"Morning, Sev."
Severus ground his back teeth together as Potter happily joined him in the kitchen for breakfast, Frederick Weasley following right behind him. Severus was pleased to see Potter, as he always was, but apparently 'Sev' had stuck as the brat's preferred title to use when they were at home.
Severus briefly considered calling Potter 'Har', simply to see if he would appreciate it before reminding himself that he was the adult and Potter the idiot child.
"Harry. Weasley," he greeted the boys curtly, unamused with the continuation of 'let's have Frederick all but move in with us'. He inspected them both quickly and glowered at Potter's borrowed sweater, a baggy red-knitted jumper with a yellow F on the front, and at Frederick's bedraggled hair and lovesick expression.
"How's it going, Professor?" Frederick asked brightly as he pulled Potter's chair out for him. "Sleep well?"
"No," Severus said shortly, refusing to fall into a conversation that early in the morning with Frederick.
There was a reason that the Hogwarts staff had their meals separate from the students.
"Good morning!"
Another perky voice first thing in the morning, Severus thought irritably as Barty joined them, pulling a chair out beside Frederick and making himself right at home.
"Morning, Barty," Potter said cheerily, ignoring Severus's thick aura of annoyance. "How'd you sleep?"
"Brilliantly," Barty said, his one crooked front tooth on full display as he smiled widely. "Thanks again, Harry, honestly I think the basement is the nicest place I've ever lived."
Severus snorted at the comment. Despite the fact that Potter had gone out of his way to expand, decorate, and furnish the basement to resemble a suite, complete with an attached bathroom, all Barty had to compare it to was his father's home, Hogwarts, and Azkaban.
"Keep snorting and I'll transfigure you into a pig, Sev," Barty warned him. Potter and Frederick snickered as Mavis began piling the table high with various breakfast dishes. "Thank you, Mavis," Barty said kindly.
"Mister Barty is very welcome," Mavis said, apparently quite warmed up to their household's newest addition. "And Mavis was making banana pancakes for Mister Fred too," the little elf added as he floated a plate in front of Frederick.
"You're the best," Frederick said as he happily tucked into the dish.
It did not escape Severus's notice that he was the only one who Mavis referred to with the incorrect name.
It was Potter's doing, always Potter.
"What's on the agenda for today, boys?" Barty asked Potter and Frederick as Severus struggled to immerse himself in the newspaper once more.
"Gotta pop by the ministry and get a photo with Fudge for the paper since he got that bill passed for me." Severus had no need to look up to see Potter roll his eyes, he could practically hear the gesture in his tone. "Then Sue and I are meeting with a couple aurors who might be interested in joining us."
"Oh?" Severus looked up, his interest piqued. "And who are they?"
"Sirius' cousin, Tonks, and some bloke that Johnny calls Blue," Potter told him. "Tonks is probably okay, it would take her out of the Order anyway, and Johnny swears that I'll approve of Blue."
Severus considered Nymphadora Tonks as he remembered her. She was a clumsy student, though not without skill as a brewer when she was not knocking over cauldrons, and seemed to be a competent enough auror. She was one of the few who trained under Alastor Moody and who was currently partnered with Kingsley Shacklebolt.
'Blue' was not a name he recognized though.
"Are you sure that Nymphadora is trustworthy?" Barty asked Potter slowly. "I'm not questioning you or anything," he said hastily. "But what if Dumbledore told her to join you as a spy?"
Severus watched as Potter froze, his spoonful of porridge partially to his mouth.
"Fuck," he breathed. "Good thinking, Barty. I should..." Potter sent an uncertain look towards Severus as he hesitated, clearly unsure how to handle that possibility.
"Require a vow on her mother's life that she is speaking with you of her own free will and that anything related to the conversation will not be relayed to Albus nor any other member of the Order," Severus told him. "Once she swears in to the group, she should be unable to relay information, but a vow upfront is not an outrageous request considering the circumstances."
"Oh, so I can make Unbreakable Vows again now?" Potter cocked his head at Severus curiously which caused Severus to roll his eyes in exasperation.
"In times of war? Yes," he told him. "Unbreakable Vows that ensure those who surround you are loyal only to your side are quite different from the many you made in your first two years at Hogwarts."
