Chapter Text
Severus had been one of the most feared teachers in Hogwarts for three years at this point, after taking the Potions position soon after Lily and James' death, known for his utter dislike of anyone from any other house except his own. So now, on the third year after Voldemort had been defeated, all the students returned to the Great Hall, the first years lined up in front of the sorting hat and yet all anybody could see was the infant on Snape's lap. The professors at Hogwarts always kept their wings out, as a way to show superiority to the students and remind them not to step out of line, and Snape was currently using his jet black wings to try and cover the infant from all the stares.
It was all in vain however, as nothing was more curious as Hogwarts students trying to find a weakness in the supposedly potions master made of steel. The child seemed amused by all the attention though, fluttering his small wings, which were a peculiar colour, emerald with gemstones encrusted between the feathers. Severus scowled at them all, pulling the child closer to his chest as he softly crooned, gently tracing his fingers up and down the infant's wings. The child giggled in response, clambering all over Severus' wings, ruffling most of his feathers in the process, although the feared Potions professor didn't seem to mind.
Everyone else looked shocked, and it was the talk of the evening, even Dumbledore looked slightly annoyed by the end of the evening. Eventually, the dinner was over and Severus had the grueling task of making sure all the cretins of his house got back to the dungeons alright. The child was still in his arms, calmed down considerably now, leaning sleepily against the Potions masters' shoulder as students and staff alike continued to gawk at him. Snape just sighed as he watched the last of the Slytherins enter the dormitories, the prefects coming up with a perfect headcount, which saved Severus the job of having to go around and count them all up himself.
Finally, he retreated to his quarters, the child now fast asleep in his arms as he gently placed him down onto the sofa bed, tucking him in as he turned to see the enraged Albus Dumbledore, having just flooed from his fireplace. "Severus it is time for you to give the boy back to his actual family. You are unfit to be a parent." He yelled, his wispy white wings, twitching angrily despite being withered by age. "I have told you time and time again Albus, he will not be returning to the house where they kept him trapped in a bloody cupboard!" Severus argued, his wings moving to shield Harry from the headmaster's view.
"You are exaggerating Severus. It is in his best interest to stay with the Dursleys, in order for the blood protection that quite literally saved his life from Voldemort, to remain most effective!" Albus argued back as Severus continued to get more and more agitated. "Absolutely not. You didn't see that cupboard, or how skinny he was, or how they didn't care that I took him. They didn't care for him, and they would've eventually killed that boy!" Severus yelled, as Albus took a step back and sighed.
"I'll be back Severus, and I will be taking that boy back to his real family, whether you like it or not." The old man threatened as he walked back through the fire, despite the arguments about to leave Severus' lips. Harry stirred from the sofa, his wings twitching slightly, some of his feathers shifting out of place uncomfortably. Severus walked over and sat next to him, pulling the boy onto his lap as he carefully preened his feathers, earning himself a pleased hum from the child. "Shhh, sleep now Harry. I wont let them hurt you, never again."
---
The Dursleys hadn't been very welcoming. Severus had spent almost 3 years fighting with Dumbledore to try and see Harry, it was his right as Godfather after all, and Sirius wasn't in a position to ask to see him, being locked in Azkaban and all. Dumbledore had refused time and time again, insisting that it was better for Harry to have no connection to the wizarding world, despite the stupidity in that sentence considering Harry was quite literally the chosen one. One day, after his owls to the Dursley residence went unanswered for the almost thousandth time, he decided to go and visit Harry himself.
What he hadn't expected to find was no Dursleys for a start, as they went out for dinner, and Harry who was locked in a cupboard, no food or water, and his wings already sprouted. Normally, children's wings didn't start to develop until they were twelve years old, so to see a child with wings at almost a quarter of that age, was a sign of serious bloody neglect. Harry had been terrified, cowering away from Severus and his massive wings, which almost broke the man's heart. He quickly folded up his wings, crouching down and slowly approaching Harry, holding out one of his hands as he allowed Harry to come near him at his own pace.
The boy had been hesitant at first before practically jumping into Severus' arms, crooning softly and curling up in his lap. Petunia and Vernon had chosen that moment to come home, their own child behind them, well fed by the bloody looks of it which only served to make Severus angrier. "Severus Snape, what on God's green earth are you doing here?!" Petunia shouted, Vernon stood behind her, cheeks as red as a tomato. "Saving Lily's son from your obvious neglect." He had growled out, standing up with Harry in his arms, taking notice to just how disfigured his wings seemed to be.
