Chapter Text
As everyone knows, in a dusty tower in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the Book of Admission and the Quill of Acceptance generate the names and birthdates of magical children who live in Britain. In mid-July, the Deputy Headmaster or Headmistress visits the Book to cross-reference the list of names with the official Ministry registries to compose letters for students who will be eleven years old as of September 1. Children from known wizarding families are therefore automatically sent letters via owl over the course of the next week.
The Heads of Houses then sit down and manually look through the remaining pile of letters. If they know of the wizarding family in question, but the letter didn't match with the registry for whatever reason, they send the letter off via owl. The remaining letters are divided up, and each Head selects two or three to make house calls for the Muggle-borns, depending on the number of letters generated that year.
In July of 1991, there are eleven letters in the pile that Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall, Head of Gryffindor House, places on the table during the meeting about letters for Muggle-borns.
In another universe, McGonagall picks up the letter on top of the pile. It is a letter addressed to Harry Potter, and that is all she notices before she quickly sets it aside, too quickly for anyone else to remark on it. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore already instructed her that he wishes to deal with young Mr. Potter's letter himself, and McGonagall has not questioned that. In that universe, she would hand the letter to Dumbledore without really looking at it herself, or even asking Dumbledore what his plan is. Long experience with the man has taught her not to ask questions that would lead to unhelpful answers full of riddles and eye-twinkling.
But in this universe, Harry Potter's letter is not on top of the pile. After the other Heads of Houses select a few letters each, Severus Snape, Head of Slytherin House, picks up the remaining three letters at the bottom of the pile. And one of them is Harry Potter's.
His nose wrinkles in disgust at the first line of the envelope's address. Mr. H. Potter. A name that inspires a loathing beyond reason.
But because Severus, unlike McGonagall, has not been instructed to be uncurious about the rest of the letter and deliver it to Dumbeldore immediately, he reads the rest of the address.
The Cupboard under the Stairs
4 Privet Drive
Little Whinging
Surrey
The... what?
"Minerva," Severus says after clearing his throat uncomfortably. "Why is Harry Potter's letter in the pile of Muggle-borns?"
McGonagall looks up at him sharply. "Oh, give it to me, Severus. Albus asked to handle Mr. Potter's letter himself."
Severus stares at her flatly. "Minerva," he repeats. "Has Harry Potter been raised by Muggles?"
Filius Flitwick and Pomona Sprout, Heads of Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Houses respectively, perk up at that, their attention won away from the letters they pulled from the pile.
"Oh, I'm afraid so," says McGonagall, but it is just a figure of speech. She isn't truly horrified by or afraid of the idea. "Dumbledore left him with his mother's sister when he was a baby. Thought the boy should be raised by family, away from the fame and legends."
Severus goes very still, his hand gripping the letter tightly. "He was raised by... Petunia Evans," Severus summarizes, in a near-whisper.
McGonagall's look grows a little sharper. "Why, Severus, is something wrong with that? Give the letter here. I told you, Albus will deliver it."
Severus does not hand McGonagall the letter. "Petunia Evans hates magic. She hated her sister. She was wildly, viciously jealous of her sister and her magic. She cannot raise a magical child. No."
He only says 'no' out loud the one time, but his brain is still going on: no no no no no no no no.
McGonagall's mouth twists. "Another one of your childhood grudges, Severus?"
It is an unprofessional thing to say from a woman who was in a position of responsibility when Severus was suffering through that childhood, and took no action to help him, and normally he would take offense. But at the moment, he is a little more worried about the letter clutched in his hand.
"Is this based on a childhood grudge too, Minerva?" Severus asks, his voice still hoarse and low. He brandishes the letter at her. "He lives in the Cupboard under the Stairs!"
"Let me see that," says McGonagall sharply, and while Severus lets her look, he does not let her take the letter from his hands.
Her face goes a little white. "I—"
She cannot finish the sentence.
Severus abruptly pushes his chair away from the table and stands. He feels a sudden rush of anger. "I will deliver this letter," he snarls. "Dumbledore clearly cannot be trusted with the task."
Severus is of the opinion that Dumbledore does not take child abuse or neglect as seriously as perhaps he should. Dumbledore leaves such matters entirely up to the Heads of Houses, which means... if a child happens to be sorted into a House with a Head who does not bother to screen for child abuse or pay much attention to their students... like, say, the old Potions Master Horace Slughorn.... Or even Professor McGonagall, whose heart is absolutely in the right place but who is kept so busy with her Deputy Headmistress duties.... Well, to put it mildly, in Severus's personal experience, not enough is done.
