Title: Danger: Explosive! Author: CiraArana Prompt: #41 – Detention after potions, with Snape Pairing: Albus Severus Potter/Severus Snape Rating: NC17 Word count: 10,254 Warnings: chan (12), teacher/student with D/s undertones, frottage, spanking, dirty talk, and exploding cauldrons. Disclaimer: All Harry Potter characters herein are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. I make no money with this story. Summary: Giving a new twist to an old classic. Or: Harry engages Snape to teach Al how to stop exploding cauldrons. Author’s Note: Probably the p0rniest thing I've ever written. And yes. Muse has a new OTPP = One True Porn Pairing. ;)
Danger: Explosive!
It had become clear very early on that Al had inherited his grandmother’s talent for and interest in potion brewing. While Jamie – and later Lily, too – played outside, riding brooms or frolicking around with the family Crup, Al sat in his room and mixed ingredients in a cauldron.
At first, he had taken as ingredients everything he found in his mother’s kitchen, and mixed them in an old, rusty cauldron meant for outside play. After the first time he had exploded his “potion”, Harry and Ginny had bought him a pre-school potions kit, with guaranteed non-dangerous, non-inflammable and non-explodable ingredients.
Al had soon become bored and started experimenting again. After the second time he had exploded an experiment, Hermione offered to start teach Al the basics. But Hermione had two children herself and her work at the Ministry, and therefore not as much time as she wanted, or Al demanded, to teach him.
After he had exploded his cauldron for the third time, George jumped in, claiming he saw in Al the entrepreneurial spirit of Weasleys’ Wizarding Wheezes. It was Mrs Weasley senior, who finally stopped the arrangement after one solid week of explosions in George’s lab. It was too dangerous for the public, she claimed, the speed with which Al discovered stuff that could explode.
Fortunately, by that time, Al had learnt to read fairly well, and Hermione began loaning him Potions manuals. Ginny had argued that these were too advanced for a child not yet old enough to go to Hogwarts, but even Harry pointed out that learning how to make potions, complicated and far advanced potions, might stop Al from exploding things.
And indeed, Al only managed to almost burn the house down, once.
Unfortunately, by the time he started Hogwarts, he was far too advanced in his Potions knowledge to be anything but bored stiff in Potions class, and he resorted to experimenting – and thus exploding cauldrons.
Interestingly, he never managed to land himself in the hospital wing, while most students and even the Potions master were forced to spend a night or two. Professor Sinistra, now Head of Slytherin house, awarded Al points for a healthy instinct of self-preservation and put him in detention for a month.
By the time Al started his second year at Hogwarts, everyone and the Potions master despaired at what to do to keep Al occupied and from experimenting/exploding things. When, only three weeks into the year, an owl from Hogwarts reached Harry and Ginny in which Professor Sinistra regretted to inform them that Al had set up a secret lab in the dungeons and through an explosion collapsed almost the entire east wing of Hogwarts, Harry had had enough.
‘I don’t fucking care what you think of him,’ he told his wife after Ginny had protested his plan. ‘I don’t like him, either. But Al needs someone who can really teach him all about potions and at the same time can instil some fear of authority and repercussions in him. And the only person I know who will manage both is Severus Snape!’
The man had evidently survived the accident with Nagini, despite Harry’s impression. With a combination of antivenin, Draught of the Living Death, and other, more obscure potions, he had survived both snake bite and blood loss, and fooled Harry and Hermione into believing him dead. He later claimed that his faked death had been necessary for Harry to accept the information he’d been given.
That accomplished, Snape had hidden to heal in private. Only when he had heard that Voldemort was dead for good and that Harry had vindicated his actions, had Snape come out of his hiding hole again. The Ministry had, reluctantly, awarded an Order of Merlin, First Class, to a very smug Snape.
These days, the man worked as a private potions specialist. His skill was commonly acknowledged – hadn’t he returned from the dead through potions knowledge alone? – and he could and did demand high amounts of Galleons for his expertise. St Mungo’s experts loathed him, and the Ministry was wary of him, but they all applied for his help in Special Cases.
Ginny, who remembered Snape as Headmaster only too well, kept arguing against employing him to teach Al. But Hermione supported Harry’s decision, and even Mrs Weasley told her daughter that something had to happen or else Al would one day explode them all. So, with a lot of yelling and snarling, Ginny gave in, and Harry wrote to Snape.
Snape, the letter said. Your namesake has already exploded more cauldrons than Neville Longbottom in his whole Hogwarts career. According to his Potions professor, he is too advanced for regular Potions class, and apparently also has progressed beyond what Hogwarts professors are able to teach him. I’d be grateful if you could teach him to stop inventing potions that explode, the sooner the better. H.P.
Snape’s reply consisted of an astronomically high amount of Galleons, but Harry didn’t even blink and accepted.
He could pay half the sum out of the Ministry Funds for Public Security, after all.
Kingsley Shacklebolt didn’t even blink before he signed Harry’s request for funding, either.
Harry wrote another letter to Snape with a Gringotts code for the down payment, to be transferred from the Ministry vault, and another to his son.
Dear Al, this year, you will get your Christmas present early. Your mother and I have decided that it is high time that you learn more about potions from a real expert. When you come home for the holidays, you will have daily lessons with Severus Snape. If things go well, you’ll go back for more lessons in summer. If things go extremely well and you explode none of his equipment, Mr Snape might give you a certificate so that you don’t have to attend Potions class at Hogwarts anymore. Your mother and I hope this will make you happy. Love, Dad.
Al’s response to the news was to blow up his secret-and-forbidden lab at Hogwarts.
*
When Severus Snape received the letter asking him to teach the youngest Potter son in Potions, he was more than sceptical. In his experience, no male named Potter was anything but a nuisance, and not at all talented enough to warrant specialised potions lessons. Plus, his namesake’s – a joke, really, the boy was named after Albus! Snape had come only second – tendency to explode things reminded him uncomfortably of James Potter I and his particular brand of humour.
He had asked double the amount he usually took, arguing to himself that, if Potter agreed, Severus could always use the money, and if he didn’t agree, it was no skin off his nose.
But Potter had agreed, and Severus found himself a little curious. He wondered about how desperate Potter must be if he was willing to pay so much money, and to trust his youngest son to him, of all people! After all, Potter knew better than anyone else that Severus would not coddle the boy.
Actually, to his own surprise, Severus found himself looking forward to the lessons. Cutting another Potter, who probably was just one more copy of James Potter I, down to size, would be a pleasant experience.
