ONE YEAR LATER....
"Again!" Severus' voice beckoned as he sent a ball of fire toward a slightly taller and fitter Thomas. The boy waved his wand and dispelled the attack his teacher sent his way. Severus continued his approach toward his apprentice and sent a different spell at him, Thomas dispelled that as well. "Dodge!" he sent 'Expulso' towards the boy's direction only for him to roll out of the way.
The two of them were currently outside of their house by the lake side, doing their daily practicing and classes, Thomas had shown great improvement and his expanded arsenal were a testament to that. His hair was now a little longer and he had grown a bit.
"Stupefy!" Thomas cried as he regained his footing. Severus redirected the spell, and shot a scorching spell at the boy whom cancelled it out. They both approached each other now, still shooting spells at each other. Until Thomas eventually pointed at Severus' feet and shouted, "Flipendo!"
Severus face plants on the floor, but before Thomas could fire another spell at him, the professor fires a spell at the boy's own feet, 'Levicorpus!' Suddenly Thomas yelped as he hangs from his ankle, seemingly by the spell.
"Bloody Hell, Severus!" Thomas panted as he sees his teacher/guardian pick himself up from the floor. "Oi! What sort of spell was that?! I've never read about it before!"
Severus dusted himself off, "Silence," Severus let Thomas go and the boy fell to the floor with a loud thud and groan, "That concludes the lesson for today, go get yourself cleaned up."
"Seriously?" Thomas painfully let out as he drags himself up and picks up his intricately designed black wand, "No, 'Good job Donovan' or any 'Wow, you're getting better kid,' you're a real hoot you know that?"
"Yes, well...when you actually earn a semblance of acknowledgment from me...I'll let you know," Severus turned his back on Thomas, "Now, get inside, we're going on a trip today."
"Yeah...Wu-ho," Tommy, very un-enthusiastically, said as he went inside the house to have a shower.
Severus sighed as he looked out at the horizon before him when he was sure Thomas was gone, he dusted himself off properly. Looking down at his wand, he tightened his grip on it, 'He is getting good...'
.....
Eventually meeting him back downstairs, Severus watched curiously as Thomas emerged in his denim jeans, dark blue sweatshirt with the sleeves rolled up and regular shoes.
"I'm ready and uh...are you going in that, Severus?" Thomas asked as he raised a brow at Snape's usual dark attire, "Then again....ever since I first saw you...the whole cape thing was still present and accounted for...."
Severus scowled, "Just shut up and hold on to me."
"Severus, is this your way of asking for a hug, old boy?" Thomas smirked before he roughly yanked by Severus. "Wait--"
The young boy didn't get to finish as both he and Severus apparated to another location. As they materialized in a new location, strikingly similar to a small neighborhood in England, Thomas placed his hands on his knees and hunched over, "Ugh, I think I'm gonna be sick..."
Severus' lips twitched for that of a millisecond before he looked forward at a particular house in Pivot Drive. "Suck it up, Donovan...this is merely the beginning."
Thomas groaned, but straightened non the less and stood next to his teacher, his arms now folded, "So...not that I'm complaining or anything, but....is this us house shopping, because....I'm good with we're at now--"
"Would you be quiet?" Severus slapped the back of Thomas' head.
"Alright...Jesus," Thomas rubbed his head, but continued to look at the house.
"....This is the house of Harry Potter." Severus began and held his hand up as he was sure that Thomas was about to speak, "And before you say it, no...he is not your roommate."
"Well....you didn't have to ruin the fun," Thomas shook his head, but still looked forward, "Then...what are doing here exactly?"
Severus sighed, "We are here....to observe Mr. Potter, I want you understand how he lives....what he does....how he operates," Severus could now sense the boy looking up at him curiously, so he gave him his attention. "And I want you...to become his friend...so that Dumbledore and I can keep a closer eye on him--"
"Now wait," it was Thomas' turn to hold a hand up, "What if I don't even end up liking the bloke? What then?"
"Then...you suck it up," Thomas slightly flinched at Severus' tone, "Why do you think I adopted you in the first place?"
It was at that moment that Thomas looked down and cleared his throat, "Right," the young boy let out a breath of slight amusement and looked back up at the house, "You know..." Severus watched the boy, "I've always wondered why...why was I so fortunate to be saved," Tommy's now cold eyes startled Severus, ever so slightly, "Now I know....thanks."
"Yes, well...." Severus cleared his throat and pictured the inside of the Dursley House, "Grab on to my arm." Thomas did as he was told and they were both transported to the upstairs hallway of the Dursely home.
Thomas looked around curiously before looking back at Severus whom was already watching the boy curiously, "This is the home?"
"Indeed," Severus regarded the house in distaste, "Muggle culture will forever be a mystery to me," he watched one of their family photos.
"That's Harry Potter?" Thomas asked as he peered at the picture, "But....where's his scar....and why is he fat?"
WHACK
Severus whacked Thomas on the head with a newspaper he conjured, "Insolent! That's not him!"
"What is it with you and newspapers?!" Thomas rubbed his head in distaste, "God! I swear I'd park my foot up your--"
CRASH
They both stopped and look back to where the crash was heard only to see the little chubby boy from before staring at them with horrified eyes. Thomas immediately tried to console, "Wait! Now before you scream...I know this looks bad," he discreetly went for his wand, "but if you would just--"
"Stupefy!" Severus cast and the boy was immediately sent back. Thomas slapped his hand against his forehead in frustration. He looked toward Snape whom merely shrugged and walked downstairs.
