Chapter Text

It was the very first day of Summer holidays and for the first time since he had started Hogwarts, Harry was thrilled to be going home. This would be the first year that he didn’t have to get on the train and head to King’s Cross. The first time that he didn’t have to be picked up by the Dursleys, or be handed a list of chores to start on immediately. The first time his books and his trunk wouldn’t be taken and locked away. He wouldn’t have to do his homework under the cover of darkness after his aunt and uncle had gone to bed. 

This summer he would be with his newly adopted dad at the Manor. He would do his homework in his bedroom, with all of his things surrounding him. He would do chores that earned him an allowance that he would get to spend on their trips to Diagon Alley. He would have Thursday Breakfasts at the cottage with Grandad Albus, Grandma Minnie, his Uncle Remus, and his dad. Ron would be coming to visit this summer and maybe Draco, too. They could play quidditch behind the manor until it got too dark to see. He would have tea after dinner every night and help Snape with potions when he wasn’t too busy having fun. 

And Harry was certain that he would be having a lot of fun this summer. 

Harry’s Godfather, Sirius, who had escaped from Azkaban prison last year, was now free and he and Harry had gotten to spend quite a lot of time together over the last few weeks. He had temporarily moved into Remus’s quarters at the school but that had only lasted until last week when he had found himself a flat in London. Harry hadn’t gotten to see his new place yet, but Sirius had told him that he could come visit whenever he wanted. Snape had raised an eyebrow at that but hadn’t said anything about it. 

Harry rolled over in his bed in Snape’s quarters, and looked up at the enchanted window. For a moment he was confused when he saw the sun shining brightly, already so high in the sky. He glanced at his watch and realized that it was already eleven forty! 

He threw off the covers and sprinted out of his bedroom and down the hallway. He stopped short when he saw his dad sitting in his favorite armchair; a book in hand. He didn’t even glance up at Harry as he said, “No socks on this morning, I see.”

Harry looked down at his bare feet, then back up to Snape. “It’s not that cold today.”

Snape closed his book with a snap. “It’s a dungeon, Harry. It’s always cold.” 

He stood up and headed for the kitchen. “Are you hungry? I kept your breakfast warm.”

Harry’s mouth nearly fell open in shock. “Hang on,” he said as he followed Snape. “Aren’t you going to say anything about me sleeping in all morning? And you never keep my food hot. You always tell me that I should have gotten up to eat it.” 

Snape turned around before crossing his arms as he leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen. “That’s not true.”

“Yes, it is,” Harry said matter-of-factly, matching his stance and tilting his head up so that he could look him in the eyes.

Snape huffed. Actually huffed out a breath before turning back around. “Well, in any case, I kept it warm today. And I didn’t say anything about you sleeping in because it’s the first day of the holidays and I thought that with everything that has happened over the last several weeks, you could use a few extra hours of sleep. Was I wrong?”

“Well… no,” Harry answered.

“Alright then,” Snape nodded towards the plate of food on the table. It was full of eggs, toast, beans, and sausage. Harry could see the steam still rising from it and he knew Snape had set a heating charm on it. “Are you going to eat or should I get rid of it?”

“I’ll eat it!” Harry said as he hurriedly sat down in his seat. 

Snape tapped the table and a glass of pumpkin juice appeared in front of Harry while a cup of tea appeared in front of his own seat. He sat down to drink it while Harry ate. 

“I’ve been thinking,” Harry said between mouthfuls of food.

“Merlin help us,” Snape said drily and Harry wasn’t sure if it was a jab at him for thinking or about his table manners. Either way, Harry sat up straighter and finished chewing his food before he spoke again.

“I was thinking,” he said again, “that this summer maybe Ron could come over for a visit. He hasn’t seen the manor yet.” 

Snape hummed in reply before taking a sip of his tea. “I suppose I could arrange something with Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. Providing that you behave and get your summer homework done without too much complaining.”

Harry nodded. “I will. I promise.” 

They sat in silence for a bit while Harry finished eating. When he was done, Snape cleared the table and they both stood up. 

“I’m going to my lab to work for awhile,” Snape said, “and no, you can’t help me today. You can however get dressed and then start packing whatever you wish to take home with you. We’ll be leaving first thing in the morning.”

“Can’t I do it later? I promise I’ll get it done, but I wanted to go and see Remus today.”

“You just saw Remus yesterday,” Snape replied, shaking his head. “Whatever you want to see him for can wait til later.” 

“No, it can’t. The full moon’s tonight and we’re leaving tomorrow.” 

“Harry, I’m not arguing with you on the first day of summer break. It will take you all day to pack so I want you to do that first. If by some small chance, you get finished by this afternoon, maybe you can visit with him then.”  

Harry sighed as he dropped heavily onto the couch and crossed his arms. “You could just let me use magic and then it wouldn’t take long at all.”

“Harry.” Snape’s tone had taken on a stern edge and Harry knew he shouldn’t push the man any further. He bit the inside of his cheek and turned his head away from Snape. 

Behind him, he heard Snape let out a sigh. 

“Do you remember when you wanted to visit Hagrid last year and I told you to be back by a certain time but you weren’t?”

Harry’s brows drew up in confusion as he looked back at him. “Yeah, I lost track of time.”

Snape pointed a finger at him and said, “That had better not happen this time. You have until two o’clock and not a minute later. If you are not back inside these rooms by then, I will come find you and I’ll levitate you all the way back here. Is that perfectly clear?”

Harry stood up and quickly gave Snape a hug. “Clear. I won’t be late. I promise,” he said as he quickly headed off in the direction of his bedroom.

Snape looked after him before shaking his head. He wasn’t sure when he had gone so soft, but he was entirely sure that it was all Harry “bloody” Potter’s fault. 

Chapter Text

Chapter 2

As soon as Remus opened the door for Harry, he immediately noticed the cane in Remus’s hand. He looked back up at him with worried eyes. “Are you alright?”

Remus smiled and nodded. “Yes, yes, I’m fine. Come on in. You’ve seen me use a cane before.”

“Not lately,” Harry replied as Remus stepped aside and Harry walked past him and into the parlor.

“Well, I assure you, Harry, that it’s nothing to be worried about. I’m just feeling a bit weaker today.” 

Remus lowered himself into a plush armchair with a sigh. “Are you excited for classes to be over?” he asked as he waved his wand and a tray of tea and biscuits appeared on the table between them. 

Harry took his seat on the couch before reaching for a teacup. “I’d be more excited if Dad wasn’t already getting on to me about stuff.”

“Like what?” Remus took a sip of his tea and settled back into the chair.

“Like not wearing socks, and packing, and “Don’t be late, Harry or I’ll levitate you through the castle.” You’d think he would lighten up just a little now that it’s summer.”

Remus let out a laugh and the lines around his eyes crinkled. “That sounds about right. Did you know that he would do all of his summer school work within the first two weeks of being home?”

Harry shook his head. “He and Hermione would have gotten along well together. I’m sure he’ll want me to as well. Did you get your work done early?” 

Remus took a bite of a chocolate biscuit and swallowed it before saying, “Not as early as he did. Before my parents died, I would let it stretch out over the summer. Doing a little here and there. Sometimes at your dad’s house and between full moons. But once I was adopted, I started getting it done quicker. You can’t have Minerva McGonagall as a Mum without her being on you constantly to study and not put things off til later.” He finished the last of his biscuit and said, “Besides, they had this rule about not being allowed to visit with friends until all the summer work was finished.” 

Harry rolled his eyes. “I bet that’s what Dad will make me do.” 

“It’s not actually a bad habit to get into, Harry. I just didn’t agree at the time.”

Deciding that it was a good time to change the subject, Harry asked, “Did you go on Summer Holidays after the adoption?”

           “Sure,” Remus replied. “We went to the seaside or to a cottage in the country. We even went to America once, but that was a disaster and both me and Sev swore we would never go back.” 

“What happened?” Harry asked after taking a sip of tea. 

“We got into loads of trouble. The muggle police were involved.”

Harry’s eyes widened. “What happened?! This is a story I definitely need to hear!”

Remus laughed and shook his head. “Maybe on a day when the chances of Severus murdering me for telling you are a little more slim.”

“What?! You can’t just let that out and not give the rest!”

“Sorry, Cub. Now what about you? Have you picked a place for holidays yet?”

Harry groaned and let his head fall back against the couch cushions. “No. He said it was up to me and he gave me a bunch of options, but I’d rather just stay at the Manor.”

Remus’s brows knit together as he looked at his nephew. “Why? I thought you were excited to go somewhere.”

“Well I’m not now. That’s all.” He bit into the last biscuit as he pulled his legs up onto the couch and leaned against the arm. “It’s too much and I don’t want to do it.”

“Too much of what, Harry? Has something happened to change your mind?” 

Remus was growing concerned. Only last week Harry had seemed happy to be going on a trip, but now he looked as if the very idea was making him sick with dread. 

“It’s too much of everything,” Harry said quietly. He was staring at his hands in his lap as he spoke. “Too much time away when he could be home doing things he likes. And too much trouble to find things to do and see. Too much money that shouldn’t be wasted on me. I don’t need any of that. I just want to stay home but he doesn’t listen.”

“Ah,” Remus said, understanding more now that Harry had confessed to how he was really feeling. “I’m sorry, Harry, but I think you’re missing the point.” 

Harry looked up but he didn’t say anything and so Remus went on. “Severus wants to take you somewhere on holiday. He wants to spend time with you and give you an opportunity to do something you might not have had a chance to do before. You’re not being a burden on him. He doesn’t feel like he’s obligated to do this. He really wants to. Nothing that the two of you do, and no amount of money spent will be a waste to him because you will be making memories that you’ll have for the rest of your lives.”

Harry shook his head. “But I’m sure he has better things he would rather spend his money on.”

Remus rolled his eyes. “I doubt that very much. Believe me, before you came along, all he ever did was save or buy potions ingredients. It was all very boring.” 

Before Harry could reply, Remus’s mouth opened wide in a yawn and he slouched down a bit in his chair, stretching his legs out in front of him. “Honestly, Harry, you’d be doing him a favor by letting him take you somewhere. Have you noticed how pale he is? It’s from years and years holed up in stuffy dungeons.”

Harry grinned as Remus let his head fall back against the chair. He was awake, but only just barely. 

“So really,” Harry said as he watched his uncle, “the holiday is more for Dad than for me?”

Remus nodded once. “Sure. You wouldn’t want to deprive him, would you?”

“Course not,” Harry replied.

He sat back against the couch for a few minutes until he was sure that Remus was actually asleep. Then he got up and went down the hall to Remus’s room in search of a blanket. When he came back, he gently took Remus’s empty teacup from his hands and draped the quilt over him before quietly letting himself out.

When Harry got back to their quarters in the dungeons, Snape was nowhere in sight. Assuming that he was probably still working in the lab, Harry headed for his own bedroom, deciding to get started on packing. He would show Snape that he could get things done without having to be told over and over. 

Harry set to work on packing his books and school supplies first. He thought briefly about leaving them here, but he knew Snape would just make him come back for them.  

An hour passed and he was nearly finished with everything but his clothes when he heard the door to Snape’s lab open. A moment later he was standing in his doorway.

“You’re back early,” Snape said as he surveyed the mess that Harry was currently sitting in the midst of. 

Harry nodded. “Remus was tired. He fell asleep.” 

Snape’s brows knit together. “The moon is really affecting him this time. Perhaps I should check—”

“Relax, Dad,” Harry interrupted with a smile. “No need to go into full big brother mode. He’s fine.” 

Snape narrowed his eyes. “I wasn’t.”

“Sure,” Harry said as he stood up and stretched his arms high above his head. “I’m starving. Can we eat?”

Snape stepped back to let Harry pass and then followed him into the kitchen. 

“So, did you have a good time while you were there at least?” he asked before tapping the table with his index finger. Their lunch appeared with a small pop. 

Harry sat down and picked up his turkey sandwich before answering. “Yeah. Remus was just about to tell me about something that happened when the two of you were teenagers.”

“A riveting tale I’m sure,” Snape replied drily as he also sat down. 

“I bet it would have been. It was something about America and the muggle police.” 

Snape’s eyes narrowed. “I’m glad he fell asleep.” 

Harry smirked at him. “So then I guess you’re not going to tell me?”

“Not a chance.”

Harry shrugged before taking a bite of his sandwich. “That’s okay,” he said a moment later, “I’ll just ask Grandma when I see her next.” 

Snape made a mental note to warn her beforehand.

Snape and Harry stepped out of the floo the next morning and into the parlor of the Manor. Harry was thrilled to see that it hadn’t changed at all since the last time they had been there over the Christmas holidays. 

Snape waved his wand over both of their trunks and they disappeared, presumably up to their rooms. Harry wasn’t holding out much hope that his belongings would unpack themselves though and so he started to head towards the staircase. 

“Harry?” Snape called out before he could leave the parlor. “Have you decided on a holiday trip yet?”

Harry sighed. “Staying home is really not an option?”

Harry had talked with Snape the night before about his reservations about taking a trip and Snape had been quick to try and calm his worries, though Harry still wasn’t fond of Snape choosing to pay for everything.

Snape shook his head. 

“Fine,” Harry said as he rolled his eyes, “the seaside, then.”

Snape simply nodded, his lips turning up in a smile for the briefest of moments. “Alright. I’ll get everything settled.”

“When will we have to leave?”

“Whenever we’re ready. There’s no set time, Harry.”

Just then an envelope dropped onto the coffee table between them and Snape reached down to pick it up. After reading it he said, “Mum wants to know if we want to have dinner at the cottage tomorrow?”

Harry shrugged. “It’s fine with me,” he said before turning once more towards the staircase.

Snape watched him go before taking a seat in his armchair. 

After he had written his mother back to confirm their dinner plans, he sat back and relaxed in the chair. The school year was finally over and at last he could breathe. 

For the moment, there were no mass murderers chasing Harry. The adoption was final and Harry was officially his son. It was Summer holidays and they were going to enjoy a nice, long break, free from any drama, or secrets, or trouble. Everything was going to be fine and he and Harry would spend their time visiting the seaside, and catching up on some much needed time away.

Yes, this summer was going to be just what they needed after such a long and intense year. 

Or so he thought…

Chapter Text

It was the crying that pulled Snape from his sleep, but it was the strangled screams that had him sprinting toward Harry’s room. 

He threw open the bedroom door and rushed inside, the lanterns lighting themselves and sending out only a dim glow. Enough that he could see by but not enough that the brightness would bother Harry further. 

Harry was still asleep, thrashing about as he screamed. The blankets and sheets were a tangled mess around his arms and legs, only serving to hold him down and scare him even more. 

“Harry,” Snape said as he sat on the edge of the bed and began to work on pulling the blankets away from him. 

“Harry!” he said, louder. “Harry, you’ve got to wake up!”

He tried to shake Harry awake, but it only caused him to scream more. Whatever this nightmare was about, it wasn’t one of his usual terrors.  

Snape managed to free Harry’s arms and legs from the blanket just as Harry’s eyes snapped open, though instead of this calming Harry, it seemed to terrify him more when he didn’t immediately recognize where he was. 

He sat bolt upright in the bed as his chest heaved. Harry clasped a hand over his mouth, and Snape summoned a bucket just in time for Harry to lose his dinner into it. 

“Dad!”

“Harry,” Snape said, reaching out to him. He rubbed circles on his back and shoulders as he said, “I’m right here.” 

But Harry was sobbing so hard that he couldn’t hear him, and so Snape did the only other thing he could think of; he banished the bucket and moved to sit back against the headboard before he pulled Harry into his lap. He carefully wrapped his arms around the boy and held him close as he began to talk quietly to him as he rocked back and forth. 

Snape pushed Harry’s sweat-soaked hair back from his face as he said, “Shh, Harry, you’re safe. I’ve got you.” 

Slowly— ever so slowly— Harry began to calm down. He was leaning heavily against Snape’s chest, and he could hear his heart beating beneath the cotton t-shirt he wore. He focused first on that sound. The steady, ‘ba-dum, ba-dum,’ of Snape’s heart and the slow, in and out, of his breathing. He worked on matching it with his own, but the nightmare was still so close to the surface of his mind that he only managed a couple of deep, ragged breaths before his breathing became erratic again.

Snape continued to rock him. “It’s alright,” he whispered. “You’re here, in your room, and I’ve got you. Nothing can hurt you here, Harry.” 

Harry felt his dad’s arms wrapping solidly around him, and he managed to lift one hand to rest on Snape’s forearm. He tried focusing on that next. On the way that the skin felt beneath his palm and how the muscles there flexed when he shifted his arm to hold him tighter. 

Real. 

This was real. He was in his room with his dad. He wasn’t back there. Everything from his nightmare was fake, and he was safe. 

“That’s it,” Snape praised him. “Good job, Harry. Just keep breathing. In through your nose; out through your mouth.” 

Harry did as instructed, and this time, he was able to calm himself down even more. He began to relax just a bit as he continued to hold on to Snape’s arm, concentrating on his breathing as some of the tension eased away from his body. 

They sat that way for a while until Snape quietly asked, “I don’t suppose you want to talk about it?” 

Harry shook his head. He stared, transfixed, as the flame from a candle danced from its place across the room. His eyes felt gritty, and he lifted his arm to wipe at them until Snape summoned a wet cloth and held it out to him. Harry used it to clean his face as best he could before passing it back to Snape, who laid it on the bedside table, and it disappeared, to be replaced with a glass of water. 

“Here,” Snape said, reaching for the glass. “Why don’t you try to drink a bit?”

“My throat hurts,” Harry whispered, ignoring the glass. 

Snape nodded. “I know. Try anyway, please.” 

Harry sighed and slowly took a small sip, wincing as he swallowed the cool water. He took a few more before passing the glass back as well. 

“Do you want to try and get some sleep n—”

“No!” Harry shook his head. His hand fisted in the hem of Snape’s shirt. “No, please! Don’t leave!”

“Alright,” Snape said as he placed his hand around Harry’s. “Okay, Harry, I’m not going anywhere. We’ll just sit here for a bit. Would that be alright?” 

Harry nodded, relaxing back into Snape’s embrace. He thought that tomorrow he might feel embarrassed about sitting in his dad’s lap, but for tonight he would be content to remain there for a while longer. 

“Can you just talk about something? Anything to keep me awake, so I don’t fall asleep again.” 

Snape sighed heavily. It was only just after two in the morning, and Harry needed his sleep, but it wouldn’t do him any good if he had another nightmare. 

“What would you like me to talk about?” he asked.

Harry shrugged. “Anything.” Then, after a moment's thought, he added, “You could tell me the story about your trip to America.”

Snape scoffed. “You’re not going to forget that anytime soon, are you?” 

“Not a chance,” Harry murmured. He moved so that his back was against Snape’s chest, and Snape let his arms rest loosely around him. 

“I suppose if I don’t tell you, then Mum will, and she’ll make it seem entirely worse than it was.” 

Harry nodded. “You wouldn’t want that.”

“Don’t be cheeky, Harry.” Snape took a deep breath and let it out slowly before saying, “Alright. So this was the summer before our seventh year. We were sixteen, and it was going to be our first real holiday altogether. Dad had some Ministry meetings lined up in New York right after term ended, and Mum thought it would be nice if we all went along. Dad could go to his meetings, and then after, we would take the rest of the week and visit the city.”

“Had you ever been there before?” Harry asked.

“No. And neither had Remus, so you can imagine that we were excited about it. Especially since the Ramones were set to be playing at CBGB while we were there—”

“Hang on,” Harry interrupted. “ You know the Ramones?!”

“Yes,” Snape said, rolling his eyes. “Now, stop interrupting. Anyway, we had found out that they would be there, and we knew that Mum and Dad would never let us step foot in that club, so Remus gets the idea to borrow your father’s invisibility cloak. He tells him his plan, leaving me out of it, of course, and James was only too happy to lend it to him as long as Remus promised to bring him back an autograph.” 

“Did he?” Harry shifted as he fought back a yawn. 

“I’m getting there. Remus gets the cloak and packs it in his suitcase. Then the second night that we’re in New York, we sneak out of the hotel that we were staying in and go off into the city alone. We find the club and use the cloak to sneak in. Everything was going perfectly. We were having a great time. Until we weren’t.” 

“What happened?” Harry asked. 

“A police officer showed up just in time to see one of our new friends buying us drinks.” Snape felt heat rising in his cheeks just thinking about it. 

Harry laughed quietly. “And you tell me to stay out of the Firewhisky.” 

“And I’m going to keep telling you that until you’re of age.”

“Hypocrite,” Harry murmured.

“Brat,” Snape retorted. “Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?”

Harry nodded as he reached behind him where the blanket lay and pulled it up toward him. Snape waved his hand, and the blanket rose into the air before laying smoothly over top of him. 

“Well, it was pretty obvious that we weren’t supposed to be there, and when the officer came over, he introduced himself and quickly let us know that we could either let him take us back to our hotel or he could take us to the station. And for what it was worth, I voted for the station, but Remus being the insufferable Gryffindor that he is, had to go and give him the name of our hotel.” 

“What happened when he took you back? I bet Grandad and Grandma weren’t very happy.”

Snape cleared his throat. “They were… not pleased. They didn’t cut our holiday short, though. But we weren’t allowed out of their sight for the rest of the trip, and we were grounded for a big part of the summer.” 

“Was it worse than when you blew up the kitchen?”

“Half the kitchen,” Snape corrected, “but, yes, it was worse than that.” 

When Harry’s only response was a quiet hum, Snape settled a little more against the headboard. He knew that Harry had to be exhausted, and sure enough, after a few moments, his breathing evened out as he fell asleep. 

He waited for a while longer before attempting to move him, and even then, Harry whimpered at the loss of contact, so Snape sat down beside where Harry lay. Snape slowly carded his fingers through Harry’s dark hair as he silently cursed Vernon Dursley for everything he had done to strike such fear into Harry’s life. What he wouldn’t give to be able to repay him even a fraction of the damage he had caused Harry. 

After a while, Snape quietly stood up and moved away from the bed. 

As he walked past the desk, a piece of parchment caught his eyes, and he looked down. Written in Harry’s messy scrawl were the words, “Things to do on holiday. 1- Go swimming. 2- Build a sandcastle. 3- ?” 

Snape looked back at Harry’s sleeping form and began to think of all of the things they would do at the sea.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4

Snape and Harry arrived at the little cottage by the sea around lunchtime the next day. Harry had slept in, but when he had awoken, Snape had made sure that he ate something before they took the floo to the cottage. 

As soon as they put their bags away, Snape began walking around the cottage to set up the wards while Harry trailed behind him, asking questions about each of the spells he was using. 

The cottage had only two bedrooms, a small living room that connected with the kitchen, and a bathroom. There was a door in Harry’s room that opened out to the back of the cottage, and from there, it was only a short walk down the hill to the beach. 

“I could come in and out of this door whenever I wanted,” Harry said, smirking up at his dad.

Snape narrowed his eyes at the teenager. “You most certainly can not. You do not leave this cabin without me knowing, young man.”

Harry huffed as he lay back on his bed. He spread his arms out and stretched up toward his headboard. “When are we going to the beach though?” he asked.

Snape finished up the spell he was concentrating on before turning back to face Harry. He pointed his wand at Harry’s trunk and it opened, then a moment later, a pair of blue and gray swim trunks flew out of it and landed neatly on Harry’s bed. 

“Whenever you’re ready,” Snape said. 

Harry grinned as he scooped up the trunks and moved toward the bedroom door. He turned back before walking out and asked, “You’re not going to wear that are you?” 

Snape looked down at his usual robes, then back up to Harry. “What’s wrong with them?”

Harry’s eyes widened. “You can’t be serious. We’re at a Muggle beach, Dad, don’t–” 

Snape pointed toward the hallway. “Just go change, Harry. I’ll meet you in the living room in five minutes.” 

With a sigh, Harry turned and walked away. 

When Harry came into the living room exactly five minutes later, he found Snape standing beside the chair, wearing a pair of black swim trunks and a long sleeved, black water shirt. 

“You don’t have to wear the shirt, you know,” Harry commented. 

Snape looked up with a raised eyebrow. “I burn,” he said drily. 

Harry grinned as he moved past him toward the front door. “Not like you’re a wizard or anything,” he mumbled. 

“Cheeky brat,” Snape said as he followed him outside. 

They walked down to the beach, both carrying everything they needed for the day. A picnic lunch of sandwiches and drinks, an umbrella, a blanket, and a book for Snape. 

“It’s more crowded than I expected,” Snape said quietly as he stuck the umbrella in the sand. 

Harry spread out the blanket before looking around. He wasn’t sure what he had expected since he’d never been to the beach before. There were several families with small children who were all playing together, laughing and running around. A group of teenagers were playing volleyball on the other side of Harry and Snape, and still more people were swimming in the water. Or at least, they were trying to. It looked to Harry like they were mostly getting pushed around by the waves that crashed onto the shore. 

Harry sat down on the edge of the blanket, letting his toes curl in the sand as he propped his arms up behind him. 

“They all look like they’re having fun though,” he said.

A moment later, Snape sat down beside him. “They are. They’re making memories.” 

Harry smiled. He reached out and scooped up a handful of sand and let it trickle out between his fingers. “Have you ever built a sandcastle?” he asked quietly without looking up at Snape. 

He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks but he hoped that Snape would just think it was from the sun. He didn’t think he could handle it if his dad thought he was being childish for wanting to build one. 

Snape nodded and said, “I once built a sandcastle that was so big you could walk inside it.” 

Harry whipped his head around to stare wide-eyed at him. “No, you didn’t.” 

“Ask Mum when you see her next. I’m sure she’s got pictures of it. Do you want to give it a go?” he asked.

Harry nodded enthusiastically and stood up. 

Several hours later, Harry and Snape stepped back to look at their castle. It was true that it was big, far bigger than any Harry had ever seen before, but it wasn’t big enough to walk inside. It had towers, a wall that surrounded the entire thing, a mote, and even a drawbridge. 

“It’s perfect,” Snape said proudly as he dusted sand from his hands. 

“Yeah, but it’s not big enough to walk inside,” Harry said with a mild glare, as if the sandcastle had purposefully remained small simply to spite him. 

“Well, no,” Snape replied, “but it’s also not magically made either.” 

Harry turned his glare toward Snape. “You mean that you built yours with magic?” he accused. 

Snape nodded. “Of course.” 

Harry groaned while Snape turned away, hiding a smile.

Snape began gathering up their things, tucking his book beneath his arm as he said, “Alright, I think it’s time we head back. It’s nearly time for dinner.”

“I’m not ready,” Harry said quickly. “Can I stay out a while longer?”

Snape looked around. The beach was nearly empty at this point. Only one other family was left and they were packing up as well. 

“I’ll be fine,” Harry went on. “Please, dad. Just a little while longer?”

Finally, Snape nodded. “Alright. But only another half-hour, Harry.” 

Harry grinned as he sat back down in front of the sand castle. “I promise.” 

With a shake of his head, Snape began to walk back toward their cottage. 

Harry sat alone on the beach. He let his arms rest across his knees as he stared out at the waves, listening as they hit the shore, Harry felt certain that he would be content to spend the rest of his life right here. 

He could watch the sun as it set over the sea every night and never have to worry about school or dark wizards trying to kill him ever again. Snape could work on his potions and read all the books he liked, and Hermione and Ron could come visit them over breaks and they could build enormous sand castles that they could walk inside of. Then at night, when it wasn’t too cold, they could sleep outside on the beach, beneath the stars as a balmy breeze blew to keep them cool. 

Harry was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the figure approaching him from behind until it was too late. When he felt something brush against his arm, Harry jumped up, pulling his wand from the invisible holster on his arm, and aiming it only to let the spell die on his lips. 

Harry let out a nervous laugh as he shook his head. “Oh, hello,” he said as he dropped back to his knees on the sand. He reached a hand out slowly and said, “Come here, boy.”

Tentatively, the dog approached Harry. 

“Where’d you come from?” Harry asked as he ruffled the dog's ears and looked around the empty beach. 

The dog had matted gray fur and was so skinny that Harry could see his ribs. Harry didn’t have a lot of experience with dogs, apart from Aunt Marge’s and the black dog that had turned out to be Sirius last year. 

“I don’t suppose you’re really an animagus, are you?” When the dog's only response was a heartfelt wag of his tail, Harry laughed. “I didn’t think so, but you can’t be too careful, you know.” 

Harry stood up and began to walk down the beach. He thought that surely if the dog belonged to someone, they would be looking for him. 

The dog seemed happy enough to come along, though he never stayed by Harry’s side. Instead, he ran ahead, moving up the length of the beach by running back and forth between the waves and the dryer sand. Sometimes he would run back to Harry and get an affectionate pet from him before running back ahead and resuming his chasing of the waves. 

It made Harry laugh because it reminded him of the Rook on a chessboard; always going back and forth in whichever direction he chose. 

“Maybe that’s what I’ll call you if we don’t find your family,” Harry said with a grin when the dog ran back to him again. He stopped to turn around as he looked for somewhere the dog might have come from. But there was no one. Not another soul in sight and Harry had already walked quite a ways from where he started. He couldn’t even see the cottage anymore and he was sure that he was getting close to his half-hour mark. Snape would murder him if he had to come find him. 

Harry looked down at the dog. “I wonder how he’d feel about you?” 

The dog looked up at Harry with his big brown eyes and nuzzled his head beneath Harry’s hand, asking for more pets. 

Harry stooped down and looked between the dog and the direction of the cottage. “Well,” he said finally, “I can keep a secret if you can.” 

The dog barked his agreement and that was good enough for Harry. 

“Alright, Rook,” he said with a grin, “let’s go.” 

Very quietly, Harry opened the back door to his bedroom. He was suddenly even more grateful that he got the room that led straight down to the beach as he was sure that he would have no chance of sneaking a dog into the house if he had to go through the front door. 

He glanced down at Rook who was wagging his tail happily. “Be quiet,” Harry whispered before moving aside and letting the dog walk past him and into the room. 

That instruction was quickly lost on Rook, who immediately bounded onto the bed before jumping heavily back down to the floor. 

Harry’s eyes widened as he lunged for the dog to stop him from running around. 

“Harry? Is that you?” 

Harry froze when he heard Snape’s voice from the kitchen. He looked between Rook and the door before rushing toward it and opening it just a crack. Harry could see Snape walking his way and he said, “Yes, Dad. I’m just, er, changing.” 

Rook was sniffing at the door and Harry was doing his best to push him back. 

Snape paused. “Well, do it more quietly then. There’s no need to be jumping around like a herd of Hippogriffs.” 

“Yes, sir,” Harry answered immediately before closing the door with a snap. He leaned his back against it and glared at Rook, who now sat quietly in front of him. 

“Are you trying to get his chopped up into potions ingredients?” he hissed. 

Rook only tilted his head to the side and looked up at him. 

Harry went to his trunk and opened it before pulling out clothes to change into. Then, he opened the small wardrobe on the far wall and searched for something that he could use to make Rook a bed. Spotting an extra blanket, he quickly pulled it down and spread it out on the other side of his bed, opposite the door that led out into the house. 

“Okay,” he said as Rook came over to see what he was doing. “You stay here, and I’ll bring you some food back.” He pointed to the makeshift bed but Rook only glanced at it before looking back up to Harry. “You’ll be fine,” Harry assured him. “I’ll be back soon.” 

Harry gave the dog another scratch behind the ears before leaving the room, being sure to close the door behind him. 

“Dinner’s almost ready,” Snape said as Harry entered the kitchen. “Set the table, please.” 

Harry began opening cabinets in search of dinnerware and asked, “What’re you making?”

“Chicken and rice.”  

Snape brought the food over to the table and they both sat down. 

“So,” Snape said as he unfolded his napkin and placed it on his lap, “how did you like the beach?”

Harry speared a piece of chicken on his fork and said, “I liked it a lot actually. I wasn’t sure at first, but I’m glad we came.” 

Snape smiled. “I’m happy to hear that.” 

They ate in silence for a few minutes until a small whining noise came from the direction of Harry’s bedroom.

“Did you hear that?” Snape asked.

Harry glanced towards his bedroom door, shook his head and said, “I didn’t hear anything.” 

Snape continued to listen for another moment before turning back to his food. “Have you heard from Draco or any of your other friends yet?” he asked.

“I got a letter from Ron yesterday. He and the twins have been working on some prank against Percy apparently. Hermione wrote as well. She’s already starting on her summer homework.”

“Smart girl.” Even though it happened occasionally now that Snape wasn’t pretending to be a Death Eater, it was still odd for Harry to hear him give compliments to anyone, especially Hermione. “Nothing from Draco?”

“No,” Harry said with a sigh. He took a drink of his water and said, “I know it’s only been a few days, but I thought I would have heard from him by now. What do you think is keeping him?”

“I’m sure everything is fine, Harry,” Snape assured him. “There could be plenty of reasons why he hasn’t written yet.”

“What if his father is stopping him from writing?” 

Snape put down his fork and said, “Harry, you have to accept that it very well may be what is happening. Lucius knows everything now and though he can’t control Draco at Hogwarts, during the Summer, Draco has to abide by his rules.” 

“But he—”

Snape held his hand up. “I know. It’s not a situation that any of us are happy about, but we don’t have any proof that Lucius has done anything. We have suspicions, of course, but if we act on them, and come up empty, it could just make things worse.” 

“So we’re just supposed to leave him there all summer?” Harry asked, pushing his plate away and crossing his arms over his chest. “How bad does it have to be before someone does something? I suppose as long as Mr. Malfoy isn’t as bad as Uncle Vernon then Draco can just handle it on his own?”

“Harry,” Snape said sternly, “that’s not true and you know it. I know it’s not easy for you, but for once, you’ve got to trust the adults to handle this. Do not assume that simply because you don’t know what’s going on, then it means we’re not taking care of it. There are certain things in place to assure Draco’s safety, and the moment that something happens, Malfoy Manor will be swarming with Aurors who will deal with it.” 

“Mr. Malfoy’s got the Ministry in his pocket, Dad! What if something happens and then he weasels out of it and Draco has to go back to him?”

“That won’t happen.” 

“You don’t know that.”

“What I do know, is that I along with Uncle Remus, Grandad, and a select handful of other trusted individuals, have talked with Draco and come up with the only plan we can be sure of working. We’ve done everything we know to do for the moment, and Merlin forbid, if something happens, I’ll know immediately.”

“How?”

“Draco’s Phoenix bracelet for one. If Draco feels unsafe, all he has to do is tap it and it will portkey him straight to wherever I am.” 

Harry groaned and pushed himself away from the table and stood up. “Have you met Draco? As if he would ever admit to feeling unsafe. And even if he did, what if Mr. Malfoy takes it from him.” 

Snape shook his head. “It can not be taken away from him. The only way that bracelet can come off of Draco’s wrist is if he takes it off himself.” 

“But—”

“No, Harry,” Snape said more firmly. “I know you’re worried, but you have to trust us. We are looking out for Draco. Now, please, finish your dinner.” 

Snape gestured toward Harry’s discarded plate and with a defeated sigh, Harry sat back down. 

“What would you like to do tomorrow?” Snape asked. 

Harry shrugged his shoulders and took another bite of his food. “Can I explore a bit?” he asked after a moment. 

“Alone?” Snape questioned, raising a brow. 

“I’m nearly fourteen, Dad.” 

“I know how old you are. I’m just not certain that—”

“I’ll be fine,” Harry said quickly. “I promise not to go far. I just want to have a look at some of the shops in the town.” 

“I don’t know. I could go with you.” 

Harry shook his head. “Dad, I’ll be fine. Remember last year, I was on my own in Diagon Alley for a whole day.” 

Snape seemed to consider it. As much as he wanted to say no, a part of him really wanted to give Harry the chance to be a normal teenager for once. And a normal teenager would be allowed to explore a bit during Holiday. 

“Alright,” Snape finally relented, “but I don’t want you going to far. Only to the shops in town, and you don’t go anywhere that you know I wouldn’t approve of.”

“I promise,” Harry agreed. 

“Okay, then, finish your dinner.” 

Harry quickly ate the rest of his food and when Snape stood to take his plate to the kitchen, he tucked a piece of chicken and a roll inside his napkin and stuffed it into his pocket.

Once the table had been cleared and the dishes were washed, Harry went back to his bedroom and closed the door quietly behind him. When he looked around, he saw Rook laying on the foot of his bed. 

“Oh, no,” Harry said as he pointed to the bed he had made for the dog, “you have to sleep here.” 

Rook only looked up at Harry with his head tilted to the side until Harry pulled the food from his pocket and lured him down to the floor by waving it in front of his face. 

“There you go,” he praised the dog as he gave him the chicken. “Sorry I couldn’t get you any more, but I’ll find you some dog food at the store tomorrow.” 

Rook only continued eating and when he was finished, he allowed Harry to give him a scratch behind the ears. 

“We’re going to have to do a better job at hiding you, boy,” Harry said. “If Dad catches you in here, he might kick us both out.”

Chapter Text

The early morning sun was just beginning to shine through Snape’s bedroom window at the little cottage by the sea. The warmth of it gently coaxed him awake as it fell across his face. 

Though Snape hadn’t felt this relaxed in quite a while as he lay on his stomach, with his hands beneath the pillow, lingering between awake and asleep, something was wrong. 

In an instant, Snape had his fingers wrapped around his wand and he was sitting up in bed, a spell on the tip of his tongue. 

It was however, at that moment, that instead of a dark wizard or some other dangerous being, Snape was faced with the warm breath and scraggly, grey fur of a dog.

“What in Merlin’s name–”

Rook took that for the only invitation he needed to pounce on the bed and smother Snape, the fearsome bat of the dungeons, with slobbery dog kisses.

“Get off you mutt!” Snape yelled as he tried in vain to push off the dog. “Get off of me! Harry James!”

Barely a moment later Snape heard Harry’s bedroom door open, just before he tore down the hallway and ran into Snape’s room. 

“Rook!” Harry exclaimed, immediately reaching out to pull the dog off the bed. “Rook, no! You have to get down! Leave him alone!” 

“Rook?!” Snape cried, finally succeeding in untangling himself from both the dog and his bedsheets, which were now covered in slobber and mud. “You know this beast?”

Harry kept a firm hold on Rook, crouching down and checking him over, as if making sure that Snape hadn’t done anything to him. 

“Harry,” Snape said again, standing up and crossing his arms over the sleeveless t shirt he had worn to bed. “Where did this dog come from, young man?”

Harry stood up as well, though he kept his gaze down and away from Snape. “I found him at the beach yesterday,” he murmured. 

“And you just thought you’d bring him here?”

Finally, Harry looked up. “He doesn’t have anyone else, Dad! He needs me.”

At this, Rook once more began to excitedly bounce around Harry, his tail wagging happily at the attention. 

Snape groaned. “You have to take him back.”

“What?!” Harry reached out to take hold of Rook, as if just by holding on to him he could keep Snape from sending him away. “No. He’s mine! I found him.” 

“Harry–”

“I’m not just going to abandon him, Dad,” Harry exclaimed, storming out of the bedroom and into the living room. 

Snape followed after him. “And where do you think you’re going?”

Harry whirled back around to face Snape. “I’m going to go buy him some food.”

“You are not going to take one step out of this house.” 

Harry sent a heated glare towards Snape before turning and moving again towards the door.

“Harry,” Snape said, his voice rising just enough to cause Harry to pause, his hand nearly on the doorknob. “Turn back around, and sit down. We are going to both take a breath so that we can talk about this calmly and rationally, but first of all, it is far too early in the morning for you to be going anywhere, especially when you’re not even dressed properly yet.”

Harry glanced down at his t-shirt and pajama pants. He didn’t even have shoes on yet. 

The beginnings of embarrassment were settling in and he could feel his cheeks burning with shame. 

After a tense few seconds, he let go of the door and turned around before stomping towards the couch with a huff. 

Snape was certain that in the almost year that Harry had been with him, they had never had something escalate so quickly. Especially not to the point that Harry would intend to walk out. 

He took a moment to get his own self back under control before walking to the chair and sitting down across from Harry. 

“Tell me about this dog,” he said calmly. “You found him on the beach?”

Harry only gave a slight nod and kept his face turned away. 

Snape sighed, running a hand down his face, scratching a bit at the scruff along his jaw that he hadn’t had the chance to shave yet. “Did you look for its owners?”

“I went up and down the beach but I never found anyone looking for him,” Harry said, now letting his head drop back against the couch, while looking at Snape from the side. He gestured to Rook, who was contentedly sitting next to Harry’s legs. “Look at him though. Does he look like a dog who has people who care about him? He’s all alone.” 

Snape took in the dog. His fur was matted and he looked as if he hadn’t had any food in weeks. He also didn’t have a collar. 

“Alright,” he said finally, “I understand all that, I really do, but that doesn’t mean you can keep him. Where would he live? Who would take care of him?”

“I would!” Harry insisted. “I promise I will. I’d feed him, and take him out, and everything.”

Snape was determined to get through this conversation without causing Harry to be any more frustrated than he already was. “What about during school? Who would he stay with then? There are school rules, Harry, and students are not permitted dogs.” 

That didn’t seem to be something that Harry had considered yet and Snape watched as his brows furrowed while he thought it over. 

“Hagrid? He already has Fang.” 

“That’s just it, though; Hagrid already has a dog, plus everything else he takes care of. He doesn’t have time to look after this one, too?”

“Why can’t he just stay in our quarters in the dungeons?” Harry pleaded. “I promise I’d come down every day and take him for walks and feed him.”

“Because it’s a school and there are rules,” Snape said, getting exasperated himself. “You can have either a cat, a toad, or an owl. This dog is neither of those things.”

“His name is Rook,” Harry snapped. “And I know that, but couldn’t you just ask? Just ask Grandma Minnie if it would be okay for you to keep him.”

“Harry.”

“Please, Dad. He needs me.” 

Snape let out a long sigh, during which he looked between the hopeless looks of both the dog and Harry. He tried to imagine how Harry must be feeling towards the animal. As if perhaps he was the one person in the world that someone else had to lean on. He imagined it must feel quite good for Harry to have someone put their trust in him like that. 

Like Harry had done for Snape. 

Finally, he said, “Fine, if he means that much to you, I’ll see what I can do–”

“Yes!” Harry exclaimed, pumping his fist in the air.

“But,” Snape interrupted sternly, “I make no promises. If she says no, then I will not attempt to change her mind and neither will you.”

Harry nodded. “Alright, but she’ll say yes.”

“I am not cleaning up after him, I’m not feeding him, and I am most certainly not taking him for walks. You will come down every morning before classes and take care of him, and then each night you will as well. Understood?”

Another nod. “I promise. Thank you!” Harry leapt up and quickly hugged Snape before turning back to Rook. 

Snape shook his head. Then he pointed his wand at the dog and muttered a cleaning spell, which took Harry and Rook both by surprise. When it was finished, Rook’s fur was tangle free and shiny. 

“Wicked,” Harry said with a smile. 

“After breakfast, we’ll go into town and get some supplies.” 

***

And after breakfast, they did just that. 

Snape, who so far hadn’t even talked to Minerva about the dog yet, had somehow spent a small fortune on dog food, toys, water and food dishes, a collar and leash, a dog bed, and likely a few things that were completely unnecessary but that Harry had put in the cart anyway. 

And Snape found that he hadn’t actually minded all that much. 

Rook followed Harry around like, well, like a lost puppy, and Harry loved the attention. 

When they got back to the cottage, Harry set up everything in the kitchen except for the bed, which he put in his bedroom. Then they spent the next hour after lunch playing with the new toys, before running down to the beach to spend the rest of the afternoon. 

When Snape declared that Rook was absolutely not allowed on the furniture, Harry declared that he would have his tea on the floor. 

And he did just that. 

And when at last, the night drew to an end, and the moon was high, Snape looked down from where he sat in his armchair, to see a boy with messy black hair, and glasses askew on his face, asleep beside his dog. 

Chapter Text

Harry stepped out of the fireplace and immediately dropped face first onto the couch in the living room of the manor. “I’ve missed your house so much,” he mumbled into the cushion.

Snape, stepping out behind him, merely raised an eyebrow at the teenager before saying, “It’s our house, and we’ve only been gone a week.”

“It was a long week,” Harry said as he rolled over and held his hand out to pet Rook, who stood beside the couch, wagging his tail excitedly.

“I can’t believe she said yes to keeping that dog.”

Harry grinned. “Of course she did. You didn’t actually believe she would say no?”

“I thought she’d know better than to spoil you this much.” Snape pointed his wand to his luggage and it disappeared with a pop. “Please take your stuff upstairs and unpack.”

Harry glared at him as he sat up. “You could send mine up, too, you know?”

“I could but that would bring me no enjoyment whatsoever,” Snape replied in his usual slow drawl before sitting down in his armchair. The moment he did so, several letters appeared on the table beside him. “Go on, Harry. Get unpacked.” 

Harry rolled his eyes and stood up. He reached for the suitcase and backpack that was left beside the fireplace, tugging it dramatically as if it were suddenly too heavy to carry. When Snape paid him no mind, however, he simply picked them both up and called for Rook to follow him upstairs. 

“Harry,” Snape said just before Harry left the room.

Harry turned back to see a letter floating towards him. He snatched it out of the air and said, “Thanks.” 

“Hurry up,” Snape said opening a letter of his own. “Lunch will be ready soon.” 

Harry quickly went upstairs and deposited his luggage on the bed before sitting down in the overstuffed chair to open the letter. He noticed immediately from the handwriting that it was from Draco. 

“Potter,

Sorry it took so long to write. It’s been a busy summer so far, and I had to smuggle this letter out inside one for Astoria Greengrass. 

Don’t write back. And don’t tell Uncle Severus. I can’t explain anything right now, but my father is going on a trip this Friday and won’t be back until Monday, so if you can, floo call me Friday night after Uncle Severus goes to sleep. 

I’ll try to explain everything then. 

Draco.

P.S. The Phoenix is gone. 

Harry was certain that he felt his heart stop beating in his chest. Snape had said that the only way the phoenix bracelet could come off was if Draco took it off himself. But why would he do that? His first instinct was to go straight to Snape and tell him what the letter said, but Draco had asked him not to. 

Today was Thursday, only one day until Draco wanted him to call. Harry knew from experience that a lot could happen in one day, but what if Harry told Snape and something happened to Draco because of it. 

Harry looked from the letter to Rook who was walking around his bedroom, sniffing everything he came to. “What do you think?” he asked the dog. As expected, Rook didn’t answer. 

He took his time unpacking while he tried to figure out what to do. This definitely seemed like the kind of think Snape would murder him for keeping to himself. But also, a sneaky part of Harry’s brain offered, what if by some chance, Draco had just taken the bracelet off on his own and there really was no problem at all? What if Draco was being his usual dramatic self? 

Logically, Harry knew that likely wasn’t the case, but Snape was the one who said only Draco could take it off. And wouldn’t it be better if Harry had all the facts before he brought Snape in? Just in case it wasn’t anything to worry about after all? Harry thought he probably owed it to Draco to get all the facts first, and with that settled, he finished unpacking and went downstairs.

“You should let the dog out for a bit while we eat,” Snape said as he came into the kitchen. “I’m sure he’d like to explore.”

“Okay,” Harry agreed. He patted his thigh to get Rook’s attention before leading him outside. When he came back he asked, “What if he wanders off out there?”

“I’ve already placed a ward around the property. He can’t go past it.”

Harry smiled before taking his seat. “Thanks.” 

Snape tapped the table and as usual, their food appeared. Two plates of turkey sandwiches, and cucumber chips. 

Harry eyed the plate with a frown. “Cucumbers?”

Snape glanced over at him. “You like cucumbers.”

“Yeah, I do, but why not crisps? I like those more.”

“You’ve had nothing but junk food all weekend,” Snape said, shaking his head before picking up his sandwich. “It would do you well to have something healthy for once.”

“But—” At Snape’s unimpressed look, Harry cut off his argument and popped a cucumber slice into his mouth.

“That’s what I thought. What did Draco have to say?” 

“What?” Harry asked quickly.

“The letter?” Snape explained. “What did Draco’s letter say?”

“Oh, right.” Harry took another bite of his sandwich and averted his gaze to his plate as he chewed. When he finished, he said, “You were right. Mr. Malfoy hasn’t been letting him send us letters. He smuggled it out in one for Astoria.”

“I thought so.” Snape shook his head. “I really feel like he will let Draco come stay as usual though. He won’t want questions about why Draco’s not allowed around.” 

Harry nodded. “When? Soon?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe in August.”

“But August is weeks away,” Harry said. “A lot could happen between now and then.” 

“Harry, we’ve been over this. We would know if something happens?”

“I know, but just say—”

“No,” Snape said sternly, “Harry, you’re forgetting that Draco is also with Narcissa. She’s not going to let anything happen to Draco.”

“What if you’re wrong?” Harry asked, worry coating his voice.

“I’m doing my best to make sure that I’m not. You can trust me.”

Harry wanted to believe Snape, he really did, but he couldn’t help the feeling of doubt that crept into his mind whenever he thought about Draco. It was strange to think that this time last year, his life was so different. He didn’t have Snape or anyone really besides Hermione and the Weasley’s. But now, it seemed as if he had someone in every area of his life. And one of those people turned out to be Draco Malfoy. Even still, they were hardly what anyone would call close, but Harry certainly felt like they were friends now, and he didn’t want to think about anything happening to him. He wanted to find a way to help him, but he needed to see what he said on Friday. Harry could wait that long. He was sure of it. 

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before he nodded. “I do,” he said. “I trust you.” 

“Good,” Snape said before taking a sip of his water. “Now, what have you got planned for today?”

“I could write a letter to Ron? We talked about him getting to come visit this summer, remember?”

“I think that will be fine. But after you get it written, I want to see your list of summer assignments.”

Harry’s head snapped up before he groaned. “Aw, Dad, there’s loads of time before school starts back.” 

“Do not start that whining again, young man. Surely you didn’t expect that I would let you put them off til the end of summer. I don’t recall that being the case last year.”

“No, but last year was different. I thought you made me do them so early then because you hated me.” 

“That most certainly was not the reason. And I didn’t hate you. I just happen to think that it would serve you well to get them done and out of the way. As you said, there is a lot of time between now and the end of summer, and wouldn’t you rather be done with them so that you can enjoy as much of it as you can?”

Harry wanted to argue. He wanted to point out that he could enjoy the same amount of time at the beginning instead of the end, but he didn’t. Instead he thought about Ron and Draco coming to visit and having to do schoolwork while they were staying. He thought perhaps that that would be worse. 

“Fine,” Harry muttered, “I suppose that’s alright.”

Snape rolled his eyes before he vanished their empty plates. “Oh, I’m so glad you agree,” he said sarcastically.

***

Harry spent the next hour writing letters to his friends. Then as he had promised, he brought down his books and assignment list for Snape to look over before he got to work on his History of Magic essay in the Library. 

