Life From the Start

Chapter 7: Snapey and Potions Fun

Harry’s angelic… or what Draco was thinking right now, devilish, grin never left his face. The toddler waited for his guardian to answer his question.

Can he call Professor Snape ‘Snapey’?

OF COURSE NOT!

“Dway? You no ansfer me,” Harry pouted, “I want to call him Snapey!” His pout then turned into a light scowl.

Draco wanted so much to shake Harry like a rag doll and scream at him. But, alas, he was a child, and there was nothing Draco could do. After all, Harry did what just like any toddler would do: Make names easier to pronounce but in the process made it sound totally ridiculous. In this case, Snape was the victim and that’s not pretty.

The Potions Master was beyond angry; he was so angry, he was speechless. He was absolutely seething. How dare the child call him by such a name! Why, he ought to whip some sense into the boy! Snapey indeed! Severus inched forward in his seat and had a firm grip on the edge of his desk. He glared down at the de-aged Potter, who was still looking expectantly at Malfoy.

Draco gulped; he actually heard the heavy breathing coming from Snape. The blond slowly kneeled down until he was eye leveled with the scowling Harry. The brunet’s expression softened when Draco carded his fingers though the messy black hair.

“Harry… I think it’s better if you don’t call Professor Snape ‘Snapey’,” Draco murmured; he stole a glance at the professor and found Snape glaring down at them from behind the desk.

Harry frowned and stuck out his bottom lip; Draco thought Harry was adorable, with the pouting face. But this was not the time to think of anything cute; this was a matter of life and death. Almost.

“Why nots? I no say his name…” Harry whined, “I like Snapey!” Harry folded his arms across his chest and turned away from the blond. Draco then heard a small ‘humph’ coming from Harry afterwards.

“Love, calling him Snapey is making Professor Snape… sad.” Draco rolled his eyes. Sad was an understatement, murderous was more like it.

Harry unfolded his arms and turned back to face Draco; his green eyes were wide.

“Weally? I makes him sad?” Harry said softly and then he looked down at his small white tennis shoes. “I dident mean to…” Draco smiled when Harry started kicking an invisible dust ball.

“Yes, because it’s not his name. What would you do if I called you something you don’t like?” Draco asked the toddler; he was glad that the classroom was still empty. Draco would rather hide in a hole than have students seeing him talking to a three year old Potter this way.

Harry looked up from his shoes and shook his head, “I wouldent likes it!” Harry said indignantly in his baby voice, “Dway never calls me a bad name.”

Draco chuckled and pinched Harry’s cheek playfully; Harry giggled then smiled at the blond.

“Of course not, I’ve always called you Harry haven’t I?”

“Yups! Juss likes how I call you Dway!” Harry smiled and turned to look up at Severus, who was still sitting behind the desk. “I is sowwy Pwovesir Slaps.”

Draco bit his lip to prevent a snicker, ‘Professor Slaps? Oh Harry, you made my day.’

Snape growled and pounded the top of his desk with his fists, making both Harry and Draco jump in their spots. Severus pushed himself away from the desk and got up, walked around until he was right in front of the tiny Potter.

“For heaven’s sake! Slaps? Snapey? Potter, can’t you say anything correctly?!”

Harry whimpered when the tall man towered over him and began yelling. He toddled over to Draco, who had gotten up when Snape got off his chair. Draco, taking pity on the child, bent down and scooped Harry up. The green eyed toddler immediately burrowed his head into Draco’s robes.

“Sir, Harry’s just a child. It’s not his fault for not pronouncing your name correctly.” Draco said while rubbing soothing circles on Harry’s back. “You know he’s not doing it to make fun of you.”

“It’s uncalled for! I’ve never been so insulted! He butchered my name, Draco.” Snape growled; he snarled when Harry started sobbing into Draco’s shoulder. “Oh what—Draco, teach Potter how to say my name! I will NOT be called ‘Snapey’ or Professor Slaps!”

Draco nodded once and walked over to his desk and sat down. Snape sneered at them before he turned away, his black robes billowing behind him; he walked right inside to his office and slammed the door shut. Shaking his head, Draco tried to peel Harry away from his robes. It wouldn’t do him any good if there was snot on it. Shuddering at the thought, Draco smoothed his hand over Harry’s head. Just like what he hoped Harry would do, the brunet looked up at him with teary eyes. Draco placed a small kiss right on Harry’s jagged scar and maneuvered Harry until the toddler was sitting on his lap.

“Hush now Harry, Professor Snape was just being mean,” Draco whispered; Harry knuckled his red puffy eyes and agreed with what Draco said.

