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Dumbledore POV:
That bitch was being a nuisance once again. Why couldn’t Arabella just shut her trap and accept that the boy needed to stay with his family? So what if he had scrapes and bruises, why couldn’t she just see it as kids being kids? He told Vernon to stop being so obvious about it but no the big lug just had to bruise the boy’s arms. And Arabella! Threatening to expose him for neglect if he didn’t send someone to check on Potter? How dare she? 
Well, he supposed sending Severus wouldn’t be too bad. He hated the boy’s father after all and Albus knew how long the Potions Master could hold on to grudges.

Severus POV:
Oh gods. Here he was, doing the old fool’s bidding again. What did he look like, an errand boy? Why was he, Severus Snape, the youngest person to ever receive a Potions mastery and right hand man to old Voldy himself, being tasked to check up on the brat? Was Dumbles getting too old and deluded to give Severus, of all people, this task?

Severus stalked down Privet Drive angrily, cloak swishing behind him, looking every bit like the bat his students likened him to, grumbling unhappily to himself the whole time. How was he supposed to know what to do with a 5 year old anyway? The only reason he even knew the boys age was because the anniversary of the Dark Lord’s death was recently celebrated. Oh, the boy better not be an insolent brat just like his father was. 

Severus stopped in front of the Dursley’s door and knocked three times. It sounded quite ominous, which pleased him greatly. A pudgy little ball of fat, which looked to be a mini humpback whale opened the door amidst hollers from inside.

“Duddekins, wait for Mummy before you open the door!” Petunia Dursley née Evans yelled while making her way to the open door.

Severus sneered at the horse of a woman and drawled “Why hello Tuney, how great to see you again”, his voice dripping in sarcasm.

She shrieked and pushed the lump that she called a son behind her. “You! What are you doing here? I don’t want anything to do with your kind! Get out of here!”

Severus rolled his eyes and skirted around them into the house, saying “Oh shut it won’t you, I’m just here to check on Potter. Speaking of which, where is the boy?” Petunia squeaked and directed Severus to the front room, spouting some excuses about fetching the boy. She left the room in a flash and Severus heard the sound of a key ring jingling and a door banging open, followed by the low tones of Petunia whispering. Wondering what in the blazes was going on and where Potter was, he tried to leave the front room. He was however stopped by the beach whale of an 5 year old trying to climb up on him, as if he was a jungle gym. He pried the child off of him and focused his attention on the door, hearing a quiet sniffling sound.

Petunia was guiding mini Potter into the room, and Severus, expecting him to look much like his whale of a cousin, was surprised to see a tiny little boy no bigger than a 3 year old. The fact that he was huddling in on himself, terrified, did nothing for his size either. Severus instantly went on alert, seeing his size, the way he was acting, and the overall demeanour of the boy. What was supposed to be a ‘routine’ check up on the boy had clearly and very quickly turned into something much more serious. Being in Slytherin when he was at Hogwarts had made him very aware of what abuse and neglect looked like, and he had learnt to recognise the signs of it. He had been somewhat of a big brother when he was a student there, though students were much older than Potter of course. However, Severus saw something else in the boy. He saw himself at 2, huddling under the bed, trying to get away from a drunk Tobias. He saw himself turning 4, getting beat black and blue by Tobias after his first occurrence of accidental magic. He saw himself at 7, clenched in a ball and Tobias standing over him, belt in hand.

Taking a deep breath to calm his racing heart and keep his simmering fury at bay, he immediately decided that the boy was the priority in this situation. Severus was going to do something about this child, Lily’s child. She would never have allowed this to happen. Severus then realised that for the child, he was going to have to drop his ‘scary professor’ persona and be… gentle.

“Hello Mr Potter. My name is Severus Snape. There is no need to be frightened child, I merely wish to speak to you. Would that be alright?” He asked as nicely as Severus Snape, the evil bat of the dungeons was able to. The little boy looked up with shining emerald eyes (Lily’s eyes) and nodded once, immediately looking down at his filthy shoes again. That was enough for Severus and he ‘politely’ asked Petunia to leave with Dudley, the great lump who had plopped himself on the sofa, taking up three quarters of it.

Now alone with Potter, Severus realised that he needed to make him comfortable and less terrified of everything. Wondering when the last time Potter ate, he decided that the fist order of business was to get some food into the tiny little thing. He ushered Potter into the kitchen and said “Now, what would you like for lunch, Mr Potter? Um you can eat normal food can’t you? I have to admit I’m a little unclear on what little humans can and cannot eat.” That elicited a little giggle from Potter and lead to him passionately pleading his case, “Of cos’ I can eat nomal food! And I not little, imma big boy!” Then, more tentatively, he looked up at Severus from underneath his bangs (gods he really needs a haircut) and hesitantly said “Um can I have a san’wich please Mista Snape?” He then quickly added “But, but if it’s too much t’ouble, I don need an’thing! Freaks don des’rve food.”

Severus’s ice cold heart warmed while simultaneously breaking a little, feeling for the child, who had obviously been withheld food. Deciding to deal with the ‘freak’ comment at a different time, Severus knelt down in front of him and said “Of course you can get a sandwich. I promise that it’s all yours and you can eat as much of it as you want, okay? And you know what? You can even get a whole cup of milk to go along with the meal.” Potter let out a little gasp at that, eyes shining, and smiled the biggest grin ever. He exclaimed “Fank you Mista Snape! Fank you v’ry much!” Severus’s heart broke even more at seeing the boy marvel at the thought of getting his own food.

Potter stood in the corner of the kitchen quietly while Severus prepared the sandwiches. He obediently fetched the things needed, or informed Severus where they were kept. Once done, Potter helped to set the table and they finally sat down to their meal, the first complete one that he was going to have in god knows how long. Sitting down in front of his plate, Potter got even quieter and suddenly withdrew into himself. He seemed frightened to even touch the food. Severus sighed internally, realising the impact of the Dursley’s actions was greater than he anticipated, and informed the boy that it was completely fine to eat the sandwich. After that reassurance, Potter inhaled the first half of the sandwich, sitting on his knees to get better access. With an amused tilt to the corner of his mouth (it wasn’t a smile, goddammit), Severus said “Do slow down, Mr Potter. That sandwich is not going to grow legs and run off your plate.” Severus leaned back and watched as he giggled at the thought of that happening, feeling fondness for the boy creeping up on him.

After getting some food into the boy, it was time for Severus to finally get down to business [to defeat the huns]. It was time to get more information from Potter to figure out the extent of the abuse, as well as figuring out what was going to happen to the boy.

Severus cleared the table the muggle way, not wanting to use magic just in case. He wasn’t sure if Potter knew or remembered what magic was, what with the muggles being magic haters. He left the dishes in the sink and brought Potter to the living room, gesturing for him to sit on the sofa.

“Mr Potter, I would just like to have a chat with you about your family, and your life. Will you tell me what you do everyday?” Severus said, trying to get the boy to open up about his abuse, knowing that he might not even realise that he was being treated poorly. “Well, ever’day when I wake up, I clean the bafrooms. Then, I’ll make b’eakfast for Aunt, Uncle and Dudley. Then I go ‘tside to work in the garden, then do the chores. Then I make lunch. When Uncle come home, I make dinner and then go back to the cu’board.” Potter said this with a constipated expression on his face, clearly trying his best to remember what he does everyday.

This lead to Severus asking suspiciously “Go back to the cupboard? What cupboard?” Potter looked at him like he was an imbecile and said “The cupboard. Where Harry sleeps?” The innocent but odd reply incited Severus’s curiosity and he asked the boy to bring him to this mysterious cupboard. Potter willingly stood up and lead Severus through the corridor and stopped next to the stairs. Thinking that the boy was pulling he leg, he opened his mouth to say something, but then Potter pulled opened a door the he had previously failed to notice. He followed the boy into the room and felt his heart sink to the bottom of his chest.

“Harry’s cupboard. Where he sleeps.” They housed him in a fucking broom cupboard under the stairs?! As the realisation dawned on Severus and cold fury rose up in him, he ducked his head and entered the ‘room’. The miserable, desolate state of the room angered him even more, and he had to fight to keep a neutral expression, so as not to scare Potter. He scanned the room and his heart broke even more as he saw the tiny, broken figurines that passed as ‘toys’ and the little sign that declared the space “Harry’s Room”.

He examined the tiny cot that was supposed to pass as a bed and called Potter over. “Potter, do you know why you stay in this cupboard instead of a room upstairs? Are there only enough rooms for Dudley and his parents?” Potter looked confused as he replied “Um upst’rs there’s Aunt and Uncle’s room, Dudley’s rooms and th’ guest room. A-And Harry sleeps her b’cause f-freaks don’t d’serve rooms?”

“Dudley’s rooms?

“Yeah, one room for sleepys and his ‘ther room for  toys.”

Once again, Severus had to control his anger from showing on his face. That whale of a child had two bedrooms. Two! And here Potter was having to sleep in the broom cupboard. What the fuck was wrong with Petunia? He was fuming at how Lily’s son was being treated. How could Dumbledore allow this!?

He decided that he had to confront Petunia. How could she do this to a defenceless child? Was she so twisted that she would neglect and abuse her own flesh and blood? Sure she was jealous of Lily when they were children, and spiteful when she married Potter senior, but surely that couldn’t justify her actions, even to herself. He was bloody five years old! Severus knew that her actions were due to him being a wizard as well, looking at how ‘well’ she treated her whale of a son.

Leading Potter out of the depressing broom cupboard, he guided the boy onto the sofa and said “Wait here for a moment, I’ll just be popping upstairs to check on your aunt and cousin.” Potter, now content with a full stomach and a comfortable perch, had no objections. He would probably enter the land of nod as soon as Severus left the room.

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Severus steeled himself and went up the staircase, making his way to the room where he could hear sounds of life. He entered a room that looked to be the master bedroom, and saw Petunia and her son on the bed, watching TV. The lump had fallen asleep next to her, and didn’t even flinch when his mother jumped up and shrieked at Severus.

“How dare you enter my room without permission! Get out! Get out, I say!”

Severus rolled his eyes at how dramatic the woman was. “Oh do shut up Tuney. You follow me. We need to have a chat.”

When it looked like she was about to protest, he lazily lifted his wand and she immediately followed him out of he room. They took a seat in what Severus assumed was the guest room and Severus braced himself for stupidity.

Too worked up to beat around to bush, he glared at her accusingly and just said “How could you?”.

“What? That freak got what he deserved! We took him in out of the goodness of our heart, we clothed him and fed him! And what did we get in return? An ungrateful brat!”

Severus didn’t know what he was expecting, but nothing could explain away the abuse that Potter was going through. He decided that he was going to deal with her and her husband when he got home. He sighed and tied her up, sifting through her mind using legilimency. Feeling sick to his stomach, he confirmed everything Potter said and more. He then stunned her and cast a sleeping charm on Dudley, deciding to confront Albus next.

Severus went back downstairs to the living room, only to see Potter slumped on the sofa, snoring lightly. An unwitting smile crept up on his face, immediately turning into a scowl once Severus realised what the unfamiliar strain on his muscles was. He could not help himself however, when he manoeuvred the boy around so he was lying down. He laid a soft throw blanket over his tiny body and pushed the hair out of his face, regretting ever leaving him in the first place.

Looking at the clock, Severus realised that the boy’s Uncle would come home from work in a few short hours, according to the information that he had gleamed from Petunia’s mind. He was going to have his work cut out for him if he wanted to get the boy out safely, give the muggles what they deserve and deal with Dumbledore on top of it all. He put a silencing charm over Potter, predicting how heated it might get, and moved to the front room. He sent a quick patronus to the old man, briefly stating that there was a situation that required his presence.

Not two minutes later, the telltale crack of apparition could be heard, and a man in fuchsia robes and a bright purple wizard’s hat appeared in front of Severus. “Severus, you have requested my presence? What is the matter my boy? Surely you could have handled a routine check on young Harry.” Dumbledore said with mild confusion, clearly not noticing the boy on the sofa.

“Routine checks Headmaster? Routine? That would suggest that someone would have come to see him before. As you have reassured me that they have, multiple times. But you haven’t been checking on the boy, have you? For five years you left him to fend for himself. Five years!” Severus said with barely held back rage. As Dumbledore began to come up with an excuse, Severus broke and thanked the lords that he had the forethought to put a silencing charm over the still sleeping Potter. He yelled “He’s being abused Albus! Abused and neglected! How could you? How could you put a child in this situation when you know what I went through? Don’t, don’t even say that you didn’t know what the Dursley’s were like. I know Minerva warned you that they were the worst sort of muggles. And still you put him here. Lily’s child. I swore and oath Albus, an oath to keep him safe. How could you?” Severus turned around, burying his face into his hands as emotion threatened to overwhelmed him, the wave of anguish over the death of Lily hitting him as fresh as the day he found her laying on the ground.

Contrary to popular belief, he was not in love with Lily. In actuality, he was gay as a lark. Sure, he loved her, but he wasn’t in love with her. She was his sister in all but blood. She was the first person outside of his Mother to show him love and kindness. She was the only person to see him for who he was, flaws and all, and accept him despite them all. After their falling out in 5th year, Severus had eventually pulled his head out of his arse apologised to Lily. She had apologised too, stating a slight overreaction. By then however, he had already taken the dark mark and pledged himself to a madman, in a fit of madness after ‘losing’ Lily. They had rekindled their friendship secretly after the apology, and he had even attended her wedding. He still held a large amount of resentment for Potter sr. of course, but Lily understood that. He even visited the baby Potter, a few days after he was born. It was one of the very few times he saw the boy while Lily was alive. It was then, seeing Lily holding her son with a look of utmost adoration on her face, when he made an oath to her that he would keep her son safe ‘till his last dying breath (a little melodramatic but hey, there was a war going on).

Although Black was publicly named godfather when baby Potter was born, Severus was secretly named the godfather of the boy as well, by Lily. This was done so secretly that Severus didn’t even know about it until her will was released. By the time Lily’s will was read, Potter had already been placed at his aunt and uncle’s house, by Dumbledore of course. Severus had wanted to take the boy immediately and raise him just like Lily had wanted, but Dumbledore, the meddling old fool, had intervened. He told Severus that it was best to leave him with the Dursley’s, with what he thought was a stable home environment, with both a Mother and Father figure. Severus knew that the old man had an underlying reason for wanting the boy to stay with his muggle relatives, but he could not out-reason his old professor. Even Minerva tried to help but Dumbledore played into Severus’ insecurities, knowing that was scared of turning into his father. So, Potter stayed at the Dursley’s. Sure enough, Dumbledore had asked him to become a spy right after that, a double agent amongst death eaters to get information for the ‘light’ side. Dumbledore had also promised regular checkups on Potter, to ensure that the boy was in good hands and that he was receiving the best care possible. At least, that was what Dumbledore had promised.

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As these thoughts ran through his mind, he regained his composure and lifted his face out of his hands, glaring at Albus furiously.

