The Best Man I Ever Knew, Part 3
Teen · Angst · Hurt/Comfort · Drama · Post-War · Canon Divergence · Multi-chapter · On Hiatus
I declare that the whole world of Harry Potter is the sole property of J.K. Rowling and that this story was not written for profit.
From then on Soren celebrated every birthday at Molly and Arthur's. At Granny and Grandad's, as he lovingly called them. Molly often took him to look after, and so she made sure Soren simply blossomed. You could see he was well fed, and what pleased Harry most, he was happy. Soren still didn't know the grim story of Severus Snape, and he didn't know that he was his real father. Harry would have liked to tell him, but he couldn't help himself. Soren was so happy to be Harry Potter's son, and Harry felt he wasn't ready for the truth yet. So he decided to wait with introducing him to Malfoy too. Although Draco had improved a lot and worked on himself, Harry still didn't trust him.
The years went by and suddenly it was Soren's eleventh birthday. Harry remembered very well how excited he had been when his letter from Hogwarts arrived, even though the Dursleys didn't want to give it to him. He made breakfast as usual and waited for Soren to come downstairs. The letter had arrived with the morning post and now lay ready for Soren on the table. It took another hour before he heard stomping as the boy jumped down the stairs. Harry turned and watched him fly into the kitchen. First came a smacking kiss and a hoarse "Good morning, Dad," and then the loud scrape of a chair he nearly fell off with the speed at which he sat down.
Harry waited for him to notice the letter. Soren grabbed a roll and a knife, and suddenly both fell out of his hands. Harry chuckled when he saw him. With his mouth wide open, Soren picked up the letter and slowly, reverently peeled it open. "How do they know? That my birthday is today of all days?!" He shook his head in disbelief and read the letter quietly.
Harry vividly remembered what his own had said. He turned back to the counter and laughed into the beard he had grown to look older. A good while later the paper rustled as Soren stuffed it back, and a question came. "Dad, finally tell me who Severus Snape is and what he has to do with us. I'm eleven. I'm starting school, and everyone there will know more about him than I do, without me knowing why." Harry dropped his knife and spun around. "Soren..." Soren frowned. "No excuses, Dad! I've worked out that you loved each other, because it obviously hurts you terribly, but I need to know!" Harry stared at him. Sometimes that child acted so much like an adult that it startled him, probably something he had picked up from Severus. He wiped his hands on the apron around his waist and then sat down opposite Soren. For a while he looked at his hands, before he reached for his wand and summoned Firewhisky and a glass with Accio. He poured himself a drink and then looked at Soren intently. "Alright, I'll be open with you and tell you everything." He sighed and took a sip. The Firewhisky warmed him nicely and he found the courage. "You probably won't say another word to me. But I've really been afraid, and I'm still afraid, Soren." He looked into his eyes. "We don't look much alike, do we?" Soren kept looking at him without saying anything, and Harry went on with a sigh. "When I was still at school, I hated my professor. But what other feeling turns into love so easily? None. Severus Snape would never have started anything with me, he was a man of principle. But I managed to explain to him what he meant to me. Both of us carried a heavy weight on our shoulders. I was supposed to save the world, and he did everything he could so that I would succeed. Even at the price of most people hating him, and they still hate him. He never had a chance to show them his true face. He died in a very painful way, Soren, but in my arms, and in that moment he told me he had a son. He asked me to take you in and raise you." Soren kept looking at him, urging him on with his eyes. "You know I always told you I chose you. I didn't want to lie to you, but I had to." For a while there was silence, and then Soren broke it. "So I'm the son of a Death Eater and not a hero?" Harry drew a sharp breath. "Soren, first of all, I've been raising you for practically nine years. I was with you when you started showing accidental magic. I was with you when you were ill. I took care of you, worried about you and loved you. Nothing has changed about that. I'm your dad, blood doesn't matter. I'll love you until the day I die. And now let me tell you something about that Death Eater. You may only be eleven, but apparently I'll have to try to explain it to you somehow. Death Eaters were people who had different beliefs from everyone else. They were cruel and didn't shrink from doing horrible things to others. But Severus, your father, was a spy. His life was in danger every time he went among them. And he was so convincing that he became Lord Voldemort's right hand. He brought us information and he never killed anyone." He paused and lowered his eyes. "Except for one man. But it was at that man's request. It took an incredible toll on him. He suffered a lot because of it. But if it weren't for him, we would never have won that war." Soren lowered his eyes, and after a moment he got up, walked around the table and hugged Harry. Harry felt incredibly relieved. He held him close and stroked his short hair. "You should be proud to be his son. But to the world you'll be my son, and to me too. I love you, son." Soren pulled back, tears in his eyes. "I love you too, Dad!"
