Remus Lupin pounded on the door of Spinner's End, and almost instantly, he could hear the pitter-patter of small feet. It swung open to reveal a small rosy-cheeked child with startling green eyes that reminded him so much of Lily. The late Lily Potter nee Evans.
"Hello," came the soft greeting. "Are you looking for my Daddy?"
The wolf tried to answer the child, albeit unsuccessfully, as his mind was still trying to wrap itself around the fact that Severus had a son. Severus! He didn't have to wait longer, though, it seemed. The Potions Master came striding to the door, his face a mixture of worry and stern reproach, and Lupin wondered if he should either laugh or gape.
"Harry, what did I tell you about running off like that?" he asked, before seeing his visitor and setting an impassive mask on his face, turning a baleful eye on the wolf. "Lupin. What are you doing here? Did Albus send you?"
He smiled wanly before answering. "It's nice to see you too, Severus. Won't you let me in?"
The Potions Master stepped aside, and the young boy held up his hands in a gesture clearly asking to be carried. With a raised brow, Lupin stepped into the room as Severus acquiesced and carried his son.
"Why are you here?" he was again asked as soon as the door swung shut. His expression was blank as he responded. "I don't know, Severus."
A glare met him at that, and he rolled his eyes. "Lily. Lily brought me here."
Something snapped inside the usually dour man, and he spoke in volumes that raised the hairs on Remus' skin. "She is dead, Lupin. For 5 years now. I don't think you don't realize that you're treading on very dangerous ground, so I suggest you explain. Or leave."
"It was after the Full Moon…" Remus began.
Lily shimmered and appeared beside Remus, and the man's eyes widened in shock. "Hello, Moony," the ghost said, and the wolf's eyes brimmed immediately with tears.
"Lily…" he was interrupted with her soft tinkling laugh. "Remus, go to Spinner's End and seek out Severus. I want you there to help him. Please."
His voice faltered as he spoke, "Why?", but the apparition was gone – gone like it had never been there. The only evidence of a ghost's visit was the confusion and pain in Remus Lupin's heart.
"You expect me to believe that Lily appeared to you in a dream?" Severus asked incredulously. "If so, then why didn't you come sooner? Surely you don't expect me to believe the last full moon incapacitated you. It was days ago."
A dry smile met the spoken words. "It takes me days to recover after a blue moon, Severus." At this, the opposite man's guarded expression collapsed, and the wolf could see the lines of weary and strain on his face. "I suppose she wanted you to meet her son and help me." Snape said, and his companion's eyes almost popped out in shock. "This is Harry Potter."
The child in Snape's arms turned to face Remus. "But I'm Harry Snape now." Remus stood stock still, his eyes burning with rage. "You slept with…" Snape cut him off with a glare. "Gryffindor fool. Of course I didn't!" Lupin gave an apparently relieved sigh. "Albus sent me to check the Dursleys, and I saw this child beaten and treated like scum. I had to take him away without the Headmaster's knowledge as I know he would never allow it – for Lily's sake." The man looked constipated as he said those words, and Remus' heart broke a little at the sight of the scrawny child.
"Term will start soon. What are you going to do?" Severus shot him a look of pure annoyance. "Why else do you think Lily sent you here? To gape like a codfish?" It took a few moments for the implication to set in, and he closed his eyes wearily. "So I'll be taking care of Harry, then."
"You do know how to handle a child, don't you?" A dry laugh came out of Severus' mouth and he clapped the lycanthrope on the back, moving toward the kitchen. "Be here before the next full moon, and I might just give you a batch of Wolfsbane to help you through the transformation."
Remus shot the man a withered glare before huffing in response. "Severus." The Potions Master turned slightly, icy features back in place. "If you're done here, you might as well leave, Lupin. I have a child to put to sleep. You know where the door is." Knowing he was defeated, the wolf combed a hand through his hair before heading out of the house.
"Until then, Severus. I'm glad we reached a compromise." Severus' lips thinned into a hard line similarly like McGonagall's, and the door shut faintly as their visitor stepped out of Spinner's End.
Only seconds passed after their guests' departure before Harry spoke in his high, trilling voice. "Daddy Sev'rus…" The man in address let out a soft questioning hum as he carried the boy to the bedroom for an afternoon nap. "Who was that?" Harry continued.
Severus took a deep breath before answering. "That was Remus Lupin, an old acquaintance of mine. Of course, your mother loved him so much as a brother that he is more or less your Uncle by name. He was also James' – your dad's – bestfriend."
Silence reigned over the two as Severus pulled back the covers and nestled the child in between the sheets. It wasn't long, though, before Harry broke the silence. "Daddy, will he live with us?"
He was answered with an amused snort. "If he proves to be good at his job, then I might extend household privileges. You're almost old enough to go to school, and I have to work. Lupin – er, your Uncle Remus – would make good company."
It seemed like their conversation wouldn't stop there, and Severus was right when the child piped up with not one, but a couple of fresh sentences. "But I don't want to go to school. I want to stay here with you and play. You'll do that, right Daddy? You'll play with me and Uncle Remus? Please?"
Severus sighed and faced the little boy. "I have to teach, Harry, and you have to learn how to control your magic, but I will come home on the weekends, so we can still play and spend time with each other. Will you like that?"
With a sniffle, the boy snuggled into the Potions Master's shirt. "I'll miss you, Daddy."
He got a kiss on the forehead in return. "I won't be gone till the last week of August, scamp. Now go to sleep. I won't disappear when you wake up."
With one last sniffle, Harry hiccupped lightly before falling into a deep sleep, Severus at his side. Nearby, Lily's ethereal form vanished, leaving a fog on the window pane.