Chapter 1
July 1991
Harry
Harry was waiting in the police station about a mile from the Dursley’s house, a willowy officer -officer McCready, as his badge had stated- had picked him up after school, the last day, and told him the news once they had got there.
He’d probably expect him to scream and cry and kick up a fuss -like he witnessed Dudley doing when he’d first been sat in the little waiting room- but he didn’t, he just sat there calmly as the man crouched in front of him explained the death of his aunt and uncle. It’s not like he didn’t care it just didn’t feel… real yet, he was still half expecting Vernon to trudge in the place and drag Harry out by the ear, ranting about how stupid he was and grilling him on why he was in a police station in the first place. Stupid boy! Don’t go stirring up trouble. What did you say to them?!
Harry sat there staring into space in the near empty waiting room as cars zipped down the motorway outside . Vaguely aware of Dudley sitting a few seats down, scoffing a vending machine chocolate bar while being soothed by the police officer who had presumably picked him up from his fancy private primary school.
His mind continued to wander as he started to process what had happened, his aunt and uncle were dead, they weren’t coming to get him.
But then who would?
Just as that thought crossed his mind, a round blotchy faced woman walked -stomped- into the station.
Oh no, oh god, not her!
“Aunt Marge!” Dudley half yelled, half sobbed. Her eyes landed on him and she immediately plodged over and took his face in her meaty hands, “oh my duddles! Poor, poor boy. oh baby it’s okay.”
Aunt Marge was hugging Dudley tightly when officer McCready came to speak to her, “Mrs Dursley? I’m so sorry for your loss, I’m sure you’d like to speak to me regarding the details at a later date. However you will need to fill in some paperwork to take the boys home now-“
“Boys?” Aunt Marge interrupted, confused until her eyes slid over to the abnormally small boy still sitting a few seats down. No doubt taking in his rumpled clothes and blank expression. “Oh, hah,” she let out a cruel bark of laughter, “I’m not talking him home, that little rat can sleep on the streets for all I care.”
She stared at him the whole time with a look of disdain, she’d likely bring a diseased squirrel into her house rather than him.
“Sorry ma’am,” officer McCready looked confused, “I just assumed, because he was also under the care of Petunia and Vernon Dursley, that you would be taking him as well. Seeing as he’s family-“
“That thing is not my family, Vernon should have never even agreed to look after that brat in the first place, he has no place in my house. You’ll have to find somewhere else to put the runt.” The police officer was looking thoroughly put out and a little annoyed at how he never seemed to be able to finish a sentence with her,
“But-“
This time it wasn’t Aunt Marge who interrupted him, as the door opened to reveal a very peculiar man in a- cloak? he was old (about 100 If Harry had to guess) and had long silvery-grey hair with a long beard of the same colour. He sported a strange pointy hat that looked like a nightcap on his head, matching his navy dress. It had silvery stars embroidered on it which for a moment, actually looked like they were shining. The old man surveyed the room over his funny glasses, eyes eventually landing on Harry.
The woman who was fuelling Dudley’s supply of comfort food and comforting him -officer O’Mally- had previously stepped to the side as Aunt Marge took her place, and much more, letting the other officer handle the situation. But she now cleared her throat, “can I help you sir?” She said, eying the strange man with unease.
“Hello, my name is Albus Dumbledore. Is Harry Potter here?”
Harry suspected he said the last bit out of politeness as his gaze had already settled on the small boy. As the room stilled Harry spied Dudley, looking startled, lifting a fat finger and jabbing it at him.
“And who are you?” officer O’Malley asked.
“As I have said. I am Professor Albus Dumbledore and I’m here to collect Mr. Potter if you please,” Dumbledore said with an unwavering pleasantness, a headmaster? What would a headmaster want with Harry?
“Right… I’m sorry sir but we’re going to have to ask you to leave,” officer O’Malley started before she was interrupted by a jet or purple light, Harry swivelled his head back to the strange man who was now holding a funny looking stick. The headmaster sent similar light beams to the receptionist, officer McCready, Aunt Marge, Dudley and an old woman who was putting up posters for her missing frenchie. Harry sat and watched as they all started smiling, a wave of serenity washing over them, clearly no longer paying attention to what was going on anymore, and the old professor walked over to him.
“Just a confundus charm,” the old man said, as if that meant anything to him, “Hello, I’m Professor Dumbledore. The headmaster of Hogwarts. How are you feeling?”