Rook settled himself beneath the table at Harry’s feet and within a few minutes, the dog was sound asleep, snoring softly while Harry wrote sentence after sentence. Snape had said that once he was done, he could take his broom out for a while and he didn’t want to waste any time by making homework take longer than it needed to. 

The afternoon passed quickly though, and by the time that Harry finally sat down his quill and looked around, he was surprised to see the sun already fading behind the trees. 

“Dad!” he yelled, pushing away from the table and crossing the library quickly in search of the older man. 

Harry checked the living room and the kitchen, but found no site of Snape. He called for him again and still he heard no answer. Worry began to shoot through his chest as he climbed the steps to the second floor. But when he was just about to burst through Snape’s bedroom door, he heard talking from the other side. 

“Sev, you’re being ridiculous. You haven’t even considered it.” Remus’s voice sounded far off and Harry thought he must be talking through the floo.

“I don’t need to consider it,” Snape replied. “The answer is no.”

“He’s going to be hurt.”

“I’m sure he’ll get over it,” Snape said and Harry could practically see him scowling at his brother. 

“You really are an arse, Severus. It’s his birthday.”

“Don’t act so surprised, Remus. And you’re just trying to make up for all the birthdays that you missed while you were gone.”

Harry held his breath, his ear pressed against the door as he waited to hear what came next. 

“Whatever,” Remus said. “I’ve got to go to St. Mungo’s and I don’t have time to argue with you. Harry would love to see the World Cup, though and it would be fun for him to get to go with the Weasley’s.” 

Harry missed Snape’s goodbye to Remus as he stepped away from the door. The World Cup? As in the Quidditch World Cup? Of course he would love to go, but Snape was saying no? But why? Had he done something? Was it supposed to be a birthday present and he wasn’t getting it now? It sure sounded as if he wasn’t. Snape didn’t sound like he cared much about Harry’s birthday at all, much less enough to allow him to go to the Weasley’s to the World Cup. 

Before Harry could think much more on it, he turned and quickly crossed the hall to his bedroom. Though no sooner had he shut the door behind him, than Snape called for him from the hallway. 

Two quick knocks on his bedroom door before Snape stuck his head inside. “I thought I heard your door close,” he said. “Did you finish your essay.” 

Harry nodded. He needed to stay calm. It could be that he misread the situation and maybe that’s not what Snape had meant at all. The annoying voice in his head was back though, reminding him that the chances of that were slim. Snape had all but said that he didn’t care that Harry would be hurt when he didn’t get to go. It would be pretty hard to misunderstand that. 

Harry leaned against the headboard of his bed and picked at a fraying thread on his shirt. “It’s already dark out now though, so I guess I can’t go flying.”

Snape glanced toward the window and his eyes widened. “Merlin, I didn’t realize it had gotten so late.” He glanced down at the watch on his wrist. “I’m sorry, Harry. I got caught up in a conversation with Uncle Remus and didn’t notice. But let’s go have dinner and when we finish, I’ll illuminate the back yard if you still want to fly.” 

Harry shook his head as he stood up. “That’s okay. I’m not in the mood for quidditch now anyway.” 

Snape gave him a curious look as he passed him, but Harry didn’t offer any other words as he went downstairs to eat. If Snape didn’t care about him enough to let him go to the game, then maybe he didn’t care about other stuff either. 

It wasn’t even as if Harry would have cared if he hadn’t known it was an option. He would never have asked Snape to take him to a match that probably cost so much in the first place, but it sounded like maybe the Weasley’s were going, and if they were, they had likely invited Harry to go along. But Harry supposed that didn’t matter to Snape. He wasn’t going no matter what. 

***

Harry remained quiet through dinner, claiming that he was just tired and glad to be back from holiday. He wasn’t sure that Snape believed him, but he didn’t call him out on it either. 

The next morning at breakfast, however, Harry had plenty to say. 

“Can Ron come this weekend?”

Snape brought his coffee cup to his mouth and took a sip before nodding. “I suppose that’s alright. I can ask Molly to be sure.”

Harry nodded. “Do we have any other plans for the summer? Or are we going to stay here the whole time?”

“I thought we would stay here for the most part, but I assumed you would want to visit with the Weasley’s at some point like last year. We’ll be visiting the cottage for Thursday breakfasts, of course, but if there’s something else you’d like to do, you should let me know soon so that we can plan it.”

“No,” Harry said, shaking his head. “I was just wondering. I’d like to see Sirius soon, though. I haven’t gotten a chance to visit his new flat.”

Snape sat quietly for a moment before he put his cup down and said, “I’m sure that can be arranged, provided Remus is willing to go with you.”

“What do you mean? Why would I need someone to go with me?” Harry asked. This wasn’t the direction he thought the conversation was going to go. He’d only wanted to pester Snape into telling him about the World Cup, not get a lecture about his godfather. 

Snape sighed. “I didn’t say you needed someone with you, just that I want someone with you. Sirius was locked away for twelve years in Azkaban, Harry. It was no doubt the worst years of his life, and it would be very hard to believe that one could simply walk away from that unscathed.”

“I don’t know what that has to do with me.” Harry picked up his fork but he only pushed the scrambled eggs around on his plate. 

“It doesn’t— not really anyway. I just want you to be careful. Whether or not he would ever admit it, long term exposure to dementors can cause long term effects. I don’t want to see you hurt.” 

Suddenly, Remus’s words from the night before came flooding back. ‘He’s going to be hurt.’ Snape hadn’t seemed to care then, so why should he care now?

Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I’ll be careful,” he said before taking a bite of eggs and hoping it would put an end to the conversation. 

***

That night, Harry lay in bed, waiting impatiently for Snape to fall asleep, then waited an extra twenty minutes just to be safe. When he was sure that he wasn’t going to wake up and come storming into his bedroom, Harry climbed out of bed and pulled the over stuffed chair in front of the door. 

He took the small amount of floo powder and tossed it into the flames before sticking his head in the hearth and quietly saying Draco’s name. 

“Harry?” Draco answered, his voice sounding rough with sleep. Harry wondered if he had fallen asleep beside his fireplace while he waited up for him. 

“Draco,” Harry said again. “Dad’s asleep. What’s going on? What happened to the bracelet?” 

Draco shook his head. “My father has it,” he said quietly. “I wasn’t paying enough attention and he caught me with it when it was visible.”

“But how could he have taken it from you? Dumbledore said—”

“I gave it to him,” Draco admitted. He dropped his gaze to the red bricks of the hearth and Harry thought he saw a tear clinging to his lashes. He took a moment and really looked at Draco. He noticed that his platinum blonde hair looked greasy and hung in his face, his cheekbones seemed sunken and sharper than ever, and he seemed nervous; glancing over his shoulder as if waiting for someone to barge in. 

“Draco, is he—”

“No,” Draco said firmly. “He’s not doing anything. He’s ignoring me completely. Except for when he saw the bracelet, he’s been pretending I don’t exist. He’s f— He’s forcing my mother to as well. He knew what the bracelet was and he said that if I didn’t give it to him, he would…” 

Draco trailed off but Harry didn’t need him to finish the sentence. 

“It’ll be alright,” he assured him. 

“I didn’t want to get hurt,” Draco said softly, not looking at Harry. 

“You did the right thing.” Harry moved to push up from the floor and said, “I’m going to—”

“No.” Draco shook his head frantically. “You can’t tell anyone. It wouldn’t do any good. I’m not in any danger. I can handle being ignored, Potter.”

Harry knew that Draco had meant the use of his last name as a way to cut him; lashing out in anger was Draco’s preferred way of dealing with most things, but Harry wasn’t going to let it bother him tonight. He grit his teeth. 

“Alright, then,” he said with a nod. “But I’m not going to let you stay there. If your father is ignoring you anyway, why should he care if you leave? Ron will be here tomorrow morning. Can you be outside with your trunk and broom after everyone is asleep?” 

“What?” Draco asked. “Why?”

“Because we’re coming to get you.” 

***

Chapter Text

Harry paced back and forth across his room as he waited for Ron to get there.  Snape had talked to Mrs. Weasley right after Harry mentioned it the day before and she’d said that Ron could come for one week, provided that he didn’t get into any trouble while he was there. 

Harry wasn’t entirely sure that was a promise that he would be able to keep, especially now that Harry was forming a plan to sneak out that very evening to save Draco. Though, if Ron didn’t want to risk it, he’d never hold it against him. 

But Harry had to. He had to at least try and get Draco away from there. He couldn’t explain the feeling he had when Draco said his parent’s were ignoring him, but it felt all to familiar with being locked in the cupboard and Harry couldn’t leave him there to deal with it alone. 

Of course, the logical solution would be to tell Snape. Harry knew that. And when Draco was there the next morning and Snape asked how, he would have to come clean, but he couldn’t risk Snape tell him ‘no.’ Not when it came to this. 

And so Harry paced. And he waited, and then paced some more, until finally Jenka popped into the room and said, “Master Harry’s friend is here!”

Harry grinned. He hadn’t yet convinced Jenka to only call him ‘Harry,’ but at least he wasn’t ‘Master Harry Potter, sir’ anymore. 

“Thanks, Jenka,” Harry said before turning and sprinting out of his bedroom and downstairs to greet Ron. Rook, who only a moment ago had been fast asleep on the bed Harry and Snape had gotten him on that first day, sprang to his feet and sprinted after him. 

Snape and Ron were standing awkwardly in the living room beside the fireplace, where Harry assumed Ron had come through, and when Harry walked in sight, Ron grinned widely. 

“Hey, Ron.”

Ron held his hand up in a wave before walking towards Harry, but before he could say anything, Harry spoke again, “We’ll be upstairs.” 

Snape shook his head. “Harry, wait,” he said, calling him back. “I’ve got to floo over to Remus’s for a few moments. You’ll be okay til I get back?”

“What are you going to see Remus for?” Harry asked, ignoring Snape’s original question.

“We’ve just got to work out a small matter. It won’t take long.” 

Reluctantly, Harry nodded. He watched Snape step into the floo and when he had disappeared in the swirling flames, he turned back to Ron. “Come on,” he said, leading him up the stairs. “We’ll put your stuff in my room.” 

“I can’t believe you live here,” Ron said in awe as he looked around Harry’s bedroom a moment later. Rook was currently sitting beside him, basking in the attention that Ron was giving him as he scratched behind his ears.

Snape had transfigured Harry’s bed into two small ones, just like he’d done the year before during that disastrous first summer when Draco stayed. Only this time Harry had been completely for the idea. Though he did ask Snape why Ron couldn’t just have the extra bedroom that was down the hall, but Snape had only said that the fourth bedroom was off limits and that Harry would stay out of it. 

Ron put his backpack down on the bed closest to the door as he continued to take in the room. 

It suddenly made Harry feel uncomfortable. Ron had very little in his life and he would never want him to think that he was flaunting what he had here with Snape. It wasn’t like that for him, and he hoped that Ron knew that. 

“It’s really not anything special,” Harry said softly from his place on his bed on the far wall. “Except that it’s mine. It’s the first room that I’ve ever really had that was all mine.” 

“It’s good, mate,” Ron said, “really. I’m glad you have it.” He pointed to the chairs and table. “What I don’t understand is why you need half of it to be your own personal living room.”

Harry laughed. “I don’t actually know either. I almost never sit there. Dad does sometimes, though so maybe it’s really for him.”

“Far be it for Snape to sit at the desk,” Ron said with a roll of his eyes. He shook his head and said, “So what’s going on?”

“What?” 

Ron sat back against the headboard and said, “You’re my best friend, Harry. Hermione likes to act like I’m dense, but I can tell when something’s going on.”

Harry smiled, glad to have Ron here. He told him about Draco and everything that he had said to him the night before.

“Look,” Harry said, “I know your Mum will be pissed if you get in trouble this week, so if you don’t want to come I get it. I won’t be mad if you stay here. Just don’t tell Dad.” 

“I reckon Mum expects me to get into trouble, honestly. And it would be terrible to disappoint her.”

“Alright, then.” Harry moved away from the bed and opened the bedroom door, listening for any signs that Snape might have returned. When he heard nothing, he closed it and turned back to Ron. “Here’s the plan.” 

***

Snape watched through the flames as Harry led Ron upstairs, then only a few seconds later, he was stepping out of them and into Remus’s parlor at Hogwarts. 

“Remus?” he called when he didn’t immediately see his brother. 

“In the kitchen!”

Snape crossed the room and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Remus standing at the counter, his sleeves pushed up above his elbows, with what appeared to be several bowls of cake batter around him.

“What are you doing?” Snape asked, his usual slow drawl showing only a hint of amusement. 

Remus turned around with a scowl. “I don’t know how to do this.” 

Snape’s brow raised and though he wanted with all his might to say, “Obviously,” he held back and instead moved further into the kitchen to stand beside him. He dipped his finger into the first batch of cake batter and put it in his mouth before making a face and pushing the bowl away, as if it had personally offended him. 

“That’s not right,” he said.

Remus glared harder. “I bloody know it’s not right, Severus! How do I fix it?”

“How should I know?”

“You’re a Potion’s Master,” Remus said, tossing the towel he’d been using to wipe off his hands onto the counter with a growl of frustration.

“But not a baker,” Snape countered. “Did you follow the directions?”

“Of course, I’m not an idiot.” 

Snape shook his head. “Why are you even doing this?”

At first Remus didn’t answer, but after a moment he sighed. “Because you’re right. I missed the last few of Dad’s birthdays, and I suppose I just wanted this one to make up for it.” 

Snape nodded. He could understand that better than perhaps anyone. The need to make up for past regrets weighed heavily on him more often than he’d like. 

“Fine,” he said with a scowl of his own. “I’ll help you make his bloody cake, but I don’t think he’d be as hurt as you seem to think if you didn’t make one.” 

Remus only gave him an annoyed look before pointing his wand to the mess on the counter and banishing it from sight. 

“Alright,” he said, “so the issue of the cake is settled then. But I’m assuming that’s not the reason you popped by?”

Snape shook his head and pulled a chair out to sit down at the table. “Something’s wrong with Harry.”

“What do you mean?” Remus asked, following him and sitting down across from him. A second later, two cups of tea appeared on the table between them. “Has something happened?”

Snape thought back to how Harry had been acting, but nothing in particular came to mind that would warrant the cold shoulder he was clearly receiving from the teenager. “Not that I’m aware of. But it’s obvious that something is bothering him. He seemed fine while we were on holiday, then we came back and sometime between lunch that day and dinner, he became angry and sullen. I’ve asked him about it, but he swears there’s nothing going on or that he’s simply tired. But I know there’s more to it than that.”

“Are you sure?” Remus asked. He took a sip of tea before putting it back in the saucer. “Harry’s almost fourteen, and it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibilities to consider that perhaps he’s just getting older and dealing with every day teenage hormones.”

“I don’t think that’s it. He’s fine with everyone but me.”

“Has he seen anyone but you recently?”

“Ron Weasley is currently at my house, and the moment he got there, Harry came rushing down the stairs to greet him. Then he took one look at me and said they were going upstairs.”

Snape could see that Remus was holding back a smile. “What?”

“Nothing,” Remus said, holding up his hands. “I just think it’s funny that you adopt Harry just in time for him to turn into a teenager who hates his parent.”

“I should have gone to see Mum instead.” 

***

The rest of the day passed slowly for Harry. He and Ron spent the afternoon playing with Rook outside before they went flying, but if he were being honest, Harry’s heart simply wasn’t in it. His mind was too preoccupied with what they were doing that evening. 

Harry and Ron had gone over the plan at least ten times, and though it was simple and straightforward in theory, he had a sinking suspicion that something bad was going to happen— aside from it ending with them getting caught, which was a given. Harry wasn’t worried about that though. He’d been in trouble loads of times with Snape in the past year, and he knew that in the end, it would all be alright. The thing that bothered Harry the most was the idea that something would stop Draco from being able to leave with them. 

Draco had told him the night before that his father had taken his broom almost immediately after he’d gotten off the train from Hogwarts, but Harry knew there was a school broom that Snape kept at the Manor as an extra, so when he’d gone to see Remus, Harry snuck it upstairs and into his bedroom. 

He and Ron were going to wait until Snape was asleep just as he’d done the night before when he had floo called Draco, then they were going to slip out of Harry’s window and be on their way. The Malfoy’s lived in Wiltshire, about two hours south of Mageport, the muggle town closest to Snape’s manor, but both Harry and Ron thought that they could make it on broomstick in a little less time. 

That was their hope at least. 

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Harry asked Ron hours after Snape had sent them up to bed. 

He’d come in to check on them once, and then much later he came back, poking his head in the doorway and seeing them asleep, he quietly closed the door, and a moment later, the boys — who had of course, only been pretending— heard his own bedroom door click shut.

They waited still another hour, now it was nearing one in the morning, and Harry and Ron were standing beside Harry’s open window. 

Ron, broomstick in hand, gave a single nod. “You do know the way to Wiltshire, right?”

Harry gestured to a small round object attached to the handle of his Firebolt. “It’s a navigator. You just think about where you want to go while you’re flying, and it points you in the right direction.”

Ron smiled brightly. “Wicked.”

“Sirius got it for me a few weeks ago. Alright. Let’s go.” 

Harry took a deep breath and stepped up onto the ledge of the window. Then in the next instant, he dropped out and was in the air. Ron followed right after. 

Harry felt a slight vibration as they neared the wards but when they passed through them nothing happened. He half expected alarms to go off and for Snape to suddenly appear beside him, ready to drag him back to the manor, and for several long minutes, he continued to look over his shoulder to check. Though after a while, he focused on getting himself and Ron up and out of sight of anyone who might be looking up at the night stars. 

***

For the most part, Harry and Ron traveled in silence, only calling out to each other when they needed to. It was a much faster trip than Harry had thought and it seemed that in no time they were flying over Wiltshire. 

Harry checked his watch and saw that they were right on schedule with when he told Draco he would be there. He only hoped that Draco had been able to get away as easily as they had. 

He adjusted the strap that held the extra broomstick onto his back and followed the needle of the navigator as it turned West. 

“We’re almost there,” he said to Ron. “Draco said that he lived just outside of Trowbridge.” 

Ron pointed out into the distance with a roll of his eyes. “I think we’ve found it, Harry.” 

They pulled their broomsticks to a stop and hovered in the air. Harry followed Ron’s gaze and his own eyes widened. They were just outside the wards of a mansion that made the manor look like a doll house. It was enormous, with tall, pointed steeples on each of the four corners. Black stone trimmed in white made for a sharp contrast, even in the dark. An iron gate surrounded the property. 

“Bloody hell,” Harry muttered, using Ron’s favorite phrase. 

“Where’s Draco supposed to be?” Ron asked.

Harry scanned the ground as he answered. “He said he’d be waiting by the fountain.”

“Of course they’ve got a fountain.”

“There he is.” Harry spotted Draco pacing back and forth in front of a large fountain that stood in the middle of the drive. It was lit by glimmering, floating orbs that lazily moved around it, some in the water and some above it. 

Harry reached his hand out and felt the same sort of vibrations as when they’d left the Manor. 

“What’s going to happen when we fly through those?” Ron asked. 

“We’re not going to,” Harry said. “They’ll be so many alarms that Mr. Malfoy and a dozen aurors would be here before we even made it back out.”

“Then what’s the plan?”

Harry turned his broom around and scanned the house, looking for any sign that someone inside might be awake. When he was fairly sure that nobody would see him, he flew as close to the wards as he dared before letting out a long, low whistle. 

Draco’s head snapped up as if he’d been waiting for the sound. 

Harry waved down at him and Draco waved back before taking one last look up at the house and then running for the front gate.

Harry and Ron flew around and landed just on the other side of it.

“We figured that we had a better chance if Draco left the wards instead of us breaking through them,” Harry explained.

“Are you sure though?” 

Harry shook his head and took the extra broomstick from his back. “No. Which is why we need to be ready as soon as he gets through the gate.” He held his arm out and tapped his wrist, his own invisible cuff materializing. “And worst case scenario, you both grab hold of me and I portkey us back.”

“That’s very comforting, Harry.” 

Harry smiled up at his red headed friend and said, “It’s going to be fine.” 

Just then, Draco dropped down in front of them from where he’d climbed over the gate. He took off running towards them and Harry held the broom out to him. 

As soon as Draco’s fingers gripped the handle, he swung it around and kicked off hard. Harry and Ron both followed suit and within seconds, they were all in the air and flying fast in the opposite direction.

Just as they’d done when leaving Snape’s manor, the three teenagers spent the next little while looking over their shoulders, expecting someone to be flying behind them at any moment, ready to snatch Draco back. But it didn’t happen, and eventually, they began to relax and enjoy the flight. Taking advantage of the fact that it was so early in the morning, they raced each other and did tricks that they wouldn’t dare do in the presence of Madame Hooch.

Though as they drew closer to Mageport and ultimately to Snape, Harry’s stomach once again became home to the Giant Squid from the Black Lake. He wrestled within himself between being happy that he’d helped Draco, and worried about what Snape was going to do when they got there. He was sure that sneaking off in the middle of the night to fly hours away with Ron was not something that Snape was going to overlook so easily; even if Harry did think he had a good reason.

The adrenaline of the night was wearing off and by the time that the Manor was in sight, the three teenagers were tired and Harry was sure he had never been more ready to get off a broomstick. However, when they flew through the wards and began their descent into the front yard of the Manor, the door opened and Snape walked out, his arms crossed as he scowled up at them. In that moment, Harry would have gladly turned the broomstick around and taken his chances with the Malfoy’s.

“Inside. Now,” Snape growled as they dismounted and walked slowly toward him. He held out his hand. “Brooms.” 

It wasn’t a request and none of them put up a fight about it, they simply handed him their brooms and moved past him and into the house. 

Remus was standing just inside the doorway with a frown of his own. Rook was running around him, excited to see Harry, but when Remus snapped his fingers at the dog, Rook turned and sat down by his feet. “Harry James, do you have any idea what time it is?”

Having Snape angry with him was one thing, but Harry wasn’t sure if he could handle Remus being upset with him as well. He dropped his gaze to his trainers as Ron and Draco both came to stand on either side of him. 

“I’ll save you the trouble of answering, Harry,” Snape said as he shut the front door and strolled past them. He then turned on his heel and stood facing them with his arms crossed. “It is currently ten minutes past five in the morning.”

“Dad,” Harry started, looking up at him at last, “don’t be upset. I can—”

“Don’t be upset?” Snape shot back. “Harry, I have been looking for you for two hours. I went into Mageport, I checked your godfather’s, who is currently out scouring London even though he has absolutely no idea where you might be. I called the Weasley’s and had to tell them that the first night they allow their son to stay with us, I lost him! Remus is here now and we were just about to go back out again in search of you, though like your godfather, we had zero idea of where you might be. Now you tell me right now, Harry, exactly why I shouldn’t be upset.”

Ron tensed beside him when Snape mentioned his parents and Harry sighed. 

“Severus,” Remus said, placing a hand on Snape’s shoulder. Remus whispered words so quietly that Harry couldn’t hear, but when he stepped away, Snape took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. 

When he looked back down at them, there was an unmistakable note of sadness on his face, and maybe, Harry thought, a touch of fear. But that couldn’t be right. Snape wasn’t afraid of anything. 

“Go sit down,” Snape said softly to the three of them before he turned away and moved to stand next to the fireplace. 

Remus followed suit. “I’m going to find Sirius and tell him he can stop looking. I’ll let Molly and Arthur know, as well.” 

“Thank you,” Snape said. “Tell the Weasley’s that if it’s alright with them, Ron can stay here and we can deal with them in the morning after they’ve slept. Unless they want him home now.” 

Remus left through the floo and seconds later, Snape ran a hand down his face and turned back to face them. 

“Explain,” he said simply.

Harry sat up straighter and said, “This was my idea. When Draco sent me that letter, I knew something was wrong. Last night after you were asleep, I used the floo to call him and he told me about some of the things that were going on.”

“Harry,” hissed Draco from his left.

“He can tell you if he wants,” Harry went on as if Draco hadn’t spoken, “but I had to go help him, Dad! I couldn’t just leave him there.”

“Why didn’t you come to me immediately if something was happening?” Snape demanded. 

“I asked him not to,” Draco cut in. 

Snape took his eyes off of Harry only long enough to send a mild glare in Draco’s direction. “Your father?”

Draco nodded. 

“The minute something happened with him, what were you supposed to do?”

“Use the portkey to come here,” Draco answered, rubbing his thumb along his wrist where the phoenix bracelet had sat since March. 

“Why didn’t you?” 

Draco swallowed hard and said, “Because I don’t have it.”

“He took it?” Snape asked, confusion coating his voice as he tried to understand how that could be.

“No,” Draco said softly, shaking his head as he looked away. “I gave it to him.” 

On Harry’s other side, he felt Ron shift in his seat. Harry knew that he was wondering if he should be here for this part of the conversation, but he didn’t think Snape intended to let either of them get up before he was ready. 

Before Snape could ask why Draco would do such a thing as to give Lucius his only way of escape, Draco spoke again, his voice sounding almost panicked. “But I didn’t want to, I swear. He saw me with it and he said… he said that he would—” Draco cut himself off just as he’d done with Harry the night before; as if admitting it would make it all the more real. 

“It’s alright, Draco,” Snape said before he came around the coffee table and sat down on it facing him. Their knees were nearly touching as Snape leaned forward and said, “What did he say?”

Harry watched as Draco took a steadying breath and let it out slowly. “He said that if I didn’t give it to him, he would hurt me.” 

“Hit you? Or some other form of hurting?”

Draco shook his head but Snape persisted. “Draco, please talk to me. Has your father been physically abusing you?” 

Again, Draco shook his head. “No, but he made it clear that he would. He said he would make what the Dursley’s did to Harry look like love taps, and so I gave it to him, alright. I was scared and I gave it to him!”

Harry tried to hide the flinch at Draco’s words, but it didn’t go unnoticed by Snape, who reached his hand out and gave his knee a quick squeeze before turning back to Draco. 

“You did the right thing. You absolutely should have given it to him, and I’m proud of you.” 

“Proud?” Draco spat. “I was a coward!” 

“No, you were faced with a situation that you never should have been put in, and you did what you needed to do to keep yourself safe, and that’s all I care about. Were there things you could have done differently? Sure. I would have rather you used the bracelet to portkey yourself out of there, but maybe you thought he would just be able to stop you. I would have much rather you smuggled a letter to me instead of Harry, and I could have gotten you out of there the legal way and we could have avoided all of this together.” At this he turned to Harry. “You should have told me the moment you knew about the bracelet. No matter what Draco wanted, you should have trusted me to keep him safe.” 

Harry ducked his head and nodded. 

Just then a note appeared in front of Snape and he snatched it out of the air. “We will collect Ronald in the morning and if he gives you any more problems, please let me know. —Molly”

Snape read the note out loud and Ron groaned in response. “I’m dead.” 

Beside him, Harry was thinking the same thing. 

“Alright,” Snape said as if he’d just decided something. “It’s late and I think we could all do with some sleep. We will be talking about this in the morning after the Weasley’s get here, that way we are all on the same page. Harry, Ron, I want the two of you upstairs and in bed within the next ten minutes. I’d like to talk to Draco a bit more and then he will also be going to bed. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir,” Harry and Ron answered in unison. 

Harry gave Draco a sympathetic look before pushing up from the couch and following Ron out of the living room. Part of him wanted to stay and hear what Draco had to say, but the other part knew he would never want to talk about anything that happened to him with an audience listening to every word. 

He just hoped that Draco knew that he could tell Snape what was really going on. Snape wouldn’t let anything happen to him. He could trust him. 

***

Chapter Text

 Snape talked to Draco for only a few minutes after Ron and Harry went upstairs, getting a surprising amount of information out of the blonde boy. Draco confided that Lucius had been shunning him since he’d stepped off the train, taking away his broom, and then banning him from his sight. Even convincing Narcissa to treat him the same. 

By the time that he sent Draco to bed, Snape was gritting his teeth and fighting back the urge to pay Lucius a visit. As it was, he had quite a bit to do anyway, and it started with a visit to Albus first thing in the morning. He needed to figure out what could be done for Draco in the meantime and he wanted to have answers for them before they awoke. 

Snape frowned as he sat back in his armchair. One thing was certain; despite whatever his reasonings might have been, he couldn’t let Harry get away with this. He and Ron had purposefully flown hours away in the middle of the night without leaving so much as a note to let Snape know what was going on. As if a note would have sufficed. There was simply no way that Harry could expect that he wouldn’t be in trouble for this. 

The thought brought Snape up short. Why would he do something like this knowing that he would be in a world of trouble when he was caught? He understood the need to help Draco, and Snape didn’t fault him for that, but going off on his own instead of confiding in and trusting Snape was a problem they seemed to have over and over again. What was it going to take to convince Harry that Snape was someone he could count on? Were they doomed to repeat this lesson for the rest of their lives? 

Snape shook his head. His mind was moving in a million different directions and it was getting him nowhere. He was tired and frustrated by the entire situation and instead of dwelling on it, he needed to go and get some sleep. Even a couple of hours would be better than nothing. He would try to sleep until seven— just two hours— then he’d go to the cottage and speak with Albus. He would know what to do. 

With that decided, Snape took a quill and parchment from the end table and wrote a quick note to Albus, then he waved his wand and it duplicated itself. Another tap of his wand on each one and they disappeared. One to Albus and the other to Remus. It would be better if they were all there in the morning so that they could stay on the same page with this. No doubt Remus would want to speak to Draco now that he was back at Hogwarts in his counselor capacity, and frankly, Snape was glad. It was no secret that Snape wasn’t the warmest professor in Hogwarts, and while he and Draco were certainly close, he thought that perhaps he would open up a bit more to Remus than he would to him. 

That was his hope, anyway. 

Snape climbed the stairs and walked down the hallway to Draco’s bedroom. He opened the door to find the teenager curled up beneath the blankets of his bed. He was already asleep and Snape couldn’t help but wonder how long it had been since he’d gotten a full night’s sleep. Judging by the circles beneath his eyes, he would wager that it had been a while. 

He softly closed the door behind him and moved down to Harry’s bedroom. He and Ron were also both asleep, with Ron sleeping in the bed closest to the door. Snape raised an eyebrow as he noticed that Ron slept even more chaotically than Harry, with his arms thrown above his head and the blankets in a heap at the foot of the bed. 

He turned to Harry’s bed on the opposite wall and sighed. He was asleep with his glasses still on his face, though they were pressed into the pillow and Snape was sure that if he left them, the frames would be terribly bent by morning. He crossed the room but as he reached to remove the glasses, Rook, who had been sleeping near Harry’s feet, sat up and watched him. 

Snape hadn’t noticed the dog at first and he mentally kicked himself for not seeing him. What kind of spy was he? He shook his head at Rook. “You’re not supposed to be on the bed,” he said sternly. 

Rook only tilted his head at him before snuggling closer to Harry. 

Snape was too tired to force the dog down so he simply adjusted Harry’s blankets and ruffled his hair before turning away. He waved his wand toward Ron’s bed and his blankets straightened as well. 

Ron sighed in his sleep and turned on his side to burrow into the warmth they brought.

Snape took one last look at them before heading to bed. 

***

“The problem,” Remus said the next morning as he sat with Snape and Albus in Albus’s study at the cottage, “is that they are going to label Draco as simply a runaway teenager. Child Services didn’t remove him from the Malfoy home.”

“So what are you saying?” Snape asked from where he stood by a tall bookcase. “Lucius can just come and get him? And what about Harry? He ran away and he was living with me the next morning.”

Remus nodded. “Yes, but when Harry ran away it was because of the accidental magic. The Ministry were already there to sort that out and then his relatives told them that Harry wasn’t welcome back. That opened up an investigation right then. It’s different with Draco, I’m afraid. There has been no official report filed—”

“We will obviously do that immediately,” Albus chimed in from his chair.

“We will, but you both know as well as I do that we need more than just Draco’s word if we are going to convince the Ministry to open an investigation against Lucius Malfoy that will actually produce results.” 

Snape muttered a curse under his breath that was apparently not low enough that Albus didn’t catch it.

“Severus,” he said with a disapproving frown.

“Then how about you tell me what we can do.” Snape pushed away from the bookcase and moved to stand behind the other chair facing the desk, his fingers gripped the back so tightly that his knuckles turned white. 

“We will make a report,” Remus said, “and for now Draco will remain with you; you are his legal godfather after all, and the Ministry will at least put up the pretense of an investigation. I want to speak with Draco and see if he would be willing to let me use his memories as evidence.”

“Which they’ll accuse us of tampering with,” Snape shot back.

“Maybe, but for now it’s all we’ve got.” 

“I agree,” Albus said with a nod. He picked up his quill and began writing on a plain piece of parchment that was lying on his desk. “I’m going to write to Child Services now. The sooner we get this in motion, the better.”

“I’ll come over after Draco wakes up to talk. Hopefully he’ll be willing to let us use the memories.”

“He will be,” Snape said with a nod. “I’ll talk to him.” 

Snape didn’t tell them, but he intended to talk to Lucius as well. He knew him better than almost anyone, and he knew that if they had even a chance of the Ministry working in their favor that they were going to need more than Draco’s memories. 

And if Snape had to resort to getting his hands dirty in order to keep Draco safe, well, then it wouldn’t be the first time. 

***

When Harry awoke next the sun was already up past the tree line. Snape had let them sleep in even after they had snuck out the night before. Snape very well could have woken them up early and let them deal with the repercussions of their late night adventure, but looking at his watch, Harry saw that it was nearly half past ten in the morning. Though logically, Harry knew that it likely had more to do with the fact that Snape was probably busy trying to figure out what to do about Draco, and less to do with making sure his ward got adequate sleep, he was still touched by the kindness of the gesture. 

“Ron,” Harry said as he chucked his pillow at his best friend. “We’ve got to get up.” 

Ron groaned. “Five more minutes.” 

Harry shook his head and went into the bathroom to get ready. When he came back out, Ron was sitting up on the side of the bed and Harry looked around the room, noticing that Rook wasn’t there.

“Where’s Rook?” 

Ron also looked around before shrugging. “Maybe Snape let him out?”

“Maybe.” Harry picked up the pillow he’d thrown at Ron and said, “Better hurry. He won’t wait forever.” 

Ron sighed before dragging himself up out of the bed. “Neither will my parents.” 

They left the room a few minutes later, once Ron was ready. He had packed his bag and lifted it onto his shoulder as they walked down the hall. 

“What about Draco?” Ron asked, pointing to his closed bedroom door.

“Leave him,” said Harry. “Do you really want him to be an audience down there?”

Ron shook his head. “Good point.” 

They made their way down the stairs and to the dining room, though neither of them walked through the doorway. 

Snape, Molly, and Arthur were sitting at the table, drinking tea and talking, but the moment that Snape noticed them, he put his cup down and said, “Good morning, boys. Sleep well?” 

“Er, yes, sir,” Harry said, taking in the way that they looked at them. 

“Sit.” 

Harry exchanged looks with Ron before they both took seats at the end of the table, facing the adults. He wasn’t sure he liked how calm they were. Normally Snape would have already been standing and pacing in front of them by now. 

“To be clear,” Snape said after a moment, “I wanted to ground you both on the spot and be done with it.” 

“Me too,” said Molly.

Harry dropped his gaze to the corner of the table. This could certainly have started out better. 

“As it stands, Mr. Weasley thought we ought to at least hear you out first.”

He glanced over to where Arthur sat with his hands folded in front of him and caught his eye. Harry didn’t think he looked upset in the slightest. In fact, he was sure that if Mrs. Weasley and Snape hadn’t been there, he might have congratulated them instead. 

However, they were there, and Snape went on, “What the two of you did last night was reckless and irresponsible. It showed a complete lake of maturity and trust in us that we would have taken care of the situation ourselves, if you had only come to us. Which seems to be a recurring problem with us, doesn’t it, Harry?” 

“I trust you,” Harry mumbled.

“You’ve got an awfully strange way of showing it.” 

Ron, clearly deciding that at least one of them should show some form of self preservation, spoke up, “We’re sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Harry snapped his gaze to him. “I’m not sorry.”

This was decidedly the wrong thing to say. Snape raised a questioning eyebrow and said, “Oh? You’re not?”

Harry shook his head and began to back track. “I’m sorry that I snuck out and didn’t confide in you about what was going on with Draco, but I’m not sorry I went to get him. He needed to be out of there and if I’d come to you, I was afraid that you wouldn’t have gone to get him.”

“So then you admit that you didn’t trust me?” Snape asked.

“No.” Harry could feel his frustrations rising as he glanced around the room. “It’s not like that. It’s just that you would have had to go through all the steps. You’d have wanted to get Granddad involved and Child Services, and I didn’t have to do any of that.” 

Snape let out a bitter laugh. “No, instead you helped Draco run away in the middle of the night, giving Lucius Malfoy all the ammunition he needs to paint Draco as a delinquent and get him sent straight back.” 

“He can do that?”

All heads turned to see Draco standing in the doorway, a worried look on his face. 

Snape sighed. “I’m not going to let that happen,” he said firmly. 

Draco walked further into the dining room, letting his hands rest on the back of the chair next to Harry’s. “But you just said—”

“I’m going to talk to Lucius today and everything is going to work out.”

“There’s no talking to him!” Draco pushed away from the chair. “You know there’s not. He doesn’t listen—”

“Draco,” Snape interrupted again, “I promise you that I will make him listen.”

“How?” Draco’s voice had gone quiet and Harry began to wonder if he had made the right choice the night before. He didn’t want to make things worse for Draco, but it seemed like that might have been exactly what happened.

“That’s not for you to worry about,” Snape assured him. 

Molly, who to Harry’s surprise, had been quiet throughout most of the conversation, stood up and walked around the table to stand beside Draco. She put her hand on his shoulder and Harry felt himself tense up, afraid that he would push her away. When he didn’t, Harry let out a breath.

“Draco, dear,” Molly said, “it’s been a long night and I’m sure you’re still tired. How about you and I go into the kitchen and I’ll make us both a cup of tea while Severus and Arthur finish up with the boys?”

Draco seemed to look to Snape for what to do. 

Snape nodded. “Go on, Draco. We’ll be done in just a few minutes, and then we’ll have breakfast.”

Harry watched as Draco reluctantly let Molly steer him in the direction of the kitchen, as if that was the last place on earth that he’d rather be. Then he turned back to Snape who was running his hand down his face, rubbing his tired eyes with his fingers before letting his hands drop back to the table top.

“Alright,” he said, “do either of you have anything else you’d like to say? Any reason you’d like to give that might possibly justify the two of you taking off in the middle of the night and worrying everyone?” 

Harry didn’t, and even if he did, he wasn’t sure that he would voice it now. Not after he’d found out that it might have all been for nothing— or worse, it might have actually made things harder for Draco in the long run. 

He shook his head as did Ron.

“I want you both to understand,” Arthur said, speaking for the first time at last, “that we’re not upset that you wanted to help Draco. In fact, I think it shows a great deal of bravery and friendship to do something that you knew would result in you being in trouble, just to help out a friend. But the fact of the matter is that you did know you would be in trouble, yes? Was there any part of last night where you thought you would get away with this?”

“No, Dad,” Ron said, sitting up straight and looking his father in the eye. “We knew what we were getting in to.”

“Harry?” Snape prodded.

“No, it was always going to end up here.” 

“But you did it anyway because…”

“Because Draco is our friend, Dad,” Harry said simply. “Because he deserves to have someone who will help him.” 

Harry thought, maybe, that he saw the briefest of smiles pass across Snape’s face, but if it was there, he covered it quickly before he gave a firm nod.

“Then I don’t think there’s anything more to discuss, except for your punishments, of course.”

Harry and Ron both groaned but didn’t argue when Snape held a hand up for silence.

“We’ve already talked it over and we think that a one week grounding, plus one extra week of no flying will suffice.” 

“And you will do whatever extra chores we can think of,” called Molly from the kitchen. 

“Great,” Ron grumbled, “Another day of de-gnoming the garden.” 

Harry smothered a grin when Snape glared at him. 

“I’ve also got plenty of cauldrons that I mistakenly left sitting in the two weeks since classes ended,” he said. “They could use a good scrubbing.”

Harry slouched a bit in his seat at that. 

With that settled, Snape and Arthur stood up and pushed their chairs under the table. 

“Does Ron really have to go?” Harry asked, standing as well and looking up to Snape. “He only just got here.” 

Ron looked up hopefully but Molly returned from the kitchen and said, “I’m afraid not, Harry. Maybe before Summer is over we can try again.” 

“Assuming you can behave in the meantime,” Snape added. 

Harry didn’t think that was entirely fair. Before this he hadn’t been in any actual trouble in months. Not since the night they had saved Sirius. Though to be fair, Harry had been grounded for a month after that, and then he’d been too busy with the end of term exams to get into any real trouble. He mentally scolded himself for not setting a better track record. 

“I will,” Harry promised.

Snape only raised an eyebrow before leading the way into the living room to see off the Weasley’s through the floo. 

***

After their late breakfast which was really lunch, Snape sent Harry and Draco upstairs to get ready for the day before floo calling Remus to ask him to come over. 

“So you’re really going over there?” Remus asked, taking a seat in one of the armchairs.

Snape nodded. “If I don’t, he’ll come here and I don’t want that for Draco.”

“Do you have a plan for what you’re going to say? I thought you wanted me to talk to him first and try and get some memories as evidence?”

Snape stepped up to the fireplace. “You can do that now. Draco’s up in his room.”

“I am not going to bombard the boy, Severus!” Remus seemed appalled at the idea. “That’s a sure way to get him to shut down.” 

“Well,” Snape said as he took a handful of floo powder from the jar on the mantle, “then do whatever you think is best. You’re the professional here. I’m going to talk to Lucius and at the very least convince him to let Draco stay for the summer.” 

“You don’t even know what you’re going to say,” Remus argued. “I think you’re being impulsive. You should wait until you’re truly calm before you go over there.” 

Snape took a step toward Remus, his already black eyes seeming to darken even more as he spat, “This is calm. Impulsive would have been me going last night and cursing him to within an inch of his life.”

“Severus—”

“I’ll be back in a bit, Remus. Harry is on restriction, and though he’s allowed to come out of his room, he’s currently sulking and probably won’t.” 

With that Snape stepped into the fireplace and dropped the floo powder as he clearly said, “Malfoy Manor Parlor.” 

***

Seconds later, Snape stepped out into the spacious parlor of the Malfoy home. 

Lucius Malfoy was sitting in a high backed chair, one leg crossed over the other, and with a look of complete boredom on his face. He held the cane that contained his wand loosely in one hand and in the other he had a tumbler of Firewhiskey.

“I wondered when you might show up,” he said softly. “Though I’ll remind you that I do have a front door.”

Snape showed no emotion whatsoever, his face a perfect mask as he asked, “Would you have let me in?”

In answer, Lucius brought the glass to his lips and took a long sip before placing it on the end table beside him. He gestured to another chair for Snape to sit, and reluctantly, he did so.

“I suppose you know why I’m here,” Snape said, getting straight to the point. 

“Indeed.” Lucius nodded, turning in his chair to better see Snape. “Narcissa sent word the moment she realized that Draco wasn’t here.” 

“And when was that?” Snape asked. “How long did it take to notice the absence of your son, Lucius?”

Lucius smirked. “It’s not as if he’s been in our sight much this summer. To be honest, I hardly noticed he’d come back at all.” 

Snape took a deep breath. He knew that Lucius was only trying to rile him up and he couldn’t allow that to happen. 

“I assume he had the help of that menace of yours. Merlin knows that he no longer had a broom of his own.” He let his cane rest against the arm of the chair and then looked down at his robes, brushing away an invisible speck of dust. “I will however require that you bring him back. His mother is, of course, beside herself with worry.” 

Snape had no intention of bringing back Draco and so instead, he said, “I can’t say that I’m surprised that you’re shunning him in the first place, though I did think you’d keep up the charade for appearances sake at least. What will the Ministry thing when news of Draco’s abuse becomes public?”

Snape watched a tiny flicker of anger pass over Lucius’s stone like features before he quickly masked them into indifference once more. 

“Draco’s told you nothing.”

Now it was Snape’s turn to smirk. “Draco’s told me everything. In fact, he has enough memories to fill a penseive and as we speak he is allowing them to be viewed by a worker in the Child Service’s department.”

“How I discipline my son has nothing to do with anyone but me,” Lucius snapped. “I warned Draco that he ought to keep better company. He chose to ignore that. He’s brought this on himself.” 

“Oh,” Snape murmured, “it’s discipline is it? To ignore your child and his wellbeing? To threaten him with harm, and to deny him basic necessities? What will you do when privately disowning him isn’t enough? If he continues thinking for himself and picking his own friends, and you need to teach him a tougher lesson, will you start beating him? Or perhaps take a page out of your father’s book? He was a fan of the Cruciatus, wasn’t he?”

Lucius was on his feet in an instant with his wand out. 

Snape had been expecting this though and was up just as quickly. They stood facing each other, nearly toe to toe as Lucius breathed heavily.

“If need be,” he snarled. “You forget, Severus, that much like my father, the Ministry knows better than to meddle in my affairs. Do you think anyone will believe that I would hurt my only son? And even if they did, they’re smart enough to stay out of it.” 

“I haven’t forgotten anything,” Snape said, and though his voice portrayed nothing but calmness, there was also an iciness to it that far outweighed any yelling he could do. Severus Snape had been given the supreme dis-privilege of sitting at the right hand of Lord Voldemort, and he hadn’t gotten there by stepping aside to let other, lesser wizards like Malfoy stand in his way. He had risen through the Death Eater ranks, and though it pained him a great deal to think about, no one would dare say that Snape hadn’t been damn good at the job he’d been given. “But you and I both know that the scandal that would come about when news of this gets out will be enough to cause your fall from grace in the eyes of everyone that matters.” 

Snape took a step back and tugged on his sleeve where they both knew his wand was concealed. “There is however, one another option that I’m prepared to take, and I will have your answer before I step back into that floo. If you find it acceptable, then you will send Draco’s belongings to the Manor immediately. If not, I will be sending Draco’s memories to the head of Child Services myself.” 

When Lucius didn’t respond, Snape took that as his sign to continue. “You will allow Draco to remain with me over the summer and all holiday breaks from Hogwarts. You will not contact him, you will not touch a single hair on his head, and you will not send anyone else to. You most certainly will not conspire with other students to bring him harm. As far as anyone else is concerned, Draco is your son and heir, and you allow him to spend summers with me out of the goodness of your heart. Narcissa is of course, free to visit him whenever she wishes, but you will stay away unless Draco wishes to see you himself. And you can be sure that if he does, I will be right there beside him.” 

Lucius looked murderous as he glared at Snape. His hand tightened around his wand as he watched Snape walk across the room.

Snape wasn’t fazed in the slightest. He simply waited to see what Lucius would say. Either way, Draco was never again going to be harmed by this man. 

***

Chapter Text

“Do I really have to do this?” Draco asked, his voice barely above a whisper. 

Draco and Remus were sitting together in Draco’s bedroom at the Manor. Remus had spent the last twenty minutes talking to him about what using his memories as evidence against Lucius, and though Draco didn’t want to go back to his parent’s house, he wasn’t thrilled with the idea that people would see any of the things that had gone on there either. 

“No,” Remus said kindly. He sat in one of the chairs with his elbows resting on his knees as he watched Draco pace back and forth across his room. “These are your memories, Draco, and you have the right to keep them private.”

“But if I do then we don’t have any proof and he’ll say I’m lying.” 

Remus sighed. “Unfortunately, that may very well be the case.” 

Draco bit his lip. “Will everyone have to see them?”

“Only the people who truly need to,” Remus assured him, “and I promise that I will keep that list as short as possible. Likely only a very few people.” 

“Uncle Sev?” Draco’s voice wavered despite how hard he worked to keep it steady. It was one thing for strangers to see how pathetic Draco was when Lucius had threatened him and ignored him, but it was something entirely different for Snape to see him that way. He wasn’t sure he could handle the embarrassment. 

Remus ran a hand across the scruff of his jaw and said, “I think it would be beneficial if he did, but if you truly don’t want him to, Severus would understand.” 

“Can I think about it?” Draco asked.

“Of course,” Remus said, and Draco was glad that he wasn’t pushing him. 

After only another moment’s hesitation, Draco finally nodded. “Alright. How do we do this?”

~

Harry lay on his bed, staring up at the ceiling as his tiny practice snitch flew around the room. It would come close enough that Harry could reach out and catch it if he wanted, and then zoom away again, as if it wanted Harry to try and get it. 

Harry didn't feel like practicing though. He was content to simply lay there quietly, running his fingers through Rook's fur as he slept beside him. 

A quick knock on his bedroom door pulled Harry from his thoughts and he sighed but didn't answer. 

Not that it mattered for only a few seconds passed before Snape opened the door anyway. He didn't step into the room, though. Instead, he crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame as he took in the sight of Harry and Rook on the bed. 

"It occurred to me that with everything going on, we didn't really have much of a chance to talk," he said when Harry still didn't look up. 

"What's there to talk about?" Harry asked, keeping his eyes trained on Rook. "I mucked everything up again, and you grounded me again. Same as always."

Harry missed the way that Snape's eyebrows creased in confusion at his words, and in the next second Snape had moved further into the room. Though just as he was about to say something, the snitch flew towards him. 

Snape reached out and caught it so easily that Harry did look up then, but as soon as Snape tucked the snitch into it's case on Harry's desk, Harry glanced away again. 

"Is that what you think?" Snape asked as he shut Harry's door and moved to sit near the foot of the bed. "That all you do is muck stuff up and get into trouble?" 

Harry shrugged. "It's how it's been so far," he muttered.

Snape shook his head. "No, it's not. First of all, you didn't muck anything up with Draco. He'll be staying here for the Summer at least, and everything else will get figured out later." 

Harry dug his palms into the mattress to push himself up to a sitting position. "But you said-"

"I know what I said," Snape interrupted, "and I meant it. Helping Draco to sneak away in the middle of the night could have caused Lucius to become angry enough to use his position in the Ministry to force him to be sent back. However, as it stands, I went to speak to Lucius and managed to convince him to agree to let Draco stay here for now."

"How?" 

"That's not important," Snape said, raising his hand to stop Harry from asking any more questions about it. "I am only going to tell you this because I believe Draco will tell you himself later, but Remus is talking to Draco right now, and it is our hope that we can use his memories as evidence that will get Draco safely away from him. The only worry we have though is that Lucius does have quite a bit of pull with the Ministry and it's very likely he would be able to convince them to believe that Draco is lying or that his memories have been modified, which is why we are trying to work this in a way that would keep it from coming to that in the first place."

"But how can you do that if-"

"Harry," Snape said firmly, "trust me, remember?" 

Harry wanted to, he really did, but he still wasn't used to the adults in his life actually doing what they promised, so trusting them was just so hard. Still, he was determined to try. 

"Alright," he said reluctantly. "But he'll get to stay for the summer, right?" 

Snape nodded. "He's not going anywhere. He's safe now." 

