𝑷𝑹𝑶𝑻𝑬𝑪𝑻𝑶𝑹 || 𝗦𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘂𝘀 𝗦𝗻𝗮𝗽𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗕𝗮𝗯𝘆 𝗛𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟎𝟖.

No sunlight penetrated the room when Snape woke up- of course it wouldn't, he had very heavy drapes- but even without light Snape knew he had overslept. That was unusual for him, so he was instantly irked, and he also wondered what sort of trouble Potter was getting into. He threw his sheets off his legs and went to check on his small charge. In Harry's room there was plenty of light, and Harry was fussing in his crib, trying to pull himself to a standing position.

"We are behind schedule," Snape told Harry, picking him up and carrying him to the kitchen. "And therefor we are not going to waste a lot of time with breakfast. We are both eating cheerios, Potter. Mine will just be more sophisticated than yours."

Harry seemed happy enough with this proposition and he immediately stuck his hand into his bowl of cereal. Snape raised an eyebrow at him. "We use spoons in this household," he told him matter-of-factly. Harry just smiled and picked up a soggy cheerio and stuck it in his mouth. Snape decided that he wasn't going to deal with this situation, and he quickly ate his own breakfast, a multi-grain cereal with only 2 grams of sugar per serving. Snape tried to keep sugar out of his diet on most occasions, though there were certain times which merited a little sweetness. Snape was busy that morning. He needed to finalize lesson plans. He had three more days before he needed to return to Hogwarts and begin teaching the next batch of students, as well as failing as many of the old ones as possible. Harry had been much more of a distraction than he had anticipated.

After breakfast Snape hurriedly dressed Harry, in green pants and a white shirt, and then tried to decide what he could do with him while he worked. He debated just leaving him on the living room floor, they would be in the same room after all, but he was nervous about Harry bumping his head on something or crawling out of the room. Or sticking something in his mouth, or breaking something, or... No. That wouldn't do. Snape sighed and resigned himself that at some point or another he was going to need to buy Harry a playpen, if only to keep him out of trouble.

"You are going to be responsible for my lack of preparedness," Snape told Harry seriously. "And I'm not sure that is acceptable. You are too small to require so much equipment." That said, Snape decided they were just going to need to go to the store again. Before going though Snape decided he was going to make a list of everything he needed. He was not going to make this frequent trip to the store business routine. He returned Harry to the high chair and sat at the kitchen table and began to make a list.

Needed Equipment was the title of the page. Snape thought for a few moments, going through all the possible situations in his head and finally came up with this list.

1 playpen- to keep Potter out of trouble and my hair

1 small walker- to keep Potter occupied and to prevent him from falling over, accidents etc.

1 diaper pail - because Potter's napkins are NOT going in the kitchen rubbish bin any longer.

All ingredients needed for a smell proofing potion for said diaper pail

booster seat for table - because Potter insists on eating my meals and he does not need to sit on my lap at every meal.

Stroller- so Potter doesn't always get carried- parenting magazine said that is not wise. Find dignified stroller?

Different shoes- so Potter can learn to walk

Books- because Potter doesn't respect the Potions book at all times and we need quiet activities

Photo album for pictures- to avoid suspicious people. Already worked this out.

Aspirin- to soothe my head as school is starting frighteningly soon...

Severus knew that if he did not include his reasons for the items he wouldn't buy them. It wasn't that he was cheap. He was simply frugal. He did have to live on a teacher's salary after all. Snape looked over the list a couple more times and then nodded. Something was striking him odd though. Potter was mentioned seven times on that list. So much focus on this little boy who Severus had assumed he was going to despise. Snape shook his head from preventing too many gooey thoughts. In a way, he figured, it would be good to get back to school. So much time just spent at home with a little one was affecting his thought patterns and that couldn't be good for anyone.

------------------------ ~♥~ ------------------------

They were back at the store, and Harry was fussing in the seat of the cart. He still wasn't feeling great, and he didn't want to be ignored. He whimpered softly and put his hand out, reaching for Snape.

"Be patient, Potter. We're going to make this as quick and painless as possible and then I'm going to pay a quick visit to Madame Pomfrey. Your sickness and my- Professor Snape's- starting school in a few days are not going to be a good combination." Snape was having a hard time saying his name instead of "I" or "my" etc. The parenting magazine had told him it was important to speak of himself in the third person so that the baby would know what to call him. It was just that he felt awkward addressing himself as Professor Snape, and he really doubted that Harry was going to go straight from saying "oo" to "professor Snape" but he was not going to teach Harry to call him "Daddy". It just wasn't going to happen. Severus found everything he needed fairly quickly. The only problem was that pesky woman. Sara Lee was there again and Snape knew that if she spotted him, he was in for it. At one point he half-ran down the vacuum isle to avoid being seen. Another worker gave him a strange look as he did this, but Snape fixed them with a glare and they immediately turned back to restocking shelves.

"You see Potter," Snape instructed as he walked to the check out. "Sometimes people do things for very applicable and valid reasons, but they don't necessarily need to explain those reasons to others. That is why we do not stare at people rudely when they run down vacuum isles."

The woman in front of Snape in line seemed intrigued by this piece of information. "You talk to your little one with words like that?" she asked, seeming curious. "When I was raising my kids I always tried to use smaller words so they could catch on faster."

"Well that's fascinating," Snape said curtly. "But I happen to be amazing at this parenting ordeal. More so than most people would believe, and so I shall continue to speak to Potter in whatever way I think will instruct him best." With that Snape re-shouldered his "Essentials Kit" firmly. Normally he would not have gone on that way, but being stressed tended to make him defensive.

The woman murmured an apology and left Snape alone, becoming very interested in a package of chewing gum.

------------------------ ~♥~ ------------------------

They returned home to drop off the new equipment. Severus groaned as he realized he was going to need to take everything for Harry to his quarters in Hogwarts in just a few days and he was not looking forward to lugging everything over.

"Know what we are going to do?" Snape told Harry, as he finished setting up the play pen. "We are going to make Dumbledore take care of it. Which probably means Hagrid will manage it. But I'm not going to be responsible for it. Nope. Professor Snape is going to be responsible for himself and for you. That's about all he can handle right now."

He put Harry down in the playpen and took an aspirin, then he sat down on the couch and tipped his head back, shutting his eyes. A sharp sneeze from Harry reminded Snape of the errand he needed to run to see Madam Pomfrey. The only problem? Dumbledore had not been clear on how open Snape was supposed to be with the fact that he was caring for Harry. He figured everyone on the staff was going to know eventually however. Snape couldn't very well hide Harry in his rooms all the time. No, Snape was just going to take Harry with him to see the nurse and if Dumbledore didn't like it, too bad. He would have to fix that and be more clear in the future. Snape smiled to himself. No fear Severus, he thought. Potter hasn't made you soft. You're as snarky as ever.

Then, picking Harry up, he closed his eyes and apparated.