Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter; None of the original story and/or characters are mine in any way nor do I make any money from these writings.
PLEASE READ: It has been brought to my attention that I have been a bit ambiguous with my explanations. Harry did not just travel to the past, he is also in an alternate reality. In his original time-line/reality Snape was NOT a human-vampire. In fact, there is a very good reason why Severus becomes a human-vampire in this reality, but this reason won't come up for a while yet.
Hope this clears things up a bit. Enjoy!
A Chance at Life
Chapter 6: A New Home
January 15
Severus still thought there was something going on with Harry's look-alike but he knew Harry wouldn't tell him, so he didn't pursue it. He had too much going on right now.
The last two days had been an extended, exhausting, shopping spree. He never would have thought that buying things could be so tiring but after two days of it he was ready to barricade himself in his room. But it was all worth it to see their home take shape.
He truly thought of Harry's house as his home, not just Harry's. Home was something he had never really had before, but now, he truly felt he had one. Not so much because the house was clean and beautiful, but because of the people in it. He saw his mother truly being happy. He didn't have to worry about her or spend most of his time hiding from Tobias or dread the thought of spending his time in the house.
Harry always made sure that Severus and his mother were happy, comfortable, and that they ate well. Even Noodle was great, always looking after all three of them in his own way. With all the shopping they had been doing they had not been able to eat at home but Harry always took them to a restaurant no matter where they were.
And Harry was the one that gave him all this. He was always there. He never ignored him or told him to go away. Harry answered his questions and cared for him…and he only smiled at Severus and his mother, no one else. It made Severus feel special, happy to have what he saw as the 'real' Harry to themselves.
Severus finally knew what it was like to have a good family, a good home…a good life.
HPSSHPSSHPSS
Harry woke up pleasantly well rested. He should have never complained about Hermione being a picky shopper, she didn't hold a candle to Eileen. Though he had to admit, she had done a great job furnishing and decorating the house.
Harry stretched, made sure his Occlumency shields were secure, and left the bed; it was time to clean himself up. He then made his way to the kitchen feeling a bit excited. It was his first time cooking at home and he was really looking forward to breaking in the kitchen.
He made buttermilk and chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, freshly cut fruit, breakfast tea and coffee; nothing fancy but hopefully something that everyone would like. He also made lunch, knowing he won't have time to make it later.
"Wow, you really cooked." Severus said yawning as he entered the kitchen after Eileen.
"Good morning you two. Sleep well?" Harry asked smiling.
"Yes, I think knowing that we finally have everything we need and will not have to go shopping again probably has something to do with it."
Harry laughed good naturedly understanding the sentiment, he hated shopping. "I forgot to ask you if there was anything you hated to eat. If you don't like anything you see here, let me know what you would like instead and I'll make it if I can."
Eileen smiled sadly. "We are not the picky kind." Severus nodded in agreement and they sat down to eat. Severus quickly grabbed two chocolate chip pancakes and smothered them in syrup while Harry called Noodle to breakfast.
"Noodle, good morning. Dig in; I'm sure you are as tired of restaurant food as we are by now."
"You bought your house-elf restaurant food?" Eileen asked.
"Yes, I always ordered two sets of whatever I ate. I just had to call Noodle to come pick them up." Harry answered casually and didn't notice Severus looking at him with warm amusement.
"Thank you, Master Harry."
"Just Harry, remember. How was your day yesterday?" Harry listened to Noodle's answer as he got some fruit and started eating. He was not one for big breakfasts but was happy to see everyone eating with enjoyment.
"Noodle is almost done setting up the potions lab; will be starting with the garden today."
"That's good. Make sure you take it easy and remember that you can visit your family if you don't have anything to do here. I know we are not a big household." Eileen and Severus were stunned at that; they had never even wondered where house-elves came from, much less if they had families.
"What about you two, is Severus starting his lessons again today or tomorrow?"
"Today. It's a good day to remain indoors. It was snowing hard all of last night." Eileen answered.
"Finally! I really want to read those new books we got," Severus said around a mouthful of pancake.
"Don't talk with your mouth full." Eileen and Harry admonished at the same time, Severus just rolled his eyes and kept eating.
They all continued chatting lightly, until a Gringotts owl dropped off Harry's bank statement in his plate towards the end of breakfast. Harry wiped his hands on a napkin and opened it, frowning lightly as he read it.
Eileen and Severus exchanged worried glances.
"Is something the matter?" Eileen inquired.
"No, I just spent a lot more than I had anticipated." Harry replied distractedly. There was a moment of silence and then Eileen spoke again tentatively. "I can take a part time job."
"You wish to pursue a career?" Harry asked still reading.
"No. I mean…I can help earn money for…" She ground to a halt we Harry focused his gaze on her. She had never seen him so intense, like there was something underneath the surface just beyond her reach. She felt very small all of a sudden.
"I was simply answering your question, it was not a reproach. I assure you, in the very unlikely event that I'm ever unable to provide for you I will make it known to you without delay…Excuse me, I have a few things to take care of. Enjoy your breakfast." Harry said it all as emotionlessly as possible but he couldn't help feeling a little hurt. He knew it was foolish to expect them to trust him to keep his word so soon, but her question had stung nonetheless.
He went to his bedroom and stripped to his boxers. He had just pulled on a black pair of pajama pants when he heard his bedroom door open. He had the last bedroom in the hallway so he had not bothered to fully close his door yet since he needed to call Noodle before he got started. With the lack of much work around the house, Noodle had taken to walking places instead of popping in and out all the time.
"Harry, I wanted to apologize..." she stopped with a gasp.
"Your back......Merlin, what happened? Do they hurt?" Eileen asked worriedly as she made her way to him and Harry turned to face her fully. She had seen the scars from the final battle. They were still an angry red, being so recent, and Harry had never been able to heal wounds with minimal scaring like Madam Pomfrey. His back was the worst from Malfoy's slashing curses. His chest wasn't as bad with only 3 deep scars across his chest and ribs. He had gotten those from Hogwarts' spiked gate, Voldemort always did have a gift for improvisations; anything could become a weapon in his hands.
"I'm fine. It will just take a while for them to fade. Severus, you might as well come in. I know you are there." Harry called out the door, knowing that Severus was listening in. He came in looking half guilty and part worried as he carefully looked over what he could see of Harry's body.
"Truly, they're not as bad as they look. They're just ugly." Harry reassured them and did a quick glamour spell to hide them.
"They're not ugly! Who hurt you?!" Severus demanded. He had never seen Harry looking like this: self-conscious and hurt. His Harry was not supposed to be hurt!
"It doesn't matter…" Harry said soothingly.
"But..!" Severus tried to protest in indignation.
"It's part of a past I have left behind. Don't worry; no one will be coming after you because of me. Now, if you could please let me get finished here..." Harry said and pushed them out the door.
Outside, Eileen and Severus were left gaping at the closed door in concerned annoyance.
HPSSHPSSHP
Inside, Harry put on a black sleeveless undershirt and called Noodle. It was time to get started.
"Hold on a second." He told him when he walked in. He then locked the door and placed a privacy charm on his room.
"I need you to help with something. Can you get me at least 10, 1L plastic storage bags, do you know what I'm talking about?"
"Yes, Noodle can." While Noodle was gone Harry quickly retrieved his remaining blood replenishing potions and nutrition potions. He also transfigured a stainless steel blood transfusion needle and conjured rubber tubing.
When Noodle returned he stared wide-eyed at everything Harry was doing. He had sterilized the room and enlarged his bedside table to place the transfusion needle, tubing, and the bags Noodle brought.
"Mas…Harry…?" Noodle questioned uncertainly.
"I have only done this once before, with the help of a wizard. I need you to help me…and in case something goes wrong." By now Noodle was wringing his hands in worry. "I'm sure nothing will go wrong, but better safe than sorry. If I pass out and you can't wake me up call Eileen immediately, but don't let her take me to St. Mungos, no matter how bad I look." Harry lay on his bed with his wand in his hand and finished making the final preparations.
"I have transfigured these bags into blood packs. They are sterilized but I need you to place them under preservation charms, your magic is stronger than mine so it's best if you do it. As each one fills up with blood I want you to control the flow and stop every two bags. I will need to take a blood replenishing potion and a nutrition potion before we continue once again."
"Harry, why must you be doing this?" Noodle asked, not liking what his master was doing.
"It is not healthy to take blood replenishing positions daily, over time they have a weakening affect on the blood. If I keep taking them as I have, my blood will not be healthy enough for Severus to drink. It is better if I do this once a week instead. Blood potions were made to be taken in large quantities, but not for prolonged periods of time, especially not for daily use. I will only need to do this until Eileen is well enough to feed Severus as well. This way I can feed Severus three times a week without taking potions and he can drink from the packs the rest of the time."
Noodle understood but wasn't happy about it. It looked painful.
They kept repeating the procedure until lunch time. They had to keep waiting for the potions to take effect before continuing and Harry had to fight the nausea they produced after the first time.
When Noodle left to set up lunch for Severus and Eileen, Harry was left to sleep, exhausted.
HPSSHPSSHP
"Noodle, do you know where Harry is? He didn't eat much breakfast." Eileen asked. She wanted to take the opportunity to apologize before they ate. She felt guilty about hurting his feelings, both with her question and for bursting into his room like that. Severus had been mad at her all morning for making Harry think his scars were ugly.
Eileen had never seen Severus so incensed on someone else's behalf. On one hand she was happy because it meant her son was starting to open up to someone other than her. But on the other hand, deep down, she was still afraid that Harry might betray them somehow, and if that happened it would truly tear Severus apart.
"Master Harry be sleeping. He said he will be here for dinner." Noodle told her before bowing and popping away. Lunch was delicious, just like breakfast. But neither Eileen nor Severus had much appetite. This was the first meal they had by themselves since Harry took them in and it felt wrong without him. They had not realized how much they had gotten used to Harry's presence in the last few days.
It was lonely without him.
Noodle popped in with a message for Severus as they were finishing their meal. "Master Harry says Master Severus can come to his room to feed after lunch."
Severus nodded and Eileen saw him off afterward. She was always present during feedings but she had not been invited this time, so she chose not to intrude.
HPSSHPSSHP
Severus had been worried about Harry the whole morning. He had enough experience hiding his own feelings to know that Harry had been hurt by his mother's offer to work. He also wanted to know who had hurt him so bad. He had seen the scars on his back reflected on the mirror behind Harry that morning, along with the scars on his chest that looked just as new. The scars on his forearms and the one on his forehead looked faded, much older, but they still worried him. He wanted to know more about Harry, like Harry knew about them.
When he got admitted to Harry's room, it was unusually dark. The curtains were drawn and Harry was sitting atop his made bed. He was still wearing the same pajama pants as this morning, but now with a long sleeved shirt, which was weird since Harry always wore muggle t-shirts, even under his robes.
The feeding wasn't as satisfying as usual. Although he always thought Harry's blood to be delicious, this time it didn't seem as flavorful somehow. Harry didn't talk more than strictly necessary and told him that they would see each other again at dinner before sending him on his way once more.
Severus felt troubled; he had never known Harry to sleep during the day. Nor had Harry ever been so silent when they weren't in public, not even when they had first met. But he didn't have the courage to bother him when he obviously wanted go back to sleep. Severus left subdued, deciding to wait until Harry woke up again to question him.
HPSSHPSSHP
Harry woke up again at 4:30 to make dinner, but he was feeling a lot more tired than he had anticipated. When he got to the kitchen he found Noodle waiting for him and Severus and Eileen having some tea.
"Harry! Are you all right?" Eileen asked him as soon as she got a good look at him.
Though Harry was naturally pale, at the moment he knew he was sporting too close a resemblance to Jack Skellington.
"Master Harry should go back to bed. Noodle will take care of dinner." Noodle put in as well. Harry arched an eyebrow but didn't bother fighting with a determined house-elf. He really didn't feel like cooking right now anyway.
"I'm fine. I just need to rest a little more." He said with a small smile and ruffled Severus' hair on his way out. He didn't like to see Severus' with that worried expression on his face.
For her part, Eileen was trying to contain her bewilderment, Severus hated for people to touch his hair, including her. But he wasn't even looking at her right now. He was pinning Noodle to the spot with a predatory look on his face.
"What do you know?" Severus demanded.
"K-Know?"
"You were ready for Harry to come in looking like he did. Why is he so tired and pale?"
"Noodle, please, if you know, tell us. We are worried about him." Eileen added, before Severus lost his temper and made things worse.
