Severus' Summer
*****
Severus studied the students closely as the feast got under way. Potter was ensconced at the end of the Gryffindor table, bracketed by Weasleys and his usual cohorts but Severus could see the rest of the students staring at the boy in shock. And he couldn’t fault them. Before the boy had given him a proper talking to over the summer, he would have been the first to claim the boy wasn’t able to look so confident. And whatever his sister had been feeding him over the two months she’d been back in his life were making a visible difference. He no longer looked like a miscast wind charm would knock him over. It also worked to prove it was not the boy’s genetics that caused him to be so small and skinny. The added height from his cleanse and subsequent growth spurt from proper nutrition added a great deal to the effect.
Severus was ashamed to admit he’d allowed the baggy clothes and the boy’s father to fool him and prevent him from being as protective as he usually was with abused students. In the past, he’d been the unquestioned authority in spotting the children and more than once, the other Heads had asked him to help with one or two. To have missed such signs in the Savior was simply inexcusable. But the boy was finally getting help. And Severus had more answers than he’d had months ago. And his husband back, with a child on the way. And allies. Even if one of them was the elder Black…
“Is it me,” Minerva wondered, breaking him out of his thoughts by bending her head to whisper with him yet keep the toad of a Ministry woman from hearing. “Or does Potter look much better? And where did he get those robes?”
Severus hid a smile in his cup at that, as Potter was indeed wearing strange robes. Severus had a feeling Arianna had a hand in the choice, as the heavily embroidered ebony fabric seemed more her taste than Harry’s. Not that Potter seemed uncomfortable or had protested, nor were any of the pieces against the uniform. However, the embroidered robes and pressed trousers and shirt harkened to a little-known clause of the Hogwarts charter. Once, long ago when people’s clothing choice denoted their status far more blatantly than just fabric choice and armor was not uncommon to deflect the danger that often surrounded magicals, the uniform had included such embroidery and beading to add protections and family status. It also allowed for the dueling style of robes favored by the Potter siblings now, with closer cut arms and not as much dramatic extra fabric so as to provide a wider range of motion. Like Auror robes tended towards. And the Founders were some of the biggest proponents of them, allowing uniform choices that incorporated such embellishments and alteration, since the school had been founded when war was almost an everyday concern for student and professor alike.
Obviously, the Potter brats had found that clause and had no problem calling attention to it.
That Potter looked regal in the robes added to the air of confidence he was extruding, even if he looked positively exhausted since the last time Severus had seen him.
“I do believe you are correct, Minerva, though I am loathed to admit it,” he finally muttered. “I so shudder to think what he’ll be capable of now that he doesn’t look like a toddler, though he may still act like one.”
Minerva groaned and he commiserated. Despite the boy’s previous antics, he now looked much more like his father and godfather. And if there were two professors more likely to remember the pair when they were Potter’s age, it was the two Heads of House. After all, the two of them were well aware of the antics of the Marauders and had spent more than a few afternoons while grading papers together, bemoaning the chaos the four had wreaked, both for professors and students. Despite being on opposite sides of the House rivalry, the two professors were fairly close and he truly hoped the woman proved as compassionate and protective as she appeared to be. Even if Dumbledore had blocked her or potioned her, he prayed to the gods that she was on Harry’s side above the Headmaster.
After all, the last few months would pale in comparison to the months ahead of them. He had no illusions that the plans Arianna was moving to implement would be easy. Taking on the entire wizarding world was going to be difficult. Perhaps the most difficult was that he knew she planned to reinstate the monarchy, if a suitable heir could be found that wasn’t herself. But that was postponed indefinitely as they worked to simply deal with the Dark Lord’s recent return and Dumbledore’s crimes, since the Hufflepuff refused to dump the mess on an unsuspecting new ruler. Crimes that rivaled Grindelwald’s and Voldemort’s combined. At least the two Darkest lords known were somewhat honest. If they didn’t like you, you died. Fairly simple in the long term. Dumbledore poisoned the world against you and attacked not only you, but your entire family. As Harry alone proved.
Looking at the man in question, Severus had to swallow a laugh. The twinkling eyes were hard, glaring at Harry and his small group even as he tried to hide it behind a mask of grandfatherly concern. Severus could see he was fuming at the robes Harry wore and the fact that the boy had managed to evade the Order for the better part of a month when he finally discovered the boy missing from the Dursleys. That Dumbledore’d only known because the uncle had sent a letter demanding compensation for the threats he’d endured at the hands of one Sirius Black didn’t escape Severus’ notice. Nor did it fail to amuse him that Black had managed to scare the man enough that it took a month of silence for the muggle to contact Dumbledore then proceed to maintain that it had just happened.
The attack a few days later that almost took the life of the whale’s precious roll of a son was another matter. And the only reason Severus had even seen Petunia again. He would have gladly avoided the vile woman the rest of his natural life, but Dumbledore had demanded Snape accompany him to calm the trio and provide some potions to combat the close encounter with a magical creature they couldn’t see.
After stepping foot in the house Harry had called home for over a decade, he lost any remaining respect he had for Dumbledore. Quick snooping while Vernon argued with Dumbledore produced a cupboard positively dripping with childish magic and protective spells. The hand drawn sign proclaiming it as ‘Harry’s Room’ had almost caused him another bought of accidental magic in anger. When he saw the door to the boy’s room he found, he had to quickly summon his Prince ring to channel the surge of magic before he destroyed the house. He hadn’t had time to examine the room itself but he fully believed that was a good thing. There was only so much magical power a Lordship ring could syphon off before his magic would need another release. And he had been furious enough at the multiple locks and cat flap.
