Severus sighed when there was a knock on his classroom door at noon on Saturday.
"Enter," he said, masking his weariness behind a curt tone.
Frederick Weasley and Kaleb Barrett both stepped in the room.
"We're here for detention sir," Frederick smiled.
Barrett had his head hung low and a slumped posture. Frederick looked as if this were the most amusing detention he had ever served.
Which, Severus could admit, it likely was.
Severus had certainly been amused when Minerva pointed out Potter had assigned his first ever detention as a prefect.
"Severus- read this-" Minerva's lips were twitching like mad as she thrust the detention log book in Severus' face after dinner one evening last week. Severus' eyes had roamed over the list of students serving with him and paused when he saw Frederick's name in Potter's handwriting.
"'Snogging in public'?"
"Barrett too," Minerva said. "Poppy said Barrett came to her this morning with a black eye. Your child is petty Severus."
Severus was already aware of that. What he was not aware of, was why on earth Frederick had decided to antagonize Potter publicly.
But he had every intention of getting an answer.
"Clean-" Severus pointed to the stack of disgusting cauldrons he'd saved for this detention. "No magic."
Frederick gave him a cocky salute before cheerfully rolling his sleeves up and getting to work. Barrett followed behind, much more morosely and with a frown aimed at Frederick's back.
If Frederick were not the single most irritating person that Severus had ever met, he may admit that he did not entirely despise Potter dating him.
Could Potter do better?
Certainly.
Could he do worse?
Undoubtedly.
Frederick was much more mature when it came to dealing with Potter than he was in every other aspect of his life. In fact, up until this idiotic stunt, Severus had actually privately commended Frederick for his maturity in the face of Potter's abrupt dismissal of their relationship. He could also, begrudgingly and only in the very recesses of his mind, admit that Frederick had always treated Potter very well and had been incredibly respectful to Potter's personal boundaries. Especially considering that the two of them had been having frequent, unsupervised, and not explicitly allowed, sleepovers for well over a year before they became sexually active. If Severus had to guess, knowing his abused and traumatized ward as his did, he would wager that it was not Frederick who wanted the delay, but it was Frederick who respected Potter's boundaries all the same.
Severus ignored the two dunderheads as he graded a stack of essays and they quietly cleaned the cauldrons. After he finished destroying the stack of incompetent drivel his third year students had submitted, he checked their progress and nodded at the stack of gleaming cauldrons.
"Who washed this one?" Severus curled his lip up as he gestured to the perfectly spotless cauldron beside Barrett.
"I did sir," Barrett said.
"I can still see slime in the bottom," Severus lied. "Twenty points from Hufflepuff."
Potter's pettiness was likely a learned behavior, but Severus would prefer that Barrett learn not to provoke Potter before a bruise and detention was the least of his worries.
It was surprising to Severus that for a castle full of students who have done nothing but misunderstand and fear his ward, they certainly forgot how frightening Potter could be.
It took a vast amount of bravery, and stupidity, to interact with the well known ex of Harry Potter.
"Dismissed," Severus told Barrett curtly. "Get out of my sight."
Barrett turned on his heel and strode quickly from the classroom, shutting the door with a hard slam.
"Sit," Severus told Frederick. He waited until the foolish young man was in what he typically referred to as 'Potter's chair' before he began his carefully prepared opening.
"Perhaps you could explain to me why you went out of your way to antagonize Harry."
"Perhaps I could," Frederick said slowly. "Except I don't think I'd win any bonus points with him by talking about him to you, would I?"
"Such as the many 'bonus points' you earned by frolicking around with another student where he could see?" Severus sneered.
Frederick was, as usual, unflappable in the face is Severus' disdain. "That was an experiment," he said cheerfully. "And a bloody good one if I must say."
"An experiment," Severus repeated coolly. "How so?"
Frederick relaxed back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head and smiling. "You ever seen Harry hit a bloke before? It means he's so mad that he forgets he's a wizard."
