Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.
"Hi Nape!" Harry said happily when Gwandma brought him back to his guardian.
Snape picked him up. "Everything go okay?"
"Just fine," McGonagall replied. "There should be no question that he resides with me."
"Good," Snape said with a satisfied nod.
"I'll see you later, Harry," McGonagall smiled at him.
"Bye Gwandma!"
"Did you have fun?" Snape asked him after McGonagall left, relieved the boy was back and safe.
"I saw Gwiffidor rooms!" Harry told him excitedly.
"Wonderful," Snape said dryly. "Would you like a snack?"
Harry nodded eagerly. "Yes, pwease."
"I'll be right back with some apples and peanut butter," Snape said, putting him down and ruffling his hair.
Once Snape left the room, Harry took out the box from his pocket and opened his pweasent. He took out the shiny black quill in awe. He quickly began scribbling with it on some parchment that was on the coffee table. Now he was like Nape who always wrote with one of these! Suddenly he gasped and threw the quill down, staring at his hand. "Nape!" He cried out. Tears began spilling down his cheeks. It hurt! He was bleeding!
Snape came out of the kitchen and walked over. "What is it, Harry? I told you I was getting you a –" he paused, his eyes focusing on the cuts on Harry's hand. "What is this?" He snarled, grabbing the little hand gently so he could examine it. "You're bleeding!"
"I was dwawing with that," Harry pointed to the black quill.
Snape glanced over and froze. "A blood quill," He hissed. "Where did you get that?"
"It was a pweasant," Harry whimpered.
"And who gave you this…present?" Snape summoned a bowl and a vial of Murtlap Essence. He poured some into the bowl. "Here, put your hand in the bowl. It will help it feel better." He said in a soothing voice. "Now, who gave you that quill?"
Harry obeyed and sighed in relief at how soothing it felt. The pain began to fade. "Dunno."
"Harry," Snape said quietly. "I need to know who it was. What did this person look like? When did they give it to you?"
Harry sniffled. "I was with Gwandma. She was talking to the big kids. He gave it to me and said he was a friend, and it was a secret pweasent."
"Who? What did he look like? Was he short or tall?" Snape asked, keeping his voice patient.
"Tall."
"Heavy or thin?"
"Thin."
"Hair color? Dark color or light?" Snape continued his questioning.
"Um, light. But not as light as Dwaco." Harry said, moving his hand around in the bowl, sloshing the Murtlap a bit.
"Did he say his name?"
"No. But he was wearing different colors than Dwaco and Mione do." Harry remembered.
"What colors?"
"Um…. lellow and bwack." Harry said, proud he had remembered.
Snape blinked in surprise. A Hufflepuff gave Harry a blood quill? A Hufflepuff? Anger filled him, and he clenched his fists. Whoever it was, he would pay. He gently took Harry's hand out and dried it. The marks were gone, thank Merlin. "Come here," he said, opening his arms for a hug.
Harry snuggled against Nape's chest, feeling safe and loved.
"Harry, I know you were excited to receive a present but," Snape hesitated. "I want you to promise me that you won't take a gift from anyone you do not know."
"Why?" Harry asked innocently.
"Because not everyone is nice," Snape said carefully.
"Like the boy who gave me that?" Harry pointed to the quill. "Why did he do it?"
"Some people are, uh, naughty," Snape said.
"The boy was naughty," Harry nodded. "He gives me a mean pweasent."
"He gave you," Snape automatically corrected. He sighed. "That is why you shouldn't take anything from someone you don't know or someone who asks you to keep it a secret. Instead, tell someone you trust right away."
"Like Nape!" Harry grinned.
"Correct. Or Draco, Hermione, Grandma, Padfoot, and Moony," Snape said. "And Dumbledore and Poppy."
Harry beamed at hearing the names of everyone who cared about him. He had so many now!