When the boy showed up early in the morning of the arranged day, Severus thought at first that his scepticism had been justified. Albus Severus Potter looked like a carbon copy of his father, and thereby reminded Severus very much of his grandfather.
But when the boy’s mother – who might be named Potter but forcefully recalled her own mother – had finally left, and Severus took a closer look at the boy, he realised that his first impression had been … incorrect.
At a first glance, Albus Severus indeed looked very much like his father. He had James’s messy black hair and Lily’s green eyes. But at a second, closer look, there were differences. Enough differences to make the boy look … less like a copy.
There was no lightning bolt scar on his forehead. But one of his eyebrows was bisected by a cut; probably caused by debris from an exploding cauldron. There were no glasses in front of his green eyes, either, no obstacle hiding their brilliance. Moreover, this pair of green eyes looked a lot more like Lily’s did in Severus’s memory: curious, intelligent, and with that indefinable self-confidence of a child secure in the knowledge that he had parents who loved him.
And the green eyes considered him just as closely as he was considering the boy.
Well. Severus paused. This could be interesting. Or it could be that, pampered and spoiled, the boy would prove he was indeed James Potter I’s grandson. Severus crossed his arms in front of his chest.
‘Well, Mr Potter,’ he began, his voice deliberately cold and condescending, hitting just the very tone that had made the boy’s father start gnashing his teeth. ‘You father has given you into my care to try and teach you to not explode cauldrons like a dunderhead.’
The tone seemed to work on this Potter, too, for the boy wrinkled his nose. ‘I’m not a dunderhead,’ he declared.
Severus sniffed and looked down his nose. ‘Everyone who explodes a cauldron is a dunderhead.’
‘But I wanted to explode the cauldron!’ the boy objected.
Severus sneered. ‘Indeed, you did, which proves conclusively that you are just as much a dunderhead as your father was.’
‘I’m better than dad was at Potions! I can do all kinds of things he couldn’t even do in his NEWTs!’
Hot-tempered like the father, Severus noted. Proud of his talents and not willing to suffer comparison with his father. Enough self-confidence not to be overwhelmed by his illustrious father’s fame. In other words, Severus thought, an arrogant little prince used to getting what he wanted.
But a Slytherin. That warranted a little more patience on Severus’s part.
‘You might be better at brewing Potions at school than your father was,’ Severus said with a careless shrug, ‘but you are just as much a dunderhead as he was. You know nothing about potions if you believe an explosion is a sign of success.’
‘But I wanted to cause the explosions,’ the boy repeated, crossing his arms the way Severus had done, and stared mulishly at him. ‘And I got them when I wanted them!’
‘Let me repeat, that only shows you know nothing about potions.’ Severus smirked down at the boy. ‘An explosion is not a sign of success, or achievement, Mr Potter. It is a sign of failure. Every idiot can explode a cauldron.’
‘But not a controlled explosion,’ the boy argued back, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. ‘And adding a wrong ingredient, or ingredients in the wrong order, isn’t controlled. An idiot can’t define in advance what type of explosion he’ll get, or control how to brew a potion that explodes from inside of the cauldron, or fountains upwards and then explodes, or spreads before explosion. And he can’t know before how high the explosion will reach, or how far, or how strong it will be, and he won’t be able to brew a potion that gets the explosion he wants!’
Severus was reluctantly impressed by the boy’s skill, if what his words indicated about his experiments and achievements was true. But the fascination with explosions would not do, and so it was easy to sneer.
‘Let me repeat, Mr Potter, an explosion is not a sign of accomplishment in potions brewing. No matter what Mr George Weasley might have told you. And if you believe so, you have spent too much time in the company of Gryffindors.’
Severus stepped closer to the boy and loomed above him. Lowering his voice, he continued, ‘A potion brewer should not work to explode a potion, Mr Potter. An explosion is brash and loud and flashy, something a potion should never be. A good potion is subtle and delicate. It needs to be brewed with utmost care and concentration, and will work quietly and efficiently. A truly brilliant potion is a construct so complex that the average wizard or witch will never understand how it works, much less be able to actually brew it.
‘Now, Mr Potter, if you want to be considered a true Potions Brewer, perhaps one day a Potions master, instead of a conceited oaf, you will need to learn subtlety. You will stop exploding cauldrons and wasting material. You will need to start thinking creatively, instead of destructively, and you will need to go back to basics, for experimentation can only be done built on a sound foundation of basic knowledge. You will do as I tell you, learn what I teach you, and you will follow my orders to the letter. And the moment something explodes in my lab, I will deposit you at your father’s doorstep and now allow you back. Have I made myself clear?’
The boy stared at him, fascinated. He swallowed and nodded wildly. ‘Yes, sir.’
‘Good.’ Severus paused again to consider his new student. No trace of a mulish teenager now. Instead, there was a bright-eyed young man standing in front of him, eager and willing to learn. Very good, indeed.
‘Well, then, Mr Potter. If you are willing to work hard, if you are truly willing to learn, I can teach you the beautiful subtleties of an often underestimated and neglected art. I can teach you to cherish what few wizards and witches will be able to understand and guide your way through the labyrinthine ways of potions expertise to Refinement and Creation. I can teach you to appreciate the beauty of a perfectly executed potion, and the intricate, precise work necessary to achieve that beauty. I can teach you what I have been able to teach only very few students during my tenure at Hogwarts.’
‘Bottle fame, brew glory, and put a stopper in death,’ the boy said almost breathlessly. At Severus’s raised brow, he grinned impishly. ‘Dad told me you said that during his first ever Potions class, sir.’
Severus was momentarily stunned. ‘Did he?’ He shook his head. ‘I am amazed he remembered that much. A pity he could not remember more. But onwards, Mr Potter. I have been informed you have studied that art of potion brewing for several years before you received your Hogwarts letter. Please enumerate the – non-explosive – potions you managed to brew successfully, as well as those you did not manage to brew successfully, preferably with a reason why.’
‘Yes, sir,’ the boy chirped, and before Severus had had more time than to think that this was the true test, he launched into a long, detailed list of the potions, draughts, and even philtres he had brewed successfully.
The longer the boy spoke and he listened, the more Severus had to struggle not to show how impressed he was. Despite being barely thirteen, the youngest Potter boy showed an understanding Severus had often found lacking even in seventh-year Potions students. His recital displayed the occasionally missing theoretical background, and now and again the boy applied a Brewing Law incorrectly. But his brewings also showed inventiveness, and the genius Severus had thought had died with Lily Evans.
