Thank you for reading! I don't own any of Harry Potter! Please let me know if you enjoy! Updates every Saturday!
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Gilderoy Lockhart hadn't quite made it to the end of the previous semester before several incriminating allegations had been raised against him.
Besides Severus, the rest of Hogwarts' students and staff were shocked to find Professor Lockhart gone from the castle, his rooms vacant, the very next morning after the first fraud lawsuit had officially been filed.
Another peaceful summer soon passed as Harriet's third year at Hogwarts approached.
That season brought with it many changes for her and her family.
While she treasured the friendship she maintained with her invisible pen pal, she looked forward to the new adventures she would share with Ron and Hermione while they battled Draco and his cronies.
Severus continued his multiple positions as professor, spy, father, and husband, but with the arrival of August, Lily found herself in a difficult situation.
Her heart sank the morning that she packed Ellery's Hogwarts trunk while he and Harriet talked excitedly downstairs about the upcoming school year.
Harriet felt eager to see her friends again while Ellery was ecstatic to finally join his sister at the castle.
Despite the happy chatter that came from downstairs, Severus wore a frown that matched Lily's as he swept into the doorway and watched his wife pack their son's belongings.
Lily turned around as soon as she felt Severus's dark eyes boring into her.
"Oh, Lily........." He gasped as his face twisted in sympathetic anguish once he noticed the heavy tears that pooled in his beloved's emerald eyes.
"I'm fine, Sev." Lily giggled in embarrassment as she raised a hand to wipe her face, "I'm just......I'm going to miss him, that's all. I miss you and Harriet terribly every day......You come home to me every evening, but now my babies. My babies won't and I...."
Once Lily's voice broke into a sob, Severus rushed forward with his arms out and gasped, "Oh, Lily! Don't weep, my love......don't weep."
His long, black robes draped at his sides as he wrapped her in his arms like a protective bat and clutched her to his chest.
"Harriet and Ellery will be home again before you know it, my dear....The time will quickly vanish." Severus whispered soothingly as he kissed her cheek.
"Yeah, Sev, it will." Lily agreed as she nodded vehemently and tried to blot the last of the wetness from her face.
Severus guided his beloved flower to lean against him while he rested his chin on her head and thought carefully.......
He knew as well as anyone that the first time Lily would see their children again would be months from that day.
Severus closed his eyes as he breathed in the sweet scent of Lily's soft, red hair.
Beyond stopping Voldemort, protecting his children, and fighting for what was right, Severus's primary mission remained keeping his wife happy and shielding her from whatever pain he possibly could.
........Perhaps there was something more he could do to comfort her?
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"Now remember, be sweet and kind and you'll make lots of friends, alright, my darling?" Lily asked her son as the Snapes stood on Platform Nine and Three-Quarters later that afternoon.
"Alright, Mum." Ellery nodded.
He and Lily shared a hug for a brief moment before she stepped back and clutched Severus's hand.
".......And pour yourself into your studies." Severus drawled warningly as he met his son's black gaze with his own, "I'll be watching you in class as closely as I observe your sister."
"Alright, Dad." Ellery smiled.
He and Harriet embraced their parents and bid them both goodbye one last time before Harriet eagerly pulled him onto the train.
"Come on, El!" She called excitedly as he raced to keep up with her as they hurried down the
narrow corridor of the Hogwarts Express, "I bet Hermione and Ron already have a compartment saved for us!"
Harriet made her assumption correctly.
A second later, she came to a sudden stop as she found her two best friends sitting in an otherwise empty compartment.
"Harriet!" Ron gasped excitedly.
"Hello, Harriet." Hermione nodded with a smile, "Good to see you again! Can't believe this summer's already over, can you?........Oh....Who's this?"
Hermione blinked but Ron narrowed his eyes at the shy boy who hid behind Harriet and warily peered out from the shelter of her side.
"Hello, Ron, Hermione." Harriet nodded eagerly, before she purposely stepped over and put Ellery into plain view, "This is my brother, Ellery. Ron, I'm sure you remember him? He's a first year now, so he'll be one of us soon!"
Although Ron and Hermione had the decency to not be outwardly rude, Ellery could tell by their expressions of strained politeness that they were less than thrilled by his presence.
"How do you do, Ellery? I'm Hermione Granger, Harriet's best friend." Hermione introduced herself as she slapped a sweet smile on her face.
"....Nice to see you again." Ron nodded at the younger boy.
"It's......It's nice to meet you." Ellery replied with a shy nod at Hermione before he turned to Ron, ".....And to see you again too."
As small and as slight as his father had been at his age, he seemed more like a sad shadow than a new student as he helped Harriet place their luggage in the storage of the compartment before he silently took a seat beside her.
Moments later, the train pulled away after its loud whistle blew.
Lily waved to the departing children along with the other parents, but Severus frowned.
