Chapter Text
Harry sat beside his father and godfather in the hall of the Ministry, waiting. It’d already been a few hours, but Remus had said the Ministry wasn’t fond of getting anything done quickly, especially when it involved admitting they’d made a mistake with something.
“One wrongful conviction and people begin to wonder how many others there might be. It upsets the system, or so they say.” Remus had said, offering Harry chocolate.
“They should, shouldn't they?” Harry asked, confused. “Isn't it better to be overly cautious, than to ruin someone’s life by sending them wrongly to Azkaban?”
His dad had looked pleased with him, ruffling his hair. “Good lad, Harry.”
But that had been a half hour ago, and they still sat here waiting.
“Is professor Snape not going to be here?” Harry finally asked, looking to his dad.
“Ah…” James chuckled, looking a bit uneasy. “With those two, I think it would be better to do a …slow reintroduction. Very slow. Tectonic plates slow.”
“Can you imagine?” Remus laughed, looking over Harry's head to his friend. “Padfoot getting freed, and the first person he sees is Severus Snape? I think he'd finally go mad.”
“Does Azkaban really do that to people? Drive them mad?” Harry asked, and watched as their expressions faded into a far more subdued look.
“That’s-“ James started, but his sentence cut off as he looked down the hall. Harry turned to look the same way, and had a bit of a jolt seeing an absolutely massive black dog running towards them. It was dark enough it seemed to vanish moment to moment as it went from torch light to torch light running down the hall.
“Dad?!” Harry asked, voice cracking slightly. But the two older men stood suddenly, or rather, one used a cane to push himself up.
The dog got closer and closer, black as the night, until it crossed the final torch on the wall – suddenly, the dog had gone entirely. A man was tackling Remus and James down to the floor in a heap.
It was a lot of commotion, yelling, laughing, and voices talking over each other. But, the man sat up – Sirius Black, Harry recognized him from the photos in the album. He didn't look as handsome as he had in the pictures, he was more gaunt, his hair stringy, and a beard that needed trimmed. But, there was a glint in his eyes that was ever the same as it had been.
“James!” Sirius exclaimed, grabbing him up by the shoulders. “You are, by far, the best looking dead man I have ever seen.”
“And you need a flea bath.” James countered with a grin, before they hugged once more. Then, Sirius grabbed onto Remus, embracing him just as tightly. Harry felt like he saw his own friends in them, even if they didn't look anything alike. The idea that Ron could have been imprisoned, blamed for deaths he'd not caused, it made Harry ill to think of.
He couldn’t even imagine the relief they must all feel, being finally together again.
Sirius looked up, noticing Harry. “Bloody hell, look at him.”
“I know,” James said, a bit sadly. “He's all grown up, isn't he?”
“I mean, not really?” Harry said awkwardly. “I'm not even a second year yet.”
“It... doesn’t have any windows. Or doors.” Harry said slowly, looking up at the disheveled old house. “Is it even safe to be inside?”
“No,” Snape said quickly, arms crossed, and shooting daggers at Sirius who stood on the other side of James. “It is most decidedly not safe.”
Both her, and Sirius, were close enough to James in case he stumbled or fell. James’ cane served the same purpose, but they still kept a watchful eye. Harry assumed Sirius kept close due to some kind of guilt, having been locked away so long. Snape, Harry knew why she stayed so close – though he didn't think his godfather knew yet.
“It needs some fixing, but I think it will be grand.” James said, looking down at Harry. “I'll be nearby while you're still at school. You can still use the pathway out, whenever you want, if you want to see me. What do you think, Harry?”
Harry wasn't really opposed, up until now the only house he remembered was the Dursley’s; he was looking forward to having a home to call his own. Even if it was the Shrieking Shack. Harry supposed he didn't have to worry too much about it being haunted.
“I like it,” Harry smiled up at his dad. "It needs some work, like us."
“I have your cat,” Snape said suddenly, breaking the brief silence.
“…Mittens?” James asked incredulously, wide eyed. He looked at Sirius for confirmation, then back at Snape. “Mittens is still alive?”
“Yes, well…” Snape glanced away. “Dumbledore found her in the rubble, he gave her to me. I renamed her, of course. Hypatia. Mittens? Ridiculous, she's ginger.”
Harry watched on, still amazed this was his life now. His father looked at Snape with a surprised yet incredibly fond expression, meanwhile his godfather began to bicker with her. The man was a bit rough on the edges, though it was to be expected after what he’d gone through. But, none the less, Harry was happy to be here. Even if they did argue about every 5 minutes.