A slow, delightful tingle ran through Severus’s body. It made his skin prickle and several regions of body warm deliciously. He knew the feeling as the anticipation of a new and brilliant project. He was excited to start, to work on the project, to form it, and see it shine, dazzling the eyes of the world. But he had never before felt like this with regards to a student. This time, he was truly looking forward to teach.
The tingle ended in his balls, and Severus felt his cock harden. He fought down an exhilarated smile. He loved that feeling, the arousal he always felt mixed with the excitement and anticipation of starting on such a promising project. Breathing deeply, he relaxed into the sensation as the boy’s recitation wound to a close.
Giving the boy a rare smile, Severus inclined his head. ‘A truly impressive list, Mr Potter.’ The boy beamed at him and stood even straighter. Severus shivered with delight at having such a smile, such enthusiasm directed at him. He turned smartly on his heel and strode down the corridor towards his lab.
‘Follow me, please,’ he called over his shoulder, ‘and we will start working on one of those potions you have so far failed to master.’ He paused in front of the door and let the boy catch up. ‘I will show you how to do it right.’
The boy’s eyes shone in the dim light. ‘Yes, sir,’ he replied breathlessly.
*
The festive days came and went, almost unnoticed by Severus and his disciple. They would lock themselves into Severus’s lab early in the morning and ignore everything around them until Harry came to pick up his son in the evening.
Severus found himself each day more impressed by his student’s talent, skill, and knowledge. It was a true joy to work with him, to teach him, and to see his own passion for the subject mirrored in the boy’s eyes. Moreover, Al proved delightfully intelligent; he never made the same mistake twice, and seemed to grasp even the most intricate, abstract Principles and Laws of Potion Brewing with playful ease.
Severus often stood back and watched him work, the boy’s slender fingers delicately handling equipment and ingredients. It always left him breathless with admiration and excitement and the painful sting of envy that this clever, talented, brilliant boy should belong to Potter.
He should be Severus’s, for no one but Severus could truly teach and support him and make him great.
And he should be great. He was meant to become the greatest of all brewers, revolutionising the art of brewing with his genius. Everything else was unthinkable and just plain wrong.
Merely thinking about the fame and glory Al could achieve under Severus’s careful tutelage made Severus horny as hell. He woke up hard each morning, and even though he took care of his lust, five minutes talking or working with the boy had him hard again.
It was a surprise there hadn’t been an explosion yet.
Of a cauldron, that is. Severus exploded two or three times a day behind closed doors and several Imperturbable Charms in his bedroom.
Today, it might have been New Year’s Eve, but Severus wasn’t sure and didn’t much care. Master and student were working on a particularly complicated and complex potion. It needed to be brewed in two stages, with the base simmering for twenty-four hours before the second stage could begin. Al had set up the base without help – and without problems – and while it simmered in the background, Severus instructed him on the ingredients of the second stage, and how to prepare them.
The large working table was almost overflowing with jars and vials and stashes of fifteen different kinds of leaves. Severus pointed to each item and explained what it was, how it had to be prepared, and what its function in the potion would be.
His student, as always, seemed to soak in every word like a dry sponge soaked in water. His eyes were bright and attentive while he listened, his rosy lips slightly open. Severus caught himself staring at them more than once, imagining what he could do to those lips.
He was almost thankful when he finished his lecture and could set the boy to start preparing the ingredients. Almost, because the image of his erection sliding between those lips wouldn’t fade, and watching Al work only gave Severus time and opportunity to indulge.
It took a frustrated huff from the boy to shake Severus out of his lustful haze.
‘Is there a problem?’ he asked smoothly, proud that his voice was even.
Al sighed and turned around. He was almost up to the line of Severus’s sight, standing on a stool so that he could better reach out across the table for ingredients and wasn’t hampered in cutting or dicing or grinding them.
‘Sir?’
Severus pointed at the bushel of leaves and the small copper knife the boy was holding. ‘Your sigh seemed to indicate you were having trouble.’
‘Oh.’ Al looked down and frowned. ‘Well, yes, sir. You said the bardana leaves should lie flat for cutting, but the edges always curl up. I don’t know how to keep them flat without pricking myself.’
Severus nodded and stepped closer, reaching out for a broad stirring staff made of polished wood. ‘You have perceived the problem. Good boy. Most brewers, and almost all students, simply go ahead and spoil the leaves. There is a trick to it. Here, let me show you.’
He stepped in close behind Al and reached out around him. Carefully, he picked up one broad, curled leaf and let it drop to the table, where he flattened it with the help of the staff. The other hand curled around the boy’s that was holding the knife.
‘Here, that’s it. Now, cut along that vein in the leaf, slowly,’ he instructed, guiding the boy’s hand. ‘Gently. Take care here with the squarrose edge of the leaf. Cut carefully along. Now the other side, wait, let me shift the staff first. Cut slowly … There. That’s it.’
In front of them lay the leaf, cut exactly into three, long stripes. All of them were as flat as the tabletop.
‘Cool,’ Al commented. ‘That’s a nifty trick, sir. One of yours?’
‘Sadly, no,’ Severus admitted. ‘It is, however, not one usually taught at Hogwarts. I learnt it from a Portuguese brewer whom I corresponded with several years ago.’
‘Ah.’
No question about the brewer, or if Severus still corresponded with him, and if not, why. The boy was not interested in people. Severus rather liked that.
‘Thank you for your help, sir. May I try it now?’
Severus handed the staff over to Al but remained where he was, watching over Al’s narrow shoulder as he carefully lifted a leaf and let it drop. His hold on the staff was a bit clumsy, so Severus corrected that with a few touches. The first cut was a little unsteady and not as precise as Severus would have made it, but for a first try, it was very good.
Severus said so, and he caught a glimpse of the boy’s proud smile.
After two more tries, Al’s hand became steadier, the cuts clearer. He still had trouble holding the leaf flat with the wooden staff, though, so Severus remained where he was, ready to assist should the need arise or his student ask him.
He rested his hands on the edge of the table near the boy’s hips, and leant in close to watch over Al’s shoulder. One shift in the boy’s position as he changed weight from one foot to the other brought his backside into direct contact with Severus’s front.
More precisely, it brought Al’s tiny, round arse in direct contact with Severus’s groin.
Severus’s cock, still interested from earlier fantasies of rosy lips, sprang instantly to life. Severus gasped softly and closed his eyes, hands clenching around the edge of the table.
Oh, Merlin, this felt good!
