Bedtime Story
“Please, Da, please?” Harry smiled winningly up at the man he considered to be his father, a gap-toothed smile that only toddlers could make disarmingly endearing as opposed to distasteful. Harry also bat long lashes at Severus, his lower lip suddenly sticking out in a pout when he changed tactics. “Pleaseeeee, Da, one more?”
Severus sighed. “Last one, Harry,” he said firmly. He reached out, as if on instinct, to brush Harry’s fringe from his forehead, his fingers stopping just before he made contact.
Harry giggled, a quiet laugh that echoed around Severus’ room where the imp was bouncing in place on Severus’ bed. “You always say that!”
“And I mean it,” Severus said, no true heat to his words. He reached across Harry to grab the other children’s book lying on his bedside table. “Are you ready, child?”
Harry snuggled down and turned wide and eager eyes toward Severus. “I’m ready, Da.”
Severus’ lips curled up in a soft smile and he opened the book. “Once upon a time…”
Ever since tiny little five year old Harry Potter had appeared at Hogwarts last year, he was a favorite within the castle.
During the day he could be found in Potions class, quietly playing a complicated singing game where the rules only made sense to him. Occasionally he would make an appearance in the Transfiguration classroom where Professor McGonagall barely hid her adoration of the boy any better than Professor Snape did. Gone were the clipped tones and harsh glares from the two most stern professors in the castle when Harry was present. They always spoke gently around him, conscious of not startling him as they used to so often when he first arrived. The students knew that if they earned a tongue-lashing, they would get it the moment little Harry disappeared.
At meals, Harry would bounce between sitting with his ‘Da’ or ‘Minnie’ (a name only Harry Potter could get away with using). Though, sometimes, Harry would take turns sitting at the different house tables. He would shyly tell anyone who asked that he had ‘lots of friends in different colors’. Nobody could complain, especially when he would duck his head afterwards and add in a whisper that he ‘never had friends before’.
He would even frequent Headmaster Dumbledore’s office, gleefully listening to stories about dragons and knights and other stories that the Headmaster would wink and swear were true. Even if ‘Da’ and ‘Minnie’ didn’t seem to like Harry spending time with the Headmaster, someone they had been furious with ever since Harry first arrived, the tiny boy liked the old wizard as much as he did everyone else within the castle.
In between classes, little Harry was frequently seen in the corridors where students tried to make the small boy laugh and giggle with their antics. The older students teased him about his messy hair, the younger ones tried to get him to join their games.
Harry went to all the quidditch matches, his eyes were always wide as he watched from the Teachers Box. He would cheer for his friends, instead of teams. It was especially amusing when he cheered for both Captain Charlie Weasley (his best friend, he would say happily on days he was found in the Gryffindor common rooms) on the Gryffindor team, and young Cedric Diggory (the ‘nicest boy Harry had ever met’) on the Hufflepuff team.
“Why can’t I play?” Harry would ask his Da so pitifully when the teams were soaring through the sky.
Professor Snape would smile gently at the boy he was so fond of. “Because you would win every time and it would be unfair to the other students.”
Professor Snape always seemed to know what to say to take the pout off Harry’s face and replace it with a shy grin and a quiet giggle.
It was an open secret in Hogwarts that someone had caused little Harry a lot of pain before he appeared at Hogwarts. Nobody liked to ask about it, because it would make Harry’s eyes fill with tears and he would promptly disappear to his Da’s side, but the students who were present the day he arrived all remember how terrified and twitchy he had been. To say nothing about his pitifully small size for a five year old.
Not long after though, Harry was content to follow along behind his Da, asking questions, giggling, and causing all who saw him to smile so wistfully. Nobody had been happy about the circumstances that brought little Harry to Hogwarts, but he was rather universally loved by all who encountered him. Of course, all of Hogwarts may love the boy, but Severus Snape was very blatantly Harry’s favorite person.
It was in the potion professor’s rooms where Harry stayed at night, made clear by how he followed Professor Snape to breakfast every morning. It was Professor Snape who he went to when a prank by Peeves went too far and upset him or Harry heard Filch yelling at a student and it scared the boy.
The students all found it touching how Harry would remember which student Filch yelled at and would make a point to quietly ask them if they were ‘otay’ the next time he saw them.
“It’s not nice to be yelled at,” Harry would say softly, his eyes wide and fearful in a gut wrenching way. “I- I don’t like being yelled at. Are you otay?”