“Hypatia?! Merlin, woman, what would you name your children?!” Sirius asked, horrified.
“Bold for you to say, Sirius.” Harry watched James tease his friend in defense of Snape, which clearly wasn't that common, given the look he got from both parties.
“I'm sorry, son of Fleamont, did you say something?” Came Sirius' rebuttal. Fleamont, Harry thought in wonder. His grandfather was named Fleamont? That was rough.
“Evan or Violet.” Snape said quietly, her comment nearly going missed by the men. Harry saw his father smile after the comment sunk in, then look back up at the large house. It wasn't much of a shack really, much bigger, Harry thought - maybe in the future that would be a good thing.
“What if you have more than just one boy or girl? Twins even?” Harry asked, causing her to splutter.
“Don't speak such evil things into existence.” Sirius scolded Harry, feigning a shiver. “It's bad enough with one Snape running around, let alone a bunch of them.”
“I don’t know,” James said slowly, cautiously, gauging Snape’s reaction. “I think it sounds alright.”
Harry had always wanted to be part of a bigger family. Evan Potter, Violet Potter, Harry thought they sounded like good names if he were to ever have younger siblings.
“Bleh,” Sirius stuck out his tongue. “Won't catch me ever babysitting.”
Harry stared blankly at the small house elf blocking his path out of the Whomping Willow. It held out it’s arms, in a desperate attempt to stop Harry from going to Hogwarts.
“Erm, hello…Please get out of the way?” Harry said tiredly, knowing it had been too soon to wish for a normal school year. His summer had gone so well too, apart from the times he caught his dad and professor snogging far less secretly than they probably initially thought. That’d been rather awkward.
“Harry Potter, Dobby must not let you go to school!” the house elf, Dobby apparently, said shrilly. “Danger! Death-“
“Petrificus totalus.” A voice said from behind Harry, and the elf fell over, eyes wide but immobile. Snape stood behind Harry, looking annoyed as she generally did early in the morning. “If I'm late to my classes…”
“He was warning me about something.” Harry said, looking up at her. He'd grown a bit, but she still stood over him like a protective bat. Unlike his father, who was a good half head taller than her. Harry wondered if he'd ever get that tall, and if it would impact his skills as seeker.
“I'm sure you'll find a way to stumble onto something destructive and dangerous, regardless of being in the school or not. It's a genetic trait.” Snape sighed, which Harry had the good graces to look nearly sheepish at. Him and Ron had pulled a few dumb stunts this summer with Arthur’s car. He’d just wished Hermione could have visited the new and improved shack to join in.
“Harry is safer at Hogwarts than outside it.” Snape said to the elf, waving her wand, and Dobby jumped back up to his feet. “I know what Lucius is planning, I'll put an end to it. I'll make sure you face no consequences.” She said firmly, because she didn't quite know how to sound reassuring just yet.
Dobby looked between them both, with his big worried eyes, before popping away in a snap.
“He seemed nice.” Harry said flippantly, getting a look. “What about Lucius? Malfoy, right? Draco’s father?”
“None of your concern, Potter. Get to school.” She pointed down the path. “I can and will gladly deduct house points if you dawdle about.”
Harry would figure it out, one way or another. Sirius or Remus would probably spill the details, or maybe Hagrid. So Harry shrugged, and began to move before he noticed something.
Snape raised a hand to her stomach, and suddenly looked very pale.
“Are you alright?” Harry asked, looking back down the path to his house. His dad should probably know if she wasn't feeling well.
“I'm… fine.” Snape insisted, but still looked a bit pale. “Breakfast didn't sit well, that’s all…”
“…An omelette?” Harry asked, befuddled. Actually, now that he thought of it, she’d not eaten much yesterday either.
“It’s just a stomach bug, I'll be fine.” She pushed past him, towards the school. But, she stopped and waited for him to catch up.
Harry tugged his Christmas jumper over his head, looking down happily at the big H on it. They’d had a good time visiting the Weasleys and Grangers on Christmas break. Sirius and Remus told great stories, Arthur loved hearing about muggle whatever, and everyone was thrilled to see James up and moving around more freely. His father too, seemed happy to be around so many people he'd once known.