Al paused in his work and looked over his shoulder, making an inquiring noise. Severus managed to shake his head and indicate he should continue. Without question, the boy did so. Really, his obedience was most charming. And arousing. Severus’s cock throbbed faintly.
He was regretfully considering to pull back, so as not to scare the boy or distract him from his work, when Al leant forwards, reaching for the next leaf. His arse pushed back, the motion creation a delicious friction along Severus’s cock.
Severus’s hands snapped from the table to Al’s hips to hold him steady. Eyes closed, Severus slowly moved, rocking forwards, rubbing his erection against the boy’s arse.
Good, so good.
‘Sir?’ Al sounded faintly worried.
Severus rocked again and sighed with pleasure, then opened his eyes. Al was peering at him over his shoulder, eyes wide.
‘Yes?’ Severus purred and rocked a little harder.
Hmmm, so, so good.
‘I … Is something wrong, sir?’
Severus smiled and let his eyes fall close. ‘No. Nothing is wrong. Please—’ he thrust, ‘—continue.’
He heard the boy swallow audibly, but – ever obedient – he did as he was told. Severus listened to the faint sound of the copper knife slowly slicing through the thick, green leaf. Al moved, shifting his weight, leaning forwards and settling back, and it all added a little more friction to Severus’s hard cock.
Eyes closed, mindless, lost in pleasure, Severus enjoyed the contact, the friction, the rising arousal. Al’s breath hitched occasionally. Once or twice he sighed or moaned softly. Each sound he made sent shivers through Severus’s body. The boy was so young, so innocent, so confused about what was happening … it was a heady feeling.
Severus’s hands tightened and he began to move more purposefully, rubbing his cock against the boy’s butt, thrusting forwards in search of more friction. Al gasped and jumped slightly. The knife clattered against the table. Severus thought about issuing a warning, but at that moment, Al wriggled his arse, and Severus forgot what he had meant to warn for.
He moaned softly and thrust harder. Another wriggle of the boy’s arse, and Severus felt – through the layers of both their clothes – his cock slide through the crack between Al’s buttocks. He pressed closer, thrust more insistently. Al squeaked and bucked like a colt. He made a sound that sounded like a choked hiccough. Severus could feel him tremble.
His own desire having risen to a fever pitch, Severus pulled Al’s hips back and thrust forwards at the same time. The boy bucked again. His gasp seemed unnaturally loud. ‘Oh! Sir!’
Severus groaned deeply, thrust two more times, and came with a delicious, full body shudder.
‘Hmmm,’ he sighed and leant forwards, pressing a kiss to the boy’s flushed cheek. ‘Very good, boy.’
‘Thank you, sir,’ Al replied breathlessly. He sounded a little confused but happy, and Severus pulled back with a smug smile.
But the moment he stepped back and the uncomfortably damp insides of his pants touched his skin, he felt as though he’d been hit with an Icicle Jinx. He froze, his warm pleasure replaced by cold, as he realised just what he had done a moment ago.
For a panicked second, he considered Obliviating the boy. It was only fear that he would destroy some of his student’s precious potions knowledge that prevented him from doing so. He couldn’t cast a Memory Charm, and if he ordered Al not to talk about what had happened, then the boy would begin to wonder. Perhaps ask questions. Hint to his father what Severus had done.
No, better not order the boy to silence. He seemed to think nothing untoward had happened. Severus cast a quick, searching glance at Al, taking in the posture – relaxed – and the fluidity of his motions as he continued cutting up leaves. No, he didn’t think Severus had done something unforgivable.
And another fierce emotion flashes through Severus as he considered why the boy was so calm. Had another adult done this to him before? Severus would kill the man! This wonderful, talented boy was his!
Taking a deep breath, Severus forced himself to calmness and reason. It was unlikely that another adult had made sexual advances. Al seemed too innocent. But Severus had a way of finding out. Al might know of Legilimency and Occlumency, but it was more than unlikely that he was able to Occlude. Even Draco had been older, and he was the youngest, successful Occlumens Severus knew.
‘Sir, I’m done with the bardana leaves. Which are next?’
The still high, childish voice jerked Severus from his musings, and he looked at his student. His face was a little flushed, and his eyes sparkled brightly, but he looked happy enough.
Severus imperceptibly twisted his wrist, and his wand slid from its holster into his hand. Looking deep into the boy’s eyes, Severus concentrated and non-verbally cast the incantation. Within the fraction of a second, he was inside of Al’s mind. There were no walls that prevented entry and, as far as Severus could tell, no walled off parts in the boy’s mind either.
It was a refreshingly ordered, analytical mind. No clutter, half-formed thoughts or shreds of memories fluttering around. Severus approved. It made this even easier for him.
Concentrating on the concept of sexual contact, Severus made a quick search of the boy’s mind. But all he found was the memory of himself, standing behind Al, holding his hips, and the sensation of a fully aroused cock touching him through several layers of clothes. The memory sparkled a little. Severus caught a flash of confusionshivertickleoohyeswow before something that felt like experiencing the explosion of a cauldron from the inside ended it.
Severus slipped back out and gave the boy a smile. ‘Well done. I suggest you grind the willow catkins next, because that takes a lot of time and a lot of strength, and you can still cut the sessile oak leaves after that.’
‘Yes, sir.’ The boy beamed and got down to fetch the mortar and pestle. Severus watched him bounce, and then reminded himself he had to take care of something.
‘Good. Start grinding, I will be back soon.’
‘Yes, sir,’ he heard before he closed the door to the lab behind him. In the hallway, he first cast a cleaning charm on himself, then hurried to his bedroom. Locking the door, he undressed, performed another cleaning charm, and put on fresh pants. Then he sat down on the bed and made himself go through the exercises that helped him clear his mind and keep his emotions under control. Only after several minutes did he feel calm and collected enough to revisit the memory he had seen in Al’s mind.
Severus allowed himself a very small amount of relief, followed by excitement. Al had been as aroused as Severus. More, there had been traces of happiness and curiosity to the memory, as well as something that, to Severus, tasted as the giddiness of unexpected victory. As though the boy felt he had passed some secret test.
And it didn’t take much knowledge to read the explosion at the end of the memory as Al having an orgasm.
That surprised Severus a little, for he hadn’t known that boys this young – the youngest Potter boy was yet to celebrate his thirteenth birthday, after all! – could experience orgasms. Severus himself certainly hadn’t until he was two years older.
He wondered whether he ought to have offered a cleaning charm to the boy. But on the other hand, Al had moved without grimacing, so he probably hadn’t made a mess of his pants.
