The Boy Who Found a Home

Albus Dumbledore called his phoenix, Fawkes, to his side the following morning. One wrinkled hand stroked the flame coloured feathers slowly. One beady eye turned to inspect the wizard.

"Should we visit Severus now?"

The phoenix rubbed its head against the white bearded chin.

"Will you ride on my shoulder or do you prefer to arrive in your own special way?" Dumbledore questioned. Leaping back to his perch next to the spiral stairs, Fawkes reply was quite clear; he would arrive when he needed to.

The Headmaster walked to an intricately carved cupboard beside his desk. Opening the doors, he withdrew a carved stone basin containing a silvery substance, which flowed glass-like within it.

Albus walked to his fireplace and then reached to the mantle to a carved wooden box. Flipping open the lid, he drew a small pinch of Floo powder between his fingers and tossed it into the fire.

"Hagrid, would you join me in the infirmary?"

"I'm comin' straight away," he answered.

Tossing another pinch into the fire, Albus called out Professor McGonagall's name.

"Minerva, could you join me in the infirmary?"

"Of course, Albus."

Throwing a large amount of Floo powder into the opening, the Headmaster called out, "Madam Pomfrey's office!"

"How is our young wizard this morning?" he inquired with concern, as he stepped out of the fireplace and into the infirmary.

"Silent. Severus hasn't said so much as a word to me. He is very confused," the school's matron said as she smoothed out some imaginary wrinkles in her apron, while a frown creased her face.

"May I visit with him?" he asked, and carefully set the basin on a table. Brushing the ashes off his robe, he turned back to the witch.

"Of course, Headmaster."

Albus Dumbledore saw Severus sitting on a bed, rocking slightly and staring at the tray before him. He still clutched his father's robe to his chest. The old wizard knocked on the frame of the open door. The young boy looked around at the sound.

"May I come in, Severus?" he asked.

A flurry of emotions dashed across the twelve-year-olds face: fear, worry, mistrust, guilt, and sadness.

"Why didn't the house-elf let me in? Why did he say I wasn't family? My mother is going to be very angry he did that," Severus said. He was confused; his face was angry while his body language was fearful.

"Bunge over." Albus smiled down at the boy on the bed. Severus scrabbled as far as he could from the older wizard, and cowered into a small ball at the head of the bed.

"You could have sent a message to me," Albus suggested quietly. "You have an owl."

Wiping at his runny nose, Severus replied, "I'm not a Gryffindor. You don't care about Slytherins."

"You are one of my children, Severus. I care about all of you."

Tears balanced on the edge of the child's eyelashes. "Why did she do that?" The pain of betrayal by someone he trusted was clearly evident.

"I can't pretend to understand why, Severus." Cautiously he eased closer to the head of the bed.

"I won't be able to continue at Hogwarts. I haven't any money." A tear slid its way over the lashes to run down a flushed cheek.

"You won't have to leave your friends here."

Misery overcame Severus. "No one likes me, and when they find out..."

"No one will care, child," Professor Dumbledore interrupted.

Both Madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall exchanged a quick, expression at the Headmaster's kind but untrue words.

"They already laugh and call me names."

Albus shifted the child to his side and put a comforting arm about the thin shoulders. Stiffening suddenly, Severus attempted to pull away. Relaxing his hold, the Headmaster slowly began rubbing small circles on the child's back. He was rewarded with a lessening of tension as Severus leaned into him, though Albus couldn't suppress a frown at the runny nose pressed into his shoulder.

"Tell me about that coat you are so carefully guarding," Professor Dumbledore said. He saw the boy glance down at the wrinkled, dirty pile of fabric. One hand began to worry a sleeve.

"It was my father's; it is old like he was; he liked this style. The house-elf gave it to me."

"It is very elegant, Severus. I like all the buttons. It must have taken your father a long while to dress every day."

"Papa was very fast with the buttons. He used a little hook to do the buttons on his boots. He let me help him sometimes," the young Slytherin said wistfully.

"That is a very nice memory of your father, Severus."

"Why did my mother leave me at the train? You saw her, what did she say?" The young Slytherin was not going to let the question die.

"Severus, I don't know what to tell you," he said heavily. "I don't want you to think any of this was your doing. Alas, there are matters that affect your future that no one has control over."

"What?" the young wizard asked shakily.

