AN: First chapter of the New Year! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday, and that the new year brings you nothing but joy and happiness! I also hope it brings me lots and lots of writing days lol.
I really wanted this chapter to go on, but it was already getting kind of long. Hopefully it just means I'll have the next one up soon :)
The next morning, Harry and Draco left their bedrooms and came downstairs for breakfast to find Snape sitting at the table.
"Good morning," he said, without lowering the Daily Prophet.
"Morning," the boys replied before taking their seats.
As always, the moment they sat down, the table was laden with food. Sausages, eggs, beans, toast, and jam; all of their favorites.
Once they had filled their plates, Snape dropped the paper and reached for his coffee. "We'll need to leave at noon today," he said before taking a sip. "Remus has pulled me in to helping him with the cake and if we don't get their early, it will never be done on time."
The boys exchanged confused looks over their food before Harry turned to face Snape. "What are you going on about?"
Snape looked at them each in turn, his brows furrowed as if trying to understand what, in fact, they were talking about. "The party, obviously."
Draco nearly spit out his pumpkin juice. "You're going to a party?"
Snape glared at the teen and said, "Well, of course I-" He paused, taking in their truly confused looks and realizing his mistake.
"Forget to tell us something?" Harry asked with a grin.
Snape nodded. "Indeed. With everything going on, I forgot to tell you that my mother is throwing a surprise birthday party for Dad. Today."
Harry and Draco were quiet as they stared at Snape, until finally Draco asked, "And you're going to bake the cake?"
"Apparently," Snape replied.
Draco didn't try to hide his smirk. "This we have to see! Do you even know how to bake a cake?"
When Snape didn't reply, Harry pushed his plate away and said, "You could ask Mrs. Weasley for help."
"I do not need help," Snape said dryly, before picking his paper back up and snapping it straight.
"Are you sure? She wouldn't mi-"
"Or we could just stay home today," Snape interrupted.
"No, no, no," Draco jumped in. "We want to go. Really." He glanced over at Harry who nodded.
"Course we do," Harry said. "But, er, we haven't got any presents for him."
"It's taken care of," Snape replied after a moment. "I'll be waiting by the floo at exactly twelve, and if you're not both there as well, I'll leave without you."
Snape hadn't been serious about leaving them behind, of course, but he hadn't told them otherwise, and at noon, sharp, he scooped a handful of floo powder from the vase that sat on the mantle.
"We're coming!" Draco shouted from upstairs.
"Don't you dare leave without us!" Harry echoed seconds before he ran into the parlor.
Draco was right behind him and they skidded to a halt in front of the fireplace.
Snape nodded and gestured for them to get in together. "We're going to Remus's quarters at Hogwarts first. The party is in the Great Hall."
Harry grabbed his own handful of powder and said, "Remus Lupin's quarters at Hogwarts," before dropping it and disappearing in a rush of green flames.
Snape followed immediately, and when he stepped through the fireplace and into his brother's quarters, he was not surprised to see Sirius Black standing in the middle of the room.
"I thought you were travelling, Sirius?" Harry asked.
"I am," Sirius replied with a bright smile. "I was just in Ireland, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see my godson, could I?" He glared at Snape. "Especially when someone keeps ignoring my requests to have you come stay with me."
Harry turned to Snape. "Dad?"
Snape scowled. "I haven't been ignoring him, not that it should matter if I had. But as he no doubt knows, we've been quite busy as of late."
Harry nodded at this. "That's true. Dad took me to the beach. And got me a dog."
Snape cleared his throat and Harry rolled his eyes. "Okay, he didn't get me a dog, but he let me keep the one that I found."
"A dog, eh?" Sirius asked, glancing back down at Harry.
"Yes," said Snape, "apparently we needed two flea carriers around."
"Sev, don't start."
Snape turned to see Remus walking through the kitchen door, followed by Draco. "What?" he asked, innocently.
"You know what," Remus said. He turned to Sirius who was now shuffling through a stack of muggle photographs. "What are you doing?" he snapped.
It was now Sirius's turn to look up innocently. He shrugged. "I thought I would show the boys the photos I took on my trip." He glanced at Draco and Harry and said excitedly, "I bought a muggle camera, can you believe it? The pictures don't move though, but it's still fun."
"Collin Creevy says you can develop muggle film with a spell so that they'll move," Harry offered.
Before Sirius could comment, Remus walked over and snatched the bundle of photos from his hand.
"Oi," Sirius said.