"Some people can be tricky so if someone makes you feel uncomfortable or scared, hurts you or asks you to keep something a secret, tell me or someone safe, like one of the adults I just mentioned. Okay?" And the same goes for when you are a teenager again, Snape thought.
"Kay Nape." Harry agreed. He leaned against Snape again and laid his head on his shoulder. "Hwarry loves his Nape."
Snape's heart clenched at the toddler's words. "And Nape loves his Harry," he whispered, tightening his arms around his little boy.
HP
That evening after putting Harry to bed, Snape sent a message to Draco and Hermione to come to his quarters. He was hoping one of them might have an idea of which Hufflepuff would hurt Harry. A knock sounded at his door and he quickly opened it.
"Do you need us to watch Harry, Sir?" Hermione asked curiously as she and Draco entered the sitting room.
"No. I need to know if any Hufflepuffs don't get along with Harry." Snape said, getting right to the point.
"A Hufflepuff?" Draco asked curiously. "They all like him, I think."
"One of them gave Harry a so-called present today. It was a blood quill which Harry drew with. It made him bleed." Snape said with a scowl.
Hermione gasped. "What? Is he okay?"
"Yes, he's fine now, but I want to know who did it," Snape said with a scowl. "I need to make sure I murder the right student."
"How do you know it was a Hufflepuff?" Draco asked with a frown. Hufflepuffs were supposed to be the nice ones!
"Harry said he was wearing yellow and black," Snape paced in front of them.
"I can't believe a Puff did that," Draco said, shaking his head. His eyes darkened. "Hermione? Do you know of any of them that have problems with Harry?"
"I don't think so," Hermione said, frowning in thought. "Second year, some of them thought he was the heir of Slytherin, but they apologized after the Chamber business. Um, last year they were upset that Harry was a Champion but after Cedric, well…" she frowned. Suddenly her eyes widened. "Wait, in the D.A. there is one who gives Harry attitude. He questions him on everything he teaches us and mocks him a lot. He kept asking questions about Cedric…" she trailed off. "But I can't believe he would give Harry a blood quill!"
"Is he tall and thin? Dark blonde hair?"
Hermione nodded slowly.
"Then it's him," Snape said darkly. "Who is it?"
"Zackarias Smith."
"He's dead," Draco said furiously. How dare that prat give Harry a blood quill!
"I'll deal with him, Draco," Snape said firmly. "He won't get with it."
HP
"I can't believe one of my Puffs would do such a thing," Professor Sprout said in disbelief the next morning. Snape had gone into her office along with McGonagall so that he could tell them what happened. He had already told Dumbledore, who had been furious and went to the ministry to let Fudge know so that it could be added to her list of charges.
"He matches Harry's description and Miss Granger confirmed that Mr. Smith has issues with Harry," Snape told her.
"I can't believe this happened on my watch," McGonagall said guiltily. "I'm so sorry, Severus."
"It's not your fault that Mr. Smith decided to give Harry something to hurt him," Snape said.
"Still, I should have kept a better eye on him," McGonagall said unhappily.
Zacharias entered the room, and he froze when he saw not only his head of house but McGonagall and Snape as well. "You wanted to see me, Professor Sprout?" he asked nervously.
"Mr. Smith. Did you give young Harry Potter a present? A present that he was to keep a secret?" Sprout asked sternly.
"I, uh," Zacharias stammered.
"If we bring him in here, he will identify you," McGonagall said coldly.
"It wasn't me! I mean, I gave him the box, but I didn't know what was in it," Zacharias said quickly.
"Didn't know what was in it?" Snape asked silkily.
"The blood quill! I didn't know, I mean," Zacharias faltered as the three professors glared at him. "It wasn't my fault. I ran into Umbridge when she was leaving the school, and she gave it to me! Told me to give it to Potter!"
"How did she know you would?" McGonagall asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I, uh, I'm not a big fan of him," Zacharias said uncomfortably. "I guess she noticed." His telling her earlier this year that he was happy to see another professor not favor Potter probably helped. So far, the only professor who could see Potter wasn't so great was Snape but even he was now looking at him in disgust.