"Well...let's just leave the Muggle that saw us use magic unconscious, shall we?" Thomas followed his teacher, being sure to observe the surroundings more carefully.
As the two wizards trekked through the house, unbothered by the fact that a child is out cold on the floor upstairs, Thomas looked at each and every picture in the house, but didn't see any other picture of another child....at all.
"Anything standing out yet?" Severus asked as they both now stood in the clean joining room of the house.
"Yeah...we've got the wrong house, there is no other kid living here," Thomas gestured around himself, "I mean...look at this place, it's spotless, these blokes must have a housekeeper or something, these floors alone are so sanitized I could--"
"NOT....the house, Thomas," Severus held the bridge of his nose, much to Tommy's enjoyment, "Don't you find it weird that this is Mr. Potter's residence, yet...there is no sign of him?"
"Of course it's weird...." Thomas walked to a window and raised the drape slightly before looking back to Severus, "I mean, this place screams only child.... and these people, clearly Muggles."
"Fair enough," Severus walked over to the stairs where there was a door on the side, presumably a tiny closet, "And you said it was as if there was some sort of housekeeper, yes?"
"I did," Thomas folded his arms, "But I was only kidding, I don't see how that's of any--"
"Shh," Severus shushed the boy with a finger on his lips before he took out his wand and pointed toward the keyhole of the door, "Alohomora," a soft click was heard and Snape opened the door slowly.
Thomas' eyes widened slightly as he watched a small frail boy, no older than he was, with a scar on his forehead sleeping peacefully on a tiny, tattered mattress. The boy's skin was deathly pale, "What's wrong with him?"
"The family is punishing him, he was not given meals for two days now..." Severus rendered the tiny boy with cold eyes, "He burnt their food because he was sleepy, and....well....this was how they decided to punish him."
"That's bloody brutal....do they know who he is?!" Thomas whispered harshly, "He's Harry-bloody-Potter! THE Harry Potter!"
WHACK
Severus had his newspaper out, "Besides that! This pitiful lot doesn't seem to care about his celebrity OR human status...and neither do I...nor should you."
Severus closed the door and Thomas watched with slightly watery eyes as he remembered his time at the orphanage. His caretakers were so afraid of him that they would usually call him names and put him in the basement of the house to sleep, his food would be little and his belongings were always old or not up to par with normal standards.
Freak....
That was what they called him...
That's why...
When Severus and Dumbledore showed up, the lady who owned the orphanage got scared and gave Thomas his own room, granted it was old and smaller when compared to others, but at least it was something.
Clenching his hands, Thomas took a deep breath and met Severus' eyes, "So...how long will I be observing Mr. Potter?"
Severus turned on his heel quickly, almost as if he was afraid for Thomas to see his face, "A year, starting from today....next year you will both be eligible for attending Hogwarts...You're already popular among the student body as it is, you just need to become popular with the students in your own year now....Understood?"
"Yes sir," Thomas said as they both went into the kitchen and Thomas was by the table whilst Snape was leaned against the counter, "These people are disgusting...."
Severus hummed, "Maybe so...but, you'll be seeing them everyday from now...So get used to it."
"Don't remind me...." Thomas looked to side.
Eventually apparating them both outside of the house once more, Severus and Thomas watched from afar as the neighborhood came to life and suddenly after a few minutes of waiting the Dudleys along with Harry Potter exited their home.
Where the Dursley's own son, Dudley, had brand new--probably tailored uniforms, Harry had old overgrown ones, Thomas scowled, "You've got to be bloody joking...."
He watched as the over weight family pushed around the boy and was even more flabbergasted when they put the boy in the trunk, Tommy was about to lunge forward, but Severus held him at bay.
They were then both apparated to the school that the boys attended, Thomas and Severus discreetly watched how Dudley and his gang would constantly berate Harry and play this ridiculous game where the Potter boy was like some sort of prey.
"I'm gonna kill 'em....it's the only way," he was about to take out his wand if not for Severus seizing him from going further.
"You need to calm down, Donovan!" Severus held the boy's shoulders and jerked him slightly.
"But just look at how the twits are treating the poor bastard!" Thomas shrugged Severus off, "Come on, just one Oppugno Jinx...I can set some birds on the buggers and Potter will be okay--"
"No!" Severus held the boy's wand wrist, "You are not even supposed to be in the possession of a wand, far less using it to interfere in muggle matters."
"Yeah--right," Thomas dragged on, "Because obviously, Harry Potter is a muggle you know...."Severus raised a brow at Thomas and the boy suddenly widened his eyes, "Oh my God...he thinks he's a muggle, doesn't he...." Severus nodded and Tommy groaned. "You've got to be bloody joking."
" Do I look like a clown?" Severus stated and Thomas sought the urge to snicker.
"Do you really want me to answer that?" Thomas shot back shortly before--
WHACK
"Seriously?!" the boy rubbed his head again and sighed. "You're annoying, you know that?"
"And you have a job to do, remember?" Severus suddenly reminded Thomas as to why they were there.
'He's right...' Thomas peered down at his future 'friend' before eventually sighing. That's all Thomas Donovan was, a means to an end, nothing more than a pawn in whatever game Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore were playing. Was he ready...Maybe...or maybe not, but soon, the pieces would be in place, and the game would begin!