hogwarts he would have to find a new place to live; too many people knew he lived at Spinner's End, it wouldn't be safe for Harry. He hated to take assistance from anyone but this was Lucius, the man he loved.
So it wouldn't damage his pride too badly to accept Lucius' generosity. Not to mention they would become like a little family; something Severus always wanted them to become. Damn Lucius for throwing that reason up in his face; totally Slytherin of him but Severus really shouldn't expect anything else from his longtime lover. The man generally got what he wanted; Severus was proof of that.
With a great sigh he looked down at Harry's drooly face; "Well, brat, what do you think of this plan, hmm?" The little raven babbled and attempted to stand and throw his little arms around Severus' neck; Harry failed spectacularly and ended up with his little face in Severus' chest.
The Potions Master laughed; "Well then I think Harry and I are both in agreement. After this school year we'll move into your house, Lucius." The Malfoy Lord smirked; "Of course. Now, Draco and I are starving. I believe there was an offer of dinner mentioned in your letter."
Harry tugged on Severus' hair again, alerting the man to the fact that he was hungry as well. The dark man stood, Harry sliding naturally onto his slim hip; "Alright brats. Let's get you all fed." Draco and Harry laughed and clapped while Lucius pouted, no doubt sulking about being called a brat.
Sometimes it was so easy to rile a Malfoy; something Severus greatly enjoyed doing since their school days. Someone needed to keep the Malfoy Lord humble. Salazar knew the man's ego was inflated enough as it was!
Alright, we've met Lucius and baby Draco; who I think would be adorable chubby and cute! As I said next chapter will have a time skip so be aware of that. Also, I may have a bit of slash featured between Lucius and Severus.
I don't think I'm going to have assigned roles of top and bottom for these two. Both Lucius and Severus are strong men in this story so having one of them be on the bottom all the time just doesn't fly with me; not the way I'm portraying them in this fic. So if this bothers you hit the BACK button, please. I have no desire to hear any complaints about this. Thanks!
Another point is Dumbledore; the man will be shown to be manipulative and untrustworthy. So, again, if you don't like that hit the BACK button. The Dark Lord is up in the air at this point but he won't be as batshit crazy as he was in Canon.
All Mistakes Are My Own!