The Gifted Apprentice (A Severitus Story)

Chapter 16: Happy Little Family

Snape awoke with a start, disoriented. It took him a moment to take in his surroundings and realize he had fallen asleep in the armchair in Llewelyn's cottage. Dammit. He looked up at the clock, he'd been asleep for over an hour.

He stood up and rubbed the back of his neck, moving his head side to side to relieve the slight cramp.

It was nearly 2:00pm. Remembering he would need to prepare dinner later, he walked into the kitchen to see if he could make do with anything already laying around. He really wasn't really in the mood to go grocery shopping today.

Searching through the cabinets, he found several cans of beans and tomatoes. He opened the freezer hoping to find some frozen meat or vegetables, but it was empty save for a few ice trays.

After browsing through the spices, he figured he could hobble together a vegetarian chili. It wouldn't be anything elaborate, but it would do. Then he and Harry would still have time to do some school work and have an easy evening.

He walked back to Harry's room and gently opened the door. Harry was curled up on his side, still asleep. He was tempted to let him sleep a bit longer, but he wanted him to go to bed at a reasonable hour.

He knocked on the open door gently. "Time to get up, Potter."

Harry moaned a bit and rolled over.

"I want you up and in the kitchen in fifteen minutes to start your school work." Snape closed the door, hoping Harry would do as he was told.

Back in the kitchen, Snape put on the kettle and opened the back door. He took a quick stroll around the back garden. Even though they were half a mile from the shore, he could smell the salty sea air and feel the ocean breeze. He took a deep breath in, enjoying the fresh air and the quiet calm.

While it wasn't quite warm, it wasn't too cold either, so he left the backdoor open while he puttered around in the kitchen, preparing a tray of tea and biscuits.

He put the tea set on the kitchen table and poured himself a cup while he waited for Harry. Just as he was about to get up and check on the boy, Harry came barrelling out of his room with his books in his hands.

Harry dumped the books unceremoniously on the kitchen table. "I'm here," he said breathlessly. He plopped down in a kitchen chair and put both of his hands on the table.

"So it appears. As subtle as a bull in a china shop," Snape replied silkily. "Take a moment to compose yourself. We'll have tea and then get started." Snape opened a box of UHT milk he found in the cupboard. While he drank his tea black, he knew Harry liked milk.

Harry poured himself a cup and stirred in some milk and sugar. He dipped a biscuit into his tea and let it linger until it got soft. He popped it quickly in his mouth before it fell apart. He looked up at Snape and wiped a small drizzle of liquid as it slid down his chin.

"Charming," Snape said before continuing. "It will be a short day. I want us to take a walk before dinner. It's nice outside, it will be good to stretch our legs after a long day in the car." Snape sipped his tea and nodded at the school books. "Wipe your hands and then pull out your herbology book. We'll spend tomorrow morning going through the gardens, so it would be good to review."

Harry groaned slightly as he pulled out the book. "I hate herbology. It's so boring."

"Stop whinging. It's extremely important to have a strong foundation in herbology if you want to be good at potions." Snape scooted himself closer to the table so he could see Harry's book clearly.

They spent the next hour and a half going through an herbology lesson. Harry was surprised how quickly the time went with Snape talking him through the chapters and asking him questions as they went along. It was a drain on the Potions Master, but he recognized that it was a better use of time to walk Harry through the lessons rather than leave him to study on his own.