Severus resolved to read up on the matter. He was sure he had a book on human sexuality somewhere in his library. It would make for interesting bedtime reading.
That decided, Severus got to his feet and walked back to his lab, where his student was huffing and puffing over the mortar.
*
When, half-way through the second stage of brewing, the potion made a suspicious glup and then boiled over, Severus was honestly stunned.
For a moment, he simply stood there, uncomprehending, and stared at the pink foam that bubbled over the cauldron’s rim. The fire hissed as the first drops hit.
The boy’s almost anguished wail called him back to the situation.
‘Oh, no, oh, no,’ Al whimpered and wrung his hands, staring at the mess. The potion gluped again and spat pink foam.
Severus, never the most patient with mistakes, but most especially with those where he didn’t immediately understood what had gone wrong, grabbed Al’s shoulder and snatched him back from the cauldron.
‘Idiot boy,’ he hissed irritably. ‘What have you done?’
‘I don’t know, sir!’ the boy wailed.
The potion exploded.
Severus pulled Al against him and threw up a Shield around them. The cauldron kept spitting flecks of pink suds like a miniature volcano. They sizzled ominously when they hit a surface.
Severus kept one eye on the cauldron while he snarled furiously, ‘What have I told you about explosions? And what would you call that? I thought you’d seen the error of your way, but apparently there is too much of the “adventurous” Potter and Weasley spirit in you! Matters been too quiet for you? Thought you could liven this up with a nice bang?!’
Al was sobbing now, staring desperately up into Severus’s furious eyes.
‘I’m sorry, sir!’ he whimpered. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to … I didn’t do it on purpose, sir, I swear!’ He grabbed Severus’s robes and tugged, pleadingly. ‘It was an accident, honestly! I’m sorry, I’ll pay you pack the ingredients from my pocket money, I swear!’
‘Silence,’ Severus hissed at him, feeling a stab of guilt. Now that the first shock was over, and the adrenaline faded away, he felt uncomfortably sorry himself. He hadn’t meant to make the boy cry – something his father had never done in Severus’s presence – and he hadn’t meant to make him offer to repay for the ingredients, either. He’d never be able to pay all of them from his pocket money, no matter how generous his parents were. And it wasn’t as if Severus needed the money. Al’s father had paid him more than enough to cover the cost of ingredients six times over.
‘Silence,’ he repeated more quietly, and the boy bit his lip and tried to stop sobbing.
Severus sighed, thoroughly annoyed. And more than a little disappointed. He eyed the cauldron again. It was only sputtering weakly now, so Severus cancelled the Shield. Cautiously, he moved closer and examined the dots of pink foam splattered everywhere, and the remainder of brutally pink goo in the cauldron.
‘You made a mistake,’ he said softly, the disappointment heavy in his stomach. His student, his brilliant boy, shouldn’t have made a mistake. ‘This should not have happened.’ Severus shook his head, still not understanding what had gone wrong. He had never seen this particular potion go wrong like that before.
And then the anger hit him. It should not have gone wrong at all! He whirled around and pointed at the cringing boy.
‘You made a mistake! If you’d have followed my orders, this would not have happened! You have been inattentive and careless, something you cannot, must not, ever be while brewing a potion!’
The boy hunched his shoulders and hung his head. Severus was not appeased. His boy should not ever be inattentive and careless! He should know better than to let his attention wander for even a moment!
And it had not been Severus’s fault! He had checked the ingredients only this morning, and all bardana leaves had been cut up and laid out correctly. The willow catkins had been diced perfectly, and the sessile oak leaves, though they had given Al trouble, had been prepared properly as well. Al had to have made another mistake, somewhere Severus had not checked, somewhere that had not been influenced by certain events, and Severus was livid.
The silently shaking, narrow shoulders and defeated position of his student only softened him a little.
‘Now, you’ve made a mess and wasted two days of work. I suggest you clean up really well and think about what you have done wrong. Where was the mistake? Think.’
Not waiting for an answer, he stalked to the door.
‘Cleaning supplies in the cupboard to the left,’ he snapped and slammed the door behind him. Without slowing down his stride, he stalked outside into his garden where he began shovelling snow. Without magic. He’d found that attacking his garden was a good way to vent his fury. His garden showed its gratitude by flourishing.
He didn’t know how long he kept shovelling, but he had cleared even the smallest path through the herb beds when a tiny voice called from the door, ‘I’m done cleaning, sir.’
Severus straightened and peered through the afternoon gloom towards the house. Al stood in the door, arms wrapped around him, shivering slightly. Severus wasn’t sure whether it was from the cold or something else.
‘Very well,’ he said coolly. ‘I shall come and see.’
The boy nodded and vanished inside, and Severus followed him. When he reached the lab, Al was emptying a bucket of dirty water.
Severus stepped inside and looked around. His lab was sparkly clean and smelled faintly of pine. Careful not to give in too easily, he walked around and checked, surfaces, equipment, cauldron, but everything was clean.
‘Very good,’ he said without inflexion. He conjured himself a chair and sat down, leaning forwards and fixing the boy with an intent stare. ‘Now, do you know what you did wrong?’
Severus hoped the boy did, because he still didn’t know where the mistake had been. Fortunately, Al nodded.
‘Yes, sir.’ He clenched his hands in front of him, hanging his head. ‘I … I chopped the water lily leaves before they were completely dry, sir. The sap’s reaction to the water, in itself not a problem, caused the Rose Dew to ferment when added to the base, and … I’m sorry, sir. I will pay you the cost for the ingredients back when—’
Severus interrupted him with a snort. ‘Your father pays me more than enough, boy.’
‘But, sir, I—’
‘Silence.’
Severus glared for emphasis, and Al submitted. When it became clear he wouldn’t keep arguing, Severus leant back in his chair and went over what the boy had told him. Mistake in chopping up the water lily leaves, interesting result, there might be the possibility to use that, not with Rose Dew, but there was one of his experiments, he wondered whether he might get the same result with the larmes de jupitre essence or would he have to change the base too much to balance the Niffler hair …?
Severus shook himself out of his musings. There would be time later for that. For now he had to deal with a student’s mistake.
The water lily leaves. Well. True, Severus had checked them, but they had been chopped correctly, and of course he couldn’t have seen that they had still been damp when Al had cut them.
‘Well, congratulations for being aware of your mistake,’ he said dryly. ‘Now please explain to me why you made such an easily avoidable mistake.’