“Now, my boy, I understand that you are upset. As you have every right to be. But you must understand that the boy must stay here. This is his family and there are blood wards that prevent harm from ever coming to Harry. You are obviously very upset due to your past with your father, but this is where he needs to be.” Dumbledore concluded with a ‘grandfatherly’ smile and the infuriating twinkle in his eyes.

This made Severus even more furious at the meddling old fool. “What the fuck is wrong with you Albus? How could you possibly say that? You say that the wards protect him from harm. Well how about the harm he faces daily, at the hands of his own family members? And bringing my father into this, Albus? That was a low blow, even for you.”

The twinkle slowly fading from his eyes, Dumbledore attempted some damage control. “Severus, my b-” he started off in a gentle tone.

“No! I am not your boy. And that boy in there, is my godson. He’s coming home with me, and he is never, ever coming back here again. I will make sure that he never hears of the Dursley’s again, much less sees them.”

Dumbledore dropped all pretence of his ‘grandfatherly’ demeanour and glared at Severus. However, he knew that the legal side of things would back Severus up and there was nothing he could do. Seeing Dumbledore opened his mouth to make more pathetic excuses, Severus turned on his heel and billowed back to the living room. Huffing angrily, Dumbledore apparated away with one last glare.

Severus took a seat on the sofa next to Potter, placing his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, gathering his thoughts. He hadn’t expected himself to get so emotional, so passionate about this child. Although, he supposed, he had been holding back resentment and anger towards the old coot from his Hogwarts’ days. As he was thinking back to all the times Albus had excused his childhood bullies, he heard the sound of keys jingling.

A sinister smile creeped up on his face. Dursley sr. was finally home. It was time for him to exact his revenge on them for all the things they put Potter through. He took one last glance at the little boy tucked cosily into the sofa, before leaving the living room.

As soon as he entered the house, Vernon Dursley went through a range of emotions, and his face turned many interesting colours to reflect it. First, he was confused at the man he saw in front of the door. Next, all colour drained from his face, thinking that he was about to get robbed.  Then he took in what the man was wearing, and he turned a lovely shade of bright red and purple as he realised that a freak was in his house!

As Vernon opened his mouth to let his ire known, Severus stunned the huge man and levitated him into the sitting room. He then used legilimency to delve into the mind of  the sick, twisted humpback whale disguised as a man. When Severus finally exited Dursley’s mind, he was almost sick right there on the carpet. This man, this deranged man, had found pleasure in abusing and neglecting the boy. He had enjoyed whipping him and beating him black and blue every single day for his whole life. Disgusted, Severus restrained him with magic and left the room, going upstairs. He levitated Petunia down the stairs, into the sitting room with Vernon and cast an incarcerous on her too. Severus reenervated both of them, and watched as they came to with expressions of confusion. In the horse, that expression quickly morphed into one of terror, as she realised that she was tied up and vulnerable. In the whale however, a sickening shade of puce slowly crept up his neck as his anger emerged. “YOU! WHA-”  All colour drained from his face as he talked, but no sound came out. Severus, who had cast a silencing spell on the big lump, raised his wand sinisterly.

“No. Shut up. You’ve had your chance to speak, to yell at the boy, for the entirety of his life. It’s about time you listen. How dare you treat my godson that way? How dare you abuse and neglect a defenceless child, who doesn’t even remember his parents? How dare you! You deserve to live in hell for what you’ve done. Unfortunately, I’ve chosen to take the legal route, which will let you off easy. But that does not mean I’m letting you off easy. You will suffer the same hurt you’ve put my godson through. You will starve as you starved him. You will feel every single thing you’ve done to him for the past five years.” Severus monologued like an evil villain in a muggle movie, before placing a curse on the couple. He made sure that they would suffer for the next five years, as Lily’s son had suffered. With that done, he called up the muggle police’s non-emergency hotline, to report the couple for child abuse.

Going back to the sofa, he decided to wake Potter up to prepare him for he situation that was sure to stress him out. He cancelled the silencing charm around the boy and was about to shake him, but decided against it. He remembered back when he had frequent nightmares about Tobias and would react very badly to anyone touching him. In light of this, he stood a little ways from the sofa and called out softly to him. As Severus expected, Potter startled and sat up abruptly, not used to falling asleep anywhere but his ‘room’.

“Welcome back Mr Potter. You’re fine, you’re in the living room, and your aunt and uncle are … indisposed at the moment. How do you feel?”

Potter blinked confusedly and looked around the room, confirming Severus’s words. He pressed himself deeper into the blankets and said timidly “Sorry I fell ‘sleep.”

“That’s alright Mr Potter, it is perfectly normal for someone of your age to have an afternoon nap once in a while. However, there is a reason that I woke you up. The way your aunt and uncle treat you is not right. No one should treat anyone that way, much less a child. I have made a report to the police, and they will be coming here to arrest them and take them away. I am telling you this because they may ask you some difficult questions. If at any point, it gets too much or too difficult, I want you to inform me, alright? You can stop anytime you want to. I’ll be right here, Mr Potter.” Severus intoned seriously. Potter’s eyes opened wide and he looked absolutely terrified. “N-no! Can’t tell ‘nyone! U-Uncle going t-to kill me!” Severus sat down next to him on the sofa and said gently, “It’s alright, Mr Potter. I will never, ever let them hurt you again. In fact, I wasn’t going to tell you this so soon, but I was a friend of your mother’s, and she named me your godfather. If you want to, I would like you to come live with me. It doesn’t have to be permanent of course, and you can always change your mind, but at least for today, you can come with me if you want to.” Severus waited for the boy’s reaction with bated breath, feeling nervous for the first time in years. He watched as the gears turned in Potter’s brain and he said “I, I don needa stay here? I can leave? Y-You not lying?”

“Yes Mr Potter, I would never lie to you.”

Potter gasped excitedly “Fank you, Mista Snape! Fank you so much!”

Just then, they heard a knock on the door and someone saying “Police! Open up!

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Potter shrank back into the sofa, terrified all over again, despite the forewarning that Severus had given him. Severus laid a reassuring hand on his shoulder and stood up, heading towards the door. At the last minute, he paused and turned to the boy “Would you like to follow me to the door to greet the police officers?” Severus offered, thinking that it might help to calm him down and show him that they were there to help. Potter considered his offer, steeled his resolve and untangled himself from the blanket. He stood up with a determined look on his face and gave Severus a sharp nod. Severus watched on amusedly as the boy made his decision and gestured him to follow along.

As they reached the door, the police officer banged impatiently on it once again. Severus sent one last reassuring look towards Potter and pulled the door open. There were two officers in uniform standing in front of the door, looking seriously at them. They looked down at Potter, and Severus saw in their expressions the moment they realised that this was going to be a rough night.

“Good evening. We received a report that there was a child being abused in this house. May we enter?” the female officer asked out of formality. Severus knew that even if he declined, they would most likely barge their way in anyway. He stepped aside to let them enter, and directed them to the room they had just vacated. As the two officers stood there looking expectantly at Severus, he asked Potter to take a seat and began to explain the situation.

“This here is the boy that is being abused and neglected. He has been living here with his aunt, uncle and cousin for 4 years, since his parents passed. I recently came here to check up on him and realised what abysmal conditions he was living in. He was housed in the broom cupboard under the stairs, which is just through there. He was put there in spite of there being two extra bedrooms upstairs. He has been starved and malnourished, now being the size of a 3 year old, at age 5. Lord knows what else he has been put through, but I have seen some bruises on his body and I know that uncle of his has a raging temper.” Severus detailed his observations with thinly veiled anger.

Shocked at how bad the situation was getting, the officers took a closer look Potter and their surroundings. “Okay, first thing’s first, where are his aunt and uncle? And we’re going to need proof that these things happened, of course. Child abuse is a serious allegation, and if what you said was true, you will need the proof to ensure that they end up in jail.”

Severus explained that he had detained Vernon and Petunia, pointing them to the sitting room while he remained with Potter. The officers were greeted with the sight of a very, very large man and a woman resembling a horse tied up together. Severus had ennervated them, just to keep up appearances for the police officers. Their eyebrows raised back up into their hairlines as they tried to figure out the logistics of tying up the whale of a man that was struggling to escape. As the accused abusers were detained for the time being, the officers decided to take a look around the house. Severus directed them to ‘Harry’s Room’, but refrained from entering and raising his already elevated blood pressure.

He sat back down on the sofa next to Potter, and realised the boy was still shaking like a leaf. Holding back a sigh, he realised that he only knew of one way to comfort him. He remembered how his mother used to comfort him when Tobias was in one of his many drunken rages. So, he approached Potter gently and drew the boy into his arms with careful, exaggerated movements. The boy tensed at the initial contact. However, once Severus stopped moving and hugged him, Potter all but melted into the embrace. Tentatively, Severus placed his hand on the child’s head and started stroking his hair gently, remembering how quickly it calmed him down. Potter snuggled deeper into his shoulder, and now it was the potions master’s turn to melt a little.

When Severus finally took his attention off the boy, he realised that the police officers had taken the liberty to look around the house. He could hear one set of heavy footsteps upstairs, and another one coming from the kitchen. He knew that whatever they saw would only serve to further confirm his story. Realising, that he had failed to inform the officers of Dudley slumbering upstairs, he made to put Potter down and stand up. However, the boy made a small little noise of displeasure, and Severus decided it was more convenient to bring him along (no, it was not because he couldn’t bear to put Potter down when he was being all cute and snuggly). He stoop up with the boy in his arms and made his way to the kitchen where he knew he would find an officer. Potter, on his part, startled a little when Severus lifted him up, but settled very quickly, enjoying the foreign feeling of being carried. Severus informed her of the sleeping child in the master bedroom and made his way back to the sofa with Potter safe in his arms.

After the officers finished examining the rest of the house (tiptoeing around a sleeping Dudley), they decided it was time for some questions. They went back down to the living room, where they saw the tall man cradling the boy in his arms. The officer in charge spared a soft smile for the touching scene, before clearing her throat. “Mister, we will be asking you a few questions now. We will be questioning the boy as well. To start off, what are your names?”

“I am Severus Snape, and this here is Harry Potter.” As Severus said this, he saw the male officer’s eyes widen dramatically. Severus concluded that he was either a squib or a wizard living as a muggle, to be surprised at the boy’s name. The female officer was unaffected however, and continue with her questions.

“Alright Mr Snape, you said that Harry here is your godson? Well then why did he end up here instead of with you?”

“During the time of his parents’ death, I was unavailable. The decision was made by other parties to place him with his relatives, where he would supposedly have two loving parents. When I found this out, I was told that he had settled into his new life and did not ant to cause anymore disruption.”

“Fair enough. Were you aware of his abuse? If not, how could you not be aware that your godson was being abused for four years?”

“I was being told that someone was checking up on him every few months. I believed that was true, and as I said, I had no desire to intrude on his new life. The only reason I came today was because I was told that no one else was available to do the checkup. I’m glad I did, as it has been made abundantly clear that no one was checking up on the boy, at least not thoroughly!” Severus replied passionately, only calming down when Potter shifted in his arms.

“Alright, Mr Snape. Now, Harry, I need to ask you some questions okay? Just answer them if you can. If you can’t, that’s alright.” The officer’s tone took a much gentler turn as she addressed Potter. “Do you like living here?”

The boy lifted his head and Severus turned him to face the officer, while still keeping the child on his lap. Potter hesitantly looked up and replied with a soft “No?”

“Where do you sleep?”

“In the cu’board.”

“What chores do you have to do around the house?”

“I clean toilets, cook, do garden work, hoover floors, clean ca’pets, make beds and tidy up ‘fter Dudley and Uncle.”

The officer’s face took on a sickly green colour as she asked more and more questions about the boy’s home life. On one occasion, she even had to step out and let the other officer take over. When she came back, she decided that it was time for one last question, realising how tired Potter looked.

“Harry, how do your aunt and uncle punish you?”

“N-no! H-Harry bad boy! No tell a-anyone!”

“Harry, your aunt and uncle are not here. They cannot do anything to you. And even if they do come, rest assured that I will protect you, child. It is alright to tell us, okay?” Severus stepped in as he saw how frightened the boy was.

Potter nodded shakily and grasped the fabric of his tattered, oversized shirt and stuttered out his reply. “U-Uncle hit H-Harry w-with b-belt when H-Harry be bad or w-when Harry be a f-f-freak. Aunty l-lock H-Harry i-in the c-c-cupboard and n-no food f-for Harry.”

After he said that, Potter turned around and tucked himself back into Severus’s arms, obviously indicating that he was done with the questions.

“Alright Mr Snape, we have verified that you are indeed his godfather and his legal guardian for now. I assume you want to take him home with you? If not, we can have someone from Child Protective Services come here to take him to an orphanage.”

“Of course I want to take him home with me, provided that is what he wants.”

When he was asked to choose from the two options, the boy simply replied with “Mista Snape”, muffled into Severus’s chest.

Severus smiled (he really needed to stop doing that) and lifted the boy into his arms. He decided he needed to talk to the male officer before anything leaked out to the press, and asked for a quiet word. Severus found out that the man was indeed a squib living as a muggle, and of course, knew of the famous Potter child. Severus ensured that the man would keep this confidential, as it involved the safety of a minor, and not just any minor at that. The man also promised him that the other inmates in jail would ‘somehow’ find out what the Dursley’s had done, and everybody knows what happens to child abusers in jail. Severus also asked him to watch over the Dursley’s child and get him into a proper home. He didn’t deserve to suffer for the actions of his parents, annoying as he may be.

With that, Severus deemed it was time to head home after the long and emotional day Potter had. Well, he supposed Harry now. After all, he was the boy’s legal guardian for the foreseeable future.

Chapter Text

Severus left the god forsaken house with a pep in his step and Harry tucked safely in his arms. He walked for about ten minutes before realising the predicament he had put himself in. There was really no feasible way to get this house through muggle means. They either had to floo there, or apparate. Which means … he had to tell the boy about magic. Sighing, he thought about how to break it to him gently, without traumatising Harry and/or discrediting himself.

“Harry, have you ever done something weird they you can’t explain?”

“Like… g’ow awl my hair back at n’ght or make ouchies go bye bye? Freakish tings?”

Severus frowned at the reminder of his abuse. “Yes, exactly like that. The things you can do does not make you a freak, Harry. I can do those things too, in fact, many people have those abilities. What your aunt and uncle didn’t tell you is that yer a wizard ‘arry.”

The boy tensed, and when Severus stayed silent, Harry shifted in his arms and looked up at the Potion Master’s face. He looked very serious, and Harry didn’t know what to think.

“Not ‘lowed to lie Mista Snape, I’m nota wizard.”

“Understand this Harry, I will never lie to you. You are indeed a wizard, as am I. And so were your parents, as a matter of fact.”

He gasped. “Then why’d they die in car c’ash?”