Harry grew quiet as he stroked Rook's fur. He had a fleeting thought that the dog must have been really tired since he hadn't stirred once since Snape entered the room. 

"Now," Snape went on after a moment, "about you always being grounded." 

"I am," Harry was quick to point out. Though then he paused. "Well, I'm at least in trouble a lot. More than Ron for sure."

"I see," said Snape as he shifted on the bed to better face Harry. "Tell me, Harry, when was the last time you were put on restriction?" 

Harry nearly shrugged before he stopped himself and thought back. "When we went to the Shrieking Shack to save Sirius." 

Snape shot Harry a meaningful glare and the teenager amended his statement to one he thought Snape would rather hear. "When we went after Ron who had been dragged down there by Sirius, who at the time we thought was a murderer." 

Snape nodded. "When you were already grounded for what?" 

Harry felt heat flood his cheeks as he looked away. "For sneaking out to Hogsmeade." 

"Correct. And aside from those two times where you put yourself in dangerous situations like last night, if my memory serves, you got grounded twice last summer for sneaking out to go flying, and then again with Draco to that bloody concert. Other than that, you've had a few real detentions for fighting with Draco and for abysmal classroom behavior, you've had lines for eavesdropping, and a few times you've been very close to punishment for attitude. Yes?" 

Harry groaned. "Why are you going over it like that?" 

"Because I want you to think about something." Snape held up his index finger and said, "One, the difference between you and Ron is that his parent doesn't work at the school. If he gets into trouble there and it's something that isn't handled with a simple detention, his mother receives a letter and no doubt promises consequences when he gets home. Which she then likely forgets about by the time he goes home for break. It's just bad luck on your end that I'm already there to deal with things. And two, you're thirteen years old, Harry. Bad attitudes and a bit of mischief is honestly to be expected. Not that I want much of either, but it's just how things go." 

Harry shook his head. "That's mental. You could just be like other parents then and wait til the summer to deal with stuff." 

Snape's brow rose in amusement. "I could," he said. "I could treat you exactly like every other student while we were at school. Of course you wouldn't be able to spend any time down in our quarters, but I suppose I could send you care packages like Mrs. Weasley does. Oh! And I could finally send a howler! I've really always wanted to do that." 

Harry rolled his eyes as he said, "That's not what I meant."

"But you can't have it both ways, Harry." He sighed then and Harry thought maybe he looked a bit sad, though he couldn't understand why. Harry was the one grounded after all. "And the truth of the matter is," Snape went on, "I don't want to be like other parents. I don't want to give up our after dinner tea, or keep you from coming down for weekends. I don't want to pass you in the hallways without speaking, or any of the other things that I get to do simply because you're there." He shrugged and it was such a non-Snape thing to do, that Harry's eyes widened in surprise. "So I suppose it's selfish of me, but you're just going to have to deal with it." 

Harry took a moment to rub Rook's fur and the dog began to stretch as he woke up from his nap. "I guess it's really not all that bad," he said before looking up at Snape with a small smile. 

"I'm glad to hear it," Snape replied. He reached out and gave Harry's knee a quick squeeze before standing up. "I've got a few things to do in my lab, but there's a list on the refrigerator of extra chores." 

Harry groaned. He'd forgotten all about that part of his punishment. Though he supposed that in the grand scheme of things, he and Ron had probably gotten off lightly this time. 

~

A memory began to unfurl around Remus and Draco and as it came into focus, Draco clenched his hands into fists by his side. He stood rigid next to Remus, his eyes focused on the memory version of him that sat at the table in the dining room of the manor. 

"When was this?" Remus asked quietly. 

"The summer after first year." Draco watched as his younger self filled a glass with pumpkin juice. "I'm about to get my end of year marks." 

"Ah." Remus nodded and a second later Lucius stepped through the doorway.

"Draco," he snapped and both Draco's flinched in response. 

Remus laid a hand casually on Draco's shoulder and though Draco would never admit it, he was grateful for the small measure of comfort that it brought. 

Memory Draco jumped up, nearly overturning his glass in the process. "Yes, Father?"

"Sit down," Lucius growled, annoyance clear in his voice. He laid a parchment with the Hogwarts crest on the top on the table in front of Draco. "Your marks." 

Draco looked down, a small smile spreading across his face as he read them out. He'd gotten "Outstanding" in every subject except Astronomy, in which he received an "Exceeds Expectations."

Remus raised a brow at the real Draco. "Very good," he praised. 

Draco shook his head but didn't comment. He only continued to watch his younger self as he looked up to Lucius, clearly hoping that his marks had impressed his father. 

Lucius wasn't impressed though, and a scowl now marked his face as he put down another parchment. 

Remus's brows knit in confusion as he stepped up behind Memory Draco's chair and read over his shoulder. At the top of the page was Hermione Granger's name, and across from every subject was marked an "O." 

"Father, I-" 

Lucius leaned across the table, invading Draco's space as he said, "I don't want to hear your excuses. You allowed a filthy mudblood to get higher marks than you! You are a disgrace!"

"I'm sorry, Father." Draco rushed to apologize as he shook his head. "I-it won't happen again." 

Draco turned his head. He didn't need to see his father to know that he'd come around the table and was now dragging Memory Draco roughly up by his arm. 

Remus had moved behind him and he felt more than heard the low growl from the older man as he watched the scene continue to unfold. 

Lucius pulled Memory Draco from the room, and reluctantly Draco and Remus followed them along a narrow hallway and into a sitting room where a desk sat in the far corner, facing away from everything else. Lucius didn't care that his son was tripping over himself as he tried to keep up, or that he was begging him to listen to his apologies and promises to do better, he only tightened his grip on his arm and then shoved him into the chair. 

Lucius pulled his wand from the end of his cane and waved it at the desk, clearing it of everything. Then he said, "Accio Draco's Astronomy book," and seconds later the book came flying through the air. Lucius caught it and dropped it onto the desk. "You will not move from this chair until I am satisfied that you know this text so well that you could teach it," he snarled. "Is that clear?"

Memory Draco met his gaze and nodded his head frantically as he swallowed hard. "Y-yes, Father." 

Only when Lucius turned and left the room did Draco turn to the book, opening it to the first page before letting his left arm reach up and rub his right, soothing what would later be a ghastly bruise. 

"How long did you have to sit there?" Remus asked, drawing Draco's attention away from his younger self. 

He blew out a breath and shook his head. "Couple of days I think, but it wasn't as bad as he made it seem. I had to eat there, but he let me up for the loo and to go to my room at night. And I've gotten an "Outstanding" in Astronomy the last two years." He tried to force a smile but he didn't think Remus believed him. 

Before Remus could say anything though, the memory faded only to be replaced by a new one. 

Now Draco and Remus were watching Lucius, Draco, and Marcus Flint as they stood in the entryway of the castle, just outside the Great Hall. Lucius pointed his wand at Draco's clothing, forcefully straightening them and tightening his tie while Draco stood there, surrounded by classmates, embarrassment clear on his face. 

Remus looked to Draco with a frown.

"This is the day he came to Hogwarts last year," Draco supplied quietly, not taking his eyes off of his father. 

"Do you think that I enjoy hearing from your professors that my son is falling behind in his classes? Stand up straight, boy!"

"Yes, Father," Memory Draco said as he did as he was told.

Draco watched as Ron and Hermione walked past them and he remembered how he'd hoped that they hadn't heard what his father had said. They had of course, and Draco knew that in a few moments Dumbledore and Severus would come down the stairs to save him. He just had to get through this part of the memory first. 

He let his eyes focus back on Lucius and himself. 

"I hear from Mr. Flint here that you are still disregarding my orders concerning the company you keep," Lucius was saying. 

Draco's hands were shaking and he stuffed them into the pockets of his trousers. He grit his teeth, determined to watch the scene through to the end. 

Once again, Remus put a hand on his shoulder, though this time he gave it a light squeeze as he asked, "Are you alright? Do you need to stop?"

Draco shook his head. "It's almost over."

"I shall not have a son who cares so little about the wishes of his father! I will not tolerate it, Draco. You will cease with this nonsense at once or so help me I will-"

"No!" Memory Draco yelled. He was breathing heavily and clenching his fists at his side. 

"I beg your pardon?" Lucius was sneering as he stepped closer to Draco. 

"I said no. You can't tell me who to be friends with! It's not up to you-"

"You stood up to him," said Remus, and Draco thought maybe he sounded a bit proud. 

"For all the good it did," Draco said with a shrug. 

"What happened next?" Remus asked, looking around when he heard Dumbledore call out to Lucius. 

They watched as Dumbledore sent Draco and Flint away and Draco walked into the Great Hall. Remus moved to follow him but Draco shook his head. "I come back out in a minute," he said. 

Draco pointed to Severus. "He goes out after him and then I come to listen at the door." 

Sure enough, a moment later, Memory Draco returns and moves to the door that was left slightly ajar. They move closer just in time to hear Lucius accuse Severus of poisoning Draco against him. Then Severus threatening to make Lucius pay if he hurts Draco. 

Draco cleared his throat. "Er, can he get in trouble for that?" he asked.

Remus only sighed as he continued to watch.

"I wouldn't need to denounce him publicly," Lucius was saying. "After all, the Blacks never had to do so publicly with Sirius and he still got the picture." 

Draco felt Remus tense beside him. 

"You would just ignore him? Pretend he doesn't exist? Your own child?" 

Despite everything, Draco felt a warmth wash over him as he listened to Severus defend him. 

"Examples need to be made, Severus," Lucius said calmly. "It would be wise for Draco to learn that now." 

Draco stepped back as the memory once again began to fade. When Remus glanced at him with such a look of pity on his face that Draco thought he might be sick, he rolled his eyes and snapped, "See. It's not like he didn't warn me." 

"Draco-" 

"Last one," Draco said, cutting him off and turning away to watch as the next memory filled out around him. 

Remus stepped up beside him and together they stood in the middle of Draco's bedroom. The massive four post bed took up most of the room on the right side. The dark green comforter lay in a mess near the foot and the pillows were scattered around it, as if Draco had struggled to find the right place for them. 

His opened trunk sat at the end, robes and bits of parchment and quills lay around it but Draco didn't seem to mind the mess. In truth, it had been left that way on purpose, as if sensing the mess, one or both of his parents might come up and tell him to clean it. 

"This was a week ago," Draco said before Remus could ask. 

Memory Draco was sitting at a beautiful mahogany desk, staring down at his wrist. He was absently tapping it so that the phoenix bracelet would appear and then fade back to invisible over and over again. 

"Bored?" Remus asked with a smile.

Draco snorted. "Incredibly." He walked around the room, looking at the books on his shelves and said, "They were ignoring me before I even got here. They didn't even pick me up at the station; just sent a house elf to apparate me here. And I knew it would be this way, I really did, but I guess I just didn't really prepare for it. Or maybe I thought it wouldn't bother me." 

"I would have been really surprised if it hadn't," Remus said quietly. 

Draco nodded. He turned back to face Memory Draco with a sigh. "I shouldn't have been messing with that." He pointed to the open door way. "Especially with the door open." 

Right on cue, Lucius walked down the hallway. He cast a quick glance inside the room before he continued on, though the sight of Draco's room much have caused him to pause because a second later he was back. 

"Draco," he snapped. 

Draco didn't know what he had initially wanted because the moment that Memory Draco jumped at his sudden appearance, the bracelet disappeared, drawing Lucius's eye directly to his wrist. 

"What was that?" he demanded. 

Instinctively, Draco put his hands in his pockets. "Nothing, Father." 

"You dare lie to me?" Lucius snarled, then he pulled his cane back and with a sharp thwack, he brought it back down against Draco's forearm, directly above his wrist. 

Memory Draco hissed and pulled his hand out, cradling his arm to his chest. 

"Show. Me." 

"Father, please, I-"

Lucius raised the cane again but before he could hit him with it again, Draco thrust out his arm, tapping the bracelet and letting it become visible. 

Draco watched as Lucius roughly grabbed Memory Draco's wrist, causing him to wince in pain. Without realizing, Draco rubbed his own wrist, but when he caught Remus staring at him with narrowed eyes, he dropped his hand and once again stuffed them into his pockets. 

Lucius used his free hand to try and rip the bracelet off, but when it didn't budge he merely glared at him. "A phoenix? I suppose you've got Dumbledore buying into your lies about me. No doubt convincing everyone that I'm terrible and abusive." 

Memory Draco was shaking his head. "No, sir. I-"

"Give it to me," Lucius said with a calm that was worse than if he'd shouted. 

"It's nothing," Memory Draco tried again. "I swear. It's-"

Lucius clutched Draco's wrist even tighter, pulling him closer to him so quickly that Draco nearly lost his balance. "You will give it to me this instant, boy, or I promise you that I will make the beatings that precious Potter got feel like a walk in the park. You think he suffered at the hands of those Muggles? It would be nothing compared to what I could do to you." 

Memory Draco's breath was coming in shallow pants and he tried to take a step back. His steel blue eyes were swimming with tears that he was stubbornly trying to blink back. But at last, Draco gave a faint nod and with shaking hands he undid the clasp on the bracelet, placing it carefully in Lucius's outstretched hand. 

Lucius put the bracelet inside the pocket of his robes, then with a menacing snarl, he grabbed Draco by the front of his shirt and pulled him close once more. "Do not underestimate how badly this summer can go, Draco. Until now, you have been the pampered prince of Malfoy Manor, and I'd sure hate to see you lose your throne." Then without another word, Lucius shoved Draco hard towards his bed and left the room. 

"I'm done," Draco said. "Let me out, Remus, now!" He had done his part and showed Remus his memories, but he wasn't going to spend another second here. 

Remus was at his side immediately. He put a hand on his elbow and the next thing Draco knew, he and Remus were standing once more in Draco's bedroom at Snape Manor. 

"Draco," Remus said softly.

"What?" Draco snapped. He stood with his back to the older man as he tried in vain to get his emotions under control. The last thing he wanted to do was start crying in front of him. He felt like everything was too much. It was too warm in his room and the blood rushing behind his ears was too loud. He couldn't think past the memories, but they were too hard to think about, so he kept replaying them, trying to block out the way that Remus had looked at him. It was too much and he was sure that one wrong word and he would just fall completely apart. But he was fourteen, and damnit, he was Draco Malfoy and he didn't fall apart!

"Thank you." 

"What?" Draco said again, spinning around to glare at Remus.

"I know how hard it must have been for you to show me those memories. It took a great deal of courage and though it may not mean much coming from me, I want you to know that I am incredibly proud of you." 

And just like that, Draco Malfoy lost his battle with his tears, but before the first one could fall, Remus was in front of him, gently wrapping his arms around his shoulders and whispering calming words in his ears. 

~

Chapter Text

The next morning, Harry and Draco left their bedrooms and came downstairs for breakfast to find Snape sitting at the table.

"Good morning," he said, without lowering the Daily Prophet.

"Morning," the boys replied before taking their seats.

As always, the moment they sat down, the table was laden with food. Sausages, eggs, beans, toast, and jam; all of their favorites.

Once they had filled their plates, Snape dropped the paper and reached for his coffee. "We'll need to leave at noon today," he said before taking a sip. "Remus has pulled me in to helping him with the cake and if we don't get their early, it will never be done on time."

The boys exchanged confused looks over their food before Harry turned to face Snape. "What are you going on about?"

Snape looked at them each in turn, his brows furrowed as if trying to understand what, in fact, they were talking about. "The party, obviously."

Draco nearly spit out his pumpkin juice. "You're going to a party?"

Snape glared at the teen and said, "Well, of course I-" He paused, taking in their truly confused looks and realizing his mistake.

"Forget to tell us something?" Harry asked with a grin.

Snape nodded. "Indeed. With everything going on, I forgot to tell you that my mother is throwing a surprise birthday party for Dad. Today."

Harry and Draco were quiet as they stared at Snape, until finally Draco asked, "And you're going to bake the cake?"

"Apparently," Snape replied.

Draco didn't try to hide his smirk. "This we have to see! Do you even know how to bake a cake?"

When Snape didn't reply, Harry pushed his plate away and said, "You could ask Mrs. Weasley for help."

"I do not need help," Snape said dryly, before picking his paper back up and snapping it straight.

"Are you sure? She wouldn't mi-"

"Or we could just stay home today," Snape interrupted.

"No, no, no," Draco jumped in. "We want to go. Really." He glanced over at Harry who nodded.

"Course we do," Harry said. "But, er, we haven't got any presents for him."

"It's taken care of," Snape replied after a moment. "I'll be waiting by the floo at exactly twelve, and if you're not both there as well, I'll leave without you."

Snape hadn't been serious about leaving them behind, of course, but he hadn't told them otherwise, and at noon, sharp, he scooped a handful of floo powder from the vase that sat on the mantle.

"We're coming!" Draco shouted from upstairs.

"Don't you dare leave without us!" Harry echoed seconds before he ran into the parlor.

Draco was right behind him and they skidded to a halt in front of the fireplace.

Snape nodded and gestured for them to get in together. "We're going to Remus's quarters at Hogwarts first. The party is in the Great Hall."

Harry grabbed his own handful of powder and said, "Remus Lupin's quarters at Hogwarts," before dropping it and disappearing in a rush of green flames.

Snape followed immediately, and when he stepped through the fireplace and into his brother's quarters, he was not surprised to see Sirius Black standing in the middle of the room.

"I thought you were travelling, Sirius?" Harry asked.

"I am," Sirius replied with a bright smile. "I was just in Ireland, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see my godson, could I?" He glared at Snape. "Especially when someone keeps ignoring my requests to have you come stay with me."

Harry turned to Snape. "Dad?"

Snape scowled. "I haven't been ignoring him, not that it should matter if I had. But as he no doubt knows, we've been quite busy as of late."

Harry nodded at this. "That's true. Dad took me to the beach. And got me a dog."

Snape cleared his throat and Harry rolled his eyes. "Okay, he didn't get me a dog, but he let me keep the one that I found."

"A dog, eh?" Sirius asked, glancing back down at Harry.

"Yes," said Snape, "apparently we needed two flea carriers around."

"Sev, don't start."

Snape turned to see Remus walking through the kitchen door, followed by Draco. "What?" he asked, innocently.

"You know what," Remus said. He turned to Sirius who was now shuffling through a stack of muggle photographs. "What are you doing?" he snapped.

It was now Sirius's turn to look up innocently. He shrugged. "I thought I would show the boys the photos I took on my trip." He glanced at Draco and Harry and said excitedly, "I bought a muggle camera, can you believe it? The pictures don't move though, but it's still fun."

"Collin Creevy says you can develop muggle film with a spell so that they'll move," Harry offered.

Before Sirius could comment, Remus walked over and snatched the bundle of photos from his hand.

"Oi," Sirius said.

But Remus paid him no mind as he flipped through them, taking one out occasionally and putting it face down on the coffee table. When he was finished, he passed them back and said, "Here. You can show them these. They don't need to see the pictures of your half naked girlfriend."

Sirius smirked. "Ciara is not my girlfriend, Remus. She's just… a friend. And she's not half naked."

Remus scoffed. "You're right, half naked would be far too generous."

Draco, no doubt taking advantage of the adults being distracted, reached for the pictures, but before he could pick them up, they disappeared. He looked up to see Snape glaring mildly at him.

"Are you coming to help or not?" Remus asked Snape, who said nothing but followed him into the kitchen all the same.

"Do I want to know what that was about?" Snape asked when Remus began pulling out the ingredients for the cake.

"Nothing," he said sharply. "It's fine."

Snape raised an eyebrow and though he wanted to ignore the apparent elephant in the room, he was struck with the rare occurrence of brotherly-ness and the next thing he knew, he was asking, "Are you sure?"

Remus sighed. He put down the sugar and turned so that his back was leaning against the counter. "He is not handling things as well as he wants people to think," he said quietly, motioning toward the living room where Sirius was with the boys. Remus crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head. "He's been locked away in Azkaban since he was twenty-two. Hardly more than a kid himself. Then he was on the run for a year." Remus took a deep breath and glanced down at his shoes for a long moment before looking back to Snape. "It feels like for him, time hasn't changed. He still acts like he's twenty-two."

Snape considered Remus for a moment, trying to work out what to say. It was clear to him that Sirius hadn't matured while in prison, but he thought that was probably expected, all things considered. "I suppose he hasn't really had a chance to grow up," he said at last.

"I know that," Remus said. "That's one of the reasons I thought it would be good for him to go on this trip. He would have a chance to travel and explore. See things freely, without looking over his shoulder."

"But-"

"But it didn't seem to help at all. He seems to be having fun at least; traipsing across Europe and meeting new people. Which I do think is probably good. But he's been here for about a week now, sleeping on the living room floor, and having nightmares every night."

Snape nodded. "Perhaps it would do him good to speak with a Mind Healer."

"I've suggested that, but he refuses. He says he's dealing with it fine on his own."

"Remus," Snape said softly as he moved to stand beside him, "I know you like to fix things, and you like to be constantly doing something instead of just sitting around, but I don't think this is something you can fix-"

"Don't talk to me like I'm a child, Severus."

"I'm not," Snape said, "I really do think that maybe it's going to take Black a while to work things out for himself. He has to relearn everything he knew; the world is different now." He gave Remus a moment to let his words sink in before he continued. "I think a Mind Healer would help a lot, but so would having you around. You're the last friend he has from before."

Remus stood quietly while Snape turned to the counter and pulled a recipe book towards him. Finally, Remus turned as well and they got started on baking what would hopefully be an edible birthday cake.

"Draco came to talk to me as soon as you got here," Remus said after a moment.

"Oh?"

"He's decided that he's alright with you seeing his memories."

Snape paused in pouring flour into a bowl and glanced at Remus.

"There's more than enough evidence," Remus said, "if we end up needing it. You can see for yourself later, but Severus, he was physically abusive to him."

Snape's eyes narrowed. "Draco said-"

Remus shook his head. "I don't think he considers it abuse. I think he sees it as normal. That because he didn't outright hit him it means he didn't abuse him, but we both know that's not the case."

Snape nodded. "I'd like to see them right after the party."

"I'll have them ready."

"Happy birthday to you!"

The Great Hall was full of people. Most of the staff of Hogwarts, Sirius, Harry, Draco, Hermione, and the Weasleys, plus several people that Harry didn't know.

The room was decorated with balloons and streamers, and there was an enormous banner that hung above the cake that read, "Happy Birthday, Albus." The tables were covered in confetti and party favors that whistled when you blew on them.

Everyone clapped as Albus stepped up to the cake. It was two tiers with vanilla frosting, and covered with all sorts of candy as the decorations. He bent down as if he were going to blow out the candles, but at the last second, we waved his wand and they blew themselves out.

"What a marvelous cake!" he exclaimed.

Minerva, who stood beside him, said proudly, "Remus and Severus made it."

Snape shook his head. "It was mostly Remus," he said.

Albus looked to Remus with a broad smile. "Thank you, my boy." He reached out his arm and though he blushed fiercely, Remus stepped up and let himself be pulled into a hug. Albus whispered something into his ear that only he could hear, and Remus nodded.

When he stepped back, Albus clapped his hands together and said, "Who wants the first piece?" He held out his wand and the cake began to slice itself, while plates floated up to it. "I believe I'll take this rather large piece here with the Lemon Drops." The piece in question settled onto a plate and Albus plucked it from the air.

"So, what have you lot got planned for the rest of the summer?" Sirius asked as he sat down next to Harry. Draco and Ron sat across from him, and Hermione was on his other side. The twins and Ginny were there as well, though farther down the table where they were talking to a woman that Harry didn't recognize. She had bubblegum pink hair and she was telling them a story that had them laughing.

"Dunno," Harry answered. "We've already been to the beach. We'll probably just hang around the Manor."

"At least for the next week," Ron grumbled.

"You're lucky you only got grounded for a week," Hermione said sternly. "Something terrible could have happened to you, two. Honestly, you would think that after the flying car-"

"Flying car?" Sirius asked.

Ron's cheeks turned nearly as red as his hair. "Harry and I couldn't get through the platform for second year," he explained, "so we sort of borrowed my dad's charmed Ford Anglia and flew it to school."

"They crashed it into the Whomping Willow," Draco added with a smirk.

"Well, what were we supposed to do?" Harry asked as he tried to hide a grin at the memory.

Hermione let out a shocked laugh. "Oh, I don't know," she said sarcastically, "perhaps wait til Ron's parents came back through the platform and get help?"

"We didn't think they could get back through!" Ron exclaimed, stating for the hundredth time his reasoning for using the car.

Sirius laughed and held his hands up. "Wait, but what happened when you got to school? After you crashed the car?"

"Oh, er," Harry felt his face growing warm as he glanced down at his cake, "well, Dad was there, and he caught us coming up the steps. He thought we ought to be expelled." When Sirius's eyes flashed and he opened his mouth to say something, Harry rushed on, "This was before he took me in, of course. And we weren't anyway. We just got detention."

"And a howler!" Ron added, causing the group to laugh.

When they'd all settled back down, Sirius changed the subject. "I hear the Quidditch World Cup is coming up. Are you all excited?"

"Ireland against Bulgaria," Ron said with a nod. "It's going to be wicked good!"

Harry shook his head. "I'm not going."

Ron dropped his fork and asked, "What do you mean you're not going? We're all going. Dad got the tickets weeks ago."

Harry shrugged. "I'm not. I heard Dad telling Uncle Remus." He dropped his gaze to his plate, missing the glare that Sirius was now sporting.

"Oi, Snape!"

Harry's head shot up. "Sirius, no, don't. It's-"

Snape looked up from where he sat with Remus, Albus, Minerva, and Mr. Weasley.

"What are you playing at? Not letting Harry go to the Cup?"

"I beg your pardon?" Snape asked, as he raised a brow.

"He says you're not letting him to go."

"Sirius," Remus tried to cut in but by now everyone's attention was on Harry's end of the table and he found himself wishing that the floor would suddenly open up and swallow him whole.

Without giving himself time to think about it, Harry pushed himself up and away from the table and ran for the doors of the Great Hall.

"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley called after him but he didn't stop until he'd ran all the way to his and Snape's quarters down in the dungeons.

Back in the Great Hall, Mrs. Weasley stood up first, quickly followed by Snape. "I've got it," he said quietly. "But thank you."

Mrs. Weasley looked at first like she might protest, but then she smiled and nodded her head before sitting back down beside Madam Pomfrey.

Snape turned to Sirius. "Not that it's any of your business, but Harry is in fact going to the World Cup. The only reason he didn't know was because it was meant to be a secret until his own birthday party. But I do thank you for spoiling the surprise." With that, Snape left the hall in search of Harry.

Knowing that Harry would know that he couldn't get into the dormitory during the holidays, Snape assumed that he would go to their quarters, and he was glad to see he had been right.

Harry was sitting against the arm of the couch, his arm crossed and staring up at the ceiling, but as soon as Snape opened the door, he rolled his head to look at him.

"I don't care about the Cup," he said immediately.

"No?" Snape asked as he walked inside and took a seat in his armchair.

"No," Harry confirmed. "I wouldn't even know about it if I hadn't-" He cut himself off and dropped his gaze to his knees.

Snape had a fleeting thought that Harry desperately needed a haircut soon. His hair was so long that it nearly touched his shoulders.

"If you hadn't what, Harry?" Snape prompted, though he had a feeling that he already knew. "Harry," he said again when he still didn't answer.

Harry sighed and looked up through his fringe. "If I hadn't listened in on your conversation with Uncle Remus a few nights ago."

"Ah, and what exactly did you hear?"

Snape watched as Harry tried to remember exactly what he'd overheard.

"Uncle Remus was saying that you were being ridiculous and hadn't even considered it, and you told him that you didn't need to. That you had already decided to say no. Then he mentioned my birthday and you told him he was just trying to make up for all the ones he missed."

Snape hummed in response. "What else?"

Harry shrugged. "That's it. He said he had to go back to St. Mungo's and said that he thought I would have had a good time at the Cup with the Weasleys."

"I see," Snape said. He crossed one foot over his leg and tapped his jaw before he said, "So you took one very small portion of a conversation that wasn't meant for you in the first place, and assumed that it was entirely about you?"

"Wasn't it?" Harry asked.

"No," Snape said simply. "It may surprise you to know that only the very end of what you heard was about you. The rest of it was Remus attempting to get me to help him with Granddad's birthday cake. Obviously that wasn't something I had intended to do, and I told him so. We had in fact been having quite a long conversation to start with, and anything about you and the Quidditch World Cup was discussed at the very beginning. Your uncle had only reiterated an opinion that we both shared before he left."

Harry's gaze dropped once more. "Oh," he murmured.

"'Oh,' is right," Snape said. "How many more times are we going to have this same talk about eavesdropping on private conversations, Harry?"

"I didn't mean to," Harry defended himself. "I was looking for you, and I was about to knock on your door when I heard you talking, and I-"

"And instead you decided to stand outside my room and listen in?"

"When you put it like that it sounds bad."

Snape huffed. "It sounds bad because it is bad. It's rude and it almost always ends with you misinterpreting the things you hear."

Harry nodded. "I'm sorry." When Snape didn't say anything else, Harry glanced up at him again. "So then, you were going to let me go?"

"I was."

Snape thought the boy looked miserable and that he ought to tell him how he still had no intention of keeping him from going, but before he could go completely soft, Harry spoke again.

"Well then… but why didn't you tell me?"

Snape felt his frustration with Harry seep out of him and he sighed. "Because your birthday is coming up and it was meant to be a surprise."

Harry bit his lip. "I guess I mucked it up then, huh?"

Snape shook his head. He stood up and moved across the room to take the middle seat on the couch beside Harry. Then, in a rare display of affection, that was actually becoming less rare since the adoption, he put his arm around Harry's shoulders and pulled him close against his side. "No, son, you didn't muck up anything." They sat that way for less than a moment before Snape said, "Your dog-father, however, royally mucked up, though. If he'd kept his big mouth shut, you still could have been surprised at your party."

Harry grinned. "He was only trying to help."

Snape scoffed but didn't say anything.

"So," Harry said quietly a few minutes later, "do I still get to go?"

"Yes. You and the Weasleys, Ms. Granger, and I suppose Draco now as well, will be going to the World Cup on the Saturday after your birthday."

"What about you?" Harry turned in his seat so that he could look up at him.

"What about me?" Snape asked.

"Aren't you coming?"

Snape looked down at him curiously. "I- do you want me to?"

Harry nodded. "Of course. And you like Quidditch, even though you pretend like you don't."

"I like it just fine." Snape adjusted his arm around Harry and settled into the couch. He was quite content to sit here now, especially since the alternative was to go back to the party. "I suppose I could come along to the match."

"Who are you rooting for?"

"Unofficially?" Snape said thinking back to when his guardianship of Harry was a secret. "Ireland, obviously."

Harry must have been thinking the same thing because he asked, "And officially?"

Snape smiled. "Officially? You. Always, you."

Over the next week and a half, Snape, Harry, and Draco began to settle into a routine much like the one they'd had the summer before, only now it felt as if everything had an air of permanence to it.

Harry had finished his grounding and extra chores with only a small amount of complaining, and though Draco hadn't gotten into trouble and was allowed to fly, he decided to wait until Harry could as well.

On the first Saturday in July, Harry and Draco left the Manor with Snape to get their books and supplies from Diagon Alley.

"You both need new school robes," Snape said as they walked down the street, past Quality Quidditch Supplies. "We'll go there first and then we can-" He stopped when he realized the boys weren't walking with him. Turning back, Snape saw that they were staring in the window of the broom store. "We haven't got all day, you know."

Harry tore his eyes from the newest broom, the Firebolt Supreme, that was on display in the window. "Couldn't we go in for just a minute?" he asked.

Snape shook his head. "Perhaps later if we have time. We've got quite a bit to get through."

"Harry and I could get some on her own," Draco offered. "Then you could-"

"We will stay together," Snape said, without leaving any room for argument. "The quicker we finish, the quicker we might get back."

Harry groaned but said nothing as he followed Snape further down the street.

They walked into Madam Malkin's and were pleased to see that the shop was nearly empty.

"I'll be right with you, dears," she said as she walked around a young girl who was standing on a step stool in front of full length mirror. She placed a few more pins into her robes before she smiled and motioned for her to step down. When the girl had walked into the back where the changing rooms were, Madam Malkin turned to Harry and Draco. "Alright, new school robes, of course," she said, "and I'd wager you'll both be needing dress robes this year as well?"

"That's right," Snape said.

Harry and Draco exchanged looks. "Dress robes?" Harry asked.

"For the Yule Ball," Snape clarified. Then he added, "New shoes for both of them as well, Madam."

"Splendid," Madam Malkin exclaimed. She pointed to Harry. "You can go first, Dear. Just step right up."

Harry did as he was told, then watched as dark fabric floated towards him from a shelf on the far wall. "What's a Yule Ball?" he asked.

Snape and Draco had moved to sit in chairs across from where Harry stood.

"Exactly what you would think a ball is," Snape said as he pulled a book from an inside pocket of his robes, "a dance."

"What are we having a dance for?"

"It's tradition of course," answered Madam Malkin as she walked around him, taking his measurements with a magical tape measure and writing them down in a notepad. "To celebrate the Tri-Wizard Tournament."

Draco's head snapped up at this. "The Tri-Wizard Tournament? At Hogwarts?"

Snape nodded. "Unfortunately," he said drily.

Before Harry could ask what the Tri-Wizard Tournament was about, Madam Malkin was talking to him about different styles and cuts of robes, and he had no choice but to put his questions on hold.

Getting their robes had taken much longer than planned, and afterward, Snape had led the way to the Magical Menagerie for owl food, then to bookstore to get the newest school books for the year.

"Can't we stop for lunch first?" Draco asked as Snape looked down at the list of books.

"Yeah," Harry agreed. "we're starving."

Snape sighed. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to ignore the frustration that had been building in both boys over the last hour. He wasn't even entirely sure what was going on. Harry, he knew, was simply tired. He'd been up half the night with another nightmare, that after quite a bit of prodding, Snape had learned had been about Vernon Dursley. He'd finally convinced him to take a small dose of Dreamless Sleep but it hadn't helped how exhausted he felt now. Snape thought that Draco might simply be catching Harry's bad mood, but one thing was for certain and that was that Snape wanted to get them home, and the sooner, the better. "No," he said, "we only have the books left to get, and then I need to stop by the apothecary. Once that's done, we're heading home. We'll have lunch there."

"But you said we could go to the Quidditch Shop," Harry reminded him.

At the same time, Draco burst out, "I won't last til then, Uncle Sev!"

Snape sent a mild glare Draco's way and was about to tell him to stop being dramatic, when a voice from behind him said, "Hello, Severus. Harry, Draco, how are you?"

Snape turned around to see Evelyn Bouchard, the Child Services caseworker, standing at the end of the aisle. She had her hands resting lightly on the shoulders of a girl about Harry and Draco's age.

"Evelyn," Snape said after a moment. "How nice to see you."

"Hi, Ms. Bouchard," Harry said politely.

"Oh, Harry," she said, "call me, Evelyn, please." She smiled brightly and said, "This is my niece, Brielle. She'll be joining you at Hogwarts this year. In your year, too."

"And in Slytherin, I hear," Snape commented.

"Yes, sir," Brielle said with a smile.

"Brie," Evelyn said, "this is Professor Snape, he'll be your head of house. And this is Harry and Draco."

"It's nice to meet you." Brielle said, dipping her head in a slight bow.

Snape caught Evelyn's gaze, noticing that she seemed to be watching him. He cleared his throat and gestured around them. "Getting all your school books?"

Evelyn nodded. "We're just getting started, actually."

"So are we," Snape said, "but then I thought we might get lunch. Would you both care to join us?"

Snape caught twin looks of disbelief from Harry and Draco, but he paid them no mind as he added, "Our treat, of course."

"That would be lovely," Evelyn said. "As long as Harry and Draco don't mind."

Snape glanced at the teenagers meaningfully, but Draco was the only one who spoke.

"We don't mind," he said, then turned to Brielle. "We can help you find your books, too, if you want."

She nodded, and together the three walked away, leaving Snape and Evelyn alone.

Chapter Text

Harry followed the others as they made their way towards a table near the back of the Leaky Cauldron. Their time in the bookstore had taken much longer than it should have, and not because Harry, Draco, and Brielle hadn't found their books. It was because Snape and Evelyn were walking up and down the rows of books and chatting about different ones they had read. 

Twice Harry noticed something strangely close to a smile spread across Snape's face at something Evelyn would say, and once, Snape said something that Harry didn't catch, but Evelyn laughed! 

Severus Snape, Bat of the Dungeons, Potions Master and Death Eater Spy, had said something witty?

"Do you think he likes her?" Draco whispered suddenly, causing Harry to jump.

"What?" Harry hissed. "No."

Draco raised an eyebrow and looked back to where Snape was pulling out Evelyn's chair so she could sit. "Are you sure? Because it seems like he does." 

"Shut up," Harry said, louder than he'd meant to. 

"Harry," Snape scolded, looking over at them. 

Harry could feel his cheeks growing warm and he ducked his head before pulling out his seat and dropping heavily into it. He crossed his arms over his chest and slouched, drawing Snape's gaze to him once more. 

Snape leaned over from where he sat beside him at the round table and spoke quietly so that only Harry would hear, "What's going on? I thought you were hungry."

"Nothing. I thought we were going home," Harry said, just as softly. When Snape only continued to watch him, Harry huffed and sat up straighter. 

Snape let his hand rest on Harry's shoulder, giving it a quick squeeze before turning his attention to the waiter who was taking their drink orders. 

"So, Harry," Evelyn said, "how did you like the beach?" 

Harry frowned. "How did you know we went to the beach?"

"Severus mentioned it," she said with a smile. "I used to love visiting my grandparents in America, because they retired to a condo by the ocean in Florida, so my sister and I, Brie's mum, would get to spend all day at the beach. We would have such wonderful times." 

"Is that why you don't have a French accent?" Harry asked before he could stop himself. "Because you're from America?"

"Harry, that is none of your business," Snape said sternly, turning in his chair to fully face the teenager. 

Evelyn, however, simply smiled before placing her hand atop Snape's wrist on the table. An action that Harry did not miss. She patted it once before she said, "Oh, no, that's alright!" She moved her hand back to her lap and said, "You're mostly right, actually, Harry. My family is quite spread out. My mum was an American, muggle-born witch who went to Ilvermorny, in New York. After she graduated, she wanted to travel and so she went all over the world before ending up in France, where she met my father."

"He went to Beauxbatons," interjected Brielle.

Evelyn nodded. "That's right. They fell in love at first sight and at first they settled down in London, and that's where my sister and I were born. But then they decided to move back to America when I was just a baby. Marie is five years older than I am, so when it was time for her to go to school, she got to go to Ilvermorny, but when I was six, my dad's mum fell ill. Now she had moved to London by this time, and we moved back there to take care of her, but my parents wanted my sister and I to go to Beauxbatons, so even though we lived in London, we went to school in France."

"Wait," said Draco suddenly, "So you were born in London, but then raised in America first, then London again, just so that you could go to school in France?" 

Evelyn laughed. "I told you we were spread out." 

On the other side of Draco, Brielle said, "You think it's strange to you, but try having to grow up with them. My dad is British, my mum is everything that she is," she added with a laugh, "and I do not fit in at Beauxbatons. I begged them to let me transfer last year but they wouldn't agree. Thankfully Aunt Evie finally talked them into it." 

When the food came, the conversation shifted, and Harry grew quiet. No one seemed to notice though. Draco was busy telling Brielle all about Slytherin house, being more open and welcoming than Harry had ever seen him, and Snape appeared to be hanging off of Evelyn's every word.

Harry only picked at his Shepherd's Pie. His stomach felt like it was tied up in knots, and he didn't understand why. He liked Evelyn. Maybe not at first when he thought she was trying to take him away from Snape, but at the end, when she'd come to the adoption party, they had talked, and she had been nice. 

And what if Draco was right and Snape liked her? What did Harry care? It wasn't as if it would mean anything for Harry, right? Unless…

Harry shook his head to try and clear away the unwanted thoughts. No. Everything was fine. 

Then, as if there had been a momentary break in the circuits that led from his brain to his mouth, Harry said, "Evelyn, do you always have lunch with your former cases? That seems like something that would be against the rules." 

"Harry James!" Snape rounded on Harry, glaring down at him even as the rest of the table grew completely silent. 

Draco glanced at him from the corner of his eyes before becoming very interested in his own food. 

"What?" asked Harry, innocently. "I'm only saying that-"

"That's enough," Snape said sharply. 

He placed his napkin on the table, but just as Harry was sure that he was about to stand, no doubt to take Harry somewhere more private so that he could lecture him away from everyone else, Evelyn spoke up. 

"Harry, I promise that whatever professional relationship we had before is over now. I'm no longer your caseworker, but merely a friend. Or at least, I'd like to be." 

Harry bit his lip as he searched for any untruth in her soft, brown eyes. He didn't know what to say. Did he want to be her friend? What it if was a ploy to get him to let his guard down? The number of trusted adults in Harry's life was still heavily overshadowed by the ones he didn't trust. The Dursley's were the only ones to abuse him, but there had still been plenty that had failed him over the years. Teachers who he had trusted only to find out later that they didn't care about him at all. Neighbors who knew that they weren't taking proper care of him, but who hadn't done anything to help him. 

Harry glanced up to Snape, and though it was clear that he wasn't pleased at Harry's sudden rudeness to Evelyn, he looked more concerned than anything. As if he truly wanted to understand what Harry was thinking. 

He sighed before giving a quick nod in her direction. It was the best that he was willing to give for the moment. 

Evelyn didn't seem to mind because she smiled at him then in such a way that the corners of her eyes crinkled before she said, "Alright, then. Now, how is your pie?"

Harry speared a bit of the meat with his fork and said, "It's good, but it could use some salt." 

Evelyn picked up the salt shaker that was on her side of the table and held it out for Snape to take and pass on to Harry. 

When Harry reached for it, Snape caught his eye, and as Harry's fingers wrapped around the shaker, Snape let his own wrap around Harry, giving them a gentle squeeze before letting go. 

If anyone else at the table noticed the moment between them, they didn't say anything. 

***

As soon as Harry and Draco stepped out of the fireplace and into the manor living room, Harry took off toward the stairs. 

When Snape emerged only seconds later, he saw him disappearing around the corner. "Harry," he called, his tone sharp. 

Harry paused but he did not turn back. "I don't want to talk about it." 

"Well, I do," Snape said, pointing to the couch before he sat down in his chair. "Draco, go upstairs."

"What did I do?" Draco demanded. He had already sat down on the opposite end of the couch and was flipping through the new book that Snape had gotten him, but when he saw the way that Snape was glaring at him, he snapped the book closed and stood up. "Upstairs, it is." 

Snape waited for Draco to leave the room before he turned back to Harry. "Would you like to tell me what is really going on?" he asked.

Harry let himself fall into the corner of the couch as he shook his head. "I already told you; it's nothing. I didn't mean for it to come out like that."

"You're not usually one to be rude or callus for no reason. I can't help you if I don't know what's bothering you, Harry."

"Nothing is bothering me," he snapped. Then he took a deep breath and let it out slowly before saying, "Honestly. I think I'm just tired." 

Snape nodded, though he was certain that there was something more to Harry's behavior at lunch than he was letting on. "How many nightmares have you had this summer?" he asked.

"Why?" Harry sat up straighter and pulled his leg up on the couch. 

Snape watched him as he intently studied his knee, picking at the beginnings of a rip in the fabric of his jeans. "Because," he said slowly, making sure to choose his words carefully, "if the nightmares are getting bad again, perhaps we should get you an appointment with-"

"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "I've been doing good, Dad. I don't need to go back to the Mind Healers." 

"I'm only saying that it wouldn't hurt to check in with them," Snape tried to reason but Harry stood, moving around to the back of the couch and letting his hands grip the cushions on the back rest. 

"I'm not cracking up if that's what you think," he said with a frown. "I'm fine." 

"I didn't say you were," Snape assured him. 

"It's only been a few nightmares. It's not that big of a deal."

"How many?" Snape asked again. He remained seated in his chair, hoping that as long as he stayed calm, Harry would as well. He would never get anything from the boy if he worked himself into a fit. 

Harry bit his lip. "Four," he said after a moment. "The one at the beginning of summer, one the night we came back from the sea, one last week, and then the one last night."

"Harry, surely you understand that talking to someone could help."

"So could Dreamless Sleep," Harry muttered, turning away from him and leaning against the back of the couch.

Snape raised his eyebrows at that. He had only given Harry the potion a couple of times in the year that he had been in his care, but he wondered if it was enough that Harry realized the effects it could have if not used sparingly. The very last thing Snape needed was for his not even fourteen-year-old to become addicted to a potion. "Dreamless Sleep is highly addictive when it's not used properly, young man, and is obviously not to be used as a long term solution." 

Harry's shoulders dropped and he turned back to face Snape. "I know," he said with a sigh. "I was just throwing it out there." When Snape still didn't say anything, Harry did something that he had only ever done once before; he crossed the room and sat on the arm of Snape's chair. He lifted his leg so that his foot rested on the arm in front of him, then leaned his head against his knee and closed his eyes. Just like before, Snape immediately brought his hand up and began to rub Harry's back between his shoulder blades. 

"I'm tired," he said miserably. 

"Perhaps a nap, then," Snape suggested.

Harry nodded. "I don't want to go back to Healer Jones. If I have to talk to someone, couldn't it be Uncle Remus instead?" 

Snape didn't have the heart to tell him no. Especially not when Harry was asking in such a rare moment of vulnerability. "I'll talk to him about it tonight," he said quietly. "In the meantime, why don't you head upstairs and put your new things away. I've ready sent them to your room, but you can put them where you want them. Then lie down for bit. I'll wake you up before dinner." 

It was a testament to how tired Harry was because he didn't even attempt to argue about being sent to bed. Not that Snape thought he would have in the first place. He'd already suggested a nap and Harry had agreed to it readily. It was simply the way that Harry's shoulders slumped as he stood and walked back across the room toward the parlor door that gave Snape pause. He wanted to call him back. Tell him he could lay on the couch instead or offer to sit with him a while longer, but before he could do either of those things, Harry was out of sight. 

***

The next morning, Draco walked out of his bedroom, yawning and rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He met Harry as he came out of his own room and raised his hand in a halfhearted wave; a greeting that Harry returned with simply a nod of his head. It was the same way every morning, as neither of the teenagers were particularly talkative when they first woke up. 

Draco thought maybe he should find it odd that he lived with Harry Potter now, but somehow it hadn't crossed his mind to think anything of it at all, really. He considered that perhaps it was because he had already stayed here for a week last summer, and that they had somehow formed a friendship over the school year that had surprised them both, but whatever the reason, Draco felt more like this was how things could have been all along. 

Well, maybe not "all along," he thought as he considered their first couple of years at Hogwarts. Back then, he couldn't imagine being anything less than enemies with Harry. He wondered what his life might have been like if things had been different. If he hadn't been raised his first thirteen years to hate a boy who hadn't done anything to him. He couldn't imagine hating Harry now. 

Harry bumped into Draco as they walked down the stairs. "Sorry," he said, but the small grin on his face made Draco think it hadn't been entirely an accident. 

He waited til they had gotten to the bottom step, then Draco reached up and shoved Harry lightly, making him nearly lose his balance. 

Draco laughed when Harry's arms swung wide before he caught himself. 

"Oi," Harry said, "if you give me a concussion, Dad will have a lot to say about that." 

Draco rolled his eyes and playfully tried to shove him again, though this time Harry dodged out of the way. "You're right," Draco said. "He'll probably thank me for saving him the trouble of keeping you around and give me about a hundred house points." 

Before, Draco wouldn't have dared to tease Harry in such a way, but something had shifted between them over the last few months, and now the jab only caused Harry to laugh. 

Harry ran past Draco, bumping shoulders with him on his way toward the dining room. 

Draco caught up quickly and they both pushed and shoved each other in an attempt to be the first to get inside the room. 

"Boys," Snape scolded mildly from his place at the table where he was reading a letter. 

"He started it," Harry said innocently as he pulled out his chair. 

"Liar," Draco accused. "He-"

"You've both got mail," Snape said, interrupting them both before they could go any further. He raised his wand and two envelopes appeared on the table. One with Harry's name and the other with Draco's. 

Snape put down the letter he had been reading and Draco noticed that "Evelyn," was signed at the bottom of it in neat handwriting. A quick glance at Harry told Draco that he noticed as well, though why Harry was suddenly glaring, Draco didn't understand. 

Draco couldn't think of any reason why they should care if Snape was talking to Evelyn. She seemed nice enough to him, and if she and Snape liked each other wouldn't that be a good thing? Didn't Snape deserve to have someone who liked him? 

Before Draco could think much more about it, Harry had picked up his letter, saying, "It's from Sirius." 

Draco picked up his own, immediately recognizing the handwriting as his mother's, and his heart skipped a beat. 

Why was she writing to him? What did she want? 

Narcissa hadn't said more than a few words to Draco since he'd come home for the summer. Why would she start now? Did she want him to know how much she hated him? He already knew that. 

With shaking hands, Draco carefully tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter. 

He read it quickly once, his mouth dropping open in shock. Then he read it a second time to make sure it was real.

"Uncle Sev?" he said quietly.

"What is it, Draco?" Snape said, turning his attention to him. 

Draco held the letter out for him to take. "She wants me to come home." 

Chapter Text

Both Harry and Snape wore stunned expressions when they heard what Draco said. 

Snape slowly took the letter from him, but Harry shook his head. 

"What? No," he said, dropping his own letter from Sirius down to the table. 

"Harry," Snape said his name like it was a scolding for talking out of turn as he read the letter.

"She said she's left my father," Draco said quietly. "She said she has a new house for us to live in." 

"So what?" Harry snapped. He turned in his chair to face Draco. "She's probably just lying, right Dad? Tell him he can't go back with her." 

"Harry, it's not that simple," Snape said softly as he passed the letter back to Draco. 

Harry could feel his stomach churning. Why wasn't Snape telling Draco what a bad idea this was? 

"Of course it is," Harry said. "She shunned him for weeks. Did everyone just forget about that?"

"It wouldn't be like that now," Draco assured him. 

"Boys," Snape interjected, standing up. "That's enough. We all just need to calm down and-"

Harry saw the way that Draco's grey eyes lit up at the idea, but all he could think about was how terrible this was. "You don't know that!" he shouted. "What kind of mother pretends her son doesn't exist?"

"It wasn't her fault!" Draco shot back. "You're just jealous because unlike you, I've still got a mum who wants me!" 

"Draco!" 

Everything happened so fast. One minute, Harry and Draco were roughhousing on the way to the dining room, teasing each other, and exchanging friendly shoves as they laughed, and the next minute Harry was out of his seat and he and Draco were scuffling around on the floor while Snape was shouting for them to stop. 

He had swiftly broken up the fight- if you could really call it that - and deposited them both into separate corners of the kitchen with stern warnings to stay there until he told them otherwise. Then he'd left the room all together. 