"This is very complicated, Severus. But I believe you are mature enough, and have the right to be informed about matters relating to your own existence."

Albus saw a very confused child staring at him. A burst of fiery colour erupted into the small room. Fawkes landed, with a brilliant flash of light, on the headboard of the bed beside Severus.

"That's your phoenix! I've seen him in your office." Fawkes pushed his head under Severus' hand, preening for compliments.

Albus smiled and girded himself. It was best to not prevaricate. "About two months after you were Sorted into Slytherin your father paid me a visit. He was concerned about you."

"He was?"

"Your father wanted to know if you were happy in Slytherin. I did my best to assure him that you were settling into your life there and here at Hogwarts."

"I get into trouble, though." Pulling his legs up to his chest, Severus kept the coat close to his nose.

"Well, yes, you do manage to find trouble upon occasion, though not more than many boys your age."

"My father expected me to be Sorted into Ravenclaw; he told me all about Ravenclaw. He was angry I went into Slytherin, wasn't he?"

"Severus, didn't you write to your father during term?" Albus asked trying to work out how best to help the child.

"Y-yes, I wrote to him. Mother wrote back and told me how angry Papa was."

The Headmaster removed his half moon glasses and polished them; he rubbed his eyes and settled the glasses on his nose. Gazing across the room, Albus looked out the window to a rare, clear blue Highlands sky. He glanced at Severus and saw that his hesitancy had unsettled the young wizard.

After much reflection, Albus had determined that his Pensieve was the only way to accurately share what he'd learned. Both Poppy and Minerva questioned his choice to reveal the harsh and brutal reality to a child.

"Do you know what a Pensieve is?"

The expression on Severus' face clearly showed he felt he was being condescended to.

"Of course you do. Have you ever seen one used?" he asked, taking a deep fortifying breath.

Severus shook his head.

"Would you like to see what your father told me?"

Albus saw a tentative reluctance in the child. It was clear that the boy wanted and needed to try and understand what was happening around him, yet he was afraid of what he might see.

"Y-yes," Severus responded uncertainly.

The Headmaster felt the black eyes burn into his back as he walked to the door and to retrieve the stone basin. He settled it on the table under the window.

"You needn't look, if you don't wish to," the old wizard said, offering a graceful way for the child to change his mind.

He watched as Severus untangled his legs and padded over to the table. The young face looked down at the basin curiously. Always curious; this child was always curious and desirous to learn.

"Those are runes, aren't they? What do they say?"

"These runes are to protect the thoughts and memories one places within it. Would you like to have me illustrate its use?" he replied with a smile, pleased that a child's innate curiosity could still beat out despair.

Severus hugged the frockcoat more tightly in his arms. Albus drew his wand and placed it to his temple, then drew out a shiny strand. With a smooth motion he brought the strand down to the silvery surface, where it melded into the substance. Again, placing his wand to his temple, the Headmaster drew out another filament with a slow smooth twist and, similarly, dropped it into the Pensieves surface. Albus was aware that the young wizard was following his motions carefully, absorbing them.

"Draw your wand, Severus. Now watch closely. Touch the surface of the Pensieve with your wand tip." Professor Dumbledore demonstrated the technique.

Doing as he was told, the young Slytherin drew his wand and touched the shimmering surface. The silver substance began to whirl gently, and Severus' father's face rose to the surface. His mouth falling open in awe, the boy glanced up at the Headmaster.

"I can't hear anything." Disappointment was palpable in the young voice.

"If you wish to listen, you will need to bend over the Pensieve."

Albus watched as the black-haired head leaned cautiously over the basin and fell into the memory. Then, he joined his student's journey into his office those months earlier.

"...my son is so bright that I thought he would be Sorted into Ravenclaw. I must say I am surprised he was placed in Slytherin, but I recall several from that House who were great scholars, highly intelligent, and ambitious in their pursuits. I want to know --, I need to know --, is Severus happy in Slytherin?"

"I am," Severus answered earnestly, but neither his father nor the other Headmaster seemed to pay any attention. The present Headmaster placed a gentle hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

Professor Dumbledore observed the child noted that his father coughed into a handkerchief and he walked around to his father's side. He looked down at his father and knelt suddenly to look at the blue fingertips. Confusion clouded the young face.

"Your son seems to be settling into the routine of Hogwarts. He does well in most of his lessons. Professor Warwick says that Severus has done very well in Potions, and his Head of House has given him high marks in Defence."