Severus knitted his eyebrows together. “Harry, did your aunt and uncle tell you that? They fed you lies. Your mum and dad did not die in a car crash. I don’t think your father has ever actually been in a car anyways. But, that is a story for another day. For now, I am just telling you that I am a wizard, and I am going to use magic to bring you to my house. What I’m going to do is called apparation. This can take us from one place to another very quickly, almost like teleportation. It may be a little uncomfortable, and you may feel like you’re being squeezed through a very small tunnel, and that you can’t breathe. However, that feeling is going to pass very quickly, and all you need to do is hold on tight to me and don’t let go. Is that alright?”

Harry nodded his consent and clung on tightly to the tall man. Severus pressed the boy tight to his chest and thought of home.

Harry’s breath was sucked out of him as he felt like he was being squeezed through a tiny tube. In an instant, the feeling was gone and he felt his senses come back to life, hearing the sound of a roaring fire. He felt the need to vomit and pushed away from the Potions Master in the nick of time. He turned his head and spewed his lunch all over the floor. Severus rubbed the boy’s back as he vomited, forgetting that some people had the tendency to feel nauseous after apparating.

“Flopsy! Fetch me a stomach calming draught, if you please.”

“Alright, coming!”

Flopsy came back wth the required potion in less than a minute, before Harry had even finished vomiting.  Once Harry finally had a break, Severus poured the potion down his throat, and the green tint disappeared from the boy’s face. Harry breathed hard as he looked around for the first time since they reached. His eyes widened comically as he spotted a small, wrinkled looking creature, with ears bigger than his own face. Flopsy had not yet left, curious about the person Severus was fretting over.

Severus chuckled internally, seeing the boy’s expression.

“Harry, this is my house elf. Her name is Flopsy. They are very common in the Wizarding World, and they help us cook, clean and do other things around he house. In return, they are bonded to witches and wizards, and they feed off our magic. Flopsy here is a little different than most elves, but I’ll tell you about it some other time”

Harry nodded dumbly, still shocked by the house elf’s appearance, and stood up from where Severus had set him down. Severus took pity on the poor boy, and sent Flopsy away with instructions to prepare a room for Harry.

“Come, Harry. It is getting quite late and I think some dinner would not be amiss.”

Harry followed the potions master, still slightly in shock. He trailed slowly behind Severus, taking in his surroundings and feeling overwhelmed by everything. Severus led Harry to the dining room and asked Flopsy to bring them some soup, bread and a glass of milk for the boy.

After a light dinner, Severus gave Harry a short tour of the 2nd floor, showing him the facilities and where Severus’s room was located. Then, he brought Harry to the room Flopsy had prepared for him and opened the door. Harry gasped as he saw the size of the room, and the gigantic bed.

“Dis my room?” Harry asked, voice coloured in awe.

Severus smirked at the boy’s reaction and merely nodded. Harry stumbled into the room disbelievingly and stopped right in front of the bed.

“Wow, fanks, Mista Snape” Harry whispered.

“Come now, Harry. It is high time you went to bed. And seems only fitting that you call me Severus, don’t you think? I am your godfather after all.” Severus said fondly to the boy.

Harry nodded dumbly at him, tiredness creeping into his actions. Severus gave the boy pair of his own shrunken down pyjamas (they would need to go clothes shopping soon) and directed him to the bathroom. “Now, Harry, will you be alright on your own, or do you need my help to wash up and get ready for bed?”

Harry assured him of his independence, so Severus left him to his own devices and got ready for bed himself. He pulled a nightgown over his pyjamas and went to check on the boy.

He walked in to see Harry bundled up in bed, only a tuft of hair to be seen. Severus looked at the boy he was becoming more and more fond of, a smile creeping up on him (not again!). “Why don’t you look as snug as a bug in a rug.” A giggle escaped as the boy popped his head out from the blankets. “The bed is sooo comf’table Mist- um Sev-rus! Fank you!” Severus pushed all the negative thoughts out and sat on the bed, looking at the boy. “Well, only the best for my godson hmm? Alright now, best you get to sleep. Goodnight Harry.” He brushed the boy’s hair off his forehead and pulled his blanket up underneath his chin. “Ni-night Sev-rus.”

Chapter Text

"No, n-no please! Harry be g-good boy! N-No m-m-magic!"

Severus startled awake to an ear piercing scream coming from the room next to his. He rushed out of bed, grabbed his wand and sprinted to Harry’s room. He brandished his wand around the dark room, looking for the intruder he was sure was there, for what else could’ve made the boy scream so hauntingly? The room was however, empty, aside from the tiny figure on the floor, tangled up in his blankets. Harry was whimpering and convulsing, making it clear to Severus that the cause of his terror lied in the boy’s head instead. Alarmed at the intensity of the boy's nightmare, he tried to wake him.

"Harry, it's me Severus. You're at Prince Manor with Flopsy and I. Your aunt and uncle are locked away and cannot do anything to hurt you. It’s alright, child, I will not allow any harm to befall you." Severus intoned in a soothing voice, while keeping his distance, not wanting to scare the already terrified boy.

Harry calmed down after hearing the potions master's voice and stared at him with wide eyes, still drenched in sweat. “There, are you back with me now?” The boy nodded jerkily, tracking every movement Severus made and still shaking like a leaf in the fall. With careful, exaggerated movements, Severus came closer to the child and knelt down beside him.

"Did you have a nightmare, Harry?" A nod.

"Would you like to talk about it?" A head shake.

"It can help to talk about it, child." A more frantic head shake.

Severus sighed and called for Flopsy, who was already waiting outside the door, awoken by Harry’s screams as well. She blinked at him sleepily as he asked her to get a vial of children's dreamless sleep. He had many clients with children, who apparently had nightmares from time to time, so he always kept some stocked.

While she fetched the potion, Severus urged Harry back up onto his bed, in a sitting position. Flopsy arrived back with a small vial, yawned and waved goodnight with a small smile at Harry, who just stared at her with wide, haunted eyes.

"Harry, this is a potion that will help you sleep without any nightmares. It is not something you can take too often, as it can make you dependent on it. However, I will allow it sometimes, alright?"

The boy nodded, still too out of it to fully process whatever Severus was saying. He trusted the potions master enough however, to open his mouth and swallow down the potion without any qualms. Severus had measured half a dose, enough to put the boy to sleep for 4 hours, seeing as it was just about 5am. That way, he would be awake when Flopsy usually has breakfast ready, at 9am sharp.  As the too-small boy drifted off to sleep, he pulled the covers over him and sighed. How he wished he had never listened to Dumbledore and spared this child from those monsters. He then retired to his room and attempted to fall back asleep.

Severus gave up 20 minutes later, feeling exhausted yet unable to sleep. He decided it would be best to get moving. Firstly, he set an alarm on his wand for 10 minutes before the boy was supposed to wake up. Then, he took a shower and got ready for the day as he ran through the things he would need to do, now that he had a five year old under his care.

He would need to get him some clothes first and foremost, the hand-me-downs he had from that whale of a cousin were dreadful. He would get the boy some toys, he would need to keep the boy occupied somehow. Oh, he could get some books too! Yes, he could indoctrinate him into becoming a Slytherin and have that old coot throw a tantrum. How delightful. He could also get a training wand for the boy, but that might be too soon. Hmm would the boy need spectacles like his arse of a father? Maybe they could go get an eye checkup… what was he thinking?! The first order of business should be getting the boy checked out! He had so many injuries that could affect him in the long run, not to mention those hurting him right now! Oh, he was an idiot.

Severus floo called the only medical professional that he knew specialised in children and could be trusted to be discreet. Madam Pomfrey answered the call with a smile. “Severus! What a surprise. I haven’t heard from you since you were developing an advanced version of children’s dreamless sleep! I daresay it works like a charm. Puts my granddaughter right off to sleep it does. Now, to what do I owe this pleasure? Are you developing another new potion?”

“No Madam (Severus please, it’s Poppy!), I have landed myself in a situation where I could use your help. There is a boy who requires a medical checkup and I would only trust you to keep his identity a secret. Would you mind? I do have to warn you though, that the situation he was in before I got him out was… not ideal.”

Of course, Madam Pomfrey agreed to come over, and they decided on 10am. It would give Harry enough time to eat breakfast and mentally prepare himself for her presence.

After the call, Severus still had a little over an hour before Harry awoke. He decided to make his way downstairs to work on some potions for his clients, seeing as he would likely be busy for the next few days. When the timer went off, Severus straightened up, stretching out his back and heard cracks, a result of being bent over the cauldron for so long. He distributed the completed potion into individual vials and hurried out of his potions lab.

He went up and entered Harry’s room and watched fondly as the boy woke up from his potion-induced slumber. He blinked blearily up at Severus, clearly still out of it. “Good morning Harry. I would ask if you had a good sleep, but we both know that’s redundant isn’t it?” Severus said, while pulling out a set of day clothes from the cupboard and shrinking it down to the tiny boy’s size. Harry stared at him uncomprehendingly, unable to process big words at 9 in the morning.

“Up you get now. Flopsy will have breakfast ready for us soon. I asked her to have it ready by quarter past 9 for you, though we usually have it at 9. After that, I do have some news for you.” Harry nodded and clambered out of bed clumsily, making his way to the bathroom. Severus waited in his room ‘till the boy finished showering. He entered the room as he heard a frustrated huff, and saw the boy tangled up in the robes Severus had laid out. Chuckling, Severus helped him make sense of the item and showed him how to put it on.

“These are wizard’s robes Harry. Most people in the Wizarding World, including me, opt to wear this. However, you can choose to wear muggle clothing if you prefer it.”

“Muggle? Whassat?”

“Muggle are people who do not have magic. Like your cousin Dudley for example.” Severus said, avoiding bringing up his aunt and uncle. Harry nodded trustingly and made to leave the room.

“Hold on Harry, remember I said I had to tell you something? Well, I think you need a medical checkup. I have called someone to come over and have a look at your injuries. Is that alright?”

“Like a doct’r?”

“Yes, but we call them healers or mediwitches. The person who’s coming, her name is Madam Pomfrey, and she works with children, like you. She is a lovely woman, I think you’ll find.”

Harry looked up at Severus through his (too long) fringe “She nice? Not hurt me?”

“Yes, she’s very nice. She works at a school I used to attend. When I was there, she used to help me when I got hurt.” Severus reassured the boy.

Tentatively, he nodded in agreement. Severus let out a sigh of relief and led the boy downstairs to have some breakfast.

In the dining room, Flopsy had gone all out. She was excited that there was finally someone else to cook for and had filled the table with a buffet spread of breakfast foods. There were pancakes, waffles, fruits, eggs, bacon, porridge, baked beans, toast and that’s not even mentioning the condiments and spreads on the side. Harry’s eyes became the size of saucers as he took it all in. “Wow, tis amazin’ Flopsy!”

“Yes, thank you Flopsy. How every I do believe you went a little bit overboard. How on earth are the three of us going to finish all this food?” Severus said with a wry smile. Flopsy offered up a sheepish grin “…breakfast for lunch and dinner?”

With a chuckle, Severus sat down and gestured for Harry to do the same. Flopsy followed suit and sat opposite Harry. He had taken the seat to the left of Severus who sat at the head of the table.

“Now Harry, since it is your first day here, you may eat whatever you want, even though it may not be the best for you. Do take it slow though, I would hate for you to get sick, alright?” Having tensed when Severus started talking, Harry calmed down when he realised that Severus would allow him to eat, and whatever he wanted at that! He nodded happily and reached for the bacon, which he had never been allowed to eat. It tasted just as good as he always thought it would whenever he cooked for his aunt, uncle and Dudley. With that, he took a little of everything, only slowing down to take sips from his glass of milk.

Although loath to do so, Severus had to tell the boy to slow down after his second large helping of food. Knowing that he was withheld food and maybe even starved, Severus realised that eating the way he was would be a shock to the system and make the boy sick. He knew this from experience, coming from a poor family and attending the Hogwarts feast. He spent the entirety of his first night in the school vomiting his brains out into the communal toilet. After explaining this to him, Harry nodded with wide eyes and stopped eating, not wanting to waste all the food by vomiting it out.

Once Severus and Flopsy were done eating as well, the boys thanked her for the meal as she cleared the table, storing the leftovers away. Harry tried to help her, but she shooed him away, and Severus brought him to the sitting room where the floo was. He sat them down on the sofa and turned to face the boy. “Madam Pomfrey will be arriving here shortly. First, I need to introduce you to floo-ing. It is another method of travelling for us witches and wizards. You see the fireplace there, when we use floo powder and throw a handful in, the fire will turn green. That means it is safe to touch, and it can transport you to other fireplaces. For example, Madame Pomfrey will go to her fireplace at her home, throw some floo powder in and yell out ‘Prince Manor’, which is where we are. Then she will step in and she will be transported here. Do you understand?”

“But how? How the po’der make you t’anspot?”

“Well, it is a complicated concept that I will explain to you in the future, but for now, just know that the floo powder is magic Harry.”

“Oh ‘kay. So Madam Po-Po’f’rey will come ‘ere from the firep’ace?”

“Yes, exactly.”

Harry nodded his understanding and they sat quietly for a time, thinking intensely about flooing, before some bells near the fireplace chimed.

“Those bells are to notify me when someone wants to come through. That way, not anyone can just come in without my permission.”

Harry nodded, absorbing all the new information as Severus accepted the visitor in.

The roaring fireplace turned a bright neon green, and Harry watched in awe as a tall, matronly woman stepped out gracefully.

Chapter Text

“Good morning Severus, lovely to see you again! Ah, and you must be the young man Severus told me about. Hello there dear, what is your name?”

Harry peeked out from behind Severus and looked up. “I Harry. You Madam Po’f’rey?”

She chuckled at the adorable boy and the mispronunciation of her name. “Yes dear, but you can call me Poppy, hmm? Now why don’t you go take a seat while I have a little chat with Severus here, alright?”

Harry nodded agreeably, immediately taking a liking to the woman. He plopped himself down, watching the adults as they talked and still wondering about the floo system.

“Severus that boy is tiny! How old did you say he was?”

“He’s 5 Poppy, he was withheld food and I’m certain he is malnourished. He was also beaten and neglected in his previous home, so I would appreciate a full checkup.”

The mediwitch agreed and got to work, making Harry feel comfortable and explaining the process before examining him magically. She began cataloguing his injuries on a piece of parchment and went green as she kept having to magically enlarge the parchment to have space for all of them. She worked nonstop for a half hour while Severus sat nearby, watching as the list of injuries grew longer. He sighed and put his head in his hands, once again regretting leaving the boy with the fucking Dursley’s.After a thorough examination, Poppy praised the boy for behaving so well and excused herself to talk to Severus once again.

“That boy has been through hell, Severus! Who were the monsters that did this? Who is this boy?”

Severus sighed and asked for her discretion again before revealingHarry’s identity to her. He explained the situation, and ensured her that the Dursley’s were definitely facing retribution fo their actions. He also told her of Dumbledore’s role in all of this, which was why he needed her to keep this to herself. She understood, of course, but then brought up a whole ‘nother matter that Severus didn’t even think about.