Severus believed it truly meant Potter was so enraged that his emotion-driven control of his magic stopped responding to him.
But to each their own.
"And this is cause for celebration?" Severus raised a brow at the idiot seated before him. "That Harry is incredibly furious with you?"
"Professor, why would he be so mad if he didn't care?" Frederick asked. "If he didn't still wanna be with me, why get angry enough to start throwing punches at random blokes?"
"You did this to make him jealous," Severus sighed and went ahead and snatched a pain reliever from his desk. "Idiot boy."
"Yup." Frederick was undaunted by Severus' exasperation. "Just like Harry's on a date right now to make me jealous."
Severus certainly did not choke on the pain reliever, but it did take a few coughs to clear his airway. "Pardon?"
"According to Romilda Vane-"
Severus mentally cringed at the name of the vapid girl in his fourth year potions class. Vane truly lived up to her name- she spent most of her time checking her reflection in any shiny surface she could and was a terrible brewer and an incompetent writer.
"-she asked Harry for a date and he said yes. And she doesn't seem like someone he'd want to actually date, does she?"
"She does not," Severus agreed unwillingly. In fact, he was quite certain that the only qualities Potter likely found appealing in the girl was her loud mouth and Gryffindor affiliation.
"Exactly." Frederick tilted the chair back on two legs and his eyes were twinkling with mischief and merriment despite the ridiculous situation. "So what possible reason would Harry have to go out with her?"
Severus remained silent, massaging his temples as he acknowledged the truth in Frederick's words.
Potter had no purpose in going out with the twit of a girl aside from making Frederick jealous. Which was an absurd thing to do considering Potter ended the relationship.
"Why did Harry break up with you?" he asked bluntly, causing Frederick to slam the chair back on four legs in surprise. "If the two of you are playing some ridiculous game that involves leading on others in an attempt to make the other jealous- why not simply rekindle the relationship?"
"Er... Harry didn't- he didn't tell you what happened? Really?"
"He told me that he believed he was protecting you," Severus said. He went ahead and locked his door with a surreptitious flick of his wand.
No need for Potter to barge in when Severus was so close to resolving this issue that had been nagging at him since this past summer. He had vowed to allow Potter to handle it himself, but clearly the foolish child had no idea how to do so.
Which, in hindsight, Severus should have known. Potter had grown and matured quickly the last few years, but romantic relationships were still a relatively new territory for him and it had been naive on Severus' part to entrust him to deal with them alone.
"That's the line he fed me too," Frederick said. "But... but I don't think that's why he did it."
"Why do you believe he did it?"
Frederick looked around the room carefully, as if searching for hidden surveillance or, much more likely, invisible teenage boys with a penchant for being places they should not.
"I'd rather not say," Frederick eventually said. He twiddled his thumbs in his lap and gave Severus an apologetic look. "Harry's a private bloke, if he finds out I said anything then that's that for us."
Severus steepled his hands beneath his chin and analyzed Frederick closely. He could admit that it was admirable how the young man was keeping Potter's secrets regardless of their relationship standing, but it was also annoying and a hurdle he would need to overcome.
"Depending on the severity of the issue, I could speak with Harry and attempt to ascertain his view on the situation. But as he is a rather, how did you so eloquently phrase it? Ah, a 'private bloke', it would be helpful if I were aware of the issue before I approached it with him. Which I am capable of doing with the upmost cunning and subtly."
Frederick's blue eyes locked on to Severus' black ones for several silent moments. He eerily reminded Severus of Potter himself as he seemed to look to his soul for the authenticity of his words.
"I don't normally ask this of people, but would you swear it?" Frederick eventually said with a seldom seen solemn look on his face. "Because I love Harry. And I think he loves me. But he'll never want to be with me if he finds out. But... but if he didn't tell you what happened then he probably didn't tell anyone, and... I love him enough to know that he should talk to someone about it."
It was this undeniable maturity that had Severus raising his wand in his right hand.
