Thrown into the Deep End

It had been a few days since Harry’s nightmare and Severus was glad to see the boy was doing much better. His nightmares started to lessen though they didn’t completely go away. Snape wasn’t exactly sure they would. He was in his twenties and even on some tough days he’d have memories of his past.

He felt proud of Harry for how he had handled things. The boy was opening up to Snape a bit more and was able to sleep in his own bed without running into Snape’s room crying with boogey’s running down his nose. Snape had learned not just about the Dursley’s but things Harry liked. One being bugs. (Something Severus did not like at all, unless he needed them for potions ingredients he would not touch bugs.) The boy loved bugs since his aunt would try to teach him how to garden so he could do it himself one day.

He liked ladybirds, caterpillars, grasshoppers, and unfortunately his favorite were spiders. Severus wasn’t afraid of them but he found them icky looking mostly because of all the legs and eyes. Why would something need eight legs? Revolting.

Harry would bring the things into the house to show him and Lupin and Snape would give him the smallest smile he could and a nod but he had dodged any attempt the boy made to have him hold it with a ‘perhaps Remus would like to hold the spider.’

Which Lupin was more than happy to do. Watching this happened only solidified Snape’s ideology that both of them are completely and utterly mad.

Though he was happy the boy was now smiling and goofing off with Draco once again. And once again the arguments over the blocks have once again picked up. But now it seemed the arguments had spread to other aspects of the boys lives. If Harry sat in a chair Draco would immediately have an argument about why Harry was sitting there, or when Harry was playing with the stuffed bear that Draco didn’t even want in the first place.

And the one thing the boys fought on most of all was who got to spend time with Severus. At first Snape thought it was endearing (and the pettier side of him was grateful they were spending time with him and not Lupin.) but now that these disagreements had been happening for days it was getting really damn annoying. But yesterday night was when he lost his cool.

He was plating dinner, as he and Lupin alternated between who cooked dinner, when the argument first broke out.

“Harry move!” Draco exclaimed tugging on the other boys sleeve as he sat in the chair next to Severus’ chair that he always sat in.

“No. Let go, Draco! I always sit here!” The other boy frowned trying to push the blonde boy off.

“Exactly! I want to sit next to Severus, you always get to!” Draco yelled

The bickering continued for minutes. Which Snape thought was unnecessary as there was a perfectly good chair on the other side of Snape where Draco could have sat. Which both Lupin and Snape tried to explain but their words landed on deaf ears because Draco and Harry continued the quarrel.

“Draco get off!” Harry cried angrily as Draco was being way rougher then was necessary. Snape tried to rebuke the boys actions but Draco continued being rough. That’s when Snape realized. The boy didn’t really care about if he was near Severus he really just wanted to take whatever Harry had which peeved Severus.

Both he and Lupin sat down at the table. Lupin tried to calm Draco down but he couldn’t. “Maybe if Severus and I switch seats you could sit next to him..” Lupin tried to help but Draco scowled (pouted) and shook his head. “No that’s Severus’ seat! He always sits there!” That was true. That was Snape’s seat. He had always sat there even when he was a child. He would never sit anywhere else except his designated seat. That was his seat. He knew it was childish to not want to move but he doubted he would even if he was given the opportunity which he wasn’t.

CRASH!

The chair Harry had been sitting on and Harry fell to the floor the little boy hit his head and let out an animalistic cry. Snape’s face contorted with anger. What had gotten into Draco? Why was the boy being so rough with Harry. He hadn’t been like this before. Sure in the beginning it was a bit difficult to get the boys to bond but it was never, never like this.

“Draco Malfoy! What is your problem? Go to your room!” He thundered as he and Lupin picked up the fallen chair and got Harry an icepack for his head.

The blonde boys eyes started to well up with tears and his face was now red and angry and hurt.

“Fine! I hate you Severus!” He yelled storming upstairs.

Snape was left dumbfounded. ‘Hate?’ He thought. The boy hated him? Did he? No he was just angry. Just angry. No he couldn’t hate him? Right. Was he doing that bad of a job at parenting? He was doing his best. Apparently that wasn’t good enough though. He needed to do better a lot better. His mind was spiraling out of control but he felt a hand on his shoulder. It was Lupin. Why did the man have to be here now? Snape rolled his eyes and Lupin smiled.