"Brill," Potter nodded at him. "I'll make Blue take one too, just in case. You shouldn't ever trust a cop without one anyway."
"What a dumb name," Frederick laughed. "Who names their kid Blue?"
"I like his name," Barty said. "Much better than Bartemius."
Potter nodded in agreement, though their conversation was interrupted by more housemates joining them as Theodore and Granger quietly walked in the kitchen.
Severus felt his eye twitch when he spotted a damned hickey on Theodore's neck, barely peeking out above his shirt collar.
Lovely.
Severus truly hated teenagers.
"Morning," Granger smiled shyly as she took a seat at the expanded table Potter had swapped their old four-chaired table with on the first day of summer.
Severus sorely missed the smaller table.
More so, he missed the quieter meals that were served there.
"Good morning, Miss Mione," Mavis squeaked as he floated more settings in front of Theodore and Granger. "Will Miss be wanting her tea?"
Severus had no idea when Granger became such an expected addition to their household that Mavis stocked 'her tea', but he didn't care for that either.
"No thank you, Mavis," Granger said kindly. "I can get it myself."
"Mavis will be breaking his fingers in the door if Miss Mione insults him like that," Mavis said, waving his finger in Granger's face. "Either Mavis will be making tea or Miss will be listening to his fingers breaking."
"Might as well let him make you tea," Theodore said, having seen Mavis follow through on previous threats when Granger attempted to serve herself. "Harry'll be pissed if he has to heal Mavis again."
"I will be," Potter confirmed.
"Tea would be lovely, thank you, Mavis," Granger said hastily.
Severus barely refrained from casting a muffling charm on the other occupants at the table as he focused on the paper and blocked out their cheerful chatter. He wistfully remembered back when it was simply himself and Potter residing in the home. It was a simpler time, a quieter time.
The other occupants chattered about their plans and Severus was content with ignoring them as he sipped his cappuccino and read the news. Apparently with Potter's bargain with the minister working, and the cost of moonstone lowering, it was reported that the stock value of the ingredient had risen, indicating that it was being purchased in larger bulks since it was more affordable.
It was proof that werewolves, or those brewing for them, were taking advantage of the lower cost in order to brew the Wolfsbane Potion. Which would make those afflicted retain their sanity during the full moon, hopefully lowering the spread of the disease as they would restrain themselves from unintentionally biting and infecting others.
It had been an excellent bill to have passed, and Severus could not have been more pleased when Potter hoped for those exact results when they discussed it.
"Sev? Are you listening?"
Severus, who had been actively not listening, snapped his head up as Potter called out to him.
"I am not," he said, folding the paper and setting it aside to give his attention to Potter. "Please, repeat yourself."
Potter sighed in a dramatically put upon way but grinned across the table at him.
"I said, are you going to be home today? Because I was going to have a few people come over after lunch to fly with me. But I didn't want to annoy you."
Severus sent a pointed look at the four others seated at the table, indicating how Potter already had people there to annoy Severus, but the ridiculous child chose to ignore his insinuation.
"I will be brewing," Severus told him. "I'll simply ward my office against noise, shall I?"
"Brill," Potter smiled at him and pushed his chair away from the table. "Thanks, Sev."
"'Severus'," Severus sighed pointlessly at Potter, who simply laughed and graced him with an amused smirk.
You wanted Potter to quit calling you 'sir' and 'Snape', his subconscious reminded him in a rather snarky whisper. You got what you wanted.
Yet never in the way he wanted it.
Severus watched as the four students loudly left the table, still chattering on about their plans for their holiday, and left him alone with Barty.
"What are you brewing today?" Barty asked him politely.
"Potions," Severus said vaguely and tersely, unsure of how to interact with the man who used to be his closest friend, but who was also the one that allowed Potter to confront the Dark Lord alone. The same man who then saved Severus' life and advised Potter while Severus was unconscious in the Hospital Wing.
"Oh, okay." Barty looked down at his mug of tea, resembling a kicked puppy at Severus' cool tone.
Severus sighed at his theatrics and attempted to speak more cordially.
"I am experimenting with the properties of the medicinal base of healing potions to find the specific ingredient that causes Muggle medicines to interact so poorly with them," he explained.
Barty lifted his head up and squinted his light blue eyes thoughtfully. "Why?" he asked, true curiosity lacing his tone. "What's the end goal with that line of experimentation?"