"I, Severus Tobias Snape, vow on my magic and life to never inform Harry James Potter that Frederick Weasley shared the information I learn from this current conversation. So mote it be."
Frederick relaxed in his seat at Severus' vow, though he now looked undoubtedly more nervous than he had before.
"I should have asked you to vow not to kill me," he said. "Because you might consider it. But Harry probably wouldn't like it if you did."
Severus prepared himself to hear something that he was certain would be incredibly annoying if it came with such a warning.
"We had sex," Frederick blurted. "Harry and I. We had sex for the first time."
"I am aware." Severus was not necessarily reassuring Frederick, as he was not thrilled with the step they took over the summer, but it would do no good for the boy to be on edge for this conversation either.
"You are?" Frederick relaxed back in his chair at that. "Oh. Good. Well... well when we had sex, Harry, um... he didn't like it much."
Severus stiffened in his chair, both his wand hand and his jaw clenched tightly. "Oh?" If Frederick had forced himself upon Potter, then the kindest thing Severus would do is end his life. He had spent many years dwelling in dark arts, there was no limit to the amount of pain he could inflict on this Merlin damned, brain dead, menace.
"Not like that!" Frederick said hastily, correctly interpreting the ice cold look in Severus' eyes. "He wanted to! I swear! I wasn't going to, but he wanted to! He begged-"
"Shut up," Severus hissed. Possibly the only situation worse than imagining Frederick taking advantage of his ward was hearing the word 'begged' in the current conversation. "Proceed with the issue, sparing specific and unnecessary details."
"Harry was embarrassed," Frederick said bluntly. "He had a... panic attack? Or a-" Frederick's eyes flashed with a tortured look of devastation "-a flashback? I think," he said. "And he said to stop, so I did. But I don't think he knew where he was for a while because he just kept whispering stop over and over. And he was crying Snape. Harry. Crying. Then when he came to he screamed at me to leave. Next thing I know, a week later, he comes over to Sirius' place and tells me that it's over."
It was rare, but in moments like this Severus had an overwhelming urge to contact Black. He should beg the man to take over Potter's guardianship, because he certainly was entirely incompetent.
He knew Potter carried a lifetime of abuse and trauma on his shoulders. He knew it as certainly as he knew the sky was blue and his hair was black. He had witnessed firsthand a traumatic memory of Potter being assaulted and killing his assailant.
He had questioned Potter's mental capacity to handle a sexual relationship when Lupin found Potter and Frederick in a state of undress in his wards third year.
He had personally read the notes from the Mind Healer that outlined Potter's PTSD and mental illness.
And then, because he was both a terrible parent and an unforgivable dunce- he handed over a potion for sexual stimulation once Potter informed him that his Manic Depressive Potion was preventing him from getting an erection.
There were a million things he could blame for not putting the pieces of the puzzle together before now; wartime planning, Potter's annoying behavior over the summer, the vast amount of brewing he had done, and many other excuses. But what it boiled down to was Severus had not even considered the coincidence that Potter ended his relationship mere days after he was informed Potter and Frederick were going to become sexually involved for the first time.
If being an unqualified and useless guardian was a crime, certainly Severus had earned himself a lifetime in Azkaban at this tragic oversight.
"Harry had a panic attack during intercourse," Severus repeated tonelessly. "I presume that he was-" Severus cringed at the necessity of the question "-the one being penetrated?"
Frederick looked just as uncomfortable at the question and shifted uneasily in his seat. "Yes sir."
That would certainly be enough to trigger a flashback and panic attack for a victim of multiple sexual assaults as Potter was.
"I don't care if Harry never wants to have sex with me again," Frederick said quickly and quietly, "I just want him back. He trusts me, he told me things he never had before this summer. And I don't know if he knows it, but I think he loves me. The sex doesn't matter to me, not if he's happy and he's alright, but I don't think he's alright."
Could Potter actually do better than the young man with the earnest gaze who sounded nothing but honest when he said that a sexual relationship is not his priority?
Probably not.