“He doesn’t mean it, he’s just angry you told him off.” Lupin said encouragingly as he held a crying Harry who didn’t understand why the other boy was being so mean to him as of late.

Snape scoffed. “I know, Lupin. I’m not an idiot.” But he probably was an idiot because he still felt like Draco really did hate him. Lupin and Harry ate dinner but Snape was left looking out the window. He had a horrible feeling of familiar feeling he wished would never return.

He remembered the first time his father told him he hated him. He was 7 and reaching for a jar on the counter so he could ‘brew a potion like mum’ but he was just going to fill it with water and flower petals. He accidentally knocked his fathers beer onto the floor the glass shattered onto the floor loudly scaring him.

Tobias’ head whipped around and his face contorted with anger much like how Snape’s did when he yelled at Draco but Tobias’ mouth yelled something far much worse.

“DAMMIT SEVERUS! WHAT THE FUCK?!”

The man stomped over while Severus cowered in fear.

“THAT WAS A FRESH BEER! YOU DAMN RETARD! I HATE YOU!”

Severus knew the man was drunk already and he tried to convince himself it was jus the alcohol talking but that certainly wasn’t the last time he heard his father say that. And he had certainly been in much sober states a few of those times.
He knew it wasn’t the same. Once Lupin and Harry went off to play Snape thought about Draco for a bit, why was the boy so angry? He was so unbelievably angry. There had to be something. He needed to figure this out. He brought up the boys dinner took a breath and went into the room. He found the blonde boy sniffling with his head in his pillow.

He sat on the edge of the bed. “I brought your dinner.” He murmured and Draco groaned and started to cry again. Snape hesitantly patted the boys back twice. What was he supposed to do? He didn’t even know what was wrong.

“Draco..what’s the matter?” He asked. His heart sank and rose every passing second as he waited to hear Draco say it was all his fault and that he was the worst person in the world.

“You love Harry more than me!” The boy cried and Snape was puzzled. He certainly loved Harry but not more than Draco. He cared for both boys equally. “No I don’t, where did you get that notion?” He asked.

“You always leave me to go check on him! When he had that nightmare you left me! You left for so long the other day to take him somewhere! And you’ve been paying more attention to him than me! You don’t even play with me as much! It’s always about him!” The boy whined putting his head back to his pillow.

That left Snape with his thoughts. He had been spending a lot more time with Harry but that was because he was worried about him. He wasn’t trying to neglect Draco or be mean to him. He really did care about him.

He supposed the last week he hadn’t been spending much time with Draco. He sighed. “I- I do realize I haven’t been giving you as much attention as I’ve been giving him as of late but he’s been needing me-“

“I need you too!” The other boy cried shifting from his pillow to holding onto Snape afraid he’d leave.

“I know, I know..this is- oh this is all my fault, I’m so sorry.” Snape muttered rubbing Draco’s back as the boy sniffled.

It seemed as if one child was doing fine the other was absolutely not. Draco’s abandonment issues were starting to act up once again.

His parents always dumped him off to a nanny even though he wanted them, and now his parents were incarcerated and not with him it made sense that the boy wanted his love and attention and would do anything to have it. And he was taking his frustrations out on Harry in a fit of misguided anger.

What could he do to remedy this situation? What to do? He then got an idea.

“I think..maybe it’d do us some good to have a day to ourselves tomorrow? Maybe me and you can go to a restaurant while Harry spends some time with Lupin? Does that sound nice?”

Draco immediately perked up. “Yes! I want to.” The boy looked so happy to just spend time with Snape.

The man nodded and sighed of relief. He then looked at the blonde boy. “You should go apologize to Harry..you pushed him off the chair.” Snape said softly running his long fingers through the blonde strands of Draco’s hair. The boy nodded. “Ok..”
The two sat in there for a time, Snape allowed Draco to eat dinner and the two sat in a comfortable silence. Comforting Draco sort of felt like petting a feral cat that could explode into an angry fit.

Once Draco was fully calmed the two of them walked downstairs to find Lupin and Harry still playing. Draco went up to Harry shyly and apologized.