He saw the boy’s cheeks flush. ‘I … I wasn’t concentrating properly, sir.’
Severus felt a gentle stirring in his groin. ‘And why not?’
The blush deepened, confirming Severus’s guess about what had diverted Al’s attention from his task. His heart suddenly beat faster, and his cock gave first hints of interest.
‘I … I was … I was thinking of something else. Sir.’ Al swallowed heavily and licked his lips.
Severus mirrored that and shifted in his chair. ‘Did you.’ His voice was still cool and even, something he was very thankful for. ‘Well, then, Mr Potter, I believe that means detention.’
Al’s head shot up. He blinked. ‘Sir?’
Severus crossed his legs and smirked. ‘We are not at Hogwarts, true. However, I am still your teacher, and you are still my student. You have failed to properly execute your task, and you made a mistake caused by your own inattention. Not to forget, you blew up a potion. That, Mr Potter, is worthy of detention.’
The boy looked resigned. ‘Yes, sir. And what is my detention?’
Severus’s smirk grew. ‘Take off your trousers and pants.’
Green eyes widened. ‘Sir?’
‘Now.’
The boy hesitated only for another moment, but then obeyed and quickly took off his shoes, trousers, and pants, in that order. Standing up again, shivering a little, he pulled the hem of his sweater down to hide his groin.
‘Good. Now, come here.’ Severus uncrossed his legs and pointed towards his lap. ‘Over my knees, bum up in the air.’
Al came closer but made no move to fulfil the rest of Severus’s order. ‘Sir, I …’
‘No arguments, please. This is detention.’ Severus had to bite back an exhilarated grin. He was having a bit too much fun, but he didn’t care. ‘My lap, boy. Now.’
Al hesitated a little more, fidgeting and picking at the hem of his shirt, darting uncertain glances up at Severus’s face. Severus didn’t move apart from raising his eyebrows. Al bit his lip, clenched his hands into fists, and then – slowly – did as he was told and draped himself over Severus’s lap.
Severus pulled Al’s sweater and t-shirt up so that his arse was bare. Severus let himself admire it for a few moments; nicely rounded, and thrust up like this, it was irresistible.
He was rock hard, erection straining against the button-fly of his trousers. Running a hand over Al’s smooth skin, Severus took a moment to enjoy what was coming.
The boy wriggled a little, and Severus threw an arm over his back to hold him steady and in place.
‘Still, boy,’ he ordered. His cock gave a delighted twitch. ‘You are being punished for making a mistake through lack of concentration on your given task. Hogwarts rules state that a student is to be put in detention for breaking a rule. I believe we can firmly say you broke the “no explosions” rule.’
There were some choked sounds that might have been arguments. Severus smacked the boy’s bare bum once.
‘Silence! I have not finished. It does not matter whether it was accidental or not. Now, the Hogwarts rules furthermore state that detention is to prevent the student from breaking the rule again.’ He gave the bubble butt a gentle pat. ‘Let us hope this will prevent you from allowing your concentration to falter again.
‘Thirdly, Hogwarts rules state that a detention is meant to be something useful to the community and the professors, a chance for the student to make up for doing harm to the community before. We are admittedly not at Hogwarts, but those are rules to life by. Since I am the only teacher, your punishment will be something I am sure I will find … beneficial to me.’
He smirked, though Al couldn’t see it. Then, without any further warning, he began to spank his boy.
At the first slap of his hand, Al jumped and gasped. He struggled a little, but Severus’s grip was too strong.
‘Detention, Mr Potter,’ Severus reminded his student, and the boy gave up and hung limply over Severus’s knees. Severus patted his bum again, and then resumed the spanking.
He didn’t hit with all his strength; he didn’t want to hurt the boy too much, or to end this too soon. But his smacks had enough force to leave handprints, beautiful red spots, and soon the skin of the boy’s arse turned an attractive shade of pink. Severus enjoyed the sight and the sound of his hand smacking Al’s bum. His dick seemed to get harder with each slapping sound.
The boy began to sob softly, sniffing and crying out once or twice when Severus hit a particularly sensitive spot. But he didn’t try to get away again and simply took his punishment.
When the palm of his hand began to sting, Severus slowly eased up and then stopped. The body over his knees quivered and tensed for a moment. Severus ran his hand over the pink skin in a soothing gesture. It was very warm. Severus’s fingers slipped between the cheeks, down Al’s crack, and he jumped a little.
‘Shhh, boy, it’s over,’ Severus said softly. ‘Your punishment is done.’
Al gave one loud hiccough, and then began to cry in earnest.
Severus picked him up, turning him around, and pulled the slight body onto his lap, cradling the boy against his chest. He felt very protective all of a sudden. A little awkwardly, he petted Al’s hair, shoulders, and back.
‘Shhh, it’s all right now,’ he murmured, not knowing what else to say. ‘You took your punishment like a good boy. It’s all right now.’
‘’M sorry, sir,’ the boy sobbed into his shoulder. ‘Sorry. I’m so sorry.’
Severus hugged him a little tighter. ‘I know. You’re forgiven, boy, it’s all right.’
Al hiccoughed again, and then struggled to sit up. ‘Sir,’ he said, voice thick with tears, ‘Please, tell me what I can do to make up for my mistake.’
Severus looked down into the boy’s wide, pleading eyes. They were wet and green and glistening, his dark lashes wet and spiky. He was so beautiful. Severus’s cock gave a yearning throb.
‘Please, sir. Tell me. What can I do?’
Severus shook his head, a little bewildered. ‘You have taken your punishment. There is no need for you to make up.’
‘No, no, that was for making the mistake!’ Al shook his head vigorously. ‘I mean making up for it. For not doing the best I could and for wasting your time. Please, sir. I’ll do anything you want!’
He was so close, eyes so very green and wet and beautiful.
‘Anything?’ Severus asked, voice husky.
‘Yes, sir. Anything. Please tell me?’
Severus’s groin tightened. His hand shook slightly as he raised it to Al’s face to cup one damp cheek.
‘Anything,’ he whispered. His cock was so hard he ached. He took hold of Al’s shoulders and directed him to move until he was straddling Severus, facing him. Then he pulled off the sweater. The shirt was a button-down, and Severus used a neat little charm of his own invention, tapping the topmost button with his wand, and all of them opened. The shirt fell open, revealing the boy’s smooth chest – and his dick.
Al made a gesture as if to tug the shirt close, but Severus slipped his hands in and over the boy’s ribs, holding the shirt open. Al blushed and hung his head, allowing Severus to look at him.