"Professor, I haven't had one letter from my boy since he left our house for Hogwarts. It has been nearly two months."

"Children become so excited they loose track of time," the, then, Headmaster replied.

"No! She is keeping his letters from me, I know it now."

"Lenis, who is?"

"I am saying I have been played a fool by that witch twice in my life. If I hadn't come home early five days ago and seen her walk through a door I did not know existed I would still be.... I followed her; she didn't see me; I almost wish I never had. I saw a large collection of Dark Arts related items: books, runes, talismans and so forth, hidden in her secret room. I was utterly stunned to see such things in our home. Things she swore she'd given up.

"Albus, it was as if the world suddenly came into focus. All the pieces I had been unable to make fit over the years, fell into place with a startling clarity.

"My own blindness and sorrow lead me to trust Hydra, to believe in her, when I most needed it. I blame myself for listening to her smooth words; she had words that were filled with lies and deceit on her tongue. That wicked creature used my beloved wife's death to wind her way back in to my heart.

"That woman was brilliant in playing me the fool; I fell for her sympathetic words. When my trusted house-elf brought my precious one's baby in to see me, she seized him to her bosom and cooed over - over my poor motherless child. Deceit!

"Oh, she played me. Over these past thirteen years I saw small signs but I couldn't complete the puzzle; one piece was always missing or in the wrong place. There were days that the thought would cross my mind; why is my Alice's son so interested in the Dark Arts? They never held any lure to me. And well, his mother was completely unaware of the darker side of magic. She..." The man's fingers spasmodically twitched against the chair arm.

The Headmaster watched Severus absorbing his father's words and trying to fit the pieces together. The vein on the child's forehead began to pulse and his face grew ashen with increasing distress. Albus stood close to the child's side, one hand reassuringly touching the tightening shoulders.

"Wrong place, Albus. I put my precious child in the wrong hands."

"Lenis, did you confront Hydra?" the earlier Headmaster asked with a worried expression.

"Oh, yes! I demanded to know why these - objects were in our house: wasn't she concerned our boy might stumble across them?

"A look I hadn't seen in fifteen years clouded her face; it was a look so innately cruel and evil I felt myself shudder in terror. Hydra turned on me like a tigress, her teeth bared and her hands outstretched like claws.

"Stumble across them," she replied with a contemptuous sneer. "I introduced him to them. Your little bastard is a very quick learner."

"Our son, you let our son see this trash?" I asked in horror. The wizard's face grew impassioned with his recital.

"Trash? How dare you call Dark Arts trash, you mewling little worm! They have the power to raise or shatter your narrow little world, Lenis," she growled furiously at me.

"I told her, 'I told you when I took you back that; I did not want to see any more of this -- sort of thing.'"

"And you haven't you; I kept it from your sight!"

"You showed it to our son, an innocent child," I said.

"Hardly innocent," she answered with a cold laugh.

What do you mean?"

"Your bastard is not the holy innocent you believe him to be. In fact, that ugly thing is far more adept at Dark Magic than I could have ever hoped."

"You dare call our son ugly?"

"She said, 'If you had to sleep with a Muggle, Lenis, couldn't you have chosen one that at least had some modicum of attraction? Her brat is as repulsive as she was.'"

"You never knew her."

"One only has to look at her spawn to know, Lenis."

"Have you never loved Severus?" I asked.

"Loved? The only thing I love in that repulsive brat is his quick understanding and reverence of the Dark Arts. Yes, that I do find very admirable and rewarding that his mind is at least capable of the Darkest of the Dark Arts."

Albus caught Severus as he fell back against his leg.

"Hydra!"

"What? You should see how well he does with the Cruciatuso Curse," she snarled like a rabid dog.

"That most wicked sneer is still frozen in my mind, Albus." Coughing harshly into a handkerchief, Lenis looked across the room and into the fireplace. His eyes had the appearance of those waking after a nightmare, gradually returning to the here and now.

"Puzzle pieces, Albus. They all fit together now. Severus' fascination was fuelled by his m-mother's interest.

"I believe Hydra has kept Severus from me over the years. I was so trusting when she said children were the domain of their mothers; mother's rear while their father's provide the physical means of support. So blind... I was so blind."

"Have you written to Severus?" Albus asked gently.

