Harry tended to not care about others' opinions. After ten years with the Dursley’s tearing him down for every little thing it was hard to put much stock into what others thought.
This was his main thought as he walked to his first potions lesson. The whole week he had to listen to everyone, except the Slytherins, talk about how awful their potions professor was. How he was mean and ugly and cold and swooped around like a bat and favored his snakes (personally Harry wished Mcgonagal favored her lions, maybe it would discourage the loads of homework she gave) and all sorts of unsavory things.
But he was holding out hope.
He had decided after the third person told him about how mean Professor Snape was that he would tune everything else out and decide on his own what their professor was like.
And now here he was, standing in the hall outside of the classroom with his dorm mates and the other first year Slytherins staring at him from across the hall.
It was tense and privately Harry thought it was quite stupid to hate someone just because they were in a different house than yourself. Publicly he had shared the same sentiments, perhaps with kinder words, after his roommate Ronald Weasley had tried to get him to stop talking to Theodore Nott about their Charms homework. It was now common knowledge through the school that Harry Potter could Not Care Less what house you belong to, he would attempt to make friends with you. He had caught wind of a bet going around the seventh years about how his first potions lesson would go. Which had only strengthened his resolve to make his own opinions on Professor Snape.
~
Harry could admit to when he was wrong, something that he prided himself on. And after that absolute disaster that was his first potions lesson he was just about ready to telling everyone that ‘yes professor snape is mean and cold and he does in fact swoop around like a bat’. But another comment from Ronald Weasley stopped him.
“Fred and George were right. There is no way that man has any friends.” and well, that just won’t do now will it?
Harry wouldn’t say that this was an easy task, for all that he had managed to make friends here at Hogwarts no matter what house those people were in, Professor Snape was proving to be much much harder to befriend than the students. For example, a tactic he had tried in his next potions class had no effect. He thinks at least.
“Professor?” Harry raised his hand after Snape had given out the instructions for that class, students around him getting up to go get their ingredients from the storage. Snape sneered at him but walked over nonetheless.
“What could possibly already have you confused, Potter?”
“I was just wondering why it is that we have to stir in certain directions? Does it really affect the potion that much ?” The potions master had only stared at him for a moment before saying something scathing about looking in a book for answers before he turned around and swept away. Like actually swept, his cloak flicked dramatically and spread around behind him as he stormed off. Harry decided that once they were friends he would ask the professor to teach him that trick first.
~
Harry kept up his questions. Before class, during class, after class. He was thinking he might be wearing the professor down– at least he had stopped taking points when harry opened his mouth. Which was a win, obviously. His housemates had been angry with him at first, for losing points, but then the professor had actually awarded him two (two!!!!) points for a well asked clarification that no one else in the class had thought to ask. The week following that incident many people had stopped him in the halls to ask how he had managed it. And then they promptly laughed at him when he said he was just being nice.
So people still thought his idea was stupid. But that never stopped him before and it certainly isn't going to stop him now. After spending the month of September asking questions and pestering the professor with his words, Harry moved onto bigger methods. Gift giving. Well.. kinda gift giving. Harry didn't really have any money at the moment, or a way of buying things, but he could improvise.
He spent a lot of time by the lake with his friends (friends!!!) studying. He often got through his work quicker than them and so he’d explore the shore. He would pick up any rock or shell that looked vaguely interesting and tuck them away in his pocket. Later in bed, he closed up his curtains and laid them all out and picked the best ones. He had gathered quite the assortment by now and he was excited for the next step in his plan.
He had potions later that week and ate a quick breakfast in order to get to class a few minutes before everyone else. He had his rocks and shells in his pocket, but had forgotten his bag in the great hall. He was sure Theo would bring it down for him though. He pushed those thoughts aside and knocked at Professor Snape’s office door. When he heard the gruff voice grant him entry he quickly pushed inside the room and hesitated for a moment before walking towards the desk.
“Good morning, Professor!” He was as cheerful as he always was when he was in the office, though unlike those other times (besides the first few but he doesnt think about those embarrassing things) he was fidgeting with his robes, sleeves, and pockets. The professor leveled him with a raised eyebrow.