Severus stared down in fascination. Puberty had apparently just begun to hit him, and the boy’s dick was still small and slender. Boyish. But not tiny, and his balls had noticeably grown, too. He was almost bare, only a few shy dark curls above his cock proved that he wasn’t a child anymore. And he was hard.
Severus slowly reached down and trailed his fingers over the small erection. Al sucked his breath in and twitched a little. Not drawing away, simply a reaction to the touch, Severus noticed and curled two fingers around him. It got him a soft moan and a wide-eyed look, and also the unbelievable sensation of the hot, hard, soft-skinned slender dick in his palm.
Severus licked his lips, saw Al’s eyes follow his tongue’s movement, and leaned in. Gently, he touched his lips to Al’s. He felt the sigh flutter over his skin as Al cautiously replied the pressure. Severus let his lips slide, just his lips, no tongue.
Al whimpered softly, his small cock twitching madly in Severus’s hand. His hands flew up to Severus’s shoulders, clinging to him, his fingers digging into Severus’s robes.
Severus tightened his fingers experimentally, and the boy jolted, arching up and coming down hard. Right onto Severus’s cock. Severus groaned, his lips opening of their own volition. His tongue snaked out and traced the outline of Al’s mouth.
The boy gave a soft, surprised sound but to Severus’s delight, he opened and let Severus in.
Stroking Al’s cock slowly, careful not to grip him too hard, Severus began tasting the inside of his mouth. He was warm, tasted sweet, like boy and innocence. Severus moaned again, and his hips thrust uncontrollably upwards. His cock rubbed along the boy’s bare, warmed bottom. Severus’s grip on Al’s hip tightened, the kiss deepened.
Something that sounded a little like a small giggle was fed into his mouth, and then that pert little bum pushed back down. Severus couldn’t help his hips rolling upwards, and again the boy met his movement.
Severus broke the kiss, gasping. He felt a little as though he’d been dropped into one of his fantasies, the boy naked and willing in his lap. Moving on him.
Oh, oh Merlin. That felt … so good.
Al laughed delightedly and bounced again. His slender cock slid through Severus’s palm, and he tightened his grip, tighter than before, watching the boy’s face as he did so. He looked flushed and dazed and happy. Then his eyes crossed almost comically, and his slender body shuddered. He cried out softly. A few drops of liquid trickled out of his cock.
Severus pulled the boy against him and kissed him, hungrily and deep, and wilder than perhaps was wise. But he wanted, needed, longed to bury his cock in this boy, his boy. Al never protested, just trembled and whimpered and tried to kiss back. Severus thought he would pass out if he couldn’t have his boy right now.
A shaky flick of one wrist, and he was holding his wand. Concentrating while kissing his boy was not an easy task, but Severus managed the Summoning Charm correctly, and a phial filled with pale-green goo bobbed over to him. A flip of his wand, and he set it to hover next to him. Another flick, and the wand slid back into his holster and Severus reached out for the phial. It uncorked easily with a little pressure of his thumb, and the glass neck was just wide enough to dip one finger in.
Still kissing Al, tasting his mouth, Severus brought the finger to the boy’s arse, slipped under the hem of the shirt, and ran the slick finger down the sweet little crack. When he reached the tiny hole and pressed this fingertip against it, Al gasped. Surprised. But not scared. Severus could feel his thighs trembling, but it wasn’t with apprehensive tension.
Good, very good, and he pressed slowly in, and it was even better. So very hot and tight.
Slowly, carefully, Severus pushed deeper. Al shivered. He twisted his hips a little, as though trying to somehow shake the finger off. Severus curled it slightly, and on the next twitch, he hit a soft spot. Al froze, cried out.
Severus smiled, satisfied, down into the boy’s utterly stunned face. ‘That feels good, doesn’t it?’
Al blinked, nodded, jaw hanging open. Hmmm, Severus could see his tongue … he crooked his finger again, rubbing the little spot that had just begun to become responsive and sensitive to touch.
‘Want more, do you? More of this? More fingers? Hmm?’
Again, the boy nodded. Severus withdrew unhurriedly, slicked two fingers, and pushed right back in. The cry this time was a little louder, the green eyes a little wider, and Severus kept his fingers moving. In and out, twisting, curling, opening the boy to him. All the while he whispered to his boy, telling him how good he felt, and how much better it was going to get soon. Al did his colt bucking again and ground down on Severus’s finger and his cock.
It was too much, he couldn’t wait, it had to be right now! Severus pulled his fingers out and fumbled his robes and trousers open. It wasn’t easy, with Al sitting right on top of his cock and clinging to him. Severus groaned when, finally, his erection sprang free. Fumbling some more, he got his balls free and comfortable, his other hand already reaching out for the lubrication.
He pulled Al up to his knees and quickly slicked up, then grabbed the boy’s cheeks and, spreading them apart, opening Al even more, directed him lower. The tip of his erection slid over the boy’s still tiny opening. Severus grabbed his cock with one hand and pushed until the head slid in.
Al whimpered but held still. Severus gritted his teeth but held still. The boy’s sphincter relaxed, and Severus put one hand on the boy’s hip, the other on one shoulder, and slowly guided him down, watching Al’s face as Severus’s cock spread him wide.
‘Yes, here it comes,’ he whispered. ‘Sit down, boy, all the way down. Yes, that’s good, come one, take me in, all the way in.’
Al was panting with the effort to relax and the strain Severus put on his thigh muscles with the slow slide down. But Severus wouldn’t be hurried; he longed to just bury himself, but he would not hurt his boy.
And then he was in, finally all the way in. Inside. Squeezed so tight it almost hurt. Squeezed so good, oh, had never felt so good! He burnt with the need to move, thrust up and take, but he would not hurt his boy. Al needed to relax first, a little more, and he could keep still for a little longer, for his boy.
It felt as though eons had passed before the boy finally stopped squeezing and clenching around Severus’s cock. Some of the tension bled out of the slender body. Al sighed and shimmied a little.
Severus groaned and, grabbing the boy under his arms, lifted him up, off, slowly, revelling in the hot slide. Almost all the way out he stopped and let Al sink down again. Up, slow, down, hot, good so good. Once, twice, up and down, and then Al seemed to understand. He balanced himself on Severus’s shoulders and took over the slide down.
Severus grunted. His fingers tightened on the boy’s hips. ‘Keep doing that,’ he ordered roughly. ‘Move.’
Al nodded and lifted up, stopped, and sank down. Severus’s breath hitched. ‘Faster,’ he gasped.
