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Looking into twin chips of blue ice, Severus said the first thing that came to mind, “But, you spoke up for Lucius.”
“Indeed, he has a son, a life, he deserves a second chance to see how good that life can be.”
“And I don’t?”
“Of course you do my boy, but I can't be seen to speak up for you, you know this, the dark lord will return, his most loyal followers are being sent to Azkaban, for you it won't be long, you're young, someone will speak up for you in the trials, you’ll be fine my boy and once you're out, once you’ve paid your debt to society I’ll look at getting you into Hogwarts.”
“Potions I think, we’ll need your skills by that point.”
Numb, even his lips were numb as Severus asked, “How long?”
“I’m sure it won't be too long my boy, you’ll be just fine.”
Looking the man in the eyes Severus didn't need to use any mind skill at all to see how the man thought Severus deserved this, while at the same time someone like Lucius - who loved nothing so much as a fresh victim to play with - deserved a second chance, how Severus who’d worked his ass off to atone -
To make up for his actions -
Who was tortured and lived in terror and despite all the danger was a double agent without which -
But it was useless, Albus Dumbledore had made a plan, and Severus was yet again simply a pawn.
“What about Harry, is he safe, what happened to him, will you let me see him before…..”
What no one knew about a natural ocluminens rather than one who’d been taught the skill, was how much the two differed.
In the muggle world he and Lily had once watched a marvelous program, all about a space wizard called The Doctor and his magic blue box that was bigger on the inside.
Bigger on the inside.
Just like the human mind, it too was bigger on the inside, infinitely big in fact, easily big enough for Severus Snape, even at just twenty one not a small man, if gaunt and near starvingly boney, to simply.... step inside.
The prison he was in was bad, but with his past Azkaban would destroy him.
Six days, six weeks, six months, six years, it didn't matter, once inside that terrible rock he’d die.
Because the leading cause of death in Azkaban wasn't dementors, it was starvation. Prisoners reached a point they simply stopped eating, and Severus could hardly eat now, never mind in there.
Self defense, pure instinctive self defense had him physically in Albus’ mind, yet he didn't read it.
No, as he moved through he copied everything on the man's upper mind, copied and now hidden within Severus’ own mind, the man wouldn't know because doing it like that left no trace.
Severus simply took any trace with him as he apparated away.
The building had anti-apparition wards up, powerful ones, but Severus was no longer in the prison, he was in a mind, and thus free.
*
Landing with a jolt he gasped, blinking to see the park where, impossibly, a tiny weedy pond had strawberry rose-weed growing within it, where he’d come to harvest them mid winter every year since he’d discovered the magical things at sixteen.
Apparition left a trace, even if he was starting from the unlikely position of the mind of a wizard, so he immediately spun again and was gone, landing in Paddington train station, then a short jump onto a train pulling out.
Giving it ten minutes to get up to some kind of speed he left it behind, landing in Gatwick, confounding the mind of the first ticket seller he reached.
He’d not use that ticket anyway, it just let him into departures without fuss.
As he strode along, filthy attire transfigured into jeans and a long sleeve shirt he got onto the first plane actually boarding, standing out of the way invisibly as it taxied down and then rose up into the air.
If he did this wrong they’d all die.
The woman holding a baby, the portly man already dozing off, the little boy sweeping a toy plane through the air, the old granny laughing at something her uncomfortable seat mate said…..
All of them would die, because magic reacted badly with muggle tech, and Severus was now in a box in the air consisting purely of muggle tech.
The plane was heading for America, one final link in his flight, if anyone ever followed it this far.
Impossible really, apparition traces were linked and stained into the ground, no ground, no trace.
The train alone would have been enough but he....
Was angry.
Not hurt, not betrayed, he was angry, and was using that anger to not get caught.
He wasn't running away to hide under a bed as he’d done when little, no, he was not so pathetic as to have been surprised by Albus’ actions, or hurt by them.
He was angry, and making sure he never got caught and used by anyone ever again.
And this way he was free and clear, as long as he didn't kill anyone by crashing a plane that is.
Time was running out though so he began to carefully thin himself from the world, less and less of him, an inward progression, not touching the equipment, not fritzing and destroying the machine around him because it was all inside of him and he sweated as he forced himself to keep going, less and less and less and
Falling
Rolling and tumbling and yelling in shock as the plane continued on without him, mass returning with a snap Severus gave a wild screaming yodel as he fell and fell and fell, laughing in reckless abandon from the thrill of it all.
He’d escaped from a secure prison, escaped from the dark lord, escaped from Albus fucking Dumbledore himself, he was free and falling and really should do something about that last one as the ground rushed to meet him like a lover long denied.
*
The final apparition was a bit rocky but he landed in one piece, falling as fast to lie upon the floor, still laughing in helpless relief.
Resolving to get up, to start planning, instead he passed out and slept for the better part of two days.
*
He’d bought his safehouse in the first year of the war, a mid terrace, two up, two down, in a northern town made of terraces, poor and tight and cramped, a pub at either end of the row, vandalized bus shelters, a place no one looked at you for fear of seeing their own misery reflected back at them.
Already stocked with food, lots of food, an embarrassing amount of food really but along with clothes and supplies, he’d not even have to step outside if he didn't want to, and he didn't.
But needs must, he eventually would have to.
For now though, he sat in silence and gently opened the protections he'd placed around the memories he’d stolen and began to look.
Harry Potter, he’d planted that name right at the end of their conversation, ensuring any memories of the boy were right at the top of Dumbledore's mind, and there they were, in a basket on a doorstep?
What the fuck!
Not just that, but Severus got the entire plan, got so much linked to it, his own part to play as the broken grateful-for-being-saved-by-Albus finally freed prisoner, not soon of course, the man was working the system hard, Severus would remain in Azkaban for eight years, would be retrieved with enough time to be brought to some kind of health, forced into a position he’d never in a million years want but would take out of gratitude for the rescue, would protect the boy but have no love for him....
Albus would insure Severus sold it to the dark lords followers as shocked remorse for the young death eater never given a chance, forgotten in prison, a travesty of justice, how had his very minor actions in the past war resulted in this heinous sentence…..
And he’d gone to prison for the dark lord, so Voldemort would honor him above all others, even if he did get freed before the man returned, it wouldn't matter at that point.