Snape was very proud that Draco actually apologized, and was as equally proud that Harry accepted the apology. The two little boys went to playing with the blocks and didn’t have any problems. Lupin sat next to Snape on the couch and gave him a quizzical look. He was curious as to what had gotten into Draco as well, Snape sighed.

“He thought I loved Harry more than him.” He shook his head muttering to himself. Lupin only nodded. “and?” He asked, Merlin’s damn beard why was this man so intrusive?

“And him and I will be having a day to ourselves tomorrow. I think I’ll take him to a cafe tomorrow. You’ll be alright with Harry?” He asked. Lupin nodded.

Bedtime was a lot easier after the air was cleared between the boys both of them falling asleep rather quickly. Snape and Lupin nodded to each other before going to their respective rooms. This was the ritual both men had. No ‘goodnights’ or ‘see you tomorrow’ just a nod. That was good enough for Snape.

The next morning was quiet, Harry wen off with Lupin and Snape got Draco dressed before taking him outside. He apparated the two of them to a cafe in Hogsmeade. Like most of the shops their it was very old whimsical sort of architecture which had a nice mood to it on the inside. They were sat at a table in the corner. Draco was looking at the menu and Snape was staring intently at Draco.

He could still see the poor boys tear stricken face and he felt sick. He was trying his best at all this but it didn’t feel good enough. Did everyone feel this way? He was so confused.

The waitress came over with a smile and took their orders. As soon as she left Snape decided to strike up a bit of conversation with the blonde boy.

“So..I know you and Harry had been talking about quidditch and you’ve been teaching him some of the rules..what position would you want to play?” He asked, he knew next to nothing about the game. He wasn’t one for sports and only ever watched the school games due to his bets with Minerva. Slytherin had been on a winning streak and recent years and he was very smug about it.

“Beater or seeker. Because you get to hit the bludgers at people or seeker because father always said I had the build for one.” Draco murmured and Snape smirked a very Malfoy answer, wanting to hit people and knock them off their brooms.

Snape looked at the boy he did have a build for a seeker. Small and thin of course that might change as the boy got older but for now it was true.

They got their food, Snape only ordered himself a coffee. He didn’t feel like eating. He never really did.

He watched Draco eat and that made him smile the boy looked happier than he had in days. He hoped that this was how it was going to stay but it seemed as soon as he thought it, it all changed for the worse.
The two of them were talking about nothing when a man came up to Snape. He was a thick set man and had a scar on one eye. His hair was buzzed and he had this callous nature to him like he could do anything he wanted to anybody he wanted and had no consequences for it. Snape’s eyes narrowed why was he right next to them?

“Hey mate, don’t s’pose you could help me with somethin’?” He said speaking to Severus. He raised a brow his hand was on his wand but he concealed that.

“Depends, what is it you need?” He asked coolly keeping an eye on the man.

“Well you see that lady over there, my wife I’m in need of some help? See she’s in some distress over our son. Thought a wise guy like you could help her.” The man had pointed to a random woman, Severus knew she was a random woman because she was sitting at a table for two and the other chair was occupied by someone who seemed to be her daughter. He also knew this was a lie because the lie itself was so horrible? Who the hell was this guy? He turned his head back to the man because he obviously did not believe him. He was a spy long enough to detect lies and actions to distract someone and noticed he had Draco in his arm about to apparate the two of them. The blonde boy was in distress, kicking and screaming.

Immediately Snape’s wand was out but he was shot with a knock back he hit the wall. His back hit the wall and he grunted. His back was not only thin but very much scarred.

The man really had no idea who he was dealing with did he? Severus Snape, Ex-deatheater, potions master, spy for basically the greatest wizard of all time Albus Dumbledore, and Draco Malfoy’s caretaker.

He pushed himself off the wall immediately, as his time as a deatheater he knew a thing or two about harmful spells and dueling.

He raised his wand using a nonverbal spell. A burst of air had taken Draco out of the man’s grasp he went through the air before landing in the seat behind Snape. Though the raven haired man was not done yet. Not in the damn slightest.

