Harry P̶o̶t̶t̶e̶r̶ and the Potions Master

Chapter 2

(not currently edited, feel free to point out mistakes)

Severus Snape was many things. The youngest Potions Master in all of history, the youngest Hogwarts Professor in centuries, and a Death Eater turned spy. Of these many things, Father was not listed among them.

So yes, he had taken the child simply because of his eye color and a feeling that this child would hardly ever be judged for anything other than his looks. He would make sure Harry wasn't judged too harshly for his looks. Only with other people, of course. Severus himself was going to be extremely judgemental.

He hadn't had the thought that he didn't know the first thing about raising a child. Nor did he have the materials for such a thing. At least the boy wouldn't need a bottle.

Severus had resigned himself to hating the child. He already did, but he was going to suffer years of torment.

It took him a few hours, and discovering how to change a nappie, but he had changed his extra bedroom to fit a few transfigured items that he assumed a baby would need. Thank Morgana that the boy was old enough to eat solid food.

So after a few hours, Severus felt as though he was done. The boy didn't seem to be a very needy child, and had only woken up to cry twice. Now he returned to where the baby lay in his new cradle and was once again met with bright green eyes. Those beautiful, beautiful eyes. The boy smiled at him and giggled as his chubby arms reached out for Severus.

Do not call him 'the boy', Severus. He is a human. He is Harry.

He allows Harry to reach out and flinches as he grasps a strand of his hair. Instead of pulling, like he expected, Harry curiously starts twirling it. As if by some unseen magic, Severus leaned his head closer and Harry reached up his other hand. And then he began to braid.

A memory of Lily braiding his hair in the park comes to the forefront of his mind. He wants to pull away, but Harry is smiling and Severus will not deny a child such joy. Severus himself remembers braiding Lily's hair in return. Perhaps Harry will grow his hair out when he is older.

Once he reaches the end of his incredibly loose braid with many faults, Harry pulls his arms away and rolls onto his stomach to take a nap. How untroubled babies are.

Severus knew that he was eventually going to fall under the baby's curse. He would grow to love the child. But he would hold onto his hate for as long as he could.

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You would think raising a child should be both harder and easier than it is.

Harry is an exceptionally smart boy and leaned quickly. He rarely cries, and it's almost always only when he gets hurt. When he falls off of his toy broom, he pouts for a moment, and then determinedly gets back on. If there's any task he can't do on the first try, he won't leave it alone until he's mastered it.

But then he seems so have no common sense. Harry runs towards snakes in the yard as if he can cuddle the venom out of them. He crawls into Severus' bed after a nightmare and refuses to go away even when he gets practically shoved to the floor. When Severus gets called to the school for help with Slughorn's curriculum, Harry will purposely cry during the meetings.

Severus finds it hard to hate the boy when he's such a perfect mix of Lily and James. He may look and have the mischief of James, but everything else was Lily. When Harry starts drinking tea with Severus because 'he's a big boy now', he drinks it the same way Lily did.

Sometimes Severus hates himself for loving the son of the man who stole his love. But then Harry does things that neither of his parents ever did and he's reminded once again that he is raising this child to be his own. Harry will learn to be the best he can be- and he will be entirely unique.