"Master is tired because of something he did." He fidgeted uncomfortably for a moment before nodding determinedly to himself. "Come please." Noodle took them to the magically expanded kitchen pantry. He showed him the blood packs, carefully stored as Harry had requested.
"This is Harry's blood? But why?" Eileen asked, almost whispering.
"Master Harry said it was bad to drink potions everyday. Mistress should ask Master Harry. Noodle is no good saying things well."
Eileen turned to Severus to say something but he wasn't there.
Severus was on his way to Harry's room. He wanted to understand: how could Harry do such a thing to himself? He rather starve than see Harry in such a state.
"Harry," he called, knocking on his door.
"Come in."
The curtains were still drawn and Harry was sitting up on his bed once again, yawning.
"Did you need something?...Eileen, come in, did something happen?" Harry asked when he saw Eileen standing outside his door as well.
"Bleeding yourself dry like that…how did you do it without killing yourself? Harry, why did you do it?"
"Take a seat, both of you." Harry motioned them to the foot of the bed but Severus removed his house slippers and climbed up to sit crossed-legged beside him instead. Harry smiled at him; it was nice to see Severus acting his age.
"Eileen, you cannot feed Severus yet, you know this. Both you and Severus lived on an inadequate diet for many years. It isn't safe for you to feed Severus until you've had a chance to recover. For Severus, healthy blood is essential at this early stage, as well as regular feedings. I cannot keep feeding him as I have without hurting both of us in the long run. By limiting my intake of blood replenishing potions to once a week, we keep my blood healthy and simultaneously ensure a healthy blood supply for Severus."
"But I don't mind feeding once a day. Or maybe if I try really hard, every other day." Severus offered.
"Oh Sev," Harry said softly, truly touched by the offer. "The important thing is to keep all of us healthy. The blood packs help us accomplish that. True, the process is very uncomfortable and time consuming, but it is not overly dangerous. I will be completely recovered come tomorrow morning, you'll see."
"I still don't like it." Eileen said with a frown. "When will I be able to feed him?"
"In 8-9 weeks, at the earliest."
"In 8 weeks I will start feeding Severus, then. Two months is more than enough time to regain my strength... I will do this whether you want me to or not." She declared with a stubborn set of her chin. Harry shook his head and chuckled. He knew better than to fight against a woman using that tone of voice.
Harry then turned to look at Severus, who he noticed was running a finger up and down over the fabric on Harry's forearm. Harry was still wearing his long-sleeved pajama top.
"Harry…why do you hide your scars from us?" Severus asked, looking at him with a sad expression on his face.
"Severus!" Eileen called out in a scolding tone.
"I…" Harry didn't know what to say, he hadn't expected that question. He had never really used glamour spells before since Ron and Hermione had not cared about the scars and he did not care about what anyone else might have thought. But he had not wanted for Severus and Eileen to see them, they were not used to seeing battle scars in half the people they met like he was.
"We wouldn't make fun of you or anything. You don't have to hide them." Severus said in a reassuring tone.
Harry swallowed. "It's not that. I know how they look. They are not something people would like to see everyday. There is no reason why either of you should have to look at them when a simple glamour takes care of the problem easily enough."
Severus put his whole hand on Harry's forearm. "There is no problem. We are not people, we're your fam-friends."
"Indeed, Harry. I am sure my sensibilities can survive looking at your scars. Or do you truly think me so shallow?" Eileen asked with pretend indignation.
"Okay, Okay," Harry chortled. "I know when to stop protesting."
Eileen got up and patted his hand. "Truly, Harry, we just want you to be comfortable with us. We will still like you, no matter what you look like or how many scars you get."
Severus leaned towards Harry a little but stopped himself halfway and shook his head cutely. The motion reminded Harry of a puppy.
"Sleep. But if you still look half dead tomorrow morning, we're taking you straight to St. Mungo's. Good night." Severus jumped off the bed, put on his slippers and left with a wave of his hand as he went out the door.
Harry and Eileen looked at each other, amused at hearing such an edict from an eight-year-old boy. Things were starting look up for their little family.
AN: Though Harry didn't get to actually eat much during the war, he always had nutrition potions, so he considers himself healthy enough to feed Severus.
Chapter 7: A Misunderstanding
January 24, 1968
"Are we still going to Honeydukes today?" Was Severus' greeting that morning.
"Good morning to you as well," Eileen said dryly while Harry laughed.
"Of course, just like I promised. We'll go after I get back." Harry assured him as Severus spread ketchup over his omelet.
Harry saw Severus' frown at this answer, but figured that he was simply unhappy about having to wait until later. In truth, however, this was not the case at all. It was true that Severus had never been promised enough candy to last a week before but he knew how to wait. The problem came from Severus' feelings of insecurity.
By this time their household had been more or less fully established. Severus had read both volumes of Born a Human-Vampire: A Guide and Eileen had read the Parent's Guide in depth. Both had their questions answered by Harry when they didn't understand something, that had been one of the first things they had taken care of. Severus had been especially happy to know that all vampires were legal adults at 15, when they were able to recognize their mates. He wasn't too crazy about the whole having a mate thing but Harry told him that he would see things differently when he grew up.
In the house, the potions lab had also been fully stocked and available for lessons, including actual potion making. Harry had made sure that they had every potion's ingredients imaginable, so now Eileen could teach Severus whatever she wanted without being limited by time or available ingredients.
They also made Harry's blood replenishing and nutrition potions. An arrangement that came to be after Severus' first full out temper tantrum.
It had all begun with Harry making a simple, innocent comment:
"I'll be going to the apothecary today, do you need anything?" Harry asked Eileen and Severus on his way out, who were working on basic arithmetic in the sitting room.
"No thank you, we are fully stocked." Eileen answered with an appreciative smile.
"What do you need from the apothecary? We almost bought the place out the last time we went." Severus asked in curiosity.
"I'm out of blood replenishing and nutrition potions. I need to arrange for weekly deliveries…"
"NO." Severus said firmly, throwing his quill on the writing table and standing up to pull Harry completely into the sitting room.
"Sev?" Harry asked in complete bewilderment, but not wanting to further intensify Severus' obvious discontent.
"Mom can make you any potion you could ever need." Severus said with confidence and started pulling off Harry's scarf and winter coat after making him sit on the couch.
"Severus," Harry said in as calming a tone as he could manage. "I don't doubt your mother's competence, but these potions are time consuming. It's more practical to have them delivered." He told him while taking Severus' hands in his own, trying to stop the tugging at his clothes.
Out of everything that could have happened, what did happen next took everyone by surprise.
Severus' black eyes narrowed and his whole face contorted into a mask of fury. He lost control of his fangs and they elongated to their full extent.
"NO!" He hissed at Harry through bared teeth. Eileen was rooted to her seat, muted by fascination.
"NO!" Severus screamed and stomped his foot when he saw Harry about to speak again. "You are not drinking potions made by some filthy old fool that probably barely passed his potions O.W.L with an Acceptable! If it's too much for mother then I can do them as well."
"Severus, honey, you don't know those potions yet." Eileen reminded him. He glared at her so hard Harry flinched in sympathy.
Severus pulled his hands away from Harry and grabbed him by a wrist instead; making sure that Harry couldn't go anywhere.
After that, it took Harry and Eileen another ten minutes to calm him down. In the end Harry and Eileen had to give in; neither able to make Severus give in to the idea.
Severus knew that Harry and his mother didn't understand why he couldn't allow Harry to drink potions made by someone he didn't trust. The only people he trusted were Harry and his mother. Something inside him reveled against such an idea. If his mother could make the potions they need then why risk taking someone else's? It was very simple to him; his family didn't have to submit itself to possibly improperly prepared potions, so why should they want to?
This event however, marked a change in Harry's daily routine. Until then, Harry had spent every moment with them, unless he was sleeping or making those awful blood bags. The day after his outburst, Harry offered to start training Severus for dueling, well, Harry called it training, Severus just called it fun.
It consisted on charming the sitting room (after Noodle had cleared it off obviously) to fire little paint balls at them at random. Their goal was to spend an hour in there without getting hit. So far, Severus was horrible at it but it was really something to come out of there covered in all the colors of the rainbow and then see Harry walk off completely clean. Severus had never seen anyone move so gracefully before, Harry made it look so easy when it truly was anything but. According to Harry they were barely on the first level, with three more to go before taking it on blindfolded!
Severus couldn't picture himself every becoming that good but Harry had faith in him being ready by the time he starts Hogwarts.
All in all those lessons were not the trouble, but Harry's disappearances were. Their dueling training always takes place after dinner. However, ever since they started, Harry began leaving the house after breakfast and coming back a few hours before dinner. If he comes back in time for lunch he shuts himself in his bedroom until dinnertime. It was very frustrating for Severus.
At first, Severus didn't really mind it much. But as the days went by he started worrying about why Harry had started separate himself from them. The only thing that came to mind was that perhaps Harry didn't like him anymore. The day he had grabbed Harry to him from the apothecary he had hurt him. Severus had not noticed but his grip was stronger that that of a regular child. When he had let go he had seen the bruises his hand had made and apologized.
Harry had laughed it off and told him to take it as a good sign that he was growing into a healthy vampire. Severus had sworn right there and then that he would be more careful from then on. He didn't ever want to hurt Harry again, or his mother. But the more Harry kept away the more doubts Severus kept having about Harry's fondness for him.
So, a couple of days ago Severus had sneaked into Harry's room in search of a clue about where he was going everyday. He kept having nightmares about Harry leaving him because he had hurt him again; or telling him that he really was a monster and was going to find a normal child to help and live with. Harry had not changed the way he treated Severus or Eileen in any way, but Severus knew Harry well enough by now to reason that even if Harry disliked him he wasn't the type to be mean about it.
In the end, what he found in Harry's room was even worse than what he had thought. First, he had seen a journal on his bed but the repelling charm on it had been too strong for him to ignore. Then, he had found pieces of wood in different sizes and three small toys, seeming already carved from the same kind of wood. The toys were simple figurines: a centaur, a unicorn, and a tree. Severus knew they weren't for him. Harry had offered to buy him toys before but he had always refused, saying he was too old for toys and that he didn't even like them.
Perhaps that was the problem. Severus knew he was not a cute child, nor did he act very childish. Perhaps Harry had found someone else, a child that needed him and wasn't a vampire. The more Severus thought about it the more he feared Harry will leave him to live with a nice child, one that was actually childlike.
Severus refused to let that happen.
He figured that if he could show Harry that he wouldn't hurt him again and that he did like childish things, like candy, then he would forget about the other child and want to stay with him once more; thus, his request to go to Honeydukes.
"Can't you stay home today? We can go to Honeydukes and maybe walk around town afterward." Severus tried to convince Harry not to leave again.
"I'm sorry I can't stay today, but I'll try to come back early." Harry told him as he finished his breakfast tea.
But Severus was not going to give up today. As soon as Harry left the table Severus left to get dressed and sneaked into his mother's room to borrow her spare wand for a minute. He left a note on her bed telling her he was going to be following Harry. He then cast a silencing charm on his boots and a chameleon charm on himself (charms his mother had taught him to hide from Tobias) before returning the wand.
As soon as he heard the front door close he slipped out the back door and followed Harry down the path with every single ounce of stealth he possessed. They walked for about 15 or 20 minutes until they were standing in front of some very scary looking trees. Severus then saw Harry removed his cloak and drop it off the path, just out of sight, before taking his wand from his holster and stepping into what Severus was fairly sure was the Forbidden Forest.
He was scared, but he was not about to go back empty handed and get punished for nothing, so he followed about ten feet behind, using the trees to hide as much as possible. He saw Harry walk on ahead, picking up fallen tree limbs and then throwing them back down again. After an hour of the same thing, Severus got bored, so he started looking around, glancing back to Harry every few minutes. If this truly was the Forbidden Forest, it was really overrated for such a boring place, in his opinion. And as he looked back to keep following Harry after watching something that had looked like a walking twig, he realized he was alone.
He spun around in a circle in panic, trying to figure out which direction Harry had gone but it all looked the same to him. He was surrounded by trees…….and eyes. That's when he noticed the giant spiders looking at him. He didn't know how they knew he was there, even with the chameleon charm, but whatever it was there was no mistaking the fact they had surrounded him.
Without a second thought Severus looked for the clearest path and ran.