“H-Hogwarts?” Harry croaked after he’d gotten over the initial shock, “I- I don’t… know what that is?”
“You don’t know what Hogwarts is?” Dumbledore's gaze was searching but calm as Harry shook his head.
“Your a wizard Harry”
•••
Severus
Severus was sitting in Albus Dumbledore’s office and he didn’t know why.
It was the middle of the summer holidays and there were no events that he knew of coming up. He’d been contemplating leaving when the ancient wooden door to the office finally opened and professor Dumbledore walked in.
“Ah, Severus. Your here already, perfect” the old man walked over to his side of the desk and sat down, “sherbet lemon?”
“No I’m fine, thank you” Severus said politely, “what is this about Albus?”
“Straight to the point I see Severus, I’ve always liked that about you.” Severus raised an eyebrow at Dumbledore, it was clear he was stalling. He took the message and started talking, “as you will remember, after Lily and James died I left their young son in the care of Mrs and Mr Dursley, Lily's sister and her husband, as Harry’s life was saved as a result of old blood magic from Lily's side and this move was best to keep him safe. And would serve to keep him away from the magical world for as long as possible.”
Severus sat stock still in his chair. Lily’s child? What did Lily’s child have to do with him?
After being given no encouragement, Dumbledore continued, “Unfortunately the Dursley’s perished yesterday afternoon, I brought Mr. Potter here and taught him about the Wizarding world as it appears the Dursley’s failed to do,
“as you can imagine Harry Potter can’t just live anywhere, Severus. He needs someone to look after him, a kind of support not even the walls of Hogwarts can provide for a young child,
“He will be starting first year this autumn but he still needs someone to look after him.”
Severus snapped out of his daze as the headmaster finished his speech, “you- you want me to look after him? A child? Potter's child?”
“He was Lily’s child too, Severus. And his own person. She would want this, you were her best friend and I have no doubt you would look after the boy just as he deserves.”
“I-“
“He has her eyes.”
His heart stopped.
“I know you and James had your differences but surely you can see past that for the sake of Lily's child. I know you loved and lost her. I was hoping this boy could give you a bit of that love back.”
Lily's child. Images clear as day gliding through his head with ease; Lily. Getting her letter, being sorted into Gryffindor, crying, laughing, across the great hall, across the battlefield, across the room at an order meeting , crying, reconciling, smiling, dead. Emerald eyes shining, seeking him out, in every one sans the latter.
“Okay”
————
Severus hadn’t moved in fifteen minutes, he wasn’t even sure if he’d blinked. Dumbledore had gone to collect Harry, who had been having tea with Hagrid in his hut, apparently having taken an instant liking to the large man and his strange creatures.
Harry had stayed at Hogwarts the night before, he was told, and had learned lots about the Wizarding world already. Severus had no idea what he was doing and was suddenly hit with the crashing realisation of how stupid this was . He couldn’t look after a child, He couldn’t look after a potted plant.
He didn’t even like children, especially ones with the last name potter, he already knew. But before he could change his mind or make a run for it, the office door opened.
This time Albus Dumbledore entered carrying a small ratty suitcase -that looked like it was a jostle away from crumbling - with a small boy, in a similar state, in toe.
The boy was tiny. He was ten? A large chequered shirt that was about three sizes too big practically drowned him and his jeans- held to his protruding hip bones by- a shoelace? Were ripped and rumpled to disbelief.
Severus’ eyes lingered on the round wire frame glasses perched on his face for a little too long, bringing back memories he refused to let play as he dragged his gaze to the small but prominent scar on his forehead that couldn’t even be hidden by the mass of thick black hair pointing up in every direction.
His eyes settled on the glasses again -slightly smudged and taped together in the middle- until he managed to push his gaze past the lenses . He was met by a pair of dazzlingly familiar green eyes, locked right back on his own and twisting his gut.
Having compared the boy to both his mother and his father, Severus finally looked at him. He was standing just to the side of Dumbledore, a nervous but curious expression shaping his features.
Dumbledore returned to his desk chair, pushing forward the sweet bowl and offering Harry a sherbet lemon. The small boy, however, politely refused; Sliding his head from Severus to Albus and giving a timid head shake. The old professor motioned for Harry to take the seat across from him -next to Severus- but Harry ignored this, standing in between the two chairs in front of the desk, like he was about to be dressed down.
“Harry, I would like you to meet someone,” Dumbledore said, “this is Severus Snape.” Harry turned to look at Severus again.
“Hello,” Harry said shyly. Severus tried to smile at the boy but he suspected it came out as more of a sneer.
Severus was a friend of your mothers, Harry. He works as a professor here at Hogwarts now, and is going to look after you when you’re both not in school, is that okay?”
Harry’s eyes widened a bit, clearly not expecting that.
“Um..” Harry said, “yes I- why can’t I just stay at Hogwarts?”
The boy looked a bit put out, gazing nervously at Severus.
“I’m afraid as lovely as Hogwarts is, it cannot be a home. You simply need more than Hogwarts can offer to grow and I believe you and Severus can help each other with that.”
Severus felt heat rush to his cheeks as the small boy glanced at him again, what could I help you with? displayed clearly on his face.
“Okay,” Harry said simply, after a while, seeming to accept this answer a lot easier than Severus.
“Wonderful,” And before Severus knew it they were flooing to his house to get Harry settled in.
It was just a random Tuesday.
What? The? Fuck?
————
Harry
Dumbledore took him to a little cottage through the fireplace. That’s a sentence he never thought would be a valid update on his life.
The cottage was humble, a three bedroom in Cornwall overlooking the beach, and it belonged to Severus Snape, his new legal guardian.
The man seemed not to like him but that was okay, Harry was used to not being liked, he just needed to make sure he didn’t anger him too much, so he kept mostly quiet.
Severus led him and Dumbledore upstairs and into a large room with a slanted ceiling and large Skylight windows.
Professor Dumbledore walked over to a bed in the corner and set Harry’s case down on top of it. This is mine?
“This is mine?”
“Unless you’d rather sleep in the linen cupboard,” Snape answered dryly. Harry flinched instinctively, thinking back to his cramped little cupboard under the stairs at privet drive. Threat aside, Harry was surprised that wasn’t the first option, deciding not to mention it again. He saw Snape giving him a funny look he didn’t understand out of the corner of his eye.
“We’ll leave you to get settled, Harry. Severus?” Dumbledore turned to Severus and he spun on his heel, briskly leading him back downstairs.
Harry looked around at the big room, -His room- there was a small trunk along the smallest wall and a desk next to the bed in the corner with a lamp and a wooden chair, the bed had dark green cotton bed sheets with an even darker -almost black- knitted green comforter. There was a wardrobe to the left of the door and a bookshelf on the right filled with lots of old tomes, most about potions.
Harry felt very out of place as he opend his falling apart suitcase -that used to be Dudley’s- and started putting his clothes in the large wardrobe. They didn’t even fill half of it. He then put his un-hangable clothes in the chest of drawers along with his personal items; a comb, even though it did nothing for his unruly hair; a copy of an old car magazine that he’d found on the pavement; a napkin he used to clean his glasses; and a broken action figure he’d pinched from between the couch cushions, Dudley wouldn’t miss it, he had loads.
When he was all packed away he slid the suitcase under his bed and walked over to the windows. They were slanted along the roof and without opening it Harry could see the sky and the beach.
To get a better view, he dragged over the desk chair and opened the window. Standing on the chair so his entire torso, arms and head were sticking out of the window. He leaned forward, resting his hands against the window frame and pushing forward on his tiptoes , trying to see the garden and front of the house. He'd entered through the fireplace, and he was desperate to see what the strangely cosy cottage looked like from the outside.
He didn’t hear the footsteps coming up the stairs nor the door opening, but he definitely heard what happened next.
“Harry- what are you doing?!”
Severus rushed over just as Harry flattened his feet and spun his head around. The larger man yanked him the rest of the way out of the window and sat him on the chair below. He looked angry but Harry thought he saw- was it?- fear? Just painted ever so in the grooves of his face.
Harry swallowed, stilling at the sharpness of the man’s tone and the large hands still gripping his sides. Harry was brave, he was. He’d proved that by standing up to many school bullies, of his own and others. But he wasn’t stupid. He’d never stood up to his biggest bully, uncle Vernon; that was stupid and futile. So he knew he couldn’t stand up to Severus. The man in front of him was certainly not as big and brutal as Vernon but he was still bigger and stronger than Harry would likely ever be. He shrunk down under the man’s clutch.
“Well?” Severus snapped, grip tightening ever so slightly. Harry screwed his eyes shut and inhaled sharply waiting for the blow- that never came.
Severus let go of him and after a moment and Harry opened his eyes to meet the large man’s puzzled expression, the anger and concern from earlier still there.
Harry didn’t dare breathe.
Just sat there, stock still, staring at him with wide eyes waiting for the slightest change to shut down again.
“Just- um…” Severus started, tone significantly less sharp, gaze searching the small boy, “don’t do that again, it’s dangerous.”
“Okay,” Harry said -almost a whisper- voice frail and braking from fear and shock that was slowly creeping out of him with every second that passed.
Severus gave a curt nod, not taking his eyes off of Harry while he closed the window and left the room, softly clicking the door behind him.
•••
Severus
A few hours later Severus had made pasta. It was hard work considering he very rarely made proper meals for himself but now he had a child he supposed his eating habits would need to be sorted.
The pasta wasn’t the most exiting thing in the world. He’d scrounged up whatever he could from the cupboards and ended up with some muggle tomato sauce, -from Waitrose though, he’s not a heathen- a bag of pasta, some cheese and some frozen garlic bread -that was now burnt.
He plaited up the pasta and garlic bread and set it at the dining table, needing to add an extra place setting for the first time ever. With a glass of wine and a cup of juice added to his and Harry’s plates, respectively, he started up the stairs.
He’d seemed to have shaken Harry up last time he was up there and he hoped the kid wasn’t still upset, the look of fear in the tiny boy's eyes had still haunted Severus as he made dinner.
He reached the top of the stairs and knocked on the door before creaking it open, “Harry?”
The room was dark, sun long set and it seemed Harry hadn’t turned on any lights as it did. The only light was of the moon coming through the skylight.
“Harry?” He tried again looking around the room. Panic started to creep in until he heard the soft noise of the wardrobe door opening.
Severus turned to it and walked forward, opening it the rest of the way. He squinted against the dark but could still make out a small shape folded up at the bottom, glasses faintly reflecting moonlight.
“Dinner’s really,” He tried to say kindly but just sounded confused, he was about to force another horrific smile onto his face to try and soothe any distress it may have caused before he realised it was too dark and just stupid.
“Dinner?” Came a small voice.
“Yes. Erm.. tea. It’s seven,” He said not understanding the child’s confusion, perhaps he was just dim but Severus didn’t think that was the case.
“But you’re mad at me,” Harry said simply, voice still small but now more confused than scared.
“Er- well, I was a bit, but you still need to eat,” he was clearly matching Harry’s confusion as the pair stared and tried to work each other out.
“Oh,” Harry said, starting to shuffle out of his position, “okay”
He moved out of the way so the small boy could clamber out. And then started making his way downstairs, Harry trailing behind him the whole time. But when they reached the table to sit down Harry took his bowl and sat on the floor with it, crossing his legs and resting his back against the wall about a metre behind the table.
“Um,” Merlin, why did this kid have to be so weird? It’s not right, a voice in the back of his head said and Severus reluctantly agreed, there was no way this could have just been a child’s abnormalities. It was no doubt the fault of the Dursley’s.
Severus remembered how Lily would rant about her cruel sister and her foul husband. Petunia and Vernon. Petunia had always secretly been jealous of Lily’s witchhood and hated the bond she and Severus had because of it. Vernon was the kenco coffee of men, working at a drill factory -if he remembered correctly- and marrying a woman six years younger than him, the epitome of boring. Together, the couple hated wizards and he could only imagine what they would have done if they were given one to raise.
“You can sit at the table Harry,” the boy looked at Severus like it was a trick for a few seconds before gingerly standing up with his plate and taking a seat in the chair opposite. Harry shuffled in his chair for a while, clearly not used to the arrangement and then started eating his pasta, one piece at a time, resting his elbows on the table. Severus frowned but hardly thought this was the time for lessons on dining table etiquette, considering this seemed to be the boy's first time at a dining table.
As he was eating, the sleeve of Harry’s enormous shirt fell Over his hand causing him to have to stop eating to re-roll it. It occurred to him that the rest of Harry’s clothes were probably not dissimilar in condition and likely didn’t come in masses.
“Did you have enough coat hangers in your wardrobe?” Severus asked casually a few minutes later, knowing full well he’d only had five hanging in there but wanting to bring up the topic of clothes.
“yes, thank you,” Harry quietly replied, avoiding eye contact .
He ran this through his head, he only has five shirts? Severus had more formal ties than the boy had basic items of clothing.