It had been at least twenty minutes ago, Harry was sure, and he was still fuming. He hated the corner. He hated standing there and thinking about what he'd done. He hated that he could hear the clock ticking from all the way in the parlor, and he hated these stupid grey walls, too. Maybe he'd learn a paint changing spell and use it on all of Snape's boring walls. 

And he hated Draco Bloody Malfoy.

Harry paused. 

No, he didn't, but he was definitely still mad at him. It wasn't lost on Harry that Draco had said something similar the year before when he had come to visit which had resulted in nearly the same outcome. He didn't know why he let it get to him so badly. Of course, he didn't know why Draco would say something like that in the first place, either.

"You're a bloody prat, you know that?" he said, his voice barely above a whisper. Just loud enough for Draco to hear from where he stood at the other end of the wall, closest to the small window that overlooked the back garden. 

"No talking in the corner," came Snape's stern voice from somewhere behind him. When had he come back? "And watch your language," he added.

Harry groaned. "Yes, sir." He reached his arm up to rub his shoulder. It wasn't really all that sore, but he had banged it against the floor when he and Draco fell, and he thought he might end up with a bruise later. 

"I wonder," Snape said a few moments later, "if there will ever be a time where the two of you can go more than a few months without ending up in an actual fist fight?" He didn't wait for them to respond before he went on, "Not that I want you throwing hexes at one another, but one does wonder if either of you even realize that you're wizards? Or perhaps you enjoy rolling around on the floor like muggles in a bar room brawl?"

Harry tentatively cleared his throat, but he didn't say anything. 

"Nothing to add?" Snape asked. "No defense to give for this appalling display?"

Harry rolled his eyes, suddenly grateful that Snape couldn't see him. "This sounds like a conversation that I might like to be a part of," he said with as much attitude as he dared, "except that I'm not allowed to talk while I'm in the corner." 

The room was silent, and Harry could have kicked himself. Honestly, did he have no self-preservation at all? 

"Come here," Snape said after a long moment. "Both of you." 

Harry let out a small breath before slowly turning around. 

Snape was standing beside the table, with his hip leaning against it and his arms crossed over his chest. 

Harry stepped close to Snape and green eyes met obsidian ones as he spoke softly, "I'm sorry."

Snape's gaze remained steely for a few seconds more before he said, "While I do not appreciate the cheek, Harry James, you were also not wrong. I had told you not to talk while in the corner, I can't fault you for obeying me." Snape reached his hand out and let it rest on his neck right where it met his shoulder. "I apologize, Harry." 

Harry felt himself leaning into the comfort and warmth of Snape's hand on his neck. His callused thumb rubbed back and forth against his skin before Harry felt himself being pulled in close for a quick hug. 

"Alright," Snape said before pointing to Harry's chair. "Sit down. Draco?"

Draco, who had been standing a few steps behind Harry, came forward when Snape crooked a finger in his direction. Then Harry watched as Snape pulled him in for a hug as well. Snape whispered words too low for Harry to hear, then Draco nodded before he walked back to his own chair and sat down. 

"Now," Snape said, turning to face them both, "everything in me is screaming to send you both to your rooms and talk with you separately, but for once I'm going to ignore that voice of reason and the three of us are going to sit here and work this out. Together." 

Snape paced in front of them for only a moment before he stopped. "Who wants to go first?"

Harry sat up straighter, but it was Draco who spoke first.

"I shouldn't have said what I said." He looked over to Harry and frowned. "It was a really crummy thing to say, and I didn't mean it. I'm sorry." 

Harry nodded. "I'm sorry, too. I didn't have to let it get to me. And I definitely didn't have to tackle you." He took a deep breath and before he lost his nerve, he said, "I just don't understand why you want to go back there. After what she did." 

Draco shook his head and raised his hands, palms up before letting them drop back to his lap. "Because she's my mum. She said she misses me." 

Snape pulled his chair out and sat down. "Harry, last Christmas when we were getting ready to come here, do you remember a conversation that we had in my bedroom about my father?"

Harry looked up at him, confused. He didn't know where Snape was going with this. "Yeah. You said that-" Harry cut himself off with a glance at Draco. He didn't want to accidentally spill one of Snape's secrets. 

"It's alright, Harry," Snape assured him. "Go on." 

Harry glanced down at his bare feet before he softly said, "You said that sometimes you wished your father would have wanted you to come back, and that you would get to live with him." 

"That's right," Snape said. He leaned forward in his chair, letting his elbows rest on his knees and clasped his hands together. "And without giving away too many details, I believe you voiced something similar about your relatives, yes?" 

Harry swallowed hard as he fought the urge to look at Draco. He'd told Draco a bit about his life with the Dursleys, so he didn't necessarily mind him finding out about what he'd told Snape, but he didn't know how to get over the awkwardness of it. He gave a small nod but didn't say anything else. 

"The thing is, though, if Draco has an opportunity to have that happen for him, do we not at least owe him the chance to find out?" Before Harry could even open his mouth to voice the protest on the tip of his tongue, Snape went on, "I'm not saying that this is the right thing. In fact, before I let Draco step one foot out of that door, I'm going to be speaking with Narcissa, and I'm going to get him a new portkey bracelet." He paused to settle a look on Draco and added, "One that can't be taken off, if need be. And only then will we make any firm decisions."

Draco nodded. "Only she said that she would be here-"

"I know," Snape interrupted. "Which is why I'm going right now to speak with her. Can I trust you both to behave while I'm gone?" 

"We're not in trouble for the fight?" Draco asked.

Snape shook his head. "You should be. I seem to recall saying last time that if I caught you fighting again you would both be grounded for a week and banned from Quidditch. However, in light of the circumstances, I'm prepared to grant some leniency." He pointed his finger at both of them in turn. "However, this is the only time that I'll do such a thing. One more fight, no matter who starts it, and neither of you will see the outside of your rooms for a month. Understood?"

Both Harry and Draco exchanged triumphant glances before nodding quickly. "Yes, sir," they said in unison. 

"Alright," Snape said before moving past them to head for the parlor, "then I will be back soon. Behave." 

 The day passed slowly after Snape left, with both boys retreating to the privacy of their bedrooms. Harry spent his time catching up on the last of his summer assignments and writing a letter to Sirius. He hadn't said much other than letting Harry know that he had continued his traveling and was now visiting the Bahamas. He sent him a picture of a palm tree with the sun setting in the background. Harry had taped it to the wall above his desk where he now sat. 

 Snape came home after a while and Harry heard as he went into Draco's bedroom and shut the door. Harry desperately wanted to know what he'd found out after talking to Narcissa, but after the fiasco that had come from listening to Snape and Remus's conversation before, he wasn't keen on getting caught eavesdropping again. He had somehow managed to get out of that one without punishment, but he didn't think he would be as lucky if he tried it today. 

 Besides, whatever it was, he was sure to find out on his own later. Either Draco would stay with them, or he wouldn't. 

 Harry had thought all morning about what Snape had said, and he knew that he was right. If Draco had the opportunity to have a life with his mother, free from Lucius, who was he to stand in the way of that. But Harry couldn't shake the feeling that this was still a bad idea. 

 And not for nothing, but Harry and Draco were against all odds, becoming friends. A year ago, he never would have believed it to be possible, but here they were, and he didn't want to see anything bad happen to him. 

 Harry didn't hear when Snape left Draco's bedroom, but a moment later there came a knock on his door. 

 "Come in," he said, keeping his eyes down on the parchment in front of him. 

 His door opened and Snape stepped inside. "What are you working on?" Snape asked as he moved toward Harry and let his hand rest on the back of his chair.

 "A letter to Sirius." 

 "Perhaps you want to visit with him soon? I'm sure we can-"

 "Is he going back?" Harry asked, his tone sharp. He didn't want Snape to beat around the bush about it. 

 Snape drew in a deep breath. "Harry, it's going to be fine." 

 "You don't know that," Harry snapped, though he tried to keep his voice low so that Draco wouldn't overhear him. "What if it's all a plan to get him back around Mr. Malfoy?" 

 Snape tapped his finger on the back of Harry's chair as he seemed to consider what he wanted to say, then after a moment he turned so that he was leaning back against the desk, his palms gripping the edge. "What if Narcissa and Draco are able to overcome what has happened in the past and forge a new relationship? What if when you and Ron came and took Draco away, she realized that she would rather have Draco more than anything else in this world- including Lucius?" Snape sighed. "Harry, we could spend all day asking 'what if,' but if we don't let them try, Draco will spend the rest of his life wondering what might have happened if he'd taken the chance." 

 Harry grit his teeth. "Okay, but what do you think about it. Really? Do you believe she's changed?"

 "I believe that she sounded incredibly sincere when I talked to her today. She has already moved into a new house, and she says that Draco is free to write and visit whenever he wants. You can visit him there as well." 

 Harry didn't seem convinced, but before he could say anything else, Snape went on, "And of course, we've already gotten Draco a new phoenix bracelet. He did seem rather fond of the old one, but the new one has a few added protection spells that cancel out some of Draco's need to use it on his own. If Draco is in danger, the bracelet will send an alert to me, and I will be able to get to him immediately." 

 Harry scuffed the toe of his shoe against the floor. "Everything's changing," he said softly. 

 "I'm not," Snape assured him. 

 Harry thought back to lunch with Evelyn in the Three Broomsticks, and the letter he'd seen Snape reading at the table that morning. Somehow, he didn't think that was true. In fact, he was beginning to think that Snape was changing the most of all. 

 Harry wanted to say as much. He wanted to tell Snape that he could tell that he wasn't being honest, and that he was afraid if he really started to like Evelyn, it would mean that he didn't need Harry anymore. But Harry didn't want to think about that, and so he kept it to himself. Instead, he asked, "Can we have lunch soon? I'm getting hungry. And we kind of missed breakfast." 

 Snape nodded, a faint smile on his face as he said, "Of course. Anything in particular that you want?" 

 "Not really." Harry shrugged. "Maybe chicken salad sandwiches?"

 "Alright." He reached out and ruffled Harry's hair. "I'll call you when it's ready." 

 Harry waited until Snape had left his room and he heard him walk down the stairs, then he stood and crossed through the connecting bathroom between his and Draco's rooms. 

 Draco was sorting through his clothes and packing everything into his trunk, but he looked up when Harry entered the room. 

 "When do you leave?" Harry asked, moving to sit in one of the overstuffed chairs that faced Draco's bed. 

 "This afternoon. Mum is picking me up around three." 

 Harry said nothing as he continued to watch Draco pack, but after a moment, Draco dropped the shirt he was folding and sat down on his bed. 

 "Was Uncle Sev right earlier?" he asked, keeping his head bowed low. "When he said that you had hoped your relatives might change and want you back." 

 Harry groaned and let his head drop back against the chair so that he was staring at the ceiling. "Yes," he answered honestly. "I mean not anymore, obviously because I'm happy now with him, but before I came here, I wanted them to love me badly."

 "But they beat you," Draco said softly. 

 Harry scoffed. "Yeah, well, it's not like I don't know how messed up that is." 

 Draco shook his head. "That's not what I meant," he said quickly. "All I'm saying is that if you wanted those people who did all those awful things to you, to love you and want you to stay with them, why is it so hard for you to see that I want the same thing from my mum?" Draco picked the shirt back up and tossed it into his trunk. "I know it might not work, alright? I get it. And maybe I end up right back here, but at least I get to try. I have to know for sure. Otherwise, I'll always wonder." 

 Finally, Harry nodded. That's exactly what Snape had said, after all. He looked back to Draco and said, "You're right. You have to go. And hopefully it does work out. You deserve to have that." When Draco only looked at him skeptically, he said, "I mean that. Honestly. But if it doesn't, we'll just come get you again."

 Draco let out a small laugh. "Thanks." 

 Harry pointed to the rest of the stuff that still needed to be packed. "Do you want some help?" 

 "Sure," Draco said, really smiling this time. "But don't toss all of my stuff in like you do yours. I'd like to make it there without anything actually getting broken."

 "Oh, you're very funny. My trunk is perfectly tidy."

 Draco scoffed. "Your trunk looks like a mountain troll has been living inside of it." 

 Harry picked up a crumpled piece of parchment from the desk and threw it at Draco, hitting him square in the face. "Shut up," he said teasingly. 

 "I'm surprised Uncle Sev lets you get away with leaving it like that. You'd never last in Slytherin. Did you know he has random inspections to make sure we keep our dorm rooms clean?" 

 Harry laughed. "You're joking."

 "I wish," Draco said as he neatly folded a pair of trousers. "Nott cost us twenty house points last year because he shoved everything beneath his bed and Uncle Sev found out." 

 Harry's eyes went wide. He had never been more grateful that McGonagall was his Head of House. 

Chapter Text

Snape was sure that he had never felt so tired in his life. He sat at his desk in his lab as he tried to focus on the lesson plans he was preparing for his sixth-year class, but the dull throbbing in his head that had been his constant companion since he'd woken up was beginning to take its toll. Snape glanced at the clock that hung on the wall across from him and groaned. How was it only seven-thirty. Maybe he could get Jenka to prepare him an early breakfast. That ought to ease the headache.

The past week since Draco had returned to live with Narcissa had been absolutely exhausting. It felt like a never ending list of things to do and Snape was having a hard time trying to keep up.

Harry was upset with him for reasons that Snape had yet to figure out. He said he was fine with Draco leaving, but he was clearly struggling with it. And any time that Snape would broach the subject, Harry would shut him down nearly immediately; always saying that he wasn't upset and that Snape had nothing to worry about.

Except that it only made Snape worry more.

Aside from that, Harry's birthday was coming up and Snape wanted to throw him a real birthday party. He didn't count the one Minerva had put together last year since that was before they had even decided to continue the guardianship into the school year.

Now things were different. Harry was his son and he wanted him to have a real birthday party with his friends, and family. Even his dogfather would be invited.

Then of course there was the World Cup, which until recently, Snape hadn't had any intentions to attend. Which in turn, put him on a closer deadline for a few potions he needed to finish beforehand. Not that he minded. He was, as it turns out, glad to be going.

Snape pushed up from his chair and crossed the room to a potions cabinet on the back wall. He opened it and quickly found the Headache Reliever on the top shelf. He popped off the cork and drank the contents, before placing the empty vial on the table. Then he raised his hand and squeezed the back of his neck, as if that would ease the tension away, but he was surprised to find that he was warm. He checked his forehead and sure enough, he realized that his temperature was up.

But that couldn't be right. Snape was fine. He only had a headache that was probably brought on by stress, and a slightly elevated temperature. Which was surely caused from the heat beneath the potions that were currently brewing on the table.

Yes, that had to be it.

After all, Severus Snape did not get sick. In fact, the last time that he had gotten sick was in seventh year when half of Hogwarts, including Snape and Remus, had caught the flu. As it happened, they had been home for Christmas holidays and had thought they had missed it because everyone else had caught it during the weeks before. Then three days before Christmas, Remus had woken up in the middle of the night with a temperature of one hundred and two. The very next day, Snape was sick as well.

But that was not happening now. Snape was not sick. He was far too busy to be sick.

He moved back to the cabinet and scanned the vials on the shelves. The Fever Reducer was on the third shelf and there in the corner of the bottom was a potion for nausea, because if there was one thing that Snape was not going to do, it was throw up.

Snape drained both potions, one right after the other, then closed the cabinet and leaned against the table. He would just give them a moment to kick in and then he would feel fine.

He only needed a moment.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked from his place beside Snape at the table.

"Yes," Snape answered without looking up from the paper. "Why do you ask?"

"Because you're drinking tea at breakfast, and you always have coffee."

Snape let the paper drop into a fold before placing it to the side, and glanced down to the peppermint and honey tea that sat beside his plate of toast. He cleared his throat and picked up his cup. After taking a small sip and hiding the pain that came when he swallowed the hot liquid, he said, "My throat is a bit sore this morning, but I am fine."

Harry looked at him quizzically but instead turned his attention back to his own plate of eggs, bacon, and toast. He broke off a piece of his bacon and held it out for Rook to take. The dog happily ate the bite before laying back down at Harry's feet.

"Have you heard from Draco?" Snape asked to fill the silence.

Harry nodded. "I got a letter from him this morning. He says he's fine and that he likes their new house." He pointed to the stack of letters that sat on the counter behind Snape. "Didn't you notice that the post came?"

Snape pushed his chair back and stood. "I must have missed it when I came in," he murmured. He picked up the stack and sorted through it. There wasn't much. A note from the Apothecary informing him that an ingredient he had requested had come in and he could pick it up. An issue each of Seeker Weekly and Which Broomstick. Snape paused. "When did we start getting magazine subscriptions?"

Harry looked up from his plate. "I've been using my allowance for Which Broomstick for months now. You know that. But it usually comes while were at Hogwarts; that's probably why you haven't noticed. Sirius got me a year's work of the Seeker one though. That's the first one I've gotten of it."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "He's buying you magazine subscriptions now?"

Harry shrugged. "Guess so."

Snape only hummed in response before turning back to the mail. At the bottom of the stack was a letter with his name written on the front in an elegant script.

Evelyn.

Snape flipped it over but before he could open it, he noticed that the edge of the envelope had been torn. Almost as if someone had been about to open it but didn't. He glanced over to Harry, who to his surprise had been watching him intently, but immediately turned back to his food. A blush covered his face and Snape sighed. He didn't know what to make of Harry's behavior. Especially when he couldn't even get him to talk to him.

"I've got one from Evelyn," Snape said, thinking that perhaps he could try a more direct approach.

He opened the envelope and pulled out the letter.

Harry only continued to push his food around his plate.

Snape read the letter silently.

"Severus, I know that we just spoke last night, but I wanted to be sure that you were okay. You sounded tired and I'm honestly a bit worried about you. I know that you're frustrated over the situation with Draco and his mother, but please trust that you did all you could. It would have been so much worse if Mrs. Malfoy had gone to the Ministry and demanded that Draco be sent back to her. At least this way you have measures in place if Draco needs you.

Anyway, I know we talked about all of this already so I won't keep going about it. I only wish you could see yourself the way that Harry and Draco see you. You are all so lucky to have each other.

Have you talked to Harry yet, by the way? You never actually said last night. You've got to get him to open up to you, but that goes for you as well. Maybe you could open up a bit with him first?

Well, I won't keep you. Tell Harry I said hello. Evelyn."

Snape folded the letter and placed it back in the envelope. "She said 'hello,'" he said, holding the letter up to show Harry.

"Great," Harry said without emotion. He stood and pushed his chair under the table before patting his thigh to get Rook's attention. "I'm going upstairs to answer Draco's letter, then I might go flying for a bit. Is that alright?"

"Of course. I've got quite a lot to do in my lab today, but I want to sit down later and talk about your birthday party. You haven't given me any answers yet about what you want to do."

Harry was already walking toward the door. "I told you it doesn't matter. I'm fine with anything. C'mon, boy."

Snape shook his head. "We will sit down and talk about it. After lunch."

"Okay, sure." Harry was out the door before Snape could say anything else.

He leaned back against the counter and pressed his fingers into his temples. Merlin, he felt awful!

Harry drifted lazily over the pond that lay at the edge of the property, leaning over his broom and letting his hand graze the top of the water.

When he and Rook had first come outside, Harry had spent a lot of time racing around and doing tricks, but eventually the fun had run out. It just wasn't the same when he was by himself. He wished Ron or Draco were still here. At least then they could race each other around the manor.

Harry pointed his broom back toward the house, rising higher into the air as he flew closer to the rooftop.

It would be time for lunch soon and Snape would be calling him inside to wash up. Harry desperately wanted to sort through his muddled thoughts before then. All he knew right now was that he was frustrated and tired.

Tired thanks to the nightmares that were getting worse. Thankfully, the two that he'd had this week had been milder than usual and he hadn't woken up Snape. Mostly they only involved the Dursleys, but he was starting to have ones that included Snape as well. Only Snape didn't beat him in his dreams. In fact, Snape didn't do anything to him, because he didn't notice him at all. Harry would try and get Snape to see him- to talk to him, but it never worked. Snape would always turn and walk away from him, leaving Harry alone again. Harry thought perhaps that would be worse than Uncle Vernon's belt. To have finally gotten a family after all these years, only to find that the one person he thought he could count on had abandoned him as well.

In the light of day Harry could usually separate the nightmare from real life, but he was sure that if he didn't get some sleep soon, he might actually start to crack up.

And he was tired. So tired.

It was making everything else worse. All his pent up emotions were simmering just below the surface. All his worries about Draco and Evelyn. His fears that Snape would eventually leave him like everyone else. It was all becoming too much, but Harry didn't know how to figure it all out.

Snape wanted him to talk to Remus, and a part of Harry wanted to talk to him too, but he was afraid of voicing his fears. What if Remus only confirmed them?

Harry thought about Evelyn as he flew high into the sky before tilting his broom down and free falling towards the ground, only to pull up at the last second. A quick glance around proved that Snape was still inside the house, which was good because if he'd seen that he would have surely pulled Harry from his broom faster than he could say, Quidditch.

Harry didn't think his issue with Evelyn even had anything to do with her, really. She was nice enough, and she seemed to like Snape. And shouldn't it make Harry happy that someone liked him?

No, his problem wasn't with Evelyn. It was with Snape. And with all the unknowns that came with him dating someone.

What if he didn't want Harry around anymore?

What if Harry wasn't enough and they wanted kids of their own?

What would happen to Harry if that were the case?

And more than all that, why was Snape hiding it? Harry's stomach rolled when he thought about how he'd almost read that letter this morning. He'd torn the edge and he would have invaded his privacy without a second thought just to find out what was going on. But then he'd heard Snape leaving his lab and he'd chickened out. He was glad now that he hadn't read it, but it didn't change the fact that Snape was getting letters from Evelyn and not telling him what was going on.

Snape would say that it wasn't his business and that he shouldn't pry, but Harry couldn't help it.

There were far too many questions and not nearly enough answers.

The sun beat down on Harry's neck and he glanced around again. Surely it was lunch time by now. Why hadn't Snape called him inside?

He flew down and landed easily on the grass beside Rook, who began wagging his tail as he ran around him. "Come on, you. Let's go see what's going on."

Harry walked into the Manor through the back door at the kitchen, but when he didn't see Snape anywhere, he moved on through to the foyer. He glanced into the parlor as he walked down the hallway to Snape's lab, and when he got to the door, he raised his hand and gave a soft knock.

"Dad?" Harry said as he opened the door and peered inside.

Harry looked over to the potions table to find Snape sitting on a stool in front of a bubbling cauldron. He had one arm resting on the table with his head propped up in his hand.

And he was asleep.

"Dad?" He said again as he moved closer to him.

Snape didn't move but Harry was close enough now to see the sweat beading across his forehead and the way his cheeks were flushed. He reached out and gently shook Snape's shoulder. "Dad."

Snape jerked awake, his eyes going wide as he looked around the room. "What?"

Harry stepped back. "It's just me. Are you alright?"

"Yes, of course," Snape said as he stood up and checked the cauldron in front of him.

Harry looked down at it, too. "Is it supposed to look like that?" he asked, grimacing at the smell that was wafting up from the orange, goo like substance.

Snape let out of huff of frustration. "No." He raised his wand and banished the ruined potion before turning to look at Harry.

"You're sick," Harry accused.

"I'm fine," Snape said, though even as the words left his mouth, he leaned back against the table and pressed his fingers into his temples with a groan.

"Right," Harry said, unconvinced. "I suppose that's why you were sleeping in your lab and you botched a potion, then? Because you're fine?"

Snape shook his head. "Harry, it's nothing to worry about. I've just got a bit of a headache, that's all."

"Looks like a fever as well." Harry crossed his arms over his chest and said, "I think you ought to go rest."

"I'm-"

"You're not fine!" Harry interrupted. "You're sick. You were probably sick this morning, too, and you lied about it. Which, by the way, you would go mental if I did that."

Snape raised an eyebrow and for a moment, Harry thought he would argue, but instead, he inclined his head and said, "You're right. Perhaps a short rest would be wise."

Surprised that he would agree so quickly, Harry could only nod as Snape walked out of the room. Then as if to make sure Snape really did rest, Harry followed him out into the hallway in time to see him head for the stairs.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

Snape turned back to him with a frown. "To my room, obviously."

"You can barely stand up," he said. "You'd probably fall down the steps and then what would I do?" Harry didn't know what possessed him to take such a tone with Snape, and he was sure that under normal circumstances Snape would have already scolded him for it.

Snape must have thought the same thing because he straightened up a bit and placed his hands on his hips. "And just where do you think I should go, young man?"

"To the couch, obviously," Harry said, mocking Snape's words from a moment before.

"I do not need my thirteen-year-old son to play nurse maid, thank you very much."

Harry glared. "I could always get Grandma."

Snape narrowed his eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

"Try me," Harry said with a shrug. He turned back toward the lab. "I'm going to grab the Fever Reducer and Headache Relief potions."

He was almost to the door when he heard Snape groan. "Get the Stomach Soother as well," he called.

Harry smirked. "Yes, Dad."

Harry opened the cabinet in the lab and scanned the shelves for the potions he needed. He'd been in there often enough helping Snape that he was familiar with where most everything was, but it still took him a minute to get them all.

Just as he was about to close the cabinet, his eyes landed on the Dreamless Sleep. He had only been joking the day that he told Snape that it would help his nightmares, but he would be lying if he said the thought didn't appeal to him at least a little bit. Harry recalled Snape telling him that it was addictive, but that was only if he abused it- not that Harry was thinking of actually taking it.

That would be suicide. Snape would murder him without a seconds thought if he found out.

But a few nights sleep without waking up terrified would certainly be nice. His hand hovered over the vial before Harry even realized he'd moved.

No. He pulled his hand back. He was going to talk to Remus like Snape suggested. Remus would be able to help him get rid of the nightmares.

Harry shut the cabinet door and quickly left the room.

When he got back to the parlor, Harry was surprised to find that Snape had actually listened to him, and was now lying on the couch with his back against the arm. He had even transfigured his clothes into dark pajamas.

"This is ridiculous," Snape said when Harry passed him the potions. "I'm fine."

"You're ridiculous," Harry murmured with a roll of his eyes.

"Harry." Snape glared up at him and Harry grinned.

"Sorry, but you're not fine and you know it. So just lie back and let someone else take care of you for once."

Harry was sure that Snape was only humoring him in order to get him to leave him alone, but in any case, Snape drank the potions and then leaned down to let his head rest against the arm of the couch.

"I'll go get you a blanket and pillow," Harry said as he took the empty vials and sat them down on the coffee table. He didn't give Snape a chance to protest before he left the room and went upstairs.

Harry felt weird about going into Snape's room without him being there, but he pushed it out of his mind as he opened the door and stepped inside. He pulled the comforter and pillow off the bed and left quickly, closing the door behind him.

Snape was asleep when he got back.

"Sure," he said softly as he spread the blanket out over him, "you're just fine." Harry shook his head and tucked the pillow beneath Snape's head. He let his hand brush against his forehead and frowned at how warm he felt despite taking the fever reducer.

Harry heard Rook come in from the back yard through the doggy door that Snape had installed for him. He gave a low bark as he came into the room and Harry glanced over at him.

"What do you think, boy?" Harry asked. "Should we call someone?"

Rook walked around the couch to sniff at the sleeping Snape. Harry thought that if he were awake, he would be shooing the dog away, but since he wasn't, Rook circled the floor in front of the couch a few times before settling down and looking up at Harry.

"Good idea," Harry said. He took a seat in Snape's armchair and said, "We'll just watch him for a while and make sure he doesn't need anything. That's all."

Harry paced back and forth in front of the fireplace. Rook lay beneath the coffee table, his head turning to keep Harry in his sight.

It had been hours since Snape had gone to sleep and he'd only woken up once, about an hour before, and that was to quickly summon a bucket to throw up in. It had happened so fast that Harry had barely had time to stand before Snape was sitting up on the couch, his wand out and pointed toward the hallway. Seconds later the bucket flew through the air.

"Should I get more potions?" Harry had asked.

Snape had only nodded in response. He'd taken them without comment while Harry went to the kitchen for a glass of water, but by the time he'd come back, Snape was already falling back asleep.

Harry was getting worried. Snape's fever was up again and he didn't know what to do.

He paused and looked at the floo powder on the mantle.

That wasn't true, actually. He did know what he could do. He could go get Remus or Minerva or even Mrs. Weasley and they would come immediately.

Before he could talk himself out of it, Harry had scooped up some powder and stepped into the hearth.

"Minerva McGonagall's Cottage," he said clearly before dropping the powder and disappearing with the green flames.

"Grandma," he called as soon as he stepped out of the fireplace.

"Harry?" Minerva stepped into the living room from the kitchen. "What's the matter?"

"Dad's sick. I think he's got the flu, and I've been giving him potions, but the fever won't stay gone, and I- I don't know what to do." He said it in such a rush that he wondered if his Head of House had even understood him, but a moment later she had her own handful of floo powder and they were on their way again.

When they were back in the Manor, Minerva crossed the room and knelt down by Snape's side.

"Severus?" she said quietly as she felt of his forehead, brushing a strand of his hair away from his face.

"Hmm," came the soft response from Snape.

"How are you feeling?" she asked.

"Wonderful," he murmured sarcastically.

Harry watched from the other end of the couch as Snape stirred slightly. He kept his eyes closed as he asked, "Where's Harry?"

"I'm right here," he answered.

Snape glared at him, though considering the fact that only one eye opened even a crack, Harry didn't think he looked all that menacing.

"You got my mother," he accused weakly.

Minerva patted his arm. "And you ought to be glad he did. Your burning up." She looked to Harry. "Harry, go and get me a cool cloth, please."

Harry left quickly to do as he was told, and when he came back Minerva was sitting on the coffee table, waving her wand over Snape.

She took the cloth and placed it on Snape's head.

"There's no need to fuss over me," Snape said, though his voice sounded rough and he kept his eyes closed against the light of the room. Harry knew he didn't like so much attention on him, but as far as he was concerned, he could just get over it.

"There certainly is," Minerva scolded. "Now lie back and get some rest. I'm going to make some soup." She stood and moved toward the kitchen. "Harry, have you eaten anything?"

Harry nodded. "I had a sandwich at lunch, but soup sounds great."

She reached up and put her hand on Harry's shoulder. "How about you come and help me. I hear you're a pretty good cook."

Harry shrugged. "I'm alright. What if he needs-"

Minerva gently turned Harry toward the kitchen. "You have done plenty today. The last thing we need is for you to get sick as well. Come along, now. He'll be alright."

With a sigh and one last look at Snape, whose breathing was already evening out in sleep once more, Harry followed her to the kitchen.

Chapter Text

Harry stepped out of the floo and into Remus's parlor. 

"Hello, Harry," Remus said, looking up from the record he was placing back in it's sleeve. He put it on the shelf with the others and asked, "How's Severus feeling?"

Harry rolled his eyes. "He feels good enough to get on to me every five minutes," he grumbled as he crossed the room and dropped heavily onto the couch. 

Remus stopped looking through his records and turned to Harry with a frown. "For no reason?"

Harry dropped his head and picked at a loose thread on his jeans. "Maybe he had a few reasons." 

"Ah." Remus crossed the room and sat down in his chair. "Do you want to talk about it?"

At first Remus was sure that Harry wasn't going to say anything. He watched as he seemed to debate with himself for a long moment before finally he said, "Everything's changing and I feel like I can't keep up." 

"What do you mean, Cub?" Remus asked. "Is this about more than Draco leaving and the nightmares?"

"It's about everything. I want to believe that Draco is alright, and he seems fine from his letters, but how can he trust her? She let Mr. Malfoy shun Draco just because he didn't like that Draco was thinking for himself for once. How could she go along with that?"

Remus sighed. He leaned forward, letting his arms rest on his knees as he spoke, "Harry, can I ask you a question?"

Harry gave a single nod and looked up to meet Remus's eyes. 

"Does this have anything to do with your relatives and how they treated you?" 

Harry immediately looked away. "No." 

"No?" Remus asked. "Nothing at all to do with how they ignored you? Pretended that you didn't exist unless it suited them to have you doing chores or whatever other miserable thing they could come up with." 

Remus watched as Harry shook his head, continuing to look away. 

"Draco doesn't deserve that," he said softly. 

"No, he doesn't," Remus agreed. "And neither did you." 

Harry turned back to him, his green eyes shining as he said, "I know that." 

Remus sat back, deciding that it would be better to let Harry sort through his thoughts on his own for a moment. 

"Why do they still effect me so badly?" Harry asked quietly. "I haven't seen them in a year, but suddenly I'm thinking about them more and more, and the nightmares are getting worse."

Remus shook his head. "Because healing is not linear, Harry. It's not always constant steps forward. Sometimes there are setbacks and triggers that come up out of nowhere, and often there's very little we can do about them. We just have to take them as they come and work through them one at a time." He stood and moved to sit on the couch beside Harry. "Only last year they were doing awful things to you, and you've handled it remarkably, you truly have, but as much as we would like it to, trauma doesn't go away overnight. Or even in a year. But talking about it helps. Surrounding yourself with people who love and care about you does, too."

Harry kept his head bowed, but he nodded to show he was listening. 

"Are the nightmares still about your uncle?"

"Mostly," Harry said. He cleared his throat and swiped his hand beneath his glasses before he went on. "Sometimes lately, they've been about Dad though." 

Remus's brows knit together in confusion. "What about him?" he asked. 

Harry shrugged. "They usually start out with Uncle Vernon being horrible like always, but then things will shift around and it will be Dad there instead. Only he just looks at me and doesn't say anything at all. I try to talk to him and ask him for help, but he doesn't listen. He just turns around and walks out the door. He leaves me there." Harry's voice was thick and he sniffed hard. "Every time I start yelling for him to wait or come back, but he doesn't. He just walks away." 

"Have you told Severus about them?"

"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "It's just a stupid dream. It doesn't mean anything." 

"I think perhaps it means more than you realize." 

"No, it doesn't," Harry snapped. "He won't leave me." 

"Of course not," Remus was quick to reassure him. "I only meant that maybe you're worried about it more than you want to admit. Logically you know that Severus isn't going anywhere, but your subconscious mind might be connecting him with your relatives who neglected and abandoned you, making you doubt his loyalty." 

Harry narrowed his eyes. "That's all rubbish."

"Is it?" 

Harry seemed to shrink in his seat. Then, very softly, he asked, "What if he starts dating Evelyn and regrets adopting me? Can he change his mind?" 

"Absolutely not," Remus said firmly. "And even if he could, he wouldn't. Harry, I don't know much about what's going on between Severus and Evelyn, but what I do know is that he loves you more than anything, and there is nothing that could make him regret adopting you."

"He smiles when he gets letters from her," Harry said. "And they floo call at night."

"How do you know they floo call?" Remus asked.

"I woke up after a nightmare the other night and went downstairs for a glass of water. I heard them when I passed his room, but I didn't stop to listen, I swear," he rushed to add.

Remus smiled. He reached over and patted Harry's arm. "I'm glad to hear your eavesdropping days might be finally behind you." 

Harry nodded. "Honestly, me too. I'd rather avoid the trouble it always brings me," he said with a laugh. 

"So he's really been smiling?" Remus asked, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Interesting." 

Remus leaned over and tapped the top of the coffee table, then just like it always did for Snape, food appeared instantly. A tray of tea and another of chocolate biscuits. He gestured for Harry to help himself before he poured himself a cup of tea and added several cubes of sugar. 

"Yeah. He definitely likes her, that's for sure." Harry bit into a biscuit and said, "That's good." 

"The chocolate ones are my favorite. And what do you think about her?" 

Harry shrugged. "I like her fine. I don't dislike her, at least. She's been nice every time I've seen her." He paused as if trying to decide if he wanted to say something else. 

"What is it?" Remus asked knowingly.

"Has he ever had a girlfriend?" 

Remus nearly spit out his tea. He reached for a napkin and wiped his mouth before clearing his throat. "Er, yes, believe it or not." 

Harry did not, in fact, look as if he believed it.

"There were a couple of girls while we were in school during sixth year, though I don't think they were serious at all. Severus was always too busy, or too focused to give anyone the time of day. Then after Voldemort vanished, he was too far in his grief and guilt over everything that happened. There was one woman about six years ago though. Her name was Alicia, and they dated for quite some time."

"What happened?" Harry asked. 

Remus sighed. "He pushed her away," he answered simply. "She liked him a lot. Maybe even loved him, and I'm fairly certain that he felt the same way about her. But just when things were getting to the stage where we all thought he would ask her to marry him, instead he broke it off with her. She was devastated and didn't understand. She thought she'd done something wrong, but of course she hadn't."

"Why did he do that?" Harry's tea lay forgotten on the coffee table and he'd turned in his seat, listening closely to Remus as he spoke.

"I don't know. He wouldn't talk about it. But I think that Severus was struggling more than he would let on with what happened during his time as a spy, and perhaps even with the things he went through with his father. Severus mentioned once, a very long time ago, that he didn't feel deserving of love. If you ask me, that's why he broke up with Alicia. He still doesn't bring her up and I trust that you won't either," he added sternly. 

"I wouldn't say anything." 

Remus smiled. "I know you won't, Cub." He pointed to the biscuits. "Now, how about we have a few more of these. Merlin knows Severus probably counts every spoonful of sugar you get." 

Harry nodded and reached for another biscuit.

Snape rubbed the back of his neck with a groan as he left the comfort of his chair and the book, he was reading to answer the door. As far as he knew, he wasn't expecting anyone, and he was more than prepared to tell whomever it was to bugger off immediately. 

He grasped the doorknob and pulled it open.

"Oh, hello," he said, surprised as he took in the sight of Evelyn standing on the porch holding a steaming pot. 

She smiled brightly. "Hello, Sev," she said. "Sorry to just pop in like this, but I wanted to bring you some soup and check on you. How are you feeling?"

"Much better today, thank you." Snape stepped back and motioned for her to step inside. "Please, come in." 

Evelyn moved passed him and said, "I hope you like potato. It's my Mum's recipe." 

"It's my favorite," he assured her as he took the soup and made his way to the kitchen.

"Where's Harry?" 

Snape put the pot of soup on the counter and turned back to look at her. "He's spending some time with Remus. And hopefully coming home with a better attitude." 

Even laughed. "I hope you're not being too hard on him. He has been taking care of you the last few days after all." 

Snape led the way into the living room, but it was Evelyn who sat down first on the middle seat of the couch. She patted the spot next to her in invitation to Snape and after only a moment's hesitation, he took the seat. 

Evelyn shifted in her spot so that she was facing Snape. She tucked a loose strand of her dark hair behind her ear and looked down at her lap. "I should probably admit," she said quietly, "that I didn't only come today to check on you."

"Oh?" Snape asked, looking down at her.

She let out a huff and said, "I suppose I missed you." Evelyn's cheeks colored and she rushed on, "I mean, I missed talking to you."

Snape was certain that his heart stopped. He wasn't sure what to say to that. He knew what he wanted to say, which was that he felt the same. He'd missed talking to her over the last few days. He'd missed hearing her voice and reading her letters. 

Right after Harry's adoption had been finalized, he and Evelyn began forming a sort of friendship. It started with her checking in on them from time to time, which wasn't necessary but Snape found that he didn't mind. Then they began talking more often until Evelyn confided that she was beginning to have feelings for him. Snape responded in true Snape fashion by pushing her away. Even though what he wanted to do was admit that he felt the same. 

But he couldn't tell her that because Evelyn was so kind, and bright, and lovely, and she deserved far more than what Snape could give her. Snape, who had done nothing in his entire life to deserve the amount of good things that he currently had, surely didn't also deserve the love that Evelyn seemed to so desperately want to give. 

Instead, he told her that he needed to focus on Harry. He needed to make sure he was adjusting and happy. So he took Harry on holiday and they had a wonderful time, and he only thought about Evelyn twenty or thirty times a day. 

The problem was that Evelyn was not allowing herself to be pushed away according to plan. In fact, she seemed to be taking the plan into her own hands all together, and when Snape and Harry came back from their trip to the sea, there was a letter waiting for Snape that said she knew exactly what he was doing, but that if he could honestly tell her that he didn't want to talk to her, she would leave him be. 

But then, Snape couldn't tell her that either. 

So he decided that perhaps if Evelyn was set on remaining in his life, he could relish in the feeling of having her near for as long as she would allow it. Though whenever things became too close for comfort though, Snape would attempt to back off and distance himself, and Evelyn would give him space but ultimately she would send another letter that Snape would answer entirely too quickly for his liking. 

It was working out pretty well, so far. Though it was getting harder to hide it from Harry though. Whenever a new letter showed up he'd ask what was making Snape so happy, and Snape would of course say that it was nothing. Harry would roll his eyes and walk away, then Snape would read through the letter a second time. 

Her hand on his brought Snape out of his thoughts. His dark eyes met her blue ones and he smiled. "I missed talking to you as well," he said softly. He let his fingers intertwine with hers and said, "I missed you."  

"Yeah?" she asked, as she shifted a fraction closer to him, bringing one leg up to cross over her other knee. 

The hem of her lavender skirt rose up barely an inch, but it was enough to catch Snape's eye, and he had the instant urge to reach out and let his hand rest on her knee.

He cleared his throat. "Yes, well, Harry doesn't exactly have the best bedside manner." 

Evelyn laughed. "He probably learned it from you, but not to worry, I have a wonderful bedside manner." She seemed to have no problem with letting her free hand rest on Snape's forearm. "I could prove it to you if you'd like." 

Snape fought down the urge to grin. He was a grown man after all, not some love sick teenager. "I'd hate for you to catch the flu," he murmured as he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. 

Evelyn leaned closer still. "I think that's a risk I'm willing to take." 

Suddenly the floo roared to life just as Harry stepped out of the green flames. 

 Snape and Evelyn jerked away from each other, and Snape stood up. 

 Harry shook his head as he looked between them and Snape felt wary as he seemed to be trying to decipher what was going on. He expected harry to be surprised, or perhaps confused, but what he didn't expect was for Harry to scowl at them.

 "I should have known she'd be here," he said. 

 Snape raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me," he asked, his tone conveying a calmness that he didn't feel. 

 "Harry, I just dropped by to-"

 "To what? Check on him? Sure. As if the two of you haven't been sneaking around for weeks." 

 Snape couldn't believe what he was hearing. Never in the last year had Harry spoken with such malice towards him, let alone to someone he hardly knew. 

 "Harry James," he snapped. "What is the meaning of this?"

 "Uncle Remus said there wasn't any reason to worry, but you've been acting weird for weeks and now I know why. I bet you couldn't wait til I was out of the house before you invited her over. Much better than late night floo calls and letters, right?"

 "And what is that supposed to mean?"

 "I should go," Evelyn said, straightening her skirt as she stood.

 Harry held his hand out. "Oh, don't leave on my account. I'll just go upstairs," he said sarcastically.

 "You most certainly will not," Snape said reaching out as if to put a hand up to stop him. "You will explain yourself this instant, young man."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Why should I? Merlin knows, you haven't explained anything to me."

"What is it that you think I need to explain?"

"Whatever it is that you're hiding from me? Why can't you just tell me what's going on between you two?" Harry exclaimed, motioning between them.

"There is nothing going on!"

The room grew quiet and from the corner of his eye, Snape saw Evelyn's head drop slightly as she looked away. 

Harry noticed too, and said, "You might want to tell her that." Then, Harry turned and sprinted from the room. 

"Harry," Snape called, moving to go after him.

"Severus, let him go," Evelyn said quietly. 

Snape turned to look at her but she was picking up her purse. "You're leaving?"

Evelyn scoffed. "Well, yeah, I think everything's pretty clear now." 

"Really?" he asked, taking two steps and closing the distance between them. "Because nothing seems clear to me right now." 

Evelyn's eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms. "What did you tell Harry about us? Does he know that we've been talking more lately? Or that we were ever talking to begin with?"

Snape opened his mouth but then closed it as he thought back. "Yes," he said finally. "He knows we've been writing letters and that we're friends." 

"Does he know that recently we'd been moving past friendship? Or at least that I thought we were? Does he know that I care about you both a great deal? Does he know that you care about me?" Evelyn closed her eyes and shook her head. "No, of course he doesn't because you can't even admit that to yourself, much less to him or me."

"Evelyn, that's not-"

"True? Yes, it is, and you know it," she said firmly. Evelyn pointed her finger at him and went on. "You care about me, Severus, and it scares you to death. But if you can't be honest with yourself about it, or even admit to your own son that we're at the very least talking, then what are we even doing?" She didn't give him a chance to respond. Instead, she turned on her heel and walked to the door. 

"Evelyn, wait," Snape said, following after her. "Let's talk about this."

She opened the door and stepped onto the porch before turning back to face him. "Sure. As soon as you realize exactly what it is you want, you come find me. But I'll tell you one thing, Severus Snape, I will not be anyone's secret."

And with that, Evelyn disapparated, leaving Snape alone in the doorway. 

Snape shut the door with a sigh. This was not working out the way that he had planned. 

He needed to talk to Harry first, and so he turned toward the staircase that led to the second floor. As soon as he got to the top of the landing he was met by Rook, who was lying outside Harry's room. He looked up when Snape approached, then stood and walked past him before going down the stairs. 

Snape shook his head and knocked on Harry's door. He didn't get a response, but then he hadn't been expecting one either. 

He opened the door to find Harry sitting on the edge of his bed, his hands clasped together between his knees as he glared down at the ground. 

Snape didn't cross the threshold of the room. Instead, he leaned his shoulder against the doorjamb and put his hands into the pockets of his dark trousers. "I owe you an apology," he said softly. 

Harry looked up but didn't say anything, so Snape continued. 

"It was wrong not to tell you about Evelyn. I'm sorry."

Harry let out a small huff. "So there is something going on?" 

Snape shook his head. "Maybe if I haven't entirely ruined things." He took a deep breath and crossed the room to Harry's desk. Snape took the chair and moved it so that it was facing Harry before sitting down. "Right after the adoption became final, Evelyn and I started talking. Only as friends, but towards the end of the school year it started to feel like more than that. I should have told you then, but I didn't and I don't have a good excuse for why. And even now, I'm not going to tell you every little detail. Honestly, Harry, some things are simply not your business." 

Harry nodded at the pointed look that Snape was giving him. "I know," he said. "And in case you're wondering, I haven't been eavesdropping on you two or anything. I just overheard you talk with her through the floo a couple of times, but I didn't stop to listen. I promise." 

Snape reached out and patted his knee. "It's alright. I believe you." He leaned back in the chair and said, "But after that, I didn't handle the situation in the best way, and we stopped talking for a week or so. At that point, I didn't think there was anything to tell you. We went on holiday, and I wanted to focus on you, so that's what I did. But when we came back, I had a letter from Evelyn waiting."

"And you've been talking ever since?" 

Snape nodded. "More or less. And again, I should have told you. Especially once I realized that I," he paused to collect his thoughts. "When I realized that I have feelings for her."

"So Draco was right, then. You do like her?"

Snape raised an eyebrow as he studied Harry. "Do I even want to know what you and Draco have been saying about me?"

"Probably not," he answered. He sat up straight and squared his shoulders. "So what does this mean for us? What's going to change this time?"

"This time?" Snape asked, his head tilting to the side as he tried to work out what Harry meant. 

"Yeah, you know, with everything else that's been changing. I mean first Sirius was on the run, then he was free and said he wanted to get to know me. Up until he decided to travel the world, at least. Then Draco was here with us, and as soon as I got used to that, he goes back with his Mum. Which is great," he added quickly. "I'm happy for him if that's what he wants. But now you and Evelyn are dating, maybe, and I don't know what that means for me."

And all at once the missing puzzle piece that Snape had been searching for over the last few weeks fell into place. "Harry-" 

"I know that Remus said I didn't need to worry, but I just don't know-"

"Harry," Snape said again, this time louder. 

Harry stopped talking and looked up. 

"Nothing is changing for you. Not like you're probably thinking." He leaned forward again so that he was eye level with Harry. "I like Evelyn, and until today, I'm pretty sure she liked me too. I am, hopefully, going to talk to her and straighten things out with her, but even if I do, Remus is right. You have nothing to worry about. Evelyn cares a great deal for you and if everything works out, you'll be seeing a lot more of her. But aside from that, nothing needs to change for you. I've told you this before and I'll keep telling you over and over until it finally sinks in that head of yours; you are right where you belong and nothing can ever change that." 

"But what if-"

"Nothing," he said firmly. "I promise that from now on, I'll do better about telling you things. And as far as things with Evelyn and I are concerned, I'm going to talk to her and if she'll have me, I would like to see where this goes. What do you think of that?" 

Harry seemed to think about it for a moment before finally, he nodded his head and said, "Okay, that seems fair. But if you're going to ask her to marry you or something, can you give me a heads up first?" 

Snape smiled. "I can do that. And not that it will come to that, and if it does it will be far into the future, but if it does, can you try to not go mental?" 

"No promises." Harry grinned before dropping his gaze once more to the floor. "I'm sorry about today. I shouldn't have said all those things. They were mean."

"You were upset," Snape said. "Sometimes we all have moments where we say things in anger. The important thing is to learn from it and do better next time." 

"I will. And I'll apologize to Evelyn when I see her next."

"I expect nothing less. Though I have to do some apologizing of my own first." He pushed up from the chair and said, "Will you be alright til I get back?" 

Harry nodded. 

"Good. Hopefully it won't take long." Snape was already moving towards the door. "We'll have dinner when I get back." 

Snape apparated on Evelyn's doorstep, but he couldn't bring himself to knock. He was suddenly struck by the idea that perhaps muggles drove everywhere because it gave them time to think. He had absolutely no idea what he was going to say to her. 

He paced the length of the small porch as he tried to come up with something, anything that would convince Evelyn that his feelings for her were real and that he truly hadn't intended to sound like such an arse earlier.

However, before he could think of anything suitable, the front door flung open and Evelyn stood there, glaring up at him. "Did you want something, or were you just planning to wear a hole through my porch with your constant pacing." 

"Oh, er-" Snape looked behind him as if expecting to see an actual hole there.

"You've been out here for ten minutes." 

Snape sighed. He wasn't used to feeling so out of sorts. He was content to blame the lingering effects of the flu for that. 

"I wanted to talk to you," he said finally. 

Evelyn studied him for a long moment before at last, she stepped back to allow him to enter the small house. 

Snape gave a quick nod before moving past her and standing in the foyer. "Where's Brielle?" he asked, clearly stalling for more time.

Evelyn could see straight through him though. "She's with her parents this week. What did you want to say?"

Snape took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "You told me to find you when I knew what I wanted," he said softly, taking a step closer to her. He reached for her hand and when she didn't pull away, he found the confidence to go on. "I want you."

"And Harry?" she asked, looking down at their intertwined fingers.

"I told him everything," Snape assured her. "And you were right; I should have done that from the start and I'm sorry that I didn't."

"Why didn't you?" 