"I sent an owl the very evening he left home; I wanted to know where he had been Sorted. I assumed he was in Ravenclaw until just the other day. That was when she informed me, with great glee that my child was in Slytherin. I know the reputation wizards of that House have, Albus. Not all of them are Dark Wizards though, are they?"

"No, not all Slytherins are Dark Wizards, Lenis. More than a considerable few have been on the Wizengamot and been Minister of Magic," the past Professor Dumbledore retorted sincerely. "Severus is a very bright child, Lenis. I don't believe, in his heart, that he would become a Dark Wizard. Yes, he is strong natured and impulsive, but he is a good child, a child you can be proud of. You must continue to write your son."

"I have; he never replies. I must assume Hydra is somehow keeping my letters from reaching Severus. The day I saw her room I sent an owl from the Owl Post; they said their owl never returned!

Lenis coughed more harshly and closed his eyes. There was a sudden paling in the man which caused the earlier Headmaster to rise and kneel beside him.

Severus pushed away from Albus and knelt before his father, reaching out a hand that passed through the substance of the memory. The cognisant, present Albus was aware of a shaking Poppy placing a hand on Minerva's arm.

"You aren't well, Lenis. Allow Madam Pomfrey to come and ease your cough."

"I haven't been well since I put my only child on the Hogwarts Express. This is nothing; Hydra and her house-elf have been caring for me. She is brewing potions to help ease my condition. Nothing seems to ease what ails me, though."

Lenis smiled sadly and coughed again. "It is too late for me, Albus. I don't matter; it is Severus I am concerned about."

With despair, Albus saw the boy tried to touch his father again. Memories were not solid substance, rather fleeting images.

"The people at St. Mungo's could..."

"No! You must listen to me! When I asked her why she was teaching him such things, Hydra said it was what I and that little bastard deserved.

"I cannot protect him against this evil. I think it would be best if he were to remain here during the term. I don't want Severus to be tainted any further by his mother."

"Lenis, I will do my best to see Severus' interests are not misused."

"I must trust you, Dumbledore. I have found I didn't know my wife at all. Take care of him; keep him from falling in too deep."

The strand of memory faded and Severus looked at the Headmaster with an angry, injured face.

"She lied; she said he didn't care about me! He did care about me."

The Headmaster put an arm about the thin shoulders and drew the youth down to sit on the bed beside him. "Your father loved you very much; he risked his health coming to speak with me. Why didn't you tell Professor Illingsworth or me about your father's illness?"

"I didn't know until December. She said I had to stay here; I wasn't to come home because Papa was ill with a chill because I had been Sorted into Slytherin." Keening with the emotion, he began to rock again. "I didn't think he was really sick. She only brought me home to see him die."

"Shhh. Shhh, now. We are here to care for you; I will see you are taken care of."

"But why did my mother lock me out of the house?" Severus asked through his tears. "Is the reason in there?"

Albus Dumbledore now understood Severus hadn't comprehended what he'd just heard and seen. Perhaps it was too much to have expected. Hugging the boy close, Albus rocked him gently. "It is, but perhaps it would be best if you waited until another day to see what else the Pensieve has to say," Albus replied. "Why don't we have a cup of cocoa?"

"No! I want to see why my mother abandoned me!" Severus yelled with an edge of hysteria. Madam Pomfrey stepped forward to intervene but the old wizard held up his hand to forestall her, her crisp apron crackled about her legs as she paused mid-step, ready to intervene.

Albus, still hugging the young Slytherin, walked him back to the Pensieve. The boy determinedly drew his wand, thrust it boldly into the silver surface, and leaned close.

The Headmaster saw his memories swirling through the Pensieve. He watched Hydra Snape enter his office with a haughty expression on her face. Severus leaned forward, as did he.

"What is so important that I must leave my friends?" she asked rudely.

Severus gasped audibly and glanced to Professor Dumbledore who stood solidly beside him with his arm about his shoulders.

Witch widows tended to dress sombrely for a year or more; but this woman was wearing a bright red, low cut robe. Around her neck were row upon row of faceted garnet beads. Rather than covering her hair, as a proper widow should, Hydra had dyed her hair blonde and wore it in curls with pearls centred above her eyes.

Severus walked around to stand before the witch of recent past. His nostrils flared out as he breathed in shallow breaths anxiously.

"You neglected to remember to pick your son up at Platform 9 ¾," the Professor Dumbledore of the past chastised.