Suddenly, a spider fell down from the trees in front of him, but Severus was running too fast to stop and he ran right between its hairy legs and into its huge swollen body. Both went tumbling down together, right through a hedge and down a small hill.
When Severus finally stopped, he was face down on the ground with his breath knocked out of him. He groaned in pain but quickly sat up when he heard the rustling sounds that surrounded him.
He was terrified and couldn't think of a single thing to do. Then he felt it……A sharp, burning pain spreading through his right arm.
"Harry!"
AN: Remember that Harry has gotten used to keeping his Occlumency shields to his highest capacity because of Severus, thus he was unable to sense Severus following him (and he was distracted, thinking, you'll see in the next chapter). =)
A Chance at Life – Interlude 1
Harry's Journal - January 14, 1968
I write in this journal because I feel I might go around the bend with all these thoughts in my head if I don't get them out somehow. I can never truly confide my past to anyone so this journal will be it in a way, it doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense, it's just for me after all...
Many times I have wondered why I was chosen by the fates to do the things I have. I have hated them, cursed them and resented them. Now, I find myself alone once more. Alone in a place that I know and yet is alien to me at the same time. When I first came here I wondered why I was here, but now it doesn't matter.
I believe I am here for Severus. Whether he somehow brought me here or I was brought by some higher power is irrelevant. The man that I knew back home had been like a parent to me. I always trusted the old man to do what was best in regards to Tom but I knew I could not trust him with my life.
That man I could trust to look out for me, to see me as I am, and tell me the truth no matter how awful it might be. He was there for me until he died protecting me. Now it's my turn and it's no sacrifice to take care of Sev; by making him my heir at least his financial future is now secure if I were to die unexpectedly. I am more than happy to do this and if this is selfish of me then so be it. I have already given most of my life for the 'greater good,' I can be selfish now if I want.
For the first time in my life I can choose what to do with my life.
I choose to be Harry, a muggle-born wizard with no past and no family.
I choose to be Severus' guardian & mentor for as long as he needs me. I choose to fight Voldemort of my own freewill, because I truly have a choice. I choose this because I know that even if I die in this endeavor the future of the wizarding world will not die with me, and there will be others to take up the fight against Voldemort after me. My goal is simply for Severus to be able to lead a life of his own choosing, after that I will be able to die without regrets.
Whoever he chooses to follow I will be happy, because I will know he truly had a choice.
I realize that with this choice I have given up any chance of ever having a family of my own but that was a dream that died right along with Ginny. I will not risk trusting the wrong person or leaving a child of mine alone in this world to grow up like I did. I refuse to take that chance.
It is almost a given that I will die, I no longer have a power the he knows not (1)….and I have no wish to live for who knows for how long with my…gifts. I am not suicidal; I am simply extremely familiar with what I am up against. This time my life (and death) will not be a sacrifice prefigured by destiny…
I am simply another wizard now. Here, Severus will be my family until I die and then I will finally be free to rejoin my own.
(1) He means the Hollows
AN: The man he's talking about is Severus Snape from his original timeline.
Chapter 8: Consequences
January 24, 1968
Life was good.
Harry had not had much to be so happy about in over a year, but here he was. Eileen and Severus were safe and Harry was making a good income with the Quidditch bets, his 'insight' combined with remembered statistics made for very good odds on his favor.
About a week ago, Harry had finally been able to begin his real work. He had just wanted to make sure Eileen and Severus were settled in before he got started. In his original timeline the Forbidden Forest had been a weak point during Voldemort's attacks on Hogwarts. Voldemort had managed to secure the werewolves' alliance and the centaurs had refused to ally with Dumbledore.
Though Harry was able to establish a friendship with the centaurs they refused to interfere in the war. They helped Harry if he was personally in eminent danger but that was all. In their view, it was an insult that Dumbledore had only seeked an alliance with them when it became obvious they were losing the war. They saw it for the desperate plot it was to secure more warriors; not an alliance based on respect or recognition of equality. Harry agreed with them completely.
For all his talk of being the leader of the light Dumbledore clung to too many outdated ideas and customs when it came to dealing with magical beings. Indeed, Dumbledore always referred to centaurs and even Remus, as magical creatures. Harry never understood it.
So, his first order of business was to map out the Forbidden Forest, marking areas of danger, and begin friendly overtures with the centaurs. One advantage he had this time around was that he already understood their culture and how they thought because of his original friendship with them. One very crucial difference was their view of what magic should be used for. Their magic was different from that wielded by wizards. They had no need for wands and only those chosen to be wielders were ever taught to use it.
For them, magic was a gift that should only be used when necessary. The wizarding habit of using magic for every little thing was perceived as a weakness. As such, their magic was only used to ward their borders and healing. For Harry, getting to know and understand centaurian logic wasn't all that hard; being raised by muggles had made it so that Harry wasn't in the habit of being dependent on magic. He liked working with his hands and had plenty of experience containing his magic, from his summers with the Dursley's.
Once he started his excursions to the forest he made sure to remain on the lookout for utilizable wood. Centaurs were very respectful of the forest; they never cut down trees and only made use of fallen/broken limbs to work with. Harry did the same.
He planned to carve some toys for their little ones and some useful items for the adults, like cups and bowls. So far in his explorations Harry had yet to see or sense a centaur. He wasn't as lucky with the acromantulas though. With typical Potter luck, Harry had chosen to make his path right past their nest. The first few times he had walked by they had ambushed him. He had probably killed half the colony before they gave up.
Now, they let him pass undisturbed, though Harry knew they would attack him again if they ever saw the chance. At the moment, Harry had just passed the nest as silently and quickly as possible. He was planning to explore for another hour or so and surprise Severus by making it back home for lunch. They should have enough time between lunch and dinner to explore Hogsmead, maybe even go take a look at Hogwarts if he wanted to.
Severus had been acting a little clingy with him lately, perhaps this will help with whatever was bothering him. Harry wished he knew what the matter was but Severus had been trying too carefully not to give away his concern for him to think that Severus would wish to talk about it. As it was, Harry refused to use his ability on Severus, especially because he knew how intense the connection was between them. He now always had to keep his Occlumency shields to the maximum, since his standard shielding didn't work with Sev . He didn't want to invade Severus' emotions, even unintentionally, unless he absolutely had no other choice. It was just as he pondered what he should get for Eileen at Hogsmead (she doesn't like sweets) that he was forcefully overcome by a vision.
He stayed rooted to the spot willing the vision to become clearer. He faintly heard Severus saying something…calling his name... and then he was surrounded by trees...a forest...and....acromantulas.
Harry had never seen Severus looking so terrified; his eyes wide and his body trembling, almost on the verge of tears. Harry didn't waste time wondering how or why Severus ended up in the Forbidden Forest, he reacted. He lowered his Occlumency shields slightly and focused on Severus while summoning Gryffindor's sword and readying himself for battle.
Following his instincts, he blindly apparated to where he felt Severus was. He was being guided completely by instinct but he had no other choice. He didn't know for sure if the vision had been an event about to happen, present, or future. But he was fairly sure he could still make it in time if he hurried.
He successfully apparated to the place he had seen in his vision, but he could not see Severus anywhere.
"Harry!" He quickly focused his attention in the cry's direction but still couldn't make out Severus' small form in the mass of writhing dark spiders' bodies.
"Let the child go." Harry commanded in an icy tone.
The acromantulas attacked.
Normally, Harry would have responded with wide-ranging sectumsembras and blasting curses along with releasing strong waves of magical bursts from his body to keep a safe perimeter around him. But without knowing Severus' specific location he could not do this without risking hurting him as well. Nor could Harry lower his Occlumency shields anymore to locate him without becoming overwhelmed by the creatures' emotions.
"Sev, why can't I see you?!"
If Severus was on the ground he might be able to use his shock wave or an expansive slashing curse. Harry was having a hard time fighting so inefficiently, he was not used to containing his magic during battle. He already had a few shallow bites on his legs and chest, but he knew the poison won't be able to kill him so he ignored the burning pain as much as possible and focused on listening for Severus' answer.
"Chameleon charm-AHH!"
As soon Harry heard Severus scream he waived his arm in a sweeping half circle towards Sev's voice and cried out with an extra strong wave of magic, "Finite!"
Unfortunately, one of the acromantulas managed to make use of the small opportunity. The creature pushed up with its hind legs and came up behind Harry to bite into his neck, but Harry sensed it and barely managed to shift his upper body slightly in a reflexive swerve. Thus, the spider ended up biting right between the corner of his right eye and his hairline with a sickening crunch of shattering bone.
The pain was excruciating, it was all Harry could do as he blasted the giant spider into oblivion. He could not longer see from his right eye, but could still feel the sharp sting of the poison burning into his eye and the surrounding skin.
He gritted his teeth and looked for Severus. He found him on the ground, his small body half hidden by the gnarled roots of a tree. He also had a thick branch in his scraped hands, using it to hit any spider that came near him. Thank Merlin for vampire strength.
Harry attacked with renewed fervor, blasting away spiders as he approached. Harry didn't know how long it took him to reach him, but it already seemed way too long. By now Harry was covered in black acromantula blood and body parts while the whole right side of his face felt like molten lava.
"Harry!"
Harry saw Severus' tear stained face and panicked expression as a spider somehow managed to bite down on Severus' leg and started pulling him out of his hideout. He sent a wave of magic to clear out other spiders near them and let go of his wand (which automatically returned to his holster). He swiftly picked up Severus with his now free arm and used the sword to cut off the spider's head. As soon as the dead creature's jaws let go of Severus' leg, Harry apparated them to their front door.
Falling to his knees with Severus in his arms, he concentrated on pushing back the pain in order to think clearly. Though he had yet to come across a poison capable of killing him, poison produced by magical creatures still hurt him. He had survived the bite of another basilisk two years ago, but the sheer pain of it had almost made him wish for death, in comparison the acromantula poison was just bearable.
At least Severus was safe now.
HPSSHPSSHPSS
"H-Harry…" Severus stuttered, trying to stop sobbing. He'd never been so scared in his life; he'd really thought he was going to die until Harry showed up. But now…he could not help sobbing even harder as he left the arms that held him and looked at Harry.
Harry's clothes were in tatters, he was covered in some disgusting smelling blue-black slime and bright red blood. Harry's blood, he recognized the scent of it even with all that slime on him. As he looked at the man kneeling in front of him, Severus was swamped with fresh guilt as he got a good look at his face. The right side of Harry's face was a bloody mess, his right eye completely swollen shut with visible little black lines radiating outwards under his skin.
"Masters!" Severus turned to look at Noodle as he heard the front door open, but Noodle had already popped away.
"Sev…" He heard Harry call to him. "Were you hurt too badly?"
"N-No."
Severus didn't know what to do. He wanted to hug him and beg for forgiveness, but he didn't want to hurt him even more. He refused to whine about the painful burning sensation coming from the bites on his arm and legs. Harry was hurt 10 times worse and he wasn't crying like a baby.
This was all his fault...
HPSSHPSSHPSS
"Harry! Severus! Oh Merlin, what happened?" Eileen was horrified. When Noodle had come get her in frantic worry, she had hoped that the elf had been exaggerating the situation, but obviously that was not the case at all.
"Eileen, no matter what happens, don't take us to St. Mungos." Harry told her, looking at her with his uninjured eye. She didn't agree, he needed professional help, his eye especially.
"Tend to Severus, I'm not sure how many times he was bitten by the acromantulas."
Eileen immediately knelt to check on her son. He was crying silently, but she couldn't really tell much with his clothes on.
"Take him to his room. Noodle will take care of me." Harry told her with noticeable authority as he stood with Noodle's help. Eileen apparated Severus and herself to his room and started questioning him. "Severus tell me what happened. Where are you hurt?"
She cast a strong scourgify on him and started disrobing him. His silent continuous tears were beginning to worry her. Severus rarely cried and when he did it was never for long. She was also worried about Harry, if they had been bitten by an acromantula they will die without the anti-venom.
She gasped when she finally got her son down to his underwear. He had two deep bites, one on his upper right arm and another on his left leg, towards the outward side portion of his shin. He also had what looked like a shallow bite on his right calf. No wonder he was crying, she was more surprised by the fact that he wasn't screaming, she had heard that acromantula poisoning was a very painful experience…if you survived. She was just about to apparate to St. Mungo's with Severus, whether Harry agreed or not, when she heard the bedroom door open.
"How badly is he hurt?" She turned to see Harry entering the room. He was no longer covered in grime and blood, but he was still wearing the same tattered clothing. He had also covered up his right eye with a white cloth in a crude sort of eye patch.