Vaccines.

As Harry was only 1 when his parents died and his ‘family’ had obviously never taken him to the doctor, he would need to get certain vaccines to ensure his immunity to diseases like dragonpox. This was especially important as Severus has planned to bring him out into the wizarding world, where he would definitely be at risk if not vaccinated. Severus of course agreed to the need, but was terrified that Harry would never trust him, or any other person again. He sighed and walked over to the boy to explain the situation.

Harry’s eyes widened in fright as Severus told that he would need to get jabbed by giant needles. After Severus explained that this would prevent him from getting certain diseases in the future, Harry calmed and accepted his fate. Severus knew that this was because the boy felt alike he had no choice or say in the matter, stemming from the abuse he faced, but decided to take advantage of that fact just this once. It was, after all, in the best interests of the child.

“Alright Harry, I’m just going to make your arm feel numb for now, so you wont fell any pain, alright? Here it goes. Okay now, I want you to look at Severus, not at me. Yes, why don’t you tell me what you want to do later hmm? Maybe you want to…”

Poppy continued a constant stream of dialogue as she administered the three vaccines Harry needed. Harry, on his part, stayed calm and looked at Severus the entire time, not disobeying directions. Once she was done, Poppy put away all her medical instruments before giving Harry the okay to look at her again. She then reduced a bright red lollipop from somewhere in her robes and presented it to Harry with a large grin.

“Here is your reward for being a good boy, Harry!”

Harry stared at the lollipop uncomprehendingly. He looked at the sweet, then at Poppy, then the sweet again. “F-For Harry? I-I-I gets a ‘lipop?” He then turned his gaze onto Severus.

“Yes, child. You can have the lollipop. You deserve it for behaving so well.”

Harry gasped and with tears in his eyes, reached out to take the lollipop from Poppy. “Fank you P’ppy” he whispered.

Both the adults’ hearts broke at the sight, what should be a normal occurrence of a child getting a sweet was so, so much more to Harry.

Severus helped the child unwrap the sweet and watched as he stuck it into his mouth at lightning speed. There was no taking it away from the child, not that Severus would even want to. Poppy said her goodbyes and Severus walked her to the floo, where she hugged him goodbye. “Don’t you hesitate to call me again, for anything you need, hmm? And he’s most likely going to get a fever, but don’t give him any potions to combat it. His immune system needs to build up a tolerance on its own. If he has any other side effects, however, like a stomachache or headache, you can give him some headache reliever and such. Alright, I’ll be off then. Call me if his symptoms seem abnormal. Bye Severus, bye Harry!”

And jut like that, she was gone. Harry watched in fascination as Poppy used the floo, lollipop still firmly wedged in his mouth.

“Alright, up you get now. What would you like to do hmm? Anything in mind?” Severus asked while leading Harry out of the sitting room. The boy shrugged, simply content with the lollipop he was given. God, what do children even do? How does one keep a 5 year old occupied? As Severus lost himself in his thoughts, his feet automatically took him to the place he spent most of his time in, besides his lab. Harry trailed along happily behind Severus, and found himself awed by the room they found themselves in. Towering shelves of books filled the room, going deeper than you could see from the doorway. A formation of the comfiest looking chairs were centred around a cosy fireplace, just begging to be lit on a cold winter’s  evening. Hearing a gasp, Severus turned to face the boy and found his face muscles fighting against him as his lips formed a smile.

“Welcome to the library, Harry.”

The boys spent hours in the library, devouring book upon book among the two of them. Severus had first attempted to teach Harry to read, sure that the boy was unable to as he had not gone to school. Harry proved him wrong almost immediately however, going up to shelves and reading the title of the books aloud. Fascinated, Severus queried the boy on his ability, to which he replied with a cheeky smile “I sto’e Dudley’s homewo’k a buncha times. He dint ‘ven know!”

Severus let out a surprised laugh (goddamit) and allowed the boy to choose any book he wanted, as long as he ran it by the adult. Overjoyed, Harry ran off, allowing the tall shelved to swallow him up. Shaking his head in disbelief at the boy’s natural talent, Severus settled down into his favourite chair and began reading.

Over two hours later, Flopsy popped into the library, wondering where Severus and his young charge had wandered off to. Her ears perked up and she smiled as she saw the two sitting in adjacent armchairs, nose plastered in gigantic tomes. She retrieved a secret camera she was hiding from Severus and sneakily captured the adorable scene in front of her. She then entered the room, loudly exclaiming “Lunchtime! Come before the food gets cold!”, before popping away.

Shaking his head at her antics, Severus ushered Harry up off the chair to return the book before making their way downstairs together. He was very fond of the house elf, whom he had taken in after her mother had abandoned her. Flopsy’s mother used to work for the Prince family before Severus had inherited the manor. When he arrived, all the house elves had refused to work for him, seeing as he was a ‘mudblood’. The one exception was Flopsy. She was only young then, but had taken a liking to Severus and decided to stay, despite her mother cussing her out and disowning her. Once her mother left, Severus had given her clothes and set her free. Flopsy had refused to leave however, and though she insisted on doing much of the cooking and cleaning, she was more of a friend to Severus than a slave. He had helped her through her mother abandoning her, and she had helped him through his mother’s passing.

Severus couldn’t help but chuckle when they were greeted with the same spread as before, albeit a fraction smaller, all steaming and ready to be consumed. “We’ll be eating this for weeks at this rate!” Harry seemed to have no problems with this, waiting for Severus’s approving look before kneeling up on his seat to get better access to the crispy bacon. Flopsy and Severus bickered back and forth as she defended her marvellous spread, while Harry turned his head left and right as if in a ping pong tournament, watching interestedly.

After lunch, everybody helped to clean up the copious number of dishes, and the boys went straight back up to the library, Flopsy even joining them this time. There, Severus and Flopsy decided to tell Harry the story of how they met, and explained to him how house elves may be treated in the wizarding world. Harry absorbed the information about this new world he was living in like a sponge. The two adults’ hearts broke a little, seeing the extraordinary amount of understanding this little boy had for other house elves who were being treated just like he was. After the heavy topic, they moved on to lighter things, and Flopsy decided to have a storytelling session with the boys. As she was nearing the end, she realised that her whole audience had fallen asleep, and had to pat herself on the back for being such a good entertainer. She left the boys to nap peacefully, but of course, not without sneaking another adorable photo of them.

Not long later, Harry woke both himself and the Potions Master up with a coughing fit so loud, Flopsy could hear it. Severus was at the boy’s side instantly, turning him over and rubbing his back as he called for Flopsy to fetch a cough reliever. Once it was administered and the coughing stopped, Severus was able to get a good look at the boy and his heart fell to his stomach. Harry looked terrible. Clammy skin with bloodshot eyes and a runny nose, the fever he was dreading had obviously arrived. He winced in sympathy as Harry attempted to speak but could only croak out a noise. He huddled into himself and whimpered softly. Severus and Flopsy melted, the former carrying the boy to his room while the latter followed behind, wringing her hands together worriedly.

“Do you have a headache or stomach ache? What hurts? Do you need anything?” Severus asked a touch frantically. Harry touched his stomach and looked meaningfully at the man, who immediately gave him some stomach calming draught. That made the boy perk up a little, which soothed Severus’s frayed nerves, and allowed himself to leave the boy alone for a little while. Flopsy had pulled him out of the room to the corridor outside. “Severus! There is no more cough reliever, and the stomach and headache potions for children are running out as well! And you don’t have enough ingredients left to make more!” she whispered urgently, wringing her hands and pacing the long corridor.

Severus groaned loudly “Of course. Of fucking course this had to happen now, while I have a sick child to watch over!” Flopsy shushed him, not wanting Harry to hear him yelling, as the boy could definitely interpret that wrongly. He had already apologised countless times for something he had no control over. “Calm down! It’s simple enough to make, right? Go buy the ingredients quickly, come home and brew the potion! That would be faster than ordering anything through owl post, and I can watch Harry while you’re busy.” Severus calmed down and apologised, quickly entering the room to inform Harry that he was leaving.

“Harry, I need to pop to the shops for a little while to buy some ingredients and then brew a potion to help you, alright? I’ll be gone for only an hour, two at most. Flopsy will be here if you need anything, alright?” Harry nodded deliriously, too out of it to really care or understand what the man was saying. Severus left the room as Flopsy entered with a cool towel, doing whatever she could to bring his temperature down. Leaving him in capable hands, Severus left the manor and apparated to the nearest apothecary.

There, he quickly gathered the things he needed and rushed out of the shop. As Severus was leaving the shop, all of a sudden, he heard a feral snarl. That was the only warning he got before he was in a back alley, pressed up against a disgustingly grimy wall.

Chapter Text

Severus looked at his attacker and almost laughed aloud as he saw Lupin. Great. Of course, out of everyone in the order, the fucking werewolf would run into him.

"Where is he Snivellus? I smell him on you. You're covered in his scent! Where is my cub?" Remus got out through clenched teeth, visibly shaking with anger, his amber eyes flashing.

Seeing as the wolf was pressing on his windpipe, he could barely breathe, much less answer his questions. He gave Lupin a look that clearly read 'are you daft?' and pulled on the hand that was choking him. Lupin lessened his grip, watching as Severus panted and gasped for air.

"What did Dumbledore tell you about where he lived?"

Lupin gave him an incredulous look. "That he was with a happy family who loved him. And there is no reason that you should be smelling like him! Did you kidnap him, huh? Was your vendetta against James so bad that you would harm an innocent child?"

Severus rolled his eyes at the dramatics displayed by the werewolf. "Do calm down, Lupin. Yes he is with me but there are very good reasons why. Dumbledore lied.”

“No! I don’t want to hear it. You’re lying through your teeth Snape!”

“Harry was not with a loving family. He was with the fucking Dursley’s! He was being starved, abused and neglected. Loving family? What a fucking joke. I took him away from those monsters and reported them to the muggle authorities. Dumbledore knew about the abuse and did nothing! I went to see the boy at the Dursley's and when I found out about the state he was in, I called Dumbledore. He was still trying to insist that Harry needed to stay with his abusers. I took him away from that situation and nothing you say will make me return him to that godforsaken place."

As Severus revealed more and more, Lupin progressively got paler until he was as white as a sheet. He  released his hold from Severus’s neck and stumbled back, hand on his mouth.

“N-no, it can’t be. Please, p-please tell me you’re making this up. Fuck!” Lupin cycled through shock and guilt, very quickly landing on anger.

“Where is he? I want, no - need to see him. I need to make sure he’s okay.”

Severus checked the time before examining Lupin’s face. “You won’t expose his location the old prick?”

Lupin shook his head fiercely, knowing that he cared for his cub’s wellbeing way more than Dumbledore. Severus gave a brisk nod and indicated that Lupin should follow along. The Potions’ Master took them to a more secluded location before explaining Harry’s current situation to the werewolf. The boy would definitely not be up to meeting any new people for at least three days. Lupin protested stubbornly at first, demanding to see his pup now, but quickly realised there was no way Severus would relent. He reluctantly agreed to wait to meet Harry, on the condition that Severus would floo call him every night to give him updates on the boy. It was the surly man’s turn to begrudgingly agree to Remus’ terms, seeing that he wouldn’t budge. With a sigh, Severus left the werewolf standing alone dejectedly, and apparated home to start making the potions that Harry needed.

As he started on the cough reliever, his mind started to wander as his hands completed actions that he had done thousands of times. He still wasn’t sure if he wanted Harry to meet the werewolf, but was it his place to deny the boy a relationship with his father’s best friend? And could he even bear letting the wolf down that way? He had looked so… sad, so lonely. Well, he did loose all three of his best friends in one fell swoop, which was bound to make anyone feel that way. Maybe Severus could…

Hearing a violent cough from upstairs made Severus shake himself away from that train of thought and place his full attention on the potion he was brewing. If he did a minor change right here, he could cut 10 minutes off from the brew time while still keeping the potions’ effectiveness. 10 minutes wasn’t much in the grand scheme of things, but he would take every minute of suffering that he could, away from his godson.

He laboured on for the rest of the hour, multitasking to brew all the potions he anticipated Harry needing. He bottled and stoppered the potions that were ready, leaving those that needed to brew for longer with a simple spell to update him once they were complete. He sat back in his chair, satisfied with the progress he had made, before jumping out and rushing up the stairs to check on Harry.

The boy was tossing and turning on the bed, forehead beaded with sweat and feet curled under the covers. Severus recognised the normal symptoms of feeling hot and cold at the same time and summoned a pair of socks (black of course), shrinking them down before guiding the boy’s feet into them.

Harry, who had watched Severus warily the moment he entered the room, expected to be yelled at and punished for staying in bed all day, just like at the Dursley’s. Imagine when, to his utter surprise, a pair of socks came flying in and the man started putting the socks on his feet!

Severus had to suppress a chuckle as he felt the surprise radiating off the boy. He took a seat in the chair next to the bed, that had been placed there by Flopsy. “It is quite alright, Harry. I assume it is very normal to help a child into a pair of socks, is it not? Well now that is settled, how are you feeling? Any headaches, stomachaches? Are you still coughing?” Harry replied truthfully with the symptoms he was experiencing, feeling much better after seeing that Severus was not angry and wasn’t going to punish him. The potions’ master administered the correct doses of cough and headache reliever to the boy before placing a cool cloth on his forehead, dearly wishing he could do more to alleviate the fever.

The next few hours passed with much of the same activities, with Severus occasionally running downstairs to check on his remaining potions. At 6pm on the dot, Flopsy brought dinner up for all three of them, something light that wouldn’t upset Harry’s already sensitive stomach, which was only exacerbated by the sickness. They made small talk during dinner, trying to maintain a sense of normalcy, although nobody really know what that was at this point.

After dinner, Severus helped Harry to the washroom to help him wash up and get ready for bed, but the boy insisted that he was perfectly capable of doing it by himself. “Imma big boy, Sev’rus! I c’n do it!” He left the room with a sigh but couldn’t help the smile, before asking Flopsy to help watch over the boy quietly, just in case. He decided to get ready for bed himself, although it was still very early. After all, everyone deserved a early night after the day they had had. Once he was ready and had donned his dressing gown, he remembered the promise he had made earlier to the wolf. He sighed exhaustedly and threw some floo powder into the fireplace, calling out the residence Lupin had mentioned to him earlier. Seeing the man’s familiar figure pacing in front of the fireplace, he called out the wolf’s name and witnessed the palpable relief that flashed across his face. Huh, so the mutt didn’t expect him to keep up his end of the deal? What did the man take him for? Annoyed, Severus snapped out how he boy was doing and made to exit the floo as quick as he could. Before he could make his escape however, the wolf stopped him with “Wait, Severus!” He stopped and and looked at Lupin expectantly, albeit a little (just a little) annoyed. The wolf looked shocked as if not expecting Severus to stop and stood there fidgeting, before Severus cleared his throat and gave him the look. He jerked and hurriedly said “Um, I just wanted to say thank you. For giving me the chance to eventually meet him I mean. And for floo calling me even though I couldn’t have done anything if you didn’t. Oh and may I also have your floo address so I can call you the next time? I’m not sure where exactly I’ll be next.”