"How could you do it?" Sprout asked with anger in her eyes. "He's a three-year-old little boy!"
Zacharias flinched. "I, um, Umbridge is from the Ministry. I, uh, thought I had to obey her." He said weakly.
"Even though she had been fired, you thought you had to obey her?" Snape asked sarcastically. He was itching to hex the boy, but he had to be careful not to show too much concern for Harry, otherwise it would spread throughout the school.
Zacharias flushed. "I'm sorry."
"Are you? Perhaps a fitting punishment would be for you to write lines with that blood quill," Sprout said coolly.
Zacharias's eyes widened in horror.
Snape had to admit he was impressed with Pomona. She may be head of Hufflepuff, but she could be tough when it was called for.
"A hundred points from Hufflepuff," Sprout said angrily. "You are also off the Quidditch team for the rest of your time here at Hogwarts."
"What? No, please, Professor!" Zacharias pleaded. "You can't do that!"
"Oh, I think I can," Sprout countered. "Unless you would rather be expelled, and your wand snapped in half?"
Zacharias flinched. "No, Ma'am," he whispered.
Professor Sprout nodded. "You will also have detention for a month," She continued, no sympathy in her voice. "Professor Snape, could you use help in your classroom?"
Snape gave Zacharias a cold smile. "Oh, yes. I have many ingredients that need to be cut up. Some are dangerous to handle, but I'm sure you will be fine. I also have many cauldrons and vials that need cleaning, the muggle way of course. The floor could do with a good scrubbing as well. With a toothbrush." He smirked.
Zacharias paled. Okay, perhaps giving the toddler Potter the quill had been a horrible thing to do but he couldn't stand the older one. Potter thought he was so great, being famous and going up against you know who. It had been satisfying to see him humbled as a baby. However, he definitely regretted his actions now. "Uh, yes sir." He looked back at Professor Sprout. "I'm sorry."
"You should be. I will be keeping a close eye on you, Mr. Smith. You better not step a toe out of line. Now go back to your dorm," Sprout ordered. "And have fun explaining to your housemates the huge number of points lost. If I were you, I would work hard to earn the points back."
Zacharias hadn't even thought about what his housemates would think about what he had done. He hadn't thought about the consequences at all. He'd just thought of how good it would feel to put Potter in his place. His shoulders drooped and regret filled his eyes. "Please tell Harry I'm sorry," he said softly.
"I thought Harry would be safe with me," McGonagall said unhappily after he had left. "I can't believe I didn't notice that someone handed him something."
"It's not your fault, Minerva. It was my student," Sprout said in disgust. "I thought about having him expelled but I wanted to make sure he suffered for his actions. His parents would probably just put him in Durmstrang and get him a new wand if Hogwarts expelled him. This way, perhaps he will learn something."
Snape smirked. "Pomona, my opinion of you just got even higher."
Sprout chuckled. "Thank you, Severus. Are you sure Harry is all right?"
"He's just fine. Miss Granger and Mr. Malfoy are spending the morning with him. I need to work on the potion to fix Harry and Mr. Weasley's age." Snape said.
"Do you think you are close?" McGonagall asked.
"I don't know," Snape said. "It is very frustrating, I feel like I am missing something, some small piece of the puzzle. I just can't put my finger on it."
"You'll figure it out," McGonagall said confidently. "Although when you do, I will miss those two toddlers." She said fondly.
Snape nodded his understanding. He would miss his toddler very much. At the same time, he was anxious to speak with teenager Harry. He needed to apologize for how he had treated him in the past, make sure his hand was okay from Umbridge's detentions, and help him talk through the abuse the Dursleys had put him through. And of course, to tell him that he had a real guardian now who will take care of him no matter what. He only hoped teenager Harry believed him.
TBC: