Severus stared oddly at the child who he could not understand.
Harry Potter.
The Boy-Who-Lived.
A Hufflepuff.
The child stared back at Severus, his eyes just short of actually meeting Severus’s, and Severus found himself at a loss for words. The boy was unnerving, to be kind.
There was something about a silent child who refused to meet anyone’s eyes that set Severus on edge. The boy had been entirely silent during his first potions class, not even responding when Severus made a jab at his preceding fame.
Though little Susan Bones had glared harshly at Severus for that and promptly stood up and traded Justin Finch-Fletchey seats to sit beside Potter. Severus docked her a point for standing during class and did not have the heart to dock more for her attitude.
It was too familiar, the haughty and stubborn red-headed girl protecting the quiet dark-haired boy from any perceived slights.
“I…” Severus opened his mouth and then closed it. Potter continued staring just at the bridge of Severus’ nose.
“Look at me,” Severus demanded with a slap of his hand on the desk that sat between them.
Potter did not flinch, he hardly reacted at all. Potter merely raised his eyes a quarter of an inch and Severus got the peculiar feeling that Potter was staring at his eyebrows then as their eyes still did not quite meet.
“Go,” Severus commanded abruptly, despite being the one to order Potter to remain after class. The child was unnerving and Severus no longer wished to even have him within his sight.
As he did everything else, Potter stood up silently and left the room.
What on earth was wrong with the child?
Severus kept an eye on Potter for the first month of school. He made it his personal mission to discover what was wrong with the boy, aside from the yellow tie he wore.
The professors all said the same things -
Potter was polite. Potter was silent. Potter did not fool around in classes and he did not seek other children out for fights or friendship. Potter received one letter since arriving and he pocketed it without reading it the morning he received it.
It took an excessive amount of willpower on Severus’ behalf to not steal the letter from the boy that day when he saw it still unopened in Potter’s pocket during his afternoon lesson.
Severus carefully asked Filius about his lessons with Potter and learned that the boy could speak - he cast a verbal lumos in his first lesson - it seemed that he was just the anomaly of a child who preferred not to.
Miss Bones had been the only child to strike up a relationship with Potter. They were seen at each other sides so often that many professors began referring to them as Bones-and-Potter or Potter-and-Bones by the time October arrived.
Severus could hardly continue stalking the boy that - for all intents and purposes - was a model student without seeming vindictive and so he left the mystery that was Potter alone for some time. It still bothered him when the boy responded in class with silent gestures and, when Severus forced him to answer an open ended question, muted whispers, but some children were just oddities.
And Potter was clearly one of them.
Severus patrolled the corridors one night in the middle of October, his mind on his research. There were only a few students out of their rooms late in the night - either the troublesome or troubled.
It was no question which Potter was when Severus found him that night.
Severus nearly walked right past the boy at first. The corridor that held the entrance to the Hufflepuff Common Room was as well lit and warm as the rooms allegedly were. It was just that Potter had a knack for making himself all but invisible.
Potter was curled up beside the barrel that sat to the side of the door. Severus may never have noticed him if Potter did not have a blanket that caught Severus’ eye as the solitary splash of red in the corridor.
Severus paused and looked down, tilting his head curiously at the curled up boy. Potter had wedged himself beside the barrel and had his face hidden between the knees he had drawn up to his chest.
It took a moment to recognize the boy… he had… cut his hair…?
Severus was not even entirely certain that it was Potter when he barked down at him. When Severus saw Potter at dinner, the boy had neatly brushed hair of the same average length that most of the boys had. It looked crudely buzzed then though, as if someone incredibly clumsy had tried to cut it nearly to the scalp in some places and left large patches in other places.
Any belief that Severus had that Potter was asleep was put to rest as soon as Severus said his name. Potter looked up immediately and Severus inspected his face warily.
Potter still evaded direct eye contact, but Severus could see proof of troubles in the puffiness around his eyes, the tear tracks that were dried on his cheeks, and the quivering lower lip that the boy tried in vain to control.
None of which was as startling as the butchered hack job someone did to his black hair.
“Who cut your hair?” Severus asked. Severus would wager it to have been a bully of some sort, as Potter was sitting outside of his common room crying to himself well past midnight. Severus merely could not imagine any child within the castle with the bravery to invoke the wrath of Susan Bones.
One of Severus’ students had allegedly called Potter a ‘mute freak’ in passing, not even within earshot of Bones, in the second week of term and the next day they were in the Hospital Wing with eardrums punctured with what Severus suspected was a muggle letter-opener. Severus had done his minimum duty as a professor and investigated enough to discover that Belby had insulted Potter and was quickly taught to never do so again by Bones. Severus rather liked the clever girl’s method, it was certainly fitting even if Poppy healed Belby easily.
Potter whispered a verbal answer then and Severus was forced to read his lips as his voice was lost in the air between them.
‘I did’, Severus was certain Potter said.
“Why?” Severus asked, mystified. Truthfully, it was a horrific sight and Severus would be neglectful to allow Potter to attend class the next day as he was. Even Bones would be unable to protect him from the mockery he would face, though Severus was certain she would try.
“I didn’t like it, sir,” Potter said softly, dropping his eyes to Severus’ knees that were on his level from where he sat on the ground.
Severus was uncertain what the protocol was in a situation such as that. Did Severus send him to Pomona, who would find a delicate way to navigate the boy’s feelings to fix the haircut? Did Severus dock points for being out of bed and send Potter to his dorm and allow his classmates to inform him of the horrible job he did with his hair?
“Stand up, Potter,” Severus sighed. There were many that would be surprised that Severus had a heart, but he did have one and it would not allow him to expose the boy to ridicule for a… incredibly stupid decision.
Potter, who had been nothing but respectful and obedient as long as he had been within the castle, suddenly decided to become obstinate at the same time that Severus was attempting to be kind.
“Potter.” Severus snapped his fingers at the child that seemed to be ignoring him. “Stand.”
Potter shook his head and Severus was both alarmed and irritated to see his eyes well up with fresh tears.
Severus despised disobedient children nearly as much as he did emotional ones.
“Get up,” Severus ordered harshly. “Now.”
The tears in Potter’s eyes slid free when the boy clenched his jaw and slowly stood up. Potter worked hard to maintain his position within the blanket he was wrapped in and there was something peculiar about the way Potter stood once he was on his feet.
Could the child not be normal for any length of time?
“Follow me,” Severus said. He watched from the corner of his eyes as Potter walked with an awkward gait beside him. They turned deeper in the corridor when Severus could keep his questions to himself no longer.
“Are you injured?” Severus asked.
Potter shook his head.
Severus put his index finger to his lips thoughtfully while the silently crying boy shuffled along beside him. Potter had no limp, he was not wrapped up too tightly in the unfamiliar red throw blanket, he was just…
Odd.
Potter was the oddest damn child in the castle and it was driving Severus mad.
“Why were you outside of your dorm?” Severus asked instead.
“I’m sorry, sir,” Potter said with a nearly indiscernible sniffle to accompany his quivering lip. It was pathetic, but not an answer.
Severus sighed and stopped just outside of his original destination, the one that he had planned to disclose to Potter. The kitchens were not a secret, necessarily, but Severus had never felt driven to reveal their location to a student before. Severus had originally though to get himself a hot toddy from the house-elves but was acceptable to swapping it for a more appropriate hot chocolate if Potter wanted one.
Severus instead decided to blackmail the boy to get at least one direct answer from him. If Potter was walking around injured and Severus did nothing to resolve it, it would be Severus’ job.
“Either tell me why you are walking oddly or I will take you to the hospital wing and assign detention instead of sharing a secret with you.”
That caught Potter’s attention immediately. He blinked at Severus’ chin while the boy actually seemed to need time to decide. It was not posed as a question as the choice was quite clear.
“Detention, please, sir,” Potter eventually said.
“Potter, for the love of God! I am attempting to be kind to you!” Severus snapped. It was difficult to not be frustrated by the child. Who decided they would prefer a detention over a get out of trouble pass?
Potter said nothing else and so Severus led him right back to the Hufflepuff common room entrance with a detention for the next evening.
Severus should have taken him to the hospital wing, but at the rate that Potter was going, Severus was not confident that Poppy would not ship the boy to St Mungo’s for mental impairment.
Potter arrived at breakfast the next morning with a yellow beanie covering his head and Susan Bones attached to him at the hip.
“Do you think Harry looks ill?” Pomona fretted quietly to Minerva. “He’s acting peckish.”
“Mm… maybe he’s coming down with a cold?” Minerva suggested. “If he’s sick I’m sure that Susan will have him in Poppy’s office by dinner.”
Severus could have told his colleagues that Potter was likely hiding his hair, but he held his tongue and waited to see what Potter revealed in due time.
As Severus approached his classroom that evening for his OWL students, he was surprised to find Susan Bones standing amongst them with her chin held high. When Severus tilted his head curiously at the girl, she turned to Percy Weasley with her wand aimed at his chest.
“Petrificus Totalus,” she said, instantly locking the Weasley boy in a full-body bind and knocking him to the floor. The other students took a step away from the tiny child and she pocketed her wand primly and turned to look at Severus with a challenge in her eyes.
Severus wondered if Potter’s madness was contagious.
“What on earth were you hoping to achieve here?” Severus demanded harshly, glaring down at the insolent girl.
“Nothing, sir,” Bones said. She flicked her hair over her shoulder and raised her chin stubbornly. “I just felt like doing that.”
As often as Severus wished to petrify every Weasley within the castle, he was certain that was not Bones’ goal. Though damn if Severus could understand what she had hoped to achieve.
“Detention tonight and five points from Hufflepuff,” Severus said.
There was a sudden light in Bones eyes and Severus narrowed his own when he gained an inkling of what the girl hoped to gain.
“Detention with Filch,” he clarified. “Go, before I make it a month of them.”
Bones scowled darkly at Severus and stormed away, leaving him free to enter his classroom with a thoughtful expression.
Had Bones purposefully provoked Severus to gain herself a place in detention alongside Potter? As ridiculous as the thought was, Severus was quite confident that had been her goal.
“Um, sir?” Marissa Leone stopped Severus when he went to wave his wand and close the classroom door.
“Yes?” Severus said, already tapped of his patience for the day.
“Sir… Percy is still in the hallway?”
Severus sighed.
“So he is.”
Severus waited for Potter that evening with a blank parchment and quill on the desk in front of his. Severus could not in good conscience assign the boy some grueling task when the detention was essentially assigned as a threat Severus did not expect to have to follow through with.
Potter arrived punctually and he stopped just in the classroom doorway.
“Your detention will not be served in the corridor,” Severus informed him drily when Potter seemed disinclined to enter.
Potter had his hands laced behind his back and he looked above Severus’ head when he replied.
“May I please serve my detention with Professor McGonagall, sir?” Potter asked.
It was on the tip of Severus’ tongue to say no. Students were unable to request who they served detention with since before Severus was a student. It was not a rule, more of an unspoken agreement amongst the staff. It prevented students from evading the more grueling tasks that Severus and Argus tended to assign in favor of the easier ones from Pomona or Filius.
Potter was not requesting his notoriously kind and relaxed head of house though, he was requesting Minerva, who was known to be as stern as Severus was. Severus would have wondered if Potter was holding a grudge for the detention itself until he recalled Bones stunt from earlier in the day.
“Potter…” Severus felt absurd for even asking, but it needed to be asked, if only for his own peace of mind. “Are you afraid of me?”
It was one thing to be respected as a professor and Severus never minded students fearing that acting foolish in his class would bring down his swift rebuke and discipline to ensure no further foolishness happened. It was an entirely different thing to have an eleven year old boy who still wore a woolen yellow beanie on his head trembling in the doorway of Severus’ classroom.
When Potter bit his lower lip and slowly nodded his head once, Severus felt as if he had failed in his profession in some fundamental way.
Had someone told the boy of Severus’ past? Did he believe that Severus was a danger to him? It would behoove neither of them for the next seven years if Potter feared that Severus wanted him dead.
“Go to Professor McGonagall,” Severus told him flatly, defeat coursing through him. “She will handle your detention.”
Potter nodded again and then scampered away so quickly that Severus wondered if Albus would be asking for his resignation shortly. There was no school of magic in the world that would prefer to have an ex-death eater as a professor instead of having the Boy-Who-Lived as a pupil.
Severus sent Minerva a note through the floo, informing her of Potter’s imminent arrival. And then, to beat Albus to the punch, Severus took himself up to the Headmaster’s office.
It heartened Severus to see that Albus looked troubled by Severus’ admission to him. Severus spared no details as he told Albus why he had assigned the detention and even the exact way he had tried to bribe and blackmail the boy to open up with him.
“Harry is an odd child… is he not?” Albus mused, stroking his beard and staring off in the distance. “Why…?” Albus trailed off and Severus swallowed before handing him the reasoning that the old man was too kind to immediately consider.
“Potter and Bones are inseparable,” Severus said, his eyes on his steepled fingers on Albus’ desk. “Amelia was a Hit Wizard the year I was on trial.”
Amelia may have warned her niece about Severus’ past and Bones may have felt it was her duty to inform Potter. Severus had worked with Amelia a few times in his career, but it was folly to believe their professional relationship was anything but that.
Albus looked even more troubled by that idea and it was only Albus who would not have drawn the obvious conclusion from the start.
“I will speak with Amelia before Monday,” Albus said decisively. “If that is the cause of Harry’s fears, I will personally speak with him and find a solution, Severus.”
Severus inclined his head gratefully even if he knew in his heart that it was likely his days at Hogwarts were numbered. It was a surprise that it had taken that long to happen, certainly Potter wouldn’t have been the first student to fear the professor with the dark mark on his arm.
Severus spent the weekend in his rooms, soaking in what he was certain would be his last few nights within them. Albus would be too polite to evict Severus immediately, but Severus would not stay in the castle while he knew that his very presence caused fear in at least one student.
There would be more when word spread.
Severus was carefully penning out the lesson plans for his NEWT students on Sunday afternoon. There were two promising brewers in that class that made Severus appreciate his role in their education. Maxwell would be going straight to St Mungo’s upon graduation, as he was already admitted early as an apprentice in their research department. Copeland had a free ride with the same Mastery program in Israel that Severus himself had attended.
They would both be stars in the world of potions and Severus could not leave unless he knew their education would not suffer.
Pomona was the one to interrupt Severus with a light knock on his office door.
“Hello, dear,” she said with a pleasant smile. Pomona opened the door wider and revealed a sullen Bones at her side. “I’ve spoke with Albus and my two little puffs. Susan told me about provoking you last week and she wanted to apologize personally.”
Severus lifted a brow. Bones certainly did not look as if she wanted to apologize to Severus any more than she looked as if she wanted to be poisoned. When Pomona left the girl there with a firm but kind rebuke to ‘be respectful’, Bones marched directly to Severus’ desk.
“I don’t think you’re a death eater anymore, sir,” Bones said.
An excellent apology, truly.
“And I’m willing to forgive you if you’ll give me a potion I need,” she said.
Severus was not a man who was frequently amused, but Bones amused him immensely in that moment. A Hufflepuff playing a Slytherin game, interesting.
“Do tell what I have done that requires me to earn your forgiveness,” Severus drawled.
“You made my aunt think that I’m spreading cruel stories about you,” Bones sniffed. “You made a bad assumption, I got grounded, and now you owe me a potion.”
There was no chance that Bones feared Severus as she brazenly pinned her childhood woes on him.
That was almost enough to have Severus handing over any reasonable potion she required.
“What potion do you believe would earn your incredibly important forgiveness?” Severus asked.
“A hair-raising potion.”
Ah. So it was not Bones who required a potion, but Potter.
Severus waved his wand and silently summoned the red potion for her. Before he allowed her to take it from his grasp, he held it fast for a moment.
“Why did Potter cut his hair?” Severus asked.
“No idea.” Bones snatched the vial from Severus and smiled sweetly. “But it’s ghastly and someone has to fix it.”
Severus inclined his head and waited until Bones skipped out of his office to release an unprofessional snort.
The girl was a monster.
Severus was welcomed at the staff table again for breakfast on Monday morning with no cries of outrage from the students or icy demeanors from his colleagues. Albus had saved Severus a seat to his left and Severus was grateful to accept it.
“Harry seems better this morning,” Albus murmured.
Severus looked toward the table of yellow-clad students and saw that Potter had lost the yellow hat. Bones was a better hairdresser than she was Slytherin, the boy’s hair was cropped short and evenly around his head, leaving him with perhaps an inch of black hair.
“He does,” Severus agreed. At a minimum, the child was no longer hiding a hack job beneath a hat.
“It’s likely a difficult month for him,” Albus said sympathetically. “I’m certain the two of you will be as close as family by the of the year!”
Severus scoffed and checked that Albus was not having sherry for breakfast.
Though, his idea that it was a difficult time for Potter perhaps had some merit.
Severus spent the next week as usual, if a touch less acerbic than was typical. It was difficult to find his usual ire for the magical youth when Severus had spent nearly three days certain that he would no longer be a part of shaping their minds.
Severus even ceased calling on Potter and forcing him to speak in his class. It was possible that Severus frequented the corridor on the first floor that held the Hufflepuff common room more often on his patrols, but the mystery of Potter had a powerful draw.
On the night before Halloween, Severus once again found Potter in the corridor outside his common room.
Potter had the same red blanket wrapped around himself as he sat with his back to the wall and a thumb clenched hard between his teeth.
“Potter?” Severus stopped in front of the boy and wondered what thoughts he struggled with that kept him awake so late in the night. It bothered Severus on a fundamental level of basic human decency to see a child look so lost in some nightmare that followed him even when he was awake.
Potter blinked and focused on Severus, possibly his ear that time, and slowly released his thumb from his teeth. Severus was mildly alarmed to see that Potter had bitten himself hard enough to break his skin.
“Potter, you’re bleeding,” Severus said. When Potter’s only response was to hide his hand beneath his blanket, Severus sighed.
“Hospital Wing,” Severus decided. He had let it slide when he found Potter before even when he suspected a hidden injury, Severus could not ignore proof that the boy was biting himself until he bled.
Potter shook his head, once again finding some defiance in the midnight hours.
“Now,” Severus snapped, leaving no room for argument against him.
Following the same routine as last time, Potter rose to his feet and kept himself hidden beneath the blanket as he shuffled awkwardly beside Severus. Severus tried to choose his words with care in an attempt to find some common ground with the boy to crack his demeanor.
“I went to school with your parents,” Severus said. Potter said nothing, but his eyes snapped over to meet Severus’ for the first time in his two months as a student. It only lasted for a fraction of a second, but Severus counted it as a win.
And then Severus said nothing. He went as mute as the boy and mentally counted.
Potter lasted much longer than Severus expected - nearly ninety seconds - before clearing his throat.
“Were they nice?” Potter asked quietly.
Severus nodded, “Exceedingly so.”
Lily had been a kind soul, James less so for many years. The brief apology and truce that James called the first day of their seventh year had been an act of kindness though, one that Severus had not forgotten.
“Oh.”
Potter said nothing else while they slowly made their way to the Hospital Wing. It was not until they were within sight of the bronze doors that Severus spoke up again.
Severus slowed and kept his eyes forward to keep his expression as calm as his voice was.
“I am uncertain what you know of their days as students, but if you were to seek out Professors McGonagall and Flitwick tomorrow before the feast, I believe they would be happy to tell you about them. Your mother was a charms prodigy while your father was likely Professor McGonagall’s favorite student to date.”
Potter nodded and shuffled inside the Hospital Wing when Severus opened the door and triggered the alarm for Poppy.
Severus pointed to a bed and watched Potter stand beside the bed, looking rather small wrapped up in the red blanket he favored.
“You will be staying overnight,” Severus informed him.
Potter nodded and made no move to climb in the bed.
Severus crossed his arms and only had to wait a few seconds longer before Poppy came through her office, pulling on her white robes over the blue pajamas she wore.
“Mister Potter.” Poppy peered at Potter for a moment before looking at Severus. “What’s happened?”
“Potter requires a bandage for his hand and…” Severus studied the silent boy and made an executive decision based on the bags beneath his eyes and the tears he had been shedding when Severus found him. “And a dose of Dreamless Sleep,” Severus decided on a whim.
“I believe he also injured his leg,” he added, thinking of the way Potter walked and the many injuries he could be hiding beneath his blanket.
Potter actually blushed a dark shade of pink and shook his head when Poppy turned to him and ordered him in the bed.
“I can’t, ma’am,” he whispered with perfect politeness while he looked down at his socked feet.
“And why not?” Poppy asked in a no-nonsense tone.
“I… I…” Potter mumbled something entirely indecipherable with his face turned downward and his shoulders curled up.
Poppy looked to Severus to see if he understood Potter’s mumble and Severus shook his head no.
“Potter, why can you not get in the bed?” Severus asked again with a bite to his tone.
“Because- because I woke up and my bed was wet, okay?!” Potter practically yelled.
It was the most noise the boy had ever made and Poppy made a sound of understanding while Severus was still puzzling over a deep sob that had Potter’s shoulders shaking.
Did a student dump water in his—
Oh.
It was always Severus’ first thought to think that Potter was being harassed by his classmates. There was just something pitiful enough about the boy that Severus was certain he would be a prime target for bullies if he were not revered as a savior.
Severus stayed quiet while Poppy cast the necessary spells to clean Potter so he could get in the bed. Once he was clean, he had no more complaints and he climbed in the bed and pulled his blanket tightly around himself. Severus was uncomfortable to realize that Potter’s gait on the two nights that Severus found him was a side-effect of a childish problem that had reduced Potter to embarrassed cries.
Poppy gave Severus a severe look when she inspected Potter’s limp hand. It was a clear look, one that ordered Severus to assist with the humiliated child or suffer the consequences.
“When you speak with Professor McGonagall tomorrow, you should ask her about mandrake leaves,” Severus told Potter, grasping the first subject he could think of.
“Why?” Poppy asked for Potter as she dabbed Potter’s thumb with an ointment.
“In my fourth year, every Slytherin and Gryffindor in my year was given a week of detention,” Severus said, looking at Potter who clearly was trying to calm himself so he could listen to Severus’ entirely true tale.
“Every mandrake leaf in the prior potion professor’s storeroom disappeared during our class,” Severus went on. “When nobody confessed, we were all punished.”
And the next fall, Severus heard rumors that James and his friends had mastered the animagus transformation.
“That’s not fair,” Potter sniffled. He wiped his nose on his blanket and Poppy cleaned it away before Severus could.
“Spoken as a true Hufflepuff,” Severus said. He watched closely when Poppy summoned a vial of Dreamless Sleep and she poured out an appropriate measure for Potter.
Severus waited until Potter took the potion and immediately dropped to sleep to leave the room. It was a small conversation, but one that Severus hoped removed any of the prior fear that Potter admitted to harboring toward Severus.
As a small act of kindness, Severus instructed Poppy to keep the boy from classes the next day. It would hurt no one for Potter to spend his day being fussed over by Poppy before he undoubtedly went digging for stories about his parents.
Severus forgot about two important things though as he felt satisfied by his own actions that night:
1. Potter was a constant anomaly.
2. Susan Bones.
Severus was accosted the moment he arrived for breakfast on Halloween morning by a furious red-headed girl.
Susan Bones bodily blocked Severus from entering the Great Hall that morning with her wand in her hand and a frantic look on her face. Severus interpreted it easily and walked around her before she could ask the question.
“Hospital Wing,” Severus said as he strode in the hall. “He is uninjured and likely sound asleep.”
Bones ran away at once and Severus was smirking to himself when he joined Minerva at the staff table.
“Did Susan Bones just pull a wand on you?” Minerva asked, shocked and appalled.
“She did,” Severus said evenly.
“And you…?”
“Told her where Potter is,” Severus said simply. “He should be seeking you out this evening about his father.”
It was an easy subject change so that Severus did not need to explain why he chose to not punish Bones.
His reasoning was simple: Bones was Severus’ favorite student. Thus, Severus afforded her liberties that other students would never get away with.
Severus had no intentions of attending the feast that evening. Instead, he settled in his quarters with a book and a glass of wine. Severus expected to be afforded at least one night of peace, as Quirinius and Astoria always volunteered to take the Halloween patrols.
What Severus did not expect was for a student to trigger the alarm on his classroom during a time when they should be at dinner. And that was because Severus had forgotten that Potter was an anomaly that was impossible to understand.
Potter was the intruder in Severus’ classroom and he sat at the desk closest to the classroom door that he left open. Potter had his hands folded politely on the desk and Severus was surprised to see the boy smiled very faintly at him.
“Did my dad steal those leaves?” Potter asked in what was nearly a normal tone. It was still quiet and soft, unsure and childish, but louder than a whisper.
Likely because Potter had ensured there would be as much distance between himself and Severus as was possible within the classroom.
“It was never proven.” Severus leaned against his desk and studied the anomaly with green eyes curiously. “Did Professor McGonagall not tell you this?”
Potter shook his head while his eyes were expectant.
“Potter, did you go speak with Professor McGonagall?” Severus asked.
Potter shook his head again.
“Professor Flitwick?”
No.
“For the love of…” Severus swore very quietly under his breath and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Potter, did you eat dinner?”
Potter blinked at him.
And that was how Severus found himself having weekly dinners with Potter.
Potter always left the classroom door wide open, but just before Christmas break he had moved to the desk in the middle of the classroom. Severus spent most of the hour Potter spent in his classroom talking, occasionally about Potter’s parents, occasionally about potions. Potter contributed little to the conversation, but he seemed content to listen all the same.
Severus only found Potter in the corridor once more before the winter break. It was the night before the students were meant to leave for the holiday and Severus paused when he once again found Potter on the floor. Potter was not biting himself or sporting a new hairstyle, he was only staring blankly at the stone wall across from where he was curled in against himself.
It was difficult to not grow fond of Potter, he was the least irritating child within the castle. Unnerving and odd, but quiet children were much preferable to neurotypical ones. Severus only found himself at a momentary loss as he decided how to handle the situation he once again stumbled upon (actively sought out).
Severus sat down slowly against the wall opposite of Potter and bent his legs upward until he sat in a similar position as Potter.
“Do you require any spells?” Severus asked without judgement. When Potter nodded, Severus made an obvious show of slowly brandishing his wand and making exaggerated movements while he pronounced the cleansing spells, hoping that Potter would pick up on them for himself.
Then Severus gifted Potter with the same silence that Potter gave to everyone.
If the boy wanted to spend the night in the corridor, it was only himself that it hurt. Potter was not creating mischief or rendezvousing with a partner. Potter was not fighting a fellow student or stealing books from the library. He was only sitting, staring, thinking.
“I’m allergic to latex.”
Severus’ head had been lolling backward when it seemed as if Potter did plan to spend the night in the corridor. Severus looked at Potter then though and was caught between bemusement and exhaustion at the unprompted confession.
“Many people are,” Severus said. He attempted to decipher the cause for the admission - a sure route to madness as nothing Potter did ever made sense - and had only a guess to work with.
“Do you require the Hospital Wing?” Severus checked. Possibly Potter was injured and needed Severus to know his allergies before seeking treatment. “Madam Pomfrey does not use latex materials.”
Potter shook his head and then lapsed back to silence.
They sat in the corridor together until the sun rose and Potter went to fetch his belongings for the holiday he would apparently be spending with his family.
*****
The child that returned with the new year was not the same one that left.
It was still Potter, Potter who clung to Bones, Potter who then began to spend four nights a week in a corridor, Potter who picked at his meals and pocketed a new letter he received without opening.
But Potter was different. Quieter, somehow. He was hardly noticeable amongst his peers. Pomona mentioned a concern that Potter looked withdrawn and ill, Severus was inclined to agree. Potter no longer went to Severus’ classroom on Friday evenings and Potter retreated silently to his common room every time Severus caught him out of it at night.
It was maddening.
Severus had never worked so damned hard to make a single child respond to him before. Severus was trying to be kind, and failure was not an option.
It was March by the time Severus finally got a response from Potter.
Technically, Severus got a response from Bones, but it was the same difference.
Severus walked through the corridors late at night. He was not on patrol, it was insomnia that kept him awake and house-elves were usually quite accommodating to company at any hour of the night. It was intentional when Severus walked past the Hufflepuff Common Room - it was not intentional to walk up on a full-blown muggle fight between two of the students.
“Cease this at once!” Severus yelled. He grabbed for the red-head that was throwing punches at another form and wrenched her backward. Bones struggled against Severus’ grasp in an attempt to continue her attack against Anthony Goldstein.
Potter was, as Severus should have expected, curled in a ball beneath a red blanket to the side of the entrance.
“I WILL KILL YOU!” Bones screamed at Goldstein. “YOU’RE A DISGRACE TO THE GOOD NAME OF PUFFS!”
“You’re crazy!” Goldstein wailed, his voice muffled as he clutched his bloodied nose.
“AND YOU ARE A STUPID LITTLE BUTT-FACED BRAT WITH A BIG MOUTH! AND YOU ARE UGLY!”
For the love of…
Severus sent Goldstein to the Hospital Wing after assigning a detention with Pomona for the next day. Bones hissed and lunged at him when he passed, causing the boy to shriek and flat out sprint away. As soon as he was gone, Severus released Bones and stared between her and Potter while he tried to ascertain what on earth was wrong with them.
“I give up,” Severus said simply. “I have no idea what is wrong with the two of you.”
Bones put her hand on Potter’s head and glared at Severus while Potter blinked at Severus’ elbow.
“Harry accidentally got water on Anthony,” Bones sneered the name in the most amusing way for a child with gapped teeth and two red braids, “and Anthony shoved him and called him a rude name.”
“In the boy’s dorm?” Severus asked, still not seeing how that led to a brawl in the corridor.
“Yes.”
“Did Potter wake you after Goldstein shoved him?” Severus asked Bones. It would be folly to the point of idiocy to expect Potter to answer any questions.
“Well yeah,” Bones said with a hasty ‘sir’ tacked on. “He tripped over me.”
The picture was becoming clear and Severus closed his eyes for a moment, missing the days before the two Hufflepuff’s arrived within Hogwarts.
“Miss Bones… were you sleeping in the boy’s dorm?” Severus asked, already quite certain of the answer.
Bones raised her chin and - standing in the middle of the corridor with her hair in braided pigtails, pink pajamas on her body, in the most shameless way possible - she said:
“I currently identify as male, sir. And you can’t really prove I don’t.”
Severus used the same ironclad willpower he once used to play spy in a war to keep from laughing outright at Bones. Half the time, Severus thought that he only tried to be kind to Potter because Bones was Severus’ favorite child within the castle.
“Touché,” Severus said. He looked at Potter and raised a brow. “Why did you get water on your dormmate?”
Potter had a detached look on his face. The child was there, but his thoughts were far away. Potter did not even blink at Severus’ question before he answered in an airy and soft tone.
“I dunno.”
Severus looked from Potter’s face to Bones for a more reasonable explanation that would allow him to leave the duo unpunished.
“Harry tried to use a cleaning spell and I think it just went wrong, sir,” Bones said with the return of her usual politeness.
Severus clocked the red blanket around Potter and furrowed his brows. Did Potter have a bladder issue? Possibly an infection or mass that impeded his ability to sleep without accidents?
“Hospital Wing,” Severus decided slowly. It would hurt no one for Poppy to check that the boy had no deficiencies with his organs. When Bones straightened her spine, Severus gifted her with a rare smile. “Yes, Bones, you as well.”
Bones seemed pleased to skip alongside Severus, holding hands with Potter who Severus merely cast a few charms on to keep him from shuffling in discomfort. Bones paid no matter to the late hour and just chattered at Potter.
“And Auntie says we can walk to the bookstore in town if we’re careful because we’ll be practically teenagers,” Bones gushed happily. “There’s an ice cream place across from the bookstore and guess what? Harry, guess what? You’re not guessing. It has blue icees.”
Severus knew his nostrils flared with his desire to laugh at Bones while she discussed summer plans she apparently built with Potter. It seemed that they hinged on Potter’s relatives giving him permission to visit, but Bones told him that ‘Auntie’ was ‘super duper sure’ that she would get their permission.
Potter said nothing, but Severus saw the very light skip in his step as he walked with Bones.
Upon arrival to the Hospital Wing, Poppy was already awake and closed the curtains around Goldstein’s bed after they entered.
“You are a very rude little girl,” Poppy scolded Bones immediately. “You hurt your classmate badly, I will be informing Professor Sprout about this.”
Bones nodded and made the most tragic puppy eyes up at the matron.
“I know,” she sniffled. “I feel really awful. I was just so mad that Anthony pushed Harry that I lost my temper… is he awake? I’d like to apologize.”
“Another time.” Severus put a hand on Bones’ shoulder and shoved her toward the open bed that Potter would go in. Bones’ apologies tended to never be quite what they seemed and Severus had more important matters to deal with.
“Potter has wet the bed at least five times this year, by my count,” Severus murmured to Poppy after pointing for the two children to climb in the bed. Severus watched as Bones curled up with her head on Potter’s lap and began chattering again while he informed Poppy of his concern. “I understand he is young, but…”
“But a quick check to make sure he’s in tip top health wouldn’t hurt either?” Poppy said, already nodding. “Right you are, Severus. And Miss Bones?”
“Prefers to currently be referred to as Mister,” Severus said loudly, mocking the girl just a touch. Bones grinned unrepentantly at Severus and he shook his head at Poppy. “Bones is uninjured. She is merely the Potter-whisperer.”
Poppy made a sound of amusement and then strode over to the bed the two Hufflepuff’s shared. Severus leaned against the wall and watched casually as Poppy explained that she was going to run a few tests on Potter. When Potter tensed, Bones proved her worth once again.
“What if I went first?” Bones said with a gap-toothed smile at Potter. “Then it won’t be so scary and if I die then you know you gotta run.”
Severus curled his lips up at the side when that morbid comment from the most feral Hufflepuff gained a soft and breathy giggle from the most quiet Hufflepuff. Severus had never heard Potter laugh before, he wondered how often Bones heard it.
Bones talked about snow angels she and Potter should make next winter while she spread out on the bed and allowed Poppy to wave her wand over her abdominal area. When she finished, a parchment appeared and Poppy smiled at Bones with approval.
“You’re in perfect health, dear,” she said, a warm contrast to the irritation she had shown Bones only minutes ago. “Harry’s turn.”
Potter obediently slid down as Bones had and listened while Bones began chattering about an entirely new topic.
Perhaps that was why they were drawn to each other; Potter disliked talking and Bones disliked being quiet. Potter was the perfect audience to vent to, as Severus knew, because he mostly preferred to communicate in nods and shakes of his head.
Poppy read the parchment that appeared after diagnosing Potter and she frowned. Severus slid closer to her as she cast the spell again. Potter inched back up to the headboard of the bed and drew his legs against his chest when Poppy frowned at the second parchment.
“I will… return,” Poppy said absently. She waved her wand and Severus wondered if Potter was dying as she summoned a tray of sweets for the children.
Severus followed Poppy to her office and she spun around and thrust the parchment at Severus’ chest immediately.
“Tell me how an eleven year old gets syphilis?” Poppy snarled with the fires of hell burning in her eyes.
Severus’ stomach twisted and his heart sank.
“Through copious use of dirty toilet seats, I pray,” he murmured. Severus’ hands shook as the parchment Poppy gave him confirmed the diagnosis.
Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived, the quiet Hufflepuff boy, had an STD.
“It is time to wake Pomona and Albus,” Severus said, feeling ill.
Severus thought the boy had a bladder or kidney problem, not- not… not an infection that put a dark light on all the oddities that were Potter.
Severus sat in Albus’ office until Pomona and Poppy returned from speaking with Potter. Both witches looked troubled and Poppy sank in the chair beside Severus immediately.
“Harry says he has a girlfriend,” Poppy said, her tone expressing her belief of the situation. “According to him, they’re sexually active.”
Severus rolled his eyes to the ceiling and studied it with his index finger tapping his lips. Potter lied, obviously. He must be protecting someone… an adult, undoubtedly… likely a man…
“For the love…” Severus inhaled sharply and had to close his eyes to confess to the odd comment Potter made before the holiday break. “The boy is allergic to latex.”
The room was heavy with its silence for a moment, all the professors merely considered the wrongness of the entire situation.
“Albus,” Pomona looked pleadingly at Albus, “he’s a baby.”
“I know.” Albus was as grave as he had ever been and Severus did not envy the bit of vermin that the cold magic radiating off Albus would be aimed toward. “Poppy, is the disease treatable?”
“Already done,” Poppy said. “It’s a simple enough potion and I’ve given him something to sleep.”
“Pomona, you’ll be there when he wakes up?” Albus asked. When Pomona immediately agreed, Albus looked to Severus. “Severus, I would appreciate you accompanying me.”
Severus knew where Albus would be going and there was no where he would rather go.
It had been years since Severus saw Petunia, clearly they were overdue for a chat.
Albus had stopped Severus from transfiguring his robes before they apparated away from Hogsmeade together and it was then that Severus knew he would be getting quite the show from Albus. Severus had seen Albus out of control with rage three times in his life-
When Sirius Black attempted to feed Severus to a werewolf.
When Severus had offered his allegiance to Albus in exchange for the safety of the Potter family.
And when one of Severus’ students - a brilliant young witch that Severus had pegged as Head Girl material from her first year - returned for her fourth year pregnant. It had taken a simple spell to determine paternity and Severus had been the one to prevent Albus from murdering the girl’s father.
Albus looked perfectly calm as they walked down the dark streets in Potter’s hometown together. It was the absence of a twinkle in his eyes and the cold wind that was magically fueled that gave away Albus’ fury.
“You do recall the trial you once sat through?” Albus murmured as they approached what must have been Potter’s home.
“Vividly.”
“I hate to do this to you, Severus, but I would like to request that you repay my lies in the courtroom with lies of your own if needed.”
That sounded fair to Severus.
Albus cast a silent spell to ensure that the other child who resided there was gone before he blasted the door off the hinges and entered the house with all the subtlety of a nuclear bomb.
If Severus was not just as furious as Albus, it would be more entertaining to see the old man who enjoyed colorful robes, knock knock jokes, and fruit flavored sweets to remind Severus why Voldemort once feared him above all others.
Albus summoned Petunia and her husband from their beds- directly through the ceiling of the sitting room. The instant Severus saw the man, he cast a more in depth diagnostic charm.
Severus scanned the list carefully and saw that while the man had many health issues, he had never been diagnosed with any STD. Severus shook his head at Albus negatively; the man did not hurt Potter.
Though, that apparently was not technically true as Albus viciously ripped through their minds and discovered that Petunia and her husband had treated Potter like rubbish for years.
Severus waited for Albus to finish his in-depth interrogation before he took a turn in Petunia’s mind. Albus was a genius and a powerful wizard, but Severus knew a touch more about what to look for in the situation they were in.
Not confirmation, but apathetic denial.
Severus dug through Petunia’s mind, looking for hints of… anything. Anything at all that would leave a whisper of where they should look next…
Petunia opening a cupboard door, looking down at a pathetic mattress on the floor and seeing bloodstains… Petunia closing the door.
Petunia walking her son home from a playground, spotting Potter going in the opposite direction from across the street… Petunia narrowed her eyes and then smiled down at her son.
“Boy!”
Potter jumped at the call and the water he had been scrubbing his hands under splashed on him. Potter blinked and Petunia curled her nose at him.
“Where have you been going after school?” Petunia sneered, looking down at the raw red color of Potter’s young hands.
“I…” Potter shook his head and swallowed hard.
“Is it Weatherman’s home?” Petunia asked sharply, watching as Potter’s face flushed. Potter shook his head again, an obvious lie, and Petunia sniffed.
“Either stop going or do your own laundry. It’s disgusting.”
When Severus and Albus left the Dursley home, they left Petunia and Vernon in significant and long-lasting pain and with the few meager belongings of Potter’s.
“Well, Severus…” Albus smiled at Severus as if he had not just cursed a woman with something so twisted that Severus himself could not have imagined it. “I suppose one of us should go find Gary Weatherman and one of us should go to Amelia Bones. What’s the game the first years play? Rock, paper, scythe?”
“Scissors, Albus,” Severus said, too mentally weary to banter with the old man. “You will ensure he regrets being born?”
“I will,” Albus said solemnly.
Severus nodded and knew that it would be himself in prison if he went to find the man named in Petunia’s memories. Albus being arrested would be preferable, there was no first strike on his record.
“Then I shall go to Amelia,” Severus decided. “Any preferences?” he asked. Severus doubted that Albus would allow the most beloved and revered child in the United Kingdom to be arbitrarily placed with a family.
And clearly Petunia and her husband were no option for the boy.
“Hm…” Albus paused and stroked his beard for a moment. He stared off in the distance while he considered it. “Harry is a quiet child, isn’t he? I think that it would be best if Amelia could find a household with no other children… ensure that Harry gets the individual attention he will need.”
Severus inclined his head in agreement.
“It cannot be someone infatuated with Harry’s fame or someone who might take him in because of the fortune he holds.”
Severus agreed once more, they did not need the boy to be treated like glass or used for financial benefit.
“And someone with knowledge of trauma,” Albus finished decisively. “Other than that, it’s entirely up to Amelia! Why don’t you check on young Harry when you get back to the castle? I imagine you’ll beat me there, my boy.”
Severus agreed before finding a hidden alleyway to apparate back to Hogsmeade. It would do no good to arrive in Amelia’s office in the middle of the night, he could write to her while checking on Potter.
The image of Bones and Potter curled around each other as if two young pups was a sweet one.
… if Severus were a man who found the oddities of first year Hufflepuffs ‘sweet’.
Severus conjured himself a chair and a small writing desk before putting quill to parchment and beginning a letter to Amelia. Severus kept it sparse on information that could absolutely identify Potter, only referring to the boy as ‘Miss Bones’ good friend’.
Amelia was an intelligent witch, she would read between the lines.
Potter stirred before Bones, he kicked out and his face twisted harshly. Severus quickly cast a light charm on Bones to ensure her sleep was not interrupted and then spoke quietly to Potter.
“You are in the Hospital Wing with Susan,” Severus said, trying to prevent the boy from outright panicking. “You are quite safe.”
Potter’s face relaxed a minute amount and he slowly opened his eyes to blink blearily at Severus. Potter was half-conscious, the pull of dreamless sleep was still glazing his eyes.
“I’m tired,” Potter said in a plaintive whisper.
Severus stood up to guide Potter’s head down to his pillow. He brushed the hair off his forehead while Potter watched him.
“Go to sleep,” Severus said. “Nobody shall bother you.”
Only Potter’s own thoughts would batter the boy, tormenting him and impacting every other facet of his life.
When classes resumed that week, Severus received a response from Amelia that had him choking on his morning tea.