Breath whistling as he clutched his chest, unable to summon a potion as the horror of his fate hit all at once, planned fate, he staggered to his medication, grabbing and smashing the fragile glass, sucking the fumes through mouth and nose as if his life depended upon it, not even feeling the sting of cutting himself on the fragments.
His life did indeed depend upon it, magical asthma, stupid, emotional triggers, panic attacks, a childhood spent in fear left damage.
Leaning against the wall where his flailing had landed him, Severus cried, alone in hiding, at what was going to happen to him if he got caught.
*
It took a few days to recover from his attack, yet in the end he pulled parchment and ink to hand, dipped quill and began.
Everything he’d taken from Albus, horcruxes, names, items, probable locations, some of it just scraps but anything linked to little Harry had been lit up and ready to be grabbed and it was, after hours of work, all on paper.
His own acts, his own knowledge, his own suppositions, everything he could think of he gave.
Looking at it now, a stack of pages bigger than most books, he smiled.
It wasn't a nice smile, because it wasn't a nice plan, but that was okay, Severus wasn't a nice man.
Clearly not if the leader of the light had planned to shove him into Azkaban for eight years.
Sending the entire stack to Gringotts, a timed envelope to open in six weeks, direct to the hand of his own vault manager, that part was done.
They’d destroy the dark magic out of hatred alone, but he’d gifted their nation his vault and anything he owned within or without, it was healthy enough when he’d been stuffing it with the spoils of war for a few years, it would be enough.
Voldemort was doomed.
And if he wasn't, Severus no longer cared.
*
Stepping into Petunia Evans house he found a scene of whirling screaming wild magic and said in tones of firm disapproval, “HARRY POTTER, you stop that this instant!”
All the items that had been whirling around the room crashed to the ground as little Harry held up both hands and screamed through his sobs “Sev’us Sev’us mummy mummy MUMMY p’ese mummymummymummyyyyyy!”
Scooping him up, pressing the snotty face into his neck, his own tears falling now, because Severus too wanted this child’s mummy back with an ache that might never leave.
*
“I can't do this Sev, I can’t!”
Petunia looked terrible, and no wonder.
The entire house was wrecked, well, had been, Severus had done quite a bit of reparios, was tired indeed but at least now it was all put back together.
Holding the now sleeping baby he’d done scans and found, as expected, magical bindings upon his core.
Or rather, attempted bindings.
Albus was skilled yet not with infants, and a baby's core was mutable, shifting, changing hourly and while they could be bound, it took a specialist TEAM and months to do it.
The bindings designed to keep Harry’s power restricted to simple shimmering light effects at best had failed only an hour after being placed.
And the blood wards had failed almost as fast because they depended upon a traumatized and injured baby seeing a strange place as home, and that implanted feeling of home had failed as soon as the baby woke up and saw no one he loved, or even knew.
Lily had cut off all contact with her family to keep them safe, Harry’d never even seen his aunt, never mind thought of her as home!
So, despite bearing the dark mark on his arm, Severus had simply walked in, and taken the baby.
To hold and comfort, but it was the same as taking him for Voldemort.
“Tuny, the war will come back, and even if it doesn't my world will come calling, you need to be gone.”
Tugging a bag of money, he'd had it in the safehouse, “A million dollars, cash, take your family and go, leave this place, abandon it, go to the states, travel for a few years, pay cash, no trace of you that way, get a camper van, see the fucking world, hell Tuny, have fun!”
“Live for her, keep your own baby safe, call Vernon, tell him he needs to come home right now, hurry, and then I’ll get you to the airport.”
Wild eyed, she made the call, began to pack, and when Vernon got there predictably bellowing in anger at the summons Severus’d already set Harry to the side, sleep charm ensuring he missed the fireworks.
Petunia upstairs packing.
Vernon was incredibly vulnerable, muggle to the bone, his mind was wide open.
No potions needed, only intent, skill, and Severus easily slid into the man's mind, and began to change it.
He knew Venon, knew what he’d become in a few years time, because he’d seen his mothers memories of his own father at this age.
Charming, bluff, opinionated turned with time and a position of power into entitled turned into abusive turned into -
Well, not this time.
Digging deep Severus removed the sense of entitlement, no one owed this man anything, especially not Petunia.
She didn't owe him her time or work or effort or body.
He had to be worthy of it, worthy of her.
Ruthlessly he remade Vernon from the inside out, yet still, with consummate skill, left the essential personality Petunia had fallen in love with intact.
Lighter, more joyous, easily pleased and worshiping his wife, knowing how lucky he was to have someone so amazing to love, and to be loved by, and his son, the first of many.
Petunia had said once she wanted a large family, Vernon had only wanted the one, now he too couldn't wait for more.
Seeing Petunia smile in relief as he gathered her in his arms, “It’s okay Tuny love, I’m here, we’ve got this, come on pet it’s just a house, we’ll have fun, it's an adventure sweetheart, come on, lets go.”
*
Watching their plane rising into the clouds, holding Harry, Severus was almost ready.
But there had been two babies of prophecy, two victims of Albus, and Augusta Longbottom was a terrible person.
*
He’d left Harry in the safehouse, after feeding and cleaning and dancing the little boy back to sleep. Harry needed movement to relax too, the way his mother once had done.
Severus might not have been able to see little Harry often during the war but he’d managed a few times, and had easily kept up with Lily via his charmed skin, he and she had done it at fifteen, linked the skin of the palms of their left hands, writing upon his showed up on hers and vice versa.
It had kept him sane that last year.
Looking now at the vast manor house before him, he sneered, wards, so strong, so powerful, so trusted but to get past them one only had to find their weakness, find their love.
This house, this family, this blood, was founded upon the growing world, their entire fortune was built upon the growing of magical plants, Frank had been the first in decades to do anything else, to become an auror of all things.
Wrapping himself in the feeling of creeping vermillion Dodder, a magical variety of that very odd plant and thus clad he simply walked through the wards, just as the plant itself would move through to find a new host.
*
He’d been right, poor little Neville wasn't being held, loved, or supported in any way through the trauma of losing his loving parents.
Instead he was sobbing his little heart out as an elf wrung her hands, saying as soon as he appeared, “She isn't being lettings uz comfort him, says he iz needings toughening ups but he iz a baby, he is needings… needings….”