Additionally, the adults were celebrating the destruction of something Voldemort had made. A journal of some kind, Harry didn't really know the full details of, but whatever it was, Harry was glad it was gone before it hurt anyone. Dobby now lived at Hogwarts too, and popped into the shack from time to time, a free elf.
Another benefit of whatever happened with the journal or diary, was apparently Lucius Malfoy had gotten quite a scare. It sounded like both Snape and the Ministry had put a good sense of fear into the overgrown peacock. With his father's wings slightly clipped, Draco Malfoy was also being a bit less awful than usual. In turn, the Slytherins in total started to get along with the other students better. Begrudgingly, but still. Miracles could happen, Harry supposed.
“Looks like Molly made you one too, Severus.” James said, tossing a package to the woman. She'd not come to the party, not really the type for big public events, but she’d also been sick again earlier. Not enough to go to hospital, but not well enough to be in a big group.
She had her legs curled up under her on a big chair, nursing a cup of sparkling water.
“I'll pass.” She said dryly, throwing it back at James, only for him to throw it back at her. She paused, throwing it back, only for James to throw it right back at her. Realizing this wouldn't end anytime soon, she glowered, and opened the package.
It was an emerald green jumper with a large S on the front, similar to Sirius’ but his was a dark red. She held it up briefly, before dropping it back onto her lap. “Lovely, anyway-“
“You have to put it on. It's tradition.” Harry told her, pointing at his own jumper and the ones James, Remus, and Sirius were wearing. Even Dobby had gotten one.
“This is the first year it's happened.” Snape fired back. "How is that a tradition?"
“All traditions have to start sometime, professor.” Harry countered.
“He's got a point, Severus.” James said with a grin, sitting down on the armrest of her chair.
“Come on, join the Gryffindors.” Remus said from his seat next to Sirius. “One of us, one of us.”
“Ugh!” Snape grimaced, knowing she was facing an uphill battle, pulled the jumper over her head, and down over her existing black robes. “There. Happy?”
The thing with Snape’s robes though, was that they were always loose, flowing, they never showed much of her body shape. Harry really couldn’t picture her in an average dress or trousers. But that meant the jumper she was currently wearing clung a bit closer to her.
“Might want to cut back on the butter beer, Snape - you're getting a bit round.” Sirius chortled, before getting elbowed in the ribs by Remus. At first Harry thought his godfather had simply just had far too many drinks, but the reactions from Remus and James made him rethink it.
“Are you daft?” Remus muttered under his breath, glaring at Sirius.
Harry looked between them, then at his father, who looked a bit sheepish. Then, at Snape, who’d turned red, and crossed her arms across her stomach. Snape, who’d been sick on and off for weeks. Snape who'd not been drinking wine recently.
“Oh.” Harry blinked. “You're pregnant.”
She looked like a cornered cat, ready to bolt. “I..I haven’t checked.”
“…Sev,” James murmured, leaning down to put his hand on her shoulder. “It's okay, isn't it?”
“How far along?” Remus asked, while Sirius beside him stayed looking as though he was waiting for the punchline to come.
She looked antsy, not meeting his eyes. “…About 4 months, I think. Probably. About the time we moved in."
The rest of the night was a bit chaotic. It finally had sunk in on Sirius that his best friend was indeed sleeping with Snape. Harry heard bits and pieces of arguments between them in the kitchen, as he sat in the living room with Remus and Snape. The Christmas decorations felt a bit less cheery under all the yelling.
“How even?! You were barely walking then!” Came Sirius' bellow.
“I didn't need to stand for it, Sirius!” Yelled James back.
“This bit doesn't need to be part of the tradition, does it?” Snape asked flatly, staring at the wall.
“I sincerely hope not.” Remus said, head in his hands. “Why are they like this? Why is Sirius like this? I'm so sorry, Severus.”
“I'm going to have to take leave at school,” Snape muttered to herself, ignoring him entirely.
“Not even Azkaban itself could have made me imagine such an awful thing!” Sirius was one for dramatics it seemed.
“Stop imagining it at all!” James sounded a bit shrill.
“So,” Harry said awkwardly. “...Evan or Violet, right?”
Snape let out a laugh in spite of herself.
“Why are you still teaching, even when you're not teaching?” Harry asked, handing Snape a stack of papers. She only looked up at him briefly.
“I think I’d go mad with nothing to do,” Snape said. “Even if I can't directly be around brewing potions or ingredients, I can still work. I can still grade papers and read reports, get out of the house here and there.”
