elmyraemilie (elmyraemilie) wrote in snape_potter, @ 2014-07-20 16:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | summer challenge14 |
Summer Challenge 14: The Return of the Magi (General)
Title: The Return of the Magi
Author: elmyraemilie
Other pairings/threesome: None
Rating: General
Word count: ~950
Theme chosen: Travel, sort of
Warning(s): None, unless you consider that Harry and Severus having custody of Teddy requires a warning. If so, be warned.
Summary: Teddy is coming home from summer camp.
A/N: Unbetaed. And with possibly the lamest title so far.
The train from Lochard Manse pulled into Hogsmeade Station with a flourish of bells. Through the windows, a little slice of chaos was on view: children pulling bags from racks, familiars being sought from car to car, the shrieks of pre-teen girls and the shouts of pre-teen boys. The doors snapped open; a second later, the platform was overrun with campers trying to find their parents.
Harry and Severus stood to one side, searching the crowd for Teddy. Snape felt that his height would allow the boy to find them without trouble, but when Harry saw the green-and-blue striped hair ("that's a new skill--two colors" he muttered to Severus) he couldn't resist waving.
Teddy trotted up, dragging an enormous duffel behind him. "Dad! Severus! Hi!" For a second, Harry thought he was going to be hugged in public, but Teddy reined in his excitement just in time. There was an awkward pause, where no one quite knew what to do; then Severus put out his hand, and with bald relief written all over his face, Teddy gave it a manful shake. Harry did the same, and then Teddy started to talk.
"It was so much fun! We went underwater, but they wouldn't let us use gillyweed or Bubblehead charms, so Mr. Beckinwith--Mr. Beckinwith is so cool, you wouldn't believe--Mr. Beckinwith did some kind of charm, and we got to see a bunch of cool plants and fish and a couple loch monsters. Did you know that loch monsters only produce one offspring every eleven years? And even though they look grey when they're in the air, when they're in the water they're actually kind of purple and blue. Betsy, that's Betsy Grinnell, Betsy said she thought they were pretty, and how can something that big that could tear you to pieces with one bite be pretty? Girls are so stupid. But then Alistair--that's Alistair from Hufflepuff, remember?--Alistair..."
He walked in front, Severus and Harry dragged along in the heavy wake of his words. "That bag," Harry said, sotto voce. "Is that the same bag we sent with him?"
"That is your handwriting, is it not?" Severus replied, in a grim tone.
"Yeah, it is. And that's the same place I wrote his name on it, too. Oh dear Merlin. That can't all be laundry, can it?"
Snape's lips formed a wry twist. "If it is not laundry, what would you prefer it to be? A captive kelpie? Perhaps one of his fellow campers, smuggled into our house as a partner in crime?"
"...Maria, she's Martin Frazzetti's little sister, she's okay for a girl, she swam almost the width of the narrow bit of the loch. She's really smart, too, and she can make folded paper cranes that fly. It was so cool to be able to do magic during the summer. It felt like it ought to be freezing outside every time I cast Tempus. Maria says..."
Harry frowned. "Did you hear that? He mentioned that Maria girl twice."
"Three times. You missed the earlier reference to her ability to charm the sugar basin to do the cha-cha."
Harry winnowed through what he'd heard so far. "So, Teddy?" he began. They were approaching the Apparation point. "Did you learn anything about magical creatures?"
"Da-ad! It's creature camp, isn't it? Of course I learned about magical creatures. Haven't you been listening about the loch monsters and the hippogriff and stuff? It let me touch it! Hippogriffs are among the most difficult magical creatures to establish a, um...a rapport with. They..."
"Teddy. Tedders! Do be quiet for just a moment while we sort out the Apparation." Harry heaved the overstuffed duffel over his shoulder and nodded at Severus, who wrapped an arm around Teddy to side-along home.
Later that evening, with Teddy restored to his own room, at last in bed and asleep, Severus draped that same arm around Harry's shoulders and pulled him close.
"Was it me that thought the house was far too quiet while Teddy was gone?" he asked.
Taking a sip of his brandy, Harry replied, "Yes, and I agreed with you." He shook his head with a smile. "He'll settle down. There's just a lot to tell and a lot of excitement to burn off. It's a pity he's not allowed to do magic. I'd set him to work on that laundry."
"Did you ever recapture the Tipping Toad?"
"Teddy got it with a bit of biscuit. I made him put it out in the garden." They sipped their drinks and watched through the window as twilight crept across the lawn. "I almost laughed when he gave us each a hug after dinner. I suppose that's all right once he's safely out of view of his pals."
Snape gave Harry a little squeeze. "It's a thing I hope he never completely grows out of."
"Mmm. Me, too." Harry sighed. "I'm beat. Ready to call it a night?"
"Yes indeed. I feel as though I've lived the entire ten days of camp, all in one evening." They stood, and he brushed a kiss across Harry's temple. "Let's take a shower first. Our week of unfettered access to every room in the house is over."
"Shower, you, bed. It's a plan." At the foot of the stairs, Harry took Severus' arm. "You're a marvelous parent, you know. Teddy is a very lucky lad."
"Doubly lucky. He has you, as well."
If Teddy had seen the tender kiss they shared, he would have rolled his eyes and said, "Eeeeew!" Happily for him, he was safely asleep, dreaming that Maria Frazzetti kept making paper cranes that flew around his head and nested in his hair.