The boy complied and sped up. He needed a little help with the balance and some additional strength in lifting, but the speed was all his. It was still slow and gentle, too slow and gentle when all Severus wanted was to pound his boy’s arse, but he fought to control himself. This was too good to be rushed.
Soon, Al obviously began to like what he was doing. His breathing became a little irregular, and every now and then a breathy little whimper escaped him. He was biting his lip, face screwed up in concentration as he moved, up and down, and occasionally gave a little shimmy.
Severus could tell when he found an angle that hit the right spot the right way. Al cried out softly, his body twitched, and his flaccid little prick suddenly stiffened.
‘Yes, that’s it,’ Severus whispered and urged the boy to go faster. ‘Go on, get what you want.’
Al complied, gasping, giggling a little, and then he was bouncing in Severus’s lap, on Severus’s cock. Faster and harder on the drop down, and his cries became louder. His little erection bounced up and down with him. Severus held him steady, helped him move, and enjoyed both the sensation and the show.
‘Yesss, good, good boy,’ he told Al. ‘Yes, oh, good. Come on, faster, like this, fuck yourself on my cock. You like it, don’t you? Hmmm, wonderful, beautiful boy, little slut, fuck yourself. Yess, so good.’
Al seemed to like being talked to, told to fuck himself. He bounced faster, gasping and crying, and Severus kept up the talk, a stream of filthy words falling from his lips. The boy’s cries became higher in pitch, and then he shuddered and bucked so hard he almost slid out of Severus’s grasp. His erection twitched madly, spat a single, white drop, and deflated. With a soft, exhausted sound, Al collapsed into Severus’s chest.
Severus, still rock hard and aching, rode out the boy’s orgasm, holding it in even through the contractions of Al’s arse around him. He hugged Al to him and ran his hands up and down the small back, soothing, calming.
When Al’s breath had calmed down a little, Severus tightened his arms around the slender frame and slid down in his chair. He spread his knees a little wider, made a little room for his balls, pressed a kiss to the boy’s temple, and then began fucking him, fast, brutal thrusts up into his boy’s arse.
Al whimpered softly. Severus closed his eyes and let his head fall back. His hands gripped the boy’s arse, holding him down, pushing him into each thrust. It was hard and fast, the sound of flesh slapping against flesh filling the room, accompanied by Severus’s grunts and Al’s quiet moans.
He was getting close, closer. Merlin, oh, this was it. Such a good, obedient boy. Such a tiny, tight arse. Oh, good, good, faster, harder, and – right – there …
And now it was his turn to explode, and Severus crushed Al against him as he came, pushed the boy down onto his cock, shuddering and moaning as he shot in seemingly endless spurts into his boy’s arse.
*
It didn’t seem possible that two weeks had passed already, but the calendar agreed with Al’s father and stubbornly showed Severus the seventh of January. Tomorrow, the boy would have to go back to Hogwarts.
Severus was annoyed. He would have liked to celebrate his birthday together with his boy. He’d made plans, detailed plans, for what else he could teach his boy.
And he did not like Potter’s proprietary position next to the boy. Al was his, he was Severus’s boy, not Potter’s.
‘Well, I’m glad this worked out, then,’ Potter was saying, ruffling his son’s hair. Al made a face. ‘I hope my young rascal learnt something.’
Al smiled almost shyly up at Severus, who nodded sombrely. ‘Yes, Mr Potter, I can certify that Al learnt quite a lot.’
‘Though not yet how to bottle fame and brew glory and put a stopper in death,’ the boy piped up, grinning broadly. ‘See, Dad, I really need to come back in summer!’
He cast a wide-eyed, pleading look up at his father. Severus had to bite his lip and tell his cock firmly that now was not the time to remember the times Al had turned that look on him.
Harry Potter grinned and slung an arm around his son’s shoulder. ‘That is up to Mr Snape, Al. He decides if he wants to take you on again.’
If Potter had meant that as a conciliatory way to put the boy off, it failed, because Severus snorted and said, ‘Of course you will bring him back in summer, Potter! He’s stopped exploding things for now, but I wouldn’t trust him to keep that up. Besides, what else should he do? Fall off brooms or get pranked by his brother?’ He snorted again and looked down at Al. ‘You behave, and I shall see you the first day of your summer holidays. No explosions!’
Al made a face for show. ‘Not even controlled ones?’
Severus scowled dreadfully. ‘No.’
Al gave him the wide-eyed puppy look. ‘Small ones?’
Severus narrowed his eyes. ‘If I hear you have destroyed something …’
Al shook his head. ‘Oh, no, sir, promise! Very small ones. Tiny ones.’ He winked.
Severus rolled his eyes, inwardly amused at the boy’s brazenness. His father was standing right next to him! But from Potter’s bemused expression, he had no idea what his son was talking about. Good.
‘No destruction,’ Severus repeated, looking sternly at his boy. ‘And you will go to Potions classes.’
‘Sir!’ Al cried out indignantly. Potter chuckled, amused, completely missing the point.
Severus shook his head. ‘Potions class. Pay attention! Learn the basics. No experiments. If I hear you received less than 99% on your final Potions exam, there will be punishment. Is that understood?’
‘Yes, sir,’ Al promised solemnly. His butt twitched ever so slightly. He knew what punishment meant.
‘Very good.’
Potter was turning his head between them, gaping. Severus continued to ignore him. He reached out his hand to his boy.
‘Well, then, boy. I expect to receive intelligence on your progress.’ Al took his hand and squeezed it. Severus let his face soften infinitesimally. ‘I will see you in June.’
Al smiled. ‘Yes, sir. I promise.’
Still looking bewildered, Potter took leave of Severus as well and, holding his offspring’s hand, Apparated away.
*
‘It was unbelievable,’ Harry later told his wife. ‘Snape snapped at him, completely in style, you know, all bastard and greasy git like, and Al was all, “Yes, sir,” and, “No, sir.” Oh, and Snape said Al wasn’t exploding things anymore. That he had focus now, and a direction. It’s amazing! If I’d known that would be the outcome, I’d have sent Al to him years ago!”
*
After the Potters had left, Severus for a while stood where they had left him, just inside of his garden gate – out in the cold, alone and miserable – and allowed himself to miss his boy. When his feet started to freeze, he sighed and turned back towards his house.
He’d taken one step when there was a muted sort of fwhump from his laboratory where Al had left his latest potion to cool down. Lime green smoke drifted through the cracked-open window.