pekeleke

Title: Waking Up In Potterland.
Fandom: Harry Potter (Snarry)
Characters: Harry Potter, Severus Snape.
Author: pekeleke.
Rating: G.
Word count: 811
Disclaimer: Don't own these characters. No money is being made out of this work.
A/N1: Unbetaed. Written for the adventdrabbles (DW,LJ, IJ) 2015 prompt 7: Santa Costume/ Prompt 8: Winter wedding/ Prompt 9: Christmas birthday.
A/N2: This is the fourth part of my Black Smoke series.
Summary: A log crackled in the hearth, adding to the unbearably cozy ambiance that surrounded him, and Severus would have snorted at how picture perfect Potter's lair had turned out to be if he hadn't felt so content and warm and at peace.

Waking Up In Potterland.

Severus woke up atop an unfamiliar sofa and right in front of an equally unfamiliar fireplace. He was comfortably cocooned in some sort of hideously festive blanket that made him grit his teeth at the sheer Gryffindorness of the color before he realized that Potter hadn't decided to wrap him in velvety crimson out of unwarranted cruelty. The blanket had been made to resemble a Santa costume, so it must have been conveniently displayed on the armrest of the sofa, since it was that time of year.

A log crackled in the hearth, adding to the unbearably cozy ambiance that surrounded him, and Severus would have snorted at how picture perfect Potter's lair had turned out to be if he hadn't felt so content and warm and at peace.

Soft-toned conversation reached him from whatever room it was that the half-opened door led to and he wondered idly if the child who'd turned him into a kitten lived with Potter, or if he was about to be regaled with more knowledge about the savior's mysterious love life than he'd ever wanted to have.

Ginevra Weasley's highly publicized, saccharine-sweet, winter wedding -to Longbotton, of all people- had arrived right on the heels of Potter's shocking coming out as gay a couple of years ago. Every wizarding journalist worth their salt had attempted to find out exactly how and why and with whom Potter had discovered he preferred gents to ladies, but the fact that The Saviour had failed to either answer their questions or appear out in public with some manly beau or other dangling from his arm had convinced pretty much everyone that his 'alleged' homosexuality had been some sort of ruse geared towards manipulating public opinion into accepting young Mrs. Longbotton's, nee Weasley, 'unforgivable desertion'.

'Please, oh, please, Merlin, spare me the absolute horror of having to watch Potter get it on with some overly-muscled Adonis, I'm begging you. I'd rather put up with the kid if it's all the same to you.'

The sudden peal of childish giggling that broke the sleepy quiet almost as soon as that thought crossed Severus' mind felt like a welcome reprieve, and he promised himself to be patient with the kid, lest the Powers That Be decided that he deserved to be punished with a thoroughly unwanted front row seat to The Unthinkable Spectacle, if he failed to toe the line.

Young master Lupin arrived inside the room like a whirlwind, all bright eyes and rosy cheeks and the kind of inexplicable delight about pretty much everything that was at the very root of Severus' inability to understand what made small children tick.

“Teddy, please, be quiet! Remember that you promised to let our lil' kitty sleep. You don't want me to tell grandma that I won't be able to babysit you until the professor gets better, do you?” Potter's voice floated down the corridor, low and urgent and full of so much fond exasperation that Severus just knew he'd been using that particular threat for a while now.

Frantic, wide eyes landed on Severus next, and the gleeful delight that stole across the child's features upon realizing that he was no longer asleep reminded Severus so acutely of Remus Lupin's blissed-out expression whenever he ate chocolate that his chest constricted with… not remorse. No. But regret for a life cut short so unexpectedly and sympathy towards this tiny piece of himself he'd left behind that the wolf would never know.

“But the kitty is awake, Hawy, and you pwomised I could have 'im for my berdday!”

“Your birthday isn't until April, Edward Remus Lupin. And don't you dare turn your face into Mathew's because you can look like him all you want, but you can't become him, so his Christmas birthday doesn't apply to you.” Potter replied swiftly, instantly allaying Severus' suspicion that the Gryffindor planned to 'gift' him to his godchild like some sort of temporary pet for the duration of his curse.

“Thawt's not fair!”

“Tough luck, mate.” Potter said, finally arriving in the room and making a beeline for both the pouting child and Severus himself.

“But he's mine. I maciked 'im into the kitty-cat.”

“He's not yours, Teddy. He's… himself's. You can't own other people, OK? The professor is not a real kitten, you see? He's a hero. He's my hero. And your magic hurt him when it turned him into a cat. Now we have to look after him properly, so he doesn’t get even more hurt because you turned him into a kitten and he doesn't know what to do.”

“Oh!” The child breathed out guiltily and turned large, earnest, eyes in Severus' direction: “I'm sowy. I'll be the bezt, evar, looker-aphter-you, kitty! I pwomise.”

“That's my boy!” Potter whispered, and Severus unwittingly learned what 'melting with affection' looked like on The Savior's face.

TBC

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