"You can bloody well take the rascal! Nothing but a burden on our house, he is!" Vernon yelled back as Snape resisted the urge to curse the man, happily leaving out of the front door. "Well Harry, you have a few options here kiddo. You could come with me, and I could take care of you or we could find someone from Sirius' side of the family to take care of you if you would prefer." Snape had offered as Harry stared at him blankly. "Who's Sirius?" Harry mumbled, looking up with kicked puppy eyes as Severus mentally cursed the Dursleys once more.
"Sirius is one of your godfathers, alongside myself. He was your father's best friend." Snape explained as Harry's eyes lit up as they strolled through the streets, extremely curious. "I have a dad?" Harry asked and Severus felt his heart sink in his chest. Just how clueless were they keeping him in that fucking cupboard. "You did Harry, but he died making sure you and your mum would be okay. He died loving you with all his heart kiddo." Snape explained as Harry nodded, seemingly okay with that although his expression changed to one of thoughtfulness.
"I wanna stay with you. You got me out of the cupboard. It was really dark in there." Harry muttered as Severus hugged the boy tighter, apparating back to his house with a quick pop which made Harry's head spin. "This'll be our house then kiddo. I'll get a room ready for you." Severus smiled as Harry looking around in wonder, eyeing up the garden full of various magical herbs and ingredients. "Room for me?" Harry repeated quietly as Severus smiled and unlocked the front door. "Yes, but first I'm sorting out your wings. I'm going to take a wild guess and say they're hurting you?" Severus asked gently, as Harry nodded shyly, flexing out his wings which contorted almost painfully.
It took him hours to finally get Harry's wings in a state he deemed humane. He had spent those hours feeding Harry slowly, talking to him and most of all comforting him whenever he started to cry from just how disfigured some of his feathers were. Severus had kissed his forehead whenever it got extremely bad, making sure he knew he was loved and that the pain would end, unlike it was at the Dursleys. Afterwards, Harry had been exhausted, barely able to keep his eyes open as Severus carried him up the stairs and into his newly transfigured room, settling him down on the bed.
Harry had clung to his arm, refusing to let go despite how tired he was, terrified of being alone after spending so many years in the cupboard under the stairs. Severus had stayed, even after Harry fell asleep. He had stayed until he opened his eyes the next morning. He then promised Harry to stay with him forever, to protect him from people like the Dursleys forever. Harry had smiled, and for once, seemed at peace.
---
The next day, Harry woke up excitedly from the sofa bed, clambering onto Severus' bed with his little legs. When he finally reached the top, he flexed his wings out, crooning softly as he led down next to his papa, who quickly opened his eyes, covering Harry with his wings. "Hey kiddo. What're you doing up so early?" Severus asked with a smile as Harry crawled onto his chest, wrapping his small wings around Severus. "Papa gotta do job and I wanna help so I get up with Papa!" Harry giggled as Severus sighed before looking at his alarm clock.
"It's only 5am sunshine, we can still sleep in for a bit." Severus explained as Harry frowned, bouncing up and down on Severus' chest as the man groaned. "But Papa I wanna wear big coat like Papa does!" Harry whined as his wings twitched in annoyance. "A cloak Harry, and fine lets get dressed then kiddo." Severus laughed as he stood up, carrying Harry on his hip as the child giggled and babbled, making no sense at all. Ten minutes later, after much fighting and Severus running around chasing after Harry, he was finally dressed in a black and green robe, although it only went down to his knees.
He had shorts on underneath and bright pink trainers with little cats on, whilst Severus was dressed in his classic plain black robes. "Papa you need hair stuff!" Harry laughed, digging around in his little suitcase for something as Severus just raised an eyebrow at him. "What hair stuff?" Severus asked watching his kid with an amused expression. Harry finally grabbed out a butterfly hairclip and scrambled all over his papa trying to attach it to his hair. Severus sighed before grabbing Harry by his waist and hoisting him up so he was stood in Snape's lap.