It was no wonder that Harry was a favorite within the castle. None could resist his earnest and adorable charms.
Harry was unsettled on the last day of July in 1991. All the residents of the castle took note of it, but none of them were able to return a smile to his face.
Not Minnie with her cat antics. Not Professor Sprout with her flowers and ‘funny plants’. Professor Flitwick tried to charm bubbles to float around Harry, a silly charm that used to make him smile. Even Myrtle came out of her bathroom to see if Harry wanted to go scream together, but none could return a sense of cheer to their Harry.
Severus was unsurprised when he found the boy in his classroom, a heartbreaking expression of sadness on his young face.
“Da?” Harry sniffled pathetically from where he hid in the corner of room. “Isn’t It my birthday?”
Severus sighed, “It is.”
“So how come I didn’t get my letter to Hogwarts?”
“You did not need one,” Severus told him quietly. He slowly approached the boy, kneeling down beside him so he was not looming over him. “Harry, where do you live?”
Harry sniffled again and wiped at his nose with his arm that was always bared by the short sleeve shirt he wore. “With you?”
Severus smiled slightly at the touching way Harry always believed his home was with Severus.
“Correct,” he allowed. “And where do I live?”
Harry shrugged his shoulders up by his ears. “You used to have a house in Spinning Land, but now you stay here with me.” He peeked up at Severus, “Right, Da?”
“Correct again, five points to Hufflepuff,” Severus said.
Harry giggled quietly. “‘M not a Hufflepuff, I wanna be a snake like you.” He let out a series of hisses that were accurate enough to what Severus had heard of Parsletongue from the Dark Lord to be discomforting.
“A Slytherin you are not, child,” Severus said with a tsk and a smile to reassure the fragile boy that he was making a jest. “And if you already live here, then do you need a letter inviting you to come as the other children do?”
Harry furrowed his brows together, his lips twisted as he considered it. “No?”
“No,” Severus agreed. “You need no invitation for your home, Harry.”
All at once, Harry broke out in a wide smile and wrapped his arms around Severus. “Thanks, Da.”
Severus ignored the discomfort that hugs from Harry always gave him. He would hardly deny the boy a hug if it was what he wanted in the moment.
“Can I hear a bedtime story, Da?” Harry asked with a bashful look.
“Certainly,” Severus agreed. He winced as he got up, he was much too old to be kneeling on harsh stone floor. “Come, I will read you one story, Harry.”
“Yay!!”
Less than an hour later, Severus laid in his bed, a book of fairy tales open on his lap, and he read to Harry in a low and soothing tone.
Harry closed his eyes when Severus started a second story, feigning sleep. “I love you, Da,” he murmured.
Severus felt as if there were a band around his chest. “And I love you, Harry. Happy birthday.”
Harry smiled softly and Severus flicked off the light, desperately wishing he could sleep through the events that were sure to unravel in a months time.
“Severus, where is Harry?” Albus murmured on September 1st when the staff, aside from Minerva, waited at the Head Table for the first years to be led in.
“He insisted on coming in with the others,” Severus said.
Pomona and Aurora made pained sounds, and Albus’ face seemed to age a decade in that moment.
“I see,” he said simply.
“I did try,” Severus sighed. He took a deep drink of his wine.
Albus reached over and pat Severus’ hand kindly. “None doubt it,” he said gently. “Harry loves you.”
Severus nodded, his throat closing as the great doors opened and Minerva led in the batch of first years.
Lucius’ son smiled up at Severus, flanked by the Crabbe and Goyle boys. There was a witch with frizzy brown hair whispering quickly to the red headed girl beside her, Amelia’s niece, Severus thought. And…
And Harry.
Harry who was talking loudly to a freckled red-headed boy, another Weasley it seemed. The Weasley boy was smiling at Harry, giving him his rapt attention in an undoubtedly kind way. As was the round faced boy that Severus believed to be Frank Longbottom’s son.
Every year Severus waited for a child to arrive who would be unkind to Harry, yet every year it seemed to be a needless concern. The children of Hogwarts simply accepted the boy and treated him as one of their own.
Harry was wide eyed when the Sorting Hat began its song, as he was every year for the last five years.
Minerva glanced up toward Severus during the song, a slightly uptick of her brows asking, ‘What do I do?’
As if Severus was meant to have the answer?