The departure for Hogwarts came terribly soon, as far as Harry was concerned. He lay in bed and looked at the ceiling. He remembered their shopping trip. That day Harry had taken him to the hairdresser, and Soren had his hair cut so it could grow out long. Harry had been rather surprised by his wish, but only until he remembered that ever since their birthday talk about his biological father, Soren hadn't missed a single chance to learn more about Severus Snape.
One evening, for example, he pulled over the Potions textbook for first years and jabbed his finger at the line of authors where Severus's name was. "And what do you want to know, Soren?" Soren shrugged. "Everything!" Harry rolled his eyes and laughed. "Alright. So, Severus Snape was born on 9 January 1960. His mother was a witch, but his father was a Muggle. At school he met my mother Lily and became friends with her, before different opinions and Severus's drive to be someone exceptional pulled them apart." Soren stopped him. "Didn't Dad realise he was amazing?" Harry took a breath. "No. And my father and his friends had no small part in that," Harry admitted. "They bullied him. He felt he had to make something of himself." Harry ran his hand through his hair. "The thing is, being the most exceptional student at school wasn't enough for him. He joined the dark side, lost his illusions, but he also became the youngest Potions Master ever." He flicked Soren's nose. "And soon after that the youngest professor and Head of Slytherin House too." Soren breathed out. "Wow.." Harry hugged him. "Yeah, wow… So don't be surprised that he wrote lots of books, as an author and as a co author! He was just like that, he dabbled in research and there was nothing he wouldn't stick that long nose of his into…" Harry opened the textbook at the back and put his finger under a moving photograph. Soren leaned over curiously and looked at a black and white, stern faced wizard with long greasy hair. "Is that him?" Harry nodded and stroked the photograph. Severus in it only waved his hand to shoo the hand away, as if it were some annoying insect.
Harry frowned at the ceiling. With that long hair Soren looked like Severus's copy. But he shrugged, who among his classmates would know Severus Snape? he asked himself. Then he got up and went to shower. In the end he walked into the kitchen surprised to find Soren already sitting there, perfectly groomed and ready to leave. Harry ran his eyes over the table. Everything he liked was laid out on it. From scrambled eggs to pancakes. Harry laughed. "Are you that excited about school?" Soren just nodded and Harry reached over to wipe butter off his nose. "Okay, so you're excited to leave your poor dad, who will stay in this house all alone?" Soren smiled. "We both know I'll see you at school. It didn't escape me that you accepted a new job." He slid a paper signed by Minerva across the table to Harry. Harry looked at it and then took a breath. "I couldn't help myself. Do you hold it against me that I want to be close?" Soren nodded like an adult. "No. I'm glad. I'm not so naive as to think I won't miss you. At the same time I'm worried about my classmates and also…" He put down his roll. "What if I'm sorted into Slytherin?" The question surprised Harry. "You don't have to be afraid." He ignored the remark about missing him and added, "I was supposed to be in Slytherin myself. The idea that everyone who comes from there was an evil wizard is rubbish. Important and very powerful wizards come from there, but they're not always evil." Harry took a breath, put down his fork and looked at Soren intently. "Severus Snape was from Slytherin, as you know. And was he evil? No. Horace Slughorn was from Slytherin too, and he was an important scholar. He wasn't a bad person either. He never used his wand to kill. Narcissa Malfoy saved my life. She was from Slytherin too." Harry stopped. "There's one more thing I haven't told you, Soren!" Soren raised an eyebrow. "Yes, Dad?" Harry picked up his fork again. "Severus had a godson. He's still alive and I think he would be extremely happy to meet you…" he admitted. Soren looked at him in silence and then broke it. "Then introduce us. It's clear to me why you haven't told me until now and why he probably doesn't know either." Harry was surprised at how maturely Soren reacted to everything. For a brief moment he considered visiting Draco before they left, but he dismissed the idea as quickly as it had come. Draco had his own family and they would certainly be going to the station too. While he was thinking, Soren got up, went to wash his hands and then came back to Harry, who was lost in thought. He gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, "You're overthinking. I think you can tell Uncle about me any time and invite him to Hogwarts." Harry looked at him as his words got through to him. "Great, Soren. I feel like an idiot…" With that he closed the thought and cleared the dishes with a wave of his wand. Then he went to get ready, and together with Soren and his things he Apparated to King's Cross station, where the rest of the gang was already waiting for him.
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Mimosa Confiante
By day, I work somewhere between marketing, copy and campaigns; by night, I usually end up somewhere between fanfiction, cosplay and yet another “what if” that refuses to leave me alone. I write mainly in the Harry Potter and Mo Dao Zu Shi fandoms, most often Snarry, Snamione, HarryLu and WangXian. My healthcare background means that anatomy, medicine and far too much research occasionally find their way into my stories. Cosplay is another way for me to play with the characters I love, whether I stay close to canon or turn them into my own fanfiction and AU versions. In Diary of a Slytherin Girl with ADHD, I write openly about life with a brain that usually has far too many tabs open at once.
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