A cold look came over the witch's face. "I have never shirked in my obligations."

Neither of the Headmaster's was amused. "You did not greet nor did you make an arrangement for your son to be met at Platform 9 ¾. He was turned from his home by your house-elf."

"I have fulfilled my obligations, Headmaster."

"Isn't the boy your obligation, Mrs. Snape?" Albus heard his earlier self demand.

"No, he isn't my obligation, he was his father's."

"He is your obligation as much as he was your husband's."

Smiling cruelly, Hydra smirked broadly. "He was his father's bastard; he had nothing to do with me."

Power surged through the room, crackling static shot out from Professor Dumbledore. Hydra's smirk faded slightly.

The now Headmaster closely observed Severus 'living' his memory. It was a shockingly harsh and cruel recollection. Albus prayed the young boy would understand that he was an innocent caught up in an adult's petty revenge.

"My husband, the stupid bastard, slept with a Muggle. A Muggle! He demeaned me. He got just what he deserved."

"As you well know, Hydra, you abandoned your husband. He attempted to reconcile and you rebuffed him. When he determined reconciliation was hopeless, he inadvertently met someone else and divorced you. You signed the papers agreeing to the divorce."

Hydra stood, glaring at Professor Dumbledore. "He humiliated me and my family by dallying with a Muggle bitch and getting her pregnant with his bastard."

"How did that humiliate you? You'd left him."

"He should have known I might want him later."

"You abandoned your marriage and Lenis went on with his life. He legally married a Muggle. By wizard law, he was married before she became pregnant. Therefore, Severus is legitimate, not a bastard," Albus said firmly.

"He is a half-blood! The best revenge I could mete out was to see the ugly little bastard developed a fascination for the Dark Arts, just to spite his father. It wasn't difficult to push that wretched thing towards a love of Dark magic, nor was it difficult to convince him Lenis despised him. Tainted blood breeds an inferior wizard and that nasty thing is the proof of that. Believe me; it wasn't easy to keep my bile down every time I had to look at him.

"I was overjoyed when that the revolting little freak was Sorted into Slytherin. That little bastard was so gullible; it was easy to persuade him of the great disappointment his father felt at having a Slytherin in his noble family line. Wait until his house mates learn they have a half-blood bastard in their midst, he won't last long." She laughed with a shrewish harshness.

"You will see to Severus' interests," Albus, of the past, said as his magical power snapped about his office.

"If you are so interested in him, you take him, he's yours," Hydra managed to spit defiantly.

"I accept charge over the child you have cast aside," he invoked a wizard's promise. "You will return his father's property to him,"

"No, I don't think I will. Consider it payment for dealing with the ugly, Muggle tainted bastard."

"You will return what is Severus' due."

"I was overly generous to permit him his father's clothes. He should be grateful for that! My obligation, as you call it, is over! Good day to you, you bumbling old fool," she said, and stormed out of the office and down the stairs.

Drawing back from the Pensieve, Severus fell to the floor in a foetal ball. Albus sat on the floor beside him and pulled the child into his lap. Hagrid and Professor McGonagall, who had been silently standing beside the door, entered the little room, and knelt beside them. Poppy, weeping silently, draped a warm blanket over the boy who was inconsolable

The witches and wizards murmured reassuring words while Severus cried violently. After an hour, Hagrid lifted the child from the Headmaster's lap and carried him to a bed. Poppy pulled the duvet up to Severus' shoulders. Running a gentle hand over his hair, she leaned over him.

Professor Dumbledore rose stiffly from the cold stone floor. "Alas, Hagrid, I am not feeling quite so spry today."

"Tha' was real hard on yeh, Professor," Hagrid said, sniffing deeply.

"It was far more difficult to watch Severus see it, than it was to hear it the first time."

"Albus, what are you going to do with him? The Ministry will surely demand he is turned over to the Child Services, they may even insist he go to a Muggle institution!" Minerva McGonagall said, scandalized by the events of the past number of days. Her intense anger at seeing one of her students so badly handled was clearly evident.

Albus sat on the edge of a bed and frowned deeply. "No, I will not allow him to go to a soulless institution. I remember what happened to another orphaned boy. The child deserves to have a second chance at a happy life; he is home now.

"I believe he returned to Platform 9 ¾, because he subconsciously knew he would find sanctuary there. No, I would prefer Severus remain with us."