Severus froze, the boy's words shocking him to his core. How could he know his name? And what's that about Lily telling him Severus would come for him?
Severus looked into emerald eyes, and saw only admiration. He had only just seen Severus and Harry already liked him, something no child ever did. He opened his mouth to ask Harry what he meant when the infirmary door opened and Minerva walked in, followed by a nervous Albus.
Minerva saw Harry was awake and ran to his side, opening her mouth to say something but was interrupted when Harry spoke up with a wide smile and said,
"Min-Min! Balbus! You're here, too!"
"Harry, you remember us?" Minerva said, one hand to her heart, and her eyes hopeful and unbelieving.
Harry attempted to sit up, but lay back down with a painful gasp. Minerva and Severus rushed to him, helping him lay back down.
"Don't move, Harry baby, you're hurt. You must stay still if you want to get better." Minerva said, rubbing Harry's hand.
"She's right, Harry dear."
All three adults turned in shock towards the voice. Their eyes widened and their jaws dropped at the sight of the glowing, floating spirit of Lily Potter.
Severus gulped and whispered, "Lily."
"Mummy!! Look! It's Sev'rus, Min-Min, and Balbus! They came, just like you said!"
"Of course they did, dear. And it's Albus, not Balbus."
"Oh, I don't mind, Lily. I still remember when he used to call me that. It's endearing, really."
At those words, the temperature in the room dropped, and Lily's spirit hair began to float dangerously around her as she turned towards Albus with glowing eyes.
"Is that so? Well, apparently it wasn't endearing enough for you to bother to check my private Will at Gringotts and see where I would have put Harry in case of my death. And let me tell you, there's no way I would have left him with my sister, Petunia fucking Dursley!!!"
Albus visibly shrank back from the enraged spirit, shocked that the ghost of his favorite student had just swore at him. He wasn't the only one.
Minerva had moved to cover Little Harry's ears, knowing exactly how her former student could get when pissed off. But the venom in those words shocked her just the same.
Severus, on the other hand, couldn't stop gaping at Lily's ghost. Oh, he heard her words and felt amused at seeing the old coot quiver like a leaf under the angry mother's hard gaze, but he was still processing the fact that she was there, talking to them through her son. He shook his head, deciding to just not question it and focused on what was going on. Albus was looking Lily in the eye, and he was opening his mouth to explain when Harry giggled, sparks of magic surrounding him.
"Hehe, Mummy looks funny. I want to float like Mummy!!" He cried out happily, clapping his hands and letting the magic in the air surround him, creating a large bubble that lifted him into the air, floating towards the ceiling.
Harry giggled, and he leaned to the right, causing the bubble to move right as well, barely missing one of the rafters that lined the roof. Harry clapped his hands and leaned backwards into a backflip, causing the bubble to roll and make him tumble happily inside it.
Lily immediately stopped looming over Albus, turning upwards in horror to watch her baby float through the air in a delicate bubble.
"Harry!"
"Look Mummy! I'm like you now! I float! Floaty float!"
Lily floated quickly towards him, and hovered outside his bubble, looking at him with fear and worry in her eyes. "Harry, dear, you need to get down now. Please, no more floating."
Harry pouted, the bubble rumbling a little as his emotions began to change from giddy enthusiasm to sadness. "But Mummy..."
"Baby, please. Float down, now. Look! I'll float down with you."
Harry pouted. "Okay." He leaned downwards on the inside of the bubble, but then the bubble popped. Instantly, Harry was falling, his only solid support gone. He screamed as he fell, and Lily could only watch, helpless to save her son. She screamed the first name that came into her head.
"SEVERUS!!"
But Severus was already running towards the falling child and, using a hospital bed as a spring, jumped and caught him. He looked ever like the bat the students called him, his robes floating wide around him, as he fell back down to earth, landing gently on the ground. In his arms lay the quivering, sobbing child, who silently vowed to never float again.
Severus' heart was pounding in his chest, a clawing feeling threatening to rip out of him as he checked the frightened child for any injuries before enfolding him in a warm, protective embrace, breathing a huge sigh of relief. His heart had caught in his throat at the sight of Harry floating, and he had kept a watchful eye on the child. When Lily went to retrieve him he had relaxed marginally, but his eyes never left the bubble. He tensed when he saw the bubble ripple and his heart almost stopped when he saw it pop. Almost instantly he was moving, his ears deaf to Lily's screaming his name, his eyes trained only on Harry, his legs working as hard as if he were running away from death, jumping from the hospital bed, his arms wrapping around the child and securing him to his chest, and his magic unconsciously creating a protective shield around them as he hugged the child to him. He breathed in Harry's scent, his heart only now beginning to calm down as it realized that the child was safe.
It was only when he stood up with Harry in his arms did he realize that Albus and Minerva were gaping at him. Well, more at the visible bubble of protective shields around him.
Huh.