“Can I help you, Mr Potter?” Harry floundered for another moment before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a stone and two shells.
“I found these by the lake! I, uhm, thought you might like them” he quickly set them down on his desk and back up a few steps. The professor picked up the objects and stared at them blankly for several moments. The stone was small and laid in the palm of his hand. It was vaguely shaped like a potions bottle and had a bit of sea glass at the end where the stopper would be. The two shells were a striking slytherin green color and had holes in the exact middle. Hag stones. Professor Snape still hadn't said anything and Harry was beginning to worry that this may have been one attempt too far before an alarm from the professor’s wand went off and he cleared his throat.
“It is time for class Mr Potter.” The shells and stone were set down, dare Harry say carefully, on the desk and Professor Snape stood, gesturing to the door.
~
The next time Harry went to the professor's office for a session of ‘asking questions until the man gets tired of him’ he saw the stone and shells propped up on a shelf in the room, on display. A warm feel filled Harry’s chest. Step two had worked.
The shells and stone were quickly joined by other things Harry had found at the lake– another potions shaped stone, a vaguely snake shaped stone, and little clippings of plants that were useless in potions but that Harry had picked and cast preservation charms on. The Professor had never said anything about his little gifts and Harry was alright with that, them being on display was good enough for him.
~
Phase three was an accident really. It was the end of October, the 31st specifically. He went to sleep knowing he would have a Bad Day in the morning. For some reason he always woke up on halloween feeling sad and downtrodden. He wasn't sure why, he usually chalked it up to having never been able to participate in the holiday with his relatives. He went through the motions of getting dressed and eating breakfast with his dormmates, not bothering to sit at a different table as was his usual move. He was so busy staring at his plate, and then his shoes when he was walking, that he hardly noticed when people stared and whispered more than they usually did.
They had potions first thing that Friday, and it was the first potions class since the beginning of term that he didn’t get to early in order to pester the professor. He didn't speak up the entire class either, simply listened to the lecture and took notes. It was double potions that day– the first half consisted of a lecture and the second half was potion making, with a break in between for the bathroom and stretching. When the lecture portion of the class was completed he heard Professor Snape call out his name before he was able to finish packing his books away.
“Mr Potter,” He looked up and made his way to the front of the classroom, “if you would, could you go to my office and gather the things i left on my desk? I do not… trust your peers to go in there without snooping around.” Had he really just said he trusted harry? Boy…his plan was working far better than he thought it would.
He felt the first smile of the day make its home on his face as he muttered a quick ‘yessir’ and then left the classroom. He moved between the groups of students that were lingering in the halls and slipped into the professor’s office. He hoped that it would be easy to spot what he needed, Professor Snape hasn’t said what it is exactly that he needed, but he usually kept things tidy so it would be easy to-
He stopped and stared at the desk. It was as tidy as he expected it to be, and sitting in the middle of it—instead of potions papers or ingredients like he expected—was a small box of chocolates and a little note. He slowly picked the note up and held it between his hands, staring at the elegant script reading ‘Mr Potter’ on the outside of it. He opened it gently, both excited and nervous to read.
Mr Potter,
I know how trying today of all days must be for you. If ever you should wish to talk to someone about how it is affecting you, my office door, as you may well know, is always available for you to force open.
Know your parents would have been proud of the young man you have become, and on this day of remembrance know that they would not want you to grieve for them but live your life as most pleases you.
-SS
Harry stared at the note for several long moments before he realized that the words were starting to blur. He frowned and blinked trying to clear his vision before he realized he was crying. It had been a while since he had cried somewhere other than his cupboard. It left him feeling exposed so he quickly wiped the tears away and tucked the note in an inside pocket on his robes. He peaked at the box of chocolates and saw that they were pumpkin shaped. He smiled a little and put them in a normal pocket before glancing around the office one more time.