“You don’t know where you’ll be? What do you mean exactly? Is this not your home?” Severus asked suspiciously, purposely ignoring the former part of Lupin’s little speech. He could evaluate his motivations later, when he was not quite this mentally drained.

“No, I’m a werewolf, remember? I have no money to get a home. And no way to get a job to be able to earn that money. This is a house I’ve been living in while the family staying here are on holiday. Not that they know that of course.” A bitter laugh arose from the brown haired man, which startled Severus. He had never heard the man like this before.

“…Well, yes I am quite aware of your… affliction, but I had thought the old coot would help you. Ensure your basic necessities at the very least.”

“Hah! Not a chance. I stopped being useful once You-Know-Who died and Fenrir and the other werewolves went too deep into hiding for me to find.”

They continued conversing about Lupin’s life after the war had ended, both of them cursing Dumbledore out, before Severus realised they had been talking for over ten minutes. He hurriedly gave his floo address to the mutt and bid him goodbye.

“Goodnight, Severus. And thank you once again. I mean it. That boy is the only reason I’m alive. Thank you.”

Not knowing what to say, Severus just nodded and awkwardly cleared his throat before pulling his head out of the fireplace. He felt his knees aching as he stood from the position he had been for much longer than he had anticipated.

Feeling rattled from the call, he peeped into Harry’s room, sure that the boy had already fallen asleep. Instead, Severus saw him tossing and turning, engaged in what looked to be a wrestling match with his blanket, before flopping down with a sigh, breathing heavily through his mouth. His stuffy nose must have returned then, Severus thought as he made his presence known to Harry. “Can’t sleep?” Severus drawled. An embarrassed blush stained his cheeks as Harry sat up and shook his head.

Severus sighed as he sat next to Harry on the bed. “How about a story, hmm?” he suggested, knowing that bedtime stories put him right to sleep as a child. Harry nodded enthusiastically, never having had a story read to him before. Severus smiled as he thought of the perfect story. He administered a sinus clearing potion to the child, before starting on the story of how he met Lily when they were mere children, and became fast friends. Although he was not yet over Lily’s death, the pain and trauma still fresh in his mind, he felt that with Harry here beside him, he could slowly stop grieving over her death, and start to celebrate the life she had instead. And what a beautiful life it was.

When Flopsy popped in to check on her young charge not ten minutes later, she was surprised to see the boy snuggled deep into Severus’ chest, both fast asleep with smiles on their faces. Of course, she couldn’t resist the opportunity to once again fetch her camera and capture this special moment between her two boys.

Chapter Text

Over the next week, Harry slowly got better and better as Severus and Flopsy nursed him back to health as best they could. Severus’s relationship with Lupin had also developed from burning hatred to grudging friendliness, as their nightly floo calls, meant to be about Harry, escalated into deep conversations about their lives and hardships. They were no so different after all, and Lupin had even told Severus that he thought they would’ve been friends in school, if only they were in the same house. Confused with his feelings and still deathly afraid of the man’s monthly affliction, he had quickly made his excuses and left that floo call, effectively escaping the conversation.

Lying in bed on a Saturday morning, Severus’s mind couldn’t help but to start thinking of the man and his oddness. He was so nice, which unnerved Severus. No matter how much insults Severus sent his way, the mutt managed to stay composed and still thanked him every time for the updates on his cub. Not to mention his living condition! The man was squatting at other people’s houses while they were away, somehow managing to never get caught all this time. What an awful position to be in, not knowing whether you would have a place to spend the night, or even food and water.

Not wanting to wallow in his thoughts, Severus left his bed and padded into Harry’s room. He had developed habit of doing so, checking the boy over before tending to his own needs. Harry had all but recovered, and was sitting on his bed staring at the ceiling, unknowingly mirroring Severus’s position a minute prior.

“Good morning, Harry, how are you feeling? Do you have any symptoms left at all?”

The boy slowly sat up and rubbed at his eyes, staring at Severus before shaking his head and mumbling out a “good.’

“Well then, I think it’s time for some fun, don’t you? What do you say about going to town for some shopping hmm? We definitely need to get you some clothes, wearing mine all the time just won’t do.”

Harry perked up as he heard Severus’s words, jumping out of bed. “Really? We getta go ‘utside? An-And I c’n buy clothes for Harry?”

“Yes, and it’s get to go outside, alright? Now go on, get dressed so we can leave.” Severus had been working hard while the boy was bedridden to help correct his speech, especially as they had nothing else to do. Although it was difficult and progress was slow, the boy was a quick study and Severus reckoned he would be speaking fluently in a few short weeks. After all, he could tell that the boy was highly intelligent, what with teaching himself how to read. It was only due to neglect that his speech impediment had developed into what it was.

Once they were both dressed and ready, the boys made their way downstairs to bid Flopsy goodbye. Severus had already informed her that he intended to take the boy out to breakfast as a treat, so she didn’t prepare any food for them. Over the week he’d been there, Harry had slowly built up his appetite and tolerance for heavier and richer foods, so Severus knew that treating him out to one meal wouldn’t affect his digestive system as it once would. Severus had also decided to take Harry out to Muggle London instead of Diagon Alley, to avoid any chances. He was quite recognisable, of course, and seeing him with a child would only raise suspicions. He had dressed himself in black jeans with a black jumper, feigning ignorance of the other colours as always. Harry had opted for an identical jumper, just shrunken down, with a pair of blue jeans instead. He had amassed quite a collection of Severus’s shrunken down clothes, which he greatly enjoyed mixing and matching, never having had the chance to do so before.

Severus apparated the pair to a small alley right by a shopping mall near Spinner’s End, and gave Harry a stomach soother before leading him into the giant building. Harry had been to a mall with the Dursley’s before of course, but with the new changes in his life, he had a whole new perspective change and felt like he was seeing the mall for the first time ever. He looked around and into the shops, and he actually thought that Severus might buy him things! He had never thought he would experience something like this and looked up at Severus with tears in his eyes.

The tall man panicked, thinking that he had done something wrong by bringing the boy there, but was suddenly tackled by the 5 year old, feeling tiny arms wrap around his legs. He smiled and carefully dislodged the boy, kneeling down to better look at him.

“Harry, are you okay?”

The boy nodded and wiped his tears, before giving the man another bear hug, whispering ‘thank you’ over and over in his ear. The bat of the dungeon, the infamous Professor Snape, couldn’t help but tear up as this little boy thanked him for the most simplest of things, never once taking anything for granted. Severus steeled himself and wiped away the singular tear that managed to escape, and removed himself from the boy’s grasp.

“Of course, Harry, I would do anything for you.” He said while staring directly into Harry’s eyes. “Now come, let’s get some food into our systems hmm?”

Severus led the boy to a breakfast place and ordered a bacon sandwich for him, not wanting Harry to get overwhelmed by the choices on the menu. This way, he could save the boy from getting decision fatigue too soon, while feeding into his ever growing bacon addiction.

After a leisurely breakfast, Severus brought Harry into a clothes shop for children, and instructed him on what to find. As Harry browsed the t-shirt aisle, giggling at the text on some of them, Severus picked out his other essentials. Once done picking out several pairs of pants and trousers for the boy, Severus found him still at the same place, looking intensely at all the t-shirts, tongue stuck out in concentration. He looked up at Severus, who had tasked him with picking out 5 of them. “I can’t decide!” With a chuckle, Severus suggested that he could get one of each colour, and with that they checked out and left the store. They then went to a shoe store, where some trainers and sandals were bought, before making their way to the place Severus had been saving till last.

The toy store.

At first, Harry walked right past the entrance, as Severus had wanted to surprise the boy, and didn't tell him where they were going. Harry, on his part, had no idea that he would be allowed to go into a toy store! Severus caught his attention however and assured him repeatedly that “Yes, we are going into this store.” Harry still stepped tentatively into the entrance, feeling like he was dreaming. First, he got all these new clothes and shoes and now he got to go into a toy store! How lucky was he?

They spent hours in there, Severus allowing Harry to browse the entire store, stopping at every toy that caught his attention. Unbeknownst to Harry, who had carefully placed each toy back onto the shelves, Severus had picked them right back up and put them into their basket. He hadn’t taken every single toy of course, that would be way too many, not to mention out of his means. He did however take the toys that he thought Harry would enjoy the most, as well as some educational toys. When Harry finally turned around and saw Severus struggling to carry two large baskets full of toys, his eyes widened comically and he stared at the professor with his jaw on the floor. “Alright, come on Harry, I’ve got to go pay for all of these before we can leave.”

“B-B-But w-why’re you buyin those?”

“Well, they’re for you Harry. Ever child needs some toys, don’t you think? Now come on, follow me to the cashier counter.”

Still bewildered, Harry trailed behind the potions master slowly, not believing that this was happening to him. After Severus checked out, he found a discreet place where he shrunk the multiple bags of toys and put them all into on bag, as he had been doing for the whole day. They then made their way back to the alley and apparated home, where Flopsy had lunch prepared for them. Harry talked to her animatedly throughout lunch, exaggerating the story with big gestures and expressed his dismay that she couldn’t come along.

Once lunch was over, they congregated in Harry’s room, where Severus unshrunk all the bags and laid them out on the floor. Flopsy, seeing how overwhelmed Harry was, took charge of the clothes and began organising them in his cupboard. Severus then pulled out the toy box that he had purchased and tasked himself and Harry with opening all the toys and putting them away into there.

Once done, Harry spent the rest of the day playing with one carefully selected toy, still not believing that the whole toy box belonged to him. Flopsy then called everyone down for dinner, Severus emerging from his potions lab. Harry thanked him profusely once again, explaining with great detail the toy he had p[played with throughout the afternoon.

After helping to put away the dishes and getting ready for bed, Severus called him into his bedroom. Confused as he had never been in there before, Harry looked nervously inside, before entering when Severus beckoned him over. The man was sitting in a cosy armchair next to the fireplace, dressed similarly to Harry in a nightgown and slippers.

“Harry, I called you in here because I need to tell to you about a man I’ve been talking to. His name is Remus Lupin, and he was one of your father’s best friends. I’m talking to him because he wants to know that you’re safe and being taken care of, so I’ve been floo calling him every night. Now that he knows you’re better, he wants to meet you for himself, just so he has confirmation that you’re alright. What do you think? Do you want to join me in floo calling him, just for a little while? And it’s okay to say no, Harry, remember that.”

“H-He was my dad’s best f’iend?”

Severus nodded.

“What he wanna talk about?”

“He just  wants to make sure you’re safe and well-taken care of.”

“Oh, o-okay. B-But just for a little bit. And, and you’re gonna be with me?”

“Yes Harry, I’ll be with you the whole time okay, now come on, lets go to the fireplace.”

Severus was astonished at the bravery and trust that he boy had, especially after such a short amount of time, and his rough upbringing. Once at the fireplace, Severus explained to Harry that he would talk to the man first, and then Harry would join shortly after.

The clock struck 8 and the roaring fire suddenly turned green. Severus put his head into it and began talking, Harry crouched down next to him in an attempt to hear their conversation. Even when straining his ears, Harry could barely hear what they said, but their conversation went something like “Mutt, you’re on time, how surprising.”

“Shut up Severus! Anyway, how’s Harry? Is he still sick or is he better now?”

“Well, speaking of that, there is someone here who wouldn’t mind talking to you.”

“WHAT? Wait, no, Severus, I’m not ready! What do I say? Oh god... I’m going to meet my cub?” Remus looked at Severus with tears in his eyes.

The taller man merely smiled and exited the floo, beckoning for Harry to join him. The boy kneeled down next to him and together, they put their faces into the fire.

Chapter Text

Severus cleared his throat. “Harry, this is an old friend of your father’s, Remus Lupin. Remus, this is Harry.” Severus introduced them, trying to make the situation less awkward.

Remus, who had been pacing, dropped to his knees in front of the floo with awe written all across his face. “Hi.” He intoned breathily, clearly riddled with nerves.

Harry looked wearily and curiously at Remus, returning the greeting.

“It’s nice to finally meet you again. You can call me Remus, if you like. Or Moony, that’s my nickname” Remus cleared his throat, speaking somewhat back in his normal voice.

Harry leaned forward and cocked his head to the side, like a curious dog.

“W-Wait, Moony? Th-that, I-I hear that b’fore.” he said cautiously.

Remus gasped as tears filled his eyes. “Yeah um, y-you used to call me Moo. When you were a baby. My nickname was Moony and you could only say Moo.” He said with a wet chuckle.

 “Oh! Um, I ‘member that a little bit.” Harry replied with a cautious smile.

Severus was surprised, he didn’t think that Harry had retained any memories of his childhood before the Dursley’s due to all the trauma, but clearly, he had enough to recall this fact. As the mutt smiled brightly and enquired about the boy’s health, Severus couldn’t help but turn his gaze towards the man’s surroundings. The house he was in this time was absolutely abhorrent, littered with empty fire whisky bottles, food wrappers and covered in dirt. Severus had no idea how a person could live in such squalor. But at least the person living there had a house, Severus thought, glancing at the werewolf, who had not stopped smiling. Tuning back in to the conversation, the potions master realised that Harry was animatedly explaining to Remus all about the one toy he had been playing with for the whole afternoon. It was seemingly his favourite purchase, a remote controlled robot complete with a tuft of blue hair sticking out from the top of its’ helmet.

As Harry finished telling Remus about al the bells and whistles the robot came with, he let out a big yawn, causing both Remus and Severus to do the same. Harry giggled at the sight as the two adults smiled endearingly at him. With that, Severus decided that it was time for Harry to get to bed and encouraged him to bid the man goodbye.

“Buh-bye Moony! ‘t was nice talkin ta you!” the boy said with all the vigour of finding a new friend. Remus responded with an equally enthusiastic goodbye and the hope of speaking to the boy again. Severus also bid the mutt goodbye but indicated that he would be back to talk to him after putting little Harry to bed.

Seeing as how the boy had gotten his pyjamas on and brushed his teeth before flooing with Remus, all Severus had to do was tuck him in, Flopsy tagging along of course. Harry talked briefly about his day, expressing his happiness once again at all the new things he had gotten. As he talked, his blinks got longer and longer ad his voice got softer and softer until he drifted off to sleep, a content smile on his face. Severus smiled and kissed the boy on his forehead, relieved that the boy was on his way to regaining a normal childhood.