"It is for a side project I am working on," Severus said, which was quite truthful. Since Potter's moods had been stabilized, as much as could be done medicinally, Severus turned his attention back to his research with Ramsey on utilizing basilisk venom in a potion to eradicate Muggle cancer.
It was not until Harry was poisoned in his third year that Severus realized the horrifying snag that they would inevitably come across if their potion was ever successful - Muggles could hardly take the potion to cure cancer and then one day take an aspirin for a headache and become comatose. And, thus, a new hitch in their research had been created.
It was a hitch that Severus was finding difficult to overcome.
"Have you tried examining the potion under a microscope when you add the medication to it?" Barty suggested.
"No," Severus eyed Barty with interest at the peculiar, and Muggle-like, suggestion. "What would that achieve?"
"Well..."
Severus sat at the table, enjoying a second cup of coffee, as Barty explained the theory to him. At some point they summoned a stack of textbooks and parchment to begin fleshing out the specific division and categorization of the atoms in the potion base and debated on how to isolate each one to identify the problem.
The unrelenting chatter, cheer, and noise aside - by the time Severus retired to his office over an hour later, he could begrudgingly admit that it was rather nice to have an intellectual discussion with a fellow adult over a topic that interested him. It was his only hobby, one that had nothing to do with the Dark Lord, Albus, or any other war-time issues that he would be soon dealing with.
Damn Barty for making Severus forget that he was irritated with him.
Severus did as he planned though and warded his office against any noise. He placed an order for a new microscope, as his old one was rather outdated, and began brewing multiple variations of a medicinal base to lose himself in the soothing process. Brewing was nearly as calming to him as occlumency was. He merely had to focus on the process: preparing the ingredients, ensuring the cauldron was set for the specific brew, and following the recipes through the mixtures, making mild changes as he progressed.
He never would understand how so many idiotic witches and wizards were unable to brew even first year potions adequately, it was the simplest process to brew any potion with the right focus.
Severus relaxed himself with his brewing, comfortable in his isolated office with his research. It was only when he felt a hunger pain that he realized he had been brewing well past lunch, and placed his potions under a temporary stasis to go find a quick bite to eat.
What his relaxing brewing had pushed from his mind entirely was Potter's plan to have 'a few people' come over and assist him in his relentless training for the upcoming Quidditch season.
"Sev! Hey!" Potter grinned sheepishly as Severus entered the kitchen and was faced with a large group of dirty teenagers seated around their kitchen table.
Teenagers and one adult, he corrected himself, identifying Nymphadora Tonks' heart shaped face and bright pink hair in the group. Apparently, Potter decided to include Nymphadora in his ever expanding group of followers. Johnathan Abbott, Frederick, George, and Ronald Weasley were all casually seated in the kitchen as well, much too comfortable in Severus's home for his taste.
"Harry," Severus greeted Potter politely. "I was simply checking to see where the noise was coming from," he lied smoothly.
"I will leave you to your training," he told them all, deciding to simply return to his office and ask Mavis to bring him a bowl of soup.
"You can stay," Tonks said brightly, her currently dark blue eyes sparkling merrily as she moved from one of the dining chairs to sit on the kitchen counter. "I was showing the boys up at flying, but we're just having a late lunch now."
"Harry about flew us in the ground," George Weasley told him, quite unprompted by Severus. "He's a right terror."
"You're just a shit flier," Abbott laughed, throwing a grape at the Weasley twin.
"Says the one who crashed twice," Ronald countered with.
Severus saw how relaxed and happy Potter was as the Weasleys and Abbott teased one another and it was only that knowledge that kept Severus from glowering at them all.
"I'm afraid I cannot stay," Severus said. "I will be in my office if you need me," he told Potter, backing out of the kitchen slowly.
"'Kay," Potter smirked over at him, undoubtedly aware of how little Severus wished to join the rowdy group. "We'll try and keep it down so we don't interrupt your search for the cure to cancer."
Severus did not refrain from rolling his eyes at Potter at that remark. And, as he isolated himself in his lab once more, he heavily warded his office walls twice as securely against noise. Certainly if there was one thing he could count on the summer bringing him, it was incessant, nonstop, continuous, noise.
