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Chapter 2

On the nicely trimmed suburban street of Privet Drive there was a loud crack that signified the arrival of a witch, or rather a witch and a wizard in this case. As soon as the two were on the street, the wizard released the witch's hand and cast a disillusionment charm.

"It's sad that this place hasn't changed much in the last decade," Maia commented to Severus as she started across the street like she had almost ten years earlier with Albus and Minerva. "Are you sure we look muggle enough?" she asked Severus while gesturing to their attire, her's a knee length black skirt with a dark purple button down shirt and his an all black suit with a white shirt underneath.

"I am sure Petunia will not care whether we look muggle or not once she realizes why we are here," he replied in a bored tone while surveying the surroundings.

Every house on the street looked almost exactly the same, barely varying in the shade of the paint. All the hedgerows were cut back into orderly lines and there were no weeds to speak of in any of the pristine yards. It was almost nauseating how neat the entire street was.

"This is it," Maia said as they stopped in the driveway of Number 4. They both started walking again with Maia in the lead and stopped in front of the door. Severus let down his disillusionment charm so that she was visible but he was not.

A minute or two after knocking on the door, it was opened by a frightening woman with black hair and a long face that looked as if it never shown a happy smile to the world. She looked Maia up and down with a disdainful sneer.

"What do you want?" she asked in a nasally voice that would make a small child cower behind their parents. As it was, both Severus and Maia felt it rivaled nails on a chalk board.

Maia put on the most convincing smile she could and started speaking to the woman. "Hello, are you Mrs. Petunia Dursley?" she asked her calmly.

"Whatever you are selling, I'm not interested," Petunia told her and then promptly slammed the door in the witch's face. From beside Maia, Severus smirked at the disbelieving look on his companion's face.

"Well, she could have given my mother a run for her money," Maia finally said as Severus took the disillusionment charm off of himself, still smirking. Maia raised her eyebrow at him as if to ask if he wanted a go at the woman.

Severus knocked a little louder than politely on the door and waited for his childhood best friend's sister to come back. Not a moment later, the door was opened again and Petunia Dursley stood there looking angry.

"I told you, I am not-" Petunia let out a shriek that could have done a banshee proud as her eyes landed on Severus. "What do you want? Get away from my house!" She tried to punctuate her statement by slamming the door in his face but it was stopped by Severus as she ran back towards the kitchen.

"Albus wanted you to come?" Maia asked him skeptically as he stepped into the house to follow the frantic woman. This brought another smirk to Severus' face as he walked into the kitchen to see Petunia had backed herself into the corner and had a skillet in hand, brandishing it like a weapon.

"How nice to see you again, Tuney," he said to her while pulling out his wand.

"Severus, don't do anything drastic," Maia hissed at him as she came into the kitchen behind him. "Mrs. Dursley, we are looking for your nephew, Harry. Is he home?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. There is no Harry here," Petunia managed to get out in an even higher voice than when she had spoken earlier.

"Don't lie to us Tuney. We are here to collect Potter to get his school supplies. Now where is the boy?" Severus hissed at her darkly.

"Severus," Maia warned him.

"Aunt Petunia, I've finished the garden. What else should I do?" said a young boy from the back door.

Maia turned to see who she immediately thought was a miniature James Potter. The boy that had just walked in had jet black hair that stuck up at odd angles. He was wearing clothing that was entirely too large for him and was only held onto his small body by a belt twice wrapped around his waist. He wore taped up glasses and behind the glasses were the clearest dark green eyes Maia had only seen on two people in her whole life.

"Harry," Maia whispered giving the young boy a small smile.

Harry's eyes widened as he took in the scene in front of him. His aunt was cowering in the corner from a black clad man wielding nothing but a polished stick of wood. The woman next to the dark man was looking at him as if she knew him and wanted nothing more than to hug him.

"Hello," he mumbled as he looked down at his feet.

"Harry, you've grown so much. You look so much like James," Maia said quietly. At this Severus risked looking over just as the boy brought his head up again. Right away he locked onto the beautiful green eyes that were without a doubt Lily's. He looked away just as quickly when he heard Petunia move in the corner.

"Don't move," he hissed at her.

"Severus, you don't have to threaten her." Maia turned away from Harry for a moment and started speaking to Petunia. "Harry is going to Hogwarts. How much have you told him about the wizarding world?"

Petunia turned white as a sheet when the word wizarding was mentioned while Harry just looked on in puzzlement.

"But magic isn't real," Harry voiced from his place by the door. Maia turned around to look at him in surprise while Severus swore quietly.