He bid Flopsy goodnight before making his way back to the fireplace in his room (now adorned wth comfortable pillows for late night talks) and threw in a handful of floo powder again. He greeted Remus for the second time that night and the two had their nightly conversations about their days. Though Remus had it rough, he didn’t feel the need to cover anything up in front of Severus, and felt safe in the fact that he had someone to confide in everyday. Severus on his part, felt guilty as he had the means to help the man who by now was his …acquaintance (read: friend hem hem). He had been wanting to ask the wolf to stay with him in Prince Manor as after all, he had more rooms than he knew what to do with. He knew he owed it to Harry to ask him first though, as so much change had already been happening in the boy’s life and Harry would always come first to Severus.

Aside from that though, he had one more thing he wanted to talk to the mutt about. “Now, Remus, I have something serious to discuss.” The wolf looked shocked at the tone and use of his first name, but nodded warily nonetheless.

“I want to expose what Dumbledore knowingly did to Harry. I want the public to know what he has done to my Harry and all the pain he has suffered. No one should trust Dumbledore with any children again. I want the world to know that as long as Albus too many names Dumbledore is the headmaster of Hogwarts, Harry Potter will never attend that school.”

The next morning, Harry woke up feeling the happiest he had ever felt in his life. He had a warm bed to sleep in, people who cared for him, food to eat, clothes to wear, toys to play with! Oh he was just so happy! He jumped out of bed at the memory of all his new toys and dug through his brand new toy box. Severus said it was spelled with a charm to make it so it would never run out of space. How neat! As he rummaged through the toy box enthusiastically, he found the toy he had been looking for. A brand new lego set! He unwrapped the box and found the instruction manual, setting off to make the best car you ever did see.

That was how Severus found the boy 20 minutes later, teeth not cleaned, his hair a rat’s nest and still in his pjs, but the beginnings of a lego city spread out around him. When Harry heard the door open, he startled and began apologising, looking at Severus’s expression, thinking he was not allowed to play with the toys without asking permission first. Shocked, Severus froze in the doorway until he realised that the boy was going to work himself into a panic attack. He rushed over and knelt down in front of the boy. “Harry, Harry, look at me. It’s just Severus okay, now I want you to breathe with me, follow how I breathe. Breathe in, 1, 2, 3, breathe out.” They continued doing so until Harry calmed down and burst into tears, stammering out apologies. Severus’s heart broke and he gathered the tiny boy into his arms and began reassuring him.

“Harry, it’s okay for you to play with the toys. They are yours after all. I’m not angry, I promise. I do wish you had at least brushed your teeth before this but I understand you were excited, hmm? You wanted to play with your brand new toys! There’s nothing wrong with that.” As Harry processed what Severus was saying, the older man never stopped cradling the boy in his arms, rocking back and forth to soothe him.

“Y-You not mad at Harry?” the boy sniffled questioningly.

“No, Harry, I am not, in fact, mad at you.” the man replied, letting Harry’s language mistakes go, seeing as how he was upset. Time and place and all that.

“Now come, I hear Flopsy made dinner for breakfast to make up for all the dinners we’ve been missing.” That elicited a small giggle out of the boy as he ran to the toilet to get ready for breakfast. Or dinner, he should say.

Chapter Text

Severus was in the library with Flopsy, enjoying a leisurely evening read when the menace suddenly bounded into the room, yelling about a new discovery on his favourite toy, the robot with blue hair. He had now named it Mr. Bluey, which was highly creative, as Severus informed him, and not at all sarcastically. As Harry ran into the room and started on a long spiel, Severus noticed how he had to constantly flick his hair out of his face and squint at the older man. Of course, how could he have forgotten! He needed to take the boy for a haircut and to get his eyes checked out. Hmm, that would mean going to the wizarding world, at least for his eyes. Maybe Severus could invite a certain someone along, just for extra eyes to look out for Harry. It was not at all because he wanted to spend more time with the man, why blast that ridiculous thought from your mind!

As Harry paused to take a breath, Severus saw his opportunity to pounce. Over the past few weeks of living together, Severus and Flopsy both knew that once the boy started talking, he did not stop. And while it was amazing to see the boy becoming more comfortable and behaving more like a child should, it was often hard to get a word in edgewise. Thus Severus taking the opportunity to ask Harry if he wanted to go out the next day to check his eyes and cut his hair. The boy gasped excitedly at the thought of another outing, before Severus said “We do have to check your eyes at a magical centre though, so I would feel more comfortable not going alone. What do you say I ask your Uncle Moony to join us, hmm?” ‘Uncle Moony’, which was what the boy had taken to calling the mutt on their bi-weekly floo sessions, was Harry’s best friend, as he had informed Severus. Severus had been a little butt-hurt when the boy told him this, but Harry had then went on to explain that Flopsy was his best elf-friend and Severus, why he was the best. The best in what, you ask? Just the best. And if Severus and Flopsy had spent the whole day after that with goofy smiles on their faces, well, no one needed to know. Harry agreed enthusiastically, jumping on all the furniture in the library to show exactly how he felt about that.

In the recent week, Severus had realised that the boy was starting to push and test boundaries, likely to see the adult’s response to it. Although it could be infuriating at times, Severus and Flopsy were taking it as a good sign that he felt comfortable and secure enough with them, to start acting out. The two adults took it in stride and gave him warnings and explanations, which was all he needed for now to stop the behaviour. Severus knew that he had to start setting ground rules and the consequences for breaking them soon however, as the boy would likely continue pushing until he knew what the worst punishment was going to be. So in a stern tone, Severus asked Harry to stop jumping on furniture, explaining that he may hurt himself. Thankfully the boy stopped, but still ran around the library, flailing his limbs, expressing his joy. Ah, children.

That night, during his nightly floo call with (heart eyes) Remus, Severus informed him of his plans the next day, and invited him along. He received a startled but joyful agreement, and the two men spent the rest of the call planning their date outing.

The next morning, Harry woke up vibrating with excitement, almost an hour earlier then he usually did. Flopsy, who knew Severus was still asleep (hem hem late floo call), popped into Harry’s room and entertained him with his toys. She didn’t usually use magic when playing with him, as she had read in some parenting books that allowing children to use their imagination was better, she decided that this one time would be fine. Together, they built a magical fort and had a tea party with Harry’s friends (read: dolls and action figures). Flopsy used magic to animate the toys and they played for over an hour before Severus awoke. The potions master, who was usually rudely awakened by a small body jumping onto his, was enjoying his lie in when he suddenly became suspicious. Sometimes the absence of children could cause bode trouble than their presence. He got out of bed and rushed to Harry’s room, only to hear the delighted giggles of his godson and best friend. He smiled and opened the door, cautiously peering in. He was greeted with the sight of a large fort, decorated with stars and rainbows, and toys strewn about the room. The remnants of a tea party could clearly be seen, but that had been abandoned in favour of a game of hide and seek with Harry’s toys. Flopsy had animated them to hide around the fort, and it was her turn to be the seeker.

Severus saw a pile of blankets vibrating, and hear Harry trying to muffle sounds of his laughter. The man smiled and grabbed the pile, tickling it viciously until Harry surrendered. Severus joined in on the fun for another half hour before they realised that it was already ten past 10. They were meeting Remus at 11am and they hadn’t even eaten breakfast yet! As Flopsy watched on amusedly, the pair rushed to take a shower and get ready, crashing down the stairs to gobble up some breakfast. They then made their way up to Severus’s room, where they had planned to meet Remus before going out together.

The floo chimed as they entered the room, and Severus rushed to let Remus in.

“Ahem mutt, I see everything went well?” Remus laughed and Severus’s nickname (read: pet name) that he refused to stop using and nodded affirmatively. He then caught sight of the tiny little thing hiding behind Severus and grasping on to his robes. This was the first time they were meeting in person and Harry was understandably wary. Remus knelt down to try and seem less threatening. “Hey cub! You ready for our day out?”

Harry looked up at him with wide eyes and nodded, still unwilling to come out of his hiding spot. Severus ruffled the boy’s hair and explained that they had to go to the bathroom for a while to change their appearances, just so people wouldn’t bother them in public. Harry nodded and raised his arms in the universal gesture of ‘carry me’. The adults both melted at the adorable sight and Severus acquiesced, lifting the boy up. They entered the bathroom, where they cast several glamour charms on themselves. Remus lengthened his hair a little and turned it a darker brown, before changing his amber eyes to a light blue and widening his jaw. Severus in turn made his hair short and blonde, reshaping his nose and also widening his jawline. Both adults agreed that they looked different enough to be unrecognisable. Severus then set his eyes on Harry. He was worried the boy would not want glamours done to him, this being a new concept. Harry was excited however, and did not want be left out of their ‘dress up’ game. The only things they did was turn his eyes black to match Severus, and put a glamour over his scar. No one really knew what he looked like after all, and use like that, the trio was ready to go.

They decided to go to muggle London first to get Harry’s hair cut, as they knew the boy would want to spend a long time in Diagon Alley. They apparated to a small alley, and Severus lead the way to a small little barber shop he had noticed the previous time he brought Harry out. The shop had a kid’s section where the seat was in the shape of a car, and there was a little television in front of it. God knows Harry couldn’t keep still, so Severus thought it would be the best idea for the little boy. Harry on his part, was getting more used to Remus, who was trailing behind Severus and playing peekaboo with the boy from his perch on Severus’s shoulder.

Before entering the shop, they reminded Harry about this being a muggle establishment and therefore no talks about magic or Flopsy. He agreed easily, and gasped noisily as they entered the barber shop. He had spied the car and was bouncing excitedly in Severus’s arms once he received confirmation that he would be able to sit in it for his haircut. Once it was his turn, the hair stylist produced a catalogue for them to browse though, and Severus let Harry choose the haircut he wanted. The boy chose shorter on the sides and longer on top. In the midst of his haircut, the barber suddenly remarked “Hey did you know that his hair is a little curly? You gotta care for it properly which is why it was a rats nest before this, yeah?” Severus nodded dumbly, and the barber sighed before explaining the best way to care for the boy’s hair. At the end of the haircut, they got visual confirmation that Harry’s hair was, in fact, a little curly, and the boy looked positively adorable without his shaggy mane of hair. [A/N I imagine his hair to look something like this https://images.app.goo.gl/CAn9EhBpB4fikkx29]

Harry was delighted that he was able to feel the wind on his scalp and ran about the shop making whooshing noises as Severus paid and Remus tried to rein the boy in.

After that, they apparated straight to the magical eye centre to get an eye exam. It turned out that Harry did have myopia, and they could either get it fixed by a professional or get spectacles for the boy. Severus knew that with how active the little tyrant was, there was no way he would keep track of spectacles, thus opting to get his eyes fixed. Half an hour later, Severus was down 78 galleons, 12 sickles and 3 knuts, and Harry was seeing the world through new eyes. He had no idea that things weren’t supposed to be blurry!

Exiting the shop landed them right in the heart of Diagon Alley, and Harry was amazed by all the shops he could see. Severus made him promise to keep hold of at least one adult’s hand and not run off, but otherwise allowed the boy to go wherever he wanted. The two men went along with the boy for the rest of the day, following him into random shops that caught his fancy, and Remus even treated him to his very own children’s broom to fly on. Severus only insisted that they stopped for lunch, where a lady remarked on how lovely their family was (Severus and Remus went bright red while Harry beamed up at her), before continuing on to wherever Harry wanted to go. They even made it into Honeydukes [A/N I know its in Hogsmeade but I’m turning it into a franchise :)], where Harry saw more candy than he ever had in his life. Severus allowed him to fill up a small bag with any sweets of his choice, and they boy may have went a little wild. Even Remus went overboard in the chocolate section, purchasing two full bags of assorted chocolates. By 5 in the evening, Harry had started to flag, and requested to be carried again. This time however, he made grabby hands at Remus instead, who was so happy he almost cried. They apparated back to Prince Manor soon after, and Severus invited Remus to stay for dinner, only because Harry looked sad to see him go. Not for any other reason at all. After dinner, the boy looked up at Severus and Remus with his large eyes and pleaded for Remus to stay to tuck him in. Neither adult could resist his puppy dog eyes, and made to follow him up to his room, to get him ready for bed. Flopsy shooed them away however, wanting to spend time with the boy before bed, and banished them to clear the table and do the dishes.

The men made small talk while cleaning up, making short work of the dishes before Flopsy came back to inform them with a bow that “The master is ready for his story.” Severus snorted at her antics and ushered the werewolf up to read the ‘master’ his story. After the boy fell asleep, the potions master invited Remus to the living room for a nightcap, wanting the man to stay longer for some reason. They talked and drank and before they knew it, hours had passed and both of themwere struggling to stay awake.

Then, Severus took a leap of faith and said what he had been wanting to say for a long time. Nervously, he looked into the werewolf’s amber eyes and asked “Would you like to stay over tonight?”

Chapter Text

The next morning, Severus opened his eyes and smiled.  He had successfully gotten the stubborn wolf to stay over and accept his help, instead of going couch surfing at random people’s houses. Then, Severus’s smile dropped. He had yet to clear it with Harry. He was fairly confident that the boy enjoyed Remus’s company, but living with someone was a whole different matter. Of course, Remus only thought he was staying for one night, but the potions master had other plans. Only if Harry agreed, of course. The man dragged himself out of bed and made his way into Harry’s room, where they boy had startled awake from the sound of the door.

“Apologies, Harry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I just wanted to talk to you about something.” The boy rubbed his eyes and stretched as he yawned, then scooched over to make space for his godfather.

“So, what do you think of Remus hmm? Do you like him?”

Harry’s eyes widened “YEAH I LIKE UNCLE MOONY! He so cool an’ buyed me a broom and give me choc’ates and…”

The boy went on and on while Severus watched him with a smile on his face. He gently nudged the boy, stopping his rant. “Well, what do you think if I asked him to stay here with us? There are many empty rooms in the manor after all. But Harry, if you aren’t comfortable with this I want you to know that it’s okay say no, alright? And I want you to think about it before you answer, don’t tell me now. Oh and I didn’t mean to spring this on you, but I invited him to sleep over last night since he stayed so late anyway. He will be joining us for breakfast this morning, if that’s okay with you?”

Harry nodded agreeably, a contemplative expression on his face. Glad that the boy was thinking about this, Severus left the room after ushering the boy into the toilet to wash up before breakfast.

After breakfast, Remus and Severus retired to the library while Harry pestered Flopsy into playing with him again. In the library, Remus brought up the topic of Dumbledore again.

“So how do you want to do this Severus? The public will not be easy to sway, they love him and thinks he can do no wrong.”

Severus sighed “I know, I’m not sure either. Ideally we would need a publication like the Daily Prophet to back us up, but there’s no way they would. Not without thousands of galleons at least.”

“Ugh. Wait. What about The Quibbler? Xenophilius Lovegood runs it right?”

“The Quibbler? It prints bullshit. Just last week I saw an article about why hippogriff shit would be beneficial to add into your skincare routine.”

Remus shuddered “Okay, so he’s a little loony, but there’s a higher chance he would print our story because of it, eh? And besides, if we have actual proof from credible sources then I think we should be good to go.”