Severus,
There aren’t words to explain the way my heart broke at your last letter. H is a sweet boy, Susan just adores him. I agree that the relatives were neglectful at best, I hope that they were not left unvisited by Albus. We have received Weatherman in custody, I’m afraid that he seems to be in no shape to sit through a trial. Not that one was needed, he confessed to everything when Kingsley arrived at Albus’ call.
I have reviewed your extremely specific requests for a placement for H… If you wanted him, you could have just said so, there was no reason to be cunning about it. I harbor no ill will toward you and have recommended you for placement.
I’ll forward along a list of mind healers for H, there is the one that you used before that will visit at school.
If there’s anything more I can do…
-Amelia Bones
Severus recalled precisely the type of person that Albus told him to request and then leaned past Filius to shoot a venomous glare at the old man.
Albus raised his pink teacup at Severus and winked with the most ominous sparkle in his eyes.
“The child is afraid of me!” Severus thundered to Albus once he was free of teaching and could release all the complaints he had saved up all day. Severus paced the Headmaster’s office, occasionally pausing to point accusingly at Albus. “You know this! Are you trying to traumatize him further?”
Albus’ beard twitched warningly and Severus quickly changed course.
“I know nothing of raising children!”
“Truly?” Albus asked calmly, too calmly, as if he were holding back a laugh. “And yet you have one of the most well-behaved houses.”
“Bah!” Severus flipped both of his hands toward Albus irritably, wishing he could just vanish the man. “I have nothing to do with them.”
“I had no idea you were so neglectful as the Head of Slytherin,” Albus quipped.
Severus mocked Albus in his head while he continued his complaints.
“Potter will need copious amounts of therapy.”
“If only I knew a man who was a strong advocate for mental health…”
“Someone will have to teach the child that his past is not acceptable. Merlin forbid that he be seen as easy prey once again.”
“Again, I’m just coming up blank with suggestions…”
“Albus,” Severus spun around and sighed at the amused look on Albus’ face that even his Phoenix seemed to mimic. “This is not a game. Potter said outright that he was afraid of me.”
Albus became more solemn and he inclined his head in acknowledgment of the complaint that not even he could overlook.
“I remember,” Albus said.
Severus sensed a ‘but’.
“But I believe that has changed. Has Harry not spent multiple evenings in your company since that incident? Knowing what we know now, is there no chance that you simply said something that - what is the word you used to explain why I couldn’t have a dog a few years ago? Ah - perhaps you triggered him!”
Severus scowled at the look of satisfaction on Albus’ face. How could Severus have…
“I told him that I wanted to share a secret with him,” Severus realized. He pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed at his own idiocy.
“I told a child targeted by a sex offender that I wanted to show him a secret,” Severus repeated, looking at Albus balefully. “Pomona.”
“Is much too old to rear a child.”
“Minerva.”
“Would tiptoe around Harry’s trauma.”
Severus narrowed his eyes, “You.”
Albus popped a lemon drop in his mouth with a serene smile.
“Me? Heavens, I despise children.”
Severus left Albus’ office with the determination to prove that he was the least competent person to care for Potter and inadvertently immediately proved the opposite.
Potter was lingering outside of Severus’ classroom when Severus approached, a newspaper clenched in one hand and the watery look of a child on the verge of hysterics.
“Come in,” Severus offered, opening the classroom door for Potter. Potter waited for Severus to enter and then followed, leaving the door open behind him.
Potter then placed the newspaper on a desk with a slap and pointed at the information he wanted Severus to have.
Black Strikes Again!
Severus read the article hidden on page four quickly, only stopping when he saw an auror statement that ‘Inmate Weatherman’ had been killed three hours after arriving at Azkaban by inmate Black.
‘Unfortunately it seems as if Weatherman will be unable to stand trial for the deeds he confessed to. Though, considering his charges, I’d say someone owes Black a thank you,’ Auror Nymphadora Tonks stated as she removed Weatherman’s body from the cell he had shared with Black. With this newest murder to add to Black’s repertoire, Wizengamot Chief Albus Dumbledore has requested a new trial for Inmate Black.
It certainly was a shame that someone made the choice to place a man who raped Potter in the same cell as Potter’s own godfather. Severus had no idea that Black even cared for Potter, clearly he had been wrong.
Severus slowly looked from the article to Potter’s face and saw that the boy was crying freely, though silently, while he glared at Severus.
“Pity,” Severus said. He tapped the paper with his wand, sending it directly to his desk to be read again later. Potter’s chin fell open and Severus felt wrong-footed.
It was a win-win in Severus’ opinion. A child predator was dead and, with any luck, Black would get the kiss. Severus had no idea why Potter was bawling.
“He killed him,” Potter croaked.
“He did.”
“Gary was- he was my friend.”
Severus blinked at the child and then the truth of the situation smacked him like a hyppogriff to the face.
Weatherman did not snatch Potter off the streets, drag him in his van, and rip away his innocence. Weatherman had groomed him, likely treated him kindly, said they were friends.
Severus shuddered in revulsion.
“He was not your friend,” Severus said firmly.
“You don’t know anything,” Potter said in a heated whisper, his green eyes flashing as he actually glared at Severus. “He loves- l-loved, he loved me.”
Potter’s voice hitched and broke on a sob just before he sank to the floor and began crying in earnest.
Oh, yeah, Severus was just the man to take care of an overly emotional Hufflepuff child.
Severus looked down at the boy before he crouched down and merely sat beside him. Potter Inexplicably took that as permission to lean himself over and steal Severus’ body heat while he cried.
Where the hell was Bones when Severus needed her? It was tempting to send her a message, ask her to come fetch her lost badger, but it made Severus feel cowardly to pawn Potter off on Bones.
So Severus sat and let Potter… grieve, it seemed.
Potter cried endlessly for a while and when he quieted, Severus spoke to him.
“Susan Bones is your friend, she would never do with you the types of things that man did.”
Not yet, anyway. And certainly not in the same aspect. Severus rather hoped that the two puffs eventually got together in a romantic sense. Severus had several hundred galleons riding on it against Minerva.
“You don’t understand,” Potter whispered miserably to his knees. “I didn’t- he didn’t - I wanted to. Okay? Can everyone please stop talking about it?”
Severus had a great many replies to that, but he stared with the most simple.
“Who is everyone?” Severus asked. The newspaper had not mentioned Potter, there had been no trial yet. Surely Albus told Kingsley - it would not have been an accident that Weatherman was placed within Black’s cell - but outside of that, it was only the staff that were aware.
Potter puffed out his cheeks and curled in even tighter on himself.
“Susan didn’t care if I didn’t talk before but now she’s pestering me,” Potter muttered. He rested his chin on his knees and looked at the legs of the desk before them. “I hate talking.”
Which was why Potter had been Severus’ second favorite student within the castle. Though, it was not a normal preference for a child to have, as every other student proved.
“I wanna go home,” Potter said petulantly with fat tears leaking out. “I hate it here.”
Severus stared down at Potter’s recently re-buzzed hair and tried to make that sentence make sense to him. Potter’s relatives were atrocious, his only friend a pedophile who gave him a disease. Hogwarts had multiple ways it could improve, but Potter had a bed, a friend, three meals a day and no sick men taking advantage of him.
“What do you miss about your prior residence?” Severus asked.
