Chapter Text
“Dad, please?”
“Absolutely not.”
There were a number of times Severus Snape questioned his ability to be a father (once or twice on a good day). There wasn’t a moment that he didn’t doubt he could raise Harry Potter (the fact that he had to give his son Potter’s surname was painful enough without people believing it so easily).
And there were moments, like this, when he wanted to drown himself in a stiff drink and lock himself in his workshop.
Harry had been asking (read: pleading, whining, begging) to stay in the Gryffindor dormitory for an evening. While Severus never faulted Harry for his red and gold tie (how could he be anything but Gryffindor? He was so much like his mother…), he had insisted that Harry be kept in a private dorm connected to his quarters.
As far as the school was concerned, it was because of Harry’s high risk nature as being the Dark Lord’s number one target. Let them think what they wanted, Severus wasn’t going to let Harry out of his sight for a moment. Not after losing Lily…
“Dad.”
Severus looked up from his glass of Ogden’s. Harry had moved from his seat and was now leaning over the arm of Severus’s chair, “Dad, please. It’s a Halloween party, and I want to spend it with my friends.” He nodded, “I thought it would be fun…it’s just one night. Please?”
Harry was giving him that look. It was the same look Lily would always give him, her green eyes so wide and pleading. How many times had Severus seen that look on Lily’s face and known he would have given her the world if she had asked for it?
He had never been able to tell those eyes “No.”
Sighing heavily, Severus nodded, “Alright. You may stay spend the night in the dormitories.”
Harry’s face nearly split in half with how wide his smile was, “Thank you!” He launched himself into Severus’s arms, hugging him tightly.
In that moment, Severus could still pretend that Harry was the seven year old he rescued from Lily’s thrice cursed sister, that he was the child who was overjoyed to learn he had a father (even if he couldn’t tell anyone), and the child who thought Severus was his hero.
It had only been four years, but with Harry in his 1st year, Severus was already learning that he would have to learn to share Harry with the rest of the world.
Even if they didn’t deserve him.