He casted a smoke screen blinding the man to any movements Severus made. He wasn’t strong but he was quick. He got behind the man in an instant and casted a binding spell, chains went through the air binding the man to the ground, he then casted a final spell that had the man convulsing on the ground he was twitching and out of sorts it might have been over kill but Severus was still rather pissed that this man had just tried to kidnap a child he was put in charge of. Who knows what would’ve happened to Draco, what this man might’ve done to him.

The rest of the cafe was staring at the three. Snape’s eyes were focused but he held that stony faced expression that used to receive vile comments. The owner of the shop came out and looked at them all. The short old man said he’d contact the aurors. Snape nodded he handed the barista the money for their food before he took Draco out of the cafe.

He had a feeling he knew what that was about it was obvious to spot that this was Draco Malfoy due to the ministries carelessness striking again there was newspapers filled with Draco’s little face. He assumed that the man inside was one of the many people who wanted Draco dead for what the boys father had done. Taking their anger out on the boy instead of the father. A rather idiotic thing in Snape’s opinion.

As he held the little boy tightly in his hands (scared that he might disappear if he didn’t keep holding him) he expected the boy to be scared and crying but he wasn’t. In fact he looked awestruck. Snape gave him a puzzled look and Draco brushed into excitement.

“I didn’t know you could duel that well, Severus!” The boy exclaimed as they walked down the street. The boy squirmed out of Snape’s grasp and started to walk beside him.

“You were like-“ the boy made a lunging motion mimicking the way Snape had went to the assailant.

“He didn’t even see you coming! You were like a shadow! Then he was on the ground like blehhh” he made a rather gross gurgling sound talking about how the man had been convulsing.

“And you looked so cool! Like ‘ha ha I won bad guy!’” He exclaimed and Snape let out a choked chuckle. The boy was silly. Snape didn’t think he looked cool. In fact on the inside he was very much panicked. He had no idea what would’ve happened if the man got away with
Draco the thought haunting him a bit.

They went home and after Draco got his coat off he immediately went to recounting the story to Harry and Lupin, Harry was amazed and Lupin looked horrified. Snape took off his cloak and nodded.

He went to the kitchen to make himself a cup of coffee while Lupin came over to him. “He almost got kidnapped?” He asked sounding deeply concerned. Snape nodded. His worry was striking up again. “The damn loons are so miffed with Lucius they have been plotting to take it out on Draco. Lucius always causes issues, especially for Draco.” He scowled.

Lupin nodded. Letting that sink in. He was aware that many people were now very hateful of the Malfoy name because of Lucius work as a deatheater and how he was when he worked at the ministry. He didn’t know much but only got this out of an old copy of the daily prophet but he could recount the passage clearly.

Lucius Malfoy, has been found guilty of his deatheater activities he is currently spending time in Azkaban along with his wife Narcissa Malfoy, formerly Black. To say this was a shock would be a lie, as numerous parties believed Lucius guilty from his first trial after you-know-who had disappeared.

Many at the ministry are rather pleased one, Arthur Weasley had a few things to say about the man and how he was while working in the ministry. ‘Malfoy was nothing but a manic blood purist who liked to have everyone under his thumb, if anything it’s good he’s gone.’

The extreme dislike for Lucius Malfoy is now seeping his way to his son, Draco Malfoy, many wizards and witches threatening harm against the small child but is this anger justified or just misguided rage due to Lucius? Will the child follow the footsteps of his father?

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Remus knew for a fact the child would not be like his father. Sure Draco was dramatic some time and sometimes would talk about blood purity but he knew with the right guidance from himself and Severus the boy would be a rather well adjusted kid.

He and Snape stood in the kitchen for a long time. Lupin could see the worry in Snape’s face. He could actually see it. He was surprised to say the least. He had never seen Snape actually worried and especially not about another person.

He could feel something in his chest but he shook his head. He was foolish.

The two stared at each other listening to the giggles in the other room. That’s how it should be. Snape was going to make sure of it. Those boys would be giggling and laughing and having a normal life. They wouldn’t have to worry about all this other nonsense. If anyone would harm these children. They surely have to kill Snape and that was no easy feat.

He cared about these boys now and once he cared about someone he wasn’t going to stop protecting them and caring for them.

These boys will be alright.

These boys will be safe.