Yup, I still do not own Harry and co.
Also, thanks for reading J
I humbly submit chapter 2
The professor pulled gently on Harry's arm and brought the boy into the family.
"And this is Harry", he introduced,
"Pleased to meet you", the boy greeted, shyly
"My parents, Eileen and Tobias", he told the child, who nodded to acknowledge he had heard, though he would no more call these people by their given names than he would call Snape Severus.
"Come on in, then", Eileen ushered them.
"Do you want to unpack first, or have lunch?", Tobias asked
Severus glanced at his son and remembered he had not actually eaten anything yet.
"Lunch sounds good, dad", he decided.
"Its just sandwiches",Eileen commented leading everyone through to the dining room, where there was a huge platter of sandwiches stacked on the large table, a pot of tea, a pot of coffee, cups, a jug of cream and a bowl of sugar all laid out, "Pumpkin juice alright, Harry?", she checked, smiling a the boy.
The boy grinned 'Yes thanks, ma'am' he answered. He liked tea well enough, but having discovered pumpkin juice, well!, there was no competition.
"Coffee for you, Sev?", she checked before pouring.
They sat down to eat, Harry still so nervous he only managed to nibble a couple of the small triangular snacks. The adults were more at ease as they already knew each other, though there was a tension as they had a stranger in their midst. They kept the conversation to small talk, hoping to put the teen at ease a little. "Well, we'll clear up in here, Sev, if you want to take junior to unpack?", Tobias suggested. Snape nodded and Harry followed him upstairs.
Harry stood at the door gazing at the room. There was a bed with royal blue sheets on (Harry was relieved it wasn't in slytherin colours!) there was a bedside table with a lamp, under the window was a larger table obviously for him to study at, and a bookcase, also a chest of drawers and a built in wardrobe.
"I assume that it is up to your standards?", Snape inquired dryly, not sure what to make of the boy not entering the room. Brat had better appreciate the effort his parents had put in!
"It's brilliant", Harry breathed adding an after 'Sir" as an afterthought, and finally going in.
His father followed, unshrinking the trunk and Hedwig's cage.
"Was this your room? When you were little?", Harry asked, genuinely curious.
"This is not the house we lived in when I was growing up. My parents only moved here a couple of years ago"
"So…..whose room is this? Do I have cousins?", he asked, thinking, any cousins have to be an improvement on Dudley.
The dark man smiled sadly, shaking his head, "No, there are no cousins, my mother put this together for you, this morning" Why in all the world did the boy brighten up at that statement? It was just a room for Merlin's sake!
"She did this for me?", Harry turned to face his professor, eyes shining with joy. His very own room? At his aunt's home all he'd had was a mattress in a cupboard that he shared with cleaning supplies and spiders, and later on, Dudley's second bedroom. Not 'Harry's room' he thought, a little bitterly, but his cousin's SECOND room! And people who hadn't known of his existence had given him his very own room…
Severus watched as the range of emotions flitted across the child's face, unsure what was going on in his son's head.
"Wait, they only did this" he gestured, "this morning?", he frowned.
Snape smiled (it looked odd to Harry) "My mother is a witch"
"oh",
"Eloquent as always", Snape started, then realised he could no longer end that sentence with 'Mr Potter' Hmmm maybe he should try using the boy's Christian name?
"Take a seat, Harry",the professor directed gesturing at the bed, while he took the chair from the desk and placed it in front of the bed. "we should have a chat, then I will leave you to unpack"
A 'chat'? uncle Vernon used that one a lot! But Harry was sure he hadn't done anything wrong!
Biting his lip, he sat. "It's soft!", He blurted
Snape rolled his eyes, honestly! Did he expect a mattress made of bricks?
He waited until the boy had settled, wearing an 'I am paying attention' expression on is face.
" You are aware that I will not be here all the time, yes?" Snape started leaning forwards, his elbows on his thighs, fingers laced together supporting his chin, "and that I cannot risk having you stay with me at my home?" Harry had just assumed that Snape didn't want 'Harry-bloody-Potter' staying in his precious home, and truth to tell, had resented it (though a lot relieved!) But now, being told it was because it was too high a risk, he realised that the professor actually did want him.
DOH!!
Harry realised just what the risk would be, and felt ridiculously stupid!
Like a death eater could have their master's number one target in their home!
He dragged his attention back to Snape, and realised the man was waiting on answer.
"Yes sir", the boy replied sheepishly
"When I am not here, my parents will be taking care of you. I want, no I expect you to behave appropriately at all times! No cheek or disrespect! Understood?"