The visit had ended and he’d left with Dumbledore, only to return on his own almost immediately to inspect the wards for any additional information. To his horror, he found the so-called blood wards, the reason Dumbledore maintained were why Harry had to return every summer, had recently shattered. The Headmaster hadn’t seemed to notice and had just left, returning to Hogwarts and his frantic search for the boy who would be arriving at Grimmauld by the next day. Severus was no expert on wards, but he was able to make a quick study that revealed more than just protections. There were remnants of compulsion charms, forcing the resident to remain even though it was an unsafe environ and to plant a self-hatred charm to any magical that passed the wards. Gods it was astounding that the Potter brat managed to make it to Hogwarts age with the number of things they were discovering. Between the potions causing depression, the self-hatred enforced by spell and potion, and the treatment at the hands of the Dursleys, the boy had to have a very strong will not to end it all years ago.
When he looked further, he discovered there were also traces of a spell that would have stopped his own heart if he’d visited just a few months prior, as a wizard wearing the Dark Mark. He’d taken a quick moment to panic at his foolishness, since the Headmaster hadn’t even considered that little alteration when he’d dragged the Potion Master along and thereby almost killed the man, then took note of the remnants on a slip of parchment. A quick owl when he returned to the castle sent the goblins to investigate, with the eldest Weasley as a Curse Breaker. The Wizengamot wouldn’t necessarily listen to goblins alone, but would to Heir Weasley, even if he wasn’t entirely impartial.
After that small trip, his summer passed in remedial lessons with the brat, discovering an unknown competency now that he was looking closely, and he wondered who exactly had been sabotaging the boy before. Or perhaps it had been the unhealed injuries the group told tales of. He was unsure of exactly what the injuries were, as the inheritance test he’d reviewed did not show them, but he was not blind. Potter’s very posture showed he’d had a few poorly healed bones and the furious looks Black sported occasionally confirmed he knew firsthand the damage the whale of an uncle could do. Severus would need to see what he could do to examine the boy for himself. He’d have to insist on seeing the full list of healed injuries as well, so he would know better how the boy had spent his youth and determine if his hands had been affected, thereby providing an explanation for his poor ingredient preparation.
Regardless, he’d be keeping a close eye on the boy’s cauldron from now on, since explosions when the wrong ingredient was added were fairly common and could be life-threatening. He may not hate the brat as much now that they’d been able to speak civilly, but if he was to adequately protect the boy, and make up for the woefully inadequate attempts previously, he would need a better understanding of his history. He already knew the boy hid injuries, but he had to clarify if the boy even grasped the concept of an injury grave enough to actually ask for help.
Regulus, hidden away in the Chamber of Secrets, would surely be able to help him understand the inane need to conceal hurts when others could help.
At the thought of the man, Severus took a moment to silently thank everyone who was involved in his rescue. He couldn’t even truly begin to describe how grateful he was to have the other half of his soul returned, though. When the young man had disappeared, the Dark Lord had almost ended him in frustration when Severus spent months frantically searching. To find out the Dark Lord himself had been responsible for the disappearance as Regulus had turned ‘traitor’ had caused quite a few things to shatter around him. He was almost glad he’d not known about the pregnancy or he probably would be dead for delving into the stupidly dangerous to try and find Regulus. If the Dark Lord didn’t hang the need for a skilled Potions Master and outright kill him. Now, thanks to the last people he would have expected, not only was Regulus returned to him, his pregnancy was safe and healthy, his mind was clear, the pair of them were working on forging new friendships or reclaiming family, he was looking forward to his official bonding and the birth of his Heir. And Regulus was secreted away safely where they didn’t have to be separated and there was little danger. Well, beyond boredom, but Severus was confident the exploration of the famed Slytherin Chamber of Secrets would keep the man busy for a few weeks at least.
And wasn’t that strange anyway? Harry had offered it as an option only a few weeks ago, with a sheepish explanation. The boy hadn’t even considered harvesting the apparently dead Basilisk for ingredients…. Then they’d snuck onto the grounds to assess the thing and see if it was a viable location for Regulus to stay in. The trip down had been harrowing and Severus had almost hexed the brat for the typical Gryffindor method of entering. Before Severus had even had a chance to review the opened entrance in the girl’s lavatory, the idiot was jumping down into the black. Severus had almost had a heart attack when Regulus followed easily, pregnant or not. He simply asked for a lift, similar to those in the Ministry. And the entrance had provided. He’d stepped from the enclosed space to a pair of gob-smacked faces and no doubt at all what house his soulmate actually belonged in…
And then he’d seen the Basilisk corpse and proceeded to run scan after scan on Potter to reassure himself the brat was alive and suffered no ill effects from apparently killing a creature large enough to swallow him whole.
That was only a few of the changes. Interacting with Black, both Lupins, the Prewetts, the goblins, the Americans, and the Scamanders just added to the surreal quality of his summer.
The last few weeks were, needless to say, quite full and world shattering for Severus. He could admit he was actually looking forward to the standard dunderheads and pranks of a school year. Though he would be keeping close watch of that Ministry spy and the Potter brat. He was not allowing another year to pass with the boy facing death. Not even for the Dark Lord. Decidedly not for Dumbledore either. He may not be fully on board with the plans of a certain redhead, but he could admit, even if only to himself, that he was not allowing Dumbledore’s or Voldemort’s plans for the boy to come to fruition. Arianna’s were by far the best for him and Severus would support them until he thought of better ones.
Now if only he could figure out where McGonagall and the other professors stood.