“Fine,” Severus conceded “but what credible sources were you thinking? The public certainly won’t accept an ex-death eater and a werewolf. No offence.”

“None taken. What about Pomfrey? She knows about Harry right? And maybe she could tell us about other Hogwarts staff who aren’t so loyal to the old coot and we could gather evidence?”

Severus sat up “I can’t believe it, you might be on to something here. I’ll call Poppy.”

“What, now?” Remus yelled, alarmed. He wasn’t ready for this level of enthusiasm for his plan.

“No time like the present!” Severus called over his shoulder, already making his way to the sitting room.

Remus shook his head fondly exasperatedly and rushed to follower the taller man.

When Remus entered the room, Severus was already leaning over the green fire, conversing with who he could only assume was Poppy Pomfrey. Not long later, Severus pulled his head out and the Mediwitch stepped through into the sitting room. She gave a surprised glance at the werewolf, who smiled at her sheepishly. “Hey Madame Pomfrey,” Remus waved. Severus indicated that they should all sit, offering drinks to both of them. Poppy declined, Remus accepted, and they all got comfortable before Severus started explaining their hair-brained scheme to the witch.

“…I’ll take that drink now please Severus,” Poppy said wearily, eliciting a chuckle out of the two men.

After having the drink and processing all the information, Severus invited Poppy to stay for lunch. When she agreed, he went over to Harry’s room to inform the boy, who bolted down the stairs, excited to see the woman who had once given him a lollipop. They had an amicable lunch together, with Harry doing most of the talking of course. Poppy took the opportunity to give Harry another check up after lunch, confirming that he was in good health and steadily improving. The boy gave all three adults a big hug before retreating into his room with Flopsy, correctly assuming that all they would be talking about was boring adult stuff.

The adults reconvened to the library, each taking a cushy armchair, before Poppy started taking about what she had witnessed as a mediwitch at Hogwarts. Severus charmed a quill to record down her exact words, before settling down to listen. Poppy explained how there was, of course, cases of abuse or neglect each year, especially amongst muggle-borns and strict purebloods. The headmaster did nothing about the cases she reported however, and knowingly sent them back to their families, despite evidence the witch provided and testimonies from the children themselves. Dumbledore would at least hear out the cases of every other house, but would immediately throw out those involving Slytherins (especially pureblooded ones), which were actually the majority of cases. Ultimately, the Headmaster cared little for the well-being of the children in the school, and spent more time doing things ‘for the greater good’, than doing his job. Poor Minerva was stuck doing his job while trying to complete the duties of Assistant Headmistress as well. Poppy informed the other two that she did have a folder of evidence put together, and she wouldn’t be surprised if Minerva would help their cause.

Relieved at the good news, the two hi-fived and immediately floo called Minerva over, seeing as how the school day had ended at this point. Once there, they explained the entire situation to her, ad she agreed to help immediately. They scheduled a meeting for the next day, intending to invite Xenophilius over, and the two witches left, relieved and happy that they were finally able to do something about their fool of a Headmaster. They had been talking about trying to take some action, but were scared that them being fired meant more children left abused and neglected, with no hope of escape.

Remus opted to stay in the library and relax after the busy day they had, while Severus went to the study to floo call Xenophilius, checking for his availability the next day. The man explained that he was able to come, but would need to bring his daughter along, as there was no one available to look after her on such short notice. Severus agreed to this, thinking about how it was high time Harry had some friends his age, instead of just adults and a house elf. Lord knew Flopsy adored the boy, but even she was getting tired of having a tea party every single day.

Speaking of his godson, Severus went over to the boy’s room, missing his company after only a few short hours. The potions master found the boy happily playing on his own, Flopsy having left a little while before that to start making dinner. The boy greeted Severus happily when he sat down next to Harry, immediately handing him a cape and declaring that he was the prince who had to rescue Princess Harry from the tower. They played together for a little while, Severus having rescued Harry three different times, before the boy was satisfied. He sat down, looked up at Severus and said “I was thinkin ‘bout it and I want Uncle Moony to stay with us! He c’n live here, right Sev’rus?”

“Yes, of course, Harry. Thank you for taking the time to think about it and telling me when you were ready. Now, there’s something else I want to discuss with you. Firstly, some of my friends are coming over tomorrow, for some discussions we want to have. Remember the man whom I told you placed you with the Dursely’s even though he shouldn’t have? Well he is a bad man and we need to let more people know, which is why Remus and I have been talking to so many adults. Three more people you don’t know yet, along with Madam Pomfrey, will be coming over tomorrow, if you are okay with that. If you are not, just let me know and I would be happy to meet them outside or floo call them instead, alright, Harry?”

“They all your friends? They nice?”

“Yes, they’re all my friends and I promise they’ll be nice to you. And if they’re not, all you’d have to do is tell me, and they would never be welcome to our home anymore, understand?”

“Oh ‘kay. Then yes I ‘lright with that.”

“Okay, thank you for that. And it’s I’m alright, okay? Now the people who are coming are Miss McGonagall and Mr Lovegood, along with his four year old daughter, Luna. You can play with her, if you feel comfortable enough, but if you don’t, just tell me and she won’t, alright?”

Harry nodded, thinking hard about how there would be another child present. Of course he had seen other children while they were out shopping and the like, but he hadn’t properly interacted with another child since Dudley. He sure hoped this Luna person wasn’t mean.

Severus and Remus had resumed up their previous positions  in the library again, now with full stomachs and a sleeping child in the other room. Feeling uncharacteristically nervous, Severus hesitated to broach the topic of the werewolf moving in with him. So, as usual, he deflected and decided instead to pretend it was a short term arrangement.

“Remus?”

“Hmm?” The werewolf asked, half asleep.

“I was thinking… would you like to stay here for the time being? At least until we publish the article and get over the backlash. And I would appreciate having more hands around to help entertain Harry. The boy is quite enamoured by you, you know. And I did ask him, and he was very willing, if you wanted to that is.” Severus rambled, as he tended to do when nervous.

“Severus, are you sure? I mean that is too generous, I-I couldn’t.”

“Nonsense, this manor is meant for generations of families to stay in. I have more rooms than I know what to do with. And Flopsy will enjoy having more people to appreciate her food.”

“I-I don’t know, Severus. I wouldn’t want to take advantage, and you’ve already been so kind.”

“Stop, I’m offering, you’re not asking.”

“But what about when the full moon comes?”

“What about it? I’ll brew wolfsbane, and you can roam about the grounds. Or we could charm your room and you could stay there. If you wanted. Whatever you prefer.” Severus said calmly, masking his terror at the thought of seeing the werewolf again. But he had wolfsbane now and Remus would be in control. There was nothing to be afraid about.

“Wow, you’ve really thought of everything, huh? Well, if you insist-”

“I do.”

“Then I accept. Thank you, Severus. For everything.” Remus turned his head and amber eyes met obsidian. They held the stare for a long moment, before Severus nodded and bid the man goodnight, fleeing returning to his room. As he got ready for bed, he mentally (tried his damnedest not to think about the seggsy man next door) and ran through the plan for the next day. A smile crept unwittingly onto his face. Dumbledore was finally going down.

Chapter Text

After a quick breakfast, which felt quite domestic now that Remus was living there, the trio retreated to the library to await their guests. They had invited Flopsy along, of course, but she had waved them off in favour of starting to lunch for the multitude of people who would be coming over.

In the library, Remus took it upon himself to read a story for the other two, having noticed their blank stares of nervousness and trepidation. Only once Remus took over did they relax minutely, and the werewolf felt a tiny body creeping slowly up the sofa until a little boy was pressed snugly against the man.

An hour passed in much the same fashion, and soon it was time for them to make their way to the sitting room, where all the guests would be arriving by floo. Remus and Severus stood, waiting in anticipation, while the little bundle of nerves, also known as Harry, took up his resident spot behind Severus’s knee.

Poppy was the first one to arrive, as they had planned, wanting Harry to have a familiar face first. He was brave enough to offer her a smile, but could not be coaxed out from behind Severus however, knowing that there would be three strangers soon to come. The potions master smiled at the boy’s antics, and offered to carry him, hoping it would make the boy feel more secure. Harry gladly accepted, and felt much safer in Severus’s arms. He knew that the man would not allow anyone to hurt him, and hiding from all the way up here would also be much easier.

The floo chimed again, causing Harry to tense up and bury his face in the potions master’s robe, grasping on to it for dear life. Minerva stepped through and greeted everyone, smiling at the adorable sight Severus and his godson made.

“Hello, little one! I’m Minerva but you can call me Aunt Minnie if you want to,” Minerva said jovially, standing in front of Severus. The boy turned his head minutely to peek out at her, gave her the tiniest wave, and resumed his prior position.

Just then, the floo chimed again and Harry tensed, only to turn his head curiously at the voice of a little girl.

“HELLO! HI! I’M LUNAAAAAA” the high voice of a 4 year old rang through the sitting room. Everyone chuckled, returning her greeting and welcoming her and her father to the manor. As the adults made small talk, Harry slowly gathered up his courage and eventually turned around, examining the strangers. There was a tall, stern looking woman standing next to Madam Poppy whom Harry assumed was ‘Aunt Minnie’. Opposite them stood an even taller man with long, white blonde hair, and perched in his arms was a little girl with equally icy blonde locks.

Harry assumed this must be Luna, and boy did she have a set of lungs on her for how tiny she was (she was slightly bigger than Harry but shh nobody tell him). When Luna realised that Harry had emerged from his hiding place and was now looking at her, she bounced excitedly in her Daddy’s arms, waving enthusiastically at the dark haired child. Xenophilius couldn’t keep hold of the wriggling child much longer and set her down, where she immediately bounded over to Severus.

She stood in front of the tall man, tilted her head up, and took a breath “HI ARE YOU HARRY? I’M LUNA. HELLO!” Luna yelled up at the boy.

All the adults winced at her volume, and Harry stared at the girl with wide eyes. Severus slowly kneeled down with Harry grasping tightly onto him, but making no move to get away from the situation. Knowing the boy would protest if he was uncomfortable, Severus fully knelt down, putting Harry and himself on the same level as the boisterous girl.

“Hi Luna, I’m Severus, Harry’s godfather. He’s a little shy right now, so maybe you can lower down you volume, hmm? What do you think?”

“Oh, okay, hi Harry, I’m Luna,” the girl stage whispered loudly, but still much, much quieter than before. She smiled jovially at Harry, who offered her a small but genuine smile back.

“Hi Luna,” he said softly.

After some small talk, Severus had led the way to the front room, where Flopsy had laid out some tea and biscuits, which they were all currently enjoying. Harry had plucked up the courage to leave Severus’s arms, and was currently sitting on the floor next to Luna, each enjoying a chocolate digestive. They had bonded over their stance of the chocolate digestive being the superior biscuit, and were noisily discussing its merits through mouthfuls of said biscuit. Ah, children.

Their conversation slowly dissolved into their various hobbies and toys, both highly interested in each other’s toys. While Harry did not have many magical toys, most of his toys were muggle, which Luna had never seen before. This encouraged the two children to leap up from their spot, and to make their way to their guardians.

“Sev’rus, can I show Luna my toys, pleeaaseeeee?” Harry asked Severus with puppy dog eyes, chocolate smeared all over his face.

Simultaneously, Luna (who was also highly chocolatey), was pleading with her father “Daddy, can I go see Harry’s toys, pleeaaseeeeee?”

After faces were wiped and rules were set, the pair were finally allowed to race out of the room to see the oh so coveted toys. Severus immediately called Flopsy over to ask for her help to watch over the two gremlins. She gracefully agreed, but not before she extorted a few favours from him, of course.

The toddlers got on like a house on fire (and caused just as much destruction), which allowed the adults the whole day to complete the article. Xenophilius had immediately agreed to publish an expose on The Quibbler, once he heard what exactly the old coot was up to. With the evidence Minerva and Poppy brought to the table, he was sure it was going to be a slam dunk case, and Albus would not be the squeaky clean ‘leader of the light’ he once was.

Between the five of them, they had the article written and ready to be published after only two days of hard work.

Remus and Severus were relaxing in the library after putting Harry to bed, which had become part of their evening routine. They had progressed to sharing a sofa instead of taking an armchair each however, which spoke volumes about how far they had come. Each of them had a book in hand, but neither were actually reading anything. The article was going to be released the next day, first thing in the morning.

“I can’t believe it. That old piece of shit is finally going to be exposed for what he’s been doing,” Severus said, leaning back, officially giving up any pretence of reading.

Remus put his book down as well, “I hope he gets what he deserves. I still can’t believe he treated children that way for years and nobody knew.”

“Well, I knew. Kind of.”

“Hmm?”

“My childhood wasn’t exactly sunshine and daisies,”. Severus sighed. “My father was a drunk and well let’s just say not a happy one. Poppy knew, and she told the headmaster. Nothing happened. And then when the golden boys of Gryffindor started pulling ‘harmless’ pranks on a filthy Slytherin well, who cared if he almost got mauled by a werewolf?”

Remus, who had sat up at the news of Severus’s childhood, had sank back into the cushions even lower, at yearning how what the marauders did affected him. “Severus, I know this will never be enough but I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t condone their actions, but I didn’t stop them either. I should have stopped them. I know this may sound empty but if I could turn back time, I would. I would have stopped them. I would have stopped Sirius, and I was so angry, I’m still so angry. You could have died! And I’m sorry I never said that to you when we were still children. I was a coward. I’m sorry.” Remus exploded, repeating “I’m sorry”, over and over, face buried in his hands.

“I forgive you.” Severus said simply, hand clasped together underneath his chin, turning to the man.

Remus looked up, shocked, not expecting the man to say that. “W-what but we were so horrible to you, how could you-”

“They were horrible to me. Not you. And while yes, you should have stopped them, you recognise your mistake. And you apologised. Which is more than I will ever get from any of them. So I forgive you. I have for along time, Remus. I allowed you into my home, after all,” the taller man said with a small smile.

The two men looked at each other for a long moment, before Remus suddenly leapt forward, crushing the dark haired man in an embrace. Shocked, Severus went completely still, hearing Remus whisper “thank you, I’m sorry”, like a mantra. Severus slowly lifted his arms and wrapped them awkwardly around the other man, both touch-starved men unknowingly giving and receiving comfort from each other.

Chapter Text

5:59am

“Oh god. Oh god. Oh my god.” Severus repeated, still in his pyjamas and hair unkempt, pacing around the library.

It was the day the article would be published, and the paper was set to be distributed at 6am sharp. And Severus was having a slight nervous breakdown.

“Severus, hey, calm down. It’s going to be okay, we wrote nothing but the truth. And this is a good thing, okay. It will help countless children. Come on, sit down, come here,” Remus said soothingly, rising from his perch on the sofa and gently guiding the taller man onto the sofa.