"Yes sir", Harry nodded. He wasn't planning on doing otherwise
Snape leaned back in his chair, and took a breath.
"My father is strict , and I should warn you, believes in corporal punishment"
Again, the boy nodded
"Do you know what that means?", Snape asked, knowing a lot of muggles would not have been raised with this discipline. There seemed to always be protests to make it illegal or claims of it being abusive.
Harry frowned "yes sir" he assured the man, all the more determined to stay out of trouble.
Snape raised an eyebrow. He wanted there to be no misunderstandings on this. He hoped the boy would not need punished at all during his stay, but Severus could not claim to be optimistic and experience told him that this child could not avoid trouble for long. He did not want to come in from a meeting to the boy complaining about not expecting physical punishment.
Seeing that the professor didn't believe him, Harry mumbled, "He'll hit me"
Snape drew a breath through his teeth. Merlin! The child was melodramatic!
"It means that if you seriously misbehave, you will end up over my father's knee. For minor incidents, swearing for instance, you will get your mouth washed out with soap" he noted the screwed up face to that, "or you may end up with your nose in a corner, or grounded to your room"
"Yes sir", Harry said determined not to earn any of those.
"Any punishment will be fully explained at the time", Snape told him.
"You're so damn sure I will need punished",Harry muttered
"I hope you will not, however I felt it only fair to warn you what would happen. How did your Aunt and Uncle punish you?", Snape wondered.
Harry shrugged "Depended on the crime", he evaded.
"Grounding? Withholding treats? Lecturing?"
"Does it matter, sir?"
"Yes. I would like to know."
"They also believe in corporal punishment. Sir", Harry told him, with a sigh. The man nodded. He thought that from the boy already knowing the term. He left his son to unpack.
A little later, Tobias came up to see how his grandson was doing.
"Want to come downstairs and join us for a bit, Harry? Let us get to know each other"
"Sure, sir", Harry agreed not wanting to get on the man's wrong side.
Surprisingly, Snape was still there.
"Ah good Harry. We were just about to have a cuppa", his grandmother smiled at him, "would you rather tea or juice?"
"Juice please", Harry gave a shy smile. They took their drinks to the living room. Snape surprised Harry by sitting next to him on the sofa.
'So Harry, tell us a little something about yourself' Eileen encouraged
"There's really not much to tell", Harry shrugged (did Snape just snort?)
Eileen had been expecting more than that, but tried again.
"You are at Hogwarts, yes? Going into what? third year?"
Severus almost choked on his coffee spraying the dark drink all over the blue sweater he had worn.(again proving his point, black is the best colour! And his robes would have repelled the liquid! Muggle clothes just did not work for him.)
'No ma'am, just finished fifth.' Harry said quietly, blushing. He wasn't that small surely?
'No way!', Eileen exclaimed.
Tobias tried to calm his wife, but she was busy glaring at her son.
'Sev?'
The man was un successfully trying to mop up his coffee.
"Yes, he is fifteen" he confirmed, giving up and using his wand clean up the dark liquid.
"But he's tiny!", Eileen stated
Seeing the boy was not enjoying this, Toby tried to make him feel better.
"Was your mother small, lad?", he asked gently
Harry cringed. "I dunno sir", he mumbled. Great! One more thing he didn't know about his mother!
"How can you not know?",Eileen was incredulous.
"His mother died fourteen years ago, mum",Snape said quietly, wishing he thought to mention that sooner. He had deliberately not told his parents that their visitor was in fact 'The-Boy-Who-Lived', he thought it would be good for the boy to be treated as a normal child.
"Oh lad", Tobias murmured sympathetically. But that gave Eileen more questions
"Then why was he not staying with you since then?", she demanded of her son.
"We just found out about being related. Lily left a message with Harry's Godfather, to be left to me in the event of his death" Snape told his parents quietly, glancing at his son. He had a sneaking suspicion that the boy had yet to grieve properly for Sirius Black.
"So where has he been all this time?", Eileen wanted to know
"With my mum's sister.", Harry told her, quietly, "my Aunt Petunia"
"You were raised with your cousin, weren't you?", Snape prompted, to get the boy to talk.
"Yes sir, Dudley", Harry dutifully answered.
"Well we can certainly bring Dudley round for a visit, maybe stay over", Tobias said cheerfully. After all if the boys had been raised as brothers they would be bound to miss each other.
