Chapter Nine; Mister Mum (Mom)
The next morning Harry and Lily went down to breakfast together as usual. Harry looked up and smiled as he saw Snape walking over into their direction. "Excuse me young man," he began as he halted in front of their table. "but may I sit here?" he asked him with a grin.
"Sure!" Harry answered excitedly. "Go ahead." He told him as Snape continued to grin before swooping him up inside his arms and setting him down on top of his lap.
"I'm glad you're here Severus I wanted to talk to you about something important." Lily began while Harry continued to eat.
"What is it?" Snape asked her eagerly.
"Well, I was just wondering,.." she began before she took a rather long pause. "Dumbledore wanted to talk to me about something very important today, and from the way he was going on I might be in his office discussing it for quite a while and I was sort of hoping that you'd watch Harry for me." She explained and from the look on his face she could tell that this wasn't what he had been expecting and she had caught him rather off guard.
"Please Severus, it's only for one day and I really need your help." She told him. "And after all it's obvious to me that you're starting to care for him. This could be your chance to really get to know each other." She said.
"I'd love to help you Lily, but I'm not very good with children." He admitted.
"Harry loves you don't you Harry?" Lily questioned him with a warm and affectionate smile as Harry nodded and glanced up at him.
"Please Sevie?" he questioned eagerly as he reached up and touched his cheek and gazed deeply into his eyes. "I want to teach you this new game that I learned how to play." He said as Snape heaved a heavy sigh and took ahold of his tiny little hand and kissed it.
"Alright fine, but you owe me." He reminded Lily as Harry smiled at him.
"Thank you Sevie now try this." He told him as he picked up a chocolate chip muffin and fed it to him. "It's good isn't it?" he asked as Snape nodded.
"Very, thank you." He told him after he had finished swallowing it and kissed the top of his head while Lily smiled sweetly at them.
…..
"Do you have any sixes?" Harry asked as he sat a crossed the table later on that day. Snape rolled his eyes before he reluctantly handed one of the cards over to him.
"Are you sure you're new at this game? Because I think you were just pulling my leg." He told him.
"Nope, sorry. Beginner's luck as my mummy calls it." He began. "Speaking of what happened last night? You never told me." He finished as he set his match down next to the other three piles.
"Oh yes well, that,.. you see_" he began.
"I'm sorry, I know it's none of my business. I just wanted to know why you didn't say anything about it this morning." He explained.
"I don't know, I guess I was just afraid." Snape admitted with a shrug.
"But that doesn't make any sense. I thought that grownups weren't supposed to be afraid of anything." Harry said.
"Nope, that's not true. Not in the slightest." Snape responded.
"What are you so afraid of then?" Harry asked him. "If you love her why don't you just tell her?" he wondered.
"It's a bit more complicated than that." Snape told him but Harry shook his head at him.
"No it isn't. If you don't tell her how is she supposed to know? You're probably just using it as an excuse, when the school year's over we're going to go home, and then you're going to leave her again." He told him while he fixed his eyes on top of him.
"Don't be ridiculous, I would never do that. I would never want to hurt her again, or you. And I need you to understand that." Snape told him.
"Well then, prove it." Harry said.
"Alright," Snape began with a nod. "I'll do it for you. I promise. And for her. Because she deserves to know the truth." He said.
"Great." Harry began with a wide grin. "Your turn." He told him.
"Alright but I don't know if it's going to do me any good, you're already kicking my behind all the way into next week." Snape said as Harry giggled. "Yeah, that's fine, laugh. I'm glad that you're amused by it at least." He told him as Harry giggled again. "Let's see, do you have any threes?" he asked him.
"Nope!" Harry exclaimed shaking his head. "Go fish!" he yelled triumphantly on the top of his lungs with another giggle as Snape rolled his eyes.
"That's it!" Snape cried as he playfully sprung up from the table.
"No!" Harry yelled while continuing to squeal with laughter and giggles before racing out the door.
"Come back here Potter!" Snape yelled back with a grin as he raced out after him and the two continued running and chasing with each other out in the yard before Harry stopped and dropped onto the ground before he started rolling down the hill.
"Wee!" he cried. "Sevie come catch me!" he exclaimed before he rolled to a sudden stop and realized that Snape had already beaten him there because he had landed by his feet. Snape grabbed him by his legs and dangled him in the air upside down.
"Caught you." He told him as Harry giggled before he turned him back upright and held him inside his arms. "Come here, there's something I want to show you." He told him as he carried him into the woods. "Now remember don't ever come back here by yourself because it isn't safe, and God knows I would never forgive myself if something ever happened to you." He explained before he came to a sudden stop and Harry looked what was out there in front of them.
"Is that a treehouse?" he asked him.
"Yes, I built it for your mother." He began. "It was our spot." He explained.
"It looks awful high." Harry said worriedly.
"I know, but don't worry, I got you and I won't let you fall. Do you trust me?" Snape asked him.
"Yes, I trust you Sevie." Harry told him with a nod.
"Good," Snape began before he planted a kiss on his cheek. "now come on. You're going to love this." He finished as he carried him further into the woods. That's when all of a sudden they heard something.
"Harry! Severus!" Lily called. "Where are you guys!?" she exclaimed.
"We're back here Mummy!" Harry responded when all of a sudden his mother halted in front of them.
"I'm sorry if you were worried about us." Snape began. "I was just showing Harry our treehouse." He explained.
"That's alright Severus, but Harry needs to take his nap now." She said.
"Oh come on Mummy, I don't want to take a nap! I want to see the treehouse!" Harry protested.
"I'm sorry but you've got to do what your mother says. I don't make the rules." Snape began. "When it comes to parenting that is." He finished before he handed Harry over to his mother.
"Thanks again for watching him for me Severus. I hope that Harry wasn't too much trouble." She told him.
"Of course he was." Snape began teasingly with a grin. "And you failed to mention to me that Mr. Potter was a card shark." He finished.
"But I'm not a shark." Harry told him with a shake of his head while his mother stifled a laugh.
"It's an expression sweetheart." She told him. "Well come on, we better go." She said.
"I'll come with you, because there's something that I need to talk to you about." Snape said as he followed them out of the woods.
….
Snape and Lily stood out inside the hallway together. "Listen Lily, there's something I need to tell you." He began.
"Me too." Lily admitted.
"You go ahead and go first then." Snape told her.
"There was indeed an important reason that Dumbledore wanted to see me. A very important reason." She began. "You see Harry and I survived that night You-Know-Who tried to kill us because of the fact that I was willing to sacrifice myself so that Harry could live, but at a terrible price. When You-Know-Who tried to kill us a piece of him latched onto us when he gave us those scars on our forehead. Now we have the ability to see what's happening to him, and he has that same ability to see what's happening to us." She explained.
"Severus, I'm scared. What if he does find us and what if he tried to kill Harry again?" she whispered.
"There's no way in hell that I'm going to let anything happen to either one of you. I_ I love you Lily." He told her. "There's no use in denying it or trying to hide it anymore. Harry told me that how would I ever expect you to know my true feelings for you if I didn't say anything about it. I love you and I promise that I'll never leave you again." He assured her.
"Oh Severus," she began when suddenly she felt tears of joy rolling down her cheeks. "I love you too." She told him before he placed his finger under her chin and tilted it up to face him. Then he placed his hand upon her cheek and gently rubbed it with his thumb and then Lily quickly threw her arms around his neck and kissed him passionately.