The boy giggled as he finally secured the hairclip in his papa's hair and climbed down before grabbing a matching one and trying to put it in his own hair, although he was struggling immensely. Severus gently took the hairclip from his hands and attached it to his hair as Harry let out an excited squeal, running around the room. "Should we go now kiddo?" Severus asked as Harry nodded and reached his hands up, silently asking Severus to pick him up, which the professor happily obliged to.
They reached the banquet hall an hour before breakfast was due to start and Severus was quietly surprised to see McGonagall already there, waving at them politely. "It's rare to see you up so early Severus, eager to start the new school year are you?" She teased as Harry stared, mouth open at McGonagall's wings, which were a tawny brown. "Yes well, Harry wanted to become my little assistant it seems." Severus laughed as Minerva looked at his little hairclip with a barely withheld giggle. Harry reached out to grab a handful of Minerva's feathers but was quickly stopped when Severus pulled him back by his collar.
Minerva let out a laugh as Harry flailed, flapping his wings in agitation as Severus refused to let him go. "No Harry, you can't just grab people's wings." Severus sighed as Harry continued to try and wriggle out of his grasp, Minerva laughing all the while. "Come here Harry." Minerva opened up her arms as the boy quickly scrambled onto her lap as Severus just huffed out a laugh. "You can touch my wings if you want Harry, but you have to be gentle, okay?" She spoke softly, looking directly into Harry's eyes as the little boy nodded, his fingers gently tracing over each feather.
Minerva ruffled his hair as Harry cuddled up against her, his hair slowly becoming more and more like a birds nest as time went on, causing Severus to glower at it. Harry eventually got bored and clambered back onto his papa's lap, hiding under his cloak as students slowly started to filter in. Dumbledore entered, followed closely by Hagrid and Snape's grip tightened on Harry, not oblivious to the way the elderly man's gaze lingered on them. Soon enough, breakfast was served and Harry looked on in amazement as the cups refilled themselves and the plates never seemed empty.
"What do you want to eat kiddo?" Severus asked as Harry pointed out some pastries and fruit, which Severus quickly grabbed for him. Severus quietly sipped on a cup of tea as Harry slowly ate his food, still not used to eating full meals. Eventually, breakfast was over and Severus picked Harry up and headed back towards the dungeons, to the Potions classroom. Harry babbled mindlessly to himself as Snape nodded, half listening, half watching the students around them, who looked at Harry curiously.
They reached the classroom and Severus quickly settled down behind his desk, summoning a colouring book and other small toys to keep Harry occupied. To his horror, he realised he still had the butterfly hairclip attached to his hair, although now he couldn't care less, especially when Harry was wearing his own happily. Slowly, the hufflepuffs and ravenclaws that he was teaching for that period began to shuffle in, first years, sighing as he saw them all looking around in confusion. "Take a seat anywhere, it doesn't matter. There isn't a seating arrangement in any of your classes, it's a first come first serve basis." He sighed as they all scrambled to sit at the back, apart from a few brave ravenclaws.
Harry looked at them all curiously, his wings twitching as he peered out at them from behind Severus' desk. Just as Severus was about to start teaching, a hufflepuff ran in late, purple hair bouncing up and down as she stumbled over her own feet. "Miss Tonks, please take a seat and stop disturbing the lesson with your tardiness." Snape teased as a quiet laughed echoed around the room as Tonks' face went bright red as she took a seat in the front row. Harry looked at the girls hair which was now a bright shade of pink, mouth agape and eyes twinkling with a childish curiosity that immediately had Severus resting a hand on his shoulder to remind him to behave.
Snape began them on a basic potion, one that was quite difficult to mess up, even for beginners and watched in amusement as they all panicked, reading their instructions. Harry took that as his queue to wander around the room, watching as all the students struggled whilst flapping his wings in excitement whenever anyone paid attention to him. Tonks in particular seemed to love Harry, completely abandoning her potion to play with Harry, which earned her a scolding from Severus, although there was no real malice behind his words.
"You're doing it wrong!" Harry exclaimed, watching Tonks try and complete her potion after Severus' fifth warning. "Oh, how am I supposed to do it then?" She asked sarcastically, showing Harry the book of instructions. "You need to cut the valerian roots into smaller pieces, or else it wont work properly." Harry explained whilst looking up at Tonks with a victorious smirk as her face flushed red with the realisation that he was right. "How do you know what valerian roots are?" She asked incredulously, as Harry just shrugged and ran back over to his papa, who raised an eyebrow in amusement.
