Family Session One: 27th of December 1993
"Severus! Come in, have a seat. And this must be Harry?"
Michael smiled at the brooding teenager skulking in the doorway as his guardian, Severus Snape, took a seat on the sofa in his office.
He had met Severus before when the man came to him seeking answers for his wards moods. Michael had been fairly confident in his tentative diagnosis of Manic-Depressive Illness for the teen and he would be lying if he said he wasn't eager to explore that more. He had never had a patient as young as Harry who, from what Severus had said, displayed such obvious signs.
"Harry, come sit," Severus said. Michael could hear the irritation in the man's voice and assumed, based on Harry's narrow eyed glare, that coming to therapy had not been Harry's idea.
Harry stalked over to the couch and sat on the edge. He crossed his legs and adopted a terrific look of boredom. Harry wouldn't be his first reluctant teen patient, and he wouldn't be his last.
"So!" Michael clapped his hands together and smiled at the pair. "Tell me- what made you guys decide to follow up in therapy?"
Over the summer Severus had made it sound like Harry would never consent to therapy. Michael had worried at the time that Severus needed to push more as the guardian as Harry went untreated for his ailments. So he was surprised, and pleased of course, when his assistant informed him that Severus had booked multiple appointments over the next week and a half for Harry.
Severus looked at the tight lipped boy next to him and sighed.
"Harry's depression has gotten worse recently," he said. "I would prefer it if he told you about his difficulties himself though I will inform you if he chooses not to."
Michael ignored the threatening hiss that Severus gave to Harry and gave the young man a reassuring smile.
"Alrighty then Harry. I know therapy seems like a crock. Who wants to talk about their feelings, eh?" He chuckled lightly as his own overused joke before getting serious. "But it can sometimes help to have a sounding board for your thoughts and feelings."
Unlike most teenage boys, Harry did not roll his eyes and huff out an argument. He just stared at Michael as if he were a slug beneath his trainers. Michael politely watched him for a few minutes, quite used to the uncomfortable silence of reluctant clients, before turning back to Severus.
"Alright, well, Severus, why don't you go ahead and tell me how Harry's depression has impacted you?"
"Me?" Severus looked surprised that he was being brought in to the conversation. Michael found that it usually sparked conversation from most clients when their parents or guardians set a good example. "This session is for Harry," Severus said with a roll of his eyes.
"It might help him if he could hear how you've been impacted," Michael pointed out logically, undeterred by the cool tone Severus used. "So- what makes you believe Harry is depressed?"
Severus sighed again and looked incredibly put upon by the question.
"Harry has had a noticeable lack of interest in life recently. He has not been sleeping, he picks at his food, he does not do the activities he used to enjoy, and he has developed other concerning behaviors since about mid-November."
Michael nodded along as Severus listed the behaviors he has seen. He agreed that it seemed like a classic description of depression. The length of time surprised him though. His other Manic-Depressive patients experienced bouts of mild to severe depression that typically lasted two to four weeks. Michael wondered if there were any outside causes that would be lengthening the time Harry has spent in his stage.
"Have there been any recent changes in either of your lives?" he asked. "Any thing that may have been an influence in these behaviors?"
Harry glared at Severus, who, interestingly, glared back at him. He made a note of a possible need for an increase in affection in the household.
"Harry's godfather was recently released from prison," Severus said. "It could be a factor."
"Or it could be the dementors," Harry muttered sullenly.
"Dementors?" Michael asked, interested in the term. "What is dementors?"
Severus gave Harry an even darker glare and Michael marked out his previous note. Their household had a definite need for an increase in affection.
"It is a slang term that the students use for prison guards," Severus said slowly. "We had quite a few of them at our school and they... they did not create a positive environment."
Harry snorted derisively at this, amused by Severus' description.
"Why were there prison guards at your school?" Michael asked curiously. "You both reside at a boarding school during the school term, right?"
"Correct," Severus said. "Over the summer Harry's godfather had escaped from prison. And they sent the prison guards to the school to safeguard it before his name was recently cleared."
Michael made a small note of Severus' slight sneer as he discussed Harry's godfather.
S. appears to feel threatened by the godfathers claim to Harry.
"And you believe the prison guards made you feel worse Harry?"
Michael couldn't actually imagine a peaceful environment that would be conductive to learning with prison guards roaming around.
"Yep," Harry said blinking his face back to his previously bored mask.
"It must have been stressful, the situation with your godfather. Would you like to talk about that?"
Harry curled his lip at him and sat back silently.
"Okay then," Michael turned back to Severus with a smile. "If Harry doesn't feel up to talking just yet, why don't you tell me about those other concerning behaviors?"
Severus gave Harry an apologetic look before turning a solemn face to Michael.
"Harry has been self-harming," he said bluntly. "And he wrote a suicide note."
Michael's eyebrows flew up to his hairline. Why would this not be the first thing Severus brought up?
Despite S caring for H mental health- he prioritizes his bond with H over his safety.
Harry began hissing at the man, his cheeks were red and his gaze was furious.
H feels betrayed by S bringing up self-harm & SI, he scrawled quickly on his notepad.
"Harry," he says gently. "Is this true?"
Harry ends his sibilant hissing and turns his angry glare on Michael.
"No," he spits out. "He's a liar."
Severus snorts, "I thought my honesty was my one redeeming quality?"
"You don't have any redeeming qualities," Harry says hatefully.
Michael takes careful notes as the two begin arguing heatedly.