“Perhaps we should go shopping tomorrow and get some clothes,” he heard himself say, “we need some food for the house as well.”
“You- you want me to come with you? When you’re doing your shopping?” Harry looked puzzled.
“Well yes, I want you to come shopping with me.” Severus said trying to put emphasis on the point that they would be going shopping and they would be getting things, but it seemed to be quite a foreign concept to the child as he continued to frown -the expression was so dopey on the small boy, Severus wanted to squish his cheeks together.
What? Why would he want to do that?
“Okay then,” Harry said, turning back to his pasta, cogs still visibly turning in his head.
Once they had finished, Severus went to get his wand from the sitting room to scorchify the bowls, but when he returned, the dishes, and Harry, were gone.
He wandered into the kitchen to see Harry washing the dishes the muggle way at the sink, with hand soap and hot water.
The water was steaming up the window.
Severus walked over and turned off the tap, worried the water was too hot for the boy's hands, but he seemed unbothered despite the fact his hands were red and slightly patchy from the roasting water.
“You don’t have to do that,” Severus said, taking the bowl from the boy’s hands and giving them a scan for any damage. Severus realised they were in quite a state, burns seemingly old and new, scars that indicated hard labour and many small cuts. He turned and placed the bowl on the bunker.
“We have spells for that, you don’t have to wash them yourself,” Severus explained, then waved his wand over all of the dishes to clean them, and watched as Harry’s eyes widened. He didn’t know how many displays of magic Harry had witnessed since he was introduced to the Wizarding world but he couldn’t imagine it had been many considering the shock on the small boys face, Severus even felt his lips quirk a bit at the sight.
“Oh, right,” Harry said looking at Severus again, “sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he said, waving his wand and sending the dishes flying into the cupboards. This time Harry’s mouth dropped open in shock and Severus couldn’t help the small huff of laughter that came out of his own mouth at the sight.
“Woah, will I get one of those?” Harry asked, shifting his gaze.
“A wand?” Severus followed his line of sight to the one in his hand.
Harry nodded.
“Yeah, you’ll get one before you go to Hogwarts in a few months.”
“Cool,” Harry said, still staring at the wand.
“Do you want to hold it?” Severus asked, very amused at the boy's blatant amazement.
“Like, cast a spell?”
“Well no, you might not be able to do that yet but you can try to wave it around, when I was first trying out wands, the ones that weren’t a match made some pretty crazy things happen when I was holding them,” Severus said.
“Weren’t a match?”
“Ah yes, the wand chooses the wizard, Harry.”
“Oh… okay” Harry said, clearly not following, before seemingly deciding to save it for another time. He held his wand out by the middle and Harry took the handle.
Severus took a step back, recalling the spider he’d medium-rared while trying out wand no.2 on his first trip to Diagon.
The small boy looked at it for a while before swishing it to his left.
The tap immediately shot up to the ceiling and fell back to the floor, a fountain of water instantly spraying up from the empty hole at the top of the sink. Harry let out a yelp as he was instantly soaked and Severus snatched back his wand and began casting spells to make it stop. Eventually it did and Severus reattached the tap.
He turned to Harry who was thoroughly drenched, black hair plastered to his forehead and oversized shirt hanging off of him, dripping into the puddle already forming beneath his feet. The small boy met his gaze with big watering eyes and started silently crying, keeping his eyes on Severus.
“Hey, Hey, it’s okay” Severus said, crouching down to his level and pushing the limp hair from the petrified boy’s forehead, he was freezing.
It had been the cold tap that had exploded and because of the age of the cottage, the cold water was in fact, quite freezing, “let’s get warmed up yeah?”
He softly wiped the tears from Harry’s eyes then conjured up some towels and wrapped one around the shivering child, using another to fluff up his hair a bit, before taking him through to the living room and sitting him in front of the fire, putting on the radio.
It was a news station playing a recording of the minister’s speech from earlier that week. It was rubbish really, the same old blabber over muggle security and the statute of security blah. blah. blah.
“Daft old wanker,” he muttered quietly under his breath and changed the station. Apparently he hadn’t been quiet enough though, as he heard Harry huff a surprised laugh at the profanity.
Leaving Harry to warm up, he went to go get dry pyjamas from the boys room -only finding one pair of massive ones with the initials D.D. On the breast pocket- and make hot chocolate for them, swiftly cleaning the floor and walls in the meantime .