"Harry, what do you mean?" Maia asked quietly.

Harry looked down again. "Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon told me magic isn't real," he answered quietly.

Maia looked at Petunia angrily while Severus continued to point his wand at her. He twitched his wand and suddenly the kettle on the stove began to steam. Harry looked up in amazement as his aunt screeched and promptly cowered behind the skillet in her hands again.

"Was that magic?" Harry finally asked the two adults. The woman smiled at him and nodded while the man seemed intent on staring a hole into his aunt.

"Harry, I've got something for you," the woman told him as she held out a sealed envelope addressed to him. Harry slowly took it from her outstretched hand and read through the first page of the letter before looking up with a disappointed face.

"But I'm Harry, just Harry. I've never done any magic before," he told the witch while looking down at his feet again.

"Oh, Harry," Maia answered quietly, every fiber of her being telling her to hug the boy. "Have you ever done something you couldn't explain? Something that should have been impossible?" she asked him quietly.

Harry looked up sharply, carefully looked towards Petunia, and then nodded his head yes. "One time, I turned my teacher's hair blue," he informed Maia with a small smile.

Maia's eyes lit up as Harry said this. "That was magic Harry. You're a wizard," she said happily as a bigger smile came to the boy's face.

"While this is truly touching, we should be going so Potter can get his school supplies and still be home at a decent hour," Severus cut in from where he was still pointing his wand at Petunia.

"How about it Harry? Do you want to come with us to get your supplies for school?" Maia asked Harry.

Harry eagerly nodded his head. "Yes ma'am," he answered cheerfully. Maia gestured for him to go to the front door. Harry happily complied with Maia following a moment later.

"I'll let you and Mrs. Dursley catch up. We'll be waiting outside, so don't take too long," Maia told Severus over her shoulder as she and Harry stepped out onto the porch to wait.

After a few moments of silence passed between the two, Harry finally worked up the courage to ask a question. "Did you really know my parents?"

Maia nodded slowly. "They were wonderful people. Your mother was the kindest person and one of the most talented witches I've ever known. Your father..." she trailed off as she thought of how James had treated Severus in their first year. "Your father was very brave, if a little childish at times," she finally told Harry. He didn't need to know everything just yet.

Harry bit his lip for a moment. "Um, I should have asked this sooner, but who are you? And who was the man that scared Aunt Petunia?" he finally asked Maia.

"Oh, I should have introduced myself. I'm sorry, Harry. I'm Maia Maclaurin, Junior Professor of Potions at Hogwarts," she answered the young boy. "The man currently... talking to Petunia is the Senior Professor of Potions at Hogwarts, Severus Snape. He teaches the upper years while I teach the younger students and act as a teacher's aide in some of his more... unruly classes." Maia smirked as she remembered a particular NEWTs class with Charlie Weasley two years previous when he had decided the Slytherins needed some 'help' with their potion.

"So, you'll be my teacher?" At Maia's nod, Harry asked another question. "Then should I call you Professor?"

Maia smiled at Harry's politeness. "Harry, you can call me Maia when we're not in class. I'd feel weird if you called me 'professor' all the time," she told him.

Harry nodded his head once as they settled back into a comfortable silence. After another minute, Maia started to worry about what Severus could be doing that would take so long. She sincerely hoped her colleague would not do anything too serious. As if he had heard her thoughts, Severus opened the door and closed it so quickly Maia and Harry couldn't glance at the inside of the house.

"Shall we be going?" Severus inquired from the two.

Maia led the way back to the street. Once the group had come to the sidewalk, she pulled out her wand and cast a disillusionment charm around them. Then she knelt and looked Harry in the eyes.

"Harry, we have to apparated to get to Diagon Alley," Maia began to explain to the almost eleven year old. "Apparating is when a witch or wizard sees a place, a real place, in their mind and then wills themselves there. It is difficult for some and takes a lot of concentration. I need you to hold onto my hand tightly and not let go until I tell you too, alright?"

Harry nodded as Maia held out her hand. Standing back up, Maia held out her other hand to Severus.

"I have been to Diagon Alley before Maia," he informed her.

Maia rolled her eyes, much to Severus' annoyance. "We have one more stop to make. You have never been there, so unless you would like to be left behind, I suggest you hold on."

"And where exactly would this 'stop' be?" Severus questioned the witch even as he took her hand.

Maia grinned wickedly. "Just to pick up my brother and sister." Then there was a loud crack as the three magical people disappeared from Privet Drive.

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A/N: So what did you think? Please send me a review or a message with your thoughts. Thanks!