But Remus paid him no mind as he flipped through them, taking one out occasionally and putting it face down on the coffee table. When he was finished, he passed them back and said, "Here. You can show them these. They don't need to see the pictures of your half naked girlfriend."
Sirius smirked. "Ciara is not my girlfriend, Remus. She's just… a friend. And she's not half naked."
Remus scoffed. "You're right, half naked would be far too generous."
Draco, no doubt taking advantage of the adults being distracted, reached for the pictures, but before he could pick them up, they disappeared. He looked up to see Snape glaring mildly at him.
"Are you coming to help or not?" Remus asked Snape, who said nothing but followed him into the kitchen all the same.
"Do I want to know what that was about?" Snape asked when Remus began pulling out the ingredients for the cake.
"Nothing," he said sharply. "It's fine."
Snape raised an eyebrow and though he wanted to ignore the apparent elephant in the room, he was struck with the rare occurrence of brotherly-ness and the next thing he knew, he was asking, "Are you sure?"
Remus sighed. He put down the sugar and turned so that his back was leaning against the counter. "He is not handling things as well as he wants people to think," he said quietly, motioning toward the living room where Sirius was with the boys. Remus crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "He's been locked away in Azkaban since he was twenty-two. Hardly more than a kid himself. Then he was on the run for a year." Remus took a deep breath and glanced down at his shoes for a long moment before looking back to Snape. "It feels like for him, time hasn't changed. He still acts like he's twenty-two."
Snape considered Remus for a moment, trying to work out what to say. It was clear to him that Sirius hadn't matured while in prison, but he thought that was probably expected, all things considered. "I suppose he hasn't really had a chance to grow up," he said at last.
"I know that," Remus said. "That's one of the reasons I thought it would be good for him to go on this trip. He would have a chance to travel and explore. See things freely, without looking over his shoulder."
"But-"
"But it didn't seem to help at all. He seems to be having fun at least; traipsing across Europe and meeting new people. Which I do think is probably good. But he's been here for about a week now, sleeping on the living room floor, and having nightmares every night."
Snape nodded. "Perhaps it would do him good to speak with a Mind Healer."
"I've suggested that, but he refuses. He says he's dealing with it fine on his own."
"Remus," Snape said softly as he moved to stand beside him, "I know you like to fix things, and you like to be constantly doing something instead of just sitting around, but I don't think this is something you can fix-"
"Don't talk to me like I'm a child, Severus."
"I'm not," Snape said, "I really do think that maybe it's going to take Black a while to work things out for himself. He has to relearn everything he knew; the world is different now." He gave Remus a moment to let his words sink in before he continued. "I think a Mind Healer would help a lot, but so would having you around. You're the last friend he has from before."
Remus stood quietly while Snape turned to the counter and pulled a recipe book towards him. Finally, Remus turned as well and they got started on baking what would hopefully be an edible birthday cake.
"Draco came to talk to me as soon as you got here," Remus said after a moment.
"Oh?"
"He's decided that he's alright with you seeing his memories."
Snape paused in pouring flour into a bowl and glanced at Remus.
"There's more than enough evidence," Remus said, "if we end up needing it. You can see for yourself later, but Severus, he was physically abusive to him."
Snape's eyes narrowed. "Draco said-"
Remus shook his head. "I don't think he considers it abuse. I think he sees it as normal. That because he didn't outright hit him it means he didn't abuse him, but we both know that's not the case."
Snape nodded. "I'd like to see them right after the party."
"I'll have them ready."
"Happy birthday to you!"
The Great Hall was full of people. Most of the staff of Hogwarts, Sirius, Harry, Draco, Hermione, and the Weasleys, plus several people that Harry didn't know.
The room was decorated with balloons and streamers, and there was an enormous banner that hung above the cake that read, "Happy Birthday, Albus." The tables were covered in confetti and party favors that whistled when you blew on them.
Everyone clapped as Albus stepped up to the cake. It was two tiers with vanilla frosting, and covered with all sorts of candy as the decorations. He bent down as if he were going to blow out the candles, but at the last second, we waved his wand and they blew themselves out.
"What a marvelous cake!" he exclaimed.
Minerva, who stood beside him, said proudly, "Remus and Severus made it."
Snape shook his head. "It was mostly Remus," he said.
Albus looked to Remus with a broad smile. "Thank you, my boy." He reached out his arm and though he blushed fiercely, Remus stepped up and let himself be pulled into a hug. Albus whispered something into his ear that only he could hear, and Remus nodded.