He took the pyjamas and hot chocolate through to Harry and sat on the floor across from him -perhaps the most uncouth thing he’d ever done, even in his own home, since childhood but the situation seemed to call for it- and handing them to him.
Harry accepted the clothes and stood up to go get changed in the bathroom. Although warmed, Harry was still soaked inside out and his baggy shirt clung to him, bones painfully on show. Severus had already suspected as much based on his height and the bits of muscle-less arm he’d seen when Harry’s shirt sleeves were rolled up, but it still set an uncomfortable wave through him to see the small boy's ribs practically poking through his shirt.
I’ll definitely have to get more food, he thought, watching Harry leave. Harry came back into the room a little while later looking much more comfortable in his pyjamas and sitting back down to his hot chocolate, eyeing the biscuits Severus had also procured from the depths of the kitchen cupboard.
“So,” Severus said, watching the boy gingerly sip his hot chocolate, as if he’d never had it before,- maybe he hasn’t, the thought was truly horrifying- “what do you like?”
“Sorry?”
“What do you like to do, for fun and things?” Severus clarified.
“Umm, I like reading, I suppose. My school had a library we could borrow books from and I went there after school sometimes. Although that was mostly to avoid Dudley.”
“Dudley?”
“My cousin.”
Right D.D. He’d forgotten the Dursley’s had a son around Harry’s age.
“Right tubby wanker he is” He continued.
Severus snorted, “you’ll need to watch your language at Hogwarts, Harry. Can't go making me look bad.” He said with a grin. Harry smiled sheepishly and returned to his hot chocolate, this time dipping a hobnob in it, frowning as he saw loose oats drifting on the top afterwards, Severus felt his eyes crinkle in the corners as the small boy tried to get them out, to no avail.
“Hogwarts has a really big library too,” He said, turning his attention back to their conversation, “but I can assure you the books in there are much more interesting.”
“What are they about?” Harry asked.
“All sorts; potions, charms, magical creatures, hexes, curses, muggles, the Wizarding world at large, the ministry, everything really.”
“Woah, cool, I saw you had lots on potions,”
“Yeah, that’s what I teach, potions although I’m also the head of Slytherin.”
“Slytherin?” Harry looked lost again.
“Hogwarts has four houses; Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and slytherin. When you first get there you will be sorted into one based on your core values. Gryffindor values bravery and chivalry. Hufflepuff; hard work, patience, loyalty and kindness. Ravenclaw; intelligence, knowledge and wit. And slytherin; ambition, cunningness, pride and resourcefulness.” He explained.
“You were a slytherin then?” Harry asked.
“Yeah, I was.”
“What- what about my parents?” He asked hesitantly.
“They were both Gryffindors,” he answered blankly as to not let that question cut too deep.
“What do you think I’ll be?” Harry asked.
“I’m afraid only the hat knows that, Harry.”
“Hat?”
“The sorting hat, it’s this talking hat that decides what house you go into by looking inside your head.”
“Woah, that’s so weird,” Harry said.
Severus frowned, “yeah, I suppose it is kind of weird.”
“So you’ve grown up with this your whole life?”
“Yeah,” Severus cleared his throat awkwardly, being In Slytherin, he didn’t discuss his background a lot. Besides, the only real friend he ever had already knew it, “my mum was muggle but my dad was a wizard, I was raised with magic but we lived around muggles.”
“Cool,” Harry said, with a big yawn. Severus noticed that the small boy had slouched back against the couch during the conversation and was now blinking quite slowly.
He looked at the clock, seeing the time was half past nine, “C’mon we should probably get to bed. We’ll need to get up early to go shopping tomorrow.”
Harry must have been shattered because he didn’t ask any questions, just followed Severus upstairs and went straight to his room.
Severus passed Harry’s room and went to the cupboard at the end of the hall and took out a blanket, mid-summer as it was, it could still be rather chilly with the sea breeze. He went back into Harry’s room to give him the blanket but it seemed his slumber waited on no one, already lying on top of the covers, fast asleep, glasses smushed to his face against the pillow.
Smiling softly, he went over and took them off his face, folding them and putting them on the nightstand beside the bed. The small boy stirred slightly as he pulled the duvet over him and set the spare blanket on the other side of the bed.
As he left the room he glanced back before turning the lights off.
Out of all the ways he thought this day might end, tucking Harry Potter into bed certainly wasn’t one of them.
It was just a random Tuesday, and Severus was smiling