Chapter Text
Number four, Privet Drive was prided on by most of its occupants for its utterly unremarkable appearance. Not one blade of the lush green lawn was out of place, not one sky blue or dusty pink petal wilted on the perfectly pruned hydrangeas despite the abnormal heatwave.
That's why the sight of a long haired man in dark billowing robes of the blackest night standing on the lawn of the ordinary house caused the curtains of the neighbouring windows to twitch, beady hawk like eyes glimmering through the dainty white eye-lace.
Severus Snape glared in contempt at the house with a derisive sneer curling at his lips. Of course, Petunia would live in such a place, he thought. He trod on the well-kept greenery up to the ordinary black door. His uncommon attire snapped around his ankles as he crossed the grass briskly. The Hogwarts professor was determined to get this over and done with so he could go back to devising the most horrible lesson plans he could imagine for his unfortunate students.
He rapped sharply on the front door. Snape huffed in aggravation as the seconds ticked by agonizingly slowly while he waited for someone to answer the door. The day was unusually hot for England in early August, a heatwave haven hit earlier in the week suddenly and unexpectedly.
Despite looking unruffled, Severus felt suffocated in his teaching robes. But his feet didn't move from the concrete step they stood on. He rationalized his lack of movement with the fact that Albus asked him to check up on the brat since Hagrid was indisposed.
The door finally swung open into the blissfully shaded hallway of the house, moving Snape's increasingly deepening scowl onto one Dudley Dursley, freeing the poor door of his splintering glare. Snape now knew what had taken him so long to get to the door. His dark scrutinizing eyes roamed over the Hulk of a boy in front of him, zooming in on his wobbling chins and massive frame that took up most of the doorway. He surmised tha t it must be Dudley .
Dudley's tiny eyes squinted even more as he frowned at the glowering man. "Who are you?" He demanded rudely before taking a chunk of the giant ice lolly clutched in one meaty paw.
"I am here to see Harry Potter." Snape drawled. His lip curled up in disgust at the name. He already knew what he would encounter; a carbon copy of Dudley with an ego almost as big as his father's, inflated to match his physique with cocky, attention seeking notions of being the 'Chosen One'.
Dudley froze, his piggy eyes widening dramatically, a slight glimmer of fear shining in their dark depths before his face set into that expression of grim, taunting resolve only children can make. "MUUUUUM!" He yelled.
The bony body of Petunia Dursley came hurtling out of the living room immediately at speeds thought of being impossible for the prim and proper woman.
"What's wrong Diddums ? Tell Mummy." She simpered pathetically. She spared no glance for the extremely irritated man still standing in her doorway. Dudley cast a smug look at Snape before pointing at him.
"He's looking for Harry." He announced. Petunia finally looked up at him in polite irritation. Her pale eyes widened in recognition.
"You!" She uttered an involuntary shriek. One thin hand flew up to her open mouth as the other latched onto the sideboard for support.
"Petunia." Severus bit out as Vernon came thumping along to join the menagerie crowding the entrance.
"What's going on?" He barked. His piggy little eyes,which bore such a strong resemblance to the mini-Vernon at the head of the trio, bugged out of his head when he locked onto Severus. His face turned puce at the sight of the wizard robes.
"Who-who is this?!" He bellowed angrily.
"This is him. Lily's friend." Petunia choked out. "I thought he was in prison." Vernon rumbled in confusion.
"No this is that boy she met when we were kids." She hissed.
"Snape!" She declared in triumph, as if remembering his name was an Olympian feat. Vernon's complexion turned from puce to an even deeper burgundy. Severus idly wondered if he would implode.
Dudley looked between each parent in worry, anxious that his threat of calling his parents didn't work. "M-mum?"
"Go into the sitting room Dudley." Vernon snapped. He was taken aback at his father's tone, disbelief written clearly on his face.
He couldn't comprehend the sharp tone his usually doting parents took with him. One quick nod from his mother had him scowling and waddling back into the living room, already plotting to take his anger out on his cousin. Plotting is probably too kind a word, Dudley's brain probably wasn’t even capable of thinking hard enough to plot.
"Leave my house now." Vernon hissed as soon as his son was out of earshot. "We don't want your kind here."
Snape sneered in distaste. "Don't worry, I shall not remain here any longer than in necessary." He droned, thinly veiled hatred dripping from every syllable he uttered. "I'm merely here to see Harry."
Vernon seemed to swell up before him with righteous anger, but his wife flew off the broom handle before he did.
"He is not going to that freak school!" She snarled in a burst of ferocity. Her thin body trembled with the effort of curtailing her emotions. Vehemence exuded from every pore in her body, creating an even tenser atmosphere as the malevolent auras of each person in the small triangle mixed to form a suffocating bubble of impetuosity and hatred.
Snape tsked and pulled out his wand, pointing it discreetly at the now terrified adults. "I'm sure you know what this is." He said softly, a glimmer of something dark and wild in his narrowed eyes.
Petunia gasped in horror and latched onto a constipated looking Vernon. Feeling affronted, but unable to do anything about it, the man's veins looked ready to pop out under the stress of biting his tongue. Severus took a step forward and the Dursley's scrambled back from him.
They crowded up the stairs to stay as far away from the menacing man as possible while keeping an eye on the innocent-looking stick in his pale hands. Their paralyzing fear of what they simply could not understand left the couple frozen on the stairs without any regard or passing thought for their son's safety. Their fear and hatred were so consuming it left room for nothing else.