"Harry we have to go St. Mungos. We need the anti-venom and your eye…" Noodle popped in carrying two blood bags and gave them to Harry.
"Severus, here, you need to drink one of these." He told Severus while giving him a blood bag and then nodded to Noodle, who popped away once more. "Eileen, Severus is a vampire. By taking him to St. Mungos we are automatically calling trouble from the Ministry. Their bigotry alone is enough to make our lives hell on earth for as long as we live in the wizarding world. Besides, Severus' vampirism ensures his recovery, the venom can't kill him."
Harry explained all this while he performed a number of spells Eileen didn't recognize, especially since they were all non-verbal. In the time they had lived together she had noticed that Harry had a tendency to cast spells silently, big or small, they seemed to come just as easily to him. Right now he had divided the blood in the second pack into three parts. These he then somehow made into what looked like red liquid squares, each one pressed onto the bites on Severus body without trickling down.
"Severus," Harry knelt in front of him lifted his chin with a gentle hand. "You'll be all right. I know it hurts like hell right now but you will feel better soon... it's okay to cry and scream when in pain if you need to…"
Severus suddenly threw himself at Harry with a sobbing cry, wrapping both arms around his neck in a death grip. "I'm sorry. It's my fault you're hurt again. Don't hate me…please."
Eileen saw that that Harry was in pain, he had gone whiter than a sheet when Severus clutched him and she almost told Severus to let go. But Harry simply sat on the floor and pulled Severus to stand between his bent legs, hugging him with one hand and rubbing his back with the other. "I don't hate you, I could never hate you…Sev, you are my family now and no matter what you do I will always be here for you."
Eileen blinked away tears, after living with Tobias for so long Harry still managed to surprise her with his gentle matter towards Severus.
Severus was no longer crying but he remained in Harry's arms, seemingly trying to bury his head into Harry's neck as much as possible. Soon however, Eileen remembered that Harry wasn't a vampire and needed to care of his own wounds. Not to mention that he needed the anti-venom as soon as possible, nor was she completely convinced that Severus will be able to survive a poisoning at such a young age. But at that moment Noodle popped back in with another house-elf in tow. The new house-elf looked a lot like Noodle, except it wore a full length pillow case and was barefoot, instead of wearing comfortable slippers, clean trousers and a shirt like Noodle.
Severus finally let go and turned around in Harry's arms, but he didn't pull away. Instead, he sat down between Harry's bent legs and leaned back onto his chest, pulling Harry's arm around him tightly once more, still whimpering every now and then in pain.
Harry placed a kiss on top of Severus' raven black head and looked to the new arrivals. "Noodle. Miss." He nodded politely in welcome.
"This be Noodle's mamá, family mender I told Master about: Kura."
"Hello Kura, welcome to my home. I am Harry Potter and I'm in need of a healer for Severus here. He was bitten by acromantulas, can you try to heal him please?"
Eileen's mouth dropped open. She could not believe what she was seeing. And neither could Kura if her wide-eyed expression was anything to go by. The astounded house-elf stayed like that until her son kicked her not so subtly on the leg.
"Yes, yes, of course. Kura will try, sir."
"Severus is a vampire, will that present a problem?"
"No, sir."
With that, Kura stepped in front of them and snapped her fingers, a discernible pink glow gradually surrounding Severus .
Severus almost giggled at the tickling feeling and the lack of any more pain.
Kura snapped her fingers again and the pink glow seemed to slowly seep into Severus until it disappeared completely.
She frowned.
"Did something go wrong?" Harry asked her.
"Young Severus should not have scars."
"Ah, that's probably my fault." Harry answered as he looked down to the faint scars left on Severus' skin. Everyone turned to look at him at that pronouncement. "He has been feeding on my blood for two weeks now. I cannot be healed by elf magic. An elf friend of mine tried to heal me once, but it was impossible. It is probable that my blood interfered with your healing magic somewhat. But other than that, how do you feel, Sev?"
Severus tilted his head back to look up at him as he answered. "Good. No pain at all." He then turned to Kura and thanked her with a small, awkward, seated bow.
Kura beamed in happiness for a moment before popping away abruptly.
"Mother is being called by her master, she means no disrespect." Noodle explained.
"That's all right, Noodle. Thank you for convincing her to come. Do you know if there is anything we can do to show our appreciation?" Harry asked him.
"House-elfs don't need things. We are always happy to serve."
"In that case would you go thank her for us? You can come back until breakfast tomorrow morning if you want, we'll call you if we need you again tonight."
"Noodle will be called if he's needed. Harry promises?" Noodle insisted while shaking a chastising finger towards Harry. Harry promised and ignored Severus' snorting laugh at his expense. Eileen just shook her head, already used to the odd antics of her new family.
Noodle nodded and popped away once more
"Harry you're in pain." Severus said all of a sudden, standing up in a hurry. "Hurry, you have to go to St. Mungo's! I'm fine now, but you could die. Harry please…" Severus looked frantic as he fidgeted, clearly waiting for Harry get up.
"I won't die. Besides, I can't go there Severus." Harry told him in a comforting tone. "My blood is…different. I can't take the chance that the wrong person might get a sample of it."
"But you're in pain…I can smell it." Severus said, looking at his feet, appearing a bit embarrassed at the admission.
Eileen spoke up. "Is this difference, the reason you say you won't die from the poison? Are you sure about this?"
"Yes. I survived a basilisk bite; acromantula poisoning is a walk in the park." Harry said with a cynical scoff.
Eileen and Severus both gasped: no one could survive a basilisk bite. Severus, however, recovered in a second and glared at Harry. "That does not mean you can just sit there and do nothing. Your eye looked horrible and you have other wounds don't you?"
"Noodle already helped me get cleaned up and I healed my eye as best I could, though I now have another scar to add to my ever growing repertoire." Harry told him with a lopsided smile, he couldn't move the right side of his face just yet.
Severus still glared at him. "If you already healed yourself, why are you in such pain? It has to be intense for me to be able to smell it. My sense of smell is barely sharper than before you know. Let me see your eye."
Harry looked at him for a moment before doing as he requested or rather, as ordered. Eileen and Severus approached to get a good look.
Harry's eye was still swollen shut, though not as much as before. Instead of a bloody gaping wound he now had a wide, red, raised scar connecting the edge of his eye to his hair line. Surrounding the scar where hair-thin, short, black twisty looking lines: the poison had blackened capillaries near the wound, producing a peculiar fringe-like effect around the scar.
Severus made a low whimpering sound in his throat when he saw it, before taking Harry's head between his hands and carefully tilting it to the side. He then leaned in and started to lick the scar and eye tenderly, tears running down his pale cheeks and lightly falling on Harry's face.
Eileen stared at them wide-eyed, Harry looking as shocked as she felt.
When Severus pulled away the scar was still wide but now smooth and silver-white in color, nor was his eye swollen any more. Harry raised a probing hand to his face, the pain in and around his eye having banished almost completely.
"Do vampires have healing powers?" Eileen asked in wonder.
"No. I have never heard of such an ability before." Harry replied, tracing his new scar with tentative fingers.
"Perhaps it is a case of accidental magic then?" Eileen proposed.
Harry nodded and opened both his eyes this time. Eileen felt my mouth dropping open once more that night. Harry's right eye was light aqua-green in color, a stark difference from his other eye, which was a bright green. The entire combination of different colored eyes, scar, and blackened capillaries made his face stand out like an elaborate work of art. Even the lightening bolt scar on his forehead and wild black hair added to the effect.
Eileen had never seen anything so eerily beautiful in her life.
Harry groaned when he saw Severus and Eileen looking at him like he had grown a third eye or something. He conjured up a mirror and took a fortifying breath before taking a look…
"Oh…well at least it doesn't look like an American highway map anymore, though I could easily join a circus now." Harry joked.
In his opinion, he looked like a tattooed weirdo with cheap contact lenses but he was used to being different and as long as Severus and Eileen didn't mind his new look the rest of the world could go hang. But he still felt a little weird about his scars. He had spent his life so far being instantly known because of one, any scars on his face made him feel vulnerable somehow.
"What's a circus?" Severus asked with a frown.
Eileen shot Severus an unhappy look, she still didn't know how they had gotten bitten. She knew from Severus' note that he had followed Harry somewhere. She assumed they had been in the Forbidden Forest, but what exactly had happened?
"Forget about it, I'll explain some other time. Eileen, do you have any painkillers in stock? It would make it easier to sleep tonight….How about we talk about this in morning?"
Harry flexed his body cautiously; the bites on his arms and chest still stung, but Noodle had been able to remove most of the remaining venom so in all probability he'll be fine in two days if not sooner. This fast healing ability was one effect about the whole Chamber of Secrets fiasco he felt grateful for, though…he could really do without everything else that came with it.
HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSS
January 25 (2:17am)
Severus couldn't sleep; he couldn't stop thinking about the consequences of his foolishness. He had gotten Harry and himself hurt and almost killed. He felt stupid for thinking Harry would leave him. People don't run into a nest of giant spiders to rescue someone they don't like, much less cuddle the reason for their injuries while they are still in pain themselves.
That was another thing about Harry. He was different from everyone else. Severus hated to be cuddled, patted on the head, or any other such thing. Such actions always made him feel like they were looking down on him or thinking him weak. He didn't feel like that with Harry at all.
Maybe it was because Harry was so special. He didn't seem to think like anyone he had ever met. His beliefs and way of looking at things always managed to surprise him somehow, and in the end he felt secure that whatever Harry might think of him, he won't think him weak or look down on him for allowing that physical closeness.
Tobias always saw physical signs of affection as womanish nonsense and thus a show of weakness. All other men he had ever observed or met were always careful not to seem 'womanish' when among other men, including their sons. Even women seemed to find such behavior normal, which is why he didn't like his mother to touch him like that too much. She saw things like everyone else did too. He knew she loved him and he loved her, but it wasn't the same as with Harry.
Now he had to deal with this guilt he was feeling. He knew that for all his understanding ways, Harry still felt self-conscious of his scars. He had seen Harry's expression when he had looked at the new changes to his face. Not only did he have another, bigger, scar on his face, he had to deal with the other changes as well. Severus didn't know what a circus was but he was certain the reference had not been a positive one.
After fighting with himself for a few minutes, Severus finally decided to go see Harry and check if he was awake too.
Severus entered Harry's room without knocking; he didn't want to wake him up if he was sleeping. The room curtains were open and the waxing gibbous illuminated the bedroom in enough silver moonlight to make out Harry's sleeping features. Thus, as soon as he entered he saw that Harry was indeed asleep. He was a little disappointed but not really surprised, it was the middle of the night after all.
He was just about to leave when he heard Harry call out to him. "Severus? What is it?"
"I couldn't sleep….Did I wake you?" It seemed to Severus that all he did was keep finding new things to feel guilty about. He had not meant to wake him up.
Harry didn't answer; instead, he smiled at him and patted the empty space beside him on the queen-size bed. "Come on, you can lie here while we talk." Severus didn't need further prompting. He removed his slippers and slipped under the covers, facing Harry.
"What's the problem?"
"I'm sorry you got hurt because of me. I feel so stupid…." Severus told him, scowling into his pillow.
"We all feel stupid sometimes, just like we all make mistakes. The only thing you can do now is learn from your mistake."
A moment of silence.
"Sev, why did you follow me yesterday?"
Severus sighed. "It's stupid."
"Your actions were undoubtedly foolish, but your reasons, your feelings, could never be stupid." Severus looked up at that and raised his hand to take Harry's hand in his smaller one.
"I was scared." Severus whispered, focusing on their joined hands. He would have never admitted such a thing to anyone else but this was Harry. Harry would never make fun of him for admitting it.
"I thought that you had started leaving the house to look for someone else to help. Like you helped me…but someone that wasn't a vampire or that would hurt you like I did that day I got mad."
Harry squeezed his hand gently. "Why would you think that?"
"I don't know. You had never left us alone before. But you started going out and not eating lunch with us the day after I hurt you. I thought maybe you were too nice to tell me that I really was a monster-"
Harry cut him off before he could even finish the sentence. "You are not a monster. Don't ever say that about yourself, especially because of what you are. What matters to me is who you are. If you're a good person I don't care if you are turned into a banshee with blue skin and three eyes, you will still be Severus. And I definitely wouldn't call you a monster."
"A blue banshee?" Severus giggled and saw Harry's smile flash in the moonlight as he looked at him.