Albus subtly waved his hand, indicating to proceed as usual.
Minerva began calling names once the song ended and the polite clapping subsided.
“Abbott, Hannah!”
Severus could feel sweat pooling on his forehead as Minerva worked her way down the list. He saw Harry in the middle of the first years, an eager smile on his face, his thoughts as blatant as if he were screaming them.
Harry wanted to be sorted; he wanted to be in classes with other students.
After the Parvati twins were sorted, Severus saw Harry move to the front, and—
“Turpin, Lisa!”
Harry’s jaw dropped and Severus was hardly the only one to see it. The older students, the ones who had been in the castle as long as Harry had, made quiet sounds as they empathized with the boy, and the professors exchanged loaded looks.
“Da,” Harry was at Severus’ side in an instant, his voice quiet enough to not interrupt the sorting happening, “when’s it my turn?”
Severus looked up to the enchanted ceiling, praying for the words to explain the situation to the boy.
“Harry, you—”
“Harry, dear boy, come here, please,” Albus whispered to Harry. He smiled over at Harry until Harry moved to stand between Albus and Severus.
“You enjoy staying in Severus’ rooms, right?” Albus asked Harry. Harry nodded. “Exactly. If we sorted you, you would have to sleep in the dorms. Instead, why don’t you tell us which house you belong to and then you can continue sleeping anywhere you wish?”
Harry looked over his shoulder at Severus, waiting for his agreement.
“A perfectly acceptable compromise,” Severus assured him.
Harry grinned and hugged Albus briefly, and Albus was a braver man than Severus who tried very hard to avoid Harry’s hugs.
“Thank you,” Harry whispered.
Albus smiled at Harry and Severus saw as a single tear trailed down his crooked nose. Severus was not without empathy for Albus and the weight he carried from his decisions, but the majority of Severus’ empathy went to Harry, leaving little room for anyone else.
When Minerva returned to the table, Severus saw as Harry debated on which of the house tables he wanted to sit at.
“Da, Ron is very nice, but I want to be in your house,” Harry whispered, his soft voice hidden beneath Albus’ speech. “How come we can’t all sit together? On the floor? Like a picnic!”
Minerva laughed and wagged a finger at Harry.
“Your Da would never allow his snakes to sit on the floor,” she winked. “Now, here is what you shall do, Harry. Why don’t you very cleverly go make friends with three first years in each house? That way you have resources in each house, hmm?”
Harry blinked at Minerva for a moment before a smile spread across his young face.
“So be a secret snake?” he asked. “Otay!”
Severus waited until Harry had squished himself between the newest Weasley and Longbottom boy’s before ordering another glass of wine.
“In all, Severus, he took it much better than I expected,” Minerva murmured with a sad look toward the child. “Poor Harry.”
Severus made a sound of agreement.
Poor Harry indeed.
Severus was unsurprised when he returned to his quarters that night and Harry was already in his sitting room, flitting around and running his hands through various objects.
“Da! I have so many new friends!”
Severus resigned himself to completing his last minute preparations for the next morning while listening to Harry prattle on about the students he met. Apparently the newest Weasley was named Ron, and there was a kind boy in Hufflepuff named Justin, and Harry had even entered the Slytherin dorm and informed them all that he was a Slytherin as well and spoke with Draco.
“Draco is super nice, Da!” Harry said eagerly once Severus’ tasks had been finished and he had changed in to his night clothes. “Plus I told everyone they can come here to listen to bedtime stories if they want!”
“I would prefer they did not,” Severus said drily. “I will not read to the other children, Harry.”
Harry grinned disarmingly at him. “Just me cause you love me the most?”
“I only love you,” Severus corrected him with complete honesty. “Come, you pest, I will read you one story tonight.”
Harry beat Severus to his room, jumping on the bed and landing silently in front of the pillows.
“Will you read the Harry story?” Harry asked. He stuck his lip out, an expression that always tended to make Severus cave to his childish demands. “Please, Da?”
Severus climbed on the bed beside Harry and pulled the book Minerva and Pomona had created for Harry one year, a storybook about his life, out of his nightstand and opened it while Harry cheered.
Harry laid his head on Severus’ shoulder, sending a chill through Severus’ body.
“I’m ready,” he announced.
Severus gave him a brief smile before opening the book and beginning to read.
“Once upon a time, there was a ghost named Harry. Harry lived in a grand castle that had many friends inside of it…”