The lesson finished without much incident, with all the students able to make at least a semi-working potion. Harry was now sat on Severus' desk, colouring in a picture of a cat, mostly staying within the lines, which secretly made Severus very proud. The next class was a seventh year, and they seemed more focused on their work, although they did politely greet Harry whenever he stopped at their stations. By the time break time rolled around, Harry was worn out, having lost his mini cloak and instead just sat around in his shirt and shorts, falling asleep on Severus' lap.
The next two periods passed with Harry napping or wandering around, although he didn't seem that fond of the gryffindors, which secretly made Severus feel very vindicated. "Harry sweetheart, you need to wake up now, it's lunch time." Severus muttered quietly as the last of the students left the room, and Harry slowly opened his eyes. "Food?" Harry murmured, rubbing his eyes as Severus nodded and lifted Harry up, the child quickly grabbing onto Severus' cloak. "Yeah bud, food." The Potions master spoke, walking up the stairs from the dungeons, meeting up with Minerva on the way, who cooed softly at Harry as the child stretched his wings out in greeting.
"Everything gone alright so far Severus? I imagine it can't be easy teaching with a child running around." Minerva asked as Harry continued to croon at her, gently grabbing handfuls of her feathers. "Harry is very well behaved, hell, he even corrected one of the first years when they messed up." Snape laughed as they entered the Great Hall, Harry wriggling around when he spots all the food. They reached the professors table, taking their respective seats and Harry immediately reached for a chicken sandwich, stuffing it in his mouth before Severus could even say a word.
Severus wrapped one of his wings around Harry, keeping a close eye on him to make sure he didn't choke, as he slowly ate a sandwich himself. Minerva kept looking over at Harry and laughing at his cute little hamster cheeks, resisting the urge to pinch them. Dumbledore was also sat next to them, looking over at Harry occasionally, causing the child to tense up and hide in his papa's cloak. Severus glared at Dumbledore, muttering softly to comfort Harry as his eyes darkened. Lunch was soon over and Severus stood up, Harry in his arms and headed back to his classroom, subtly aware of Dumbledore following him.
Once they were finally alone in the corridors, Dumbledore began to speak to him. "It's unsafe to be in a laboratory with a child Severus, give him to me, I'll take care of him for a while." Dumbledore spoke, his voice sickly sweet, yet Snape was having none of it. "I'm not a fool Albus. He stays with me at all times, end of story." Severus spoke, holding Harry tighter as he walked away, ignoring the scoffs from the headmaster. Finally, they reached the Potions classroom, a line already formed outside of the room, made up of eager first years who probably didn't know what they were getting themselves into.
The gryffindors and slytherins all stumbled in, rushing to get a seat near the back which made Severus silently laugh. Harry watched them all from his seat on Severus' desk, diligently colouring in his picture of a hippogriff. As the lesson went on, Harry seemed to gravitate towards one of the gryffindors desks, a boy with bright ginger hair who didn't seem fussed at all by the constant distraction. "Another Weasley I take it?" Severus asked, walking up to the boy silently as Harry sat on a stool next to him.
"Yes sir, Charlie Weasley, pleasure to meet you." The boy said with a sort of charismatic charm that made Harry giggle. "You don't seem to be put off by my little assistant. Somehow, you've managed to make the potion perfectly regardless." He stated, watching as the boy brightened with pride. "Yeah, I have a brother around his age, nothing much distracts me anymore." Charlie laughed as Severus nodded and returned to his desk. The lesson ended and finally, the first day was over and Severus was quick to return to his chambers, Harry still attached to his hip.
"Papa, sleepy time?" Harry murmured, already falling asleep in Severus' arms. "Almost bud, we still have to have dinner first." Severus explained as Harry groaned and whined, clearly not happy. Severus led Harry down on the sofa bed, the child almost immediately drifting off into a light sleep, yet Severus couldn't bring himself to wake him up. They had a good couple of hours until dinner anyways, and it was better that Harry stay well rested and easy to look after than grouchy. Growing up with Lily had been warning enough, never to mess with their sleep.
He spent the few hours of freedom he had from watching Harry marking and grading papers he had collected from his older years, sighing all the while as some of his students' handwriting was quite literally impossible to read. Slowly, Harry began to stir, right on time for dinner and Severus smiled down at the boy, stretching his wings after being sat down for so long. "Come on Harry, time for dinner." Severus sighed as Harry woke up, flapping his little wings as he yawned and stretched against the sofa.