Severus' theory was confirmed two mornings later as he was jolted from sleep by a series of banging noises coming from the downstairs. He immediately lunged to his feet, his fatigue leaving him as adrenaline surged through his body, and ran down the staircase, his wand drawn and ready to defend his housemates against the intruder.
... who turned out to be Frederick Weasley and Sirius Black.
"Sorry, mate," Black said in a rather pointless whisper as Frederick loudly landed a sealed crate on top of a stack of other sealed crates along the wall of the sitting room. "Didn't mean to wake you."
"We are not mates," Severus growled, still considering which curse would be best used. "Perhaps you would like to explain to me why you are filling my house with crates at—" Severus checked the time and glowered at the duo of unwanted intruders, "—four o'clock in the morning."
"It was the only time they could move the books and stuff without Molly catching them," Potter said, hopping down the stairs casually, as if unperturbed at the level of noise happening that early in the morning. "I should have warned you, sorry."
Severus lowered his wand, and fixed Potter with a hard look.
"We will eventually be having a conversation about appropriate times of the day to rob a house," he said, his annoyance seeping in to his tone and causing Potter to look slightly abashed.
"We aren't robbing a house," Potter said defensively, crossing his pajama clad arms across his chest. "It's Sirius' house, isn't it? We're just moving his stuff he doesn't want. I'm gonna have Barty take it all downstairs, don't worry."
As if any plot devised by Potter and Barty that involved Black and Frederick would allow Severus to not worry.
"You can go back to sleep," Black said. "This is the last box for now."
"Thank you for your permission," Severus sneered. "Though, as this is my home, I believe I will do as I please."
Black laughed, Severus' biting tone no longer affecting him for some reason, and shrugged casually.
"My mistake," he said. "I'm going back to bed then, I'll see you all later."
Severus bit his tongue nearly to the breaking point as Black and Frederick floo'd back to Black's ancestral home, only for Barty to come bounding up the stairs and exclaiming happily at the sight of the boxes.
"They did it!" he cried, his face lighting up with excitement at finally being able to explore the Black family library as Regulus had always promised him the chance to. It was a dream that Regulus died before being able to fulfill. "Do you guys have any idea the kind of history and secrets that must be buried in here?" Barty asked.
Potter shrugged in a tired sort of motion, stifling a yawn behind his hand.
"Don't know, don't care," he drawled. "I'm going back to bed now that they're done."
Severus was sorely tempted to follow suit until Barty looked pleadingly at him.
"Want to help me sort a few boxes?" he asked Severus, the excitement dimming down to a more mournful look of reminiscence. "I never really thought I'd be able to go through them... You know, after we lost Reg."
What a positively ideal morning. Who would not want to be awoken at four o'clock, by Black of all people, then immediately deal with a guilt trip regarding the death of a friend?
Terrific, truly.
"I have time to assist with a few boxes," Severus told him evenly, mildly interested in the contents of the boxes despite himself.
"Brilliant," Barty levitated a crate to Severus, landing it much quieter than Black and Frederick had. "Be careful, I'm sure a lot of it's cursed."
As if Severus required such a warning.
The two of them worked companionably enough, sorting through boxes as the sun rose and cast a bright glow across the sitting room. They had organized four of the crates' contents into separate piles: books, artifacts, cursed artifacts, and personal mementos.
It was the personal mementos that Black sent along to them that pulled up old memories and sparked reluctant chuckles and stories from the two of them.
"Remember when he got this?" Barty grinned, holding up Regulus's prefect badge. "Merlin, he was insufferable."
"Positively intolerable," Severus agreed fondly. "Of course Slughorn pushed for him to get it over Evan or myself—"
"Because Reg was the only one of us sneaky enough to evade detentions for his wrongdoings," Barty cut in with a weak chuckle. "Sneaky prat."
Severus fondly remembered multiple times when the three of them would retaliate against another student for various reasons, only for Regulus to slip away the moment a teacher arrived.
In hindsight, it was a rather large red flag for how Regulus slipped away and left the two of them behind when he attempted to leave the Dark Lord's following.
Barty sighed, as if his mind had followed the same train of thought as Severus' did. Which was rather likely as they had spent nearly ten years of their lives by each other's side as fellow students, Death Eaters, and friends.
