A Day With Snape
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
Thanks to my Beta.
Later in the morning Professor Snape stopped by to fetch the twins' notes on their potion. He was surprised to see them in one piece after a morning with a toddler.
"Madam Pomfrey will be by in a quarter of an hour to check his health and his abilities. I will be as quick as I can about the antidote." Snape said.
As he turned to leave he found himself confronted with Harry.
"Up!" Harry demanded.
"You want me to pick you up, Potter?" Snape asked. Harry nodded.
"If you tell anyone about this I will kill you and use you in a potion. Understood?" He said as he picked Harry up. Fred and George nodded and silently left the room.
The truth was that Professor Snape had never really hated Harry Potter. He had acted the way he had to keep his cover. That didn't mean that he really liked the boy. He disliked children on principle. But he had found that he respected the boy. They had grown up under similar circumstances and Snape was amazed that the boy's spirit had never been broken, despite everything life had flung at him. He had even apologized to Potter after the Dark Lord's defeat. In private, of course. They had reached an understanding, and given a few years time, they even might become friends.
"I don't think you remember who I am at the moment. My name is Severus Snape. Can you say that?" Snape asked. Harry screwed his face up in concentration.
"Sev'rus Snape!" Harry tried.
"That's close enough, Harry. What did you do today?" Snape said.
"Bath!" Harry answered.
"I guess you liked that. I have to go now." Snape said. He passed Harry to one of the twins and said goodbye. He smiled as he left.
Madam Pomfrey's visit went by uneventfully. Harry was a perfectly normal fifteen-month-old baby boy.
After lunch, which they managed without getting covered in it, and a nap they went shopping, as they only had the bare necessities for Harry. They started with making a list, of course.
"Okay, Fred, what do we need?" asked George.
"More diapers, we only have four right now. Baby food, you know, that stuff in glasses. Clothes and some toys." Fred answered.
"Got it. What about a pram or buggy?" George wanted to know.
"Good idea. We'll get all that in Diagon alley. There's a store there that specializes in baby things." Fred said.
After making sure that Harry was appropriately dressed they went down to the alley.
While they were making their way to the shop Fred had mentioned Harry was looking around with eyes big as saucers. There were so many bright and shiny things everywhere! Long metal tubes in a shop decorated with stars, books of which Harry wondered if there were interesting stories inside. They passed a shop with many metal objects in the windows. Then they came by a shop that smelled really nasty. And finally they reached a shop that fascinated Harry. There were toys in the window! He giggled when they went inside. He started to wriggle in arms of the nice man holding him. He wanted down!
"No Harry, you have to stay with me. Look, there's a seat in the shopping car!" Fred said.
Harry was put in the seat. He didn't really like that, but it was better than being carried. First they went to the boring stuff, like diapers and wipes. Then they got to the food section. They even asked him what he liked! And bought some sweets, too!
The clothes were fun. He got shirts with flying brooms, dragons and snitches!
And finally they got to the section he liked most. There were so many toys! Stuffed plush animals, colourful blocks, animated action figures and many other things.
"Well Harry, I will lift you out of the car now. Then I will take your hand and you can show me what you like. If it's okay for you we might buy it. All right?" George asked.
"Awight!" Harry said.
Harry held George's hand. That was a bit difficult because George was so tall. First, he pulled him to the blocks and pointed.
"You want blocks?" Fred asked. Harry nodded. The twins had no objections to that. Then he pulled them over to the plush animals.
"Stag!" Harry said.
"You want a stag? Well let's see if they have one." George said. When they found one Harry was delighted.
"Do you want another one, Harry?" Fred asked.
Harry looked around. He didn't know many names yet. "Owl." He finally decided. It took them a while to find an owl Harry liked. The one he finally agreed to looked like Pig. Harry got some crayons and paper as well.
After they paid they went to the shop next door. It sold prams and buggies. They chose one in dark blue with shooting stars. It had a built in feather weight charm that would make navigating stairs easier. On the way home Harry fell asleep in his new buggy. When they reached home they prepared dinner, which Harry nearly fell asleep in. After they had washed him they put him to bed. Harry fell asleep immediately.
***
Harry had been with Fred and George for three weeks now and they had settled into a routine. They would take turns watching after Harry and minding the shop. At the moment, Fred was sitting on the floor with Harry.
"Can you say block, Harry?" Fred asked.
"Block!" Harry replied.
"Good. It's coloured red. Say red Harry." Fred said.
"Red!"
"Can you show me something red, Harry?"
"Shirt!"
"Yes, your shirt is red. This block is blue."
"Blue!"
"Good, Harry. Show me something blue."
"Touses!"
"Yes, the trousers are blue. This is yellow."
"Yellow."
"Right. What is yellow, Harry?"
"Shoes."
"Exactly, my shoes are yellow. And this is green?"
"Green. Grass green."
"Ah, you know the game. So what colour is this block?"
"Blue!"
Fred continued teaching Harry colours. He picked them up fast. Harry was a bright little boy.