Snape had expected this question, and he knew that if he had any hope of leaving here in Evelyn's good graces, he would need to be completely honest with her now. 

He released her hand and stepped away, putting some distance between them. "Because I was afraid," he said simply. "Because talking about it, admitting that I have feelings for you, it would have made it too real. And if it's real, than it can be lost. It is a flaw that I now realize I've carried for years. When I was adopted, I wanted it to remain a secret so that nothing could harm the first good thing I'd had in so long. Then when Remus came along, I chose to live in the fear of what might happen if word got out that he was my brother, and because of that our last few years at Hogwarts were spent at each other's throats. I push people away before they have the chance to leave on their own, and Harry is probably the first person that I ever truly let in." 

Snape turned away and walked a few steps to an end table sat against the staircase. A vase of flowers sat atop it and Snape gently touched the petal of a white rose as he said, "I have done far too many things in my life to be deserving of the few good things I currently have," he said quietly without looking at her. "I was afraid that if I truly let myself get close to you, if I acted on how I feel when you're near, eventually all of those things would catch up and you would realize that your time would be better spent on someone else. On someone good and worthy of good things." 

Snape didn't hear her walk up behind him, but he felt her tap his shoulder and turned to face her. 

Evelyn reached up and placed her hand on his cheek. "You, Severus Snape, are worthy of all the good things, and if you'll let me, I'll remind you of that every day." 

Snape swallowed hard as he stared down into her blue eyes, seeing the truth in them. 

"What do you say?" she asked. 

He took her hand in his again. "Do you want to come have dinner with Harry and I tomorrow?"

Evelyn smiled. "I'd love to." 

Draco woke up the next morning feeling content as he lay in his new bed. It had only been about two weeks since he had left Snape's Manor to move back in with his mother. They had rented a small apartment for the time being, but Narcissa had said they would be getting a house soon. Draco didn't mind though. The apartment was nice, and it was in the city which Draco loved. He'd taken to exploring London on his own the last few days and found that he enjoyed walking up and down the streets and checking out different shops. 

His mother didn't seem to mind too much what he did during the day, but he'd gone into a few places that he knew Snape would have a lot to say about if he ever found out. 

Draco rolled over and sat up, throwing the blankets to the side so that he wouldn't be tempted to lay back down.

He was just searching through his closet for something to wear when he heard murmured voices coming from the living room. It was too early for company, in fact, he was surprised that Narcissa was even awake yet. She had taken to lying in on the weekends, but Draco didn't blame her. 

Draco dressed quickly and left his room, but as soon as he stepped into the living room, he froze. 

"Hello, Draco," Lucius said. 

***

Chapter Text

Draco wished he could say that seeing Lucius Malfoy in his living room was the last thing he expected, but the truth was, he'd known all along that it would happen eventually. He was never going to simply let them go. He had a reputation to protect and his wife leaving him and taking their son with her wouldn't look good for him.

Still, Draco had hoped.

"Your mother has something she wishes to tell you," Lucius said in his usual slow and calculated tone from where he sat in a high backed arm chair in the corner of the room. As far as Draco knew, he had never stepped foot into the apartment, yet here he was sitting as casually as ever, as if he owned the place.

"What's he doing here?" he asked Narcissa, intentionally not looking in Lucius's direction.

"Draco," Narcissa said from her place perched on the edge of the couch, "we need to talk.

"About what?"

Narcissa took a steadying breath and turned slightly away. She held a handkerchief in her hand and raised it up to dab beneath her eyes.

"Just tell me." Draco could feel his heart racing and he willed it to slow down. The new bracelet would surely sense his panic and alert Snape, and as much as he would like his Godfather to be here right now, he needed to know what was going on.

"Your father and I have decided to get back together, and I-"

"No!" Draco spat. "Why?"

"He's my husband," she said simply. "And I love him."

"And what about me?" Draco's hands curled into fists at his sides but he forced himself to stay calm. This couldn't be happening. "I'm your son. Doesn't that mean anything?"

"Draco, sweetheart, this-"

Draco shook his head. "No. Mum, don't do this. If he's done something- if he's forcing you to do this, then we can-"

"It's not like that."

"Then tell me what it's like because I don't understand. I thought you said this would be different."

"I'm sorry," she said, and Draco thought she meant it. "This is what I want."

"And what about what I want?" He closed the distance between them and sat down beside her, taking her hands in his and looking her in the eyes. "Don't I get a say in this? If this is because we haven't got as much money anymore, I don't care about that. You don't have to worry. I can-"

Lucius spoke up, his voice cold and demanding. "Draco, do not beg. It makes you look pathetic and weak."

Draco closed his mouth. He sat up straight, squaring his shoulders, and looking away from them both. He stared at a blank space on the wall behind his father.

"This will be better for everyone," Narcissa said quietly.

"Better for who, Mother? For me or you?" Draco's own voice was cold now, the way he'd learned to make it long ago when standing up to his father wasn't an option. When breaking wasn't an option.

It wasn't an option now either.

"Draco, you are a child," she said. "You couldn't possibly understand what it is I'm going through. You are away at school most of the year. Eventually, you will graduate and you will go off on your own. And I want that for you. I truly do. But I don't want to be alone. I couldn't take it."

Draco swallowed hard around the lump in his throat. He would not give them the satisfaction of seeing him cry.

"You're wrong," he said, turning ice grey eyes to meet her own blue ones. "I'm not a child, and I understand a lot more than you think. I feel sorry for you."

Narcissa gasped when Draco abruptly let go of her hands and stood up stiffly. "I'll take you back to Severus," she said. "You can stay with him and it will be better for you."

Draco glanced at Lucius whose face showed no emotion at all. "Legally," he said. "You'll take me back with binding papers that say he is my permanent guardian and then neither of you will ever speak to me again. And if he wants to adopt me, you won't do anything about it."

The room was silent for a long moment, until finally Lucius answered, "Done."

Draco spent the next few minutes in his room. He packed quickly, only taking the things that he needed, shoving them haphazardly down in his trunk.

He didn't want to think right now. He couldn't. Not if he wanted to get through this with any sort of pride left.

And yet, all he could do was think.

He tossed another shirt into his trunk, remembering how less than two weeks ago he had packed it so neatly, ready to set out on the next phase of his life with his mother. He'd been so stupid. So naive to believe that things could really be different. That he would have come first for once.

Draco went into the bathroom to grab his toiletries, and when he came back, he bumped into the nightstand by his bed, knocking over a small framed portrait of him and his parents. He'd held on to it even after he had run away with Harry and Ron. Some form of Hufflepuff sentimentality he supposed. He looked down at it now, the glass had a thin crack that ran through the middle of the frame. Right between the Draco in the picture and his parents.

Broken.

Everything was broken now.

He finished packing, leaving the portrait lying on the floor.

Draco took out his wand and muttered a shrinking spell at his trunk before storing it away in his pocket, then he walked to the door of his bedroom. But just before he walked out, he stopped and turned back around. He took one last look at what could have been a good life for him, then he took off his silver ring with the Malfoy crest and left it on the top of his dresser.

Harry lay on the couch with one leg hanging off the side. Rook, ever present, lay beside him on the floor, snoring softly while he took his afternoon nap.

Harry felt like he could use a nap himself. He was so tired all the time. He'd been so sure that talking with Remus and Snape yesterday, getting out off of his feelings and worries, would mean that he would finally get a full nights rest. He'd been wrong, of course.

He'd woken up sometime around three in the morning, panic setting heavily on his chest while he fought the urge to vomit up his dinner. Why weren't these nightmares going away? He was beginning to worry.

So far over the last week or so, he had managed to keep Snape from finding out about the worst of them, but he didn't know how much longer he could keep that up. And it wasn't as if Snape would care. He would understand. He would tell Harry that it was fine, and that it was nothing to be embarrassed about, but Harry was embarrassed!

He hated feeling like a little kid who needed his parent to come and check inside his closet for monsters. It was beginning to be enough that Harry could understand the appeal of Dreamless Sleep. Even for just a couple of nights would be better than nothing. What if all he needed was a few good nights of sleep for his body to reset? Then maybe the nightmares would go away for good. Surely a few nights, three at most, would be enough to get him back on track.

Harry glanced toward the doorway out of the parlor. Snape was in the kitchen making lunch, but maybe if he was quick, he could sneak down the hallway to the potions lab without Snape noticing.

Of course, Snape would definitely notice if several vials of potion suddenly went missing. The man was meticulous about keeping a precise inventory of everything he had. There was no way that he could get it undetected.

Before Harry could work out any more of his plan, someone knocked on the front door.

Rook popped his head up to look at the same time that Harry sat up on the couch.

"I've got it," called Snape as he came out of the kitchen.

Harry heard the door open, then soft murmuring voices from the foyer. It sounded like a woman, but Evelyn wasn't supposed to come until that evening. He stood, crossing the room in a few strides, but just as he got to the doorway, he paused.

Narcissa Malfoy was standing close to the still open front door with Draco beside her, looking down at the ground.

Harry stepped back, not wanting to interrupt or be seen. He had a sinking feeling that this wasn't a social visit.

Narcissa pulled a small stack of papers from her purse and held them out to Snape, who took them with a sigh.

Snape pulled out his wand and pointed it at the bottom of the last page. A pale blue light hovered over it before disappearing, leaving what looked to Harry like Snape's signature.

Narcissa nodded. She held out her hand as if to touch Draco, but he shifted away and her hand fell. She was out the door in the next second, letting it close sharply behind her.

Leaving Draco behind.

Harry bit his lip and looked down at the ground. He didn't need to hear what had been said to understand what had just happened.

When he looked up again, Snape was holding his arm out to Draco, and the blonde boy fell into his embrace immediately.

To say that Snape was angry didn't even begin to cover it. As he held Draco in his arms, the boy crying and broken, Snape felt nothing but white hot rage burning through his body. How could they do this? After everything, how could they do this to him?

From the corner of his eyes, Snape saw Harry quietly enter the foyer, but he was making his way to the stairs, no doubt intending to give them some privacy. He caught Harry's eye and gave a quick nod before turning his attention back to Draco.

"Shh," he soothed, "It's alright. I've got you."

Snape gently led the boy into the parlor and sat down with him on the couch.

Draco sniffed. "She didn't want me, Uncle Sev," he sobbed into Snape's shirt.

Snape carded his hand through Draco's hair, brushing the longer strands away from his face. "I'm so sorry, Draco." He sighed. "I wish there was something I could say that would fix this, that would take this pain away."

Draco tightened his hold around Snape's middle, grabbing handfuls of his shirt as he shook his head. "I'm being weak," he whispered. "I shouldn't care so much. It's pathetic."

Snape's eyes narrowed. Though the words had come from Draco's own mouth, he knew they were planted there by Lucius. He tightened his old on the boy. "Now you listen to me, young man," he said as sternly as he dared, "you are not weak or pathetic, and if I ever hear you say such a thing again, you can expect to be writing quite a long essay on harmfulness of self-deprecation. Is that clear?"

Draco sniffed again, trying to staunch the flow of tears. He nodded.

Snape sighed as he looked down at the papers still clutched in his right hand. The Malfoy's had renounced him. Cast him aside as if he weren't a living, breathing, human being. As if he weren't the only heir to the Malfoy bloodline.

"I'm sorry," Snape said again. "I told you that he wouldn't do this, and I was wrong. I was so sure that eventually he would see reason, or at the very least, he would care more about his reputation then he would about making you miserable. I'm sorry, Draco. I had too much faith in him."

Draco shook his head. "It's alright. I don't care anymore."

Snape and Draco sat on the couch for a long while after that. They talked quietly about nothing, their voices only serving to be a break in the pressing silence around them. Something to distract Draco from the life altering morning he had just been put through.

Eventually, the day seemed to catch up with the teenager, and though it was only just after noon, his eyes began to drift closed, sleep over taking him within moments.

Snape pressed a kiss to his forehead before carefully disentangling himself from the boy's arms. He laid him down gently on the couch and covered him with the blanket that hung over the back.

Snape took another moment to watch over him, the same way that he'd done countless other times over the years. He remembered the night he was born, when he had been named his godfather. He'd held the tiny newborn with so much pride. He was the first, and only baby, that Severus Snape had ever held. He knew then that he loved him so fiercely that he would move mountains to protect him. And there was no doubt that Draco was exactly where he should be now. Safe and loved as always.

Snape tiredly climbed the stairs and knocked softly on Harry's door.

"Come in," Harry said.

He opened the door to find Harry sitting sideways on the overstuffed chair with a book open in his lap. "Is he okay?" he asked immediately.

Snape let out a long breath and took a seat in the opposite chair. "He will be."

Harry closed the book and sat up. "We can't let him go back there," he said firmly.

"We won't," he assured him. "You're alright with it then? With Draco living with us permanently?"

"You don't have to ask me." Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm the one who helped him run away in the first place, remember?"

"Don't remind me," Snape said, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Are you going to adopt him?"

Snape nearly shrugged. "I don't know. It's complicated. I have binding, magical papers that say I am Draco's permanent guardian. If he wants to be adopted, then I could do that easily enough. We wouldn't even necessarily have to go through all the interviews that we did for you, because the Malfoy's specifically signed their rights over to me. But Draco may not want that. He can choose to simply remain my legal ward and godson."

"But do you want to adopt him?" Harry asked.

Snape worried about answering that. Did he? Of course! But would Harry be alright with it? Would he feel pressured into saying yes? Would it devastate Draco if Harry said no?

"What do you think?" He asked, finally. "And before you answer, I want you to think hard about it. There is no right or wrong answer here, Harry, but adopting Draco and making him legally my son also makes him legally your brother. He would be entitled to half of everything when I die. Half the manor will be his."

"As long as he stays on his half," Harry said with a smirk. When Snape only looked at him with his brows pinched together in confusion, Harry went on, "You're talking about stuff that doesn't matter to me, Dad. And even if it did, so what? He'd probably get that stuff anyway. If Draco wants to be adopted, I think you should do it. And if this permanent guardian thing is as legal and binding as you say, what difference would adoption really make anyway?"

Snape smiled. "You truly are a remarkable young man, Harry."

Harry scoffed. "Remember that the next time you're about to ground me."

Snape watched as Harry stood and crossed the room, putting his book back on the shelf. He turned around and crossed his arms. "Actually, I do have one request."

Snape nodded. "I'm all ears."

"You know how you always remind Uncle Remus that you're the oldest?"

"Yes," Snape said, raising a brow.

"If Draco tries that with me he'll regret it."

Snape smirked. He stood up and ushered Harry towards the door so that they could get some lunch. "I'll pass along the message, but it wouldn't be wise to forget how I feel about violence, young man. Besides, you might find that older brothers are a good thing to have around."

"Sure, Dad. Whatever you say."

Chapter Text

Snape paused outside Draco's bedroom door when he heard murmured voices from inside. Harry and Draco had been hanging out upstairs for the last hour, but it was time for dinner now and Evelyn was waiting for them.

He knocked on the door and waited to hear Draco softly say, "Come in."

Draco was sitting at the head of the bed with his knees brought up to his chest, while Harry was lying on his back, sideways across the other end, his feet dangling off the side.

"It's time for dinner, boys," Snape said.

"I'm not hungry," Draco replied without even glancing up at him.

Snape turned to Harry who was already sitting up. "Head on downstairs, please," he said. "Evelyn is already there and I believe you had something you needed to say to her anyway."

Harry looked as if that were the last thing he wanted to do, but he must have realized that Snape wanted to talk to Draco alone, because he stood and left without a word.

"Draco," Snape said moving further into the room, "you didn't eat lunch, and I'm willing to bet you didn't have breakfast before you came here. I know you've had a terrible day but I'm going to insist that you try and eat. It doesn't have to be a lot," he added when Draco looked like he was about to complain. "But it does need to be something."

Draco sighed as he let his legs stretch out in front of him, and said "Fine, but do I have to eat down there? I don't want to be around everybody."

Snape took a moment to really look at Draco. Despite the nap he had taken on the couch, the boy still looked exhausted. His hair stuck up in odd angles, as if he had repeatedly run his hands through it. His clothes, which had been neat and wrinkle free when he arrived, we're now rumpled, and the collar of the light blue shirt was stretched out. Snape knew that was from Draco pulling at it, a nervous habit he'd had since he was young.

Young. As if fourteen were so old.

Merlin, what was he going to do with these boys? How was he going to help them? Part of him was so afraid that he was going to make everything worse, but another, bigger part knew that not trying at all would guarantee that outcome.

"Alright," he said, "I'll send Jenka up with your dinner, but maybe you can come down for tea with us later?"

Draco nodded. "Sure."

Snape left him alone, closing the door behind him softly. One thing was certain; he would never give up on them. Not ever.

When Snape made it back downstairs, he found Harry and Evelyn standing together in the kitchen. Harry was smiling, so he took that as a good sign that perhaps all was well between them. He had no doubt that Harry had apologized for the way he spoke to her the day before. Harry was the type of person that would feel guilty about something until it was sorted, and Snape knew that he would feel better now that everything was behind him.

Snape thought back to the time he had snuck out to Hogsmede the year before, and how if he hadn't confessed, he might have gotten away with it. He shook his head. It was a really good thing that Harry had no inclination towards spy work.

"All right," he said, pulling out his chair at the head of the table. "Shall we eat?"

Harry took his usual seat at Snape's right hand, and Evelyn sat across from him. She caught his eyes and sent him a questioning look.

Snape shook his head.

"Jenka," he said half a second before the small elf appeared.

"Yes, Master Snape?"

"Please take Draco a plate of food up to his room. He doesn't feel much like eating down here tonight."

"Yes, sir, Master Snape. Jenka will take Master Draco his favorite, sir!"

"Thank you."

Jenka disappeared with a small pop, then Snape tapped the table, and as usual it filled itself with food.

Roast chicken, potatoes, asparagus, and buttery soft rolls.

"This looks delicious," Evelyn said, placing her napkin on her lap.

Snape started to agree with her, but the look that Harry was giving him made him pause. He sighed. "He's going to be fine."

"How do you know? We shouldn't have let him go back in the first place. Then none of this would have happened."

"Maybe you're right," Snape said, spearing a piece of chicken and putting it on Harry's plate. Normally Harry served himself, but Snape needed something to do with his hands. "But what's done is done, and there's no way of knowing what might have happened if we didn't let him go back either."

"But-"

"He's right," Evelyn agreed. "The best thing that any of us can do for Draco right now, is simply to be there for him. If he wants to talk, we'll listen, and if he's not ready yet, that's all right, too. He'll get through this.

Harry frowned. "I hope you're right."

It had been a few days since Draco had come back permanently to the Manor. He hadn't gone down for tea that night and when Snape had come to check on him, he'd pretended to be asleep. But the days since had been better. Not great or anything, but he was settling back in, and he didn't feel so out of sorts anymore. He was having a hard time trying to figure out how he was feeling though. Draco supposed if he accepted Snape's offer to talk with him about it, he might be able to understand it, but Draco wasn't ready for that. Not yet.

Draco left his room and met Harry in the hallway. "Morning," he said, his voice still thick with sleep.

Harry's only answer was a short wave before they headed downstairs.

Snape was, as always, already at the table with the Daily Prophet up, covering his face. "Good morning, boys," he said. Draco thought he sounded far too cheery for this early in the morning. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah," Harry answered quickly.

Draco frowned. He wondered why Harry wasn't telling Snape about the nightmare he'd had. Draco had heard him crying from his room and for reasons unknown to him, he decided to check. He'd found Harry sitting up in his bed, clutching the front his his shirt while he worked to calm his breathing. Rook was curled up against Harry's side, his nose pressed against his leg, making a low keening noise as if he were also distressed.

Draco had swiftly moved to the door, saying that he was going for Snape, but Harry had shaken his head so frantically that he'd stopped. He'd waited a few moments, nervously shifting from foot to foot, but as Harry calmed down, he grew more relaxed as well.

"Bad dream," Harry had said. "I'm fine now."

So reluctantly, Draco had retreated to his own room, though he left his door that connected with the bathroom open. Just in case.

"Draco?"

Draco snapped his head up, looking at Snape who had placed the paper down beside his plate. "What?"

Snape sighed. "I asked how you slept? Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine," Draco promised. He pulled out his chair and sat down across from Harry. "I was just thinking about something. Sorry."

Snape shook his head. "Alright." He tapped the table and it filled with food. "Harry, Remus sent word that Black was in for a few days. He said you can come visit today if you'd like?"

"Sure," Harry said before shoving a forkful of eggs in his mouth. "What about Draco?"

"Don't talk with food in your mouth," Snape scolded. "Draco is coming with me to do some shopping."

Draco put down the glass of pumpkin juice. "What for? I don't need anything."

"Didn't we just go shopping a couple weeks ago?" Harry asked at the same time.

"Yes," Snape answered, "but that was mostly for school things. Draco will need some things for here as well."

"Like what?"

"Things for your room, for instance. To decorate it and make it feel more like your own."

Draco shrugged. "I like my room how it is. I've never had to decorate it before."

"That was before you lived here permanently. It's hardly more than a guest room as it is now."

"It's fine, Uncle Sev. Why are you being weird about it?"

"You shouldn't have to go shopping if you don't want to," Harry added. He spread a bit of jam on his toast. "You can come with me to see Remus and Sirius instead."

Snape firmly put down his fork and glared at them both. He pointed to Harry. "You are going to visit with Remus and your godfather," he said sternly before turning to Draco. "And you are coming with me to London where we are going to buy you new room things and anything else I decide that you need, and I don't want to hear another word about it."

Draco and Harry exchanged looks. "Fine," Draco said, barely stopping himself from rolling his eyes. "I'll come shopping if it means that much to you."

"Yeah, Dad," Harry went on, "there's no need to go mental about it."

Snape opened his mouth to reply but then closed it again without saying a word. Instead, he turned to his coffee and took a long sip before sitting it down gently. "We are leaving in thirty minutes. I expect you both to eat and go back upstairs to get ready."

Harry stuffed his last bite of food in his mouth and stood up. "I'm getting a shower first."

"Why you?" Draco asked, though he wasn't even half finished with his own food.

"Because you take all the hot water, Your Highness. Going first is the only way I can make sure I don't have to take a cold shower."

Draco didn't hide his eye roll that time. "Fair."

Snape apparated with Draco to an alleyway behind some shops in London, then promptly turned and began walking toward the street.

"Uncle Sev?" Draco asked, hurrying to catch up with him.

"Yes," Snape answered. He began rolling up the sleeves of his black collared shirt to just below his elbows. He had opted for muggle clothing today since they would be in Muggle London, but he hadn't realized that it would be so warm out.

"What are we really doing? You know that I really am fine with how my room is, right?"

Snape cast him a side long look before turning right and heading towards a shop on the corner. "I know," he said finally, "but I want you to feel at home at the Manor and I just thought that might be easier if you had more of your things there. You've hardly brought anything back with you. I know you don't need new things, but wouldn't you still like to have some?"

Draco shrugged as he followed him along. "Sure, I guess. Maybe I'd like a different bed set, but I still don't have to have it."

Snape smirked. He stopped in front of the shop and held the door open for Draco to move past him. "Then a different one it is."

Draco rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, but I still think there is something else going on."

Snape stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. "Alright," he said, "to be perfectly honest, I wanted to spend some time with you, and as I needed to get out for some errands anyway, I thought this would work out well."

"What kind of errands?" Draco asked.

"A birthday present for Harry, and supplies for a surprise party." Draco's mouth fell open and Snape shot him a glare. "What?"

"You're planning a surprise party? You?"

"Yes," Snape said. "What's wrong with that?"

Draco shook his head before gesturing towards Snape. "You're not exactly the party planning type, Uncle Sev?"

Snape reached his hand up to scratch at his neck. "Yes, well, neither Mum or Evelyn would do it. They said it was my responsibility."

Draco smirked. "Okay, okay, I'll help you with the party, but then I get to buy whatever I want for my room."

"You were going to be able to do that anyway," Snape said, raising a brow. "You're just playing into what I already wanted to do for you."

"Remember that when you go to pay," Draco warned with a laugh.

They shopped for the next hour or so. Draco hadn't been exaggerating about buying new stuff, though Snape was still sure that he was only getting it to appease him. Whenever Draco picked something out, whether it be a new pair of curtains or a poster for the wall, he glanced up to Snape before putting it in their cart. It was as if each time he was silently asking if it was alright.

It was more than alright.

Draco's bedroom had been decorated years ago when Draco was still a very small child. When he had first been named his Godfather, Snape had decorated the room himself, knowing that eventually Draco would come to stay with him for visits. The room had been painted a light blue, with a mural covering the entire back wall which portrayed a field of magical creatures that walked and flew around the wall. He distinctly remembered that Lucius had hated it because it was so bright. Draco had overheard him talking about it once when he was about seven, and then he'd made a show of asking Snape to give him a big kid room for when he came to visit next. Snape had let Narcissa redesign it. In fact, she had designed Harry's room as well. And they were fine, of course, but they were both more than likely a bit more elegant than either of the teenagers would have chosen for themselves.

Harry had, over the last year, changed his room quite a bit. Though the walls and furnishings were the same, he had at least added a few touches that were more to his taste. He had several posters on the walls, along with pictures of his friends. He'd asked Snape to cover up the hardwood floors with carpet, which personally Snape thought was ridiculous, but Harry liked it and that was all that mattered.

He wanted the same to be said for Draco. He wanted the room he had to feel like more than simply a place he slept when he visited. It was officially, permanently his now, and Draco deserved to have it decorated how he saw fit.

"There we go," Draco said, pulling him from his thoughts.

Snape looked down at the cart and frowned. It was barely filled. "That's all?"

Draco shrugged. "I like the green bed stuff that I already have. But these curtains block out the light better than the ones that are up now. I'd like a different color on the walls, but we don't actually have to buy paint for that," he added with a roll of his eyes. "Besides that, I just wanted some things to hang on the wall and stuff. And this," he picked up an over the door basketball hoop and held it out for Snape to see. "I know it's for kids, really, but–" he trailed off, ducking his head.

Snape noticed the way Draco was blushing and he held his hand out for the toy. "I don't think I've played basketball since the summer before my mother died," he mused. "There was a park in our neighborhood and sometimes Lily and I would play a game or two, though neither of us were ever very good," he added with a small laugh.

He put the hoop in the cart and began pushing it down the aisle. "This gives me an idea," he said. "Come along, Draco, we'll have to hurry."

Back at Remus's house, Harry sat on the couch with Sirius to his left while they looked through one of Remus's old photo albums.

"Oh, Merlin," Sirius exclaimed as he pointed to a picture of himself in the top, left hand corner.

Harry looked down at the picture. It was Sirius, Remus, James, and Peter when they were all teenagers. They were dressed up as little old ladies with grey hair, bright floral robes, and they each carried a walker or cane. Sirius's hair was in rollers on the top of his head, and they were all wearing red lipstick, entirely too much blush, and blue eyeshadow.

Laughing, he said, "I can't believe you kept this, Moony,"

Harry held up the photo album for Remus to see from his spot in his armchair.

Remus's eyes lit up and he grinned brightly. "That was fourth year, wasn't it?" He asked.

Sirius nodded. "We used the tunnel to sneak out of Hogwarts to go trick-or-treating in Hogsmede."

"Which we do not condone, by the way," Remus added.

"We don't? asked Sirius

Remus glared at him sternly. "No, we do not."

Just then a beeping noise could be heard from the kitchen, and Remus stood up. "That must be lunch," he said, before disappearing through the doorway that led to the kitchen.

Sirius looked down at Harry with his signature mischievous grin. "Well, he said he doesn't condone it, but I'm of the mind that sneaking out for Halloween candy is always a good idea. Just be careful not to get caught."

Before Harry could say anything to that, Remus called them into the kitchen for lunch.

Sirius stood and said, "Great, I'm starving."

"I'll just put this away," said Harry, as he began to close the book.

Sirius turned back from where he stood near the doorway and said only loud enough for Harry to hear, "Actually, can you just nip that photo out of the book and put it in my bag over there?"

Harry looked up at him in shock. "You want me to steal his picture?"

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'll make him another copy. He won't mind. There's a little envelope in the inside pocket of the bag that I keep all the pictures in. Just put it there."

Harry shook his head, but pulled the picture out of the little plastic protector that it was in all the same.

After Sirius left the room, Harry stood to pick up the knapsack Sirius had left beside the couch. When he opened it up, he was surprised to find that the bag was magical. It was only about the size of a regular school backpack, but it seemed to hold so much more, it was filled from with everything from Sirius's broomstick, and a tent, to boxes and clothes. It reminded Harry of Mary Poppins' bag, which he had seen on television once.

Harry found the envelope labeled photos, then he opened it up, and dropped the picture into it. But just as he was putting it back a small wooden box caught his eye. This one was labeled "Dreamless Sleep."

Suddenly, Harry could feel his heart racing as he put the photo's down and picked up the box. It had a small latch on the front that held it closed.

Harry glanced behind him. He was sure that Sirius or Remus would be there any moment, but when he didn't see anyone, he carefully opened the latch and lifted the lid. Inside, he found several small vials of the potion. They were all in neat little spaces so that they wouldn't get jostled about. Harry counted twenty slots and only three were empty.

Harry jumped when he heard Remus's voice calling to him from the kitchen.

Without taking the time to talk himself out of it, Harry grabbed four vials, then quickly closed the box and put it back in the bag. He placed it back at the edge of the couch, and then moved to his own bag that he brought with him from home. Harry tucked the vials into a side pocket, hoping that it would be enough to keep them safe, then he went to have lunch with his uncle and godfather.

Chapter Text

Snape and Evelyn sat together on a small bench in the back garden, enjoying the quiet of the evening and each other's company.

Harry, Draco, and Brielle were all inside, hanging out in the parlor, and Snape was glad to find that they were getting along well. They had formed a friendship, Draco and Brielle, especially, and Snape was grateful that he would have a friend in Slytherin this year.

"You know," Evelyn said, pulling Snape from his thoughts, "while you're in the mood to redecorate back here, you should think about adding a garden."

Snape looked down at her with a raised brow, though she couldn't see it from where she sat with her head resting against his chest. "I have a garden," he pointed out, gesturing to several beds of plants and herbs on the east side of the manor.

Evelyn let out a small laugh. "That's not what I mean. You need flowers, Sev."

"What on Earth do I need flowers for?"

"To brighten up the place, obviously."

Snape huffed, then pulled her closer against him and dropped a kiss to the top of her head. "You brighten it up plenty."

Evelyn smiled and shifted so that she could look up at him. She poked her finger at his chest and said, "Flowers, Severus Snape."

He smirked. "I'll get right on it."

Evelyn scooted further away with a sigh. "You'd better get on with tonight's project, otherwise Harry won't have his biggest gift tomorrow."

"Technically, this is for both of them."

Evelyn only hummed in response.

"You think I'm spoiling him?" he asked, uncertainty causing him to pause. He wondered if he was doing too much.

But Evelyn smiled again. "I think if anyone deserves to be spoiled a bit, it's him."

Snape watched as Evelyn stood up and walked to the edge of the small patio and looked out across the grounds.

"It's not as if you haven't got the space," she said.

Snape came to stand beside her. He raised his wand and said, "Do you want to help?"

Evelyn grinned up at him as she retrieved her wand from inside her sleeve. "Of course."

Over the next half hour, Snape and Evelyn walked around, quietly reciting the spells needed to change the landscaping of the entire back portion of the property.

Evelyn was right, of course, Snape Manor was spacious enough that even with everything they were adding, there was still quite a bit of room left.

The small Quidditch Pitch that Snape had put up months ago was furthest away from the Manor, near the grove of trees that separated it from the pond, but now there were two different concrete sections to the right with a short walkway that led to them from the back door. One was a basketball court, and the other was an area for skating. It was complete with ramps and rails, even a half pipe at the very end. Snape had gotten both Harry and Draco a pair of Muggle skates and a skateboard, along with every piece of padding he could find. Draco had been thrilled with the idea, though he'd been sworn to secrecy about it. And even he didn't know that Snape was planning the additions to the yard.

Snape didn't actually know if Harry or Draco would even want anything to do with basketball or skating, or even the bike track that Evelyn was constructing on the other side, especially when one considered that flying in the air on broomsticks was another option. But if this brought them even a small measure of joy over the next few years while they were still kids, Snape thought it was worth it.

When he was finished, Snape turned to find Evelyn putting the finishing touches on a small, white fence that now surrounded a large area near Snape's herbs.

He looked at her questioningly.

"For the flowers," she said simply.

Snape wrapped his arms loosely around her waist, pulling her close. "Who is going to help me take care of the flowers?" he asked.

"I could probably be persuaded."

"And what would it take to persuade you?"

Evelyn turned in his embrace to wrap her own arms around his neck. "Not much," she answered.

The lights in the kitchen flickered once and both Snape and Evelyn looked up to see Harry grinning at them.

Evelyn blushed and stepped away. "Do you think he saw all the new things?" she asked.

"No," Snape answered, taking her hand and leading the way back to the Manor. "The whole backyard is under a disillusionment charm. I've just got to keep him from coming back here until the party tomorrow."

When they came into the parlor, Snape and Evelyn found Draco and Brielle fast asleep. Brielle was on the couch, while Draco was curled up in Snape's armchair with Rook asleep at his feet.

Harry was sitting on the arm of the couch and said, "They fell asleep a while ago. You guys have been outside for ages." He raised his brows at them and asked, "What were you two doing out there?"

"None of your business," Snape said, sending a mild glare his way, though it did nothing but make Harry smile wider. "I think it's time for you to go to bed, Son."

Harry looked down at his watch and said, "Five more minutes. Then it'll be my birthday."

"It's that late?" Evelyn asked, surprised. "My goodness, I didn't even realize."

"By the time you get ready for bed, your five minutes will be up," Snape said. "Go on upstairs and I'll be along to say good night."

Harry nodded. "Alright. Night, Evelyn."

"Good night, Harry. Happy early birthday."

"Thanks," he said with a smile before whistling for Rook and leaving the room. The dog roused from his sleep and followed him out.

Snape watched him go before turning to Draco. He reached out and shook him gently. "Draco, it's time for bed."

Draco cracked open his eyes. "Hmm?"

Snape patted his knee and said, "You fell asleep in my chair."

"I did?" He looked around. "Oh. What time is it?" he asked as he slowly stood up, wavering slightly on his feet.

Snape steadied him with a hand on his arm. "Almost midnight." He sent him toward the hallway with a gentle push. "I'll be up in a moment."

Draco didn't seem to even notice that Evelyn was there. He simply gave a short wave and went upstairs. Snape knew he would be asleep before he ever went to check on him.

He glanced at Evelyn to find her smiling at him. "What?" he asked, self consciously looking away.

"Fatherhood suits you really well. I hope you know that."

Snape turned away, hoping hadn't seen the blush creeping up in his cheeks. "They make it easy," he said as he picked up the blanket that was always on the back of the couch.

He gestured to Brielle. "It's too late to wake her just to take her home. Why don't the two of you stay here tonight? She can sleep on the couch and you can have my room. I'll sleep in Harry's."

Evelyn took a step towards him and tugged the blanket from his hands. She spread it out over Brielle, tucking it around her shoulders.

"I wouldn't want to kick you out of your room," she said when she stood back up.

"It's no both–"

"Severus," she said, moving closer to him once again, "we're both adults here. I think we can handle sleeping in the same bed tonight." Evelyn ran her finger along the collar of Snape's shirt before saying in a teasing voice, "As long as you don't hog all of the blankets."

Snape grinned. "I think I can share."

After leading Evelyn to his bedroom, Snape went to check on the boys. He opened Draco's door first, and sure enough, Draco was already asleep, curled up beneath his new blankets. He took a look around the room at the changes Draco had made. There were now several posters on the walls, which were painted a dark blue, and the new curtains hung over the windows, blocking out even the smallest sliver of moonlight. He had gotten a new rug as well as a few odds and ends like a small radio that Snape had been happy to modify so that it picked up the wizarding stations. The small basketball that came with the hoop lay in the floor beside Draco's desk. He and Harry had played with it for over an hour after Snape had installed it on the door. Over all, Draco seemed to be happy with his purchases and that was all that mattered.

Snape smiled softly before closing the door and moving down the hall to Harry's room. After a quick knock and a murmured "Come in," from Harry, he opened the door and went inside.

Harry sat cross-legged on his bed with the blankets pulled over him. He looked up at Snape with a wry grin.

"I'm sorry," Snape said as he pulled up Harry's desk chair and sat down. He glanced around the room and spotted Rook curled up in his bed in the corner, though he knew that he would end up asleep in Harry's bed before the night was over. "I didn't realize it had gotten so late. In the future, I will endeavor to end things at a reasonable hour. As it is, it's really too late to wake Brielle and send her through the floo. Floo travel while half asleep is a bad idea even for adult wizards, but it's a disaster waiting to happen for children. I've asked them to stay over. Is that alright with you?"

Harry chuckled. "That depends. Can the two of you behave yourselves?" he teased. When Snape only raised a brow at him, Harry went on. "It's fine. It's not a big deal, Dad. I know I wasn't exactly open to the idea of Evelyn at first, but she's actually alright."

"You think so?"

Harry nodded. "She makes you happy."

Snape shook his head. "You make me happy," he said, leaning forward so that his elbows rested on his knees. "You and Draco."

"Yeah, sure," Harry said, his grin widening as he pointed to the shirt Snape was wearing. "Except that you're not wearing that blue shirt for me and Draco. You didn't cut your hair for us either."

Snape immediately raised his hand to run through his hair. He had gotten it cut the day before but it had very little to do with anything other than trying something new. Though it did seem that he had been trying quite a few new things lately.

Snape cleared his throat. "I thought it was time for a change, that's all. But meeting Evelyn and beginning a relationship with her, that's just the icing on an already really wonderful cake." He glanced down at his watch. "And speaking of cake; it seems it's your birthday."

Harry leaned back against the headboard and blew out a breath. "This time last year you were still trying to get rid of me."

Snape huffed. "Yes, and you were being a cheeky brat with no regard for rules." He shook his head and lightly shoved Harry's shoulder, pushing him over. "And oh, look, some things never change."

Harry laughed as he shifted further down in the bed. He took off his glasses and passed them to Snape who put them on the bedside table. "So what are we doing for my birthday?"

"You know that I'm not telling you," Snape said firmly.

Harry rolled his eyes. "And you know that I already know."

"You do not." Snape put the chair back under the desk.

"Okay," Harry said with a shrug. "If you want to pretend that I don't know you're throwing me a surprise party, I'll go along with it."

Snape glared. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Harry smirked and rolled over. "Good night, Dad."

Snape squeezed Harry's shoulder. "Good night, Harry. Happy birthday."

Snape got back to his own room just as Evelyn was walking out of his adjoining bathroom. She'd transfigured her clothes into a light pink nightgown that reached just above her knees, and had taken her hair down, letting it fall around her shoulders.

"Are the boys all tucked in?" she asked as she made her way to the left side of the bed and pulled back the dark green comforter before she sat down. She brought her legs up and tucked her feet beneath the blankets.

The movement caught Snape's eyes immediately and he shook his head to focus on her words.

He smirked. "I don't think 'tucked in' is a term they would appreciate, but yes. Draco was already asleep and Harry is well on his way." Snape gestured to the bathroom. "Did you find everything you needed?"

Evelyn smiled. "I did."

"Great." He moved to the dresser and pulled out a pair of dark sweatpants and a white t-shirt. "I'll just be a minute," he said before swiftly walking into the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

Snape took a deep breath as he leaned his hands on the sink and stared at himself in the mirror. "You're being ridiculous," he whispered to his reflection. "There is nothing wrong with her staying here. You're acting as if you've never spent the night with a woman before."

He cringed. It had, admittedly, been a while. And never at his house. Not since Alicia.

Snape cursed himself. Why had he thought about her? This was not the time to be dredging up things that were better left alone. He let out a long sigh and got ready for bed.

This was fine, he told himself. It was all going to be just fine.

He came out of the bathroom to find Evelyn already laying down. Snape thought she looked entirely too good in his bed. He crossed the room, dimming the lights as he went along, and laid down beside her.

Evelyn immediately turned to face him as Snape lay, stiff as a board on his back.

"Is this as weird for you as it is for me?" she asked.

Snape turned his head and raised his eyebrows at her. She didn't seem weirded out at all. In fact, she appeared to be the picture of 'at ease,' and Snape suspected she was only saying otherwise to make him feel better.

Evelyn laughed, her blue eyes sparkling even in the darkness of the room. "You look tense, Sev. I can help out with that."

Snape glared. "You're incorrigible."

"And you love me for it," she shot back immediately, then froze as she realized what she'd said. If the room had been lit, Snape was sure he would see the color draining from her face. "Oh, um, I think I'm actually just going to go…"

She was scrambling away, nearly off the bed before Snape regained his senses and reached out for her, stopping her with a hand around her wrist. In the next instant, the candles around the room were burning once more and Snape looked up at her, searching her gaze for any sign that she didn't want this.

He found none.

"I do," he said softly.

"Really?" she asked.

Snape nodded. "I think I have for a while, I was just too afraid to say so."

Evelyn's gaze softened and she smiled. "Do you want to hear a secret?" she asked.

Snape hummed in response. He shifted so that he could reach out for her hand, intertwining their fingers as he waited to hear what she had to say.

"I've been feeling the same way, but it's too early, right? I mean, we've only truly been dating for a week and–"

Snape shook his head. "Somehow, I don't think that matters." He swallowed hard as he let his free hand brush her hair behind her back, then cup the base of her neck. His thumb traced a trail along her jaw. "I'll be the first to admit that I tend to err on the side of caution and logic, but I don't think there's anything logical about this and I'm tired of being so cautious. I'm in love with you, Evie."

Evelyn's smile grew as she pulled herself closer to him, leaning down so that her face was mere inches from his. She let her palm rest on his cheek and said, "I love you, too."

A second later, Snape pulled her the rest of the way to him, letting his arms wrap around her waist as he kissed her.

The first rays of sunlight creeped through the cracks of the curtains in Snape's bedroom, casting a warm glow across the bed. Evelyn's dark brown hair appeared red where the light hit it and Snape couldn't stop looking at it.

He'd been awake for a few minutes now, accustomed as he was to getting up early, but the idea of moving and waking Evelyn was not something he was willing to do. She lay cradled against his side, her head at his shoulder and her arm draped over his chest. She was so close that he could see the freckles that dotted her face.

Snape wanted to commit this moment to memory. Everything about it from the way that she felt lying beside him down to the color her nails were painted.

Pink. The paint was chipped on her left index finger.

Her hair smelled of coconut shampoo.

Her feet were cold where they pressed against his legs. She really ought to be wearing socks.

Evelyn shifted a few moments later, stretching as she ran her hand down her face, wiping the sleep from her eyes before looking up at him.

"Good morning," he said softly, at last breaking the silence in the room.

Evelyn smiled. "Morning. What time is it?"

Snape looked over at the clock on his bedside table. "Nearly seven."

She let out a long breath before stretching out again, pointing her toes toward the end of the bed before rolling over onto her stomach so that she could look up at Snape while resting her head in her hands. "Are the kids awake?"

"Not that I've heard."

"I suppose I need to wake Brie up so we can floo home."

Snape let his fingers trail down Evelyn's back. "Or you could stay. Have breakfast with us."

She smiled up at him. "Are you saying you want to spend your morning with me?"

"My morning," Snape said, his voice a low murmur as he continued letting his hands run up and down her back and side. "My afternoon. All of my nights."

Evelyn hummed. "As tempting as that sounds, my love," she said, making Snape smile, "I need to go home and shower. But we'll be back in plenty of time for the party."

Snape sighed. "Three o'clock."

Evelyn raised up on her elbows to kiss him lightly. "I'll be here."

An hour later, Harry was waking up in his own room. He groaned as he stretched his arms above his head before relaxing back into the softness of the bed.

This was the second morning in a row that Harry had woken up after sleeping all night long. Not a single nightmare in two days. Harry thought it must be some kind of record. He felt better than he had in weeks!

He sat up and glanced at his backpack that hung on the back of his desk chair. He had two vials of Dreamless Sleep left. Only two more nightmare free nights, and already he was wondering how he could get some more. Harry thought it was probably too risky to try and get more from Sirius, and he didn't know how to brew it on his own. Not that Snape would ever let him anywhere near his lab without him in there to supervise. There were still all those vials in his potion store, but he didn't know how he could get in there either. There was simply no way that Snape wouldn't find out that he had been in there. But after two full nights of sleep, waking up rested, and in a much better mood than he had been in before, Harry didn't see how he couldn't risk trying to get more of the potion.

With a sigh, Harry pushed away the covers and stood up from his bed. It was his birthday and he had much bigger things to think about. He knew he was having a party. He just didn't know when or where. He smiled when he thought about how Snape had pretended last night that he wasn't having a party. Didn't he remember how only a few weeks ago, he had practically begged Harry to tell him what he wanted to do for his party?

Harry hadn't given him any sort of answer, but he knew that Snape wasn't going to let that go. This was his first birthday as Harry Potter-Snape, and he figured that was probably special.

He picked out some clothes from his wardrobe, then crossed the carpeted floor to his and Draco's shared bathroom. A quick knock let him know it was empty and he went inside to get ready for the day.

When Harry got downstairs to the kitchen, Snape and Draco were already sitting at the table. "Where is Evelyn?" Harry asked with a cheeky grin as he walked around to pick up Rook's food and water bowls. He filled them and put them back down so that they were ready for Rook when he came back in from outside.

"She has gone home," said Snape from behind his issue of the Daily Prophet.

Draco looked up curiously. "Evelyn was here?" He asked.

Harry grinned even wider. "Oh, yeah," he said, "Dad and Evelyn had a sleepover last night."

Snape let the corner of the paper drop so he could glare at Harry. "We did not have a sleepover," he said. He looked at Draco. "You and Brielle had fallen asleep. It made no sense to wake her up just so that they could floo home."

Harry laughed. "Sure, whatever you say, Dad." He sat down and the table filled itself with all of Harry's favorite foods. Beans, toast, jam, eggs, and sausage.

"So, what are you boys doing today?" Snape asked, setting his paper aside.

"Can Harry and I go into town?" Draco asked quickly.

Both Harry and Snape looked at him curiously.

"You want to go into Mageport?" Snape asked. "Why?"

"Just to explore a bit. It's not a big deal, Uncle Sev. Normal teenagers get to do this sort of thing all the time." He took a drink of his pumpkin juice before going on. "Plus, we haven't gone since last year for the concert."

Snape glared. "The concert that the two of you snuck out to in the middle of the night."

Draco blushed. "Well, yes, but this time is different because we're asking, right, Harry?"

Harry felt a little like he was watching a tennis match as he turned his head back and forth between them. "Er, right." He didn't know why Draco suddenly wanted to go into town, but he was all for it.

"See," Draco said. "And this time there aren't any murderers after him, so it's even better."

"Sirius wasn't a murderer," Harry felt obliged to say.

"You didn't know that," Snape cut in immediately. He turned back to Draco, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning back in his chair. "If I were to allow you to spend some time in town today," he said in his usual slow tone, "how would you get there? We are not within walking distance."

"We could fly?" Draco offered.

"No." Snape shot that option down so fast that Harry was certain he hadn't actually even considered it. "Mageport has too many muggles to risk someone spotting you on your brooms."

"You could apparate us there?"

"I hate apparition," Harry muttered, earning him a glare from Draco.

"Do you want to go or not?" he snapped.

"Right, sorry." Harry turned back to his food. He didn't want his breakfast growing cold just because Draco suddenly wanted to get out of the house. He took a bite of his eggs and was pleasantly surprised that Snape had cast a heating charm over the table so everything was still steaming.

"Please, Uncle Sev?" Draco went on. "I swear we won't get into any trouble."

"That's a relief," Snape said sarcastically. But then he sighed and Harry knew he was about to give in. "You'll keep your wands on you at all times."

"Yes, sir," Harry and Draco said in unison.

Draco grinned.

"I'll apparate you there, and in two hours– exactly two hours– I'll meet you back at that spot and you will both be there, ready to come home."

"We will," Draco assured him.

"And if anything happens, anything at all, you'll use your portkeys immediately."

"Nothing is going to happen, Dad," Harry said, barely stopping himself from rolling his eyes. At the look that Snape sent him, he added, "But we promise. We'll use them straight away."

Snape pierced them both with a long look, as if deciding at that moment whether or not he could trust them, though finally, he nodded. "Alright, then finish your breakfast and get your chores done, then after lunch, we'll go. But I mean it boys, any trouble and it'll be a very long time before I allow you to go alone again. Understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Understood."

True to his word, Snape gave the boys exactly two hours to explore Mageport before apparating back to the alleyway that he'd left them in. He had to commend Draco on his acting abilities. Even though Snape had known beforehand that he was going to ask if they could go, Draco had really played his part well in convincing Snape to say yes.

While they were gone, Snape decorated the Manor for the party and set up the cake and food. Then the guests started to arrive and suddenly there were more people in the Manor than there had ever been before. Far too many people as far as Snape was concerned. When Albus and Minerva arrived, it suddenly dawned on Snape that at some point he was going to have to introduce them to Evelyn properly, as his girlfriend.

So then he did what any man in his position would do. He left to go get the boys.

It wasn't that he didn't want to introduce them. The opposite in fact. Snape wanted to tell the world that he and Evelyn were officially dating. What he didn't want was a million and one questions from his parents about it. He didn't want Minerva asking him why he hadn't brought her round for Thursday morning breakfast, and he didn't want Albus feeding her candy with every embarrassing story he could think of.

Harry and Draco were standing in the alley when Snape appeared. They each had a bag in their hands which Snape shrunk down to pocket size so that they wouldn't have to hang on to it while they apparated back.

"Did you have a good time?" he asked when they had moved to stand on either side of him.

"Yeah, we did," Draco said. "Thanks for letting us go."

"You're welcome," Snape answered. "Hold on."

Draco and Harry each grabbed hold of Snape's arms and in the next second they disappeared.

They landed on the front lawn of the Manor and Snape immediately reached out to steady Harry, who nearly lost his footing on the soft grass.

"I hate apparating," Harry grumbled for the second time that day.

Snape laughed. "Eventually, you'll get used to it."

"Let's hope that happens before it's time for you to take the test and get your license," Draco teased as he began walking up to the front door.

"Maybe I'll just floo everywhere," Harry shot back, following him.

"Boys," Snape scolded them mildly. He waved his hand at the door and it unlocked, then he stepped aside to allow Harry and Draco to enter first.

"Surprise!"

Harry grinned brightly as people jumped out from behind any available hiding spot they could find.

The foyer, kitchen, and parlor were all decorated with balloons and streamers in a multitude of different colors. There was a large banner hanging above the mantle that read 'Happy Birthday Harry,' and magical confetti fell endlessly from the ceiling to land at their feet.

Rook barked excitedly from where he stood next to Ron and Hermione. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were there with the rest of the kids– Fred and George were slipping something behind their backs that gave Snape pause.