"I think I'll take some of these books and sort through the rest later," Barty told Severus. "Do you mind me leaving this stuff up here for now? I've just brought the books from my father's library down to the basement, I'd like to organize them before I add much more down there."
Severus waved him off, unconcerned with the mess across his sitting room at present.
"I'll move these to my office," Severus said, indicating the pile of cursed artifacts. "As Harry treats our floo as a constant revolving door of irritating guests, it would be best to not have them on display."
Barty laughed before quickly sobering as a new thought occurred to him.
"I don't have to stay here, not really," he said quietly, scuffing the carpet with the brown house shoes he wore. "I know Harry said it was safest here, but really I could leave, you know. I could find somewhere just as safe. You don't have to put up with me here if you don't want me here."
Severus considered him carefully as Barty silently stared down at the floor. On the one hand, it would be one less person making noise in Severus' residence, but on the other hand...
"You are my friend and you are welcome to stay as long as you would like," Severus said, releasing Barty from his previous egregious mistake and choosing to solidify their renewed friendship aloud. "You are hardly as irksome as Frederick Weasley or Hermione Granger," he added with a smirk.
"Hermione?" Barty smiled across the room at him, clearly pleased with Severus' statement and graciously choosing not to force them in to a further sentimental moment. "I like her."
"Of course you would," Severus scoffed. "The girl is a walking encyclopedia and a relentless know it all who can never keep her opinion to herself. I'm quite sure you find her to remind you of someone else we both know."
"Exactly," Barty agreed, seeing Severus' insult as a compliment in the way only a true Ravenclaw would. "She's a bright witch, I can't imagine what options she'll have when she graduates."
"Perhaps she'll grow to become the next Dark Lord," Severus said with a quirk to his lips. "Especially since the 'Dark Lord Barty' is setting the example for her."
"Maybe," Barty agreed with a laugh. "She'd probably have to fight Harry for it though. He's pretty terrifying isn't he?"
"Quite," Severus agreed proudly. Potter was leagues away from the nervous, stammering child who jumped at his own shadow that Severus met four years ago. If that meant Potter was feared by some, so be it. Severus much preferred the young man his ward had grown to be over the child he once was.
Barty scoffed, but he did so with a glitter of amusement in his eyes, as he began moving items to their new locations.
By the time the stack of books had moved to Barty's quarters in the basement suite, and the cursed artifacts were secured in Severus' office, Severus naively thought that perhaps with his quarrel with Barty put behind them that the summer would not be as troublesome as he originally believed it to be.
Which, he knew better.
Any summer involving Potter was promised to be irksome, troublesome, and only ever mildly amusing.
Not that Severus would admit to ever occasionally being amused by Potter's antics.
"PROFESSOR SNAPE!" Theodore shouted from upstairs. "GET YOUR CRAZY CHILD UNDER CONTROL!"
Severus groaned as he looked mournfully down at his freshly brewed cappuccino. Reheated cappuccinos were not the same, though it was the only drink Severus had thus far.
"What is the problem now?" Severus asked as he entered the boys's room. They were only in the middle of July and hardly a day had passed in their household without a disagreement, heated debate, or an uninvited (and unwanted, in Severus' opinion) guest had caused some sort of disturbance. As it was barely six in the morning, he had trouble understanding what problem the boys were already having for the day and he had no patience to fulfill the role of peacemaker between the two of them.
Though, once he entered the room he immediately saw what the obvious problem was.
"Absolutely not," Severus sighed heavily. He could feel a migraine building in the space between his eyes, one that throbbed in tandem with every word he spoke. "Harry, where on Earth did you acquire a King Cobra?"
Potter was laid up on his bed, tenderly wrapped up in the grip of a ten foot long, dark brown cobra; and he was hissing at it in a blatantly loving tone in Parsletongue.
"I needed him," Potter said, easily switching back to English. "Timmy has a snake. So I'm going to use Stevie to kill Nagini."
"I asked where did you get him, not why," Severus repeated, ignoring the deplorable name Potter chose.
'Sevvie'. 'Stevie'. 'Mister Snoop'.
Severus wished his ward would quit mocking his name at every given chance. He also fervently prayed that Harry had no ability to name a child for many years.
"What's going on?" Barty asked, poking his head in the room, having unearthed himself from the books he had taken to carrying around obsessively to see what the shouting was about. "MERLIN! Is that a King Cobra?"