“He yell at me… He is a big meanie!” Harry sniffed, “I tried my bestest to say his name… Buh he still yells at me.”

“I know you did Harry, but Professor Snape just didn’t like all the names you called him.” Draco said, “Let’s just forget about it okay? It wasn’t your fault; his name was hard to say anyway.”

“Uh huh… I didn’t means to.” Harry hiccupped. Draco sighed and dropped another kiss on top of Harry’s head. He’s been doing that a lot lately, Draco noticed. But he didn’t care.

Draco pulled the sitting toddler closer to him; he turned his head to the side and used his right foot to hook a stool. When he dragged the stool close enough, Draco lifted Harry off his lap and plopped the sad looking toddler on top of it.

“You’re going have to sit there during class,” Draco told the toddler when Harry looked at him questioningly after putting him on the stool. “You can’t run around alright?”

“Why nots?” Harry whined, “I no wants to sit here all da time!” His lip was stuck out stubbornly and once again his little arms were crossed in front of his chest. “S’not fair!”

“What if you get hurt? There will be lots of big… kids standing around. They might drop something or you could fall. Not to mention we would be working with fire.” Draco said, tickling under Harry’s chin. “If you got hurt, I will be… sad.”

Draco made a sad face at the toddler; Harry giggled and leaned forward, his arms stretched out. Draco took those small hands and pulled Harry into his lap; the toddler then wrapped his arms around Draco’s middle.

“Dway no sad; I pwomise not to runs awound.” Harry said seriously, “Smile Dway!” Harry flashed a huge grin at the blond. Draco couldn’t help but laugh at Harry’s antics; he ruffled Harry’s already messy hair.

“You promise?” Draco asked; Harry nodded and snuggled into Draco’s chest. “I’ll give you some parchment to draw on later; how does that sound?”

“Kay. I’m gunna dwall pwetty picters. I’m gunna dwall me and you!” Harry said happily; he first pointed at himself then at Draco.

“Are you going to draw me nicely?” Draco asked the child. Harry tilted his head back until he was looking at Draco upside down.

“Yups, I dwalls you pwetty cus Dway is always pwetty.”

Draco felt his face heat up when Harry called him ‘pretty’. But then he remembered it’s just a toddler talking; it didn’t mean anything. If it was the normal aged Harry however… the blond shook his head to clear his thoughts. Grown up Harry would never call him ‘pretty’ or any other words along that line.

Draco then placed a hand on his chest and gasped, which made Harry smiled.

“Well, I’m flattered. That was the first time anybody called me pretty.”

Harry’s laughter resonated around the whole classroom.

HPDMHPDM

By the time Slytherins and Gryffindors alike started filing into the classroom, Harry was already back on his stool, doodling away. Draco had peeked at Harry’s drawing and chuckled when he saw two black stick figures. One was shorter than the other and Draco assumed the shorter one was Harry.

‘Well I guess it’s better than being drawn as a blob.’

Harry lifted his black crayon off the paper and stared down at his drawing. When he turned his head, he found his Dway watching him with a small smile on his face.

“The picture is beautiful, Harry. Keep it up.” Draco told the child encouragingly.

Harry beamed at his guardian and turned back to the parchment; he started to draw a lumpy cloud near the top of the paper.

Draco shook his head and took out his Potions book, a few pieces of parchment, his quill, and a bottle of black ink. Occasionally, Gryffindors walked by his table; they would stare and Draco would glare right back at them. When the classroom was almost filled, Malfoy scanned the room and found Granger and the Weasel sitting behind him. Weasley was looking absolutely livid while Granger only had a frown on her face. Draco smirked and actually gave them a brief nod before turning back to the front of the classroom. His lips quirked when he heard Granger gasped, and growling from Weasley.

When Snape popped out from his office, the whole class got quiet; Draco could see that the Potions Professor was still in a foul mood, if the heavy scowl was anything to go by. Severus glared at the whole class and his glare lasted longer when his eyes fell on Draco and Harry, who was oblivious to everything around him. Suddenly, Harry let out a giggle and Draco turned to see what happened. On the parchment, it seemed Harry had just finished drawing a sun with a happy face on it. He heard soft whispers and some snickering coming from the Slytherins and Gryffindors alike. Draco gave Harry a pat on the head and turned his attention back at Snape.

“Today, each and every one of you will make a potion from the textbook.” Snape told his class. “Choose one from pages between one hundred seventy-four and three hundred fifty-six. Think of this as an opportunity to make your pathetic grades higher.” Snape paused and sneered before looking pointedly at Longbottom. “You have one hour to finish your task!”