Sirius smiled at Harry from the doorway into the kitchen while Remus wolf-whistled from behind Snape's armchair. Hagrid dabbed his eyes with a tablecloth sized handkerchief, taking up an entire corner near the library door, while Dean, Seamus, and Neville had popped out from behind the couch.

Brielle waved from her place beside the grandfather clock, and at last, Snape's eyes landed on Evelyn, standing near the back of the room with Albus and Minerva. Snape groaned.

"Thought I wasn't having a party?" Harry asked, looking up at him.

Snape scoffed. "Of course you're having a party. Don't be ridiculous, Harry."

Harry went off to see his friends with Draco while Snape walked over to Evelyn and his parents. He casually let his hand rest on her back, drawing her attention to him.

"Hello, you," she said, looking up at him.

Snape couldn't stop himself from smiling as their gazes locked. "Mum, Dad," he said, not looking away from her, "you remember Evelyn?"

"Of course," Albus said, beaming. "We were just catching up."

Minerva smirked. "Though we could have caught up on Thursday at breakfast, but you didn't bring her, Severus."

Snape cleared his throat. "She was working, Mum."

"No, I wasn't," Evelyn said, crossing her arms. "Didn't you want me to come, Sev?"

"Er, I…" Snape felt heat creeping up his neck and he tugged a bit at the collar of his shirt. "I think it's time to cut the cake."

Over the next hour or so, Harry enjoyed the best birthday he'd ever had. He had a wonderful chocolate cake with chocolate and caramel frosting. There were fourteen candles on top but every time he tried to blow them out, they relit themselves. It wasn't until Fred and George fell over laughing that he realized they had switched out the real candles for trick ones.

After everyone had eaten their fill of cake, Snape made Harry sit down in front of everyone while he passed him present after present. Harry had never felt such a strong mix of embarrassment and gratefulness.

Harry had gotten so many cool things; the last, and also his favorite being a pocket knife from Snape. It was pure silver with a handle that was carved from antler. There were two engravings on it. The first one, etched into the handle was a small lily. The second was engraved onto the blade itself. "Harry James Potter-Snape."

Harry looked up at Snape who gave him a small smile. "It's enchanted so that it can never be lost," Snape said, leaning down so that he was eye level with Harry. "No matter what, it will always appear back in your pocket. It can also cut through anything and the blade will never dull. You can use it for slicing up an ingredient for a potion or for cutting through steel. It will always be exactly what you need."

Harry admired the way the light caught on the blade as he tilted it this way and that in his hands. "Thanks, Dad," he breathed, feeling a swell of emotion rise up in him.

Snape clapped his hand on Harry's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You're welcome."

Snape stood back up and turned to everyone. "There's one more present, though it's really for both Harry and Draco. If you'll all follow me out back."

Harry and Draco exchanged looks, and Draco shrugged his shoulders.

Snape waited for Harry and Draco at the back door, and when they were standing beside him, looking up at him curiously, Snape said, "I know that when you can fly hundreds of feet in the air on a broomstick, most other sports fall a bit flat in comparison, but I thought you might enjoy this anyway."

And with that he opened the door and they stepped outside. For the first time Harry and Draco saw the newly transformed back garden and they both let out a gasp.

"I didn't know you were going to do all this!" Draco exclaimed as he looked around at everything.

At the same time Harry pointed to the ramps and asked, "Are those for skating?"

"They are," Snape answered, "as long as you're completely covered in protective gear."

"Wicked," Ron said from behind them. "Can I have a go, Harry?"

Snape waved his wand and in the next instant, there were enough skateboards, roller skates, bicycles, helmets, and pads for all the teenagers.

Another wave of his wand and all of the adults had chairs to sit on and fresh drinks in their hands. They each settled in, prepared for the fact that it would be quite a while before any of the kids were ready to leave now.

Chapter Text

The party had lasted long into the night, only ending when Fred and George tricked Neville into trying one of their newest inventions. A Ton-Tongue Toffee. Mr. Weasley had quickly shrunk Neville's tongue, which had grown at least a foot, but Mrs. Weasley had exploded on her sons, sending them ahead of her through the floo.

Most everyone else began to clear out after that, leaving only Albus, Minerva, Remus, Evelyn, and Brielle.

Minerva and Evelyn were busy making plans for next Thursday's breakfast, with Evelyn assuring her that she could spare the time away from work.

Now though, it was the next afternoon and Snape was busy pouring over a potion he was perfecting for St. Mungo's. The hospital was running low on a few of their more advanced potions and had sent out requests to Snape and a couple others for help. Snape was glad to have something new to do and had been working on them all day.

But then the floo roared to life in his lab, distracting him and nearly causing him to lose count of the amount of times he'd stirred clockwise.

"Snape? Are you there."

Snape rolled his eyes. Sirius Black.

"I'm busy, Black," he said over his shoulder, not taking his eyes off of the potion that was gradually turning blue.

"This is important," Sirius said. "Can I come through?"

Snape sighed. "Very well."

Snape waved his wand at the potion, putting it in stasis before turning around to face Sirius, who stepped easily out of the fireplace.

"Where's Harry?" Sirius asked, looking around.

"He's out flying with Draco. What do you need?" Snape moved away from the table and leaned against the side of his desk, crossing his arms over his chest impatiently.

Sirius seemed nervous as he clasped his hands in front of him. Finally, he said, "Remus says that Harry's been having nightmares about his uncle."

Snape frowned. "Why would he tell you that?"

Sirius rolled his eyes. "Why else? Because he's worried about him. We all are. Has he had any in the last few days?"

"Just get to your point, Black," Snape snapped.

"Several weeks ago, Remus convinced me to talk to a mind healer," Sirius said with a sigh. He moved to the work table and took a seat on the stool, facing Snape. "I was given a small supply of Dreamless Sleep which I've kept in my bag. I hadn't had a reason to use it lately because talking to the healer has been helping and I haven't been having as many nightmares. But I needed some last night and when I went to get it, I noticed that several vials were missing."

Snape didn't appreciate what Sirius seemed to be insinuating. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "And?"

"And I don't want to get Harry into trouble, especially when I don't actually have any proof, but he is the only person besides Remus who has had access to my bag recently." Sirius looked away before reaching for an empty vial on the table. He turned it onto its side and gave it a gentle spin, reminding Snape of the way that Harry was always fidgeting with things when conversations became hard for him.

"You think Harry stole them?" Snape asked.

Sirius shook his head. "I hope not. But the day that he came to hang out while you and Draco went shopping, I gave him a picture and asked him to put it into my bag while I went into the kitchen to help Remus with lunch. I don't want to think that he would steal from me, but if the nightmares are as bad as Remus said, maybe he's desperate to make them stop."

Snape considered his words. He also didn't want to place blame on Harry without any proof; he'd made that mistake once already and he wasn't interested in doing it again. But if what Sirius said was true, it made sense that Harry would be suspected.

But now that he thought about it, Harry hadn't mentioned any nightmares in a couple of weeks at least. Snape had assumed that since Harry had finally begun talking with Remus and was opening up more, that they were getting at least a bit better. And in any case, wouldn't he have heard if Harry were waking up from them?

Snape sighed. "How many vials are missing?"

"At least four," Sirius answered immediately. He sat the vial he was spinning back upright and stood. "Like I said, I don't have any proof. But if he is abusing the potion, that's dangerous and I thought you ought to know."

Snape nodded. "I will look into it."

Sirius moved toward the fireplace, taking a bit of floo powder from the mantle before stepping inside.

"Black?" Snape called out before he could leave. When Sirius glanced back up at him, he said, "I appreciate you telling me."

Sirius gave a single nod before dropping the powder and disappearing.

Snape sat in his lab long after Sirius left. The potion was still in stasis because he knew that there was no way he would be able to concentrate on it now. Not after what Sirius had told him.

Part of Snape wanted to find Harry and demand that he tell him what is going on. He wanted to know the truth about the nightmares and the potion and he wanted it now.

Another part, however, simply wanted Harry to confide in him on his own. If what Sirius had said was true— if the nightmares were so bad that Harry was taking potions in order to keep from having them— why hadn't he told him? Did Harry not know that Snape would do anything for him? Didn't he understand that if there was something he could do to stop the nightmares, he would?

Was there a way to stop them? He didn't think that Harry was old enough to start learning Occlumency, but he could teach him how to clear his mind at night. That might help.

Then again.

Snape abruptly stood from his desk and crossed the room to the bookshelf on the back wall. He ran his fingers over the spines of several very old books until he found the one he was searching for. A leather bound tome that was nearly falling apart. The spine cracked when he opened it.

He flipped to the middle of the book and his eyes scanned the text, stopping at the words, "For Trauma." It was a complicated potion even for Snape who hadn't even tried to brew it since he was in school himself. The outcome had nearly been as disastrous as the time he'd blown up half the kitchen. And it might have been if Albus hadn't shown up when he did.

The idea was that the potion would repress specific traumatic memories. The drinker would still know what had happened, but wouldn't be able to recall the memory in detail.

Snape could practically hear Remus telling him what a bad idea it was. Suppressing the memories wouldn't make them go away. Not really. It would just mean that Harry would have to deal with them later.

With a frustrated sigh, Snape snapped the book shut and replaced it on the shelf. That wasn't a solution. Harry needed to work through this. And he was making progress with Remus. Snape hadn't expected the nightmares to go away immediately, but he supposed that Harry had.

Guilt was churning in his stomach. He should have talked to him more. He should have explained things better— made him understand that it wasn't an instant fix.

He would have to do better.

He could do better. They just had to get through this part first.

Snape left the lab and went outside to find Harry. He had no idea what he was going to say or how he was going to handle this, assuming Sirius was right in the first place, but he knew he had to start with asking Harry about it.

"Harry," he called as he watched both boys flying above his head.

Harry turned on his broom to look at Snape before waving.

"Come down here," Snape shouted, motioning with his hands for Harry to land. "Draco," Snape called, this time gaining the blonde boys attention. When Draco looked down at him, Snape pointed to his watch. "Lunch in twenty minutes."

Draco nodded, and when Harry touched down on the grass beside Snape, they both turned and went back inside the Manor.

"Your Godfather was here a bit ago," Snape said casually.

Harry paused as he let his broomstick lean against the wall. "Oh, yeah?" he said after a few seconds. "What did he want?"

Instead of answering, Snape took a seat in his armchair and crossed one ankle over the other knee. "Is there anything you want to tell me, Harry?" he asked. "Anything at all?"

Snape could see the way that Harry's eyes shifted up toward the ceiling before he swallowed hard and shook his head.

"No, sir," he said, calmly.

In that moment, Snape knew that Harry was lying and his heart broke a little.

"Are you sure?" he asked again. "Harry, if there's something going on, I'd much rather you just tell me the truth. You don't have to—"

"I don't have anything to say," Harry cut in.

They watched each other for a long moment before Snape sighed and pulled out his wand. "Accio Sirius Black's potions."

The seconds ticked slowly by until at last a small vial flew through the room and landed in Snape's outstretched hand.

Harry closed his eyes and let out a small sigh.

"Sit down," Snape said quietly. "Why did you lie to me?"

Harry did as he was told, dropping down heavily into the couch and letting his head lean against the back, but he didn't answer.

"Harry?" Snape's tone was deathly calm. He spoke in the same way he did in class; in that slow way that got the attention of his students.

It got Harry's attention now.

"I don't know," he said without looking at Snape.

"Yes, you do, young man. I gave you the opportunity to tell me the truth and even though you knew that I would find out anyway, you still lied. Why?"

Harry dragged his hand down his face in frustration. "Because you would know that I'd stolen them," he snapped. "I didn't think you'd accio it down here."

Snape huffed. "Setting that aside, you did steal the potion from Black? Even after I told you that Dreamless Sleep was a highly addictive potion, you went looking for a way to get it anyway?"

"I had to," Harry defended, straightening up and looking at Snape. "I had to make the nightmares stop and you wouldn't have given it to me."

"Because it's not safe to take this every night," Snape shot back, holding up the potion. "How many of these did you steal?"

"Only four," he said softly. "I've only taken three."

"You took one vial each night for the last three nights?"

"Yes, so you don't have to worry about me being addicted or anything. It's fine."

Snape grit his teeth before he took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Except that each of these vials holds two doses. For three nights, you have taken double the amount meant for a grown man."

For the first time Harry looked taken aback. "I-I didn't know."

"Of course you didn't, because once again, you did not come to me."

Snape abruptly stood up and paced the length of the living room while Harry remained seated on the couch.

"I know what it's like," Snape said, turning to face him after a moment, "to be plagued every night with nightmares. I know how it feels to be so desperate for them to stop, that you would be willing to try anything. Believe me, I've tried them. But this," he held up the vial for Harry to see, "is not the answer. This is an occasional relief. It's temporary at best and the more you use it, the less effective it becomes. That's why I think it's so important that you continue talking about these things—"

"But I've been talking to Uncle Remus and the nightmares haven't stopped!" Harry burst out.

"It's not instant, Harry," Snape said, doing his best to keep calm even though Harry had just yelled at him. "I know you likely thought it would be but it's not. It takes time. But taking potions like this will not speed up the process. That's why I wanted to know when you had one. So that I could be there for you in the moment, but you—" Snape paused, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Harry. "How did you keep me from hearing them?"

Harry turned his head away and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Harry James, answer me this instant. I've heard every nightmare you've had since coming to live with me until the last few weeks. What changed?"

Harry pulled his feet up onto the couch and wrapped his arms around his knees. "I've been putting up silencing spells around my room," he mumbled.

"That's a fifth year spell," Snape said with a frown.

Harry shrugged, still staring at his knees. "It wasn't hard to learn. I only messed up once when I forgot to get the bathroom door and Draco heard."

"Draco knew?"

Harry seemed to realize what he'd said because he glanced up then. "I told him not to tell you and that I was fine. Don't be mad at him."

Snape felt his anger and frustration simmer out and he sighed before retaking his seat. "I'm not mad at either of you," he said softly. "I am however, very disappointed in you, Son. Between the stealing, the lying, doing spells without permission during the summer—"

"You've let me before," Harry cut in.

"This was different and you know it." Snape tapped the arm of his chair a few times before coming to a decision. "I need a bit of time to decide how to handle this," he said calmly. Before Harry could protest, he went on, "For now, it's time for lunch and afterwards, I want you to spend the rest of the day in your room."

"Dad, that's not—"

"I know that it's not what you want to hear, but I need to put some thought into this. I don't want to feel like I'm punishing you unfairly, but you've broken a few rules here even though you felt like you had a good reason."

With a sigh, Harry nodded, dropping his head to his knees once more.

"Evelyn and I were going to go out tonight, but in light of everything, I'm going to cancel that—"

"No!" Harry interrupted again. "Don't do that. Not because of me. Please, Dad, just go. I'll be fine."

Snape shook his head but Harry let his legs drop back to the floor and stood.

"I'll stay in my room and you can even get Remus to babysit if you're that worried."

Snape considered Harry's words. He and Evelyn did have reservations at the restaurant, but he didn't know how he felt about leaving Harry knowing that this was all unresolved between them.

He sighed. "I'll see if Remus is free, but if not I'm canceling and you won't argue about it. Now, go call Draco for lunch."

Harry didn't say anything before turning and leaving Snape alone in the room.

Snape straightened his tie as he stepped into the parlor where Remus and Draco were waiting.

"Dress robes," Remus said, his eyebrows raising into his hairline as he took in Snape's midnight black robes. "You must be taking Evelyn somewhere particularly fancy tonight."

"Sorcellerie," Snape answered much to Remus and Draco's bewilderment. Chez Sorcellerie was a wizarding restaurant in Paris with a breathtaking view of the city below. The restaurant is hidden from muggles in the same way that Hogwarts is. It is also only accessible by apparition and only ever with a reservation.

"Sorcellerie?" Draco said, sitting up so suddenly that Rook who had been asleep at his feet, lifted his head to look up at him. "In Paris? How in Merlin's name did you get a reservation there?"

Snape smirked before adjusting the sleeves of his shirt. "Lucius Malfoy is not the only one with connections, you know." Before either of them could say anything else, Snape went on, "Alright, I've got to go, or we'll be late. Our reservation is at seven and I shouldn't be home too late." Snape walked a few steps toward the door before turning back. "What am I doing? Harry needs me here right now, and I'm going to leave to go on a date?"

Remus stood and quickly crossed the room. He put his hands on Snape's shoulders and forcibly turned him around. "Yes, you are," he said. "Harry is fine. I'm here and I will take care of things. You'll only be gone a few hours and if you miss this reservation, you will never get another one."

They made it to the front door before Snape pivoted so that he was facing Remus once more. "I should go talk to him."

Remus shook his head. "He's not going anywhere. We're going to have dinner and so are you. I will go up and talk to Harry in a bit. Everything is going to be fine, Sev."

Snape glanced up the staircase one more time before taking a deep breath and slowly nodding. "You're right. I don't know why I feel so out of sorts about this. He's fourteen, Remus. Just now fourteen. He shouldn't be taking sleeping potions."

"No, he shouldn't. But let's just be glad that we know now and not weeks down the road. Harry is going to be fine. And if you spend this whole evening worrying about him instead of enjoying your time with Evelyn, I'll personally kick your arse when you get back. Remember, term starts in less than six weeks and then the two of you will be seeing a lot less of each other."

Snape's brows furrowed at that. Six weeks? That was all?

Before he could think much further on it, Remus opened the front door and practically shoved him out before closing it behind him.

Harry sat alone in his room later that night. Remus had tried to coax him into talking to him several times, but Harry hadn't felt up to it. He was feeling sorry for himself and wanted to wallow.

He couldn't believe he had been so stupid. He regretted ever stealing the potions in the first place, but more than that, he hated that he had lied right to Snape's face.

Why had he done that? He'd clearly already been caught and Harry knew from personal experience that lying always made things worse.

He mentally listed his crimes.

One. Lying about the nightmares. Harry wasn't sure that one should count. Snape hadn't ever actually said that he wanted to be told if Harry had a nightmare. But he had been there for every one before Harry started hiding them. And he'd told him plenty of times to come to him when he was upset. But this was different. Harry was fourteen. He should be able to handle them on his own.

Two. Stealing the potions. That one definitely counted. No matter how Harry tried to spin it— and he'd tried a lot— nothing made stealing acceptable and Harry knew that. But then to actually take the potions. He'd be lucky if Snape didn't chop him up into tiny pieces just for that.

Three. The Silencing Spells. Harry figured that one deserved a pass as well. Snape had let him do magic outside of school before. He remembered Christmas last year when Snape practically begged him to use Leviosa to put the star on top of the tree. It didn't seem fair for that rule to only count when Snape wanted it to.

Four. Lying when Snape asked him directly if there was anything that Harry wanted to tell him.

Harry groaned and dropped down onto his back. He pulled the pillow over his head to muffle his scream of frustration. He was so tired of being in trouble.

After this he was done. No more trouble for Harry Potter-Snape. He was going to go back to Hogwarts and be a model student. He'd study so hard that it would put Hermione to shame. Well, maybe not, but he was serious about the trouble part.

That was if Snape ever let him off restriction in the first place.

As if thinking of Snape made him magically appear, Harry heard him knock at the door.

"Yes," he said softly, knowing that Snape's bat ears would hear him through the door even though his voice was still muffled by the pillow.

Snape opened the door and stepped inside. "Smothering yourself won't get you out of talking to me," he said mildly.

Harry pulled the pillow away from his face and glared at Snape. "Would anything?"

Snape smirked as he pulled out Harry's desk chair and sat down. "No."

Harry sat up and leaned against the headboard to wait for Snape to start the conversation, but when he only watched him as if he were the one waiting, Harry took it as his cue to lead.

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

Snape arched a single eyebrow. "For what?"

Harry narrowed his eyes. "You know what for. I—" He paused to let his head drop back against the headboard so that he could stare up at the ceiling. Getting frustrated now wasn't going to help anything.

"I shouldn't have stolen Sirius's potions," he said finally, looking back up at him. "I shouldn't have hidden my nightmares from you, and I shouldn't have lied about it all." Harry took a long breath. He licked his lips and ran a hand through his dark, messy hair. "I shouldn't have taken the potions. Especially when I didn't know how much to take. I was tired of having the nightmares and I wanted them to go away. I wanted to be able to handle things on my own so instead of coming to you like I know I should have, I found a way that I thought would help."

"Tell me why you thought it would help," Snape said.

"Because I thought that if talking to Uncle Remus would help them stop happening, then I could just take the Dreamless Sleep for a few nights and by the time I was out of the potion, the therapy would have worked and they would be cured." Harry twisted the edge of his blanket around his fingers tightly. "I didn't think it would be like this. Honest, Dad, I just thought it would speed things up, you know? Or at least it would make it easier to deal with until they were gone completely. It wasn't like I wanted to get dependent on it. I'm not an idiot."

Snape sighed. "I didn't say you were. But part of having a parent is being able to come to them when you have problems. I feel like once again we are dealing with trust here, Harry. If you can't trust me with things like this, how will you trust me with worse situations? Should I just expect that you're hiding things from me all the time?"

"No," Harry said quickly. "I do trust you. I know I keep saying that, but I do. I just… I don't know how to…" He trailed off, shaking his head when he couldn't come up with the right words.

"You don't know how to ask for help," Snape finished for him. "You don't know how to come to me." Harry didn't answer and Snape went on. "I get it, Harry. I really do. For twelve years you didn't have anyone that you could go to. You had no one but yourself to rely on. You had to make all the decisions and you had to figure everything out on your own." Snape paused to let that sink in before he said, "But that's not how it is anymore. Now, I'm the parent, and you're going to have to learn to let me in. To let me be the one to take care of you. I know it's hard, but I promise you that we'll get through this."

Harry didn't know what to say. He wanted all of those things, and it sounded so easy when Snape said it, but Harry didn't know how to make it happen. He didn't know how to just let Snape handle the hard stuff. "How?" he asked.

Snape nearly smiled as he leaned forward to let his elbows rest on his knees. "Well, for starters, I want to know when you have a nightmare. No more silencing spells. If I don't hear you, I want you to call out to me. Or even simply speak Jenka's name if that's all you can manage to get out. She'll know and she'll get me."

Harry nodded. He didn't like it but it wasn't unexpected either.

He sighed. "I guess I'm in a lot of trouble, huh?"

Snape nodded. "A fair bit, yeah."

Harry only looked at him expectantly and Snape went on, "You're grounded for a month for stealing and lying."

Instantly, Harry's shoulders dropped. "But the Cup is—"

Snape held up a hand to stop his protest. "I'm going to allow you to go to the Cup, but you had better be on your best behavior, young man."

Harry nodded. He had been so sure that Snape wouldn't let him go after this but he was willing to do anything if it meant he still got to see the match. "I will," he said.

"You are going to apologize to your godfather for stealing his potions and you're going to help me in the lab while I make replacements for him."

Harry didn't miss the way that Snape said, 'help,' and he instantly knew that it would most likely involve him doing some awful task while Snape did the actual brewing.

"Furthermore, you are going to have scheduled appointments with Remus for therapy each week and I will not listen to even a moment of arguing about it."

Again, Harry thought that was expected. "Yes, sir," he agreed.

Snape nodded. "Alright, well then I think it's about time you went to bed. It's pretty late."

He stood up but Harry said, "Wait, that's it?"

"Should there be more?" Snape asked as he pushed the chair back under the desk.

"I dunno," Harry said, "I just thought that after everything I'd be grounded into the school year. And you didn't even mention anything about taking the potions."

Snape frowned. "Yes, well, I think that the after effects of the potion are likely enough of a consequence in itself. It was only six doses in three days, so I doubt it will be too terrible, but it still won't be pleasant. I should think at most it will be a bit of insomnia, which you will unfortunately just have to muddle through because giving you anything for it would only make things worse. You might feel a bit agitated and your skin might feel itchy. I do have a soothing balm that will help with that, should you need it."

Harry didn't like the sound of any of that, but he nodded anyway. "Good night."

Snape stepped toward the bed and leaned down to drop a kiss to the top of Harry's head. "Good night, son. I love you."

Harry burrowed under the covers, then took his glasses off, placing them in Snape's outstretched hand. "Love you, too."

Chapter Text

Much to Harry's surprise, he managed to fall asleep fairly quickly that night. He didn't have any nightmares and though he didn't particularly feel refreshed the next morning, Harry didn't feel terrible either. Certainly not like he thought he would after hearing Snape talk.

Harry thought that Snape must have been exaggerating the symptoms because he felt fine. Either that or the potion hadn't had as much of an effect on Harry as Snape thought it had.

It wasn't until breakfast that Harry's left arm felt itchy for the first time. He scratched at it absently as he chewed a bite of toast.

"Feeling alright?" Snape asked from behind his paper.

Harry instantly dropped his hand and glanced up at him. "Yes."

Snape let the corner of the paper drop, raising an eyebrow in a clear sign of disbelief.

"I do," Harry said confidently. He sat up straighter in his chair and added, "And I slept great last night, so you were wrong about that."

Draco pushed his chair back abruptly and said, "Let's go take Rook for a walk."

At the mention of a walk, Rook jumped up excitedly and wagged his tail.

Harry looked to Snape to see if he would allow him out of the house since he was on restriction, but Snape almost seemed relieved.

He waved them away before tapping the table to clear it. "Go on," he said, "but just a short one and stay within the wards."

Draco waited until they walked out of the front door before he turned to Harry with his signature scowl. "Are you trying to get into more trouble?" he asked.

"No," Harry said, raising his hand to scratch at a spot near his shoulder. "Why?"

"Why?" Draco asked as he continued to look at Harry as if he'd grown a second head. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you telling him that he's wrong about something, especially a potion, seems like a pretty stupid thing to do otherwise."

Harry glanced back at the Manor with a frown. "Right. I suppose I wasn't thinking."

"Yeah, well I'd start thinking if I were you."

All thoughts that Snape might have been wrong were long gone as Harry lay in his bed that night.

Snape had sent them both to bed around ten thirty, and three hours later Harry was still wide awake.

And itchy.

So itchy. His face, his hands, even between his toes. Harry was sure he had never felt like this before. He sat up in bed and scratched at his scalp before curling his fingers into his hair with a groan.

He glanced at his closed bedroom door. Snape had said that he had a balm for his skin, but not once today had he offered it. And there was no way that Snape didn't know how itchy he felt. He'd been stuck inside the lab with him all day cutting up flobberworms and cleaning out potion vials, and Harry could feel Snape watching him every time he began scratching.

Harry scowled. Snape was likely just being his usual mean self, intending to make Harry come right out and ask for it. Far be it for Snape to give it to him out of the goodness of his heart. Git.

Harry fell backwards onto the mattress and rolled over onto his stomach.

Rook opened one eye to look at him, probably annoyed that Harry wouldn't lay still so he could get some sleep.

Harry blew out a breath and shoved his hands beneath his pillow. If he could just lay here without scratching, maybe he could pretend to be asleep long enough that it would trick his brain into actually falling asleep.

Right. That could work. He closed his eyes and tried to even out his breathing.

His leg began to itch and his hand twitched, ready to scratch at it. Harry curled his hands into fists and squeezed his eyes shut tighter.

The itch moved to his back and Harry wanted to scream. It felt like his entire body was burning from the sensation.

"Bloody hell," he ground out as he curled into a ball and scratched furiously at a spot on his cheek.

"You don't know how to ask for help." Snape's words from the night before came rushing back to Harry's mind.

Is that why Snape hadn't offered him the salve? Because he wanted Harry to trust him enough to come to him?

He glanced at the clock on his beside table. 1:57. Surely it was too late to ask him now.

But the itching was only getting worse and Harry wasn't sure how much more he could handle.

He pushed off the blankets and stood up, causing Rook to stir and get up as well. Harry looked back at him. One of them should be able to get some sleep tonight and since Harry didn't think it would be him, he opened the door to the bathroom that connected his and Draco's rooms.

"Here, boy," Harry whispered, getting the dogs attention.

Rook stretched his back before following Harry into the bathroom.

Harry opened Draco's door quietly then stepped aside so that Rook could get in past him. "Go sleep with Draco," Harry said, nudging him with his foot then closing the door behind him.

Harry went back through his bedroom and out into the hallway, but he paused at Snape's door. What if Snape was mad at Harry for waking him up? What if he was wrong and Snape didn't plan on giving him the salve?

But then why would he offer it in the first place?

Harry felt like his emotions were all over the place. His breathing was hitched and he was certain that if Snape said one snarky thing to him, he would burst into tears. And wouldn't that just be wonderful for a fourteen year old to do.

But he also knew that if he didn't get some relief, he would claw through his skin soon. So he summoned every ounce of Gryffindor courage he possessed, and raised his hand to knock.

"Come in," he heard Snape say immediately afterward.

Harry opened the door to find Snape leaning back against the headboard of his bed, one ankle crossed over the other, with a book open in his hands.

"Dad?" Harry knew his voice sounded small and he hated himself for it, but as he scratched harshly at his chest, he didn't care.

Snape put the book down and swung his legs off the bed. "Come here," he said, picking up a small jar of orange tinted creme from his bedside table.

Harry sat down beside him and Snape shifted so that he was face to face with him.

Snape tsked as he shook his head. "You've scratched your face nearly raw." He opened the jar and dipped his fingers inside before rubbing his hands together. "Much more and you would have broken the skin."

"Sorry," Harry said meekly.

"Take off your glasses," Snape said quietly.

Harry did as he was told and Snape began to gently rub the salve into his cheeks. The effect was instant. The salve felt cool to his burning face and inflamed skin.

"Why did it take you all day and half the night to come to me? Didn't you know I would have given this to you immediately if you'd just asked?"

Harry felt tears welling up in his eyes and he squeezed them tightly shut as he tried to swallow around the lump in his throat. "I dunno," he finally managed to say.

He heard Snape sigh. "You don't know why you waited so long or you don't know that I would have helped you?" He moved his fingers to Harry's temples and forehead, massaging the salve in even as he brushed away a traitorous tear that slipped out.

"You might have thought I deserved it after what I did," Harry whispered. "You didn't offer it."

He felt his glasses settling back in place and Snape said, "Look at me, Harry."

Harry opened his eyes to find Snape's own black eyes staring back at him intensely.

"I only wanted you to trust me enough to ask for my help. The itchiness would have gone away eventually even if you hadn't come to me, that's not the point. The point is that you didn't need to be in any discomfort in the first place. I had already told you that I had a salve for it. Do I make a habit of lying to you?"

Harry shook his head.

"Then you could have said something at breakfast when I asked how you were. You could have mentioned it in the lab. The salve was sitting right there at my work station. But you wouldn't ask for it." Harry didn't say anything and Snape went on. "You're absolutely right. I could have offered it when I saw you scratching, but I suppose I incorrectly assumed that after last night, you would be a bit more willing to come to me."

Harry roughly brushed the tears out of his eyes. He didn't understand why he couldn't stop crying. "I'm trying," he murmured, his breath hitching again.

Snape nodded. "I know you are. It's alright." Snape patted Harry's shoulder and said, "Shirt off and turn around. I'll get this on your back and then you can take the jar into the bathroom and put it anywhere else that you need to. Alright?"

Harry sniffed. "Alright."

Snape worked quietly and when he was finished, he passed the jar to Harry who took it into Snape's bathroom.

When he came back out, Snape asked, "Better?"

Harry nodded. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." Snape took the jar and placed it back on the table. "If the itching comes back, you can apply some more."

Harry shuffled from foot to foot at the edge of Snape's bed. "Can I… since you're still up, would it be alright if I hung out in here for a bit?"

Snape nodded slowly, gesturing to the other side of the bed. "Alright, but only for a bit. You have your own bed, you know."

Harry shot him a small smile before pulling back the covers and lying down.

"I mean it, Harry," Snape said, picking up his book. "Don't get too comfortable. You're not falling asleep in here."

Harry nodded even as he burrowed deeper into the blankets. "I won't, Dad. I can't sleep anyway. I'm not even tired."

Snape hummed. He opened his book and removed the bookmark to pick up where he'd left off.

There was quiet in the room for a long moment before Harry spoke again. "By the way, I forgot to ask last night. How did you date go?"

Snape raised an eyebrow but continued to look at the page. "It was fine. We had a nice time."

"That's good," Harry said, trying to hide a yawn.

Another moment passed but just as Harry was beginning to feel his eyes growing heavy, he opened them wide again. "Do you love her?"

The quiet stretched for so long that Harry was certain that Snape wasn't going to answer. He was about to change the subject when Snape closed his book, keeping his finger between the pages to mark his place.

"Would it be terribly awful if I did?" Snape asked instead.

Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. I already told you that I'm glad she makes you happy." He rolled over onto his side facing Snape, but he kept his head down as he covered his mouth with the blanket to hide another yawn. "So do you? Love her, I mean?"

"I do."

Harry grew quiet again as Snape reopened his book. His eyes were beginning to droop and Harry wasn't sure he could fight sleep much longer.

"Dad?" he said softly.

"Yes?"

"If I start to have a nightmare, you'll wake me up, right?"

Snape sighed. He held his hand out and said, "Glasses."

Harry took them off and placed them in his outstretched hand.

Snape put them away and dimmed most of the lights with his wand, leaving only one for him to read by.

"If you should have a nightmare," he said quietly, reaching out to card his hand through Harry's dark hair, "I will be here, and I will wake you from it."

"Promise?" Harry hated the way his voice sounded like he was pleading.

"I promise."

Harry let his eyes close and the last thing he remembered before sleep overtook him was the soft way that Snape was running his fingers through his hair.

The next few days were miserable for Harry. He slept as much as he could, but he was still tired most of the time. The itchiness went away by the third day, though thanks to Snape's salve, Harry was able to handle it much better.

He apologized to Sirius, who promptly told him that all was forgiven. Then Harry had a long session with Remus. The two spent several hours shut up in Remus's office. There was some very real moments of vulnerability that ended with Harry feeling as if he'd been laid bare. Then there were tears of frustration and sadness, followed by, in Remus's opinion, a breakthrough.

It seemed the only thing he was struggling with now was the nearly extreme agitation. Everything was grating on his nerves and keeping him on edge. Though Snape seemed to think that at least part of that was because Harry was being punished and he wasn't happy about it.

Even now as he, Harry, and Draco were getting ready to floo to the Weasley's before taking a portkey to the World Cup, Harry was sending Snape a glare from where he sat on Snape's bed.

"What is it now?" Snape asked as he pulled a navy blue sweater over his head.

"I don't see why you couldn't let me stay with Ron, that's all," Harry grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest and pulling his feet up onto the bed as he leaned back against the headboard.

Snape narrowed his eyes. "This again? You know very well that you were not permitted to spend the night with the Weasley's because you are grounded. And I'm not even sure why you're upset about it now because it's over and done with, and we will be there in just a few moments anyway."

"Because I haven't seen Ron in ages, and Bill and Charlie are there, too. And Charlie's a dragon tamer, Dad."

"You're being ridiculous," Snape said. "Ron was here last week for your birthday. Bill and Charlie aren't going anywhere, and I'm sure Charlie will be happy to tell you all about the foolishness of dragon taming when you see him. And get your shoes off my bed."

Harry huffed but slid his shoes off the bed.

"How did you sleep last night?"

"Fine," Harry snapped.

"Fine? Really?" Snape didn't even pretend to believe him.

Harry scowled. "I woke up twice."

"From nightmares?" Snape sat down beside him and began pulling his boots on.

"No," said Harry honestly. "Just regular dreams."

Snape nodded. "I know you're tired, Harry, but that doesn't give you the right to take it out on me or anyone else. Understand?"

"Yeah," he said with a nod before standing up. "I'll be in the parlor."

Snape watched him leave the room with a sigh. Merlin, he deserved a medal for being so patient lately.

As soon as Harry stepped out of the floo into the Weasley's living room, he heard shouting coming from the kitchen.

Snape and Draco stepped out behind him, then he quickly crossed the room to see Mrs. Weasley pointing her wand at the twins as handfuls of small, brightly colored objects zoomed out of George's pockets faster than he could grab them back.

"We told you to get rid of the lot of them," she shouted between additional summoning charms that forced the objects from Fred's pockets as well.

It seemed that the twins were trying to smuggle their toffee's out of the house, but Mrs. Weasley was having none of it.

"We spent six months developing those!" Fred shouted as she sent the toffees flying into the trash.

"Time wasted as far as I can see," she shot back.

George opened his mouth to retaliate when Mr. Weasley stepped in.

"Boys, I think it would be best if you both waited in the living room until we were ready to leave," he said as sternly as Harry had ever heard him speak.

The twins both shot venomous looks at their mother before stomping out of the kitchen past Harry.

Mrs. Weasley looked up, finally noticing the new arrivals, and plastered a strained smile on her face. "Harry, Draco, it's so good to see you, dears. Have you eaten?"

Harry nodded before looking around for Ron.

"Everyone is still upstairs getting ready," she said, knowing who Harry was looking for.

"Severus," said Mr. Weasley with a grin. "Where's Evelyn? I thought she was joining us."

"She got caught up at work, but she'll meet us there."

"Oh, that's too bad."

Harry turned away from the adults and went back into the living room to find the twins sitting silently on the couch. Deciding that they looked about how he felt, he joined them, leaving Draco to stand awkwardly beside Snape.

Draco had never been to the Burrow before and Harry knew that he ought to call him over in an effort to make him feel more at ease, but before he could give it much thought, Hermione came down the stairs.

"Hello, Draco," she said, gaining his attention. "Have you been here long?"

Draco shook his head and stepped away from Snape towards her.

The two started talking, making Harry feel less like a git for not including him. He was perfectly content to sulk in solidarity with the twins for now.

By the time everyone was ready to go, however, Harry felt a little less annoyed with everything. Ron had come downstairs and after he, Ginny, and Hermione had eaten breakfast, they group followed Arthur out into the backyard. They had a short walk up to Stoatshed Hill, where their portkey waited, and where they met up with Amos and Cedric Diggory.

Then all eleven of them crowded around a dirty, old boot and Arthur counted down from three.

In one instant, Harry felt a tugging in his stomach and his feet left the ground. In the next, he was landing in a pile between Draco and Ron. He looked up to see Snape standing above him with his hand stretched out to help him up.

"Do wizards have a way of travel that doesn't make me want to sick up?" he asked.

"Broomsticks," Snape said with a smirk. "Here," he reached into his pocket and pulled out several small, golden bracelets, "the stands hold a hundred thousand people, and the last thing I want is for anyone to get lost or separated." He passed the bracelets out to Fred and George, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione, who took them curiously.

"That's right," said Arthur, turning to help Ginny fasten the bracelet around her wrist. "You can't be too careful with a crowd like this."

"These are individual portkeys," Snape went on. "If something should happen, touch them and say, "Burrow." They will take you straight back to Molly. Harry, your's and Draco's bracelets have been modified temporarily to take you back to the Burrow as well."

Fred rolled his eyes. "What do you think is going to happen, Professor?"

"Maybe he thinks the Bulgarian's will want revenge when Ireland beats them tonight," George added with a grin that faded the moment that Arthur pierced him with a sharp look.

"Alright, I think I've heard quiet enough out of you two for one day," he said so sternly that Fred and George both ducked their heads. "Put them on, then we're all going to set up camp."

After the group checked in with the muggle who ran the campsite, they started on the short walk to where they would put up their tents.

"What's going on with the twins?" Harry asked Ron quietly so that no one would overhear.

Ron shook his head. "It's been going on all summer. But they've really been put out since your birthday party. After they gave Neville those Ton Tongue Toffees, Mum went mental on them; tried to confiscate their whole line of joke candies, but she keeps finding more that they've stashed away. She thinks they're wasting their time on the joke stuff and wants them to stop."

"Why?" Asked Draco, who was walking on the other side of Harry. "Why does she care?"

Ron shrugged. "Who knows? She says she wants them to get respectable jobs like Percy." He laughed. "Can you imagine Fred and George working at the Ministry? She's barmy."

They made it to their camping spot and they all set to work pitching the tents and getting everything set up. Harry and Hermione worked with Snape to get the tents up, since everyone was being forced to do things without the help of magic, and they were the only ones who'd grown up muggle, or at least around muggles. Not that either of them had ever gone camping a day in their lives.

Fred, George, and Ginny set out to find wood for the fire, and when they returned, Ron and Draco tried helping Arthur light the matches. In the end, Hermione took the small box from him and taught them how to strike the match properly, keeping her hand cupped over the flame so that it wouldn't blow out.

By the time all three of the tents were finished, Arthur had a late breakfast of eggs and sausages prepared, which everyone tucked into gladly. Percy, Charlie, and Bill appeared moments later, conveniently, in Harry's opinion, after all the work was done.

"Alright, everyone," said Arthur as he laid his empty plate onto the grass beside him, "Bill, Charlie, Percy, and the twins will be with me in the biggest tent." It was clear by their subdued expressions that Fred and George were less than pleased by that announcement, but they wisely kept quiet. "Ginny, you and Hermione will be in the last tent with Evelyn and Brielle when they get here."

Snape looked down at his watch. "Which should be any minute now."

Ginny smiled at Hermione. "Like a sleepover. It'll be a nice change to not be around so many snoring boys."

"Oi," Ron said around a mouthful of eggs.

"Which leaves Severus in the middle tent with Harry, Draco, and Ron."

Harry eyed the tents skeptically. Even though there were three of them, he didn't see how fourteen people were going to sleep in three tents.

Snape must have noticed the look of disbelief on his face because he tilted his head toward their tent and said, "Take a look."

Harry stood up and walked to the closed flap on their tent. He ducked his head and stepped inside, immediately realizing that the space was magically larger. Instead of what appeared to be a one room tent from the outside, there was instead a small sitting area, a kitchen with a table and a stove, and a small bedroom on either side.

"Wicked," Harry breathed as he walked into the first bedroom. There was a small cot on one side and a bunk bed on the other. Their things were already there with Harry's backpack laying on the top bunk. Now this, he could definitely get used to.

Finally, it was time for the World Cup.

Draco walked with everyone else up to the Top Box. It was directly in the middle of the field and from their vantage point, they could see everything! There were enough seats for about twenty people to sit comfortably, and already the box was occupied with the Minister of Magic, Ludo Bagman, and the Bulgarian Prime Minister.

A small house elf sat in a seat by herself, nervously rocking back and forth as she covered her eyes. Draco shook his head when Harry went over to talk to her.

Draco moved to the edge and held his pair of Omnioculars up to his face and peered down into the stands below. His eyes followed the crowds, stopping occasionally to look at one thing or another, until finally he saw a man covered head to toe in Irish merchandise, swing at and miss a man wearing Bulgarian colored robes.

"Look at that," he said, grinning widely. "That bloke down there is in a fight with someone already."

"Where?" Harry asked trying to take the Omnioculars from his hand.

Draco lightly shoved him back. "Look through your own, you nitwit," he said with a laugh.

"Ah, Lucius!" Cornelius exclaimed, causing every muscle in Draco's body to go rigid.

Beside him, Harry stiffened as well.

Draco grit his teeth, continuing to stare down and into the lower stands. He mentally berated himself for not realizing that of course they would be here. He'd been stupid to think they wouldn't want to be seen at the biggest event of the year.

Over the last few weeks, Draco had been talking to Remus a lot, too. Nearly as much as Harry had. And the one thing that Remus kept coming back to; kept drilling into Draco's head was that no matter what anyone tried to tell him, Draco was worthy.

He was worthy of love. He was worthy of compassion and empathy and friendship.

Draco had always known that eventually he would have to see them again. The people he'd previously called his parents. He just hadn't expected it to happen so soon.

He listened intently to the conversation behind him.

"It's good to see you, Minister," Lucius said. "I don't believe you've ever properly met my wife. This is Narcissa."

"Oh, good, good," Cornelius said. "And what about—"

Before he could finish the sentence, Draco turned around. "Mr. Malfoy," he said, one eyebrow arched perfectly over his steel grey eyes.

Draco knew that all eyes were on him. From the corner of his eyes, he saw Snape step forward only to have Evelyn lay a hand on his arm, keeping him in place.

Lucius only looked down at him with disdain. "And you are?"

This was a peculiar question considering that Cornelius Fudge knew exactly who Draco was. He knew because it had been he that Lucius had gone to when the incident with Buckbeak had happened the year before.

But it was also expected. Draco knew that whatever familial bond he'd once had with Lucius was gone now. He was fine with it. But he wanted him to know. To really know that Draco was just fine and that he didn't need them.

He stuck out his hand. "Draco Snape. A pleasure."

He heard the gasps around him, but Draco didn't falter. He didn't look away from Lucius's cold gaze even once. He didn't dare glance at his mother— at Narcissa, he amended in his mind. He wasn't ready for that yet. But for this? To stand toe to toe in front of Lucius Malfoy and not flinch?

That he was ready for.

It was over.

Ireland had won the four hundred and twenty-second Quidditch World Cup. Krum had caught the snitch but Ireland had come away with the victory.

Snape wasn't sure he had even fallen asleep when he first heard the screams.

He was out of bed in an instant, his wand at the ready. Snape grabbed the jeans he'd been wearing that day and quickly pulled them on, then ducked out of the tent, his heart nearly stopping when he saw masked and hooded figures.

Death Eaters.

"Severus?"

Snape looked to his left to see Evelyn standing outside her tent, looking out across the grounds.

"Get the girls," he said. "Now."

Evelyn nodded, disappearing back inside.

"Arthur!" Snape yelled, not realizing that Arthur had already heard the shouts as well.

"I see it," he said from behind him.

Snape turned back inside the tent and quickly made his way to the room the boys slept in.

"Get up!" he said, shaking first Draco who was asleep on the cot, then Harry and Ron in their bunks. "Harry, wake up, quickly."

Harry stirred, sitting up and rubbing at his eyes.

Snape picked up his glasses from the table and thrust them into his hands.

"Come on now. Hurry up. Grab your wands."

"Wha's matter?" Draco asked groggily, sitting up as well.

Snape did his best to ignore the screaming. He needed to get the boys up and out of the tent. Once the kids were all together, he would have them portkey back to the burrow.

"Who's screaming?" Ron asked, reaching for his shoes.

Harry jumped down from the top bunk and shoved his feet into his shoes as well.

"Don't worry about it. Just slip on shoes and grab your jackets. Get outside," Snape urged them.

The boys sensing his urgency, quickly did as he said.

They got outside at the same time that Evelyn came out with the girls, clutching her wand tightly in her hand.

Arthur ran up with Fred and George just as a tent to their left burst into flames.

Ginny screamed and Arthur tugged her close.

All around them were flashes of light and screams as people ran past them towards the woods. Drunken laughter and jeering followed them from the slowly moving figures.

"Alright, listen—" Snape started, but froze when Ron blanched, his mouth dropping open. He lifted his hand, pointing behind him at something Snape couldn't see.

Snape turned on his heel to see the Death Eaters levitating four figures into the air, twisting and turning them into grotesque shapes as they screamed and pleaded to be let down.

"They've got the muggles," Arthur breathed. "We're going to help," he said as Bill, Charlie, and Percy emerged from the tent, fully clothed and rushed past them into the fray.

Arthur took off after them with Evelyn on his heels.

"I'm right behind you," Snape said. "Now," he said to the kids, "I want you lot to portkey back to the Burrow now!"

He grabbed Fred's arm but looked at George as well. "Tell your mother that we'll be there as soon as we've sorted this out."

The twins both nodded and George reached for Ginny's hand pulling her to his side.

Snape looked behind him at the fighting that was already underway as Witches and Wizards from the Ministry began attempting to fight back.

"Remember, touch the bracelets and say, "Burrow." Now!"

Snape watched as everyone but Harry did as he said, disappearing one by one. "Harry, go."

Harry shook his head. "Let me stay with you," he pleaded. "I can help."

Snape didn't have time for this. He took a step toward him and said, "You are a fourteen year old wizard and those are fully trained Death Eaters. Help me by doing what I said so that I won't have to worry about you."

"But—"

Snape reached out and tapped Harry's bracelet, watching as it appeared on his wrist. When the bracelet had been made he had added an extra layer of protection to it, allowing Snape to activate it on his own. He'd hoped that he wouldn't ever have to use it.

"Burrow," he said before stepping back a second before Harry disappeared.

Harry would be furious with him for doing that, but Snape didn't have a choice. He needed Harry safe. That's all that mattered in the moment. Everything else could be dealt with later.

Snape dove into the fight, immediately taking on two Death Eaters at once.

"Oh, look! It's the traitor!" one shouted, and Snape recognized his voice as Edward Antares, a burly man with a scar that ran from his temple down to his neck.

His friend, a man wearing a mask he'd never seen before, laughed, shooting a poor excuse for a stinging hex in Snape's direction, which he easily deflected. "Now, now, Antares," Snape sneered, pointing his wand at the unknown man. "Is this the best you lot have got these days?" Snape didn't voice his spell, but in the next instant, the man's robes had caught fire and he began to panic, frantically trying to put out the flames with his wand.

Suddenly, Evelyn was behind him, fighting a Death Eater who was about a foot taller than she was. He was advancing on her with a laugh, assuming that she wasn't a match for him.

Snape knew better.

The man shouted "Stupefy!"

Evelyn threw up a shield, then countered with, "Bombarda!" Tossing the man into the air.

The fighting continued without any pause. Snape could see Arthur and his boys shouting spells several feet away, and though they were surrounded by Death Eaters on all sides, they were easily holding their own. They were attempting to aid the muggles, but it wasn't an easy task when any misstep could cause them to fall from sixty feet in the air.

He focused on the next man in front of him, shielding himself from the red light coming his direction and sending out one of his own.

Evelyn was directly behind him now. "This is not how I expected this night to go," she said, and though she said it with a laugh, Snape knew she must be at least a little bit afraid.

"No?" he asked, shooting a blasting curse at the nearest Death Eater. "What were you expecting?"

Her back was against his and he felt her shoulders shrug as if they were having a casual conversation and not fighting for their lives.

"To be honest," she said, "I thought you might steal me away in the middle of the night. I've barely seen you all week." She stupefied her opponent and turned to look at him with a pout. "A bit of spontaneity never hurt anyone, you know?"

Snape looked to the side, seeing another hooded wizard advancing toward them. He twisted, reaching out to grab Evelyn's arm and pulling her around so that she stayed behind him and he could face the newcomer. "I seem like the "spontaneous" type to you, do I?"

Evelyn started fighting again and said, "Maybe with a bit more practice," she said with a teasing laugh.

Snape blasted the last man backwards, then without thinking, he said, "Marry me."

"What?!" Evelyn whirled around.

To be honest, Snape had no idea what he was doing. Sure, he'd been thinking of asking Evelyn to marry him for days, but this wasn't how he'd planned to do it! He'd envisioned a proper proposal, with flowers and a nice restaurant. Not to mention he would actually have the ring on him. He had thought he would talk to Harry and Draco about it first.

Never in his wildest dreams had he thought he would blurt it out in the middle of the night during a fight with Death Eaters!

But now he had.