"Yup." Potter stroked the cobra's head tenderly as it hissed loudly at Severus and Barty. "His name's Stevie."
"He's brilliant," Barty sighed, eyeing the reptile with the look of a man intent upon learning all there was to know about the fucking deadly snake in their home.
"Snape, he's trying to keep it in here!" Theodore cried, huddling carefully as far from Potter as possible while still remaining in the same room. "Tell him he can't keep a King Cobra in our bedroom! It'll kill me in my sleep!"
"Not if I tell him not to," Potter said. The three others watched as Potter switched to Parsletongue and continued casually carrying on a conversation with the deadly serpent.
"He says he won't kill you unless I tell him to," Potter smiled at Theodore after the snake hissed back at Potter and bobbed its head up and down multiple times. "So it's fine."
"IT IS NOT FINE!" Theodore shouted, his face flushed with either fear or anger, or likely an equal mixture of the two. "HERMIONE WON'T COME OVER WHILE IT'S HERE! SNAPE! HE IS YOUR PSYCHOTIC TEENAGER - THIS IS YOUR BLOODY PROBLEM!"
Severus sighed heavily once more as Theodore shoved past him and Barty to storm dramatically down the stairs.
Miss Granger refusing to come back to their home was almost reason enough to allow Potter to keep the snake. If Frederick Weasley held the same qualms, it would seal the deal.
Though, Severus was quite sure that any fool who fell in love with a dangerous young man such as Potter would hardly have the sense of self-preservation to fear one of the largest and most deadly snakes in the world.
"I think we should keep it," Barty said wistfully as he took a few slow steps towards Potter and the snake. "It'll be like a guard venomous snake for our family."
"We are not a family," Severus corrected him. Families had no choice in the matter; Severus, Theodore, and Barty were all chosen by Potter. They were a something, but family was not the correct term.
Although, he was beginning to feel as if he were an unappreciated parent with the three exhausting and immature housemates he had.
"Exactly!" Potter beamed at Barty after rolling his eyes at Severus. "I knew you'd get it."
Of course Barty 'got it'. Because he was as deranged, deluded, and mentally unwell as Potter was.
So it was up to Severus to find a way to convince Potter to get rid of the cobra, entirely without the assistance of the other 'adult' in the household.
"Where did it come from, Harry?" he repeated once more, quite sternly.
Severus groaned out loud at Potter's suddenly evasive look and mentally corrected his previous thought:
Severus had to find a way to convince Potter to get rid of the dangerous, venomous, and definitely illegally imported cobra.
"A gift from a friend," Potter said evasively.
"Zabini?" Severus guessed shrewdly, taking Potter's quick shift in his gaze as confirmation of his guess. Though he would wager that it was the Contessa Zabini who sent it, rather than Blaise.
That woman was constantly encouraging Potter's mad schemes.
"Harry, it is dangerous," Severus said, as if logic worked on Potter. "And you could be arrested for even having it. I believe there are permits you must acquire lest it be taken from you and sent back to its natural habitat."
"Ugh," Potter sighed and stroked the snake's head with his index finger. "I bet permits are hard to get too," he said mournfully.
"They are," Severus said, latching on to the perfectly logical reason why Potter could not keep the 'gift'. "The Ministry rarely grants them, and typically only for research purposes."
"I can get it at the Ministry?" Potter asked, his expression clearing so quickly that Severus had the sudden realization that he had walked into a verbal trap. "Brill, that won't be hard at all then."
It likely wouldn't. Potter had the Minister wrapped around his finger.
Though how that meant that Severus was trapped to reside with a second dangerous and deadly creature, Potter being the first of course, seemed rather unfair.
"Does it not bother you that Granger refuses to come here while you have it?" Severus asked, quickly shifting arguments in hopes of finding one that would convince Potter to give up 'Stevie'.
"Tell her you'll translate for her so she can study it with actual questions and answers," Barty said, already kneeling beside Potter's bed and studying the reptile up close. "She'll jump at the chance I bet."
"Bartemius," Severus growled at the other man. "Perhaps I will handle this alone."
Barty looked up at Severus, startled by his icy tone, then nodded quickly once he saw the irritation on his face.
"Yeah, of course," he said, hastily getting to his feet. "Just let me know if we're keeping it, I've always wanted to talk to a snake."