"Harry, if you are not going to leave us, who are those carvings in your room for?" As soon as he said it he blushed and hoped his face was shadowed enough to hide it from Harry who was the one facing the window.
"You searched my room?" Harry asked him with an arched eyebrow.
"I'm sorry, I just wanted to know where you went. I didn't take anything I promise!"
"I'm not worried about you stealing; I'm just confused as to why you didn't just ask me." Severus was quiet for a minute. He honestly hadn't thought of that.
"Could I really have asked you? Mom said that we are not to bother you. I'm not sure but I think she believes you work doing something illegal. When Tobias worked he usually left early and didn't get home until after 4 or so, you have never done that and well, you know…because you have a lot of money but you have never told us how you earn it and still spend a lot of time at home. "
Harry burst out laughing so hard the bed shook.
"I don't do anything illegal." He told him between chuckles. "I gamble. I better remember to clear that up with her in the morning…"
"Gamble? At what?"
"Quidditch games. I have quite a knack for betting on the winner and I don't place small bets either. It's quite lucrative and allows me to manage my time as I please."
"Mmmm…so about the toys then…"
"They are for the centaurs' young in the Forbidden Forest. I wish to befriend them. They are our neighbors after all."
"What?! Why? They are dangerous creat-" Severus cut himself off. Many would consider him a dangerous creature, and a dark one at that. Just by associating with him Harry demonstrated his lack of prejudice, it shouldn't surprise him that it extended to others as well. Which reminded him…"Harry, why are you so different?"
He quickly realized how offensive the question sounded. "I mean, you obviously don't think I'm a dangerous dark creature, or centaurs, and I remember you said you hated the werewolf registration act…Even the way you treat me and how you act. You admit liking to cook and you always hug me or ruffle my hair or…"
"I'm sorry, if I was making you uncomfortable you should have-"
"NO, no, it's not that. I hate it when other people do it but it's okay when you do it. It doesn't feel like your babying me or make me feel ill at ease when you do it. It feels different…I can't really explain it." Severus said frustrated.
"The answers to your questions are related in a way. You see, when I was a child I lived with relatives that hated anything that they didn't consider 'normal' or acceptable by society's standards. They had never liked me to begin with, since I became their ward when my parents died, I was nothing but an unwanted burden to them."
"How old were you?" Severus asked softly, he had wanted to know more about Harry ever since he rescued them. He was not about to waste this opportunity when Harry was talking about himself of his own free will.
"My parents died when I was a year old. I had no other relatives so they had to take me in, but they did so grudgingly. Things just became worse when they learned I was a wizard. Before I turned eleven they had kept me around doing chores, cooking, and things like that. After that however, we barely saw each other, much less speak to one another unless we had to. So when I was about twelve or thirteen I promised myself that I would never be like them. I would not change myself to be whatever society found acceptable, nor would I ever judge others just because everyone else believed them to be a certain way."
"So that's why you're okay with me being a vampire and the centaurs and the werewolves…"
"It's a big part of it." Harry told Severus and looked out the window for a second before continuing. "That is also part of the reason why I'm so demonstrative with you. As I grew up there were many times I wished for someone to hug me or just touch me with a little bit of affection. I promised myself that if I ever had children of my own, I would never deny them that. I know you are not my son but I do consider you my family now. Nevertheless, please…promise me that if you ever feel uncomfortable in any way you'll let me know. I don't want you to feel as if you have to put up with me, if you don't like something just tell me and I won't do it again. Promise?"
"I promise, but like I said before, it's okay."
"I'll trust you on that." Harry told him squeezing his hand once more before releasing it. "We better sleep now. Your mother will want a full explanation in a few hours. You better rest before you face that inquisition."
Severus groaned; he was going to be grounded forever - if not longer.
Harry laughed. "I'm sure it won't be too bad. You can sleep here tonight if you want. The bed is more than big enough for the two of us."
Severus groaned again and pulled the covers over his head. The last thing he heard as he drifted off to sleep, no longer bothered by a guilty conscience, was Harry's soft laughter.
HPSSHPSSHPSS
When Harry woke up in the morning he felt warmer than usual. He opened his eyes and saw that Severus had moved sometime during the night; the surprising thing was that Harry hadn't woken up. He was a very light sleeper and because of the war he was used to waking up at the slightest disturbance (which is why he had woken up when Severus entered his room during the night).
Severus was laying half on him, his head and torso on Harry's stomach, one arm around Harry's waist. Harry smiled. He had no idea how Severus ended up in this position but now he had to figure out how to get up without waking him. He slowly and gently separated himself from Severus, leaving him to settle down again with a bit of sleepy grumbling and hugging the pillow instead of Harry.
"Harry have you seen Severus? I just went to his room but he's not there." Harry heard a worried sounding Eileen ask him as soon as he stepped out of his room.
"He's sleeping in my room. He had a guilty conscience crisis last night and couldn't sleep."
"Oh…" Eileen said with a frown.
"Were you going to wake him up so early? You two can talk while I cook if you wish." Harry offered since he already knew everything. So, that's exactly what happened after everyone was assembled in the kitchen.
After an intense discussion Eileen grounded Severus with no potions and no new books for a month. Severus had told her what had happened while skillfully avoiding mentioning what had prompted his behavior in the first place, but Harry didn't mention Severus' fear. Not only would he be breaking a confidence if he did, but it was not his place to butt in between Severus and his mother.
Harry only spoke up again once breakfast was ready, after calling Noodle.
"Good morning masters, mistress. Everything fine?" Noodle said as soon as he popped in.
"We are fine, don't worry so much." Harry assured him after Eileen and Severus greeted him. "So, just out of curiosity, what do the two of you think I do for a living?" He asked Noodle and Eileen.
"Sell dangerous potions ingredients, like acromantula venom." Noodle answered with a pointed look.
"And you Eileen?" Harry asked her with a smirk.
"Ummm…well…whatever you do is fine with me as long as it does not endanger Severus or myself…you have never brought anything like that home so it does not really matter I suppose.."
He arched an eyebrow, an answer worthy of a Slytherin: polite evasiveness that completely ignored answering the question.
"I'm afraid I will have to disappoint you then. My profession is very boring and lacking in dangerousness or adventure of the kind Noodle imagines…I am but a gambler."
"Since we are all here right now let me just go on record and say that you can always ask me anything. I am not saying I will always answer but if I don't want to answer I will inform you of it...So, let's have it: any question you're just burning to ask?"
"You are Noodle's master, you are kind and Noodle has never been happier. I do not need to know anything else."
Harry was familiar with house-elf loyalty but it still warmed his heart to hear that Noodle was indeed happy living with them.
"I'm glad you're happy Noodle. I made a little something for your mother. Which family does she serve? I don't want to get her in trouble so I rather request permission for her to wear it before giving it to her. It's a simple gift really, muggles call them friendship bracelets." Harry told him while taking out a thin, hand woven, silver and blue bracelet made out of embroidery thread.
"House-elfs don't need things, Mas-Harry, but mamá will be happy to know you made something for her, even if she can't wear it… She serves the Malfoy family you see."
"Ah." That was sure to be an unpleasant meeting. "I'll try to arrange a meeting soon anyway."
The truth was that Harry had interwoven his magic into the threads as he wove them into a bracelet. It worked as an alarm system, letting him know if she was in danger or gravely injured. It was only fair that after saving Severus from days of pain he look out for her at the very least.
"How about you Eileen?"
"Yesterday you mentioned your blood was different somehow. If this is so how did it happen and how can you be sure that it won't harm my son?"
Harry nodded; she had the right of a concerned mother after all. "What I am about to tell you can never be discussed again unless absolutely necessary. Is this clear?" He asked in complete seriousness and did not continue until they had all agreed.
"When I was younger I was bitten by a basilisk and with a lot of luck and even more help, I survived. However, my survival came with a price. One was a natural resistance to poisons, as far as I know there is no poison that can kill me at the moment. The other, well, I am sure you have noticed how young I look?...I stopped aging when I was 17."
"What? But why? Are you saying you can't die?" Eileen asked astonished.
"I won't tell you why, it's better if you don't know. And no, that's not what I meant. I can't age but I can die just like any other person, I just won't look any older than this. As for how I know my blood won't hurt Severus, simply put, he is not the first vampire I have fed. My blood will help him a little actually. Even as a vampire he is still vulnerable to some poisons, with my blood that won't be a problem. He will still suffer some side effects, like the scars left after Kura's healing, but it is unlikely any poison would ever actually kill him if he continues to drink from me."
Eileen looked from Harry to her son, not knowing what to say to that.
"Any other questions?" Harry asked as he drank a bit of tea to soothe his dry throat.
"How was it that you found Severus in the Forbidden Forest? Severus said you apparated right into the throng of acromantulas attacking him. How did you know where he was?"
Harry thought about how to answer for a moment. He didn't want to reveal his clairvoyance so soon but he could mention his 'empathy' for now. What he did was actually closer to 'feeling' another person's magic and by extension their emotions or thoughts, but it was easier to just call it empathy; it made it easier to explain at least.
He needed to talk about it with Severus anyway.
"Do all you know what empathy is?"
Severus and Noodle shook their heads in the negative.
"It's the ability to feel another person's emotions, correct?" Eileen asked.
"Basically." Harry agreed.
"I am a rather weak empath. I usually need to focus on a particular individual to exercise this ability. However, I am very sensitive to Severus in particular. Almost from our first meeting I knew there was some kind of connection between us. It was the reason why I tried so hard to get him to accept my help when I first met him. I knew he needed me…and I was there to help. I always go with my instincts when I can."
He smiled a little sheepishly at them. "When I first met you I told you the truth when I said I wanted to help you but it was not the main reason why. I couldn't tell you that I wanted to help because my instincts told me to; you would have thought me a nutcase!"
Severus was grinning like a maniac by now, happy to know he had a special connection to Harry. Noodle just kept on eating; he really liked the little animal shapes Harry made of their breakfast fruit. Eileen was shaking her head, muttering something about how she shouldn't be surprised by anything anymore or something along those lines.
"So, in order to keep myself from becoming overwhelmed by Severus' feelings I keep my Occlumency shields as strong as I can. Occlumency is the art of shielding the mind against external penetration, magical or otherwise. However, if Severus' emotions are intense enough they can still get through to me. Yesterday was one of those times."
"When I felt him in trouble I merely allowed my instincts to guide me to his side." He finished with a shrug.
"I see…please don't take this the wrong way but since meeting you there were times when I did think you a little too sensitive for a male. Not that that's a bad thing! It's just unusual that's all. Your empathy, no matter how weak, does explain quite a few things about you."
Harry blushed, he hated being called sensitive, it reminded him too much of Malfoy's taunting.
Severus was scowling at his mother and jabbing his sausage rather savagely; she shouldn't be making Harry feel bad.
"Anyway, I would like to teach Severus Occlumency. By keeping my shields so high all the time I am limiting what I can perceive. If I'd had them at a normal level, yesterday's mishaps would have never taken place. If you agree to my teaching him of course..." He told Eileen before Severus got too excited with the idea.
"I don't see why not…" Eileen said still somewhat hesitant but she was willing to wait and see how things continue to develop. She was still reeling about the fact that Severus had slept with Harry last night, she wasn't comfortable with the idea of him sleeping with another male. But Severus had not complained about anything when she woke him up…but then again Harry was powerful enough that he could Obliviate them and she'd never know. But if he did that would be going against what he had said under the globe of truth spell …She was getting a headache just thing of 'what ifs' and getting no where.
"Great! Let's get started tonight!" Severus said enthusiastically.
She will just make sure to keep an even closer eye on the both of them, she had no reason to doubt Harry but it was still too early for her to trust him blindly.
AN: I know that in cannon Lucius would be 14 but I need him to be younger for plot purposes….Sorry for the short chapter but it didn't really feel like an interlude to me.
Chapter 9: Eileen's Confession
January 29 (Malfoy Manor)
Lucius Malfoy didn't know what to think about their latest visitor. Even at 10 years old he knew that this 'Harry Potter' was unlike anyone he'd ever met. When his parents had received the letter from this self-proclaimed muggle-born they had sneered and scoffed at his effrontery, insulted that such a guttersnipe had even dared contact them at all.