When he stepped back, Albus clapped his hands together and said, "Who wants the first piece?" He held out his wand and the cake began to slice itself, while plates floated up to it. "I believe I'll take this rather large piece here with the Lemon Drops." The piece in question settled onto a plate and Albus plucked it from the air.
"So, what have you lot got planned for the rest of the summer?" Sirius asked as he sat down next to Harry. Draco and Ron sat across from him, and Hermione was on his other side. The twins and Ginny were there as well, though farther down the table where they were talking to a woman that Harry didn't recognize. She had bubblegum pink hair and she was telling them a story that had them laughing.
"Dunno," Harry answered. "We've already been to the beach. We'll probably just hang around the Manor."
"At least for the next week," Ron grumbled.
"You're lucky you only got grounded for a week," Hermione said sternly. "Something terrible could have happened to you, two. Honestly, you would think that after the flying car-"
"Flying car?" Sirius asked.
Ron's cheeks turned nearly as red as his hair. "Harry and I couldn't get through the platform for second year," he explained, "so we sort of borrowed my dad's charmed Ford Anglia and flew it to school."
"They crashed it into the Whomping Willow," Draco added with a smirk.
"Well, what were we supposed to do?" Harry asked as he tried to hide a grin at the memory.
Hermione let out a shocked laugh. "Oh, I don't know," she said sarcastically, "perhaps wait til Ron's parents came back through the platform and get help?"
"We didn't think they could get back through!" Ron exclaimed, stating for the hundredth time his reasoning for using the car.
Sirius laughed and held his hands up. "Wait, but what happened when you got to school? After you crashed the car?"
"Oh, er," Harry felt his face growing warm as he glanced down at his cake, "well, Dad was there, and he caught us coming up the steps. He thought we ought to be expelled." When Sirius's eyes flashed and he opened his mouth to say something, Harry rushed on, "This was before he took me in, of course. And we weren't anyway. We just got detention."
"And a howler!" Ron added, causing the group to laugh.
When they'd all settled back down, Sirius changed the subject. "I hear the Quidditch World Cup is coming up. Are you all excited?"
"Ireland against Bulgaria," Ron said with a nod. "It's going to be wicked good!"
Harry shook his head. "I'm not going."
Ron dropped his fork and asked, "What do you mean you're not going? We're all going. Dad got the tickets weeks ago."
Harry shrugged. "I'm not. I heard Dad telling Uncle Remus." He dropped his gaze to his plate, missing the glare that Sirius was now sporting.
"Oi, Snape!"
Harry's head shot up. "Sirius, no, don't. It's-"
Snape looked up from where he sat with Remus, Albus, Minerva, and Mr. Weasley.
"What are you playing at? Not letting Harry go to the Cup?"
"I beg your pardon?" Snape asked, as he raised a brow.
"He says you're not letting him to go."
"Sirius," Remus tried to cut in but by now everyone's attention was on Harry's end of the table and he found himself wishing that the floor would suddenly open up and swallow him whole.
Without giving himself time to think about it, Harry pushed himself up and away from the table and ran for the doors of the Great Hall.
"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley called after him but he didn't stop until he'd ran all the way to his and Snape's quarters down in the dungeons.
Back in the Great Hall, Mrs. Weasley stood up first, quickly followed by Snape. "I've got it," he said quietly. "But thank you."
Mrs. Weasley looked at first like she might protest, but then she smiled and nodded her head before sitting back down beside Madam Pomfrey.
Snape turned to Sirius. "Not that it's any of your business, but Harry is in fact going to the World Cup. The only reason he didn't know was because it was meant to be a secret until his own birthday party. But I do thank you for spoiling the surprise." With that, Snape left the hall in search of Harry.
Knowing that Harry would know that he couldn't get into the dormitory during the holidays, Snape assumed that he would go to their quarters, and he was glad to see he had been right.
Harry was sitting against the arm of the couch, his arm crossed and staring up at the ceiling, but as soon as Snape opened the door, he rolled his head to look at him.
"I don't care about the Cup," he said immediately.
"No?" Snape asked as he walked inside and took a seat in his armchair.
"No," Harry confirmed. "I wouldn't even know about it if I hadn't-" He cut himself off and dropped his gaze to his knees.
Snape had a fleeting thought that Harry desperately needed a haircut soon. His hair was so long that it nearly touched his shoulders.
"If you hadn't what, Harry?" Snape prompted, thought he had a feeling that he already knew. "Harry," he said again when he still didn't answer.
Harry sighed and looked up through his fringe. "If I hadn't listened in on your conversation with Uncle Remus a few nights ago."