Kneeling to take her hands he said, “I know, that’s why I’m here. If you let me, I'll take him to safety.”
Being read by elf was strange, yet he let her into his mind and heart without hesitation.
His entire plan consisted of keeping the boys away from Albus, denying this world any chance to use them, and providing them a better job of parenting than he’d gotten himself.
It was enough.
He was handed little Neville as she said, “Takes him, none iz deservings of anyone as special as he, my baby, be good little Nevies, beings happies.”
She put them back in the safehouse, effortlessly, and he was glad for the rest because….
This next step was gonna be a doozie.
*
Magic was old.
So very old.
Humans were so new upon the planet, so brash and loud and thought they knew it all.
Severus knew he knew nothing!
However, what he was going to do next he did know, he’d found it, a dusty little book that got him laughed at by Voldemort himself for reading, because how could something that simple work, never mind work like that!
Wearing nothing, the babies strapped to his chest, skin to skin, bindings made of the skin of a fresh slain ewe, one who’d raised many years worth of lambs, old and steeped in protective magics, he’d left her carcass as a sacrifice to ravens, and to magic.”
His own blood flowed freely from two deep cuts as he laid down a circle with it and he was dizzy now as he lay upon the earth.
Above were stars, below the weight of the earth, spinning around them magic thick as clotted cream and unimaginably rich, and to get what they needed, he simply asked.
“Please, please, a safe place for them, a family that loves them, a good place for them to grow, to be, to live.”
For himself he asked nothing, he was simply a way to get the boys to safety. Still freely bleeding he gave himself as the final sacrifice to make sure they had a good life and let the magic claim them all.
______________________________________________
Opening his eyes to a ring of onlookers Severus admitted himself a bit pissed!
He was supposed to be dead!
His two boys were supposed to be finding a good life now and he was supposed to be dead and gone, not covered with pee, smeared with blood, sick and dizzy and ears ringing with the wails of hungry frightened cold eighteen month old babies!
Someone else was supposed to deal with this part!
*
He’d run.
Habits of a lifetime snapping into place and he’d run.
Things got a bit blurred at that point, he must have gotten them food, healed his wrists, found somewhere warm to hide.
Holding his little ones he cried as they slept, it was supposed to be over now, not beginning again in a place he didn't even understand the written word, never mind the fucking spoken!
*
Hide amongst the poor.
As a spy it was rule one to hiding, find a mass of poor people and hide with them.
And while the poor here were different from his world, they still kept their heads down and got on with life and should leave him alone.
Those first few months were a nightmare, a time he never wanted to repeat or even think about, because it was so hard.
But like single parents throughout time or refugees of war torn nations, as they in a way were, he got on with it and they survived.
This place had magic, just not what he was familiar with.
No wixen lived here, so no history of magical use shaped this magic, it was wild in ways that made using it difficult indeed, and dangerous.
Yet the boys would have to use it, it was innate, so he started writing it all down, even as he learned to navigate it himself, wandless as he was.
Magic needed no wand.
And he wasn't fighting battle mages here.
Kitchen magic, hearth magic, food magic, nature based magic, hedge witchery.
Small, personal, based in love and nature, he focused upon that for the boys.
For himself he began the arduous process of inventing potions from scratch.
By the time Harry and Neville were three, he was doing alright, finding his way, magic gave him language, practice gave him fluency, he used that to move them through their new world.
And what a world.
They had shielding that protected their tech from his and the boys magic, because of quirks.
Quirks.
The entire world revolved around quirks.
They’d eventually moved into an old house with a very large yard near a park, overlooking a river, deep roots of stone driving down beneath powering his modified wards.
No war wards, no need here for that, just layers, only the first one activated, the rest primed yet dormant, needing something like a fire or earthquake to activate them, the visitors-are-at-the-gate wards were purely for letting him know the intent of anyone stepping across them.
They’d lived for their first full year in an apartment block, he’d taken it via manipulating the landlord's mind, bypassing any need for paperwork.
His boys joined a play group, he sat through tea for new parents three mornings a week, coming up with a story to explain the three of them.
His sisters, Alice and Lily, their husbands Frank and James, all of them dead in a villain attack.
This way he could tell the boys stories about them, keep it edited to fit this world, easy enough when magic and quirks could be one and the same.
His boys so tiny in the play group, joining in so easily, the adults all so supportive of him as a single father of two, outnumbered still by women but that never bothered him, and the few men were lovely, he’d never had time to think about sexuality and marriage and the like, not even thought about it but the pack dynamic of one family shocked and intrigued him deeply.
How did one love four other people, how did they love you back, how did one find anyone to love someone like him but more importantly, how did sex work in a group, how did one focus with that many people….
The body freedoms of this place had blown his mind!
No sexually transmitted diseases at all in this world, humans of all kinds based upon animals of all kinds, plus baseline humans and quirks and you got a very free love kind of feeling.
Severus’d had no time for free love, or any love really, he felt like a battered empty ragbag as he watched the young parent group chatter and hook up and split up amicably, hiding his longing behind unbreakable oclumancy shields.
He was so lonely.
And being around people made it worse in many ways, but his boys needed to socialize.
“Here, you look cold today, Severus.”
Taking the cup of tea Inko handed him, wishing briefly for sugar and milk and five extra brewing minutes for the leaves he mumbled “Thanks.”
Remembering his few manners he grunted, “How’s Izuku?”
“Oh, so much better, that salve you gave me worked a treat, that bloody rash answered to nothing until you gave me that, thank you so much!”
“Don’t mention it, just…. glad it helped.”
He’d formulated it using only non magical ingredients, or rather, only ingredients easily available to ALL.
Nothing only he could see, although there was plenty of that in this world, magical eye sight gave much more window on the actual world after all.
Little Izuku had the sight, even if not the magic, he was currently watching a thing Severus only knew from this world, about half a meter long, thick as his wrist, covered in technicolor fur, mouth like a hoover, no eyes, millions of boneless legs like a sea urchin, each one ending in tiny sucker, it seemed to feed on dust.
Human dust.
It had no defenses, other than curling into a ball that is, did no harm, kept the place clean, were incredibly common, and baffled him deeply.
