In a word, Arthur James Potter-Snape comes out. To "Daddy" and "Papa." Heh.

Yep - expect more screwball Potter-Snape Family humor. I've been messing with this idea for a while, discussing it with Frances in chat. I hope it works out fine.

Considering the day I had, I think we need it. *grins*



Arthur Comes Out
by Darth Stitch a.k.a. Jedi Skysong

DISCLAIMER: Harry and Snape belong to JKR, who, I'm sure, would NEVER ever dream up of this universe for my two favorite literary characters. *snicker* About the only thing here that's technically mine is the idea for the story and the Potter-Snape kids.

***

The thing that one must remember about little Arthur Potter-Snape was that he was very set in his opinions.

His Daddy claimed that this was a trait he got wholesale from his Papa, while his Papa was of the opinion that Daddy was no less "mule-headed" in his views. His oldest sister Katerina would roll her eyes at their "silly parents" because arguments like this one often ended with one father kissing the other one to "shut him up."

Which made Arthur go "ewww!" and his other sister Waverly giggle.

Arthur could never ever understand why the girls liked kissing stuff and indeed, were delighted when it came up in the stories Daddy or Papa read to them. Papa would always murmur darkly about "convent school" and Daddy would always roll his eyes and tell Arthur that he wouldn't mind the kissing stuff one day. Arthur declared that he would always think that the "kissing stuff" was "icky" and that he couldn't imagine a time when he would change that opinion.

"Well," Daddy told him. "That's going to happen when you grow up."

In that case, Arthur answered, "I don't EVER want to grow up!"

Papa raised his eyes heavenwards and said, "If only that were so."

And Daddy laughed and laughed.

Daddy did take him aside and explained to him that all children grew up one day and that was another reason why birthdays, which was a very important subject in the Potter-Snape household, were invented. If Arthur didn't want to grow up, then he could never never EVER celebrate another birthday again. Arthur pondered that one and said that since he didn't want to miss his birthdays, he was going to have to resign himself to growing up after all.

This time, it was Papa who laughed.

When Arthur turned six, which was a few months after his sister Waverly did, everyone was making a very great fuss over the two of them. Grandma Minerva said that "they were growing very quickly" and that it wasn't very long until they would join their sister Katerina and study at Hogwarts with all the older chidlren.

Arthur had asked her what growing up was going to be like and she laughed and held him close and told him that he would go to school, just like his oldest sister and get into all sorts of trouble like his Daddy and Papa.

Papa, of course, said that he NEVER ever got into as much trouble as Daddy did when Daddy was at school. Daddy spluttered and said "OI!" the way he always did when Papa got him good but Papa shut up when Grandma Minerva said that SHE knew a lot of stories when Papa got into just as many scrapes as Daddy did....at which point Papa gave his most Evil Glare, the one that used to send the older children scurrying.

It looked like Grandma Minerva got Papa good that time.

And then, Grandma added with a teasing glint in her eyes, she told him that maybe one day Arthur would find a nice girl or boy that he really really liked and that he would probably end up having kids and a family of his own just like Papa and Daddy did and Merlin help Grandma when THAT happened.

Arthur then said that he'd find a nice boy just like Daddy, thank you very much, which sent all the adults into gales of laughter.

Arthur had a very well-developed sense about how things were supposed to be and so he had decided, when he was much much older...maybe as old as Daddy was, he would marry a boy - because that was what Daddy did and in Arthur's world, this was the way of things.

Which was why he was very bewildered when his oldest sister Katerina began acting all swoony and silly over a BOY. Because in Arthur's mind, of course, he thought that Katerina should marry a girl. Papa and Daddy seemed really annoyed at the whole business - Papa was especially grouchy and was heatedly discussing "convent school" with Daddy. Daddy however, had mentioned to Papa that he would hex The Boy's gonads off if he broke Katerina's heart.

Which The Boy did and made Katerina cry for days on end. She had told him off in fine style, of course, because she had learned that The Boy was only interested in her because she was "Harry Potter and Severus Snape's Daughter" - a very silly, shallow reason indeed. But she did cry in private, which her family couldn't help but see. Waverly and Katerina had long talks about it and both Papa and Harry, despite their anger at The Boy, were very comforting.

Arthur took it upon himself, of course, to hex That Boy and hex him good. Because nobody hurt his sisters. Ever.

Arthur was pleased to see that it took That Boy the better part of two months to get rid of the curse.

But in researching that curse, Arthur also found out something about boys and girls and how babies were made by mothers and fathers, which confused him very muchly as he knew he only had TWO fathers and no mother at all. Papa had to sit him down and explain the matter to him.

Arthur, however, was stubbornly insistent that he would rather make babies with another boy, one day, just like Papa and Daddy did.

When Arthur turned fourteen, something very odd began to happen to him.

He was, admittedly, very much Papa's son in many ways, not the least of which being his rather "prominent" nose. And by the time Arthur was a teenager, he was known for his irascible temper and sharp tongue, which made many of his own year-mates nickname him "Snape Jr." Arthur unfortunately had little patience with most of his age group who spent their time doing silly, unimportant things.

But then, he began to notice some of the girls.

Well, one girl in particular.

There was something in her smile and in the challenging flash of her eyes, which began to haunt Arthur's dreams. But more, he rather enjoyed the fact that she was one of the few people he could have a decent, delightful conversation with.

"It means that she snarks back and YOU like it," said Waverly, rolling her eyes.

In any case, Arthur knew he was in for trouble when, for the very first time, he exploded a cauldron in Potions class.

"Shocked" was far too inadequate a word to describe Arthur's Papa then.

"You know this potion inside and out, young man," Papa said sternly as Arthur served detention. "What in Merlin's name happened?"

Arthur was miserable. How could he answer that he was distracted by That Girl? That he liked her. As in....really LIKED her. That all he needed to make his day was to see her smile at him and so he usually did little nice things for her that would give him that smile. That sometimes, he would dream of holding her hand and even....kissing her.

That he worried that if he ever told her how he really felt, that she would laugh at him and that he would be just as miserable as Katerina had been. That he couldn't find the words to tell her, because the first thing out of his mouth was usually a good snark so she could snark back at him!

This wasn't right! He was supposed to like boys! His parents were going to be so disappointed in him...

But Arthur couldn't really help it. His days were filled with thoughts of That Girl, which distracted him terribly from his studies and concerned his parents very much. And finally, Daddy hauled Arthur in for A Very Serious Talk.

Confronted by his worried fathers and after weeks of sullen behavior and general moodiness, Arthur finally made his confession.

He liked girls. That was very definite. He liked one particular girl and he didn't understand why that was so, when he always thought he would like one particular boy in the end. But there it was.

He hung his head and said that he hoped his parents were not disappointed.

Arthur was rather surprised when Daddy threw his arm over Arthur's shoulders and began to laugh. Papa was even smiling openly - a rare occasion for him.

And his parents told him that they would never be disappointed if Arthur chose to like girls or boys. "If you love her and she loves you back and you are happy, then we're happy. That's the important thing," Daddy told him.

"Whatever you choose, we will always love you," Papa said then. "Nothing will ever change that."

And for Arthur, that was all he needed to hear.

But as for That Girl...well, that is a story for another time.

-end-

A/N: *giggles*