Harry thought there was probably another level to what she was saying, as the pregnancy drew on, Snape was more and more antsy around the house. He wasn't exactly sure why, she seemed happy enough with his father. Granted, Snape never really seemed overly joyful about anything, but he'd caught glimpses of how she smiled at James. He couldn't imagine they weren't in love.
“Will you take time off once the baby is here?” Harry asked, before finally pulling his own homework out to start.
He liked coming down to the dungeons for this, even if his friends were more fun to hang around with. He’d never had a particularly loud life before coming to Hogwarts, but now he had a father again, godfathers, and the press constantly trying to interview them – it was a lot. He thought Snape understood.
Especially given the fact that they were both facing a similar line of questioning; who was the father of Snape’s child, and was it James Potter? It was all the talk in school. Even Malfoy had pulled Harry away from his friends once to ask if Snape was marrying his father or not. He was quite perturbed by the idea of his godmother becoming a Potter.
“Yes, most likely.” She muttered, flipping a page. “Though James keeps talking about taking us all up onto some distant mountain top once the baby is here, to avoid the tabloids. Keep us safe.”
Harry had heard him make similar jokes before, though those too had more weight to them than his father was likely letting on. Remus had once mentioned how James was still dealing with the trauma of losing Lily, of losing Harry's childhood – and now he had the fear of losing Harry again, losing a new love, a new child.
“You're having none of that, I'm guessing?” Harry asked, before noticing a scroll on the table.
“I told him I’d allow it as long as he didn't bring the mutt with him.” Snape huffed, putting her quill down. “I miss when Black hated me, at least then he wasn’t constantly trying to touch my stomach to feel the baby kick...”
Pregnancy was supposed to make people act oddly, but Harry had generally thought that was reserved for the mother. Her pregnancy had definitely made the people around Snape act out more than she did, which Harry found amusing. Sirius went from having multiple loud fights with James over his relationship with her, to fully embracing his role as Uncle. He’d already bought them all the baby supplies they could ever need. Plus extra toys. Snape threw away the toddler sized motorcycle immediately.
“What's that scroll?” Harry asked, realizing she wasn't as comfortable with the discussion. Snape suddenly glowered, unfolding it for Harry to see.
“It keeps insulting me – I suspect it’s from your father when he was in school.”
Harry perked up, pulling the paper forward. Surely enough, a message on the front said, ‘Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs would like to inform Ms Severus Snape that she would do best to point her egregiously large nose in another direction.’ Harry winced, reading it out in his head. The names gave it away.
“Why do you even like my dad?” Harry asked, mostly in jest, but he was honestly curious at what point their antagonism turned to something else. Or, had she loved him during it all, for some reason?
“Who can say...Well, now I can use this at least.” She said, sitting back in her chair behind the desk. “I think he'll buy me a new golden cauldron for that remark.”
Harry laughed as he looked over the paper more, before it clicked what he was looking at. “Oh, this is the map. My dad told me about this. He said they let it be confiscated, so the next generation of mischief makers could use it – but it shows the locations of everyone at Hogwarts.”
“Of course they had something like that,” She grimaced, pulling it towards her. “I always wondered how they knew how to avoid me and all the teachers…How does it work?”
“I think you had to say something…” Harry thought back to early summer, when they were still making over the shack. It was then that James had told him. They’d stayed up until dawn, just talking. Filling up years of lost time. James told Harry all about his mother, her potions skills, how he and Lily had fallen in love. How happy she'd been when they found out they were expecting. Big moments, mundane things from their lives. Harry was fond of those early morning talks, petting Mittens as the sun rose, leaning his head against his father’s shoulder.
“Oh! I solemnly swear I am up to no good.” Harry said, the words finally coming to him.
It came to life in an instant, unfolding it to reveal the entirety of the castle. The insult faded to structures of wall, scrolls of names across it. At Harry's end of it, he could see the dungeons, and smiled when he noticed both his and Snape’s name on it, right where they were. It was pretty incredible that it still knew everyone.
They looked it over for awhile, Harry pointing out the locations of ghosts, friends, secret passages his dad and godfathers hadn't told him about yet. Harry realized his professor hadn't said anything in a minute, and looked up to find her white in the face. She looked borderline terrified, frozen in place.
“Harry, does the map ever have mistakes?” She asked quietly, simultaneously pulling out her wand.