Potter shrugged and chewed on his lip while he seemed to consider it.
“Nobody wanted me to make noise there,” Potter eventually said, so softly that Severus’ chest clenched. “It was easier, sir.”
Severus slowly lifted his hand and placed it on top of Potter’s head. Potter twitched, but did not pull away.
“It is time for you to crave making noise,” Severus told him.
Potter seemed confused, but Severus began forming a plan.
And, unfortunately, it involved both giving in to Albus’ nonsense and assigning Potter a great many detentions.
Albus swore to handle the legalities of Severus taking custody of Potter Harry (it would be absurd to be the guardian of a child that Severus only called by his surname) while Pomona set a meeting to discuss it with Harry before it became official.
Severus began constantly needling the boy at every given opportunity. Allowing Harry to remain silent was the worst decision anyone could do. Harry was not silent because he enjoyed it, he was silent because everyone in his life before Hogwarts had preferred it.
“Potter, tell me two uses of unicorn blood,” Severus asked in class. When Harry shook his head and shrugged, Severus assigned a detention for Potter to attend with Pomona.
Pomona was confused by the constant appearance of Harry in her classroom, but Severus swore it had a purpose.
Two nights before Severus was meant to discuss guardianship with Harry and Pomona, Harry stormed in his classroom after his daily detention.
Severus raised a brow while Harry fumed at him with a child’s fury shining in his eyes. Fury was good, it was a start.
“What exactly have I done to you, sir?” Harry asked through clenched teeth. “I don’t think I deserve detention every day. It’s not fair.”
“That’s quite a Hufflepuff concept,” Severus said calmly, feigning as if his attention was on the essay before him. It happened to be Bones’ and Severus was graciously grading hers on a curve.
“Life is not fair, Harry, is it?” Severus mused. He penned a correction to the side of Bones neat and incorrect paragraph on brewing directions.
“Yeah, I don’t bloody know that,” Harry breathed quietly enough that Severus could pretend to not have heard.
“What was that?” Severus looked up at the furious child and gave him a bland look. “You’ll have to speak up.”
“I said…” Harry cleared his throat and pulled himself tall. “I would please like to not have detention every night, sir. I’ll study harder.”
Harry was not a poor student on paper in Severus’s class, it had nothing to do with his study methods. Harry was an atrocious brewer, to be certain. The child made Severus nervous to see near an open flame as disinterested as he looked. It merely had nothing to do with his daily detentions.
“Make a new friend,” Severus said. He raised his hand when Harry’s mouth fell open. “They do not need to replace your hip where Miss Bones is glued, merely find at least one more person that you can do childish things with.”
Harry narrowed his eyes at Severus. “And then you’ll leave me alone, sir?”
Severus tilted his head, thinking of the meeting they would be having the following evening.
“I will stop assigning you detentions,” he prevaricated.
“Fine.” Harry spun on his heel and strode from the room.
Harry may not have realized it, but it was not lost on Severus that not once had the boy whispered or intentionally avoided eye contact.
He was broken, but not irreparable.
Severus sat at breakfast the next morning and expected to see Harry adding another Hufflepuff to his exclusive two-person group with Bones. What Severus did not expect was for Harry and Bones to enter the Great Hall, side by side, and immediately move to the Slytherin table. Draco Malfoy seemed shocked beyond reason when they sat across from him and Severus could not resist intoning a spell of his own creation.
“Marialos,” Severus breathed with a flick of his wand.
“- Susan Bones and you know Harry, of course,” Bones was saying brightly to Draco and Pansy Parkinson. “We were going to go see a new litter of krups that are in the forest after charms, would you like to go with us?”
“Oooh, yes,” Pansy said eagerly. “I love krups! My aunt breeds them!”
Severus waited until Harry looked up to catch his eye and smirk. Bones was making new friends, not Harry so much.
“Do you want to be friends?” Harry asked Draco after scowling at Severus.
Draco seemed entirely taken aback by the rather aggressive offer, but it was a done deal from that day forward.
It was still Harry-and-Susan, but it was also ‘oh that odd group of brats’ too. Certainly it was strange to have a group of friends made up of two Hufflepuffs and two Slytherins, yet Harry was then bothered by three students to speak nearly constantly and Severus considered his work in that regard complete.
“Why?”
Severus spread his hands, “Why not?”
Harry stared at Severus with raw suspicious shining through his expression and it heartened Severus to see that Harry seemed willing to argue with him.
They had sat with Albus and Pomona in Pomona’s office after dinner and Pomona carefully explained that Harry would not be permitted to return to his relatives. Albus then said cheerfully that there was already someone ‘very keen’ to take Harry in ‘as if he were his own’.
Exaggerations and bold lies, that was how Albus operated.
Harry swung his eyes at Severus almost immediately and Albus suggested that he and Pomona leave them alone to discuss it.
“You don’t even like me,” Harry said baldly.
Severus reminded himself that Harry was an eleven year old child so that he did not ask if that was a prerequisite to raising a child. If it were one of Severus’ students who tended to find humor in heavy sarcasm, he may have.
Hufflepuffs were an entirely different species. Severus steeled himself against the horrible concept that if Harry agreed to the guardianship he would be stuck with for at least six more years…
Emotional honesty.
“I like you just fine,” Severus said with his legs crossed and his hands folded on one knee. “I admit to not knowing you well, but I imagine that will come in time.”
Such as when Severus was forced to spend a summer with Harry. There were no boarding schools that operated year-round… that Severus knew of. Did it merit…? No… Severus couldn’t ship the boy off and call it a day. That would be… no…
No, Severus would just soldier on.
“You give me detention every day,” Harry complained.
“I have not today,” Severus countered. “Congratulations on your new friend, Draco is quite pleased by it.”
Harry dropped his eyes to Severus’ chin and Severus sat patiently.
“Is your house dirty?” Harry asked quietly.
It was disgusting, actually. Severus had not been inside the home he technically owned for nearly eight years. It would be cleaned before summer though and Severus doubted if Harry asked because he was germophobic.
“It is not,” Severus said.
Harry nodded slowly and Severus watched him twist his lips to the side.
“Would I - I have my own room?” Harry asked.
Severus was thinking of the actual cupboard that Petunia put her nephew in when he answered affirmatively. Harry was apparently not thinking of the cupboard.
“So I’d have my own bed?” Harry whispered, looked fixedly at Severus’ chin while his own chin quivered.
Severus had hated Sirius Black since the moment they first met. He hated him even more then as Black had the honor of taking Weatherman’s life when Severus could have done it much more creatively.
“You will have your own room, your own bed, and complete privacy when you require it,” Severus said firmly. He was unsure how to phrase ‘I promise to not molest you’ to a child and took his best shot at it. “What that man did to you will never happen again,” Severus swore. “Not in our home, not in our school. You will know safety.”
Because God knew that Harry knew plenty of pain, misery, and suffering.
Harry swiped his face with his robe sleeve and glanced up to meet Severus’ eyes.
“Susan said I can go to the beach with her this summer,” he said softly with eyes that were pleading for a reprieve. “I really want to go.”
Severus offered Harry a rare and genuine smile, “Then I suggest you learn to swim in the meantime.”
Harry held his eyes for a long moment before Severus was gifted with an equally rare smile from the boy.
And, in Severus’ mind, that was that.