His family, his father especially, made no secret of their disdain for mudbloods, including most half-bloods. At first, Lucius had thought the mudblood a bloody fool to openly declare himself as such to known blood purists as the Malfoys. He knew his parents would never lower themselves to meet with such rubbish, thus it came as no surprise when he was told to deal with him. It was an obvious (to purebloods at least) demonstration of contempt, sending a child to deal with an inferior, unwanted guest.
But Potter had not reacted like he (or his parents) had expected him to. Potter had greeted him as if Lucius were an adult. He had gotten straight to business but never ignored pureblood customs. He always maintained his wand arm behind his back as was proper for a new acquaintance or unknown guest and never gawked at the mansion's luxury or grandeur. He didn't even ask for a seat when Lucius denied him that small courtesy, though Lucius had taken a seat himself with classic Malfoy superiority.
Anyone else in Potter's position would have wasted time and energy trying to arrange another meeting with his parents. Nor would they have respected his decision not to offer him a seat and would have sat anyway, just because Lucius was a child, regardless of his status.
He confused Lucius.
Potter obviously knew pureblood customs; therefore he was aware of the insult his family was dealing him when they had sent Lucius to deal with him. So why had Potter completely ignored the slight? Also, why had he come to purchase that particular elf? Other than his parent's personal elfs he didn't know any of the creatures' names and they owned several.
Lucius had asked a ridiculously high sum for the elf thinking Potter would refuse and that that would be the end of it; but Potter hadn't even batted an eyelash, maintaining his cool expression and never giving a single clue as to what he was thinking. Since Lucius had not refused to sell but had simply named a price, the Malfoys had had no choice but to finalize the sale and allow the transfer of ownership. Abraxas had been obviously displeased the supposed mudblood had gotten what he wanted and though he would never admit it Lucius knew Abraxas was a mystified by Potter as the rest of them.
He acted too much like a pureblood to be a mudblood as he proclaimed. In a way Lucius felt sorry for Potter, Abraxas was not one for mysteries, especially one had already managed to outwit him.
Also, to be able to spend such a large amount of money without care, just how affluent was he? Where did he come from? If he truly wasn't related to the Potters why did he bear such a strong resemblance to them?
Who was this…Harry Potter?
HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSS
February 3
Harry found Eileen at the kitchen table, Noodle patting her hand comfortingly. It was clear why as well, she had obviously been crying recently, if her still red eyes and the wet handkerchief in her hands were any indication.
"Eileen, are you all right? Can I help you?" Harry asked her concerned. He had noticed her becoming a little more reserved towards him, she also seemed sad about something but the few times he'd tried to ask her about it she had pulled away, saying she was fine and that there was nothing to worry about.
"Eileen, please, I know I'm young but at least give me the chance to help you with whatever is bothering you…"
"Harry, you're always so sweet," she said with a watery smile and then a deep sigh. "I just…" she stopped, not really sure how to start. Harry took the chance to take a seat beside Noodle, though the elf didn't stay, he just nodded at him solemnly and silently popped away.
"It's not just one thing…" she began hesitantly. "When my son and I first came here we were so happy…" Harry was really starting to get nervous now, even feeling a bit fearful. He could already hear the big 'but' coming up next.
"But - I soon realized I was losing my son-No, that came out wrong, I mean…" She stopped again, a distressed grimace darkening her face.
"What was it that made you feel you were losing him?" Harry asked gently. He still didn't truly understand but something was bothering her, therefore he wanted to help her. She was family now.
"Severus had always been a very self-sufficient, independent child, very private…quiet. When we came to live with you I was so very happy when I saw him acting more like a child: running around, throwing tantrums, demanding attention – But then I realized…he always goes to you. If he has a question, he asks you. If he's hurt he goes to you to get healed. If he wants to take a nap he cuddles next to you or goes to your room to sleep if you're not here. He only comes to me with questions if you are not present and he's unsuccessful at finding the answer on his own. He never looks for me to take a nap. He doesn't like it when I call him Sev…he hasn't let me touch his hair since he was four…"
Silent tears were streaming down her face as she talked, looking at Harry with pain filled eyes that tore at his soul more and more with each word she uttered. Harry was shaken, he'd had no idea she felt this way and it just made him feel guilty that not only had he failed to notice her pain, but he was the main cause of it.
He reached across the table to grasp her hands, trying to convey his feeling through touch, for he knew no matter what he said his words will still be lacking. "Eileen, I - It wasn't my intention to harm your relationship with Sev-Severus."
"I know that…just like I know that I wouldn't have you be any other way. It just…hurts to realize that you son doesn't look to you first when looking for answers or even comfort-" She shifted her gaze, looking off to the garden through the open backdoor.
"I saw you last night. I woke up when I heard Severus having another nightmare about those spiders…I stood outside his room and watched; you'd left the door ajar… Severus didn't even hesitate for a second once you sat on the edge of his bed. He scrambled to curl up in your lap like he belonged there, burrowing under your nightshirt without even asking and pushing his face to your neck like if his life depended on it." Harry was blushing bright red by now, knowing what she had seen…and heard. She turned to look at him then, a gentle, sad smile on her face.
"You looked so flummoxed when he did that I had trouble keeping myself from laughing, it was so cute…and then you did it again without even trying. You didn't tense up or pull away because you were uncomfortable – you hugged him to you and kissed his forehead. I saw him smile then, the v-neck of your shirt barely low enough to allow me to see his satisfied smile; as if he had known you would do that all along…How did you do it? How did you give him such confidence, such complete certainty..? I tried so hard to be a good mother, to show him that he could rely on me, that I loved him and would never turn him away…I tried to show him that he could believe in me…" Another tear fell on the table and Harry remained silent, knowing there was nothing he could say at the moment.
"How…How did you manage to do in one month what I could not do in 8 years?" But she shook her head; not really asking for an answer, for it wasn't one that could truly be articulated.
"What was that song you sang to him last night?"
Harry blinked at her for a second, not expecting the question.
"Ummm… 'We are One,' it is a muggle song, one of my best friends used to sing it to me…" He trailed off, not ready to talk about Hermione yet.
"It is a beautiful one and even at a distance I could still see how much Severus enjoyed it…I had not seen him fall asleep so peacefully content since he was a baby." She sighed softly, looking calmer but still depressed.
"Eileen…I know that I'm not really your husband, but I consider you my family as much as Severus. And I wish I could cast a spell and just open my mouth to say whatever you need to hear, but I can't. I care for you and it hurts me that I have hurt you like this…even if I didn't mean to… hurt is hurt, no matter the how or why of it…"
"Oh Harry, you are the best thing to have ever happened to us…I suppose the truth is I have never seen Severus so happy – but part of me can't help but be jealous that I'm not part of the cause of his happiness. I realize that I can't really blame him; after all, he suffered 8 years of hell because of my weakness…because I couldn't bring my self to leave Tobias. If it wasn't for you, we'd probably still be in that hellhole..."
She closed her eyes, squeezing Harry's hands tightly.
"I'm scared about tomorrow…I had thought I would never see him again and now with this and then that letter from the Ministry, I–" She choked, unable to continue.
"Young or not, I protect my family with my life, you have nothing to fear from tomorrow… I promise you I will do everything in my power to keep you both safe – no matter what the Ministry says…"
AN: The song he sang was this one: (The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride; We are one lyrics by Marty Panzer & Mark Feldman)
Lyrics:
As you go through life you'll see
There is so much that we
Don't understand
And the only thing we know
Is things don't always go
The way we planned
But you'll see every day
That we'll never turn away
When it seems all your dreams come undone
We will stand by your side
Filled with hope and filled with pride
We are more than we are
We are one
Even those who are gone
Are with us as we go on
Your journey has only begun
Tears of pain, tears of joy
One thing nothing can destroy
Is our pride, deep inside
We are one
We are one, you and I
We are like the earth and sky
One family under the sun
All the wisdom to lead
All the courage that you need
You will find when you see
We are one
AN: I have Eileen behave the way she does because I figured that no matter how safe she might feel at present, a part of her will still be fearful of the man that had beaten her up for almost 10 years before being able to escape.
Chapter 10: Back at the Ministry
February 4
"Oh Merlin I am so nervous. How did Tobias get a court date…and so soon? If he managed to do this, what else is he capable of?" Eileen fretted while patting down Severus' outfit for the fourth time in as many minutes. Severus rolled his eyes at his mother's fussing and looked to Harry with an irritated look on his face.
They were at their front door in semi-formal robes. Eileen was beautiful wearing dark blue robes and a complementing white fur-lined full-length coat. Severus was dressed in a mirror image of Harry in black robes and winter cloak. They looked like a wealthy pureblood family, though Harry will indubitably attract a lot of attention with his looks alone.
"I don't know Eileen, but whatever it is he won't be able to regain visitation rights. I am sure the only reason he was even able to appeal was because the memories you submitted did not show Severus' abuse clearly enough….and I wouldn't be surprised if not all of your recorded memories are even available anymore. Unfortunately money is still the ruling power at the Ministry rather than law or order."
Harry moved closer to steady her hands, before Severus really lost his temper, and tried to reassure her once more. She had been a wreck ever since they had gotten Ministry summons for the Family Court two days ago. Somehow Tobias had gotten enough money to appeal for visitations right with his only heir, Severus.
In truth Harry was not overly worried about the appeal, a decision could not be reached without interviewing Severus and Harry had no doubt that Severus was up to the task. What really worried Harry was exactly from where and how Tobias had acquired the monetary means to bribe a Ministry official.
Other points in their favor was that no one, including Tobias, could bribe everyone involved in the Family Law Office and if necessary Harry had the means to prolong the matter with bribes of his own until Severus reached adulthood. But he did not put it past Tobias to involve his son in his dirty dealing and he wanted to know what Tobias was dabbling in, in case he had stupidly involved his family in some sordid deal.
Tobias had better not endangered Severus or Eileen in anyway or he just might meet with an unfortunate accident in the near future.
HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSS
Harry and Eileen stepped out of the lift with Severus between them, each of them holding one of his hands. They were all silent, looking calmly composed and unbothered, as they headed for Court Room 5.
As Severus took in the people assembled outside waiting to be allowed in he felt Harry stiffen slightly. Though to others he probably didn't look any different, Severus felt Harry's stiffness and saw the slight narrowing of his eyes. He was looking at the man they had ran into at that Chinese restaurant about a month ago, the older Harry look-alike. Though now because of Harry's new scar they didn't look all that similar anymore.
Then he realized Tobias was staring at them in shock. Severus sneered at him coldly. He had probably still expected him to look like a half-starved ragamuffin. In the short time he had lived with Harry he'd already grown an inch and gained a healthy weight. The more he saw Tobias' expression however, the more he wondered if Tobias even knew Harry was his legal step-father.
The courtroom doors opened a few moments later.
The room wasn't all that grand. Like most of the Ministry, this room was made of dark stone, brightly lit torches all around the room illuminating it. There were raised benches in the front, upon which already sat three middle aged wizards, and a lower set of benches opposite, closer to the door. Both were angled slightly to face the single chair in between, close to the sidewall of the room.
"Everyone please take a seat, we will be starting momentarily," the youngest of the three wizards said with a flash of impossibly straight teeth. Severus rolled his eyes but didn't say anything as Harry remained standing.
"As far as I was informed only family and relevant Ministry officials were to be here today. Last I was aware, Mr. Potter was neither." Harry stated coolly; the other wizard's smile dimmed for a moment and Severus smirked, Harry public persona was always satisfying to watch.
"Ahh…you must have missed the owl we sent you this morning. Mr. Potter…" He nodded towards the older of the two Potters. "…has filed a complaint as the Potter Patriarch, placing you under suspicion of Identify Theft. Since you were already going to at the Family Court today it was deemed practical to address the complaint after Mr. Snape's appeal was concluded."
Severus heard Harry's teeth grind against each other as he clenched his jaw and asked, "Harry what is he talking about?"
Harry gracefully flicked his wrist to eject his wand from his holster and into his grasp and silently erected a powerful privacy ward around the three of them.
Severus noted that many of the others in the room were startled and even a little awestruck. He didn't blame them, Harry's magic was impossible to ignore when he was angry. Indeed, for all of his blank expression it was clear to Severus and his mother that Harry was displeased with this new turn of events.
"Potter has taken the opportunity to use the Ministry in his favor. He was probably unable to find anything about me and figured he would learn more through an official Ministry inquiry if he accused me of Identity Theft, as the head of the Potter family it is his right…include a few bribes to get me here as soon as possible and this is what we end up with."