As the Hogwarts Express rushed by, he could already see what had happened as he glanced through the window of Harriet's compartment.
Harriet had become engrossed in her conversation with Ron and Hermione while Ellery sat beside them, awkward, out of place, and forgotten.
The scene stabbed Severus in the heart.
He himself had often experienced those same feelings of rejection in his early youth during his struggle to fit in and belong.
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After the lengthy train ride, Harriet and her small group entered the Great Hall later that evening.
She chatted excitedly with Ron and Hermione while her little brother trailed behind them like a lost dog.
While Ron and Hermione took their seats at Gryffindor's table, Harriet tapped Ellery on the shoulder and smiled, "Don't be nervous, El! It'll be over in a flash! I'll save a place for you!"
"........Thanks, sissy." Ellery nodded at Harriet as he spoke in a voice barely above a whisper.
Harriet joined her friends, but Ellery fell into line with the rest of the first years who all anxiously waited to be sorted into one of Hogwarts' four houses.
From the High Table at the front of the room, Severus's dark eyes flickered between his son and daughter.
He watched Harriet converse with her friends while Ellery awaited his fate.....er, the Hat's decision.
Ellery's nervousness dampened his enjoyment of the magnificent castle as he stood in line.
To Severus's dismay, he noticed that none of the other first years attempted to talk to his son.
A frown formed on Professor Snape's pale face as the eerie sensation crept over him that perhaps he was not in fact, watching his little boy, but the memory of his own first night in the castle.
McGonagall brought the stool and the Hat out as soon as Dumbledore finished his brief, opening remarks.
Immediately afterwards, the Sorting Ceremony began.
One by one, each of Hogwarts' new students walked up, sat down on the stool, had the Hat placed on their head, and then went to join their newly proclaimed house.
Ellery's anxiety intensified as time wore on.
To delay the inevitable, he allowed his peers to step in front of him in line, hoping to delay his own sorting process as much as possible.
Ellery's black eyes frantically darted around the massive room while he waited.
Although he wanted to be placed with his sister, he instinctively knew her friends would continue to reject him.
But.......
Ellery's worried frown lessened as he observed the students who sat at Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw's tables.
Perhaps he could find friends of his own if the Hat sorted him into one of those houses instead?
"Ellery Snape!" McGongagall eventually called out.
Ellery's dark eyes nearly bulged out of his head as he whirled around and realized that he was the last one left to be sorted.
As he shakily moved forward, he connected with his father's gaze and mirrored his deep frown.
Severus watched, Harriet watched, everyone watched, as Ellery sat down on the stool and drew a deep breath while McGongagall lowered the Hat onto his head.
"Please don't share my thoughts." He begged the Hat in his mind.
Ellery had watched the magical object call out what the other students had been thinking all night and the idea that it may do the same to him filled his heart with dread.
The Hat wrinkled its brim but considerately honoured Ellery's polite request and remained outwardly quiet.
"My sister's in Gryffindor. I.....I hoped that maybe I could go to Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff instead?" Ellery asked the Hat in his mind.
He wondered for a moment what would happen next, but without opening its tattered mouth, the Hat gave its answer in Ellery's thoughts as its distinctive voice rang out loud and clear in his mind.
I'm sorry, that won't be possible.
To the entirety of the Great Hall, the Hat opened its mouth wide and proudly declared, "SLYTHERIN!"
Severus kept an unreadable expression on his face as he raised his hands and joined in the round of applause that followed.
Harriet's eyes widened as she grit her teeth and called out amongst the cheers and claps, "WHAT?!....NO!"
Once McGonagall removed the Hat from Ellery's head, he gazed up at her with his large, dark eyes, pale and close to panicking as he begged, "I....I.....There must be some mistake! May I try again?!"
"The Sorting Hat makes no mistakes, Mr. Snape." McGonagall smiled reassuringly.
Experts who had studied the Hat would have recognized that her statement rang with an unusual amount of ignorance.
"Go on." McGonagall gestured as she nodded towards the Slytherin table, "If you will, please, Mr. Snape, join your new housemates so we can get on with dinner."
Ellery's body seemed as heavy as lead as he rose from the chair and reluctantly walked towards the Slytherin table.
As he went, he could feel his sister's gaze follow him across the room but he lacked the courage to meet her eyes and see the disappointment on her face.
Severus watched closely.
He clearly saw Ellery's frown.
What bothered Severus most though was the wicked smirk that manifested on Draco's face as his son approached.
As Severus watched Lucius's son whisper to his friends mockingly while his grey stare focused on Ellery, apprehension filled his heart.
Years before, he had found a friend in a Malfoy upon his arrival at Hogwarts.
Lucius had been an older mentor to Severus who had helped him avoid torment and degradation.
Professor Snape's stomach churned at the terrible realization that Ellery would not be as fortunate with Draco.