The two men had retired from the library at around midnight the night before, and had changed into sleeping attire only to toss and turn for hours, futilely chasing sleep. Severus had given up after four hours and had taken up trying to wear down the rug in the library instead. Remus had joined him but half an hour later, opting to slump into the sofa instead, bent over and chewing nervously on his thumb nail.

Flopsy woke up at half past 5 as usual, and one glance in the library prompted her to rush through breakfast and stay in Harry’s room to make sure he didn’t see the two older men in that state.

Not 5 minutes later, they heard a tapping noise coming from the window. Severus leapt up from the sofa and accosted the poor owl for its’ letter, before hurriedly tearing it open. Remus took pity on the poor bird and offered it some treats, before the affronted owl ruffled its’ tail feathers and flew away with one last glare at Severus. The tall man was holding this morning’s copy of The Quibbler, along with a well-wishing note from Xenophilius. They had all read through the article before of course, but seeing it printed out in an actual publication made the whole thing (and its’ consequences) seem that much more real and tangible. The two men huddled close to skim through the article that spanned two pages, titled “Dumbledore: The man you know or the man you thought you knew?” It was a fairly simple title, but all of them had thought that an inflammatory headline could be written off as attention-grabbing for the wrong reasons, and had eventually settled on this one.

Remus read it through and looked on as Severus browsed through the rest of The Quibbler, but collapsed back onto the sofa when the man returned to the article page and stared at it stoically. Severus did not budge from his position, running through all the bad things that could result from the article. What if the article was traced back to him, and through him, Harry? The boy would be put in harm’s way again, and this time it was all his fault. Oh god, what had he done-

The taller man’s destructive and self-loathing thoughts had been interrupted once again by the wolf, who had gently coaxed The Quibbler out of his hands.

“Come, Severus, it would not do to dwell on the article, it has been done and cannot be taken back. Now, I’d say it’s time for a shower, don’t you think? I’m sure Harry will be waiting for us to have breakfast with him soon. And after that Xenophilius and Luna are popping by, remember. And Poppy too, if she’s can.” Remus rambled, trying to get the potion’s master to focus on him taking and not on his own thoughts.

At the mention of his godson, the taller man snapped out of his thoughts and caught the trail end of what Remus was going on about. He realised the man was trying to calm him down, and lead his thoughts away from the article. He zoned back in and realised they were now in front of his room, and he turned to face Remus.

“Um, yes, thank you. I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m behaving this way. I guess somehow, I still feel like the headmaster has some kind of power over me and would send me back to the hovel of a place I used to call home,” Severus admitted, looking down at his socked feet.

Remus subconsciously reached over and tilted the other man’s face up “Hey, he can’t hurt you anymore. I swear I’ll kill him myself if he ever tries to hurt Harry or you again.”

Severus stared at Remus, an unreadable expression on his face, before the man realised that his hand was still placed delicately under Severus’s chin. He snatched his hand away, but the obsidian eyes never left his own.

“Thank you.” Severus said, and fled into his room to take a shower.

7:36am

Xenophilius had arrived a little bit ago, and Luna had immediately run off wth Harry, Flopsy hot on their tails.

It had been over an hour since the article was published, and owls had been flying in nonstop, according to the blonde man.

“It’s not good news, I’m afraid. I’ve never had this many people direct so much vulgarity at me since the time I suggested people start including hippogriff dung into their skincare routine.” Xenophilius said mildly.

Both Remus and Severus shuddered before asking to see the letters he’d gotten. The man produced a small stack of envelopes from his robes, explaining that the other half of the mail had been howlers, and had awoken poor Luna that morning. Xenophilius also told the two how he had redirected the rest of owls to go to Prince Manor after he left, so they would be receiving the rest of the mail. The three men strapped in and readied themselves for a day of howlers.

They had been receiving their fair share of normal letters and howlers, but Severus had slowly come to realise that once specific witch had been sending a howler every 10 minutes, and her shrill voice was piercing into his skull. He managed to grab one while it was in the middle of yelling, and he read the signature. Molly Weasley. He suddenly realised he knew her from Hogwarts, though by her maiden name of course. He was pulled back into a memory.

Severus and Lily were a month into their first year in Hogwarts, and they had barely had time to see each other, what with classes and making new friends. Well, Lily making new friends at least. Severus had tried, but ever since that stupid Potter boy started picking on him, no one in Slytherin wanted to associate themselves with ‘a weakling like him’. So, here he was, loitering in front of the Fat Lady’s portrait, trying to gather up the courage to persuade her to let him in. Or failing that, to just yell out Lily’s name at the top of his lungs. Just as he was about to speak, a voice rang through the corridor.

“Oi snake! What are you doing here, huh?” A tall brunette shouted at Severus. A group of seventh year Gryffindors had just made their way up and were now looming in front of Severus, who was small, even for an 11 year old. The small boy let out a terrified whimper, casting his glance upwards, his eyes roaming around the space for an escape route. Then suddenly, the boys were manhandled aside, and a portly witch with fire red hair stopped in front of Severus.

“Oh shove off Ty, he’s just an ickle firstie innit, and you’re scaring him. Go on, scram!” She yelled sternly.

Severus was highly impressed and awed by how she had managed to control the boys who were twice her height. She looked at his expression and rolled her eyes, though not unkindly.

“Look, I don’t like Slytherins and I will not associate myself with you lot. But you’re little red’s friend, which is why I’m doing this. No more help from me, understand? Next time, be smarter than to come into the lion’s den, god, I thought you Slytherins were supposed to be self-preserving. Anyway, wait here, I’ll get little red.”

He had later found out that the seventh year witch was named Molly Prewett, and though she had never helped him again, she was always there to offer him kind smiles and sympathetic eyes, before she had graduated.

He had heard that Molly Prewett had married Arthur Weasley and they now had a football field of children. And now Molly Weasley was yelling at him about in a howler. She didn’t believe him. Of course she didn’t.

Remus watched as Severus clutched a howler for a long moment, before dropping it and almost running out of the library. The werewolf bit off a curse and stuttered out an apology to Xeno before racing after Severus, recognising in the man’s expression that something was off.

He found Severus curled into a ball on his bedroom floor, hyperventilating and murmuring something about trust. Remus recognised the markers of a panic attack, having gone through something similar before, and tried his best to help the man.

“Hey Severus, it’s me, Remus. I think you’re experiencing a panic attack right now. I just need you to follow my breathing okay? Breathe in, 1, 2, 3, and breathe out. Breathe in…” Remus continued talking calmly, kneeling next to the man but never touching him, just in case.

Once Severus had stopped hyperventilating and was breathing somewhat normally, Remus finally checked in with him “Hey, what do you need? Do you want a calming draught? Or do you want me to leave?”

Severus shook his head violently, reaching out a hand to grasp at Remus’s wrist. “No, stay. No calming draught. Just- just keep talking. Please.”

And so Remus talked for the better part of 30 minutes, his wrist held in a death grip, while Severus calmed down. After the taller man sat up and Remus summoned him a mug of hot chocolate, he started apologising profusely, ashamed at what happened and how such a small thing triggered a panic attack.

“No, don’t apologise. I understand. I’ve had panic attacks before too and sometimes you don’t even know what the trigger is. And I will never mind helping you when you need it, Sev, don’t worry. Now drink up, the chocolate will do you good.” Remus assured him.

Too emotionally drained to get worked up over his new nickname, ‘Sev’ just glared, before softening his gaze and expressing his gratitude towards the man, takin small sips of the rich drink.

9:02am

Remus and Severus had returned to the library shortly after, and the three men had decided that opening the letters were an ill-advised notion. So now they sat comfortably (read: tensely) on the sofa, directing owls to place letters into a large heap and casting an incendio on all howlers before they could start howling.

The floo suddenly chimed from the sitting room, causing all of them to leap up and race there, ready to welcome what was sure to be Poppy. Well, the other two leapt up and raced, Xenophilius did something more like rise and leisurely follow them. By the time he reached, Poppy was already stepping out of the floo with an unreadable expression. She requested a drink before making herself comfortable on one of the sofas and beginning a recount of the day, starting with how old Dumbles reacted the moment he saw the article.

Poppy detailed how mad with rage the old coot was even opting out of breakfast, and instead called over his little cult of supporters, the order of the phoenix. They had babbled and dithered for over an hour before the headmaster realised there wasn’t much they could do, especially seeing as he had no way to prove that he didn’t do what was specified in the article. He managed to convince his little cult of course, but there was no actual evidence they could use to disprove the expose. So the day returned to normal and old Dumbles convinced himself that nobody was believing the little article, mostly due to all the fan mail he was receiving. Until 8am sharp, however, which was when everyone who was subscribed received a copy of the Daily Prophet, as they did daily. Only this time, splashed across the front page in bold letters was “Albus Dumbledore: Caring Headmaster or Cruel Child Abuser?”

Everyone let out an audible gasp at that, seeing as none of them had bothered to open their copies of the DP that day, piling the copies among the other letters received.

Apparently, Rita Skeeter had believed them (read: she wanted a good story and sensational headline), and had went on to dig further into Dumbledore’s past, with what little time she had. She published the full article found on The Quibbler on the DP as well (hello copyright infringement lawsuit), and tacked on a list of other crimes that Dumbledore had seemingly committed. From there, seeing as the biggest newspaper had believed and supported the Quibbler article, more publications had seen fit to post their own versions of the article. Just like that, public opinion swayed and everyone turned against Dumbledore. Outraged parents pelted the Ministry with howlers and letters of rage, and they had no choice but to send Aurors over to Hogwarts. That day, at 8:47am, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore had been arrested on suspicion of child neglect, and whatever else Skeeter had added into the Prophet.

Poppy finished the story with glee written all over her face, and downed the rest of her drink with a flourish.

Chapter Text

The silence was deafening in the room. Poppy stared at all three men, waiting for them to process the information. The moment their brains caught up, chaos broke out.

“I’m sorry, WHAT?”

“UM, EXCUSE ME-“

“WHY WOULD YOU TELL US LIKE THAT??”

Poppy burst out in giggles as the adults paced around the room jumping and expressing their various emotions. Once they had calmed down somewhat, the questions started coming. Poppy had expected this of course, and had prepared well for it.

“So he’s arrested? Like really, seriously arrested by aurors??”

“Yes.”

“But how? There’s no proof is there?”

“Well no, not yet, but I’ve been asked to submit some evidence tomorrow. And the couldn’t very well leave him to run the school with all the public outrage.”

“So this is a technical arrest? Not a slam dunk he’s going to Azkaban?”

“Technically yes, but with all the evidence and testimonies people are willing to provide, he will definitely not walk out o the ministry a innocent man. I’m not a 100% on whether he’s going to Azkaban, but he’ll definitely be stripped of his titles, especially ‘Headmaster’.”

Xenophilius, who had been watching the other two men question Poppy relentlessly, suddenly put a stop to it by stepping up onto the coffee table ad declaring “THIS CALLS FOR A CELEBRATION! I’LL BRING THE FIREWHISKY, YOU BRING THE SNACCS, AND WE WILL RECONVENE IN 20 MINUTES. GOODBYE FRIENDS!” And with that, he jumped into the floo and disappeared.

Stunned, Poppy and Severus only blinked dumbly while quietly whispered “well, now I know where Luna gets it from. Not that there was ever any doubt but,”

“…he stepped on my coffee table.”

20 minutes later, Xenophilius had indeed returned with enough Firewhisky to supply a university party, and Severus had indeed provided some snaccs. Minerva had also managed to escape Hogwarts and had showed up with a boom box. With the acting Headmistress’s arrival, the party commenced in full swing, loud music blaring and bottles being passed around.

Meanwhile in Harry’s room, the two children plus an elf were wondering what the commotion was all about. Luna decided that they were going to be spies and creep around the house to find out. Once they realised the music was coming from the sitting room, Flopsy opened the door with magic and three made their way in. Upon sneaking in, they were met with the sight of five drunk adults dancing, jumping and yelling to horrendous music blasting from a gigantic contraption. Naturally, they decided to join in.

Remus and Severus had somehow found their way into a secluded corner and had been dancing together when ‘We are the Champions’ started playing, and all the adults went crazy. Remus suddenly stopped dancing and grabbed Severus.

“We did it, Sev. We are the champions. Dumbledore lost!”

Severus stared intensely at the werewolf, drunk mind slowly processing his words, before grinning and pulling the man into a searing kiss.

“WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!”

1 year later

Severus blinked awake, rolling over and shielding his eyes from the offending morning sun streaming in through the open curtains. He reached over to the warm body next to him and gave it a poke. The person flinched and the bed started vibrating from the giggles the man was trying to suppress. Severus gave him another poke.

“Remus. Go close the curtains.”

“No, go close them yourself.”

“You opened them in the first place you insufferable werewolf!”

More giggles. Ugh. Severus rolled onto his back and started reminiscing about how he got the wolf into his bed in the first pace, and what happened over the last three months.

As Poppy had said, there was no shortage of people willing to give their testimonies about Dumbledore, and with the evidence she provided, it was pretty much an open shut case. The Minisry had expedited his trial, what with all the media attention on it and while he was not sentenced to Azkaban, Dumbledore did face many repercussions. All of his titles were stripped away, even his Order of Merlin, he had to do many hours of community service and had to pay reparations to everybody who he had ever hurt in Hogwarts. He even had to put some money towards a muggleborn orphanage that Remus planned to open. Minerva had been made Headmistress of Hogwarts, and Poppy was give two mediwitch assistants to help her run the hospital wing.

As with the two of them after the fateful kiss on that night, the two hungover men had talked over their feelings the next day and had decided to try being in a relationship. A year later they were still going strong, and Remus had even agreed to move in permanently.

The four adults had encouraged Xenophilius to sue the Daily Prophet for copyright infringement, which he had, and him and Luna were now living comfortably in a new house. Luna still came over almost daily of course, and she and Harry had decided that they were now siblings. Severus’s business was booming, seeing as how it was leaked that he had a hand in exposing Dumbledore.

Severus finally rolled out of bed and walked into the toilet to get ready, pointedly not shutting the curtains and dodging the pillow the was thrown his way. At breakfast, he listened at length as Harry talked about what Reus had taught him the day before, and how he had managed to cat a lumos with his training wand. Amidst planning for the orphanage, Remus had started conducting mini lessons with Harry and Luna, finding it ridiculous that schooling only started at 11 for magical children. Harry was thriving in the lessons, and though Luna already knew everything Remus taught, she pretended she didn’t because it made her brother happy.

After breakfast, the small family, along with Luna, had decided to go to the muggle zoo in London. They made a day out of it and had the best time, even though Remus and Sev slightly freaked out when they realised that Harry was a parselmouth. Once they reached home and the children were showered and fed (Luna was sleeping over), it was Severus’s turn to put them to bed. He wished the two troublemakers goodnight and gave them a kiss on their forehead. As he switched the nightlight on and was about the leave, he heard Harry whisper quietly “Goodnight Daddy.”

As Severus lay in bed that night, he smiled and turned, pulling Remus closer to him. All was right with the world.