It was as it always was– his little gifts along the mantle on the fireplace, various potions ingredients spread out, and lots of books on shelves. Which was strange, after such a huge revelation he felt as if the world outside of his body should have changed as drastically as his mind had. His note, his extremely nice and thoughtful note, from the professor implied that it was today of all days in which tragedy had struck his family. So… no wonder he had seemed to hate Halloween so much, even if he didn't consciously know, his body and subconscious had known it was the day he had lost his family. Real family.
That aside, accidental step three. Reciprocation. The professor had gone out of his way to give Harry a little gift and make a hard day easier for them. Maybe they really were shaping up to be friends after all.
~
It wasn't until the winter holidays that Harry discovered owl order catalogs from one of his friends. It could have been extremely helpful when he had begun his gift giving endeavor with the professor. Then again, he wasn't even quite sure what he would have bought for him. But now Christmas was approaching and he needed a real gift to give to his maybe sort of friend-professor-person.
In the weeks between Halloween and the winter holidays, harry had spent a lot of time in the man's office outside of class. More often than not they didn't even talk about potions. Harry had run out of reasonable questions to ask about the topic and had decided it wouldn't kill him to get to know more about the man. So he had begun to ask him questions about his own years at the school. He was hazy with the details at best but Harry learned about his favorite subjects– after potions of course– and had even gotten help with some of his other homework from there. He really was quite a lovely professor when he wasn't swooping around and sneering. Which he didn't do all that often anymore. The homework help had developed into a sort of study session. As in, Harry studied by the fire in the professor's office while he graded papers. He didn't even feel the need to fill the silence with questions or conversation either! His plan to befriend the potions master was coming along amazingly. But that could all come crashing down in a week's time (at least in his dramatic eleven year old mind).
And so we are back to the problem at hand. He had all these owl order catalogs but no idea what he could buy the man. He was a fully grown adult and he could probably buy himself whatever he wanted. And he was sure the man was tired of getting potion related gifts from the people who do get him things. He paused as he flicked through a charms shop catalog and frowned. Was this even a good idea? Giving him cute rocks was one thing but a real gift? Would this be coming on too strong? He tossed the papers to the side and buried his face in his hands and groaned loudly. This was impossible. He would never find the perfect present and then the professor would hate him and they’d never become friends.
He flopped onto his back dramatically and squeezed his eyes shut. There had to be something, maybe he just wasn’t looking in the right places.
~
The Potter child was…. not what he had expected. Admittedly he had expected a spoiled, arrogant, brat who strutted around the castle as if he owned the place. Not this…child. Normal child.
Perhaps normal wasn’t the word for it. He was unfathomably nice. To everyone. He made friends across all the houses, across years. He was polite to his professors and handed in well written essays and participated in classroom discussions. Starts them even. It had been years since a student had the nerve to ask a question in his lab. And here the boy was, doing just that. Ridiculous.
And to top all of that off, he had taken a strange interest in Severus himself. He appeared before class, after class, badgered him with questions non stop and wasn’t put off when Severus took points.
It had to be fake. No one was that nice, especially to him.
And so Severus approached with caution. He kept his guard up and waited for the other shoe to drop. For the child to say it was a joke and that he (rightfully) hated him.
But it never came. In fact, the kindness escalated. A gift. It was only a few stones and glass but a gift nonetheless. Just for him. The child had seen them, thought of him, and then brought them to him.
If anything happened to those bits and bobs he would tear the castle apart to find them.
Not that he would let anyone know that. Hmph.
And from there their… tenuous companionship had grown. The Potter heir stopped asking less classroom related questions and more personal. Inquiring about his own childhood in the castle. It was a tedious game he was playing, attempting to indulge in the child’s questions while also dodging around the full truth. His relationship with Lily was not something he was ready to get into yet. A wound that he doesn't want to prod at.
Even with all his careful answers and side stepping, he is sure that Harry Potter knew more about him now than anyone else in this castle (bar Minerva, their weekly chess nights made sure of that) and that was such a strange thought.
Are they friends? Could one even be friends with an eleven year old? If they could he was sure that severus was well on his way to being one.
And friends meant.. Another person on his lift to buy christmas gifts for. That made three. Albus, Minerva, Potter. How horrible.