Because, what was the point of them?
They reproduced by splitting in half, leaving two ends to grow the requisite parts, ass for one, and head for the other, before trundling along to eat more dander.
And little Izuku could see it, unlike most he could probably touch it too, was trying to reach but it was trundling up and away, leaving the little boy leaning on the wall watching it escape his sticky fingers.
“Oh dear, he’s away with the fairies again I see, Izuku, Izuchan, here's your bunny, lovely bunny!”
The active toddler pounced upon it and fled, Harry and Neville in hot pursuit, and Severus smiled. It was strange, this new world, but over all was good for his boys.
*
He’d chosen his new house more so their friends could reach it easily than for any other reason, not his friends really but Harry and Neville's friends, Izuku, Katsuki, Temura and Memo.
There were others but it was mostly those four, and soon it would be down to just the two boys as the twins were moving away soon.
But Severus needed….
Selfish, he was so selfish to take advantage of the standing order, not an offer really but an order, so he was watching now for Inko, it was her turn to come over, it had been her as well after they’d moved into her building and joined the single parent group, she’d looked at him and said, "You look like crap!”
“No, I understand why, but you are trying to do too much, trying too hard, you are going to kill yourself.”
“I run the single parents roster group, right now there are five of us but we’ll add you too, and yes, I know your boys have nightmares, we can handle that.”
In desperation, easily seeing her kindness and utter resolution to not let him say no, “What does it entail?”
“We each get one night a week totally child free. And one night a week we take an extra child into our care, to give their parental the night off.”
“You won't be taking any for four months but starting this week I’ll take your boys, don't worry, I have spare cots, and the week after it’ll be Mitsuki and the week after it will be another of us.”
“Dear, oh sweetheart, you are doing so well, it’s hard though, so hard all on your own.”
He’d broken, right then and there, he’d held out against a bloody dark wizard, held firm against torture, dragged himself up and fought back against Albus even but big green eyes and flyaway green hair and bone deep kindness was all it actually took to break him.
He’d cried, she’d held him, the rest of the young parents there that day had gathered round and given him something he’d never in his life been given, help.
Support.
Trust.
He’d easily earned the trusted position of taking in a child once a week, but the one night a week on his own saved his life and sanity. Izuku and Katsuki had both meshed well with his boys, and they loved their auntie time each week as well.
And once they were a few weeks into the child free night, they’d MADE HIM GO OUT!
“You are worse than Lily, I swear, and Alice was no pushover but damn Mitsuki, okay okay okay!”
He’d gone out, a long walk along the river, sauntering along, not a child in sight, and it had been as amazing a feeling as he’d ever had.
Utterly free, yet grounded in the firm relief of having them back upon the morrow.
He’d swiftly come to love that day and night off, and the boys began sleeping better, the excitement of a new place, and the relief of being home again, and then the excitement of having a friend sleeping over, and then the relief of them being gone.
And slowly they’d all adjusted.
*
Looking at the bright windows, the view, he’d magiced the funds, blatantly breaking every rule of his past world but so what, the transfiguration was permanent, the created funds wouldn't break the banks in any way, and he'd wanted this house.
It was old, traditional, tatami flooring, paper screen walls, wide open windows, invisible insulation fitted sometime in the last hundred years, he’d set a cooling charm into place for summer and would do a heating one come colder weather.
If anyone asked he’d blame the river wafting cooling air their way or point to the floor and say "Underfloor heating." if they asked about the warmth, but neither one was likely to happen.
He’d set up a playground as well, because his boys deserved their friends over as much as possible, and said friends needed a place to play, and he’d once dreamed of playing on equipment such as he’d had installed.
And if he’d set safeties up, added height and depth and excitement of a more complicated climbing wall and towers and jungle gyms, the pool as well, safety spells and charms on all of it, if Harry decided to jump head first off the top of the monkey bars, which was sadly likely, he’d stop near the ground, rotate to be facing the sky, and fall the final foot slow and gentle to lie upon the grass.
If Severus had to obliviate and replace a few memories to keep the kids safe, he’d do it.
Instead it was Katsuki who’d gone head first off the swings, been caught, saved, and Inko who’d looked bright and happy as she said, “Oh SEVERUS how CLEVER of you to get the QUIRK EFFECT safety package, how long is the effect good for?”
If he’d ever decided to try for another sister person, Inko would be it, and he eased farther back into the shade of the big apple tree and said,” Twenty years,” although he actually meant “As long as the equipment lasts.”
He saw her hear the unspoken words, and later when everyone had gone home and Izuku was curled in a sleeping pile of toddlers she’d said, “Your quirk is at least a four, or even higher, you hide it well but if someone spotted it you might be in danger.”
“Not of being in trouble but of being coerced into heroics or medical or building or something like that, powerful quirks are shoved into service positions as if they owe society something no one else does and it's stupid, I hate it.”
As her husband had died on the job, a job he’d not wanted to go into at all, she was understandably bitter about it. “As the kids say, Severus, You Do You!”
He’d laughed, and agreed.
*
Meeting on a wet miserable morning, back before the move, already freaking out about how difficult it was to adapt an entire magical world into his spare bedroom, experiments running constantly in the wizards' space he’d made in the closet, his day off a week a proper gods send.
They were late, twin tantrums and matching magical outbursts, he’d shielded, braced, repaired and gotten them calmed down, so he was tired.
Extra fussy toddlers, extra frazzled him, he should have expected….
But he was sitting with tea, all the kids playing nicely, Temara-san turned, twinkle in her eye, “Soooo, did you check out that shop I recommended?”
His love life and dating was a source of constant interest to the regulars in the young family mornings, or rather his lack of any of it, Mitsuki’d said their taking his brats one night a week was to get him time to get laid, and he’d almost expired on the spot.
As he had in the shop, a sex toys shop, and he managed to wheeeze, “The staff, very hhhhelpful….”
But the wheeze didn't let go, because he did want that, did want someone loving him, did wish with all his might for anyone to see him as a person, as more than a dada and the boys were calling him dada now, not uncle, he couldn't adopt them, couldn't turn them in Snapes, they were Potter and Longbottom, precious, special, not like him, what would anyone, why would anyone love -
Someone had his hands, a firm voice, "….om on, Severus dear, five things…." oh, snapping his head over to look, he could do this, “Izuku,” voice a croak, “Neville, Izuku, Katsuki, Ito, Harry.”