So no. Severus will not be giving this letter to Dumbledore. Trusting Lily's son's welfare to Petunia Evans is one of the most insane notions Severus has ever heard of. The combination of Petunia Evans and a boy living in a cupboard are setting off all kinds of alarm bells in Severus's head.
None of the other three try to stop him as he sweeps out of the room.
Severus dresses in Muggle clothing and arrives at Number 4, Privet Drive. It is the middle of the morning. Petunia answers the door, and is not remotely happy to see him, but he pushes past her into the house. He exchanges words with her in the kitchen, about the cupboard and what else she's done to her nephew, and he resorts to using Legilimency on her. He sees the loathing with which she regards her nephew, the age-inappropriate chores heaped on the boy, the bullying by her husband and her son, the cruel punishments for the child's accidental magic, the too-often missed meals, that damned cupboard instead of a bedroom, the prohibition on questions, the lies about Lily's death....
And then Petunia calls Harry to come in from outside. He's dirty and sweaty, and starving and thirsty from working in the garden, and he's drowning in clothes many sizes too big for him, and his glasses have been broken and taped up again and again, and he's the picture of unhappy neglect. Severus forgets all about the bully James Potter and the dead Lily Evans and just sees a child who needs to be rescued.
As succinctly as possible, Severus explains magic to the boy, persuades him his accidental magic is proof that he's a wizard, suffers through Petunia's rant about Lily being a 'freak,' and decides on the spot that he must remove Harry from this home.
"Your mother wasn't a freak," Severus assures the child when Petunia has tired herself out with her rant, using his gentlest voice. (His students wouldn't even recognize him right now.) "She had magic, like you and me. And she didn't die in a car crash. We can talk about that later."
The boy just stares at him with huge eyes.
"I have a couple other letters to deliver to children who don't know they're magical," continues Severus calmly, showing the boy the other envelopes with addresses in green ink. "Would you like to accompany me?"
Harry doesn't even take a moment to question whether he should leave the Dursleys' house with a strange man he just met. His eyes stay huge and trusting, and he's visibly awed when Severus transfigures his clothing into a size that fits and repairs his glasses. There isn't much to work with when it comes to the boy's trainers—they're ratty and full of holes and Severus doesn't want to make them even worse—but the boy looks a little less pathetic now. Severus also casts a minor spell to hide the child's scar. No need to call attention to themselves on their errands.
Petunia doesn't even put up a protest at the kidnapping, just snaps at Severus not to expect her to pay for any of the boy's school things.
Severus ignores that, exchanges phone numbers with her in case of emergency, takes Harry's hand, and leads him out of that horrible house.
Severus usually Apparates around the country to deliver the Muggle-borns' letters, but one cannot Apparate with a ten-year-old unless it is an emergency. So he hails the Knight Bus.
Harry's wide-eyed, adoring stare when the huge purple bus roars into existence in front of them is priceless.
Severus finds himself pleased that he asked Harry to accompany him to visit the Grangers and the Finch-Fletchleys. Although taking the Knight Bus is irritating, it is worth it. Harry gets to watch other children become excited about the magical world, and bond with children his age who he will be going to school with. The Granger girl is a bit too excited, but Severus figures she will calm down once she gets to school. The Finch-Fletchleys are a wealthy Muggle family who Severus finds unbearably snooty, but their boy is thrilled to meet Harry, and his family's lack of excitement can't dampen the child's.
Severus makes arrangements to accompany the families shopping in Diagon Alley at a mutually agreeable time, and then suggests to Harry that they get dinner in a restaurant nearby.
Harry is quiet during dinner, coming down from the high of the day. Severus takes the opportunity to explain that his parents didn't die in a car crash. He tells Harry a condensed version of the history of the wizarding war and the child's supposed defeat of the Dark Lord Voldemort. Harry doesn't interrupt with questions or exclamations, but listens quietly and carefully until Severus is finished.
Severus patiently navigates the boy's very natural disbelief and horror, and tries not to insult the Dursleys more than necessary.
When they finish the meal, Severus pays the bill but makes no move to leave the table. "You don't like your aunt and uncle very much, do you?"
It is always hard to talk with a child about their abuse. He has to do it in a way that doesn't cause the boy to shut down.
But Harry doesn't bristle up or try to deny it. He just shakes his head and says nothing.