As soon as he finished speaking Harry locked gazes with Tobias who had coincidentally stood up just as Harry had turned his head in his direction. The longer their gazes remained connected the more Harry stiffened up, but Severus started to get worried when he realized Harry was starting to tremble. "Harry…"
Harry turned his gaze back to Severus with such fire burning in his eyes that Severus found himself unable to breathe for a moment. "Harry you're trembling."
Harry looked at him for a moment, his anger fading, but somehow Severus had the feeling he was almost …in pain. Harry placed a hand on his shoulder and knelt on one knee in front of him, looking at him with unfathomable emotions swirling in his eyes.
"Don't worry about me, let's just get this over with once and for all." Harry whispered into his ear as he hugged him tightly. Severus was starting to feel worried about what was wrong with him. Harry had never hugged him in public before, not that he minded, in fact he liked it, but he didn't like that Harry was hurting and he could do nothing to help. So he hugged him back just as strongly and kissed his scared forehead before pulling back again.
"Are you feeling better now?"
"Yes, thank you Sev." He answered with a minute smile and ran a gentle hand through Severus' loose hair before standing up again to lower the privacy ward.
Severus realized that everyone was looking at them now and Tobias looked like he wanted to strangle him, his face an angry red and glaring at Harry with heated intensity.
"Well…if we could get started…" The smiley-man said after clearing his throat; everyone quieted as he began talking in a steady voice.. "Parental appeal of the fourth of February, Mr. Tobias Snape requesting visitation rights for his son and only heir, Severus Snape Prince- nee Severus Tobias Snape…currently under the guardianship of Eileen Prince. Presiding today is Officer Benjamin Bones, Head of the Office of Family Law & Procedure; I am the Attending, Officer Dominic Brown; and today's Court Scribe is Robert Diggory."
Benjamin Bones was a tall man with a friendly face and long chestnut hair tied at the back of the neck with a black ribbon. Brown was the 'smiley' one with the fake looking teeth, and Diggory was a short slim man with solemn features.
"Mr. Tobias Snape you are here today to appeal for visitation rights after your wife was given sole custody due to spousal abuse, is this correct?" Officer Bones began the proceedings.
"Yes officer."
"Officer Marcellina Goldman, are you willing to take the interrogation seat and understand the duties thereby implied?"
Severus didn't know what those duties were but he recognized the stern woman who walked to the chair at the side of the room.
"Please describe the proceedings that took place the 12th of January pertaining to Severus Snape's current situation."
"It was a very clear cut case. Ms. Prince presented us with clear memories of physical abuse and Mr. Snape's failings as a husband, which included the failure to property care, clothe, or nourish his wife and child. He was clearly unwilling to supply his family with the basic necessities, using most of the money he earned on alcohol. Not that he worked much, he has spent the vast majority of the past 8 years claiming Family Assistance from the Ministry. As you know, in clear cases of abuse and neglect divorce is an automatic course of action meant to safeguard the aggrieved spouse and any children. Even if Ms. Prince had not already requested it, divorce was an inevitable outcome and had the family ended up destitute it would have fallen under Ministry protection …Of course things were greatly simplified by Mr. Potter, who married her-"
"WHAT!" Tobias was on his feet in a flash. He even managed to fire a curse at Harry before someone stunned him.
Severus sniggered; it looked like everyone was more amazed by the fact that Harry had calmly leaned his head to the side and had let the curse pass him by, than by Tobias' actions…idiots.
"Mr. Snape, contain yourself or we will have to postpone this appeal until you are capable of self-control." Officer Bones told Tobias after canceling the stunner. Tobias glared at him but didn't say anything back.
"Why wasn't I told about this when I filed the appeal? And how could she marry him so quickly when the required blood tests take at least two days to be processed?!
Harry scoffed derisively before answering. "The blood tests are only required of purebloods to ensure your inbreeding will not be a problem should you reproduce-"
"Mr. Potter! Kindly keep such comments to yourself…Now, your ex-wife's affairs are no longer your concern Mr. Snape, there is no legal reason why we would be required to inform you of such a fact when you don't even have visitation rights with your son. Other than having young Mr. Snape as your heir, you have no legal connection with her, thus her privacy is protected."
Officer Bones explained in an exasperated tone.
"Thank you Officer Goldman, is there anything else you would like to add?"
"No, I think I was allowed to say everything relevant to the situation."
"Thank you and please remain in the courtroom until this case adjourned." Goldman agreed and walked back to her seat. Tobias was called next.
"Please keep in mind that while at the interrogation seat you are demonstrating your compliance to speak the truth and nothing but the truth as you know it…Mr. Snape I have here in my records that you tried to apply for joint-custody of your son, not just visitation rights?"
"Correct, I want my son back but I was told parents with established records of spousal abuse cannot hold any kind of custody of their children." He replied stiffly while glaring at Eileen. Harry quickly took her hand in support and glared back at him coldly.
"Considering the abusive history with your wife, why should you be given visitation rights and why would we allow for the possible endangerment of a minor while in your presence?" Officer Bones asked in a moderate tone.
"I admit that I struck Eileen a few things during our marriage but I never physically hurt my son. He's mine too and I deserve to be his father. Potter…that kid barely out of school robes…cannot possible be a good influence on him. My son has no need for a step-father, he has me."
"Thank you Mr. Snape you may return to your seat. Mr. Harry Potter if you would…" Officer Bones continued once it became clear Tobias didn't have anything else so say in his favor and called Harry to the interrogation seat.
"You are 19 years old correct?...Do you truly believe yourself up to the task of taking care of a family? Are you financially stable enough to even provide for them?"
Severus really got bored with all these pointless questions, of course Harry could take care of them; so in order to push away boredom he started practicing his Occlumency. It was very calming and kind of fun to try to clear your mind, the weirdest thoughts could pop up when you least expected it, so that's how he entertained himself…until he was rudely interrupted.
His mother was poking him on the side and gesturing to the front subtly.
"Mr. Severus Snape, will you please take the interrogation seat?" The tone in which it was said told him that it was not the first time the question had been posed. Severus rose smoothly and did as requested by Officer Bones.
"Would you prefer I call you Mr. Snape or Severus?"
"Actually I prefer Mr. Prince." Severus heard his mother groan and saw her close her eyes while shaking her head. Bones just smiled indulgently and began questioning him.
"Mr. Prince, please answer as truthfully as possible. Everyone here cares for your welfare and your feelings about this matter will be taken in consideration when I make my final decision. Do you understand this?"
"Clearly." Severus answered somewhat arrogantly, feeling slightly insulted.
Bones' lips switched for a second and then he continued. "Please tell us how your life was with Tobias Snape…"
"Tobias hates me-" Severus began rather unpredictably.
"You call your father by his first name?" Brown interrupted, leaning forward in his seat.
"Yes, I always have, though never to his face before. I knew better than to provoke another beating."
Officer Bones frowned. "Are you saying you were beaten as well? What were the reasons?"
"Like I was saying before I was interrupted: Tobias hates me. In his view, I share my mother's unfortunate passion for potions and learning. To him, potion making is not a subject worthy of 'real' men and learning is a waste of time if it does not have anything to do with curses or hexes. My years with him consisted of being bullied and being constantly reminded of what a disappointment I was as a son. Still, most beating came from when he found me studying potions or reading my mother's books."
He stopped and looked towards Harry, who gave him another small smile before leaning down to listen to something Eileen was whispering to him.
"Mr. Prince, I must say I am quite surprised by your mature attitude. The children I have known in similar circumstance all demonstrated a … reluctance to speak of their abuse…"
"Why should I be ashamed? I am telling you this because I have to, I'm not about to shout it from the rafters. Besides, my family already knows and they love me. I could care less what anyone else thinks."
Officer Bones' eyebrows almost disappeared into his hair line at such an answer from an eight-year-old boy. "Exactly who do you consider your family?"
"Harry, mother, and Noodle…Kura… not yet, but I think I will once she has spent a little more time with us."
"Who is Kura?"
"She's Noodle's mother and our family healer."
"I thought Noodle was a family pet, or perhaps even a house elf?" Brown interrupted once again. Really, Severus was getting annoyed with his stupid questions.
"He is our house elf." He snapped.
Silence.
"Are you saying your healer is a house elf – are they even able to perform healing magic?"
"Of course, she even already healed me once."
Thankfully, Officer Bones spoke up before Brown could open his mouth again. "How and why were you hurt in the first place?"
"I was foolish enough to sneak into the forest near our house–"
"Which Forest is this?" Brown interrupted again, ruffling parchment about on his bench and Severus finally lost his temper.
"Stop interrupting me with stupid questions you–"
"Severus!" Eileen called out sounding scandalized though he still heard a few muffled chuckles around the room.
"Quiet please! – Mr. Prince, answer the question and continue if you will."
Severus huffed but did as he was told. "The Forbidden Forest. We live in Hogsmead…and to cut a long story short I got a little hurt, Harry came and rescued me, and Kura healed me."
"See! You see! That Potter brat has already endangered my son's life! I demand–!"
"You are in no position to demand anything you sorry excuse–" Harry cut Tobias off with an icy tone, his gaze promising untold pain should he finish that statement.
"Silence! That is enough from the both of you - if it happens again you will be restrained for the remainder of this session!"
A few more minutes of angst later, they were ready to continue once again.
"Moving on – Am I correct in assuming you do not consider your father a member of your family?"
"That's right."
"Very well then, can you tell us how you came to consider your stepfather, Harry Potter, family?"
"I don't see him as my stepfather, he's just Harry. And he became part of my family …" Severus stopped, not really sure what to say. He had never really thought about the 'how' of it before now. "…by being perfect."
Everyone looked gobsmacked.
"I'm serious! He is!" Severus said emphatically and even Harry was laughing this time, Severus could see his shoulders shaking though he wasn't laughing out loud.
He crossed his arms and frowned; he was being perfectly honest and couldn't see what was so funny about what he'd said.
"Would you care to elaborate on that?"
"Why, so you can laugh at me again?" Severus snarled, refusing to look at anyone.
"Please accept our apologies; it's just we...or at least I have never heard an answer like that before in my life. Truly."
Severus looked at Bones in suspicion, judging if he will bother to answer or not. "All right. But I don't understand your question, what is there to elaborate on?"
"Well let me put it this way: What makes Harry perfect in your eyes? Does he always give you sweets, buy you things, what?"
"Of course not! He gives me candy sometimes but not all the time, it's not healthy. And he only buys me books if I'm not grounded…Harry's perfect because he understands me, he answers my questions, teaches me...He's perfect because he protects me and sings to me to sleep if I wake from a nightmare and he takes care of all of us. He makes sure we all eat well, checks if we're sick, feeling sad, or lonely, checks to see whether we're cold or hot...whatever. He's always there, always gentle…always caring…and he makes the most delicious chocolate mousse pie, not even an elf can make a better one." This time he smiled right along with everyone else if for different reasons, Harry only cooked for them, these fools had no idea what they were missing.
Soon after Bones and Brown left to 'deliberate' and everyone else was left to sit around and wait. Well mostly. Harry kept himself busy by keeping a watchful eye on Tobias, while Eileen tried to keep Severus entertained, and Tobias just glared at everyone else.
It didn't take long to come to a decision however; it was a done deal as soon as Tobias refused to take Veritaserum to back up his claims of no child abuse.
Still, Severus really enjoyed seeing him get taken away in a full body bind, wriggling like a worm on a hook, by the two Aurors that had to been called into the courtroom...It was the stuff of fantasies really.
HPSSHPSSHPSSHPSSHPSS
"You don't have to wait for me. I don't know how long this is going to take and I'm sure you're both hungry by now. Maybe you can eat lunch out today if you want, did you bring your money pouch?" Harry asked Eileen. The Potter case will be starting in 15 minutes and he saw no reason to make them wait for him.
Severus spoke up before she could say anything one way or the other. "I would rather eat at home, let's just go. I've had enough of these Ministry numskulls."
Harry raised an eyebrow at that but didn't say anything else when Eileen agreed. They left quickly, not wanting to spend any more time at the Ministry than they had to. In truth, Harry was glad to have this time to center himself before he faced the next case.
"Mr. Harry Potter, may I have a word with you before we reenter the courtroom?" He heard Harold Potter ask in a low voice, standing a little too close for comfort.
"You have made your opinion of my person quite clear, Mr. Potter. I assure you I have nothing to say to my accuser, nor is there anything to discuss that will not be cleared up at court. Excuse me." With that Harry walked away without waiting for a response.