Every student began flipping through their textbooks, trying to look for the easiest potion they can find in those pages. It was never smart to waste time in Snape’s class; the more time they have the better. Draco shrugged and turned to page two hundred forty. Right on that page was a description on how to make a Scar-Vanishing potion. Silver eyes scanned down the page; this potion wasn’t particularly hard and Draco decided he would make this potion. Seeing that Harry was still happily making blobs on his paper, Malfoy got off his seat and went to the cupboards that held all the needed ingredients.

Harry drew one last blue line on his drawing before looking up. His green eyes turned round when he saw that Draco wasn’t next to him anymore. The toddler started whimpering, his head turning in search of the blond. When Harry found Draco—-in the far right side of the room—-he let out a giggle and was about to get off from his stool so that he can run to Draco. But then, the brunet remembered how Draco specifically told him not to. Harry stopped fidgeting on the stool and pouted. He spun around—-on his bum-—until was facing a bushy haired girl. Said girl smiled at him warmly; Harry waved shyly at her and smiled.

“Hello Harry,” The girl greeted; Harry tilted his head to the side and blinked at her.

“How you knows my name?” Harry asked; the girl frowned for a second before it turned back into a small smile.

“I heard Mal-—Draco calling you Harry so I assumed that was your name.”

“It is!” Harry beamed, “Wat’s your name?”

“You can call me Hermione.”

“Her… mini?” Harry tried to say her name but once again it was too hard. “I no say it… Can I call you Mini?”

Hermione laughed and nodded, “Sure, I know my name is very hard to say.”

Harry giggled and looked at the boy next to Mini; he was looking at Harry with bright blue eyes.

“Who you?” Harry asked, pointing right at Ron, “And your hair is weally red.”

Ron chuckled and smoothed his hair back, “I’m Ron, Mini’s friend.” Ron smirked at Hermione and she elbowed him hard on his ribs.

“Won? I likes you! I likes Mini, too. You both nice like Dway.” Harry smiled at the redhead and Hermione before frowning again. “Dway s’not back.”

“He’s getting his things for making his potion, Harry.” Hermione told the toddler.

“Dway told me about Poshuns. He said he tells me when I’m older.” Harry nodded proudly; he clapped his small hands together when Draco was walking back to their table. “Ohh, looky! Dway’s coming!” Harry was so happy that his Dway was back he was bouncing on top of his stool.

Hermione and Ron shared a look with each other before looking back to see Draco walking slowly, his arms full of bottles and vials. The stormy eyes were staring right back at them, but there was no malice in them.

“Thank you for keeping Harry occupied Granger, Weasley.”

HPDMHPDM

When Draco gathered all his needed ingredients, he turned back towards his table and found Harry chatting animatedly to Granger and Weasley. He smiled softly when he heard Harry shortening Granger’s name. At least this time, it wasn’t as bad as what he did to Snape’s name. Draco almost laughed when he heard Harry commenting on Weasel’s hair. Then Harry’s green eyes landed on him and the toddler started clapping happily.

“Ohh, looky! Dway’s coming!”

For a moment, Draco was worried that Harry was going to bounce right off the chair so he hurried over to the excited toddler. Even though the stool wasn’t all that high for seventeen year olds, it’s a mountain for Harry. Draco passed by the redhead and Granger and gave them a curt nod.

“Thank you for keeping Harry occupied Granger, Weasley.”

Hermione looked taken aback while Ron just scowled. Draco could care less and walked the rest of the way to a jumpy Potter.

“Harry, were you bothering Gra—Hermione and Ron?” Draco asked; he set his ingredients down on the work table and bent down to retrieve a medium sized cauldron. Harry stopped bouncing and tried to peer under the table.

“They nice-nice. I says hi and they talks to me.” Harry replied; he sat up straight when Draco’s head came back up and was holding a cauldron. “Wat’s that blacky pot?”

“It’s where I make the potion,” Draco answered; he placed the metal cauldron on top of the stove-like area and made a fire.

“You make poshuns? Can I helps?” Harry put on another angelic smile; Draco rolled his eyes and set the ingredients in order of use.

“I don’t know… You might make a mess.”

“No I not!” Harry pouted, “I wants to help you.” Harry’s eyes were tearing up and his small lips started trembling.

Draco sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. “Fine… When I ask you for something, you hand it to me okay?”

“Kay!”

“You are not going to put anything into the… pot, understand?”

“Yes Dway.”