Severus would admit to tolerating very few people in his life. Potter, Theodore, Barty, the Malfoy's, Lovegood and Bones were the top contenders if Severus had to admit to caring about others at all. But Frederick had elevated himself to the bottom of that short list with both his understanding and maturity.
"What things did Harry share with you?" Severus asked curiously. It must have been rather telling for Frederick if he was using words like 'flashback' and 'panic attack', though there was a minor possibility that Potter disclosed his abuse prior to that.
"He told me about his manic depression and he told me he used to be homeless." Frederick's eyes were no longer sparkling with mischief or merriment as Severus was so accustomed to seeing. "He told me why he doesn't like Charlie."
"Oh?" Severus' interest was caught at that unexpected note. He had not thought there was a specific reason that Potter disliked the older Weasley, he had assumed that the mere size of the man was the source of Potter's obvious discomfort around him. "Explain."
"He said..." Frederick blew out a deep breath. "He said that he saw a bloke one time who looked like Charlie and that he killed an old man in an alley where Harry was sleeping. It wasn't Charlie," Frederick added hastily. "But Harry says it was the first time he saw someone killed in front of him."
Therapy. Potter needed immense amounts of therapy.
And, likely, so did Frederick. It had to be uncomfortable for him to hear those things. Not to mention dealing with your partner having a traumatic episode during intercourse.
"Write to Remus Lupin," Severus told him. "He will help you with any feelings you may be having."
Frederick gave him a lopsided grin. "Professor Snape are you saying you care about my feelings?"
"I am not," Severus lied stiffly. "I am saying that mental health is not prioritized by Wixen as it should be. And I happen to know that Lupin is an excellent-"
It burnt Severus' tongue to compliment the wolf in any way.
"-person to speak with about it."
"Alright then." Frederick stretched his arms out and stood up, recognizing the dismissal for what it was. "You'll- uh- talk to Harry then? And don't mention anything about me loving him please, I know he'll want to get back together eventually. But I don't want him to feel forced in to it."
Severus inclined his head in agreement. "I appreciate you speaking with me. In the future, regardless of what you may believe, Potter's mental health should come before his wishes for secrecy. Potter does not always have his priorities in the correct order and I am always available to assist him."
Surprisingly, Frederick pushed his hands in to his pockets and gave Severus another solemn nod. "I think I told you this before, but I just wanted to tell you again that I think Harry's got the best luck when it comes to guardians. Thank you Professor."
Severus inclined his head once more, unlocked the door, and watched as Frederick left the classroom.
He then glanced longingly at his bourbon he keeps stashed in his desk drawer before sighing heavily and resigning himself to a truly distasteful task.
"Remus Lupin's Cottage," he called in his floo.
He waited as patiently as he could as he called Lupin's name through the obviously empty cottage before scowling and withdrawing his head.
Severus thought of Potter placing his surname before Black's in his list of heirships and flicked his wand again, "Expecto Patronum.""Lupin, floo to my quarters at your earliest convenience. Immediately."
Severus sent off his silver fox and sank down in his recliner, applying pressure directly in the center of his forehead.
He also summoned a cold compress from the muggle medical kit he had purchased back when Potter was taking muggle medications that could not be mixed with potions. He applied the compress to his forehead as he could feel a migraine blooming despite his attempts to stave it off.
Severus had never felt like more of a failure before. And he knew that as much as he blamed Potter and his love of chaos for many of his frequent migraines- it was shame that was driving him to pain at present.
Severus was still seated in his recliner, the compress covering his forehead and eyes, when his floo flared to life and Lupin stepped out.
"Severus? Are you alright?"
"Fine." Severus tossed his compress to the side and got to his feet. He appraised Lupin carefully and furrowed his brows at the peculiar getup the man was in. "Did I interrupt a duel you were losing?" Lupin's trousers and cardigan were both covered in splashes of something dark green that smelled truly disgusting.