He didn't know what Harold really thought about him but it didn't matter. He didn't want anything to do with his 'grandfather'; he had too much going on to over-complicate things unnecessarily. But if he can pull this off, it will help cement his identity in this reality and keep suspicion at bay when he had to deal with Dumbledore later on.
Plus he needed a moment to calm down from what he'd found earlier that day.
He had known that Tobias was an unpleasant character but he had not expected to find such evil when he'd looked into his mind. He had felt such overwhelming rage when he'd learned about what he'd done.
Professor Snape, his mentor and almost parent, had been a much tormented man. He had never spoken to Harry about his childhood or why he had joined the Death Eaters, but the few things that he'd let slip let Harry know that he had not done so of his own free will. Though Harry had no doubt that the Professor cared for him, Snape himself had not been one for demonstrations of affection or poignant personal discussions. He had always been available if Harry needed advice or needed to talk to someone, but he had rarely spoken about his personal life; which is why Harry had been instantly overwhelmed by a blazing titillation of rage and pain when he had seen Voldemort in Tobias' memory. Voldemort already had the red eyes and bony, unattractive features but he wasn't the snake-faced Voldemort he'd known. It was a bit worrying that he was already gathering new recruits but not unexpected, Harry had known that Voldemort had begun gathering followers possibly as early as 1965; he'd just hoped he would have more time to get organized.
Tobias, the fiend had not only become a Death Eater but he'd also promised Severus to him in return for financial security for the next 20 years. He had disposed of his only son as if he were nothing more than chattel.
Indeed, Tobias' mind had been such a cold twisted mass of malevolence that he still felt tainted by it. As if the man's turpitude had been an actual physical entity, it had left behind a repulsive residue in Harry's mind that he could not easily rid himself of. The only thing that had stopped him from killing him on the spot had been young Severus' calming presence. Just knowing that this Severus will have a choice, that he will never be given over to Voldemort, had calmed him down enough to continue with the court proceedings.
Harry knew that Voldemort was not someone accepting of failure. Tobias was sure to resort to desperate measures now that he'd lost his final chance to establish an influential link to his son and Harry was determined to do everything in his power to assure their safety. He will have to talk to Eileen about what he'd learned but he wasn't sure how much to tell Severus. He didn't think it necessary for him to know the particulars of his father's 'transaction' as long as he realized how dangerous Tobias really was.
He checked the time, it was time to begin.
This time, the only ones present were the two officers from the Office of Family Law and the Court Scribe, along with the two Potters. "Charge of Identity Theft by Family Head, Harold Potter, today is the fourth of February and for the record: Presiding today is Officer Benjamin Bones, Head of the Office of Family Law & Procedure; the Attending is Officer Dominic Brown; and the Court Scribe is Robert Diggory."
Brown started off the hearing swiftly, since everyone already knew each other. "Mr. Harold Potter, as a Family Head you have the power to act with legal authority should you feel you or your family has been wronged/endangered. However, let me remind you that if we proceed to an investigation due to your accusations against Mr. Harry Potter and your accusations are thereafter proven baseless, you will lose the right to legal prosecution of anyone else for the same transgression for the next 10 years. Do you still wish to accuse Mr. Harry Potter of Identity Theft?"
"No, I do not."
Everyone was surprised at that pronouncement, though Harry's expression didn't change other than a slight narrowing of eyes.
"You have found something negating his culpability?" Officer Bones inquired with interest, it was not everyday such charges were recanted.
"More like I have found evidence that he is under an assumed identity. At first I had believed he was trying to pass himself off as me. It wouldn't be the first time someone has tried to impersonate an established pureblood through the use of potions or dark arts for nefarious purposes. As I am sure you realize his name is a common moniker for 'Harold' and when I first met him he looked like a younger version of me; so I filed a complaint with your office as a precaution. However, soon after, as I tried to gather evidence for my case I realized this was not accurate. In fact, no one even knew of a Harry Potter and the more I tried to find out about him the more it became obvious that no one even knew him. Still, even with this peculiarity I was ready to dismiss all charges completely today…until I saw that he bears the Potter Blood Mark."
Harry arched an eyebrow, he'd never heard of a Potter Blood Mark and he wondered why no one had mentioned him. He had been at the Ministry twice before and spent a lot of time at Diagon Alley when he'd first arrived, after all.
Then again, he had not really gone anywhere after that; everything that was needed at home was bought by Noodle or Eileen and now Kura as well. He also placed all bets by owl post, something which had become even easier when Master Grod had taken over management of his account soon after he opened it.
"Potter Blood Mark? What is it exactly; I'm not familiar with the term?" Officer Bones asked for clarification with a furrowed brow.
"There is no reason why you should. Only Potter Family Heads are ever told about it, for they are they only once with the ability to see it. The Blood Mark appears on everyone of Potter blood-"
Harry snorted and then sneered at him with disdain. "If you think I am going to sit here and listen to you spout about invisible marks only you can see-"
"Mr. Harry Potter please, you will be allowed to voice your opinions at a later time. I understand you are muggle-born and not completely familiar with our world but what Mr. Harold Potter is saying is not unreasonable."
"Oh really? And just how do you know this when you had not even heard of it before he mentioned it?" Harry demanded rationally.
Silence.
"Muggle-born? You are claiming to be a muggle-born?" Harold asked in astonishment.
"I AM muggle-born and proud of it…Another reason why I found your accusation insulting."
"That's ridiculous; you don't act like a muggle-born at all! Everyone here can see that!"
"I don't know what you mean by that and as I have already said, I am muggle-born. A true muggle-born, actually."
"True muggle-born, what do you speak of? A muggle-born is a muggle-born, and you are not one of them. You're too powerful and you act too much like a pureblood…the very idea is absurd!" Harold said with conviction, the Officers and Scribe didn't say anything but it was apparent that they agreed with him.
"A true muggle-born is someone with no magical roots whatsoever. The so called muggle-borns that come into the wizarding world are squib descendants, not true muggle-borns." Harry said with cool confidence as he leaned back on his chair.
"Preposterous, I don't know where you came up with these outlandish ideas but it doesn't change the fact that you are one of us. You bear a Potter Blood Mark, which means you are a half-blood at the very least and that you fall under the protection of the Potter family, my family."
Harry glared at him and Officer Bones finally intervened before things got even more heated.
"Please, both of you, calm down. Let me see if I have this straight. Mr. Harold Potter has withdrawn the Identity Theft charge….and is now accusing Mr. Harry Potter of sustaining a false identity…because he won't accept that he is not a muggle-born and is in fact a member of the wizarding Potter family - do I understand this correctly?" He asked with plain incredulity.
"Correct, and you know I am within my rights to claim my family as such. As a Head of Family it is my right and indeed my duty to see that every member of my family is taken care of. I have identified this man as a member of the Potter family and I demand you make this clear to him. It is obvious he's a close relative of mine just by looking at him!"
"Actually, he does not look like you all that much, other than the hair color…" Officer Brown finally butted in and Harold glared daggers at him.
"I don't know what he did to himself but when I met him his eyes were both the same color and he didn't have that tattoo on his face." Harold said stiffly, disapproval clear in his voice.
"It's not a tattoo, it's a scar and the less I look like you the better." Harry said, standing up and ignoring their gaping expressions. "Now, since this hearing is nothing but a travesty of the law, I'm leaving."
However, before he could reach the doors someone sent a spell right at them and magically sealed them.
Now, Harry was really getting angry. This trial was pure folly, nothing like what he had imagined or planned for. He had used the little time he'd been allowed to ready a defense against Identity Theft, not to deal with a stuck-up pureblood seeking to have him under his thumb just because he was powerful wizard and looked enough like a Potter to pass for family. Harry knew that heads of magical families like Harold had authority and a certain amount of power over their families, including the adults, and Harry refused to live under the thumb of a conceited prick.
"We are not finished here, and whether you believe this to be foolish or not Mr. Harold Potter's request is decisively legitimate. While you are within your right to ignore your family, if that is indeed the case, it is still illegal to impersonate something/someone you are not. Now, my records only indicate that you registered as a muggle-born and a British wizard, 19 years of age. You took your N.E.W.T.'s here but no O.W.L.'s and we have no history of your parentage, profession, schooling, or any other family relations other than your marriage to Ms. Eileen Prince. You did all of this within a few days in early January, surely you can see why Mr. Harold Potter's claims make sense?"
"No I don't. My identity was established when I registered with the Ministry, there is nothing else you need to know." Harry said, completely exasperated. He had been keeping his mental shields up all morning but considering the situation he decided to lower them and focus on Harold before he decided on a course of action.
What he found surprised him. Harold felt frustrated about Harry's denial but he truly believed himself to be doing the right thing.
"Let me think for a moment please." Harry told the others in the room and faced the courtroom doors to ponder this new turn of events. He had no plans to build any sort of relationship with the Potter family and still thought that would be the best course of action. However, if Harold felt so strongly about family ties, how could he get him to desist when he could see the Blood Mark?
This was not a problem he had anticipated having to deal with, he could somewhat forgive Harold's actions because acting like a conceited peacock was typical of purebloods but it didn't do anything endear him to him in any way. In fact, Harry couldn't wait to get out of there; he was tired, angry/annoyed, hungry, and just wanted to go home.
In the end, he decided to leave Harold for later and just concentrate on proving his muggle-born status. He turned to address the court once more. "If I can prove I am muggle-born, will that make you cease this foolish charade?"
"Yes." Bones replied in a steady tone but Harry could still feel his irritation with him; he believed Harold was right. Harry raised his mental shields once more and spoke with composed resignation.
"I would like to call Master Grod to testify in my favor then. Just let me know when the next court date will be, to finish-"
"NO. Is this Master Grod a goblin? I don't care who it is…we need to finish this now. I will pay whatever I have to; just get this cleared up now!" Harold exclaimed, a vein visible at his temple.
Two hours later, a much calmer Harry saw a very unhappy looking Grod enter the courtroom. Harold seemed about ready for an apoplexy while the Ministry personnel, though trying to keep a professional air, still looked plain bored.
Harry stood up to greet the disgruntled Goblin. "Master Grod, please accept my apologies. These wizards won't accept that I'm a true muggle-born and you are the only one that knows this fact beyond a shadow of a doubt."
"Well you're a smart bastard then. Goblins are under a Truth Seal, we cannot lie while inside the physical boundaries of the Ministry; an insurance policy should Goblin integrity concerning wizarding funds ever come into question…" Harry frowned, he had not known that.
"I find such an act horribly insulting," he told Master Grod and bowed once again, this time deeper. "I had not known about that, I only requested your presence as my witness. Will you please join me for a meal after we get out of here? I know a good restaurant with a very unique outlook concerning their clientele's victuals." He ignored the gasps and animated mutterings of the other wizards in the room as he focused on Master Grod's inscrutable expression.
Master Grod finally nodded and walked up to the other wizards. "Mr. Potter is not lying. He is in fact a true muggle-born."
"You mean true muggle-borns actually exist?" Bones asked, astonished. The others were just as shocked, for they all knew the Goblin couldn't lie.
"Of course. Mr. Potter is the first true-muggle born to open an account with Gringotts since Rowena Ravenclaw. The ones you view as muggle-born are in fact half-bloods, for they are descendants of squibs with, obviously, magical roots. Unlike Ministry Blood-Linage Parchment, ours go all the way back to a witch/wizard's first magical ancestor, not just the first 14 generations." No one could form a coherent sentence after that. Bones kept opening his mouth but no words came out while Harold kept muttering about how Harry didn't act like a muggle-born.
"Just how is a muggle-born supposed to act, Mr. Potter?" Harry finally asked, since everyone had seemed to focus so much on this one particular idea. "Do you even know any so-called 'muggle-borns'? Did you expect me to act like a frightened idiot, ignorant of this world and everything in it? I, just like any other muggle-born, have the ability to read. The truth is that you probably already know a muggle-born but are probably passing themselves off as a half-blood just to keep prejudice at bay. Whole libraries have been published concerning wizarding history, etiquette, and customs; anyone with a grain of intelligence realizes it makes sense for anyone to familiarize themselves with the world they are expected to live in. We are not the weak childish idiots you believe us to be. I want nothing from prejudiced, narrow-minded fools like you or anyone else that shares your views. If you're too stuck on your ways to see the truth right in front of your eyes, then you're all even bigger fools than I thought."
With that Harry overpowered the seal on the doors and stepped out, followed by the cackling Gringotts Goblin.
No one bothered trying to stop him.