~
The answer to Harry's question actually came in the form of his head of house.
She had come into the common room in order to check on the students that had stayed behind for the holidays, and found harry on the floor with nearly twenty owl order books spread out around him and a piece of parchment with a list of possible gifts he could get.
“Are you quite alright, Mr Potter?” the question had startled him and the quill in his hand landed in the fireplace.
That was his favorite one.
“No, no I am not alright! I have all these choices and i cannot find the perfect gift for Professor Snape and now he is going to hate me because i didn't get him the perfect christmas gift and he’ll never talk to me again and all my hard work to become his friend is going to crash and burn in front of me and life is over,” he slumps backwards to the ground and stares at the veiling with a pout as he heard a small titter from Mcgonagall.
“That is certainly a predicament you've found yourself in,” there was shuffle as she settled in the chair near his head, “did you by chance ask him if there was anything he wanted? Or consider that you do not need to get him a gift in order to be his friend?”
“Don’t be ridiculous, of course I have to get him a gift. It’s friends 101. And I know plenty about him, this should be easy but it's not.” he sits up and looks up at her.
“I know he likes plants, but not like Neville likes plants. Nev likes to grow them but the Professor likes to collect clips and press them and write about them and use them in potions. He also likes dark chocolate and keeps a big container in his desk drawer. He likes fluffy blankets and bitter coffee and has a specific ink brand he uses and takes really good care of his favorite quill. But those are all things he can get for himself, things he does get for himself.”
“I’m going to tell you a secret Harry, that could possible help you, but you cannot tell anyone I told you so.”
He perks up at that, scooting closer to her on the floor to lean against her knee. “I pinky promise I won't tell anyone,” friends tell secrets, does this mean he is also friends with Mcgonagall?
By the time Professor Mcgonagall left, Harry's head was reeling but he knew exactly what he wanted to get for Snape.
~
He didn't have a chance to see the professor until the evening of Christmas. He had woken up to a pile of presents at the end of his bed, and couldn't believe it. Presents. For him. From friends that he had made all by himself. Shopping for his other friends had been easy and each of their gifts had been given to them before they left for break or owled off when he wrapped them.
By the time he had finished unwrapping each present it was nearing the end of breakfast, so Harry decided to eat a few sweets he had received and take his time organizing his gifts, the small box on his bedside table seeming to stare at him through it all. He was anxious to give the gift to its recipient.
When he went down for lunch, he tucked the present into his cloak pocket and decided he'd give it to the man when he saw him then.
Except, he wasn't at lunch, and when Harry asked after him, the headmaster had just twinkled at him and said some nonsense that didn't really make sense but he's sure meant that Professor Snape wouldn't be back until after dinner.
Which sucked. The whole day was dragging on and he just wanted to see the man and give him his gift and make sure they were actually friends and Harry wasn't making it up.
He wasn't at dinner that night either, and Harry gave up being patient and huffed his way down into the dungeons, knocking loudly on the door to the man's office and waited.
It took too long (like twenty seconds) for the door to open and Harry got his first look of the man all day. He looked the same, maybe a bit tired, and stood aside as Harry bounced his way into the office and plonked himself down in his favorite chair by the fire.
“Happy Christmas, sir! I haven’t seen you all day, did you have a good day? Did you get lots of presents? I got lots of presents, for the first time ever it was brilliant, I didn't realize having friends meant I'd have such a busy morning.” harry rambled on as the man prepped them some tea and then settled in the other chair.
~
The child was endearing when he rambled, he had the slightest hint of a lisp and somehow his outlook on life was both wonderfully childish and woefully grown up.
“I had some things to attend to outside of the castle, places to visit and someone to see. So i’d say i had a pretty busy day as well.” he poured them both tea and watched the way that Harry seemed to fidget with his pocket. “I hope that you are not yet tired of opening presents, seeing as i have one more for you.”
He was nervous to give his gift, this felt different than the chocolates on halloween. More.. heavy, somehow. He hoped he liked it, but from what he has gathered of his home life since they began their..friendship, severus could give him a sock and hed be as happy as a house elf.