Snape turned around to face her, pointing his wand at the same time toward an oncoming Death Eater. Another nonverbal spell sent him sprawling on the ground.

"How's that for spontaneous?"

More Ministry workers had shown up and the fight was finally beginning to die down, but there was plenty still fighting.

Percy, battling it out with a short, balding Death Eater by the name of Crowley, glared over at them. "I really don't think this is the time for this."

"Shut up, Percy," Charlie said helping to safely get one of the muggle children to the ground. "I'm trying to hear what she says!"

"Inquiring minds would like to know," Snape said hesitantly.

Suddenly, Evelyn raised her wand and pointed it above Snape's shoulder, firing off a spell before he could even blink.

Snape turned just in time to see a masked man fall to the ground. He looked back at her, then reached a hand out to grab her waist, pulling her against him and letting his hand settle on the small of her back. "We make a good team."

Evelyn smiled up at him. "We do."

"Is that a, yes?"

Evelyn put her arms up and ran her fingers through his hair at the base of his neck, pulling him closer to her before whispering, "That's a yes."

Harry sat with the others in the Weasley's living room as they all waited for news about what was going on.

It felt like hours had passed. Molly was bustling around in the kitchen, trying to keep herself busy with making tea and food. Brielle had gone to offer her some help a few minutes before. Out of everyone, Harry thought that Brielle likely felt the most out of sorts. She didn't really know anyone here besides Draco and Harry.

Ginny had fallen asleep, her head resting against George's shoulder. Fred sat beside him, staring into the fireplace.

No one was saying much aside from an occasional person wondering what was taking so long.

Hermione sat in the chair with a book open in her lap, and Draco was in the floor beside Ron. They were playing a game of chess in an effort to pass the time.

Harry simply watched the door. He kept telling himself that any minute now, they would walk through, and everything would be fine.

And eventually, that's what happened.

Arthur walked in first, looking haggard and with a small cut on his cheek. He was followed by Bill, Charlie, and Percy, who each looked tired and covered in dirt and soot, but otherwise seemed no worse for wear.

Finally, Snape stepped into the back door with Evelyn, and though he looked just as bad as the rest, he seemed alright to Harry. He was holding Evelyn's hand and he didn't let go of it, even when Harry launched himself into his embrace. He just hugged Harry one handed, pulling him close and whispering calming words into his ear.

"What happened?" Harry asked. "Are those people alright?"

Snape nodded, reaching out to pull Draco into a hug of his own. "They're okay."

Percy leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. "Someone cast the Dark Mark above the—"

"Percy," Mrs. Weasley snapped, glancing toward Harry and the others. "Not in front of the children."

"We want to know," Fred said, glaring at his mother.

"We can talk about it later," Arthur said firmly.

"Yes," Snape agreed. "The important thing is that everyone is alright."

Evelyn nodded. "And it's really late. I think we should all just try and get some sleep."

It was a testament to how tired everyone was, that nobody argued. The Weasley children and Hermione all gave soft nods and made their way up the stairs to the bedrooms, while Harry, Draco, and Brielle, went into the living room to wait by the fireplace.

The adults talked for a few minutes after the kids left, but then Snape and Evelyn joined them in the living room, and they all floo'd to the Manor.

"Wait a moment," Snape said before Harry and Draco could move toward the stairs. "Evelyn and I have something to tell you, and we might as well get it out now instead of waiting."

Harry, Draco, and Brielle all exchanged looks before taking seats on the couch.

Snape glanced at Evelyn and Harry watched as she smiled up at him.

"What's going on?" Harry asked.

Evelyn moved to stand in front of the coffee table, facing them. Her hair was a tangled mess around her face, her clothes were dirty, and she had a hastily wrapped bandage around her arm where it looked like she might have gotten cut. But aside from all of that, she was still smiling brightly.

"We have some news, and we wanted you to be the first to know."

"Well," Snape said with a scoff, "mostly the first, if you don't count Charlie and Percy."

Evelyn laughed. "Or the Death Eaters."

Draco's eyes widened. "Are you sure you're both alright?"

"You're acting very strange," Brielle added with a frown.

Evelyn held her hand up to quiet them. "We're fine. Better than fine actually."

Snape cleared his throat, and though he spoke to the room, his eyes were on Harry. "We're getting married."

Chapter Text

Snape cleared his throat, and though he spoke to the room, his eyes were on Harry. “We’re getting married.” 

The room was silent while Snape watched with bated breath for Harry’s reaction. 

Draco’s eyes widened in surprise, while Brielle gasped, putting a hand to her mouth.

But Harry sat. He sat with eyes boring into Snape’s for what felt like an eternity but was really only a few seconds. 

And then he stood. Pushing himself off the couch and toward the doorway. “So much for that heads up,” he muttered as he passed Snape. “I’m going to bed.”

“Harry—” Snape started, reaching his hand out toward him as he passed but Harry shook him off. 

Evelyn placed her own hand on top of his and frowned. “Let him go,” she whispered. 

With that, Draco also stood. “Me, too,” he said before moving to follow Harry. 

However before Snape could even register the hurt he felt at both of his boys leaving, Draco stopped and turned back. 

“It’s not that I’m not happy for you, Uncle Sev,” he said sincerely. “It’s just that…” Draco looked back in the direction Harry had gone. “He’s well… you know.” 

Snape did know. Suddenly it dawned on him that Draco was making an effort to be on Harry’s side. A rather new and welcome occurrence. 

Snape nodded. “Go on. I’ll be in to check on you in a bit.”

Draco gave a soft smile before turning to head upstairs. 

“I think it’s wonderful,” Brielle said from behind him. 

Snape and Evelyn both turned to look at her. 

“You do?” Evelyn asked.

Brielle nodded. “You deserve someone who loves you, Aunt Evie.” She glanced at Snape as if to size him up. “Promise you won’t hurt her,” she demanded.

Snape inclined his head. “You have my word.” 

In the very next instant, Brielle had stood and wrapped her arms tightly around Snape, letting her head lean against his chest.

Snape froze, raising wide eyes to Evelyn, who only smirked.

It took him a few seconds get his mind working again. After all, Snape was still getting used to hugs from Harry and Draco; he’d never imagined he’d be getting one from a teenage girl. Eventually, though, Snape relaxed and let his arms drape loosely around her, patting her back awkwardly until she let go. 

Brielle stepped back, blushing. “Sorry. I forgot you don’t like hugs.”

Snape cleared his throat. “It’s quite alright.”

Evelyn stepped in then and put her hands on Brielle’s shoulders. “I think it’s time we went home. It’s late.” She frowned. “Or early. Either way, I’m exhausted,” she added with a laugh. 

Snape walked them to the floo. “You’re sure you’re alright?” he asked, gesturing to the bandage on her arm. 

Evelyn nodded. “A scratch, honestly. I’ll see you later.”

She reached up and kissed him lightly before stepping into the floo with Brielle, and in a rush of green flames, they were gone. 

 Snape raised his hand to knock on Draco’s door, and after hearing a quiet, “Come in,” he opened it to find Draco laying on his bed.

Draco watched Snape as he pulled out the desk chair and sat down.

“How are you doing?” Snape asked.

Draco frowned. “I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be? I already told you that I’m happy for you and Evelyn.”

Snape shook his head. “That’s not what I’m talking about.” Snape sat back in the chair and studied Draco for a moment. He was fourteen, but with his rumpled clothes and messy hair, Snape was reminded of a much younger Draco.

“Tonight was pretty eventful even before we told you about the proposal. I want to make sure you’re okay.”

Draco sighed. He sat up and pulled his knees to his chest, letting his chin rest on top of them. “I hadn’t actually seen Death Eaters before, you know.”

Snape nodded. “I know.”

“Was it always like that?” he asked, his voice small. “Hurting muggles?”

Snape swallowed hard. “Not always,” he answered quietly.

“But sometimes?”

Snape’s only reply was a small dip of his head.

“Did you ever—” Draco cut himself off, looking up at Snape with wide eyes. “Sorry. You don’t have to answer that,” he added quickly.

Snape had never spoken to either of the boys in detail about his time as a spy, and quite frankly, he had been holding out hope that he would never have to. But tonight changed that forever. It would have been surprising if they hadn’t had questions after what they saw, but Snape was lost on how to answer them in a way that wouldn’t show them the true monster he was.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands tightly in front of him. “I took the mark just before the end of my last year at Hogwarts,” he started softly. “By the time that the Dark Lord disappeared, I had been a spy in his ranks, climbing higher than most, for four years.” Snape paused to take a shuddering breath. Unable to meet Draco’s eyes, he kept his head down and went on. “You don’t get that high by disobeying the Dark Lord’s commands. There are countless things that I’ve had to do that I will never be able to take back. Things that keep me up at night, that make me sick to think about. People that I’ve hurt immensely, that I can’t beg forgiveness from. And I’ll try for as long as I live, but I’ll never be able to make amends for the things I’ve done. It’ll never be right.”

Suddenly, Draco swung his legs off the bed so that he faced Snape, mirroring his position. “But you were a spy,” he said earnestly, “it’s not the same thing.”

Snape opened his mouth to disagree, but Draco pushed on. “It’s not like you wanted to do those things. You didn’t enjoy it. Not like—”

Draco stopped himself before saying whatever he must have been thinking.

Snape raised his head to see the sadness in the boy’s steel grey eyes.

He wanted to change the subject. Snape wanted to talk about anything that wasn’t his past. He cleared his throat and hoped Draco would go with the change and not shut him down like he was currently doing to him.

“I’m really proud of you, you know?” Snape sat back up, mentally tucking away memories of another life. He shoved them back into the box he kept them hidden in, and closed the door. Bottling it all up to deal with later. Or not.

“Proud of me?” Draco asked.

Snape nodded. “For how you handled yourself when Lucius came into the box. You showed more bravery than I would have at your age.”

Draco moved back against the headboard. “I wasn’t trying to be brave. I just didn’t want him to embarrass me. I was only thinking about myself.”

Snape smirked at him. “Good. You deserve to think about yourself in all this.”

Draco picked at the corner of his new bedspread. “Uncle Sev?”

“Yes?”

“I know I told him that my name was Snape now, but I—” He glanced up at him and rushed on, “I don’t want you to think you have to do anything. You’re my permanent guardian now, and that’s enough. I swear it is.”

“Draco—”

“I just wasn’t thinking when I said that,” Draco went on. “I knew it would bother him and it just came out, but—”

“Draco,” Snape said more firmly this time.

Draco stopped rambling and looked up at him.

Snape stood and moved to sit on the edge of Draco’s bed. He shifted so that he was facing the teen as he said, “I had been waiting for the right time to bring it up, but I see now that that was a mistake. I was only trying to give you time to settle in, but I suppose I only succeeded in giving you too much time to question your place here.”

“What?” Draco asked. “I’m not—”

“Draco, I’ve wanted to adopt you since the moment Narcissa walked out the door. It would be my honor to do so.”

Draco swallowed hard as he looked up at Snape. “Really?”

“Really. And like you said, I’m already your permanent guardian. Adoption only adds another layer of protection in case anyone ever tries to fight it. And I can assure you, it would be a fight they would lose.”

“What about Evelyn?” he asked.

Snape was already shaking his head. “She has been pestering me about why I hadn’t already asked you. She’s more than fine with it. And before you ask, so is Harry. I promise.”

Draco at last gave a small smile. “When can we do it?”

“Tomorrow.”

Draco nodded seconds before launching himself into Snape’s arms. “Thank you,” he murmured.

Unlike with Brielle, Snape had no problem wrapping his arms tightly around Draco and dropping a kiss to the top of his head.

*** 

Harry lay face down on the sofa in his room, letting one arm hang off the side. He’d heard Snape come up the stairs and go into Draco’s room, so he knew it was only a matter of time before he came into his own, no doubt to scold him for storming off. 

Not that Harry thought he had any right. Snape was the one who promised to let him know before hand if he was going to ask Evelyn to marry him. And Snape was the one who said he didn’t have anything to worry about. 

Right? 

And it wasn’t as if Harry was against the idea of Snape getting married. Not really. 

It was the changes he had a problem with. 

Why couldn’t things just stay the same? He had only just gotten used to the idea of having Evelyn around in the first place, and now she was supposed to become a permanent fixture in his life.

Unless. 

Suddenly old fears began to bubble up faster than Harry could tamper them down. 

What if Snape didn’t need him anymore?

What if Draco was enough for him?

What if he sent him back?

What if? What if? What if?

Harry squeezed his eyes shut and forced himself to take a deep breath. He held it in for a few seconds before slowly letting it out. He thought that this would likely work better if he sat up, but Harry simply didn’t have the energy to do it. 

Still, after a few minutes, he was able to regulate his breathing and calm down. 

Snape wouldn’t leave him, he reminded himself. He said the words over and over again like a mantra. He trusted him. He wouldn’t leave him. 

By the time that Snape knocked on his own door, Harry felt better. And more than that, he was proud of himself for being able to pull himself from the crushing weight of his worries. He still felt angry that Snape had sprung such a huge life event on him, but he recognized that he was only angry at Snape for that, and not for what he was afraid Snape might do. 

Remus would be proud of him, too. 

“I thought you were going to bed?” Snape asked from his doorway. 

“I thought you were going to tell me before you asked her to marry you,” Harry replied with as much attitude as he dared. 

Snape sighed and a moment later Harry saw the tops of his shoes as he stood beside him. He didn’t say anything, so with a groan, Harry pushed himself up to sitting, though he continued to stare resolutely down at the floor.

“I’m sorry,” Snape said after a moment.

Harry did look up then. “You are?”

Snape sat down in one of the chairs across from the couch. “I am. You’re right. I promised you that I would let you know ahead of time, and I didn’t. But, Harry, please understand that it wasn’t intentional. I hadn’t planned to ask her tonight or even any time this summer.” 

“Then why did you?” Harry asked.

Snape shook his head. “I don’t know. We were fighting alongside each other one minute and the very next thing I knew, I’d asked and she’d said yes. I don’t regret it, mind you,” he rushed to say, “but I’d like to think that had I given it more thought, I could have come up with some place better than the middle of a battle to propose.” 

Harry scoffed but otherwise said nothing. 

“Harry, look at me, please. Tell me what’s going on because I thought you were okay with me dating Evelyn.”

“I am,” Harry said defensively. 

“Then what’s the problem? Aside from the fact that I didn’t tell you. I feel like there’s more going on here.” 

“It’s nothing. I’m fine now,” Harry assured him.

The look Snape gave him said he didn’t believe him. 

Harry let out a frustrated breath. “I was upset for a bit,” he finally admitted, “but it wasn’t about Evelyn. Not really.”

“Tell me,” Snape said, leaning forward in the chair. 

Harry bit his lip before finally giving in. “I started worrying again that once you married Evelyn, you wouldn’t want me anymore. Especially not now that you’ve got Draco, too. I guess I sort of got in my head, but I’m alright now. I tried the breathing exercises I’ve been practicing with Remus, and they helped. Honest, Dad,” Harry went on. “I’m fine now. I’m not even all that upset that you didn’t tell me anymore. At least not now that I know you didn’t plan it. I think I’m just tired.” 

“You’re sure?” Snape asked, moving to sit beside him. He put his arm around Harry’s shoulders and pulled him against his side. 

“Yeah.”

“How are you dealing with coming off of the Dreamless Sleep?” 

Harry groaned. “You know that I’m fine.”

“Any nightmares the last few nights?”

“Would Jenka tell you if I had one if I didn’t tell you first?”

Snape nodded. “She would.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Then why do you bother asking me?”

“I can’t tell if the agitation is coming from the over use of the potion or if it’s typical teenager.” Harry didn’t reply and Snape went on, “Either way, sleep will no doubt help.”

“What time is it?” Harry asked.

Snape looked at his watch. “Half past five in the morning. I think we could both do with some sleep, but I’ll wake us around lunch time. I don’t want you two to sleep all day and then stay up again all night.” 

Harry nodded before moving to his bed. 

“Do you have a ring yet?” he asked. “For Evelyn?”

Snape paused. “I do not. Perhaps I should add that to the list of things to do later.”

“That might be a good idea,” Harry said with a grin. 

“Harry,” Snape said as he held out his hand for his glasses, “there is one other thing.”

“What is it?” Harry asked, sitting back up and putting his glasses back on. 

“I’m going to file for Draco’s adoption after lunch.”

Harry frowned. “Is that all? I thought that was already done.”

Snape smiled. “Not officially.” 

Harry lay back down and finally passed Snape his glasses. “Well, then officially get it done. We’ll be going back to school soon. He won’t want to go back as a Malfoy.”

Snape ruffled his hair before waving his wand and turning out the lights. “You really are a remarkable young man, Harry.”

Harry huffed. “Will being remarkable get me ungrounded?”

“No,” Snape said flatly before closing the door behind him. 

“It was worth a try!” Harry called out, making Snape shake his head at the boy’s audacity. 

Chapter Text

When Snape left Harry’s room, he had every intention of going straight to bed, though just as he reached his bedroom door, he heard the floo roar to life. 

Snape could count on one hand the people who had access to floo into his home unannounced, and since his parents would have the decency to use the front door, or at the very least send a note ahead, it could only be…

“Sev?”

Remus. 

Snape rolled his eyes before turning away from his room with a sigh and heading back downstairs. 

“What could you possibly want, Remus?” Snape asked when he entered the living room. 

“I heard about what happened at the tournament,” Remus said as he took a seat in one of the armchairs. “Is everyone alright?”

Snape nodded. “Everyone is fine. A bit shaken up but that’s to be expected.” He took the chair opposite Remus and waved his wand silently. A bottle of Firewhiskey and two tumblers appeared on the table between them and Snape poured them both a glass. 

Remus took the proffered glass before reaching into the pocket of his robes and pulling out a copy of the morning paper. He passed it to Snape and said, “The Daily Prophet sent out an early edition. Do they know who cast the Dark Mark?”

Snape glanced down at the front of the paper, a picture of the Dark Mark writhing against the early morning sky and shook his head. “No. All the Death Eaters disapparated the moment the Ministry arrived, but the damage was already done. They caused the panic they wanted.”

Remus took a long swallow of his drink before leaning forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “I suppose we should just be grateful no one was terribly hurt, but I can’t help but feel like this is only the beginning.”

Sighing, Snape nodded. “I know what you mean,” he said before they both grew quiet, each lost in their own thoughts of both present and past. 

They sipped their drinks until at last, Remus stood. “I better get back,” he said. “You should get some sleep.” 

“Remus,” Snape said, causing him to turn back. “I’ve already told the boys, and I’m sure by now all the Weasley’s know, so you won’t be the first, but you can be among the first to know…”

Remus looked at him in confusion, his brows raised nearly into his hairline. “What are you going on about? First to know what?” he asked.

Snape ran his finger along the edge of the glass as he spoke the words that he still couldn’t even believe were true. “I asked Evelyn to marry me,” he said softly, “and she said yes.”

Snape glanced back up at Remus only to find him smiling brightly.

“Sev, that’s wonderful news!” Remus retook his seat, though he sat on the very edge and faced Snape. “I take it Harry and Draco took the news well?”

Snape inclined his head. “Mostly,” he said. He didn’t want to get into anything more tonight, though he did add, “Change is hard for Harry, but he’s alright.”

Remus nodded. “Of course he is. It’ll be a transition, but he’ll be fine once he gets used to the idea. When are you planning to break the news to Mum and Dad?”

Snape’s brows creased and he sat his glass down on the table with a soft thunk. “Oh, I don’t know. I hadn’t really—” He trailed off and looked away.

Remus laughed. “You’re afraid to tell her.” 

“I’m not,” Snape said firmly.

“I don’t think you need to worry,” he said as he stood once more. “I’m sure she’ll be thrilled. Probably.” 

“I suppose I could lead with the formal adoption of Draco,” Snape mused.

Remus’s eyes widened, though he recovered quickly. “Well, well,” he teased, “for someone who was so intent on staying a bachelor, domestication sure suits you well.”

Snape huffed as he stood. “Time for you to go,” he said, ushering his brother toward the fireplace. 

“Now, don’t get upset, Sevy,” he said with another laugh. “All I’m saying is—”

“Dinner, here. Tonight. Seven. Do not be late.” Snape shoved Remus lightly into the floo and threw down some floo powder as he said, “Remus Lupin’s Flat.” 

Remus disappeared with a laugh in a rush of green flames. 

***

The sun was already high in the sky when Snape awoke, and he groaned as he pushed the blankets away and sat up. He wiped the sleep from his eyes as his bare feet met the cold wood floor. 

The clock which hung on the opposite wall told him it was already a quarter past one in the afternoon and he’d promised Harry he would wake them up around lunch time. 

Though as he stood to make his way to the loo, he heard Harry and Draco moving toward the staircase, laughing and talking as they headed for the kitchen. Rook’s paws tapped against the floor as he no doubt followed after them. 

“Alright then,” he murmured. 

Snape got ready quickly and when he entered the kitchen ten minutes later, the table was spread with eggs, sausages, toast, and jam. His own place was empty aside from the Daily Prophet which sat beside his plate. 

“Morning, Dad.”

“Morning, Uncle Sev.”

Snape pulled out his chair and took a seat, his coffee appearing in front of him. “Good morning, boys. Did you get enough sleep?”

He began to fill his plate as both Harry and Draco nodded. 

“Good,” Snape said. He took in the pajamas the boys were wearing as he spread a bit of raspberry jam on a slice of toast, and said, “I’ve got a few errands to run today so you need to be ready to go soon.”

“I’m grounded,” Harry said quickly, at the same time that Draco also spoke up.

“I can stay here.” 

Snape put down his toast and raised a questioning eyebrow at Harry first, who squirmed in his seat.

“No one wants to go on errands, Dad. It’s boring. And besides, I am grounded, remember? That’s supposed to mean I’m not allowed to go anywhere.” 

Snape turned to Draco, who shrugged.

“I just think that we’re fourteen, Uncle Sev. We’re old enough to stay by ourselves for a few hours. We’ll behave. I promise.”

Snape sent them both a pointed look before turning back to his food. “In the future, you might try simply saying you don’t want to go. Believe it or not, I actually agree that you’re old enough to stay alone sometimes. I do hope I’m not misplacing my trust in the two of you.”

Snape glanced up to see them both sporting reddened cheeks as they turned their attention to their food. He smirked before taking a sip of his coffee and retreating behind the paper. 

Harry and Draco talked as they ate, and Snape pretended not to notice the way Harry kept sneaking food to Rook, who sat by his side. 

It was just as well for Snape, who had no shortage of things to think about. Summer was nearing an end and they would be heading back to Hogwarts in the coming weeks. Aside from that, there was Draco’s adoption, telling his parents about Evelyn and the wedding, a mountain of lesson plans he had been avoiding, which was in itself highly unusual. Normally Snape would have had his lessons and classes prepared no later than the end of July, and here it was nearing September already! 

“So when is Draco’s adoption party going to be?”

Harry’s question pulled Snape from his thoughts, but before he could answer, Draco spoke up.

“I don’t want a party.” 

Snape raised a brow as he lowered the corner of the Prophet so that he could see the blonde boy to his left. “You don’t?”

Draco shook his head. “No way. We only just had a party for Harry’s birthday. Then before that it was mine, and before that was for Harry’s adoption.” 

“Too bad,” Harry said with a smirk. “If I had to have a party, you should, too.”

“Harry,” Snape said sternly as he put down the paper, his full attention now on Draco. “You don’t want to be celebrated?” he asked.

“It’s not that,” Draco assured him. “I just don’t want to make a big deal out of it.”

Snape sighed. “The chances of Mum not already having a cake made is highly unlikely, but perhaps it would be okay to only have a family dinner instead? We’re already having dinner together here tonight anyway.” 

Draco nodded. “Sure. Then the attention won’t only be on me when you tell them you and Evelyn are getting married,” he added with a grin.

Snape narrowed his eyes. “Cheeky.” He pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. “Alright. I haven’t got a lot of time. Dinner is at seven. I expect you both to look presentable. I’m going to the Ministry to file Draco’s adoption papers, and then to the jewelry store.” 

He moved toward the doorway as he continued talking. “Don’t leave the manor for any reason. Anyone who has any business being here can come through the floo, though I don’t expect they’ll get here before I return.”

“What about anyone who’s not supposed to be here?” Harry asked, grinning as he followed Snape into the parlor.

Snape paused and turned to face them. “I would be alerted immediately, however should an imminent threat arise, you both have your bracelets, which will bring you straight to me. I expect you to use them better than you did last night, Harry,” Snape added sternly.

Harry blushed as he ducked his head. “I was only joking,” he murmured.

“I’m not.” Snape glared down at them both, his arms crossed over his chest. “The wards are strong, but should anything get past them, you are to use those bracelets immediately. Am I understood?”

Draco barely resisted rolling his eyes as he nodded. “We’ve got it. You don’t have to worry about us. We’ll be fine.”

Snape sent them one last nod before reaching for the front door handle and stepping out onto the porch. He disapparated on the spot, leaving the boys in the manor alone. 

***

Two hours later, Snape finally entered Bertram’s Jewelry Shoppe. He’d spent longer than he had thought possible at the Ministry, filling out the necessary forms to get Draco’s adoption underway, and while it wouldn’t be as difficult as Harry’s had been, it wouldn’t be a walk in the park either. 

Snape had the papers Narcissa had left, naming him as Draco’s sole guardian, however it seemed the Ministry was set on finding fault in them. As if Snape had somehow forged the documents. Not that he couldn’t, but that was beside the point. 

Eventually, the situation was sorted and Snape was on his way with the official adoption forms that Draco and Snape would need to sign. Once that was done, they would owl them back to the Ministry, and assuming the dunderheads there didn’t screw anything up, they would be filed and Draco would officially be Snape’s son. 

Snape’s son. 

Snape couldn’t help the way his heart seemed to jolt at the thought. How could Snape, a man who arguably didn’t deserve anything good, somehow hit the proverbial jackpot? Not only had he been able to adopt one child, but a second one as well. And on top of all that, he was about to buy an engagement ring for the woman he loved, and who loved him in return. 

Snape wasn’t sure how he’d gotten so lucky, but he was certain he couldn’t possibly deserve this much happiness. 

“Can I help you, sir?” 

Snape glanced up to see an old, grey-haired wizard, with dark eyes and an impish smile. He stood behind a counter filled with displays holding beautiful gold and silver jewelry. Gleaming diamonds and magnificent rubies twinkled from where they lay against satin pillows. 

Snape cleared his throat and stepped up to the counter. He was wearing a disillusionment charm so he was certain he wouldn’t be recognized, though he still felt awkward about buying a ring. What did he possibly know about picking out something like this. He should have asked Evelyn to come with him so she could be sure to get something she would like. 

“I’m here to buy an engagement ring,” Snape said at last.

The man smiled and spread his hand out across the counter. “What did you have in mind?” He pointed to an extravagant diamond ring that sat proudly atop a gold band. Smaller diamonds encircled it, giving the whole thing the appearance of a halo. 

Snape shook his head. “No. I’m looking for something more elegant. Timeless.” 

“Of course,” the jeweler replied, inclining his head as his eyes moved swiftly across the case. “What about this?” 

Snape followed his gaze to a silver ring with a singular, tear shaped diamond. This one diamond was bigger than all the diamonds from the first ring combined. It was beautiful. Exquisite even, but it was not Evelyn. 

“Why don’t you tell me about her?” he asked.

Snape sighed. He moved further down the counter, his hands clasped firmly behind his back, and leaning over it slightly so that he could see.

“Evelyn is smart, and kind. She’s soft and caring, and yet she’s not afraid of anything. She speaks her mind, even if her voice shakes. She’s amazing and wonderful, and lovely, and completely mental to have said yes to me.” Snape paused. He looked back to see the jeweler smiling.

“And yet, she did,” he said. 

Snape nodded. “She did.” He turned back to the counter. “I have no idea wh—” Snape pointed at a ring nestled near the back corner of the case. “That’s it.”

The jeweler opened the case and pulled out a ring. It was white gold with a smooth, oval, blue-white stone in the center. Two small diamonds sat on either side. 

“Moonstone,” he said. “Excellent choice, sir.” 

***

Snape sat in his usual place at the head of the table that evening while everyone clapped and cheered as a red velvet cake that was much to big for their small gathering, appeared in mid-air, hovering only a moment before gently setting itself on the table. 

Draco sat in his usual place to Snape’s left, while Harry sat on the right beside Remus. Brielle sat beside Draco with Evelyn on her other side, across from Minerva, and Albus took the remaining seat at the other end. 

Snape reached his hand out and gently squeezed Draco’s shoulder, smiling when the teen seemed to lean into the touch. They had each signed the adoption papers before dinner since Draco didn’t want to make a show of it, and they were already on their way back to the Ministry, in the care of Snape’s owl, Aegis. 

“We’re official brothers now, right?” Harry said as Minerva cut a slice of cake and passed it to Draco. 

Snape wondered how she knew red velvet was his favorite.

“Thanks,” he said, settling it in front of him. He turned to Harry with a broad grin. “If someone had said I’d be big brother to Harry Potter last year, I’d have thought they’d gone mental.”

Everyone laughed except for Harry, who said, “Oi, already with that “big brother” stuff. What rubbish. We’re the same age!”

“I’m older,” Draco countered.

“By a month!” 

“And twenty-six days.”

Harry opened his mouth to retort, but before he could, Remus leaned down and said, “Don’t waste your breath, Harry, they never give up.” 

Harry rolled his eyes at Draco’s smug expression but turned his attention back to the cake Minerva had given him. 

When everyone had nearly finished their cake, Snape stood up, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. Though it was Evelyn’s eyes he couldn’t look away from as he said, “I know this evening is to celebrate Draco, but since we’re all here, I suppose now is as good a time as any to make one more announcement.”

Snape glanced at everyone in turn, taking in the smiles of encouragement from Harry, Draco, and Remus, then the looks of confusion from his parents. 

“Mum, Dad, Evelyn and I are getting married.” 

Albus’s eyes lit up behind his thin framed glasses and he clapped his hands together in excitement. “What wonderful news!” he exclaimed. 

Minerva’s smile, however, didn’t appear as she looked between Snape and Evelyn. “What?”

Chapter Text

“What?” 

“Evelyn and I are getting married,” Snape repeated. “I’ve asked her and she’s agreed.” 

The room was quiet as Snape and Minerva stood, facing each other. 

“But you’ve only just started dating. Don’t you think it would be wise to wait a while before jumping into this?”

“I’m not jumping into anything,” Snape assured her. “I’ve been thinking of marrying Evelyn for weeks now, I just didn’t think I’d have the courage to actually ask her.”

Minerva sighed, but before she could reply, Snape went on, “And I know we’ve only been dating for a short while, but that’s entirely my own fault.”

“Perhaps the two of you might—” Albus tried to interrupt but it was no use.

“Have you taken the boys into consideration?” Minerva asked. “This decision effects them as well, you know.”

“Of course I have,” Snape snapped.

“Severus,” Evelyn spoke up, glancing between the two.

“What is it, Mum?” Snape asked as he stepped back from the table and tossed his napkin down. “What is your problem with Evelyn?”

Minerva recoiled as if he’d slapped her. “Evelyn is not who I have a problem with.” She turned to Evelyn and reiterated, “I do not have a problem with you.”

Evelyn nodded and reached out to squeeze Minerva’s hand. “I know,” she said softly.

“Then what is it?” Snape demanded. “Tell me, but know that no matter what you say, it won’t change my mind.”

“Severus,” Albus said sharply, catching the attention of everyone at the table except for Minerva, who stood up straighter and stepped away from the table as well, moving to stand in front of her oldest.

“I don’t want to see you hurt again!” she said, her eyes watching him fiercely. “Because I was there after Alicia. We all were, and we helped you pick up the pieces and because I don’t know that you could handle it a second time! Is it so terrible? To not want to watch your heart break again?”

Snape shook his head and let out a sigh. “Alicia didn’t break my heart,” he said resolutely. “I broke hers. She would have destroyed herself if she’d stayed with me. I was in no place to be able to sustain a relationship, especially not a healthy one.” Snape gripped the edges of the chair Harry sat in, his knuckles turning white, though when he spoke again, his voice was much more calm. “I pushed her away long before she finally left. I wouldn’t let her in, Mum. No matter how hard she tried, I kept myself closed off and I made it unbearable for her to stay with me.”

 Snape glanced around the table. He took in the way Harry and Draco looked up at him, and how he hadn’t noticed Harry flinch even once during this conversation. The way Brielle smiled softly beside Draco. He took in Remus sitting quietly with his head bowed and he remembered how only a year ago they couldn’t be in the same room together without arguing. 

He gestured to his family. “Look around you. That’s not the man I am anymore.”

***

Dinner had ended soon after Snape’s row with Minerva, and though he didn’t think she was entirely on board with the idea of his and Evelyn’s wedding, she had apologized and everything was alright. 

He sat in his armchair with a book opened in his lap, while Draco and Harry — taking advantage of the reprieve from punishment that Snape had granted him in celebration of Draco’s adoption — pulled Evelyn and Brielle outside to show them the new, no doubt foolish, stunts they had learned on the skateboards. Snape had seriously considered putting a cushioning charm on the ramps if only to give himself some peace of mind. 

“She’s only worried about you, you know?”

Snape glanced up to see Evelyn standing in the doorway. He hadn’t even heard her come inside.

Evelyn moved across the room and sat down on the arm of the chair before letting her hand rest on Snape’s shoulder.

He sighed as he closed his book and nodded. “I know,” he agreed.

Evelyn ran her hand through the hair at his neck, her nails scratching gently against his scalp.

“Do you think we’re rushing things?” she asked softly.

Snape looked up at her, a frown forming on his face. “If I thought you would agree, I’d find someone to marry us tonight. But do you?”

She shook her head. “No. I know that we’ve only technically been dating a few weeks, but we were talking for a lot longer, and we’re planning to have a long engagement, right?”

“Whatever you want,” Snape said with a rare smile.

“I think I’d like a late summer wedding. This time next year, maybe. I want to give everyone time to get used to the idea.”

Snape nodded. “Agreed.”

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the box with the ring he’d bought at the jewelers. 

“Seems a little anti-climactic now, but I got your ring today,” he said as he held it out to her. 

Evelyn opened the lid and gasped when she saw the Moonstone ring. “Oh, Sev, it’s stunning!”

Snape took it out of the box and slid it onto her finger. “It feels a bit more official now.”

Evelyn smiled. She held out her hand and admired the way the light glinted off the stone. 

“I can’t wait to show it off,” she said with a laugh. “My sister is going to be so shocked.” Evelyn sat up straight with a gasp. “I haven’t told her! You haven’t even met them yet!”

Snape reached out and put his hand on hers. “You will tell her, and we can meet soon. Tomorrow even if that will make you happy.”

Evelyn nodded. “You’re right. I’ll tell her tomorrow. Brielle is going back home for the last couple weeks of summer. Maybe we can have dinner with them one evening next week?”

“Of course,” Snape replied.

She leaned back against the chair, her hand once more carding through Snape’s hair. “It’s settled then. I’ll find out what day is good for them and let you know,” she said as Snape leaned into her touch with a contented sigh. 

They sat together for a little while longer before Evelyn broke the silence. “We should get going soon. It’s getting late.”

Snape nodded. “I’ve got to get those boys back on some semblance of a schedule or else they’ll be staying up til all hours of the night when they get back to Hogwarts.”

Evelyn laughed. “As if they don’t already. Honestly, Sev, don’t kid yourself.” 

Snape glared, but as Evelyn stood up, he followed suit and together they walked toward the kitchen and out the back door. 

“Brielle, it’s time to go,” she called as they stepped outside. 

Immediately all color left Snape’s face as he caught sight of the three teenagers. 

Brielle stood off to the side of the skate ramp, while Draco stood on the ground, his wand pointing at Harry who was levitating high above them while on the skateboard. 

Evelyn’s call had startled them, and Draco’s spell faltered, sending Harry in a free fall towards the ground. 

Harry yelled out, though Snape was quick to raise his wand and catch him, lowering him gently to the ground. 

“To me,” he said every bit as sternly as he always did, as he pointed to the space directly in front of him. 

Both boys exchanged a glance before slowly walking toward him, with Brielle following behind. 

“Brielle,” Evelyn said, “what were you three doing out here?”

Before Brielle could answer, Harry spoke up, “She didn’t have anything to do with it.”

Brielle turned sharp eyes to Harry and said, “You don’t have to lie for me, Harry Potter!” She then looked back to Evelyn and said, “We were just doing tricks. It was only a bit of fun.”

Snape could see Evelyn softening at the girl’s words, and he knew he would have to remain firm with them, otherwise he was certain Evelyn would let them get away with anything. 

“Fun that could have gotten someone hurt,” he said with a pointed look to each of them in turn. “And using magic outside of Hogwarts? Can I assume that was your idea, Draco?”

Draco blushed. “Yes, sir, but you’ve let us use magic over the summer before, and—”

“Only ever when I’ve been present to supervise,” Snape interrupted. “And I would certainly never allow you to levitate each other on a skateboard! If you’d wanted to fly, you should have gotten your brooms.” He held out his hand, palm up. “I think I’ll hold on to your wand for a while, Draco. We’ve been over this often enough that you ought to know better by now.”

Draco sighed but passed his wand to Snape without argument, though he snapped it into his hand with more force than was necessary. 

Snape turned to Harry and raised his eyebrow in silent question. He wondered if Harry would admit to also using magic or if he would keep it to himself. After all, only Draco had been caught.

Harry groaned, rolling his eyes before he pulled out his own wand and held it out for Snape to take. 

As frustrated as he was with the teen, Snape couldn’t help the feeling of pride that welled up inside him at Harry’s honesty.

“And this is exactly why you’re not allowed your wand during the summer, young lady,” Evelyn said, frowning at Brielle.

Snape turned toward her with a frown of his own. “You don’t let her keep her wand?”

Evelyn looked back at him curiously. “Her parents don’t, but I agree. Why on earth does she need her wand outside of school?”

“For safety, obviously,” Snape countered.

Evelyn raised an eyebrow at him. “If that’s the case, why are you taking them from the boys?”

Snape shook his head and gestured to the manor. “I’m taking them for a day or so at most, and because they’re not going anywhere without me. If they were, I would most certainly give them back.”

“If they don’t have them to begin with, they wouldn’t be tempted to use them.”

“If they don’t have them and something happens, how do you expect them to defend themselves? I would have been more upset tonight to find that Harry and Draco didn’t have them at all.”

“Er, hello?” said Harry. “We’re still here.”

Snape scowled at them before pointing to the door. “Inside. All of you.”

Harry, Draco, and Brielle slid past the adults and into the kitchen, but before Evelyn could follow after them, Snape caught her elbow and held her back. “I’m sorry,” he said. “How you take care of Brielle is none of my business, but I would caution you to remember that we don’t live in a perfectly safe world.”

“She’s only a child, Severus.”

“And without her wand, she’s a completely defenseless child, Evelyn.”

Evelyn glanced between Snape and the door, before at last giving a small nod. 

***

Once Evelyn and Brielle had gone home, Harry, Draco, and Snape went back to the living room. Draco took one end of the couch, and Harry flopped down on the other, before reaching over and tapping the table twice. 

Their tea set appeared instantly and Harry kicked off his shoes before filling his cup. 

Snape, who stood by the fireplace, glared down at them. “The two of you look awfully content considering I just took away your wands.” He held them out for them to see before tapping them with his own wand and making them disappear. 

Harry and Draco exchanged looks before Harry sat up straighter in his seat, though he kept his feet on the couch, burrying them between the cushions. “We’re sorry,” he said sincerely. “We shouldn’t have been using magic without permission.”

“Even though sometimes you tell us to, so you’re being a bit hypocritical,” Draco added.

Harry and Snape both turned to the blonde. Harry with a dark look and Snape one of surprise. 

“Draco,” Snape said lowly.

“Sorry,” Draco replied, looking down at his tea cup.

When the silence stretched out, Harry decided to change the subject in an effort to take Snape’s attention away from Draco. “So do you think Grandma will come to the wedding? Was she really upset with you?”

Snape glanced over to Harry, then with a sigh, he sat down in his armchair. “Yes. She will come to the wedding. There’s no need to worry anything. I think she was caught off guard, that’s all.”

“When is the wedding going to be?” Draco asked. “Soon?”

Snape shook his head. “Not until next summer. Certainly not anytime soon.” He pointed his wand at the tea pot which rose in the air and filled a cup before settling back on the tray. Then the cup rose and drifted to Snape’s outstretched hand. 

“What’s going to happen after you get married?” Harry took a sip of his own tea before adding, “I mean, where will we live? Here? Or are we going to have to move into Evelyn’s flat?”

“I’m not sure—” Snape started.

“She’s got less stuff than us,” Draco said. “She should have to move here.”

“Draco’s right. And what about when we go back to Hogwarts. Is she going to stay there with you?”

“I hadn’t thought—”

“Before they get married?” Draco waggled his eyebrows at Snape with a grin. “Bet you’d like that, wouldn’t you, Uncle Sev?”

Harry kicked lightly at Draco’s leg. “I meant after, you dolt.”

“Boys—”

“Who says they have to wait?” Draco turned back to Snape then. “Are you two going to have more children?”

Snape nearly spit out his tea, while Harry looked up in surprise. 

“What?” Snape asked, sure he’d misheard.

“Well, you have us,” Draco said, “but Evelyn doesn’t have any children of her own. Maybe she wants one.”

“I… She hasn’t said,” Snape answered. “I think perhaps we should all sit down together and discuss this. All of this,” he rushed to add. “We’re having dinner with her sister and brother-in-law one evening this week, maybe afterwards we can all have a family meeting. The two of you can spend the next few days coming up with any questions or concerns, and we can talk about it all together.”

Harry and Draco exchanged looks before they both nodded in agreement. 

“Very well,” Snape said. “Now finish your tea and get ready for bed. You two have become far to accustomed to staying up all night, and we’ll be back in Hogwarts before you know it.”

Both boys groaned, but they didn’t protest much. Harry was feeling quite tired, anyway. 

He was the first to abandon his tea, bidding Snape and Draco goodnight, before climbing the stairs to get ready for bed. 

Back in the living room, Draco sat quietly as he stared down at his empty tea cup.

“Is something else on your mind, Draco?” Snape asked. 

“It really is official now, right?” he asked softly.

Snape sighed as he nodded. He stood up and crossed the room to sit beside Draco, putting his down on the tray and vanishing it to the kitchen. “It really is,” he answered. “How are you feeling?”

“Relieved.” Draco swallowed hard before looking up at Snape. “He can’t change his mind, though, right? They can’t make me go back?”

Snape reached up and placed his hand on Draco’s neck, giving it a light squeeze as he said, “If they tried, they would get one hell of a fight, and then they would lose.”

***

Chapter Text

Harry and Draco stood in opposite corners of the kitchen. 

Rook paced back and forth between them. He would nudge first Harry’s hand, whining when he didn’t give him any attention, and then move on to repeat the process with Draco. 

Snape was also pacing. In the parlor, back and forth in front of the fireplace. Every time he thought he was calm enough to face his two boys, he remembered the events of the last thirty minutes, and resumed his pacing once again. 

Alan and Marie Dubois were thrilled to hear of Evelyn’s engagement. However, Marie was less than thrilled to hear about it only hours before meeting her new future brother-in-law. A meeting which started out perfectly fine, and ended in utter disaster.

The dinner portion of the evening had gone smoothly, with adults and children getting along well. It wasn’t until the after dinner drinks that things began to go awry.

Snape was listening contently as Evelyn lead the conversation with her family while Harry, Draco, and Brielle disappeared into the parlor. For a while, all was quiet, then suddenly the house burst into sounds of explosion after explosion, all coming from the parlor. 

Snape and the others were immediatly on their feet and they raced down the hallway, wands raised as if expecting to find an attack. 

Instead, what they found were three teenagers standing in the middle of the room, eyes wide as they looked around at the distruction. Their faces were covered in soot and their hair stood on end. 

The room was littered in glass and debris and burn marks covered the walls.

“What happened in here?” Alan exclaimed, eyes scanning the room.

“Are you three alright?” 

“Are you hurt?”

Both Evelyn and Marie immediately began inspecting them for injuries, turning their heads to the side and running a quick diagnostic spell on them. Though they assured them they were all fine, the two women wanted to be certain. 

“We were playing Exploding Snap,” Brielle explained, stepping away from her mother. 

“Except Exploding Snap doesn’t cause damage like this,” Alan said, already waving his wand at the mess and putting everything back in order. 

“It does when you play with a prank deck,” Snape offered, his dark eyes boring into Harry and Draco, who both remained silent.

This wasn’t the first time Snape had seen the effects of a trick deck of cards. One day last year, a few of his 4th year Slytherins had gotten hold of a deck and nearly blown up their dormitory. Every card exploded at once, sending them flying like small missiles in every direction. 

Snape had been so angry that after he’d seen to it that all four boys were unharmed, he gave them each detention and confiscated every deck in Slytherin house until he could be sure there weren’t any more. 

“We didn’t know it was a joke deck,” Harry defended.

Snape only narrowed his eyes at him. 

The evening ended soon after that. The boys made their appologies for the mess, then Snape sent them home through the floo, assuring them that he would be right behind them. 

Another five minutes passed and Snape finally walked through the kitchen doorway. 

“Alright,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning his hip against the counter. “Turn around and someone explain to me what happened tonight.”

Harry and Draco both turned around, but neither gave any explanation, and eventually, Snape’s eyes settled on Harry, hoping he would be the easiest to convince to talk. 

Harry immediately shook his head. “Don’t look at me,” he said defensively. “I didn’t even know you could get a prank deck of Exploding Snap. The whole game is a prank already.” 

Snape inclined his head, believing Harry’s words, before turning to look at Draco, who huffed and rolled his eyes.

“Well, I didn’t know they would do that!” he exclaimed. 

Harry glanced, wide-eyed at Draco.

“You knew that I banned them from Slytherin last year. You knew why,” Snape was seething. Of all the foolish things to do. They could have gotten hurt! 

“I didn’t actually see what happened,” Draco shot back. “I thought you were being dramatic.”

“You thought—” Snape paused before he could work himself up again. He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. “Where did you even get them?” he asked after a moment of silence. 

When Draco didn’t immediatly answer him, choosing instead to look down at the carpet, Snape said, “Draco,” drawing out his name as if it alone were a reprimand.

Draco sighed. “From the twins,” he admitted, reluctantly.

Snape shook his head. Of course Fred and George had something to do with this, he thought with annoyance. “Do you have any more?” he asked.

“None. I promise.” 

“I—”

From the parlor, Snape heard the floo roar to life, and a second later, Evelyn’s voice called out, “I’m here, and I brought the left over dessert.” 

Snape watched as Harry’s eyes flitted to the doorway, noticibly brightening at the thought of more chocolate pudding, no doubt. Feeling as if he’d gone completely soft, Snape nodded toward the door. “Alright, go on, but this better be the last time you take anything from Fred and George Weasley,” he said, sternly. “Either of you.” 

Both boys gave heartfelt nods before quickly moving past Snape. 

He followed them out to find Evelyn already shooing them upstairs to get cleaned up. Snape deflated a bit. He should have thought to tell them to do that straight away. 

Rook nudged his hand and Snape looked down with a raised eyebrow before grudgingly reaching out to give the dog a quick scratch behind the ears.

He was definitely going soft. Honestly, much more of this and “Hogwarts most feared Potions Professor” would be replaced with “Hogwarts most cuddly.” 

“What are you thinking about?” Evelyn asked, pulling him back to the present. 

“Them,” he answered. “Always them.”

“I’m sure they feel very lucky to have you always looking after them,” Evelyn said seriously, from where she sat in the other armchair. 

Snape shook his head and moved across the room to take his seat. “I’m the one who’s lucky,” he said. “To have all three of you.” 

He tapped the end table with his knuckles and the tea set appeared as it always did, then another tap and bowls and spoons for pudding appeared as well. 

Evelyn let her elbow rest on the chair and dropped her chin into her hand as she smiled at him. “Did you notice Marie?” she asked. “She really liked you.”

Snape raised an eyebrow at her. “I find that highly doubtful. Nobody likes me.”

“Are we nobody, then?” Harry asked from the doorway, his face and hands freshly scrubbed of the soot. 

Draco moved around Harry and reached for the bowl of pudding Evelyn held out to him. 

“That’s not what I meant,” Snape said quietly when Harry didn’t cross the threshold of the room. He caught Harry’s eye and nodded his head to the couch. “Now, I believe we’re here to have a family meeting.” 

Harry smiled and took his own bowl of pudding before claiming his corner of the couch. 

Draco took the other, and Rook settled down on the floor between them. 

“I hear the two of you have questions,” Evelyn said as she poured herself a cup of tea. 

Draco nodded. “When are you getting married?” 

Snape shook his head. Leave it to Draco to get straight to the point. 

“I already told you,” he said, “Likely next summer.”

“So nearly a year?” 

Evelyn smiled. “Well, naturally. It takes time to plan a wedding, you know?”

“Where will we live?” Harry asked. He pulled his feet up beneath him and ran his spoon through his pudding, though he had yet to take a bite.

“Here,” Snape answered. 

When Harry looked to Evelyn as if to confirm, she agreed. “It makes the most sense. The two of you already have bedrooms here, and my house is hardly big enough for all of us.”

“And you have less stuff,” Draco said, repeating his words from before. 

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” Evelyn said with a wink. “I have quite a bit.”

Snape tried to imagine what it would be like; to have her things next to his. Evelyn probably had plenty of things which served no purpose other than to look soft and pretty. He wondered how they would look beside the dark and ugly things he owned. 

“When would you move in? Soon? Will it be while we’re at Hogwarts?” 

Harry’s questions brought him back to the conversation at hand. He shook his head. “I doubt it,” he said, bringing his focus back to his son. “Hogwarts has rules about who is allowed to live there. Unless there are special circumstances, you have to be married or a child of a professor.” 

“It’s a school,” Draco deadpanned. “It’s full of children.” 

Snape sent him a mild glare. “Obviously, I mean a child who is too young to attend. But that brings up another thing.”

When both boys and Evelyn look at him, Snape cleared his throat. “It’s about our rooms at Hogwarts. I only have two bedrooms…” He trailed off and waited for that to sink in for the two teens. It only took a few seconds.

“So that means…” Harry started.

Draco frowned. “You want us to share a room?”

“My room?” Harry supplied.

Snape sighed. “I know that it’s not ideal, but we don’t have much of a choice. I can make your room larger with an expansion spell, but I can’t add a third bedroom.”

Harry and Draco exchanged a look that told Snape exactly what they thought of that idea. Snape couldn’t blame them. He and Remus had also had to share the extra room in Albus and Minerva’s quarters occasionally, and while it had never been fun, they’d made do. 

It was different for Harry though. He knew it was. The bedroom in Snape’s quarters was Harry’s first real room. It wasn’t the cupboard under the stairs, and it wasn’t Dudley’s second bedroom. It was all his, and Snape felt bad for even bringing it up. 