"Of a sort," Lupin said cheerfully. "Sirius moved Kreacher to Moon Lodge to take care of the pack that's staying there. But then today he brought over an elf he got off Narcissa, a mad little thing named Dobby, and I was trying to keep them from fighting." He gestured down at his ruined clothes, "Fruitlessly, clearly."
"Clearly," Severus sneered. "Have you spoken with Harry recently?"
Lupin remained standing, as did Severus, though Severus would never lean against the wall and cross his legs in such a juvenile manner. "We were supposed to meet today, but then he said he's on a date. Sirius is spying on him, it didn't sound like it was going that great."
"Shocking," Severus quipped. "As Miss Vane is such a charming girl."
"Oh is that who it is?" Lupin chuckled. "Sirius said that the girl kept trying to cuddle against Harry in their booth and he kept pushing her away. Last update I got was that Harry decided to make his friends join them."
"Delightful," Severus drawled. He went ahead and sat back down in his chair, requiring physical comfort to venture down this path he himself had forged back in Potter's third year. "I believe you will need to speak with Frederick Weasley. I instructed him to write to you."
"Oh?" Lupin took Severus' cue and took a seat on the edge of his leather sofa. "What about?"
"Second hand trauma," Severus said flatly. It irked him to confide things to the wolf, but while he had paid for his education in matters of psychology (and the most recent bill he had received from the Kings College of London had been both a nasty surprise and a heartening one- he had hardly expected Lupin to complete so many required courses so quickly) then he had to entrust him to treat this as the professional discussion it was. "Harry and Frederick had sexual intercourse, and Harry had what sounds like a flashback during it. It was undoubtedly traumatic for Frederick to deal with."
"Aah," Lupin nodded sagely. "I had wondered who had pilfered my textbooks from my bag. I had thought perhaps- nevermind. It makes sense now anyway."
As that was not a statement that required a response, Severus did not respond. He simply waited for Lupin to accept his request and leave.
"Of course I'll talk with Fred," Lupin finally said quickly. "Would you like me to talk with Harry as well? I know he has a match next weekend, but I could speak with him tomorrow? Or even invite him over after classes one day this week?"
"Do you truly believe you and Harry are close enough that he will discuss it with you?" Severus raised a brow at the wolf disdainfully. "I thought not," he added when Lupin said nothing. "I will speak with Harry. I will point him in your direction for coping mechanisms, which I trust you will discover to share with him?"
"Yes, I can do that," Lupin said with just a touch too much enthusiasm. "Whatever you guys need, just let me know. And I'll write to Fred. If he would like to meet in person, do you think you could help arrange it?"
"I will," Severus said. He ground his back teeth together until he managed to grit out, "Thank you."
Which burnt like acid on his tongue.
"Happy to help," Lupin said in a way that you could not doubt his words. "If there's nothing else then I'll just pop back over and try to keep everyone in Moon Lodge alive."
Severus lifted his hand in a half-hearted gesture of farewell as Lupin stepped back in the floo.
Now to plot and wait. See if Potter comes to him of his own volition after a disastrous date or if he will have to hunt him down tomorrow for a conversation.
A conversation he had no idea how to approach.
As it turned out, Potter did come seek him out, the next morning, and offered an excellent opening to bring it up.
"Sev, I am telling you, that girl is barmy, yeah? I thought she was going to rip her whole shirt off in the middle of the Three Broomsticks." Potter shuddered dramatically and took a long sip of his coffee.
Severus unwillingly chuckled, pleased that the two of them had a close enough relationship that it allowed Potter to show up with breakfast and offers to tell him 'about the worst date in the world'.
"Why would you even accept a date from her?" Severus asked lightly. "That girl simply wishes to ride your coattails to fame."
Potter huffed and tapped the table in an irritable pattern with his thumb. "You told me to move on?" he offered as a weak excuse. "She asked me out, I said yes."
"And it was a mere coincidence that you did so only days after finding your Weasley with Barrett outside?" Severus asked.
"Hmm. Maybe," Potter said slowly. "If Fred's seeing other people, then I should too, yeah?"