Snape strode purposefully through the living room, sparing only a cursory glance around the room. He ignored the petulant Dudley wedged into the armchair and shoved open the pristine kitchen door harshly before halting as quickly as he burst in.
Harry stared up at Snape fearfully, Lily's exact emerald eyes almost covered by his unruly black hair and wide like those of a deer frozen in headlights. Snape could only stare in shock. His previous unfair misconceptions of the child smashed like a mirror into jagged pieces that cut him to his very core.
The little boy in front of him looked to be no more than eight or nine. Baggy clothes enveloped him, drowning his miniscule frame in their numerous folds. The sleeves of his three times too big jumper were rolled up to his shoulders to stop them from flopping over onto the too big yellow rubber gloves that reached up to his elbows.
Severus had a sickening feeling that most clothes would be too big on the poor boy.
His trousers were precariously in place by a belt cinched to an extra hole obviously by someone other than the manufacturer, but the legs still puddled onto the stepping stool he stood on. They completely obscured his feet. He quickly drew his small hands out of the soapy water in the sink, whatever dish he had been washing falling to the bottom of the sink with a dull thud. Both man and boy stared at each other in silence.
What seemed like hours was only seconds and Severus quickly analysed the situation, recognising the blatant signs of abuse in front of him. C hanging his demeanour at the flick of a wand into something less confrontational , he crouched down slightly to match Harry's height.
"Hello Harry, my name is Severus. I was a friend of your mother's."
At the mention of his mother, Harry whipped around to meet Severus’ eyes .
"I'm here to take you to school, if you would like to go." He continued. Harry perked up slightly. His bright green eyes glinted with intrigue behind his messy bangs.
"School?" He asked.
Severus nodded. "Would you like to go?"
Harry nodded and cautiously sidled up to Severus, keeping a safe distance between them but close enough so that he could lower his voice.
"Does that mean I'm leaving the Dursley's?" He asked anxiously, fiddling with the rubber gloves as they dripped water onto his jumper. Severus eyed a welt on his accentuated cheekbone with thinly veiled anger, schooling his features when Harry took a step back.
"I will make sure you never have to come back here again." He vowed.
Harry beamed suddenly, stunning Severus with his joy. "Thank you! I promise to be good. I'm really good at cleaning." He added quickly.
Bitterness spread through Severus like a virus infecting him with its malignance. He roused himself from his dark thoughts and stood up stiffly. "Go get your things." He said not unkindly. Harry shuffled out of the room quickly, not wanting to anger Severus by going too slow.
Severus adjusted his robes before striding out of the room quickly. He made a beeline for Vernon who had finally thought of his son and had hurried into the living room.
The gorilla jumped up from his spot on the couch when he saw the angry man stalking toward him looking as dangerous as a coiled snake; ready to strike his prey. Severus snarled wordlessly, shoving the man against a wall, his wand digging into the fleshy expanse of his throat painfully.
"I ought to curse you where you stand." He hissed.
"That boy needed the freakiness stamped out of him! I will not tolerate abnormality in this household!" Vernon spat through clenched teeth. Sweat beaded on his large forehead and his eyes darted around as frantically as those of a rabbit caught in a trap.
Snape sneered, making the older man gulp. "What a shame." He said with a calm tone of voice that sent cold shivers down Vernon's spine. He shoved him away, repulsed by the very sight of the poor excuse of a man.
Before he disappeared through the door, he shot a hex at Dudley. The boy shrieked and clasped his behind where a curly pig's tail had magically sprouted. Vernon roared as Petunia burst out sobbing in horror for her poor son.
Snape stood waiting by the front door ignoring the shouts and wails shaking the walls. A familiar mop of black hair peeked out from a cupboard door that Severus hadn't paid any heed to before. Spotting the startled professor, Harry scurried over to him after closing the door carefully behind him. He clutched only a small blue blanket that Severus recognised as the one he had sent to Lily after she had written to him of her pregnancy.
"Is that all you own?" He asked, swallowing against the tight ball of emotion in his throat when Harry nodded. "Why were you in the cupboard Harry?"
Harry looked confused. "I live there." He stated simply. "Aunt says I misbehave and that's where misbehaving children go."
Severus couldn't hide the flash of anger that crossed his face. Harry waved his hands quickly. "I don’t misbehave any more though, I swear! I'm just a bit clumsy. "
A list of harmful potions began compiling itself in Severus' head. "I'm sure you will." Severus said tightly , completely losing track of the conversation in his effort to not curse Vernon where he stood . He opened the door and motioned for him to step out.
Harry made his way outside tentatively and sighed contentedly when the sun hit his wan face. He breathed in deeply, unaffected by the heat.
"Are you ready?" Severus enquired quietly after a moment. Harry nodded and began to smile when a frown tugged at the corners of his lips.
"Someone walked on my grass." He said sadly. With a pang of guilt, Severus waved his wand and the footsteps in the short grass immediately vanished.
Harry stared at him, agape. "How did you do that? What's that stick?" He asked warily. Severus stared at him in a rare show of shock.
"Do you mean to tell me you know nothing of wizardry?"
Harry shook his head.
"Hogwarts?"
He shook his head again.
"Your parents?"
Another negative shake of his head.
Merlin, Severus was going to kill those muggles.