“If you’re going to be a bad boy, you’re going to sit on the stool, doing absolutely nothing, until the class is over.”

“Buh--!”

“No buts, Harry.”

The toddler sighed dejectedly and nodded. “Yes Dway, I be good.”

‘Merlin I sounded just like a mother…’

Hermione giggled behind them while Ron snorted; Draco gave them a withering glance. Hermione sent him a sheepish smile and shrugged her shoulders. Ron, on the other hand, merely looked away. Malfoy turned back to his things and found Harry staring intently at the ingredients. They were purple and red and some were nasty looking. It’s no wonder that they captured Harry’s attention.

“Well, Harry, potions tend to smell a bit. You might want to cover your small nose.”

Harry looked up at Draco questioningly, “They smells bad?”

“Yes, they do.”

“Welps, you not puts hand on nose then I not do it!” Harry said firmly, “I is big boy!”

Draco shrugged and started on his base. Ten minutes passed and finally, Draco was ready to put in the first ingredient, bat wings. Malfoy had taken the time and set every bottle close to Harry so that the toddler wouldn’t knock anything over. He also made sure that Harry wasn’t anywhere near the fire.

“Harry, can you give me the first jar please?”

Harry grinned when Draco asked him to do his first task. Not wanting to disappoint, Harry grasped the first jar in the line of bottles and held it close to his body until Draco stretched his hand out to receive it. The blond nodded in thanks and he was quite proud that Harry did exactly he was asked to do. This continued on, until all of the ingredients were correctly added into the potion. By this time, it was starting to smell like overcooked cabbage mixed with wet mud. Draco, who was used to such smells, didn’t make any comments. Harry, however, was immediately green in face.

“Ewwwwwww! Poshuns stinky!” Harry cried and covered his nose with his hands. He glared up at Draco and pointed at the steaming cauldron. “Dway, that shtinks!”

Draco chuckled and kept on stirring his potion, “I did say that it was going to smell bad. But you said you were a big boy and didn’t care.”

Harry uncovered his nose and instead, scrunched it up and stuck out his tongue at the tall blond. Draco laughed softly and tapped Harry’s nose. The brunet giggled but nonetheless still hated the smell.

“Bleh…” Harry turned away from Draco’s potion and spun around to Hermione’s table. She looked at Harry through the pillar of steam from her cauldron.

“Mini, your poshun stinky too!”

Hermione laughed, “Well, all potions are not pleasing to our noses.”

“They taste mighty bad as well.” Ron added; he was jabbing his ladle at his potion.

Harry made a face and decided right there and then that he did not like ‘Poshuns’ at all.

When it was time for Draco to bottle his potion, he asked Harry to give him the empty vial he had left near the ingredients. Harry gave it to him without question and watched silently as the blue liquid made ‘plop plop’ sounds when Draco ladled it in. After putting a stopper on, Draco walked up to Snape’s desk and put the vial inside a box. Severus merely looked up at his student before going back to grade some first year’s essay. After taking about fifteen minutes to clean up his mess, Draco picked Harry up and placed the small child on the ground. Harry ‘humphed’ and rubbed his bottom; it was sore for sitting on the stool for so long.

“Let’s go love, time to go to my next class.” Draco held out his hand and Harry immediately took it.

“Wat class you have Dway?”

“Charms, it’s not too fun in there and you have to be very quiet or the professor will get mad.”

“Oh…”

As they walked by Hermione and Ron, Harry waved at them. Granger and Weasley returned the gesture; Hermione looked at Draco and smiled.

“Thank you for taking care of him, Malfoy.” Hermione said, “It seems Harry doesn’t remember me or Ron at all… If he was placed in our care, I think Harry would be so afraid of us. I guess Harry’s really happy to be with you. So… Thanks.”

Draco didn’t know how to answer the bushy haired girl so all he did was nod.

“Well Granger, I have to go now or I’ll be late to class. Maybe someday I’ll let you baby-sit Harry.” Draco looked down at the toddler and smiled at him. “Ready to go?”

“Yea!” Harry giggled and pulled Draco away; he turned back one last time and saw Snape looking at them. “Buh-bye Pwovesir Slaps!”

“MALFOY! Teach that child!” Snape roared.

Draco groaned, again, and swiftly pushed Harry out the door before Snape could aim a hex at them. When the blond and Harry left the class, the rest of the students were nervously glancing at their irritated professor. Without having Snape telling them, they all fled the classroom in record speed. Ron shook his head and bemusement once they were outside of the dungeons.

“Professor Slaps? I think Harry just brightened my day.”

HPDMHPDM