"Are you not worried they will be injured in the coming wars?" Severus raised a brow. "I recall that being your reasoning for ending your relationship with Frederick. Or do you simply not value Miss Vane's life as much?"
Potter gave Severus an incredibly guilty look through his fringe. A look of a child caught in a lie, as Potter must have realized he was.
"Er... alright, so I didn't really plan on dating her, did I? She asked me out, and I was still a bit pissed at Fred, so I said yeah."
If there was an emotion Potter was getting well acquainted with recently, it was jealousy.
"Why would you use Miss Vane as revenge against Frederick? Aside from the questionable morals involved in leading a student on when you have no intention of returning her affections-"
Which truly was reprehensible on both Potter and Frederick's parts.
"-why would you be interested in retaliating against a young man who you decided to no longer date?"
Potter looked properly abashed of his behavior; he squirmed in his chair and stared down at the table as he continued his rhythmic tap, tap, rub. tap, tap, rub. with his thumb.
"Sorry," he eventually said. "I- I didn't think about how I was using her. She just asked, so I said yeah."
"A folly of youth easily forgiven," Severus assured him. "One that Frederick himself is not innocent of."
Potter gave him a quick and queer look at that. "How?"
"Harry." Severus waited until Potter looked up from his seat across the dining table from him. He attempted a kind smile in the face of his wards confusion. "Do you truly believe that Frederick has any romantic interest in Barrett?"
"He looked pretty interested on Wednesday," Potter snarled quietly.
"And you believe it was a coincidence that the entire Great Hall saw you running for the quidditch pitch and Frederick just happened to choose that spot to display affection for a student whom I have never seen him interact with before?"
Potter looked caught off guard for a split second before masterfully clearing the emotions off his face.
"You think he did it to make me mad on purpose? Why would he do that? I almost hit him!"
"Because he is a teenage boy capable of making incredibly immature decisions," Severus said drily. "Though I should commend you child, the first time I saw your mother kiss your father I cursed him, I believe he carried the scar to his grave."
Potter, inexplicably, laughed at that. Which was both validating and endlessly amusing. "I knew you'd be happy I didn't kill them," he said. "I almost did, didn't I? Fuckin Barrett."
"Fuckin Barrett indeed," Severus repeated with a smirk. "It may lighten your worries to know that not only did Frederick entirely ignore Barrett during their detention, but Barrett seemed quite displeased with Frederick as well."
Potter sat up straight at that and seemed to fight the urge to smile. "Really?"
"Would I lie to you? Actually," Severus went on before Potter could respond. "You and I have always had a policy of not lying to one another, correct?"
"Correct," Potter mimicked him.
"Excellent." Severus poured Potter another cup of coffee then surveyed him over his own mug. "I would like to ask you a question, and I would like you to be honest with me, despite how difficult it may be to do so."
Potter narrowed his eyes at Severus before jerking his shoulders in a curt shrug.
"What is the true reason that you ended your relationship with Frederick?"
As Potter did not immediately leap up and leave Severus' quarters, he presumed his question would be answered.
Potter's eyes flicked around the room as he seemed to sort out his thoughts. Severus gave him time and patience to do so, pleased that at least Potter was going to respond.
He had nearly finished his drink by the time Potter spoke though, breaking Severus' heart with his very first sentence.
"You know how I'm broken, yeah? Well Fred's a- a good person. And I think he deserves better."
Potter's self confidence was so low that an ant could hardly crawl beneath the bar.
It must take an incredible amount of determination to strut about the castle as he does.
"I do not know how you are broken," Severus said clearly. "Though I am interested in your reasoning."
Potter gave him a beautifully scathing look of disbelief. "You brew the potion every month," he said. "Broken brain, broken body, broken fuckin everything," he spat. "And Fred's like... he's the opposite of broken, and he shouldn't have to put up with me and my bullshit."
Severus was so filled with pity that he averted his eyes to the dregs of caramel colored coffee swirling in the bottom of his mug.