"Ah, and what exactly did you hear?"
Snape watched as Harry tried to remember exactly what he'd overheard.
"Uncle Remus was saying that you were being ridiculous and hadn't even considered it, and you told him that you didn't need to. That you had already decided to say no. Then he mentioned my birthday and you told him he was just trying to make up for all the ones he missed."
Snape hummed in response. "What else?"
Harry shrugged. "That's it. He said he had to go back to St. Mungo's, and said that he thought I would have had a good time at the Cup with the Weasleys."
"I see," Snape said. He crossed one foot over his leg and tapped his jaw before he said, "So you took one very small portion of a conversation that wasn't meant for you in the first place, and assumed that it was entirely about you?"
"Wasn't it?" Harry asked.
"No," Snape said simply. "It may surprise you to know that only the very end of what you heard was about you. The rest of it was Remus attempting to get me to help him with Granddad's birthday cake. Obviously that wasn't something I had intended to do, and I told him so. We had in fact been having quite a long conversation to start with, and anything about you and the Quidditch World Cup was discussed at the very beginning. Your uncle had only reiterated an opinion that we both shared before he left."
Harry's gaze dropped once more. "Oh," he murmured.
"'Oh,' is right," Snape said. "How many more times are we going to have this same talk about eavesdropping on private conversations, Harry?"
"I didn't mean to," Harry defended himself. "I was looking for you, and I was about to knock on your door when I heard you talking, and I-"
"And instead you decided to stand outside my room and listen in?"
"When you put it like that it sounds bad."
Snape huffed. "It sounds bad because it is bad. It's rude and it almost always ends with you misinterpreting the things you hear."
Harry nodded. "I'm sorry." When Snape didn't say anything else, Harry glanced up at him again. "So then, you were going to let me go?"
"I was."
Snape thought the boy looked miserable and that he ought to tell him how he still had no intention of keeping him from going, but before he could go completely soft, Harry spoke again.
"Well then… but why didn't you tell me?"
Snape felt his frustration with Harry seep out of him and he sighed. "Because your birthday is coming up and it was meant to be a surprise."
Harry bit his lip. "I guess I mucked it up then, huh?"
Snape shook his head. He stood up and moved across the room to take the middle seat on the couch beside Harry. Then, in a rare display of affection, that was actually becoming less rare since the adoption, he put his arm around Harry's shoulders and pulled him close against his side. "No, son, you didn't muck up anything." They sat that way for less than a moment before Snape said, "Your dog-father, however, royally mucked up, though. If he'd kept his big mouth shut, you still could have been surprised at your party."
Harry grinned. "He was only trying to help."
Snape scoffed but didn't say anything.
"So," Harry said quietly a few minutes later, "do I still get to go?"
"Yes. You and the Weasleys, Ms. Granger, and I suppose Draco now as well, will be going to the World Cup on the Saturday after your birthday."
"What about you?" Harry turned in his seat so that he could look up at him.
"What about me?" Snape asked.
"Aren't you coming?"
Snape looked down at him curiously. "I- do you want me to?"
Harry nodded. "Of course. And you like Quidditch, even though you pretend like you don't."
"I like it just fine." Snape adjusted his arm around Harry and settled into the couch. He was quite content to sit here now, especially since the alternative was to go back to the party. "I suppose I could come along to the match."
"Who are you rooting for?"
"Unofficially?" Snape said thinking back to when his guardianship of Harry was a secret. "Ireland, obviously."
Harry must have been thinking the same thing because he asked, "And officially?"
Snape smiled. "Officially? You. Always, you."
Over the next week and a half, Snape, Harry, and Draco began to settle into a routine much like the one they'd had the summer before, only now it felt as if everything had an air of permanence to it.
Harry had finished his grounding and extra chores with only a small amount of complaining, and though Draco hadn't gotten into trouble and was allowed to fly, he decided to wait until Harry could as well.
On the first Saturday in July, Harry and Draco left the Manor with Snape to get their books and supplies from Diagon Alley.
"You both need new school robes," Snape said as they walked down the street, past Quality Quidditch Supplies. "We'll go there first and then we can-" He stopped when he realized the boys weren't walking with him. Turning back, Snape saw that they were staring in the window of the broom store. "We haven't got all day, you know."
Harry tore his eyes from the newest broom, the Firebolt Supreme, that was on display in the window. "Couldn't we go in for just a minute?" he asked.
Snape shook his head. "Perhaps later if we have time. We've got quite a bit to get through."