***
Professor Snape approached Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. He was a bit anxious about the meeting that was about to occur. He had rather bad news. He entered the shop.
"Good morning, Professor. Are you here about Harry?" George asked.
"Yes. I need to talk to you and your brother." Snape said.
George locked the door, put a closed sign in the window and motioned for Snape to follow him. Fred and Harry were upstairs in the flat. Snape was greeted with a hug from Harry.
"I studied your formula. I couldn't find a mistake. I tested it every way possible, even on myself, as I assume you did. I turned into a purple chinchilla for five minutes, as was the intended effect." Snape said.
"Yes, we did test on ourselves, and everything went according to plan with us. What do you think happened?" Fred asked.
"It must have been an allergic reaction of some sort. It definitely wasn't a reaction with anything he had eaten. The point is that I can't find a cure. I consulted with Madame Pomfrey, and she agrees that he has to grow up the normal way, as there isn't a way to give him his memories back." Snape said gravely.
"That is bad news." George said.
"Not necessarily. It's a chance for Harry to have a normal life. That was always his greatest wish." Fred mused.
"I hadn't looked at it that way. Professor, would you mind staying with Harry a bit? We need to discuss about what to do now." George asked.
"I have nothing to do today, Mr Weasley. I will take him to the park. He should like that. When should I bring him back?" Snape answered.
"At about five, if that's okay." Fred said.
"That's well." Snape answered.
The twins agreed and packed the stuff Snape would need for the day.
It was a sunny day outside, perfect for a stay in the park. As Snape made his way to the Leaky Cauldron he earned many stares. The people wondered whose child the irascible Potions Master of Hogwarts was minding. Maybe his own? The rumours would fly today! Snape ignored all of this and went through the pub without a word as he reached it. Then he went to Hyde Park. There were bound to be other children to play with Harry. He found a few mothers with their children near the Peter Pan statue. After letting Harry loose he settled down on a bench and watched him play with the other children. The twins were right. This was exactly the chance Harry had always wanted. Severus himself would give everything to get a chance like this. A woman sitting down next to him pulled him out of his musings.
"Good morning! It's unusual to see a father here." The woman said.
"I'm looking after him for friends today." Snape answered.
"Sorry. My name is Judy Garland. My daughter is that little girl over there next to your boy.
Her name is Mary." Mrs Garland said.
"I am Severus Snape. The boy's name is Harry." Snape answered. Couldn't this woman just go away?
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr Snape." The woman said.
"The pleasure is all mine." Snapes words were dripping with sarcasm as he said this.
Unfortunately the woman didn't take the hint.
"So, how old is he? Mary is almost two." Mrs Garland said.
"Fifteen months." Snape answered flatly. Maybe she would go away if he became monosyllabic. He had no such luck.
"Children are so delightful at that age, don't you agree?" The woman asked.
"No. Harry is the only child I can stand without wanting to throttle it." Perhaps he could scare her away.
"Well, small children can get on your nerves sometimes, I admit. But when they get older it gets better!" Mrs Garland babbled.
"Not in my experience." Snape replied darkly.
"How would you know if you don't have children?" The woman asked.
"I teach at a boarding school. I am surrounded by teenagers twenty-four/seven nine months a year. I know everything about teenagers." Snape growled.
"Why do you teach if you don't like it?" She asked.
"I actually like teaching. Most of the time." Snape said.
"Really? What times do you don't like then?" The woman asked.
"When they destroy my classroom, catch them in pairs after curfew, find them bullying someone..." Snape trailed of.
"Oh. Well, I have to go now. It was nice speaking to you." The woman said.
"Good bye." Snape ground out through clenched teeth.
He fetched Harry for lunch. The boy didn't really like the mashed peas, but ate them anyway. Snape gave him a cookie as reward. Then he put him to sleep. While the boy was sleeping he ate his own lunch and read his favourite book, 'A Canticle for Leibowitz' by Walter M. Miller. His father would have killed him for reading muggle novels. If the Dark Lord hadn't been stopped something like in this book could have happened. He wondered if Voldemort would have survived if someone had nuked him. His body would have been destroyed, but his spirit might have lived on. But what if Harry had dropped the bomb? Would he have died then? It was pointless musing about this, as Riddle was already dead.
Harry began to stir. Perhaps he should take him to the zoo?
"Hello Harry. Did you sleep well?" Snape asked.
"Yes." Harry answered.
"Would you like to go to the zoo?"
"Zoo?"
"That's a place where you can look at animals. Some you can even pet."
"Zoo!"
And off they went. On the tube Snape got many comments about his cute 'son'. He didn't bother to correct the people. Harry liked the zoo, especially the snakes. Not surprising for a parselmouth. When it neared five he took Harry home. He wondered what the twins had decided to do.
A/N:
1. There is a Peter Pan statue in Hyde Park. I don't know I there's a playground.
2. 'A Canticle for Leibowitz' is a real book, one of my favourites. I thought of having Snape read 'The forever war' by Joe Haldeman or 'Starship Troopers' by Heinlein.