“You got me something? I got you something too! Oh brilliant, we can open them at the same time.” he roots around in his cloak and pulls out a small square box that he hands over to severus.
It takes it and stares at it for a moment before he summons the bag he had gotten that morning and hands it over to harry.
“At the same time then?” he gets a nod in return and after a moment's pause they both open up their gifts.
~
The room was silent except for the rustling of paper. They both went slow, opening their gifts carefully. Harry placed the tissue paper to the side and shifted to the edge of his seat so he could put the bag on the ground while he pulled out the object within.
In his hand, was a soft brown bear. It looked a little old, but was in pretty good condition. He rubbed his thumb over its fur and felt how soft its little curls were. When he brought it closer to his chest he could smell something sharp and spicy, knows it wasn't anything physical and it's the smell of someone's magic. Layered just over that magic is the scent of the sea, the scent of Snape’s magic. He stared at the bear, such a simple thing, pulls it against his chest, and squeezes.
“I love you, Harry!” he jumped a bit when a voice came out of the bear and he pulled it away to stare at it in shock.
“That’s your mothers voice.” Harry looks up at Snape and sees the box unwrapped on his lap but untouched otherwise. “She made that for you, when you were little. I helped charm it, though charms were her area of expertise. I went back to your childhood home and looked for it. I had hoped it would stil be there and in tack and..”
Harry squeezes the bear again, “I love you Harry!” and tears up on the spot. He has something from his mother, knows what she sounds like. Knows what her magic smells like.
“Thank you, i dont..thank you.” He twitches forward, wants to get up and give the man a hug but he stops himself, “open yours.”
Severus takes his open in prying off the top of the box, sets it aside and stares down at the leather corded bracelet. He slowly traces a finger over the charms, a silver water lily and snowdrop.
“How did you..”
“Mcgonagall helped me. I couldn't think of what to get you, I was really stressed you see, and she told me that you were friends with my mother.. Please don't be mad at her?”
“Mad?” Severus looks up from the bracelet and gives Harry the smallest of smiles, “No, no I'm not mad. This is brilliant Harry.” he takes the bracelet out of the box and slides it on his wrist. It quickly shrinks to fit him and he's slightly surprised as he feels the fiery burn of Harry's magic come to life.
“It’s charmed, to detect poisons and deflect minor jinxes and if your ever in trouble, the headmaster helped me turn it into an emergency portkey. To his office.”
Severus stares at the bracelet in thinly veiled shock. This was possibly one of the most thoughtful gifts anyone has given him in ages.
“Thank you, Harry. Truly, I love it.”
Harry brightens and nods, rubbing at his eyes to get rid of his tears and then stands up, the bear held under one arm. He teetered there for a second, the words he wants to say jumbled in his throat.
“I know that i used to annoy you a lot when i first got here, but i like to think maybe you like having me around now, and that possibly even you miss me when im not around. And you seem to like the little rocks i found and you answer all my questions and you got me two gifts since i started pestering you so i was just wondering if we could maybe be friends?”
Severus raised an eyebrow as the boy rambled, his thumb rubbing over the flower charms. It hadnt escaped his notice that the charm was a water lily as opposed to a regular one. It was severus’ birth flower and harry’s. The sneaky child.
“I had assumed we were already friends, i dont just allow anyone to eat my favorite chocoaltes you know.” seeing the way the boy lights up was absoltue worth the blow to his reputation he knows he will take when the rest of the student body comes back.
“Friends.” Severus nods in agreement and then stffens as arms wrap around his shoulders and a small body collides with his chest.
“Friends hug, i know that because Daphne taught me, so now we have to hug sometimes too.”
He wraps his larger arms around harry and nods, “acceptable.”
“And friends hang out all the time.”
“We already do that”
“And friends call each other by their names-”
“I know how to have friends, Harry, hush now.” He squeezes the boy and smiles when the “I love you, Harry” comes out muffled between them.
~
Harry had actually done it. He had befreiend his dour professor and proved everyone wrong.