“Good, good Severus, now, four things you can hear.”
Easy, and something was in his hand, he pressed the button, sucking in gasps of his potion, “Can hear Harry, Katsuki’s taken his toy again, can hear Katsuki wanting to keep it, Neville trying,” another puff and he could speak a bit easier,” playing peace keeper, Izuku, good boy, yes they do need to be nicer.”
“That's right Severus dear, now, three things you can smell and no, you can't use the boys again!”
He almost laughed. “A nappy needs to be changed, your breath mint,” and he paused, “your perfume, lily.”
“Indeed it is lily based, now, two things you can taste.”
“I’m okay,” - “Now Severus.”
Shaking his head, “Bossy, you are so bossy but I can taste the eucalyptus in my mist-er, and the after taste of my tea.”
Opening his eyes he smiled at little Harry who patted his knee, “Aw be’er dada?”
“Indeed sweetheart, I am all better now.”
A soggy hug and the boy went back to the game and he sighed, “Sorry.”
But they wouldn't let him say any more, “No dear, I’m sorry we pushed, I didn't mean to upset you, you’ll find love at the right time, until then we’ll all be sisters and aunts and uncles and keep driving you crazy, just not into another panic attack, okay?”
“Indeed.” He gave one more spritz of his breathing potion when Izuku screamed high and excited, “MIS MIS MISSSSS MEEEEEE!”
“Oh heavens, Izuku!” Inko tried to head him off but he blasted over and all the little ones followed and Severus held up the bottle and said, “On three!”
Counting with dramatic pauses between numbers he hit one and puffed out the mist-er at machine gun speed, and they all took huge baby inhales and danced in place and yelled wheeeee because they all loved the scent, and it did no harm.
“Now, off you go, did you find the castle?”
Hogwarts, taller than Katsuki who was tallest, it opened to show the inside, he’d spent days on it, and everyone said how amazing it was.
Being dragged over by his sons, not nephews, no matter how hard he’d tired they were his, not theirs, they were dead and gone and his sons were his, he’d be dada, and never let them forget the ones no longer with them.
Sex could wait, and if he never went into that sex shop again it would be too soon!
*
Life needed more time, he needed more time off as well, he was going a bit bat shit crazy, all of what he was trying to do eating up his life, he was spending hours every night, all of his child free time, all of it!
Every spare moment he worked on translating potions long memorized, first onto paper, then into trying to get the same effect here in this place, while sourcing ingredients from an entirely different world!
While doing that he was transcribing all the magic he could remember, all the theory, everything practical, from warding to memory charms to runes, he was trying to get it all down, had in desperation started buying natural crystals from all over the world, started buying quirk made ones too, started trying to make his own to see if he could replicate Memory Crystals, a way to save as much as he could that way to work on when his boys got older, started at school.
“Mitsuki, please, you know my boys love Kacchan, Inko, my lovely one, Izuchann is the same, why not take advantage of me having each one every week, so you each get an extra night and day free, and I get two when you each have my boys!”
“Will it,” Inko asked carefully with a cunning gleam in her eyes, “come with bruise cream?”
As he’d finally found a way to infuse it with a quirk effect, fat based, that he could buy in bulk, and had increased the efficacy of the entire recipe forty six percent more than his first effort, it really was almost magic now, Severus sighed and said, “Yes, but only one pot, and you are to take notes and tell me how it works and any side effects you might notice.”
“You too Mitsuki, I’ve added something extra for burns, and kept it to a recipe that, well, never mind, just, please?”
“If you promise to go out into the city at least one of the two nights, spend time with other adults, then yes.” Mitsuki said, "Now, I heard you have a pool fully installed and ready for use by friends?”
Blushing as he nodded, “It was only finished yesterday, I didn't believe it but it tired the boys right out, they slept like rocks, like ROCKS, it was amazing.”
“Lead the way, oh no, wait!”
“Come on, no no no, I added special filtration so don’t worry about Kacchan, he won't affect the water at all, unlike the stupid municipal pool, or the regulations at the beach that mean he can’t swim there either.”
As it was a familiar rant from the Bakugou’s both big and little, Severus had made sure they’d all be able to swim!
*
Strolling along in the city, evening crowds not too bad, Severus let his feet carry him, no plan, just enjoying the walk.
He had to agree, it was time indeed to get out into this world, his boys were coming up on four now, gods, he was twenty five, almost anyway, how did it go so fast?
Heading downwards in the direction of docklands he didn't mean to do it, had no intentions at all of doing it, looked back later and kicked himself in the ass for having done it….
But when the screaming started, when he saw the falling body, he wordlessly cast the flying spell that fuckturd’d taught him, free flying, no broom or anything like it, gaining enough height to have a line of sight on the impact area, casting a cushioning spell upon the ground, wishing fiercely he had a wand, it wasn't going to be enough, casting again, inspiration hit and he aimed at the air, a row of cushioning spells, falling figure striking the first one, the spell slowing the body, the next one slowing them even more, the next even more and the final one on the ground catching and cushioning and they were down, safe as people rushed to their aid.
Leaving him in full fucking view, in the air, hands outspread from his final cast and he apparated in panic to the first place he thought of, the little park where it all had begun for them.
Hiding in the corner of a wall and building he had a total screaming panic attack, grateful his inhaler was easy to hand and he'd boosted the formula once again, because otherwise he might have died of it.
*
“You want to do what?”
They were staring at him, baffled, and Severus wriggled, suddenly totally unsure of himself and his plan and his practiced words failed him. Despite being all he’d once been he suddenly failed to find a single word in the face of two single mothers.
“Sev honey, take a few puffs and here, your abominable tea, the boys are fine, look, right there, on the swings, don’t worry sweetheart." Inko said, and Mitsuki added, "Whatever it is, don't fucking worry, we got this!”
Mitsuki was a force of nature, as was her son, he wished he’d met her dead love, he must have been amazing to be a fit match for her, and Severus followed the directions, took the puff, it now held calming potion as well as enhancing oxygen intake, he carried two, held them up, “White, mild, for……” taking another puff of “Purple, bad, bad ones, no share, no….”