"Carry me?" Harry asked, already clambering on Severus without waiting for an answer, which just made the older man sigh. "Of course your majesty." Severus laughed as he walked out of his quarters, Harry's head on his shoulder, almost dozing off again. He entered the Great Hall, Minerva waving at him fondly as he continued to carry Harry, the child’s emerald wings occasionally slapping him in the face. "Having fun there Severus?" She spoke with a laugh, as Harry's face perked up when he heard her voice, making grabby hands at her wings.
Minerva quickly grabbed the boy from Severus, who was grateful for the reprieve, and laughed when he started babbling nonsense at her whilst gently playing with her wings. "He can be a bit of a handful when he first wakes up, I apologise." Severus muttered, cheeks flushing slightly as he took his place at the table. "It's alright, I've met seventh years who don't behave as well as he does." Minerva joked, earning herself a laugh from Severus as Harry looked at all the food in wonder. Severus gently lifted Harry off of the woman's lap and into his own as he allowed Harry to choose what he wanted to eat.
"Harry mate, I don't think-" Severus interrupted as Harry started piling desserts and normal food all on the same plate, completely unbothered by the mess he was making. "Oh, let him have his fun Severus. As long as he eats, does it really matter?" Minerva spoke, as Severus pondered for a moment. No, it really didn't. Soon enough, students started filtering out of the hall and Harry just sat on Severus' lap, slowly nibbling on a piece of bacon, his earlier enthusiasm having gone down the drain completely.
"You ready to go to bed bud?" Severus asked, wrapping one of his wings around Harry as the kid just crooned in response, nodding his head and turning to bury his face in his papa's chest. Severus left the wall, his cloak billowing in his wake as he marched back down towards the dungeons. Harry clung to his shoulder, chirping in curiosity when he spotted Dumbledore following them again. "Papa, old guy following us again." Harry murmured, as Severus immediately tensed up and spread out his wings in a display of dominance.
"It really isn't polite to follow people around Albus." Severus spoke, turning around, one wing shielding Harry whilst the other stretched out to it's full length, almost blocking the entire corridor. "He isn't your son Severus, surely you can see that? He can never replace Lily." Albus argued and Severus felt his blood run cold. "You have no say in the matter Albus. I am his godfather. The only other person on this god damn planet who does have a say, is Sirius, and considering he's probably going to be behind bars for the rest of his life, there is no one to back you up." Severus growled out, one hand combing through Harry's hair as he started to squirm about in his arms.
Albus raised his wand in warning and Harry looked up, his own wings twitching slightly in upset, turning back and burying his face in his papa's neck. "You would not be so foolish as to antagonize me Severus." Dumbledore stated, as the Potions master slowly backed away, his wings covering both him and Harry. "You wouldn't be so foolish as to attack a professor in broad daylight." Severus spoke, turning tail and leaving with Harry in his arms, completely enraged yet he cared more about protecting Harry than his own vengeance.
When he finally reentered his quarters, he bolted the door shut with a charm and disabled the ability for anyone to use the fireplace to floo into his room. Harry was shaking in his arms. The child hated yelling, it's why ever since he had taken Harry into his custody, he has tried his best to refrain from it, even when it came to dealing with insufferable brats. Albus however, did not share this mindset. "Harry bud, look at me, you're alright." Severus spoke softly as he sat down on the sofa, Harry still hiding underneath Severus' cloak.
"Did I do something bad again?" Harry spoke, and he sounded so small and vulnerable it made Severus' heart ache. "No kiddo, not your fault at all. You've never done anything wrong." Harry nodded, not believing him but he was too tired to dwell on it. "Can I sleep in papa's bed?" The child muttered, fistfuls of Severus' cloak in his hands. "Of course sweetheart, let's get you in your pjs hmm?" Severus spoke, lifting Harry up again and walking over to his trunk, picking out a pair of dinosaur pyjamas that Harry had picked himself.
Ten minutes later, after they had brushed their teeth and gotten ready, Harry cuddled up in bed, his wings curled up around himself as Severus led down beside him, one of his wings covering his child. Harry soon fell asleep, comforted by the protection of his papa.
Severus sighed as he stared at the ceiling. This was going to be a long bloody year.