"We are not keeping it," Severus told him firmly.
However, arguing with Potter for a further fourty-two minutes, Severus would have to change his statement. It appeared that they would in fact be keeping it.
Severus was beginning to wish the damn snake would bite him and leave the rest of the world to deal with the storm of chaos that Potter brought to those around him.
***
"SURPRISE!"
Potter appeared terribly bored as he blinked around at the gathered guests in the yard who had endeavored to surprise him on his birthday.
Severus was not one of them. Severus had the foresight to warn Potter the night before due to the child's preference for cursing first, questioning second.
"Happy Birthday, Harry!" Bones yelled, crushing Potter in a hug. "Did we surprise you?"
"Sure," Potter lied.
"No, we didn't," Draco scoffed. "You didn't even twitch."
"I was surprised on the inside," Potter insisted with a playful grin. "Good to see you, how's Italy?"
"Italy is delightful," Narcissa said, sliding between Potter's friends to hug him lightly. "Simply marvelous. You should come stay with us before you return to Hogwarts."
"Yeah, maybe," Potter hummed unconvincingly. "Where's the Contessa? And Lucius?"
"Lucius will be here shortly," Narcissa said warmly. "He was waiting for an opportunity to slip away."
"And Mother is dealing with foreign difficulties," Blaise said with a juvenile roll of his eyes. "Apparently Timmy's return, because none of them are idiotic enough to believe your cover story, is causing quite the conundrum for the Italian Counsel of Magic."
"Why?" Granger asked curiously.
"Because Mother is formally allied with Harry," Blaise said patiently, as if it were meant to be common sense.
Which, for the son of a political powerhouse such as the Italian Contessa, it likely was.
"And so she's insisting on securing vows from the others to not align with Timmy or Dumbledore," Blaise continued, the rest of the guests hanging on his every word. "Dumbledore is fine, nobody wants to ally with him since about ten years after he imprisoned Grindewald, but Timmy is interesting to the others on the counsel. A man who can't die? He's an anomaly and the counsel loves anomalies."
Nobody spoke for a moment, likely weighing their own individual horror at the thought of the Dark Lord gaining foreign allies, until Neville Longbottom chuckled quietly.
"Well, Harry's an anomaly too," he said with a lopsided grin, shoving his dark blonde hair off his forehead self-consciously. "Just one of a kind, aren't you, Harry?"
"That he is," Frederick agreed.
The tense moment then broken, the group split up and began separate side conversations. Severus somehow got roped into one with Lupin and Barty while Narcissa and Black talked off to the side.
"Hard to believe he's only fifteen, isn't it?" Barty said.
Severus watched Potter as he interacted with his friends and studied him closely. Potter had grown considerably the past year, he was nearly as tall as Severus was by then. Potter wore a long sleeved white shirt, still self-consciously covering his arms which had become leanly toned from years of quidditch and dueling, which offset his skin tone nicely. He finally had a consistently healthy pallor to his skin; a summer tan that caused his eyes to appear a brighter green and made his messy black hair suit him much more than the sickly pale color he once had.
Potter still moved gracefully, with vigilance and ease, but his previously twitchy movements had ceased, thankfully. Despite what others may have believed about Potter, his childishly delicate features had hardened slightly to resemble more Harry than he ever would Lily or James.
More than any of the physical changes that happened along with maturity, Potter finally carried a sense of confidence and purpose that made him stand straighter, speak louder. It was an aura that drew others to him like a summoning charm.
"Seems like yesterday he was just a tiny little baby terrorizing Lily's cat," Lupin chuckled.
"And now he is a young man terrorizing me," Severus said drily. "I suppose some things will never change."
Lupin and Barty both laughed, which reminded Severus that it was Remus Lupin with whom he was exchanging jokes with and so he excused himself quickly.
Merlin forbid the man began considering Severus to be on friendly terms with him.
Severus was inordinately relieved when Lucius finally made an appearance, a green wrapped package in hand and a harried expression on his face.
"Lucius," Severus greeted him and quickly summoned a drink for him. "How are you?"
He would never admit it out loud, but he had been under considerable stress wondering how Lucius was faring with the Dark Lord in his home. It was no menial task, spying. The Dark Lord was formidable, his rage would be swift if Lucius were to be caught.