“Got it, white for easy bad shit, purple for bad bad shit, now, drink your bloody tea!”
Inko gave him a hug, carefully and very slow, they knew he still flinched sometimes from their easy affection, knew to never ever wake him with a touch, only a call, were so kind to him he could feel tears beginning to fall as the much more powerful calming mixture got him off the edge.
“I did a thing, stupid, didn't mean it but, this world is dangerous, if something happens to me…. No, not, ummm…. Right, I want you both to move in here, I expanded the house,” - he had, both the exterior with hired workers to explain the extra space but also the inside, it was at least four times the size it had been when he’d bought it - “we have all the room….”
“If something happens to me, I want my boys to go to you, to you both, and if something happens to one of you,” he gave a sudden shattering sob, Lily, she died, was still dead and nothing would ever bring her back but her son had been saved, Severus saved him but if he wasn't there -
Holding onto Inko, Mitsuki gripping them both tight, he cried for lost friends, and even the very thought of losing his new ones.
*
“Right, so," Mitsuki glared around at the room, "we each get two days off to do with as we please, we each get our own kitchen if we want one, and we all clearly do, and the boys get a room each in a cluster right in the most protected part of the house, and you have clearly done your freaky quirk shit on the house because sunshine, it is bigger on the inside.”
“Now, dear,” Inko said after being shown the new additions to the house, “what did you do that brought all this on?”
“Vigilantemumblemumblemumble………”
“Severus, neither of us speaks mumble and was that vigilante I heard in there?”
Wincing at Inko’s expression Severus nodded with deep reluctance, “Yes, yes it was.”
“Explain!”
And as they both said it with the same expressions, same crossed arms, and same ultra mum vibes, Severus caved and told them about the night he’d saved the hero thrown by a villain and how he didn't know what to do about that but what happens…
“What happens if I die?”
“I never expected to live.” Tracing the scar across his wrists where he’d spilled what should have been all his blood to get Harry and Neville to safety, he looked up, “Mitsuki, Inko, you both know what happens when someone dies, leaving people behind, I need them, all of them, to be safe from that.”
“I want it legal, and binding.”
Sharing a glance, easily understanding the other through many many years of friendship, they both nodded at the nicest, kindest, most damaged person they’d ever met, “Let's do it!” Mitsuki said it for both, and Severus breathed out a relieved breath, “Okay, please, let’s do it.”
*
Kacchan‘s quirk came in, Neville and Harry both had bouts of accidental magic that matched with their family of record’s quirks, and Izuku began quietly to look more desperate.
All of them had been in to their school with fierce words when the boys told them how Izuku was being treated differently, and how Kacchan was being treated differently too, and that nasty little situation was nipped right in the bud.
Because all of them knew about magic, with no statute to uphold, with Inko and Mitsuki being closer than mates, closer even than siblings, Severus had sat them down, not long after they’d moved in, and told them all of it.
And when he was done he said, “I’ll leave, if you can’t stand to have me near any longer, if you can't bare to look at me just please, my boys need family, that was what the spell was for, to get them a family, to get them YOU!”
“I’ll go, I’m not worth it, not worth you don't deserve you just - ”
They'd tackled him, took him down and held him until the fight left him and they all cried, and when they’d begun to slightly recover Mitsuku gave them all tea and Inko, the soft quiet one said, "Mind healing, now.”
“And do not dare to argue with me Severus Snape,” (“Ooooooo she just full named you, you in trouble now!”) “we will find one that is utterly discrete, trusted, and you will be as honest with them as you are with us, and you will do the work, and we will help, because sweetheart, you were a child!”
“A baby, you gave yourself to someone who offered a damaged child a home filled with love and when it proved to be a lie you did everything in your power to fix it, to save as many as you could and that bastard, bastard no words no damn shit hell AAAAAAAAAARGH!” as the mug slammed high speed into the wall, shattering into a million pieces!
Holding their quietest person as she screamed in rage, Mitsuki said, "This is the reason I deal with the school most of the time, still waters run deep in our Inko!”
With trepidation, Severus started with a mind healing clinic, and if he set a few charms in place to ensure his privacy, he did admit he felt better a few sessions in.
*
“Zubug, will you hold this for me please?”
Handing their quirkless child one of the fuzzy snake-like worms Severus watched as the child held it gently, stroking as it wound around his wrist, careful not to hurt it.
The councilor they were with watched, and tried to touch yet for her there was nothing there, while clearly Izuku was holding something, especially when Severus took six more out of his bag, handing them one by one to the child who giggled and sat down with his arms full, catching them as they escaped, laughing at the game.
“He clearly is interacting with something, something I can neither see nor touch. You say he's your nephew, and you have?”
“Energy and matter manipulation, level sixteen," - a lie, in the current danger/power categorizing of quirks, Severus was a level three - "I can see them, as can he, and touch and hold as well. In our family we called it mage sight. I don’t know how much energy manipulation he has, but he clearly sees things most can't.”
“Then this is much easier than expected, people long ago proved there are many things on our lovely planet that most of us don’t have eyes evolved to see, and dozens, if not hundreds of different energy based life forms, and many mixed energy and matter life forms as well, only quirks let some of us interact with that side of existence.”
“I am so sorry you all had to deal with a misdiagnosis, we’ll list him with a shared family energy/matter perception quirk, Izuku honey, would you like your quirk to be called Mage Sight?”
“WHEEEEEE YES YES YES Ice cream for good boys, I’mma good boy, sitting so good Unka Sev’us take em back, they all wriggly 'n silly!”
“They are indeed silly, and you do all deserve ice cream for being so good and patient, let the mum’s take you all out, I’ll finish the booooooring bit and catch you up!”
*
They were all out together the next time something happened, and Severus cast a shield over them all and a disillusionment over himself as soon as it kicked off.
They’d talked about what to do if something like this happened, he held the shield, Inko kept the boys together, Mitsuki pulled people into cover, Severus increasing the shield time and time again until he was shielding over a hundred souls and the heroes finally brought it all under control.
“Severus honey, let go, get home, can you do it safely?”
A grip on Inko’s hand to show he’d heard and could, and he disapperated home, collapsing on the floor as he passed out, a single thought following him down, “I have GOT to get a wand!”