"Harry and I could get some on her own," Draco offered. "Then you could-"
"We will stay together," Snape said, without leaving any room for argument. "The quicker we finish, the quicker we might get back."
Harry groaned but said nothing as he followed Snape further down the street.
They walked in to Madam Malkin's, and were pleased to see that the shop was nearly empty.
"I'll be right with you, dears," she said as she walked around a young girl who was standing on a step stool in front of full length mirror. She placed a few more pins into her robes before she smiled and motioned for her to step down. When the girl had walked into the back where the changing rooms were, Madam Malkin turned to Harry and Draco. "Alright, new school robes, of course," she said, "and I'd wager you'll both be needing dress robes this year as well?"
"That's right," Snape said.
Harry and Draco exchanged looks. "Dress robes?" Harry asked.
"For the Yule Ball," Snape clarified. Then he added, "New shoes for both of them as well, Madam."
"Splendid," Madam Malkin exclaimed. She pointed to Harry. "You can go first, Dear. Just step right up."
Harry did as he was told, then watched as dark fabric floated towards him from a shelf on the far wall. "What's a Yule Ball?" he asked.
Snape and Draco had moved to sit in chairs across from where Harry stood.
"Exactly what you would think a ball is," Snape said as he pulled a book from an inside pocket of his robes, "a dance."
"What are we having a dance for?"
"It's tradition of course," answered Madam Malkin as she walked around him, taking his measurements with a magical tape measure and writing them down in a notepad. "To celebrate the Tri-Wizard Tournament."
Draco's head snapped up at this. "The Tri-Wizard Tournament? At Hogwarts?"
Snape nodded. "Unfortunately," he said drily.
Before Harry could ask what the Tri-Wizard Tournament was about, Madam Malkin was talking to him about different styles and cuts of robes, and he had no choice but to put his questions on hold.
Getting their robes had taken much longer than planned, and afterward, Snape had led the way to the Magical Menagerie for owl food, then to bookstore to get the newest school books for the year.
"Can't we stop for lunch first?" Draco asked as Snape looked down at the list of books.
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "we're starving."
Snape sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ignore the frustration that had been building in both boys over the last hour. He wasn't even entirely sure what was going on. Harry, he knew, was simply tired. He'd been up half the night with another nightmare, that after quite a bit of prodding, Snape had learned had been about Vernon Dursley. He'd finally convinced him to take a small dose of Dreamless Sleep but it hadn't helped how exhausted he felt now. Snape thought that Draco might simply be catching Harry's bad mood, but one thing was for certain and that was that Snape wanted to get them home, and the sooner, the better. "No," he said, "we only have the books left to get, and then I need to stop by the apothecary. Once that's done, we're heading home. We'll have lunch there."
"But you said we could go to the Quidditch Shop," Harry reminded him.
At the same time, Draco burst out, "I won't last til then, Uncle Sev!"
Snape sent a mild glare Draco's way and was about to tell him to stop being dramatic, when a voice from behind him said, "Hello, Severus. Harry, Draco, how are you?"
Snape turned around to see Evelyn Bouchard, the Child Services caseworker, standing at the end of the aisle. She had her hands resting lightly on the shoulders of a girl about Harry and Draco's age.
"Evelyn," Snape said after a moment. "How nice to see you."
"Hi, Ms. Bouchard," Harry said politely.
"Oh, Harry," she said, "call me, Evelyn, please." She smiled brightly and said, "This is my niece, Brielle. She'll be joining you at Hogwarts this year. In your year, too."
"And in Slytherin, I hear," Snape commented.
"Yes, sir," Brielle said with a smile.
"Brie," Evelyn said, "this is Professor Snape, he'll be your head of house. And this is Harry and Draco."
"It's nice to meet you." Brielle said, dipping her head in a slight bow.
Snape caught Evelyn's gaze, noticing that she seemed to be watching him. He cleared his throat and gestured around them. "Getting all your school books?"
Evelyn nodded. "We're just getting started, actually."
"So are we," Snape said, "but then I thought we might get lunch. Would you both care to join us?"
Snape caught twin looks of disbelief from Harry and Draco, but he paid them no mind as he added, "Our treat, of course."
"That would be lovely," Evelyn said. "As long as Harry and Draco don't mind."
Snape glanced at the teenagers meaningfully, but Draco was the only one who spoke.
"We don't mind," he said, then turned to Brielle. "We can help you find your books, too, if you want."
She nodded, and together the three walked away, leaving Snape and Evelyn alone.