Severus hesitates. He knows what he would do with a child in Slytherin House discovered in these circumstances, but it is a thousand times more complicated to do this with Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. "You needn't go back there," he says finally. "If you don't wish to."
Harry looks up at him, half-hopeful, half-skeptical. "But I have no other family," he says. "Where else would I go?"
Severus swallows, and has to bite his tongue and ground himself in the slight rush of pain before he can answer. "Would you like to spend the rest of the summer with me?"
And Harry glows. "Yes, sir," he says. "I would love that."
Severus will need to lecture the boy about not trusting strangers just because they are superficially nicer than the Dursleys, and about Death Eaters and the war, and about the possibility of Voldemort coming back to life wanting to kill Harry.
Later. After he learns to trust Severus.
"Do you need to go back to your aunt and uncle's house to get your things?"
"I don't have any things," says Harry, simply and indifferently.
And doesn't that just say it all.
So Severus takes Harry Potter to Spinner's End, where the boy is awed by the magical books—Severus demonstrates why the boy is not to touch any that Severus doesn't tell him are safe—and jars of strange ingredients and magical instruments and potions equipment, and the child doesn't seem to think the shabby furniture and tiny rooms compare unfavorably with Privet Drive.
Severus installs the boy in the loft bedroom, with a set of Severus's old pajamas.
"This used to be an unfinished attic room," Severus tells Harry with a small smile as he tucks the covers in around the boy. "Your mum came over in the summers because the Ministry doesn't monitor underage magic in a magical home. This was our little spot. We would read, and talk, and brew potions, and practice charms, and we thought we could take on the world."
Harry's eyes are shining.
"Now it's your spot," says Severus, clearing his throat. "Good night, Harry."
"Good night, sir," the boy whispers as Severus leaves.
Severus returns downstairs, picks up the phone, and dials the Dursleys. He uses his telephone so seldom, but occasions like this make him grateful he's kept one all these years.
"Dursley residence, Petunia speaking," says a sharp voice on the other end of the line.
"I just wanted to let you know I'm keeping Harry for the rest of the summer," says Severus crisply. "You needn't worry about paying anything for his school, or anything else. Is that acceptable?"
Petunia snorts. "This must be Snape."
"Yes, hello, Petunia."
"Of course it's not a problem. We never wanted him in the first place, you know. That man dumped him in a basket on our doorstep without so much as a by-your-leave and left a note," she says scathingly. "How would you have liked to learn your sister died and you're forced to take in a toddler in a note?"
"That's—I didn't know that," replies Severus, taken aback. "I—I am sorry to hear it. Dumbledore never said a word about you not wanting the child. He said that Harry was in a safe, happy home."
"It was a safe, happy home before we found that note," Petunia says venomously. "Before the boy's unnaturalness kept rearing its head. He set a load of snakes on my son!"
"I understand," Severus says calmly, although he privately imagines the son in question more than likely deserved to have snakes set on him. "It's a lot to ask you to deal with accidental magic from a child. You didn't have the tools to manage it."
"Exactly," huffs Petunia. "I'd like to give that interfering old fool a piece of my mind!" Then she pauses, and says quickly, "I've got to go."
And she hangs up the phone without further ceremony.
Severus glares at the innocuous telephone receiver for a few minutes. Then he Floo-calls McGonagall, requests she come through to his home, makes a pot of tea, and tells her everything.
She is racked with guilt and grief over the boy's childhood, and agrees that Dumbledore has either neglected his duty to check in on the child he placed in a Muggle home, or has known that the Dursleys are abusive and done nothing. Either way, he cannot be trusted with the boy's welfare again.
Together, they decide subterfuge is the best course. McGonagall will return to Dumbledore and tell him Severus delivered Harry's letter, that there were no problems with getting his Muggle relatives to understand that Harry is magical, and that they understand how to take him to Diagon Alley and send him off to King's Cross on September 1.
They have no idea what Dumbledore was planning to do with Harry's letter, but whatever it was, it will now be out of even Dumbledore's hands to make happen.
After they've hashed out the details of their plan, McGonagall can't help teasing Severus about his apparent devotion to James Potter's son.
Severus thoughtfully examines his teacup.
"If a miniature James Potter had strutted into Hogwarts to applause and acclaim like he owned the place, I would have hated him with every fiber of my being," he admits. "But the boy with repeatedly broken glasses drowning in clothes that don't fit, holding himself carefully away from his aunt like she might strike him at any moment...." Severus swallows. "Reminded me of nothing so much as myself."
McGonagall does not tease him about it again.