*
No books, no wand lore, no innate understanding of how to go about it, Severus finally just started collecting bits from any animals no one but he could see.
He and his boys and Izuku, that is.
The bird like wind up toy looking things that always made him laugh as they skipped along branches, the bowtruckle like thing that lived in ivy, the mer-dogish animal in the rivers, scales from the feathered sirens he found in the mountains, tail hair from the palm sized thestral look-a-likes, so different compared to where they’d come from but magic was here, just, not as much, or accessed differently, or just -
Severus gave up trying to figure out even just the local magical species, he was one person trying to do too much already, launching into magical understanding of two distinct different worlds was insane.
Picking up a furboa, named after feather boas, on impulse because he could do with a laugh he handed it to Izuku, who held it and gave his delightful giggle.
Laughing as Kacchan looked at the empty hands and reached out a tentative finger only to go almost cross eyed at how he could feel and see nothing, no matter how hard he tried.
Neville laughed and picked another one up, saying, “Deys nice, fluffy.”
“They are indeed fluffy, and remember, not everyone has quirks, not everyone has magic, but everyone deserves what?”
All four boys chorused “RESPECT!” in loud proud tones, and Severus smiled, because that was what he was learning all the time now, they did all deserve respect, him too.
*
Holding a length of silvery wood, it had taken him so much time and effort, and it didn't have the power of his old one, but giving it a tentitive try, his new wand neither exploded, nor caught fire, and it didn't spontaneously generate a brand new species of tree, or any of the other spectacular failures of his other efforts.
Instead it left a trail of blue sparks in the air and filled him with a cool river feeling and he sighed in relief.
Not strong enough for battle mage fighting, but for anything else, this was perfect.
And it gave him hope for making wands for the boys as well, which took a weight off his mind indeed.
****
“Why me?”
Looking out over the city Shouta huffed and repeated, “Why me?”
“Because you are the only one likely to catch them, Shouta,” the frustrating tone of Nezu said in his ear as if it was just utterly normal for him to be passing along the job from the commission, “now, pay attention to your surroundings or else someone will be doing extra drills tomorrow.”
The click of his com switching to the official channel had Shouta shaking his head in frustration because he was the one always sent after vigilantes and he was sick of it.
Especially because this one was….
Good.
So far they’d saved three heroes and a full street of people, and no one had gotten more than a glimpse of them, no grandstanding, no demands, no agenda, just help when help was needed.
How the commission expected him to find the person of interest was a mystery, one he wasn't prepared to solve, Nezu at least was familiar with the bizarre brand of luck that dogged Shouta’s heels like a weird kind of cursed blessing, so was banking on something stupid happening, the way it so often did.
And Nezu at least didn’t want them caught, he wanted them put into his hands, because the rat god at least had good taste in people!
Starting his patrol Shouta decided to just, keep his eyes open a bit more than usual, and call it job done.
*
Mitsuki and Inko’d kicked him out, and the kids, bought and paid for with cookies, had agreed with them.
Little traitors!
They were all still sleeping, because if he had to go out today then at least he’d harvest the dawn flush of this world's version of twitchless rootgrass, and it was currently in his bag trying to get out!
A good harvest as well.
Sniffing the air appreciatively Severus followed his nose for breakfast, trying to decide between eating in or taking it out and ran slam into what felt a bit like a brick wall, even if the masc didn't look all that imposing.
They felt it though, auror like, and Severus was enough of this world now to spot a hero when he ran into one, and to see a true coffee addict's despair when their extra large travel mug of life juice was spilled all over the ground.
“Sorry,” Severus said, “was distracted. May I replace that for you, on me of course?”
Severus had learned many things across the past many months he’d been with a mind healer, some of his homework was actually figuring out what he liked, and he decided right then and there that long black hair and dark eyes fit the list.
Grumpy tired scowls and scruffy facial hair made it onto the new list of what was attractive and while he didn't smile, he could feel his lip twitch, and the man grunted, “Fine.”
They spun to go back in and oh, yesssss, nice bum too.
Severus really was on a winner this morning.
*
Shouta just wanted it noted he wasn't looking for anyone.
Even someone with long black hair and deep black eyes and very pale skin, skin several shades lighter even than his own.
So Hizashi was guaranteed to make walking undead jokes, and casket twins.
His best friend was going to be a fucking nightmare, but -
Drinking the replacement coffee, talking about the damndest range of things, somehow it was five hours later and he was sitting on the banks of a canal with his new…. new….. Person of interest?
Yeah, persons of interest.
Dead on his ass, cause he’d not slept in waaaay too many hours and they were sitting on the grass and he was looking at the most heavily shielded phone he’d ever seen outside of UA so while they’d not talked quirks yet this beautiful person had to have something energy based to need that much protection on a communication device, and on it were pictures of the four cutest kids Shouta’d ever seen.
And on Shouta’s phone were pictures of his five cats and Zashi and the rest of his friends and now there were two women in the kid pictures as well and they were comparing stories and another few hours sped past.
And while Shouta didn't do the casual hook up thing, no shame for those who did, Zashi jumped into pants and under skirts faster than -
Well, his friend loved his lovin, and that was just fine by Shouta, but this person….
Severus, such a cool name, if Shouta did do casual hook ups, this would be a good time for it, instead they just shared time.
And because Shouta was a grown up, he could ask, and it turned out Severus didn't do casual hook ups either.
Smiling all the way home, an actual date asked for and accepted, Shouta was really happy, so much so that it showed, and Zashi asked, and they almost had to replace the windows again with how excited he got.
Thank gods for Shouta’s quirk and reinforced glass!
*
“Oh my gods, what was wrong with me I am so stupid, I can’t do this no one could ever be interested in me he was just being polite just being nice he’s so nice Inko he’s so beautiful he’s amazing he’s a fucking hero I used to be slaved to a dark wizard for fucks sake what is wrong with me I’m cracked in the head OOOOWWWW!”
Holding the side of his head where a slipper had just connected high speed, at least the boys were all over at a friends house and able to miss his utter freak out at having a date tonight.
“Mitsuki, brain damage right before going out isn't going to help poor Severus remain calm.”
Inko had her firm face on as she said, “Now, Severus darling, you will be talking to your healers using all those words, don’t worry, I’ll be writing that tirade down for you to take with you on your next appointment.”