He was not cut out for this.
He should tell Potter to go speak with Lupin.
But Potter wouldn't. And someone had to speak with him.
"Listen to me child," Severus said firmly, but not unkindly. He focused on Potter's hands, as he was refusing eye contact as he typically did when he was feeling vulnerable. "You are not without the baggage from heinous crimes committed upon you, but that does not make you broken. It makes you a survivor. And survivors hardly survive without developing different reactions than those who lived easy lives have."
"Sev- I-" Potter faltered as he struggled to respond. "I- we..." Potter's voice faded and his thumb went positively erratic as he attempted to self-soothe. "We had sex and I freaked out and it was a bloody nightmare," he said in a quick rush that Severus nearly didn't comprehend. "So... yeah. That's... that's freaky, right? Broken. It's a mess."
"Can you describe 'freaking out' to me?" Severus asked calmly.
"Er..." Potter squinted as he attempted to find a way to describe the sensation. "You remember that dementor on the train, yeah? And I didn't know where I was for a bit? It was like that."
"And did you feel broken when the dementor brought up traumatic memories that triggered a flashback and panic attack?"
"Yes."
Of course he did.
All the magical prowess of the next Merlin and all the self worth of... well. Actually Severus had no good analogy for Potter's self worth. Which was disturbing.
"Well you are not," Severus snapped. "You are the least broken person I have ever met despite the entire worlds efforts to cause it. You are not broken. You are not freaky. You are not a god damned mess."
Potter looked up at him and blinked slowly. "Are- are you mad at me?"
"No."
"You sound mad?"
"I AM NOT ANGRY AT YOU!" Severus yelled. Potter flinched back in his chair, instantly draining Severus of the anger that had swelled in him as he considered all that had been done to his ward to cause this... this remarkable young man to consider himself too lowly to deserve the love of a partner.
"Harry, I apologize." Severus cleared his mind and focused on Potter, who, impressively, had not fled but was instead tightly tensed in his chair. "I truly am not angry at you. I am angry at the Dursley's, at Albus, at every mother fucking muggle you ever encountered, and at myself."
"Why y-yourself?"
Terrific. He had driven Potter to stutter.
"Because I am failing you as a guardian," Severus admitted. "I seem to always have good intentions when it comes to you, and then fail in the execution."
Severus had closed his eyes to apply pressure to them both and thus was startled when a small and calloused hand gripped his arm.
"That's not on," Potter said quietly. "I think you're doing a great job. Mione says I must be hell to put up with, yeah? But you didn't leave. Didn't get rid of me. You're still here, aren't you?"
"You have low expectations," said Severus.
"Maybe," Potter said thoughtfully. "But everyone always tells me I've got the best guardian."
"And I have it on good authority that I happen to have a brilliant, tenacious, strong, ward," Severus said firmly. "The least broken person that I have ever, or will ever, meet."
Potter retracted his arm and gave Severus a half-smile. "Who said that?"
"I did," Severus sniffed, attempting to draw a true smile from the child. "And I happen to be a genius."
Potter did chuckle at that, shaking his head and causing his hair to flop around messily. "You shouldn't say you're a bad guardian, it's- people might believe you if they hear it."
Severus held Potter's eyes, attempting to force him to believe his words through sheer willpower. "And you should not call yourself broken. Harry, you are not broken in any way." He extended his hand to Potter's arm slowly, returning the gesture. "You and I will find a way to navigate this. Together. Yes?"
It seemed an eternity later, an eternity spent as the only person whose opinion of Severus truly mattered judged him.
And did not find him lacking.
"'Kay."
"Kay," Severus repeated.
It was hardly a start.
But it was a start.
"Can- can I stay here until practice tonight?"
Severus smiled at his ridiculous ward. "Of course you may."
***
Lupin,
When Harry and Frederick resume their relationship, I would be willing to pay you 50 galleons to conduct some form of counseling for them both.
- S.S.