"Fine, thank you," Lucius said, graciously accepting the drink and swallowing it quickly. "The Dark Lord has left the country for a couple of weeks, a welcome reprieve. Though I'm afraid I can't stay long, apparently my home has become a hostel for His followers."
Severus raised his glass in empathy and watched as Lucius made his way to Narcissa and Draco. Glancing around the crowded yard, Severus was struck anew with surprise at the incredibly odd group of guests that were gathered.
Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and Barty Crouch sharing drinks and conversation beside the broomshed, seven years of antagonistic quarrels and rivalries shoved aside as they were then on the same side of the impending war. The Weasley boys who were participating in a friendly duel with Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott; unlikely allies and even unlikelier friends.
Narcissa was speaking with Granger, Severus could see as the older witch was gesturing towards the younger one's bushy brown curls, undoubtedly discussing some form of hair care. Draco temporarily reunited with his currently estranged father as Lucius fulfilled Severus' prior role in the war. Bones, Longbottom, and Potter were each enjoying a slice of cake, entirely at ease with their group of mixed company.
Severus suspected that Potter may be the only being to ever live that would be able to draw together such a diverse group and usher them all toward a common goal.
"I told you he was going to change everything."
Severus glanced next to him and rose a single brow at the blonde-haired witch who had silently joined his side.
"You did," he told her, recalling Lovegood's exact words to him in her first year.
"He's so angry and alone. He's going to change the world."
"He's not alone anymore though," she said softly. "You changed him so he could change everyone else."
"Hmm." Severus could think of no response to that so he opted to remain silent. Lovegood, however, was quite able to maintain a conversation without his input.
"Everything's going to keep changing," she said with a sort of airy confidence that Severus assumed she gained from the seeing abilities he was confident she held. "Except for Harry, he'll always be special."
Severus looked around himself once more and nodded in absent agreement with Lovegood. Potter certainly was special.
"Have you lost your God damned mind?!" Severus yelled at his 'special' child only minutes later, drawing the eyes of Potter's friends from their gathering place around Potter. Potter looked up from the gift he had just opened from Lucius, his eyes sparkling behind his glasses as they met Severus' irate gaze.
"What?" Lucius said defensively, sharing a bewildered look with Barty, who shrugged at him helplessly. "Potter likes weapons! He has a whole wall of them! You let him take Pettigrew's dagger! What's the problem here?"
Severus absolutely did not 'let Potter' steal a dagger from the man he killed last month. It had been serendipity then, only pure stupidity at the moment.
Severus also hardly appreciated Potter's 'wall of weapons', which included a spear from the Merchief he attacked during the second task of the Triwizard Tournament, various stolen and gifted daggers and knives, and the goblin-wrought, basilisk-soaked, sword that Lucius gave him in his second year.
But that was quite aside the point at present.
"The problem is that you have gifted my impulsive fifteen year old with a semi-automatic pistol," Severus seethed. He saw Lupin nodding frantically in agreement from the corner of his eye and bit back on the irritation that coursed through him that he found himself in a situation where he was once again being empathized with by Remus Lupin.
"And it's a weapon... right?" Lucius clarified slowly. "I know it's a muggle thing, but Borgin assured me of its rarity in the wixen world and I thought Potter may enjoy it? How is it different from the knives, swords, and spears?"
"Will it even work then? If it's a muggle weapon?" Barty asked curiously, eyeing the gun Potter was lovingly handling. "If it's muggle, it might not, right? Because of the high concentration of magic?"
BANG!
"It works!" Potter cried with a blindingly bright smile.
Severus looked at the fucking hole in the wall of their house and felt his eye beginning to twitch. He wondered which was actually the bigger threat to his life —
Attempting to raise Harry God-Damned Potter, or being in the top three of the Dark Lord's 'to kill' list?
Definitely Potter, Severus decided quickly as Potter tossed an apple to Ronald Weasley and Severus immediately had to step in to stop what was supposed to be 'a super brill idea' that Potter 'saw in a movie with Susan'.
Perhaps a vacation is in order, he thought to himself as he began another disagreement over safety with his ward. The moment Potter is an adult, a mere two years until Potter is of age.
Potter being special, one of a kind, or not… Severus was beginning to highly doubt his own ability to live that long.