“…No, I…I don't think so?” Harry asked, feeling an unease settle over his body. “Dad said it showed everyone truthfully. Ghosts, even Animagi and people using polyjuice potion.”
She stood up, in what normally would have been a smooth transition, made awkward by a very large rounded belly. Her hand went to her stomach, holding it, which Harry rarely saw her do. It was protective, but it also showed how worried she truly was.
“We need to go, right this minute. We're going to the Shack.” She grabbed up the map, and grabbed Harry’s arm, pulling him along not too gently.
“Why?” Harry asked in confusion, but following none the less. He trusted her. “What did you see?”
She didn't say anything, just walked all quickly as they could up the stairs, to reach the Whomping Willow. As soon as they were inside the passage way, she breathed a small sigh of relief and turned, muttering a long series of charms and spells. Harry didn't recognize a single one of them, more advanced than anything he'd ever heard before.
As soon as they were in the house, she moved quickly to find James – he, and Remus and Sirius were also in the living room. They tended to come over when Harry was in school, and when Snape would be gone until the night.
“Sev-“ James started to greet her, but the initial happiness he had at her being home early was cut off quickly. He seemed to gauge something was wrong and stood with his wand in hand. The other two men followed suit, with Remus even going behind Snape and Harry to watch the entrance they'd come from.
“What’s wrong?” James asked, pulling her forward. “What's going on? Are you alright? The baby? Is Harry alright?”
She shoved the map into his chest. “Is this ever wrong?! Does it ever make mistakes?!”
James looked confused for a moment, before realizing what had been given to him“...The Marauders map? No, not that I know.”
“I've never seen it make a mistake.” Remus added. “There's things we didn’t include, places we didn’t ever fully discover. We left off junior and senior titles too, but I've never seen it get a name wrong.”
“Peter Pettigrew is on that map. Right now.” Snape said sharply, jabbing her finger into the parchment. “He was coming down the stairs, towards the dungeons.” Snape said, and Harry froze, realizing why she’d been so panicked and why she'd taken an odd way out of the castle.
James’ expression had become unreadable as he pulled the map up to inspect for himself.
Then, he crushed it in his fist. “I'll kill him.”
Harry felt a chill run down his spine, not doubting for a moment that his father meant the threat with total seriousness. It scared him a bit.
“He's probably in his Animagus form, I’d wager.” Remus said, his expression similarly grim.
“And he knows about the Shack.” James snapped at him, looking angrier than Harry had ever seen.
“I blocked the entrance.” Snape told them. “But I don’t know if he knows any other ways in, there might be ways in I couldn’t seal if he’s a rat.”
“You three need to leave,” Sirius said, taking a step forward and putting a hand on James’ shoulder. It was the calmest and most resolute Harry had ever seen his godfather.
“I'm not-“
“James.” Sirius said with more sincerity in his voice than Harry would have thought possible. “You have a baby on the way. You have a son. You have her. Get out of here. Remus and I will catch the rat for you, you know we can.”
James didn't say anything for a minute, practically shaking with anger. Harry didn't want to say anything, because Harry too felt part of what he was feeling, that was what scared him. Anger, fury, rage. Peter Pettigrew was the reason his mother was dead.
“…James,” Snape spoke quietly, which snapped James’ attention onto her. “...I don't want to lose you again. I can't, I don't think I... I'm not...”
His fury broke in an instant, and he pulled her forward in a tight hug. “I know. I know. I'm here. I won't leave you.”
Sirius had gotten them out of the Shack safely. Dobby and the Black family’s house elf Kreacher were on the defensive, making certain not even an insect could enter the house uninvited.
Harry found himself sitting on the bed he didn't recognize, under the roof of Grimmauld place. His father was downstairs with Snape still, maybe comforting her - or maybe it was the other way around. He didn't think any of them would get much sleep until they heard from Sirius or Remus.
After a long time of not being able to sleep, Harry got off the bed and padded down the stairs until he found them. James had his arms around her, running his hand up and down her back, with her face in the crook of his neck.
“Dad?” Harry asked. James looked up, his eyes a bit red like he'd been crying. He silently held out a hand to Harry.
Harry never really felt like a child much, always treated as a nuisance by the Dursleys, and then the wizarding world never really saw him as a boy – an icon, a savior only.
This time he just wanted his dad to tell him everything would be okay.
James pulled Harry against his other side and held them both close to him until the sun rose.
Sirius arrived in the morning to tell them that Peter Pettigrew had not survived capture.