"Oh?" Severus drawls. "I suppose you're free to reach out to your godfather if you would care for a change of custody."
S. should not bring up H's guardianship status during disagreements, Michael writes quickly.
"Maybe you should fuck off," Harry says. "You and him both."
"Maybe you should watch your language," Severus growls.
H does not like his godfather any more than S does.
"Since he keeps coming up-" Michael interrupts the two, keeping his composure despite the identical glares being aimed his direction. "Would either of you like to discuss the obvious animosity towards Harry's godfather?"
"No," Severus growled.
Harry perked up and smiled innocently, a look Michael may have believed if his eyes weren't suddenly twinkling mischievously.
"Sure," he offered. "Snape hates him because he made his life hell in school, they were classmates you know. But then Snape went out of his way to clear his name, wasn't that awfully kind of him?"
Michael holds down his amusement at Harry's careful manipulations. He found a topic Severus was uncomfortable discussing and threw the other man under the bus in an attempt to avoid discussing the suicide note and self-harm.
H displays possible signs of sociopathy- to be explored in individual session.
"So why do you dislike him?" Michael asks Harry.
Harry blinked at him, momentarily disarmed by the question.
"Left me alone, didn't he? Went and landed himself in prison when I was a baby and didn't give a damn about me."
H obvious signs of attachment/abandonment issues.
"That must be incredibly frustrating," Michael empathized. "Did you tell him how much it hurt to be abandoned by him?"
"Told him I was going to kill him," Harry shrugged. "Figured it's the same difference, innit?"
Does H display signs of murderous thoughts or trying to get a shock reaction? Michael wrote quickly while maintaining a calm demeanor.
"Shut up," Severus hissed.
S believes H has intent to harm others. Covering for him?
"Thought you wanted me to talk?" Harry smiled again.
The boy was incredibly manipulative. Michael checked the time and felt a small amount of relief that there was only twenty minutes remaining in the session.
"I'm glad you're talking Harry," Michael said honestly. "But I'd like to talk more about the note you wrote."
"I don't see a note," Harry said flatly. "Suppose it doesn't exist then, yeah?"
"Dear Luna, I hope you aren't mad at me. I think you will be and I'm sorry-"
"SHUT UP!" Harry screamed at Severus, his face now a dark red color. "That was private!"
Severus just quirked an eyebrow at him, "I thought it never existed?"
H does not handle self-perceived betrayal well.
"Harry," Michael said gently, interrupting the oncoming explosion. "Why are you so upset right now?"
"Why am I upset?" Harry looked at Michael incredulously. His green eyes were hazy with what Michael thought was probably anger and some other unprocessed emotion, shame maybe?
"Because he invaded my privacy! Read a letter to my friend, and was going to quote the bloody thing to you!"
Michael nodded as Harry vented. Teens were incredibly private people. Yet they had no understanding of why privacy must sometimes be broken.
"So you feel betrayed by Severus right now?" he prodded gently.
"Pft," Harry scoffed. "I don't feel anything."
Michael withheld a sigh.
H denies any feelings aside from anger.
He turned his attention to Severus. They were down to ten minutes and he couldn't end the session without an assurance of Harry's safety.
"What measures are in place to prevent any possible attempts of Harry hurting himself?"
"We have returned home where I am able to monitor his activities more closely," Severus said, both men ignoring the teens scoff. "I have also taken his knives from him-"
"Knives?" Michael interrupted, surprised. "Does Harry routinely carry knives?"
Severus had said before that Harry had been homeless for quite some time. It wasn't an unusual behavior in homeless youth, protection was needed badly in the streets. If Harry was still carrying them, it displayed a huge red flag that he was still feeling continuously threatened.
Safety issues- school or home?
"He does," Severus said evenly. "Until now I have been unwilling to fight with him over their use."
"Now that you're worried about his safety because you care about his health," Michael said, hoping to enlighten Harry to Severus' concerns. "Go ahead, what other measures have you put in place?"
Severus looked carefully down at Harry before turning a blank face back towards Michael.
"I believe removing his weapons, monitoring his behavior, and dragging him here is the most I can do."
S likely has cameras or other monitoring equipment unwilling to discuss in front of H.
Michael gave him an understanding nod.
"Harry, do you see why Severus is concerned?"
"Nope."
Michael wasn't sure if Harry was being purposefully obtuse or if he believed Severus had no reason to be concerned over a suicide note.
"Alright gentlemen," he said with a friendly, if a bit strained, smile. "I would like to see you both back this week. Perhaps for individual sessions?"
The look Harry gave both Severus and Michael clearly showed his intent on making another appearance.
But Harry was a former street kid. And Michael knew a few ways to convince them himself.
"Harry if you'd rather Severus just come to sessions and inform me of the issues himself, that's okay," he said cheerfully. "You don't have to be here for us to discuss you if it makes you uncomfortable."
"Oh I'll be here," Harry immediately said. He gave Severus a sharp smile. "But remember Snape, this was your idea."
"Severus is only concerned about you," Michael said gently. "And therapy is a safe place to explore any problems you're having in your life."
The timer went off and Harry and Severus both stood immediately. Michael offered them both his hand and was bemused as Harry made an odd remark on his way out the door;
"Suppose I can talk about the basilisk next time then? Since it's so safe here."
Michael didn't hear the exact words Snape responded with, but he recognized the irritated tone of exhaustion that many parents he's encountered in his work have. He suspected that Severus had quite a bit more to be exhausted by than most though.