"Why?", the question was out of the boy's mouth before he could think.
"It wouldn't do for us to cut you off from your family, lad",Toby said still cheerfully.
"I will be going to see the Dursleys at some point soon anyway", Snape mentioned.
"What?! Why?",Harry asked, turning to face the professor.
The man frowned at his son.
'I will be letting them know you will be staying with me from now on, collecting the rest of you things…'how slow was the boy?
"What things?", Harry scoffed
"The rest of your belongings? Photographs? Old school report cards? You favourite childhood teddy?", Snape listed. He was a little bit hurt by how much of his son's life he had missed and wanted to catch up.
'Oh', Harry tried to look resigned, while trying to think of a way to either stop the man going at all, or how to explain there were no belongings there for him, nor photographs, and school report cards? Pah! All burned, as he had 'obviously done something un natural to them to make it look like he was better than Dudley'
"How are your grades at school, Harry?", Tobias asked, leaning back in his chair.
Oh crap!
Okay, I can do this.
"I do all right, sir", Harry answered not looking at his professor.
Eileen seemed to have calmed down and smiled as she asked if he had followed family tradition and gone into Slytherin House.
"No,Gryffindor, ma'am", he said apologetically.
'Oh, not to worry. Someone had to break out of Slytherin I suppose' she grinned to let him know she was kidding.
"Well my mum and da…James were in Gryffindor, so that kinda made up my mind", Harry told her
"Made up your mind?", Snape raised an eyebrow, "the hat just asked you where you wanted to go?" his tone revealed how likely he thought this was, as in, not at all.
"Not Quite , it said Slytherin and I kept saying 'not slytherin' so …", the boy shrugged.
"Indeed? May I ask as to why you were adverse to my House?",the potion Master's voice had become dangerously silky.
"It wasn't personal!", he hastened to assure ,"Well, it was, but against Malfoy! He was there and I didn't like him, Ron was in Gryffindor"
"Well what is your favourite subject?", Eileen asked to bring the topic back on track.
Harry grinned, "Defence against the dark arts",he answered enthusiastically. "Mind you, we have had some truly crap teachers for it", he added.
The two snape males exchanged a glance, the elder raised an eyebrow.
"Perhaps you could rephrase that? 'Incompetent' would not be an under statement", Severus advised, "And it prevents you from using …..less appropriate language"
Harry frowned.
His father raised an eyebrow, and mouthed 'crap'
"Oh, sorry", Harry said, with a wince. He had never considered that word as swearing, though Hermione always gave him and Ron a row for using it, as she did.
"How were your teachers so awful?", Eileen wanted to know. She liked that the boy was animated when talking about that subject, just like her Sev had been. She also felt that the two men had over reacted, it wasn't like the boy had used a really offensive word.
"Well last year all we did was read a book fit for a five year old", Harry shrugged
"Of course some pupils decided that they should run the class for themselves", Severus commented mildly, allowing himself a smirk as the teen coloured.
"They allowed the pupils to run the class?", Tobias snorted
Harry stayed quiet, but Severus commented, "They did not exactly ask for permission", he said dryly.
"At least we learned something!", Harry defended.
"How are you at Potions, Harry?", Eileen gushed, changing the subject, it had been both her and her son's favourite lesson.
"Not great", Harry apologetically told her, feeling he had let her down somehow.
" We can remedy that during your stay", Snape commented to Harry. Yippy skip, Harry thought, managing not to say it aloud.
"Am I allowed to write to Ron and Hermione during the holidays? And let Hedwig out of her cage?", the boy asked uncertainly. Asking questions at Privet Drive was a crime for Harry, and though he knew most of their rules were made specifically to make his life as difficult as they could, he wasn't sure if some of them would be enforced by other people.
"Let me read your letters before you send them", Snape said wearily. It had been a long day, and he still a few things to take care of at his home before spending the rest of the school break with his parents and his son.
"I really should be heading off.", he told them.
He gave his mother a hug, shook hands with his father, but was unsure what would be appropriate for Harry, a hug for instance would be far too intimate. "A word, please, Harry?", he requested, and the boy followed him to the hall.
"Mind what I told you earlier. I want you to behave yourself!", he warned the teen.
"Yes sir", the boy sighed, rolling his eyes. Honestly! Did the man not trust him?
"And cut that attitude", Snape was a little nervous. Should he warn his parents how much trouble this young wizard attracted? Or indeed, why? He gave the boy a shoulder squeeze before leaving, vowing to return shortly.