On the other hand, potions that didn't require high levels of concentration meant his mind had begun to wander elsewhere.
Where was the boy? Was he spending Christmas Eve alone, or with the Granger girl?
He sneered – judging by their recent interaction, she was not likely to be much company.
Finally clearing the station, the potions master began to collate the ingredients he needed for the Pepperup, but before he could begin to finely chop the Valerian root, he stopped and put down his knife. His heart wasn't in it.
Before he could stop himself, he had started to think back to this time last year – the boy, giddy with the magic of Christmas he was experiencing for the first time, his eyes full of wonder finding the bedroom the headmaster had created for him, the way he'd planted himself on Snape's lap and asked to be read a story…
That time felt like light years away, now. And it felt like more than a grounding and a shouting match between the two of them was to blame.
Perhaps, Severus thought to himself, as he abandoned the Pepperup project and left the potions lab, the boy had sensed the reason why the blood wards were weak. Having spent time amongst the Weasley family at the end of the summer break, Harry had realised that he had lumbered himself with a less-than-fit guardian, who had very little to offer him. He had come to the realisation that the potions master was not cut out to be his father – a notion that Severus had, in fact, attempted to press upon him during his first year, before the boy's relentless pestering and unnatural attachments had ground him down.
Yes, that must be it.
It would only be a matter of time now until the child vocalised it – made his escape to the Weasleys, or some other wholesome wizarding family, and moved on with his life.
And him? He could go back to being the Dungeon Bat, the terrifying potions professor that every child feared.
Stopping in front of the small liquor cabinet in his quarters, Severus Snape exhaled and reached for the fire whiskey.
And that was when it happened