“For now, do you need one of us to walk you to dinner?”
Wanting to say no, to say he was a grown ass man and could take himself to the restaurant, instead he whimpered and said, “Yes, please, Inko, you, cause Mitsuki’d pin him to the wall and interrogate him and I don’t think we are going to last past a single date and that would kill it before I do the deed myself.”
“Good, now, you look really nice,” - “If you are a fan of all black!” Mitsuki laughed and Inko took him by the hand and said, “Come on, let's go so we can walk nice and slow so we don’t get all sweaty on the way.”
“Slow.”
“Severus I said slow, damn it I’m going to grab your leg and make you drag me don't test me Sev!”
*
“Oh my gods, what was I thinking?”
Standing at his door, Shouta failed to open it, because, “How could anyone that interesting want to go out with me?”
“He was being polite, he’s nice like that, he’s so fucking sexy shit I can’t dooOOOOOW FUCKING HELL!”
Picking up the slipper that had just impacted the back of his head at high speed he hurled it back and started a spirited bout of slipper throwing, until they all were out of breath and he was feeling a bit calmer.
“Now, Shouta, damn man, it’s just dinner, you look great, if you love all black that is, so, do you need an escort to avoid the ducking out you did three years ago or are you good?”
“COME WITH Me ummmm, like, Zashi, just walk with me, just to the restaurant?”
“No worries at all my main man, I have got you like a got chu thing, now, no, Shouta that’s an alley that leads no where near where we are going fucks sake YOU GET BACK HERE SHOUTA I MEAN IT MAN!”
*
The date went fine, despite his being thrust through the door by Hizashi, and clearly Severus was as well because he was rocking to a halt just inside the other door, and a green blur was disappearing from view, but uncharacteristically Shouta didn't pursue the thought, just, impossibly, he smiled.
A tiny grin, because Severus looked as mussed up and frazzled as he himself felt.
And even more impossibly, Severus gave him that same kind of tiny heartfelt grin, and together they relaxed, sat at a table on the dock and watched the river flow past as they ate, and talked and laughed.
Just like a normal date really.
*
“Sooooo, you getting your friend in for a date too?”
“Oh gods yes, poor dear was so frazzled, he’s never actually been on a date, it's stupidly complicated and he is such a dear, now, you, I recognize you.”
“Is your friend going to break our Severus’ heart?”
Smiling as he took in the tiny yet fierce gaze, Hizashi shook his head, "If your friend is a good match, Shouta would die before hurting him.”
“Not good enough, Sev’s already had people die for him, what he needs is someone to live for him.”
“Then he picked the right one, cause all of us’ll help that happen.”
“Good, are you busy?”
“Not right now?”
“Perfect, we have four little boys who are firm fans who should be home by now, and Mitsuki will kill me if I let you get away without meeting them all, because you practically stand for equality, and that is a powerful role model in our house!”
*
Sex was a revelation, laughter and silly noises and wet and sticky and fumbling and awkward and so much fun that as soon as he caught his breath Severus turned, looked deep into happy dark eyes and tangled black hair and said, “Wow, that was awesome! Wanna do it again?”
Grabbed and rolled and Shouta now perched on him, taking his face in his hands, kissing him deep, pulling back to say, “Fuck yes, all night long and forever and ever.”
Feeling the bond springing to life, soul deep in an instant as magic spun and danced them together, Severus normally would have been frightened.
He’d not even felt Inko and Mitsuki bonding to him, slow and subtle as it’d been but this, it was like -
Like....
Tugging Shouta down for another kiss he managed to say, “Need to talk about forever, right now though kiss me again, and OOOOOOOH gods, Of fucking Merlins balls DO that AgaiN!”
Laughing, Shouta did indeed do it again!
_______________________________________________
In a life driven by logic, Nezu knew his favorite human was…. different.
He did indeed love all of Shouta’s friends, dearly loved them, but they were perfectly normal humans, luck, good and bad, was a tiny fraction of their lives.
Shouta though, good and bad his luck was insane, Nezu’d had him tested six times for a secondary luck based quirk, all to no avail.
There was simply nothing on earth to explain how, when looking for a very skilled and effective vigilante that, once found, Nezu fully planned to take for himself and let the commission cry all the way home like the little piggies they were…..
But in a normal life Shouta wouldn't now be dating that same vigilante, without even knowing it was them!
The instant Shouta expressed an interest in someone Nezu'd dug deep, Shouta was his, his person, his special treasure, no one was going to break his His HIS Shouta’s heart!
Instead of finding a substandard human, instead of finding a villain, or even a vigilante, when Nezu found enough to follow the trail, found the computer records changed and adapted to keep a family safe, when he finally eased into the mind healing records Nezu found…. a hero.
Broken, hurt, damaged yet now healing.
He found a father too, deeply loving and incredibly caring of his four children, not a single one of them his by blood but they indeed were his by love.
As well he found a brother, his two sisters fiercely protective of him, yet they’d fallen not just for Shouta but for Shouta's friends who fit them all so well!
Looking over at the monitor to the right of his desk Nezu eased back, cuppa in hand, watching them all play in the pool near the river, Oboro forming clouds for the kids to jump off, Nemuri painting Inko and Mitsuki’s nails, Hizashi playing a deep diving game with the kids not wanting to jump with squeeeeels of higher Higher HIGHER….
Shouta and Severus in the shade, watching everyone carefully, on guard as it were, protectors to their very bones.
A shiver traveled from his nose to the tip of his tail, because…..
Magic.
It was indeed frowned upon to break into secure and private and confidential medical sessions, but magic, Nezu gave a high thin whine, so excited he accidentally peed his chair a tiny bit, and laughed as he got up to clean it away.
Laying out his next steps to getting this entire family under his umbrella, Ryou came in then and said, ears cocked in reproof, “I can see someone's been a bit naughty on the confidential information front again?”
“Yes, yes I have, and I’m very bad indeed but look, oh my gods Ryou look here!”
Laughing at his best friend's excitement, Ryou asked as he ambled over, “Shouta’s luck again?”
“Fuck yes!” A slightly unhinged giggle as Nezu was scooped up by his favorite big dog. “Now, what do you know about magic?”