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If Harry Potter knew one thing, it was that Professor Snape was holding some secret.
What made it all the more bewildering was how, in these past two weeks at Spinner’s End, Snape had started letting Harry in. After a summer working out their differences, Harry had finally begun to earn the man’s trust. It was never warm…Snape wasn’t built for warmth…but he didn't keep him out of the loop as he had so many times before. Harry was grateful for it, even if their relationship would never quite be friendly.
Now, Snape no longer vanished each night without a word. After dinner, he would sometimes pause by the kitchen door, and mention, "Order meeting tonight." On rare occasions, he would let Harry know if he was meeting him (Lord Voldemort). He cautioned, "If I’m not back by morning, there’s a portkey in the downstairs closet. Use it."
Now Harry was even more confused; every evening before dinner, Snape would slip away…sometimes gone for just a few minutes, sometimes nearly an hour in some casual Muggle outfit. If Snape were heading somewhere dangerous, he certainly didn’t look it. He also never came back with anything in hand, returning empty-handed each time.
Harry had even asked about it, more than once. Each time, Snape would shoot him an unreadable look and say, "I'm going out, Potter. That is none of your business." Harry knew about Order meetings, even rare encounters with Voldemort…why keep this a secret?
He found himself puzzling over it, running possibilities through his mind but coming up with nothing.
Harry decided he couldn’t take the mystery any longer. Snape had never explicitly forbidden him from leaving the house…it was more of an unspoken rule. Still, if Harry was going to break it, he’d do so carefully. One thing about living with Snape: the man’s routine was clockwork. So Harry waited, pretending to be absorbed in a book on the couch. He waited a minute until he heard the back door close, then put on his invisibility cloak, which he had stashed earlier that day.
It was a muggy August day, and Harry looked up and down the street until he saw the shape of his professor heading around the corner. He picked up pace, and from long practice of using the invisibility cloak, he trailed the man.
After passing a few more streets, Harry stayed far enough behind to avoid being heard, and they ended up in a small park. He supposed the park might have been nice at one point. There was a rusted set of swings that creaked in the breeze, one seat hanging by a single chain, and the rest of the playground equipment faded and battered by time. Trees cast patchy shade over grass that had surrendered to weeds, and tangled bushes spilled over onto what remained of the play area. At the very back, tucked beneath the branches, sat a weathered bench. That is where he found Snape…just sitting there.
Harry crept around the edges of the park, searching for some clue, anything to explain Snape’s secret outings. Was this where he met Death Eaters? The thought flashed through Harry’s mind, but he dismissed it; it made no sense, not here, not in plain sight and broad daylight.
He was still searching for answers, when a sharp voice filled the air: "Potter."
Harry froze, a jolt of dread running through him. How had Snape known? Before he could move, the professor called again, this time louder and tinged with exasperation: "Potter, over here. Did you really think I wouldn't set wards?"
Harry winced. He knew he'd overstepped, risking the fragile trust they'd built. With a sigh, he pulled off the invisibility cloak, bracing for whatever came next.
"They won't come out if you are standing there. Come and sit next to me — and no sudden movements."
Who were they? Harry knew better than to disobey at this point, so he did what he was told. His mind raced again now with this new information.
Out of the corner of his eye…three cats walked towards Professor Snape.
He was about to ask the Professor what the hell this was all about when he heard a quiet threat: "Did you not hear me? Stay still."
Harry sighed, and the cats continued forward, a bit wary now that they had seen Harry on the bench.
Three cats circled near the bench, a large calico, clearly the mother, and two smaller kittens not quite grown. One kitten had the sharp black-and-white markings of a tuxedo, the other was a patchwork of orange and cream like her mother. They moved around Snape’s feet, casting wary glances at Harry but never straying far.
In a movement that Harry was not expecting, and certainly not the cats, the black and white one was quickly grabbed. The small cat let out a startled hiss and flailed in his grip. Snape, unfazed, pulled out his wand and murmured a spell. As soon as he finished, he set the kitten back down, and all three cats darted for the safety of the bushes.
Snape let out a weary sigh. Harry, picking up on the shift, cleared his throat and asked, "Alright, do you mind telling me what that was about?"
Snape glanced back at the bushes, then fixed his gaze on Harry. "A few days ago, I noticed that one was limping. I tried to help, but he kept running off. Thought I’d try again today. He should be healed now."
Harry nodded slowly. "I get that, I guess… but why all the secrecy?"
A thin, tight line formed on Snape’s lips, and a heavy silence settled between them. For a moment, Snape just stared into the distance, his expression unreadable.
It took a long, quiet moment before Snape finally spoke, his voice softer than Harry had ever heard it. "This place… I used to come here with her, you know." He didn’t have to say his mother's name; Harry heard it in every word. "Sometimes, if I sit here long enough, I can almost feel her…like she hasn’t faded from this park yet." Snape’s gaze dropped to his hands as he twisted his wand between his fingers. "I wanted to show you this place, bring you here myself. But each time I saw how broken and forgotten it was… I couldn’t do it. Not yet."
Harry now looked around the park with a new sense of understanding. His mother had been here!
Snape fell silent, his gaze distant. When he finally spoke, his voice carried a softness Harry had never heard before. "You know, there used to be so many cats here when we were kids. She loved them…she always had a way with strays. When she moved, I remember she took one with her."
Harry blinked, startled. "Mum had a cat? Did I….did we ever have one?"
Snape’s lips twitched, almost a smile. "Maybe. I like to imagine these last few here were perhaps related to that one she took with her."
Harry stared at the bushes. "Why haven’t you brought them home?" The word slipped out…not why haven't you brought them to your home…it was simply just…home.
Snape’s face grew guarded. "If you haven’t noticed, Potter, I don’t exactly lead the kind of life that’s safe for anyone…least of all a bundle of cats? What happens if I don’t come back from a meeting with the Dark Lord? Or if something happens to me on a mission? No…I couldn’t do that to them. It wouldn’t be fair."
Apparently this was something he had given long thought.
Harry offered, "Well, why not Hogwarts then?"
Snape huffed, rolling his eyes. "There are already enough toads and owls skittering through those halls. The last thing we need is to add to the menagerie."
Harry’s gaze lingered on the bushes. "Still… I bet my mum loved being at Hogwarts…and I think they would too…"
The first day of classes arrived. Harry hurried down to the dungeons for Potions. As he rounded the corner, he nearly tripped over three familiar shapes, the calico mother and her two kittens, padding confidently down the stone corridor, tails high, as if they’d always belonged here.
A smile broke across Harry’s face as he spotted Snape waiting by the classroom door. He nodded toward the cats, warmth in his voice. "Looks like they’re settling in."
Snape huffed, but his reply held no real bite, as the black-and-white cat rubbed against Professor Snape’s leg. "At least they’re keeping the pests away from my potion ingredients."