“Harry?” he asked softly.

Harry’s bright green eyes flitted up to meet his own before he gave a resigned sigh. “Okay, but you can make it really big, right?”

Snape nodded. “I can. And I will even promise that as often as we can, on weekends where you both want to stay, we can come back here. You already know that Remus and I went home occasionally. I don’t see why we couldn’t.”

Draco nodded. “And really, what are the chances that we both want to stay on the same night?” 

“What sort of special circumstance?” Harry asked suddenly, turning back to Snape and changing the subject. 

“What do you mean?” Snape asked. He knew this wouldn’t be the last conversation they had about the room, but they could come back to that.

“For Evelyn to be able to move into Hogwarts,” he answered. 

“Oh. Like if my house sells more quickly than we anticipate, and suddenly I’m without a place to live,” Evelyn said. “I would think that would count. Though I doubt we would run into that problem.” 

Harry fidgeted in his seat, staring down into his bowl. 

“What is it, Harry?” Snape asked.

Harry looked up at him, his green eyes wary as if he were afraid to voice his question allowed. “Are you going to have more children?” he asked.

Beside him, Snape saw Evelyn soften. 

“I suppose there’s always a chance that we might. Someday.” She stood up and moved to sit between Draco and Harry, putting her arm easily around both of their shoulders. “But for now, Severus and I are both perfectly content for it to remain just the four of us.”

***

A few evenings later, Snape sat at the desk in his lab as he added a few notes to his fifth year lesson plans. Term would start in just over three weeks, so he needed to concentrate, but his mind was filled with so many other things.

Harry and his nightmares. He’d had fewer over the last couple of weeks, but they still weren’t gone completely. Harry seemed to be making progress with Remus though, and he was certainly grateful for that.

Draco. He had asked to drop the Malfoy name all together, which was absolutely fine with Snape, but he worried about how the students would treat him. Especially those in his own house. Draco had been insistent, though, and Snape had promised not to interfere unless absolutely necessary. And he would keep his word, but he would be watching him closely all the same.

He asked to change his middle name, too. That was something Snape understood all too well. To be constantly reminded of what you left behind. Snape had never changed his. He remained Severus Tobias, and though he hated it with passion, he’d grown used to it. He’d accepted it and learned to live with it. But had he ever given any thought to change it? Truthfully, he hadn’t even considered it might be an option.

But it was for Draco. And if Draco wanted to drop Lucius, well, Snape was going to make it happen. But to what? Snape didn’t know, and so far Draco hadn’t come up with any ideas either.

Evelyn also weighed heavily on his mind. Snape was still trying to come to terms with the idea that she could love him, much less be willing to marry him. And yet she had agreed.

A dark voice in the back of his mind spoke up. “She wouldn’t have agreed if she knew what kind of man you really were. What sort of things you’ve done.”

Those same words had been circling his mind ever since the conversation with Draco the night the Death Eaters had attacked. Draco hadn’t asked any more questions, but Snape thought it was only a matter of time before he did. He had to be curious. Snape knew he would have been.

Snape’s burning curiosity had gotten him into trouble more than once in his younger days, especially when he couldn’t stop himself from eavesdropping on private conversations. It was, admittedly, something he and Harry had in common, though Snape would never tell him that.

He put his quill down and scrubbed his hand across his face. He was going to have to face what he’d done during his time as spy sooner or later. The question was whether or not those he loved would ever look at him the same afterwards.

A soft knock on the door kept Snape’s thoughts from spiraling any further, and he glanced at the clock on the wall. A quarter past one in the morning.

“Come in,” he answered immediately.

Harry peered around the door. “Dad?”

“Harry, what are you doing up so late? Was it a nightmare?” Snape asked, concern coating his voice.

Harry shook his head as he came into the room and shut the door behind him. “I haven’t been to sleep yet,” he admitted sheepishly.

Snape sighed. “Then what’s keeping you awake?” He gestured to the chair opposite his desk and Harry sat down.

“I wanted to talk to you.” Harry kept his gaze lowered to the arm of the chair. He brushed his thumb idly across the smooth wood on the corner. “It’s about Draco.”

Snape raised his eyebrows. He hadn’t been expecting that. “What about him?”

Harry bit his lip before letting out a slow breath. “He lied to you the other night.” He glanced up at Severus through his dark fringe of hair before going on. “He knew the cards were a prank deck. I owled Fred and George, and they said they told him exactly what would happen and that he should be careful with them.”

Snape narrowed his eyes. It wasn’t as if he didn’t believe Harry, but he wondered what his motivations were for bringing it to his attention. “Why are you telling me this?” he asked. “I thought you and Draco were passed all this? Passed trying to get each other into trouble?”

Harry’s head shot up. “We are!” he said, as if he were offended by the very idea. “At least, I am. I’m not trying to get him into trouble, Dad. I’m trying to get you to help him.”

Snape sat up straighter at that. “Help him? What do you mean?”

“Well, because he’s testing you.” Harry looked at Snape pointedly. “I mean, surely you get that?”

Snape felt like laughing. “Testing me?” he asked. “What on Earth for? Draco doesn’t have any reason to test me. He knows precisly what is expected from him. Nothing has changed.”

Harry’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. “You’re joking, right?” When Snape didn’t do anything except glare at him, Harry shook his head. “Dad, everything has changed. You’re not just his godfather anymore. He’s not staying here for a week out of the summer and then going home.”

Snape let out a sigh. “Harry, I appreciate the concern, but I really don’t think—”

“Remember when we snuck out last year to that concert?” Harry interrupted, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting up straighter. “You brought us back, and after the lecture of a lifetime, I got grounded for a whole month. But what did Draco get? A few measely detentions and some chores.”

Before Snape could form a response, Harry went on. “If that had happened now, we both would have gotten grounded.”

Snape nodded. “You’re right about that. But I’m not sure you’re right about this. Why would Draco feel the need to test me? I’ll admit that things have changed, but I can’t imagine Draco is suddenly unsure of where he stands with me.”

Harry shook his head. “I think you’re wrong. Uncle Remus said it’s natural for kids to act out when stuff like this happens. He said he did it a lot with Grandma, and said you turned into a right brat after he came to live with you guys.”

Snape narrowed his eyes. He was definitely going to have a talk with Uncle Remus about that. “And you think that Draco lied about the cards to see what I would do?”

“Not just the cards,” Harry said, “but yes.”

Snape wasn’t blind to the possibility, though he still didn’t see Draco’s reasoning. “What else, then?” he asked.

Harry was ready with his answer as he pushed himself up in his seat and pulled his leg beneath him. “What about when we used magic to do tricks on the skateboard? All you did was take our wands for a day, even though it wasn’t the first time you’ve caught Draco using his wand, and technically part of the reason I’m grounded right now is because I used magic to put up silencing spells.” Harry paused for a second to think before adding, “I suppose that one helped us both, but the point still stands. Then there’s all the times over the last week alone that Draco has been disrespectful and you haven’t done anything more than glare at him. Not even one single, ‘Mind your cheek, young man,’” he finished in a rather close imitation of Snape’s slow drawl.

Snape could admit that there was some truth there. If he were being honest, he had been letting Draco get away with quite a bit, but it was only because he thought he was having a hard time adjusting to having been abandoned by his parents. And there was still a part of him which believed that, though he couldn’t deny that Harry could also be right.

He sighed. “Alright. I will talk to Draco, but in the mean time, I want you to stop worrying about it.”

“But—”

Snape shook his head. “No, Harry. Let me be the parent here. I can take care of Draco, and you just worry about yourself.”

When Harry looked as if he might argue, Snape raised his hand. “Promise me, Harry. Promise me you’ll let me handle this. Trust me, remember?”

Harry gave a defeated nod. “Okay, I promise, but make sure you talk to him soon before he goes and does something to get himself in real trouble.”

“I will,” Snape assured him. “And thank you for coming to talk to me about it. Do I dare hope that you’re actually trying to put more trust in me to handle things?”

Harry shrugged, but Snape thought he saw a hint of a smile.

Snape stood up, ushering Harry up as well. “Alright, to bed with you. It’s late.”

“It’s not that late,” Harry teased. “I stay up way later at Hogwarts.”

Snape bit back a groan. “We’ll be talking about that later.”

Harry grinned before leaving Snape’s lab and heading to his room.

Snape watched him go with a smile of his own.

***

The very next morning, Snape was sleeping peacefully until the sound of blasting music woke him.

He sat bolt upright in bed and threw off the covers just as Rook started barking like mad while someone began banging on a door.

Snape barely glanced at the clock on his way out of his room, though the fact that the sun was not yet peeking through the curtains told him all he needed to know.

It was too early for this.

In the hallway, Snape found Harry beating his fist against Draco’s door, yelling for him to open it up.

“What in Merlin’s name is going on?” Snape shouted.

Harry turned steely eyes towards him. “I told you!”

***

Chapter Text

“What in Merlin’s name is going on?” Snape shouted.

Harry turned steely eyes towards him. “I told you!” He stepped aside as Snape crossed the hallway and said, “He’s got the door locked.”

Snape waved his wand at the door and it unlocked before swinging open to reveal Draco standing in the middle of his room, shaking the muggle radio Snape had tweaked so he could pick up wizarding stations.

Draco looked up, shock covering his face as he thrust the radio out for Snape to take. “It won’t turn off!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t do it!”

Snape tapped the radio with his wand and immediately the room fell silent. He took a moment to look around, noticing at once that the room was far messier than it had been the night before when Snape had said goodnight to the teen.

Clothes, both clean and dirty, were thrown haphazardly around as if Draco had tossed them out of his closet without caring where they landed. Books and papers were scattered about on the desk and floor, and an ink pot had been overturned on the bedside table. Draco’s new broom lay carelessly on the couch and his skateboard sat upside down in the corner of the room.

“What happened in here?” Snape asked in confusion.

Draco looked around before glancing back to Snape with wide eyes. “What?” he asked innocently.

“When did your room become such a mess?” Snape put the radio back on the shelf where it normally sat, and gestured around the room with his right hand. “It didn’t look anything like this a few hours ago when you went to bed.”

Draco shrugged his shoulders and turned away from him. “What’s the big deal?” he asked. “Jenka will clean it up.”

Snape felt his temper rising as he stood up straight and crossed his arms over his chest. He caught sight of Harry leaning against the doorway, out of the corner of his eye, his brows raised so high they disappeared beneath his fringe.

“That is not how things work here, young man, and you know it,” Snape said, sternly. “You will clean up your own room.”

“Whatever,” Draco muttered, keeping his head turned away from Snape.

“Jenka?” Snape said, summoning the small elf who appeared with a ‘pop.’

“Yes, Master Snape, sir?” Jenka asked, barely getting the words out before Rook barreled over to her. The dog began to lick her face, wagging his tail in excitement at seeing her.

Jenka smiled, reaching up to pet him effectionately.

“Rook,” Snape scolded, getting the dogs attention. “Leave her alone.”

Rook sat back on his haunches, though it was clear he’d rather keep visiting with his friend.

“Jenka, I don’t want you to clean Draco’s bedroom.”

Jenka’s eyes widened. “Jenka is not to clean, sir? But Jenka is—”

Snape held up his hand. “I know, but that’s an order. Draco is to clean his own room until he learns to treat everyone with respect and not take advantage of you.”

Behind him, Draco scowled. “But that’s—”

“I mean it, Jenka,” Snape went on as if Draco hadn’t spoken. “You will not clean Draco’s room.”

Jenka nodded immediately. “Yes, Master Snape, sir. Jenka understands.”

“Alright then. You may go.”

Jenka disappeared with another ‘pop,’ and Snape turned to face Draco once more.

Draco’s arms were crossed over his chest as he stared angrily down at the floor.

Snape sighed. It was far too early for this. “I want you both in bed now. There’s still a few more hours til breakfast, and I for one could use a bit more sleep.”

Harry gave Snape a pointed look, though he went without complaint, calling Rook to his side as they left the room.

A second later, Snape heard his bedroom door shut.

“Is there something going on, Draco?” Snape asked softly. “Anything you’d like to talk about?”

Draco stubbornly shook his head. “I’m not a child, Uncle Severus. You don’t have to coddle me like one.”

Snape didn’t miss the fact that he’d called him ‘Severus,’ instead of ‘Sev,’ which he’d recently started using more often. It seemed as if Draco was trying to put space between them. Perhaps Harry had been on to something after all.

Well, that simply would not do.

“Alright then,” he said sternly, “you’re not a child, but you are my child, and you are going to get yourself into bed this instant, young man, before this attitude of yours gets you into trouble.” Snape pointed to the bed and Draco wisely sat down. “You are going to get some sleep, and then tomorrow you will be cleaning this room right after breakfast.”

“Is that all?” Draco asked, his tone still sharp.

Snape raised a challenging brow. “That depends entirely on you.”

Draco looked as if he’d like to say more, but Snape only pointed to the bed again, and Draco let himself fall back against the pillows.

After putting out the lights, Snape walked out of the room and softly closed the door behind him.

He really hoped that Draco was in a better mood tomorrow. For both their sakes.

***

 Snape didn’t go back to sleep. He tried, but only tossed and turned for the next couple of hours before giving up and going downstairs. He tapped the table in the kitchen and a mug of steaming coffee appeared alongside the morning addition of the Daily Prophet. Snape sat down and opened the paper, scanning the headlines on the front page.

Not surprisingly, a photo of the Dark Mark high in the sky above the campsites after the Death Eater attack at the World Cup was on page one. The article didn’t give any information that Snape didn’t already have so he turned the page with a sigh.

A little while later, the sound of shuffling feet caught his attention and Snape looked up to see Harry walking into the kitchen, Rook, as always, right on his heels.

“Good morning, Harry,” Snape said, watching as Harry moved around the table toward the back door, letting Rook out into the backyard.

“Morning,” Harry replied around a yawn. He pulled out his usual chair beside Snape and dropped heavily into it.

“How did you sleep?” The scowl he got in response was all the answer he needed. “Right,” he said. “And where is Draco?”

Harry rolled his eyes. “His Highness has been in the bathroom for almost an hour. No doubt taking all the hot water. The git.”

Snape sighed. He’d been prepared to deal with an attitude from Draco this morning, but he hadn’t counted on one from Harry as well. In an effort to cut his bad mood off at the pass, Snape said, “Why don’t you use my bathroom? It’s not time for breakfast yet, anyway.”

Harry sent him an incredulous look. “Why should I have to? It’s not my fault Draco’s taking so long.”

Snape resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “Because I said so,” he snapped. It was hardly a reason, but Snape was tired, too. He took a breath and let it out slowly. “Harry, just go take a shower. It will likely make you feel better anyway, and then afterwards, we’ll have breakfast before you floo to Uncle Remus’s for your session.”

Harry groaned but said nothing as he got up and stalked out of the room.

A few moments later, Snape heard the door to his bathroom shut with just enough forcefullness that it showed Snape he was angry about being sent away, but not enough to be considered slamming.

Snape felt like banging his head against the table.

Instead, he reached for his coffee and downed the rest of it in one go.

***

 Breakfast was a quiet affair.

Draco and Harry had come downstairs at the same time, pointedly ignorning each other as they sat down.

Snape tapped the table and their food appeared, and though Harry ate, he did so silently. Draco stabbed at his own food, as if it had done something to personally offend him, and only spoke in terse, one word sentences when Snape spoke to him first.

As soon as Harry’s plate was clear, he stood up and pushed his chair in before turning to leave the room.

“I’m going to Remus’s,” he said.

Snape tossed his napkin down beside his plate as he, too, stood up. “Stay here,” he murmured to Draco as he followed Harry into the living room.

Harry was already holding a handful of floo powder when Snape caught up to him.

“Harry James, what has gotten into you?” he demanded.

“What?” Harry asked innocently.

Snape crossed his arms over his chest as he glared down at the teen. “What, indeed. Are you trying to get yourself into trouble as well?”

“No. You told me to go to Uncle Remus’s. I’m just doing what you said.”

“Apparently with every ounce of attitude you can muster.” Snape found himself taking another deep breath. “I know you’re tired, we all are—”

“Because of Draco,” Harry interrupted. “That radio didn’t just magically turn itself on and you know it.”

Snape sighed. “And I’m going to talk to him about it, but it doesn’t give you the right to stomp around act like a brat either.”

Harry dropped his gaze to the floor as he nodded.

Snape studied him for a few seconds before closing the distance between them and pulling Harry in close, his hand cradling his head against his chest. He felt as some of the tension left Harry’s body and he relaxed the slightest bit.

“I really ought to send you straight back to bed,” he said softly. “We both know how you get when you haven’t had enough sleep.”

“I’m fine,” Harry insisted, pulling away. “Honest.”

Snape nodded. “Alright, then. Off with you. But as soon as you’re done, you’re to come straight back. No hanging out just for the fun of it. You’re still grounded, remember.”

Harry rolled his eyes again, though there was no attitude in it now. “How could I forget?”

“Only two more weeks,” Snape reminded him.

“Might as well be two more years,” he grumbled as he stepped into the fireplace. Before Snape could say anything else, Harry dropped the powder and said, “Remus Lupin’s study.”

Snape watched as Harry disappeared in the green flames before he reluctantly returned to the kitchen where Draco still sat scowling at his breakfast.

“Are you going to finish your food or just glare at it?”

Draco let his fork clang loudly against the plate before he sat back in his chair and crossed his arms.

Snape took that for the answer it was and tapped the table, clearing it before he leaned his hip against it. He took in the way Draco sat, back ramrod straight and jaw set. His steely grey eyes narrowed as he stared down at the table.

“Would you like to talk about what’s bothering you?” Snape asked.

“Nothing’s bothering me,” he said, unconvincingly. “You’re the one who’s mad at me for no reason.”

Snape’s eyebrows shot up. “No reason?”

“Yes. You’re blaming me for the radio last night, even though I told you it just started on it’s own, and you’re mad that my bedroom doesn’t meet your standard of perfection. So you’re making me clean it up like a house elf.”

“Is that so?” Snape asked, his voice taking on that deathly calm tone that sent seventh years running for the hills. “Remind me, Draco. When did I say you were to blame for the radio that mysteriously came on at full volume at half past four this morning?”

Draco opened his mouth to answer, but then promptly shut it.

“That’s right,” Snape said, “because I didn’t. However, if there is anything concerning the radio that you’d like to admit to, I’m all ears.”

Draco turned his head to glare at the opposite wall.

“As for the state of your bedroom, I simply find it odd that it was clean when you went to bed, but in total disaray when a mere few hours later. Especially since you were asleep. Tell me, did the room make a mess of itself?”

Draco ground out a terse, “No,” without looking up.

“Then you can imagine why I would expect you to clean it up.”

“But—”

“And if you say one word about it being Jenka’s job, I will personally see to it that you take over all of her cleaning duties for the next week.”

Draco snapped his mouth shut once again.

“Yes, Jenka is a house elf, and yes, this manor would fall completely apart without her, but she is not, and I repeat, not to be taken advantage of or mistreated. I know there are other wizards who disagree as to how they should be treated, it is not up for discussion here. I will not tolerate you or anyone else treating her with anything less than the utmost respect. Is that understood?”

Draco sighed but reluctantly nodded. “Yes, sir.”

“Good.” Just as he had with Harry, Snape stepped forward and pulled Draco from the chair and into a hug. He wasn’t quite sure why he’d done it, other than he was going completely soft, but when Draco leaned into the embrace just as Harry had, he knew he’d made the right choice. “Are you sure you don’t want to talk about what’s going on? I know something is bothering you and you’ll make it a lot easier on both of us if you just talk to me.”

Draco shook his head, though he tightened his hold around Snape’s waist.

They stood that way for another moment before Snape said, “Then off to your room. I don’t want you out until it’s clean.” When Draco looked as if he might argue, Snape held up his hand. “If you just get started on it, I’m sure you’ll be done in no time. Now go.”

“Fine,” Draco replied, sullenly, as he turned and left the room.

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose before heading to the back door to let Rook inside. It was going to be a long day.

***

 “And then what happened?” Remus asked gently.

Harry huffed from his place on Remus’s couch. He sat with his back against the arm and his legs tucked up to his chest. Harry kept his gaze lowered, focusing on the pattern of the couch as he said, “You know what happened. Why do I have to say it?”

“It won’t help you to avoid it.” Remus sat in the armchair across from Harry and waited patiently for him to reply.

“He put me in my room.”

“The cupboard?”

Harry’s eyes narrowed but he didn’t confirm Remus’s suspicion. He didn’t need to.

“Did he lock you in that time?” He asked instead.

“I wasn’t supposed to be on the roof,” Harry said in answer.

Remus showed no outward emotion to that statement, though inside he was seething. Harry had just finished telling him how he had ended up on the roof of the school after his cousin and his gang of friends were chasing him. He had accidentally used magic to get away, and had been severly beaten for it when Vernon Dursley had gotten him home.

“It was an accident,” Remus said. “Was it an appropriate or deserved punishment?”

This question always annoyed Harry, but Remus asked it anytime Harry defended the actions of the Dursleys. It was important for Harry to realize he had never deserved their abuse and neglect.

Harry picked at the frayed edge of the hem of his jeans. He took a steadying breath and let it out slowly before he finally answered. “No.”

Remus gave a soft smile. Then he asked the hard question. “What was it then?”

Harry looked up at him, green eyes bright as he bit his bottom lip and shook his head.

Remus only waited.

Harry swallowed hard around the lump in his throat. “It was abuse,” he admitted so softly that Remus would have missed it if it weren’t for his enhanced hearing.

Remus felt an enormous amount of pride well up in him. It usually took a lot longer to get Harry to this point.

“I’m very proud of you, Cub,” Remus told him.

Harry beamed at the praise.

Remus glanced at his watch. There wasn’t a time limit with Harry, but Remus didn’t want to push him too much in one day. It was clear that Harry was tired and had reached his limit.

“How have you slept this week? Any nightmares?”

Harry shrugged. “A few dreams, I guess, but not really nightmares.”

“About anything in particular?” If Harry was being truthful, this would be the first nightmare-free week he’d had since he’d stopped taking Dreamless Sleep.

Harry turned so that one leg hung off the couch and he clasped his hands in his lap. “Mostly about the night of the World Cup. I keep seeing Dark Mark in the sky, and there’s a man holding his wand up towards it while laughing.”

Remus nodded. After hearing about the Death Eater attack on the muggles, he wouldn’t be surprised if other kids weren’t also having nightmares about it. Adults, too, for that matter.

“That symbol strikes fear in wizards everywhere. He would cast it above homes of people who were murdered to let everyone know he’d been there.”

“That’s awful,” whispered Harry. “Have you seen it? In person?”

Remus was quiet for a long moment, lost in dark memories from the first war. Eventually, he nodded slowly. “More times than I’d care to admit.”

***

When Harry stepped out of the floo and into the living room of the manor, he found Snape sitting in his chair with a book in his hand and Rook sleeping by his feet.

Harry grinned as he dropped down onto the couch. “Too bad I don’t have Collin’s camera,” he said. “This would make a great picture.”

Snape scowled and closed his book before placing it on the table beside him. “Don’t get any ideas.”

Harry smirked and turned his head toward the doorway that lead to the stairs. “So where’s Draco?” he asked.

“Still in his room. Why don’t you go let him know it’s time for lunch.”

“Okay,” Harry said, hopping off the couch. When he got to the doorway he called up the stairs, “Draco! Lunch!”

“That is not what I meant,” Snape said flatly.

Harry simply shrugged innocently, but when neither of them heard anything to signal Draco had even heard, Snape pointed up the stairs and said, “Go tell him.”

Not willing to truly push Snape, Harry climbed the steps to the second floor. He knocked on Draco’s bedroom door and said, “Draco, Dad says to come down for lunch.”

When he still got no response, Harry turned the handle and the door opened to reveal an empty room. Everything was exactly as it had been that morning, except Draco was no where to be seen.

“Draco?” He got no answer, though he hadn’t expected one.

The bathroom door was open and Harry could see he wasn’t in there either, so he crossed through to his own bedroom. Finding it empty as well, Harry left and walked back to the stairs and called down. “He’s not up here!”

Snape appeared almost instantly at the bottom of the stairs. “What do you mean he’s not up there?”

“He’s not in either of our rooms.”

Snape murmured something Harry was certain he wouldn’t be allowed to repeat before storming up. Harry followed him back to Draco’s room where he looked around, eyes landing on the desk where Draco’s wand sat. Wherever Draco was, he didn’t have his wand with him.

He went to his own room, calling Draco’s name along the way, but when it was clear that he wasn’t anywhere to be found, he walked back into the hallway.

“What about that room?” Harry asked, pointing to the room at the end of the hall that Harry had never been inside.

Snape shook his head. “He’s not in there.”

“How do you know?” Harry moved toward the door but Snape called him back.

“Noone can enter that room except for me. It’s spelled to only open to me. Draco’s not in there.”

Snape didn’t wait around for Harry to ask questions, and Harry followed him back downstairs.

“Maybe he went to Mageport,” he offered, though he sincerely hoped he hadn’t. That would bring Draco more trouble than whatever game he was play was worth. They’d both learned there lesson after the concert.

“He’s still on the property.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “How do you know?” he asked again, getting annoyed.

Snape turned around to face him, brows raised. “Because after the little stunt you and Mr. Weasley pulled at the beginning of summer, I added more security to the wards so that I would be alerted immediately alerted should either of you step one foot past them.”

“Oh,” Harry said. “Good to know.”

Harry and Snape spent the next few hours searching for Draco. They searched everywhere inside and outside the manor. Harry had no idea the property was so big! They hadn’t even covered half of it, and eventually Snape sent Harry back inside while he searched the woods on the far side. He didn’t want to take a chance that Harry would get lost, and he wanted someone there in case Draco came back.

Harry sat in the kitchen, absently picking at a sandwich, when he heard someone come through the floo.

He bolted toward the living room to find Remus dusting soot off his coat.

“I know Severus said he couldn’t get through the wards,” he said with a frown, “but I’ve been all over, just in case. No one has seen him.”

Remus sat down in the armchair opposite Snapes and immediately Rook walked over and began begging for his attention. He smiled as he scratched the dog behind the ears.

“I told dad he needed to talk to him,” Harry said as he sat down on the couch.

“I tried talking to him this morning. He wasn’t ready to listen.”

Harry and Remus both turned to see Snape walking in from the kitchen. He held Harry’s plate with the uneaten sandwich in his hand.

“You didn’t eat,” he said, holding it out for Harry to take. “You know I don’t like you skipping meals.”

Harry huffed. “Draco’s skipping meals.”

Snape crossed his arms and Harry took the sandwich. The bread was a bit dry now, but he ate it anyway. He wasn’t interested in making Snape angry with him when he was already going to be furious with Draco.

He watched as Snape paced the floor.

“I don’t understand where he could be,” he said suddenly. “He took his broom, but what if he had an accident? What if he fell and is lying somewhere and needs help?”

“Sev, don’t get worked up,” Remus said calmly. “Wherever Draco is, I’m sure he’s fine. He’s frustrated and obviously dealing with things in the wrong way, but if he were hurt, don’t you think he’d use the bracelet to portkey himself back home?”

“Not if he’s lying on the ground knocked out somewhere!”

Remus sighed. “Well, if you’re sure he can’t have gotten through the wards, I might have a suggestion.”

“I’m listening,” Snape said.

“Sirius could find him.”

Snape scowled.

“Hear me out,” Remus said, not giving him a chance to protest. “It’s getting later. It’ll be dark soon and even if Draco’s not hurt, he might get lost trying to get back. If he is hurt, he’s out there all alone. With his heightened senses, Sirius can find him faster than we can, even in the dark.”

That sounded like a good idea to Harry. “What about your senses?” he asked. “Are they hightened because you’re a werewolf?”

Remus nodded. “Yes, but only a few days before and after the transformation. Sirius is our best option.”

Snape seemed to think it over for a long moment before finally, he nodded once. “Call him.”

***

 Draco looked up through the trees to the darkening sky. He’d definitely made a mess of things this time. He had snuck out through his bedroom window and took off flying, but he hadn’t planned on being gone so long.

He had landed just out of sight of the manor, thinking that when Snape came looking for him, he would just say he’d gone outside, tired of cleaning his room. But Snape hadn’t even noticed he was gone, and eventually, Draco had gotten bored and started flying through the woods. It was practice, really, as he weaved through and around the trees, dodging obstacles and veering up and down as if he were racing to catch the snitch in a match.

That had been hours ago, though. Not once had he heard Snape calling for him. He probably didn’t even know he was gone yet. And now it was getting dark and Draco wasn’t exactly sure which was led back to the Manor.

To make matters worse, he didn’t have his wand. Which, admittedly, had been part of the plan. Snape had lots of rules, and both he and Harry broke them now and then, but not the wand one. It was a non-negotiable, and they both knew it. Draco had left it on purpose knowing that if nothing else, Snape couldn’t ignore that. He would have to deal with him because he couldn’t let him get away with breaking such a big rule.

Draco really regretted leaving it now though. A quick “point me” spell would have been really useful for getting back. When he heard a branch breaking somewhere out of his line of sight, he suddenly thought that Lumos would be nice to have now, too.

He turned his head toward the sound and gasped when he caught a pair of bright eyes staring back at him. It was too far away for him to make out the shape of the animal, but he was sure it was big. And he was definitely sure it was walking towards him. Draco stumbled back quickly, his back hitting the solid trunk of a tree.

He gripped the handle of his broom but before he could swing his leg over, a shaggy black dog broke through the tree line and entered the small clearing where Draco stood. In the next instant, he was transforming into a figure Draco recognized.

Sirius.

“Hello, Draco,” Sirius said, a hint of a smile on his face as he lit his wand so they could see. “Alright?”

Draco nodded.

Sirius conjured a patronus, a silvery dog, said, “I’ve got him. We’re coming back.”

The dog ran off and Draco sighed.

Sirius gave him a long look and said, “I’m supposed to apparate back with you, but if you’d rather, we can walk. I know the long way.”

“Uncle Sev will be mad,” Draco said, though the idea of putting off seeing him sounded wonderful.

Sirius shrugged. “He’s already mad, but now he knows you’re safe. And if he says anything, I’ll tell him it was my idea,” he added with a wink.

Draco only hesitated for a moment before he agreed.

The first few minutes of the walk were silent as Sirius led the way, using his wand to clear the path for them so they wouldn’t trip. When Draco looked at him questioningly as he levitated a small log out of the path instead of simply crossing over it, he shrugged and said, “What’s the point of being a wizard if you can’t take advantage of it?”

Draco smiled, the first genuine smile he’d felt in days.

“So, running away,” he said. “What’s that about?”

“I wasn’t running away. I was just getting out.”

Sirius hummed a response. He ducked under a low-hanging branch and said, “I ran away once. Well, more than once if I’m being honest, but that’s not the point.”

Draco didn’t need to ask why. It wouldn’t be hard to guess. Sirius was his mother’s cousin, and he’d heard enough stories to put the pieces together that Sirius Black was a blood traitor and might as well be dead in his family’s eyes.

He supposed he was as well.

“Where did you go?” he asked.

Sirius grinned. “To James’s parent’s house. I was sixteen at the time and I stayed with them until I was of age. Til after, actually.”

“Did you like staying there?” Draco wasn’t sure what made him ask, but he suddenly needed to know about how the young Sirius Black felt back then.

“Very much so,” Sirius answered immediately. “The Potter’s were more of a family to me than my blood relatives ever were. They became my parents and I loved them very much.”

Draco nodded, but was spared from having to think of something else to say when Sirius went on.

“Not that it was always easy, mind you. I wasn’t exactly known for following the rules and I certainly wasn’t used to parents who enforced them. I found myself testing them quite a bit at first.”

“Testing them?” Draco asked.

Sirius moved another log. “Yeah, you know, the rules and the boundaries. Seeing how far I could push them before they’d had enough. Before they decided I wasn’t worth it and they sent me away.”

“Oh.” Draco tried to imagine what he would do if Snape sent him away. It wasn’t something he wanted to dwell on too much but he couldn’t deny that he had thought about it. Honestly, he’d been thinking about it a lot lately. His own parents hadn’t wanted him. Had actually sent him to Snape to be rid of him. He didn’t want to believe that his Uncle Sev would do the same thing, but how would he know unless—

“It never worked, by the way.”

Sirius’s voice pulled him from his thoughts and he glanced back up at him. He’d stopped walking and turned back to face Draco.

“What didn’t?”

“Pushing them. No matter what I did, how much trouble I got into, it didn’t make a difference to them. They didn’t send me away and they never got tired of me. They took care of me. Made sure I had everything I needed, even if what I needed wasn’t exactly what I wanted,” he added with a laugh.

Draco smiled. “Like what?”

Sirius grimaced. “Well there was a particularly memorable howler is seventh year that I still haven’t gotten over.”

He turned back to the path and started walking once again, Draco following closely in his footsteps.

“Anyway, you should take it from me, as someone with a lot of experience with this sort of thing, Snape’s not going anywhere. So save yourself the headache and stop pushing him. You’ll get the same outcome every time. You’ll be in trouble and he’ll still be there.”

By now they’d cleared the treeline and Draco could see the lights glowing in the kitchen of the manor. Snape was pacing in front of the window, no doubt waiting for him to come inside.

Draco took a deep breath. “So what do I do now?”

Sirius looked between Draco and Snape before he closed his eyes and let out a long sigh. “It pains me to admit this, and if you tell anyone I said it, I’ll personally make you regret it, but Snape is… I mean, I was…”

Draco raised an eyebrow at him and Sirius groaned.

“Snape is doing alright by you and Harry, and it’s obvious that he cares about you both. Maybe you should start with an apology, and let him take it from there.”

Sirius began walking toward the Manor and after a moment, Draco did as well. When they got to the back door, Sirius opened it and let Draco go ahead of him, but when Snape turned his way, he froze just inside the doorway.

Snape looked tired and suddenly Draco felt the anger and frustration he’d been holding on to over the last few days seep out of him. He swallowed hard around the lump in his throat and launched himself at Snape, who caught him easily, tucking him in close to his chest.

“M’sorry, Uncle Sev,” he said brokenly.

Snape looked at Sirius over the top of Draco’s head. He nodded once but Sirius didn’t say anything as he eased past them in search of Harry and Remus.

Snape held Draco a little tighter and whispered, “It’s alright, Draco. I’ve got you.” 

Chapter Text

After a long moment, Draco pulled away and dropped his gaze to the floor as he asked, “What happens now?” Draco could hear the strain in his voice, and though he wanted to sound unworried and grown up, he felt much more like a small child. He had really mucked things up today— over the last few days, to be honest. He hoped Sirius was right about everything, but he wouldn’t blame Snape if he was through with him.

“Now,” Snape said calmly, “we are going to eat dinner, and afterward you are going to your room. And you’re going to stay there this time until I come up to talk. And we will talk,” he added sternly.

Draco nodded. “Yes, sir.”

Snape moved to the doorway and called the others to eat while Draco sat down in his usual place. Then the table was filled with roast beef, potatoes, and a salad, and suddenly Draco realized just how hungry he was. He’d barely touched his breakfast and skipped lunch all together.

Snape must have known because he insisted on second helpings before he let Draco push his plate away. When the table was cleared of everything except the cups of tea that sat in front of the adults, Snape cleared his throat and quietly told Draco to go on to his room.

Draco stood without a word and pushed his chair in, but as he picked up his broom which had been left by the door, Snape stopped him.

“You can leave that here,” he said without even looking up at him.

Draco’s brows furrowed in confusion, and then in realization that Snape had lost trust in him. He tried not to look at the others at the table as he said, “I won’t go anywhere.” His voice sounded small even to himself.

Snape nodded. “Even still, it will stay down here.”

Draco bit his bottom lip as he left the broom leaning against the wall and walked out of the room.

He went upstairs to his room and closed the door softly behind him. He let out a sigh when he saw the mess he had yet to clean up. Honestly, what had he been thinking?

Draco knew, though he didn’t want to admit it, that it was all because he knew it would bother Snape. Snape had a thing about everything being neat and tidy. He wasn’t obsessive about it, and he and Harry had both been known to let their rooms get a little messy from time to time, but this was different and he and Snape both knew it. Draco had intentionally thrown things about purely to piss off his guardian. He had wanted to get a reaction out of him and he knew that would do it.

Except it hadn’t. Not really. Just like none of the other things he’d done had gotten a reaction from him.

Sirius had been right. Draco had been testing Snape for a while now— being more and more of a prat just to see what Snape would do. Because everything was different now and he just needed something to be the same, but it wasn’t! Snape had barely cared about any of it and it had all just escalated until today, because Draco knew without a doubt that there was simply no way that Snape could overlook this. No way he could let this go with a lecture and a stern reminder to do better.

Deciding that he might as well do something while he waited for Snape to come, Draco set about cleaning his room. He started with the desk and began straightening up the books and parchment into a neat pile and cleaning up the overturned ink pots.

By the time he heard the soft knock on his door, Draco had picked up everything from the floor and was now folding the clothes that lay in a pile on his bed.

“I told you it wouldn’t take long once you got started,” Snape said from where he stood leaning against the door frame.

Draco looked up at him sheepishly. “Yeah, I know.”

He took a seat on the bed as Snape shut the door behind him and crossed the room to the desk chair.

“I think it’s about time I got an explanation, young man,” Snape said, his voice as stern as ever.

Draco winced. He’d expected that, but he still wasn’t sure what to say.

“I-I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have left this morning.”

Snape nodded. “Why did you?”

“I don’t know,” he said with a shrug.

“Yes, you do. You know exactly why you snuck out today, why you intentionally messed up your room, why you’ve had such an attitude lately, and even why you woke the whole house with that radio this morning.”

Draco frowned. “I told you I didn’t do that.”

“I know what you told me, and I also know it wasn’t the truth. Am I wrong?”

Draco dropped his gaze to the breadspread as he shook his head miserably. “No, sir.”

“I do not tolerate being lied to, Draco. Now, I know that I’ve let you get away with quite a bit lately, however—”

“That’s the problem!” Suddenly Draco was standing and he stomped to the chairs on the other side of the room before he turned back to glare at Snape. “You’re treating me like I’m broken, and I’m not!”

Snape raised his brows. “I beg your pardon.”

With those words, the dam seemed to break for Draco and he began to tell Snape everything.

“Ever since I got back, you’ve been different. You’ve let me get away with everything. I’ve been disrespectful and sullen, I’ve ignored my chores, and ignored you when you tell me to do something. You’ve let me get away with staying up way too late and sleeping in. You hardly said anything when you caught me more than once using magic outside school. I only half did my summer homework and you didn’t even notice! In fact, the only thing you’ve really done this summer is buy me things. Like I’m some little kid that needs to be coddled and placated. Well, I’m not, Uncle Sev! I’m not fragile and I’m sick of you treating me like I am.”

Snape seemed frozen as he listened to Draco’s outburst, but after a moment, he took a deep breath and said, “Draco—”

He’d said it softly, and that alone seemed to be the last straw for the teenager. His voice was thick with emotion when he said, “I can handle it, alright. My parents didn’t want me and it’s fine. I can handle it, but you— I couldn’t… I mean, I just.” He took a deep breath of his own and let it out slowly. “I just want things to go back to normal.”

Snape nodded. “Can I say something now?” When Draco didn’t protest, he went on, “That wasn’t my intention at all. Yes, I suppose I was being a bit too lenient with you, and you’re right, a lot of that was because you’ve been through a great deal the last few months and I thought you could use some time to adjust, but I never, ever, thought you were broken or fragile.”

Draco stared hard at Snape for a long moment, as if trying to see if he were being honest. When at last, it seemed he decided he was, he gave a small nod.

“Draco, I’m an adult, but I am not immune to mistakes. I should never have let this get so far. I should have made you talk to me, but I was afraid that if I pushed you too hard, you would shut down and we’d get nowhere. I suppose I thought you would come to me when you were ready, but obviously that didn’t work.” Snape leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he looked up at Draco. “Can you forgive me?”

Snape’s confession seemed to take all the wind out of Draco’s proverbial sails, and he dropped heavily back onto the bed with a nod.

“Now what?” he asked for the second time that night.

Snape thought a moment before coming to a decision. “Now we take care of this.” He sat up straight once more, his face the picture of sterness as he asked, “Is there anything else you want to talk about? Anything else I need to know?”

Draco shifted, wringing his hands nervously. “No, sir.” But before Snape had a chance to say anything, Draco said, “Wait, I—”

“Yes?” Snape prompted.

Draco closed his eyes for a few seconds before meeting Snape’s piercing gaze head on. “I knew about the Exploding Snap cards. I knew Fred and George had them, and I bought them from them that night at the Burrow. I knew how you felt about them and I got them anyway.”

Draco lowered his head then, but if he hadn’t, he would have seen a proud smile cross Snape’s face before he hardened his resolve and said, “Thank you for being honest with me.”

But then Snape didn’t say anything, and after a while, Draco did look up to see Snape looking thoughtfully out the window into the backyard.

“I’m curious, Draco,” he said after a moment. “What do you think you should be punished for?”

The question caught Draco entirely off guard and he stuttered, “W-what?”

Snape turned back to him with a frown. “By your own admission, I’ve let you get away with a lot this summer. The whole reason this escalated like it did was because you kept doing worse and worse things to try and get my attention. Well, now you have it.”

Draco shook his head. “That’s not— I wasn’t trying to—”

“Yes, you were. You were testing me. Pushing boundaries to see how far you could get before I put a stop to it. To see how I would react if you did something bad enough. You wanted me to step in and I didn’t, but I am now. I won’t make that mistake again.”

Draco looked away. Wasn’t that exactly what Sirius had said?

Snape went on, ticking off transgressions on his fingers. “The near constant attitude you’ve had lately, ignoring me and what I tell you to do, not completing your summer assignments satisfactorily, all the use of underage magic, lying about the cards, and that’s only the things you’ve admitted to tonight! It certainly doesn’t look good.”

Draco groaned and crossed his arms over his chest. “It sounds so bad when you say it like that.”

“Is there another way to say it?” Snape asked with a huff. “Adding that to everything from today and you would be looking at quite the grounding, young man.”

Draco felt his heart sink as he looked up at Snape miserably, his grey eyes pleading.

“Or,” Snape continued, “we can put everything else behind us and look at it as a lesson learned for the both of us, and only deal with what happened today.”

Draco was nodding even before Snape finished his sentence. “I would much rather have that option.”

Snape stood and crossed his arms. “Alright then. Tell me what happened today.”

“You already know,” Draco said, rolling his eyes. “Why do we have to go over it again?”

“To make sure we’re both on the same page. Tell me.”

Snape’s tone brooked no argument and Draco sighed.

“You sent me to my room to clean it, but instead I snuck out through the window on my broom, and stayed hidden in the woods all day.”

Snape hummed. “I think you’re missing one thing.”

When Draco only looked up at him in confusion, Snape reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out the wand he’d taken from the desk earlier in the day.

As soon as Draco saw the wand, he closed his eyes, knowing his fate was sealed. Snape would never overlook him leaving it behind. Especially on purpose.

“I left my wand,” he admitted softly.

“And why is that against the rules?” Snape asked icily.

“Because it’s dangerous. If something had happened while I was gone, I would have been defenseless.”

“Precisely. It was reckless, Draco. Anything could have happened. You are never allowed to leave here without it.”

Draco felt a bit of indignation rise up at Snape’s words. It wasn’t as if he’d actually gone somewhere without it, afterall. He’d been on the property the whole time!

“But I didn’t technically leave, Uncle Sev! I was inside the wards the entire time!”

“And what if someone had broken through the wards? What if it had been someone beside Black that found you in those woods? Do you even know how far you’d gone?”

“I-I didn’t think about it like that,” he admitted.

“There are quite a few things you didn’t think about today. Like how scared Harry and I was when we couldn’t find you. How we would have felt if something had happened to you.”

Draco bowed his head, guilt churning in his stomach like the Giant Squid in the Black Lake.

“Never again, Draco. I mean it.”

Draco nodded. “I promise. I’m sorry, Uncle Sev.”

Snape scrubbed a hand down his face as he paced across the room and back. “In some ways, I’m more angry about the wand than any of the rest of it. You left it, Draco. You didn’t forget it. You intentionally left it because you knew I would have such an issue with it. Knowing how dangerous I consider that to be. That alone is worthy of a month’s grounding.”

“A month?!” Draco exclaimed. “But—”

Snsape held up his hand and Draco immediately quieted.

“I’m not going to ground you through the first two weeks of term, though. So consider this you’re one and only reprieve. You are, however, grounded for the next two weeks. Until the last day of summer, just as Harry is.”

Draco, though relieved, still visibly deflated at the news.

“You are not to leave the house unless you are going somewhere with me or doing chores. No broom, no skateboard, nothing but books and parchment and paper so that you can work on those summer assignments until they meet my expectations. In bed by ten and up, ready for breakfast by eight. No more staying up late or sleeping in. You’ll do every chore I assign you, and you’ll do it without complaint. Is that understood.”

Draco sighed. He had expected at least that much. “Yes, sir.”

“And if I ever find out that you’ve left your wand like that again, you will be grounded for a month. No matter if we’re here or at Hogwarts. I will not lose you because you were careless enough to leave your wand behind.”

“Yes, sir,” he said again, sincerely.

Snape gave a final nod and said, “Very well. Then if there’s nothing else, I think it’s time for you to get ready for bed. You’ve got a long day ahead of you tomorrow.”

Draco frowned. He suddenly had a feeling that he might have gotten of lighter if he’d been grounded a month. But surely Snape couldn’t find that much for him to do…

***

Draco had been wrong.

As it turns out, Snape could find quite a lot for him to do, and Draco had been busy all day long. Immediately after breakfast, he’d asked to see his summer assignments, and Draco sat quietly while Snape looked over them, his face growing more stern with ever passing page.

“Did you even try?” Snape had asked, holding Draco’s Herbology essay out for him to see.

Draco winced. “I tried,” he said, unconvincingly.

He hadn’t. Not at all.

Snape only hummed in response.

Then he’d made Draco sit at the kitchen table and redo the entire thing.

Draco hadn’t been thrilled to be doing homework all morning, though he’d been less happy after lunch, when Snape handed him his list of chores for the day.

He’d given Harry one as well, but it did little to make Draco feel better.

That had been two hours ago and already Draco felt exhausted. He had cleaned the kitchen after lunch, then scrubbed the floor, and dusted every room downstairs except for Snape’s lab.

Now Snape was trying to send him outside to weed the garden!

“Why can’t Harry do this one by himself?” he asked, glaring up at Snape.

“What?” Harry exclaimed. He was already standing by the back door, waiting for Draco. He held the door open so that Rook could go out ahead of them.

Snape held up his hand. “You’re both going to do it.”

“But Harry’s hardly done anything today and I have!”

“Harry has had a long list of extra chores to do every day that he’s been grounded, Draco, and you know it. He’s done them, mostly, without complaint and he has more than earned a break.”

“When do I get a break?” Draco snapped. “I haven’t complained.”

“What do you call this?” Snape asked sarcastically.

“I’m just—”

“Going outside to weed the garden?” Snape raised his brow but it was obvious that he wasn’t actuall asking.

Draco grit his teeth and stalked past them both, leaving Snape to sigh in relief.

Harry hovered in the doorway. “He’s just not used to being grounded, that’s all.”

“Neither were you at first,” Snape said with a nod. “But you learned and so will he.” He reached over and picked up the gloves he’d given Draco to wear and passed them to Harry. “Take these to him when you go out, please.”

Harry nodded and turned to the door, but before he could open it, Snape spoke again.

“I am really proud of you, you know.” When Harry only looked back at him puzzled, he said, “For how well you’ve handled your grounding. I know it hasn’t been easy, but you’ve done really well.”

Harry smiled. “Any chance I can get the rest off for good behavior?” he said with a laugh.

Snape shook his head. “I wouldn’t count on it.”

Harry merely shrugged and walked out the door.

He found Draco kneeling in front of the first garden bed, angrily yanking and tossing fistfulls of both weeds and plants into a pile beside him.

“Oi! What are you doing?”

Draco scowled up at him. “Weeding. What’s it look like?”

“It looks like you’re destroying the garden and he’s going to murder you!” Harry threw the gloves at him and grinned with satisfaction when they hit him in the back of the head, then he knelt down beside him and pointed to a few weeds that were growing close to one of Snape’s herbs. “Look,” he said, grasping the weed and giving it a quick tug, “this is the weed. Just pull them up from around the plants. Not the whole thing.”

“Well, how was I supposed to know?” Draco rolled his eyes and pulled out the next weed.

“You could have waited,” said Harry as he began sifting through the pile looking for any of the herbs that were salvagable. Maybe he could replant them, or at least sit them aside to dry. Snape could still use them— probably.

Draco ignored him and for the most part, the two teens spent the next hour working in silence, only speaking when necessary. It was perfectly fine with Harry, who didn’t mind the work.

Rook ran around happily, sometimes coming over to them with a stick for them to throw. Apparently, not even Draco was immune to the power of a happy dog.

***

 When Snape called the boys inside a while later, it was to tell them both to get cleaned up. They were heading to Albus and Minerva’s for dinner.

“Is Evelyn coming?” Harry asked as he followed Draco through to the stairs.

Snape nodded. “She should be here any moment.”

Then, as if speaking her name had made her appear, Snape heard a knock at the front door and he opened it to find Evelyn smiling up at him.

“Hello, Love,” she said before standing on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss.

“Oooh,” Harry crooned as Draco made a kissing face from the stairs.

Snape couldn’t hide the blush but he did narrow his eyes at them. “Upstairs you two.”

They went, laughing the entire way, and Snape turned back to Evelyn with a sigh. “How are you?” he asked.

She smiled. “Wonderful.” As he led the way into the living room, she said, “Draco seems no worse for wear.”

Snape huffed. “Don’t look too closely. We’re one day into a two week grounding and it’s off to a rocky start to say the least.”

He sat down in his chair and Evelyn stood behind him. She began to massage his shoulders as she said, “It’s been a big adjustment for him, but I wouldn’t worry too much. He’ll be fine once he gets used to it.”

Snape hissed when her fingers pressed against a particularly sore spot where his neck and shoulder met.

“Sorry!” she said, stilling her hands. “Do you want me to stop?”

He shook his head. “It’s fine,” he murmured.

Evelyn began again, slowly easing the knots of tension and Snape found himself relaxing into her touch.

“Better?” she asked after a few more moments.

He hummed softly and reached up to catch her hand in his, before tugging her gently around so that she could sit on the arm of the chair.

Evelyn put her free arm around his neck and brought her legs up and over his so that she was sitting more comfortably and he let his hand rest on her knee, his thumb grazing across the skin just below the hem of her skirt.

“Much better,” he said before he kissed her softly.

Snape pulled away with a sigh. “What am I going to do when we go back to Hogwarts and I can’t see you as often?”

“It won’t be so bad. We can floo call every night,” she suggested. “And on the weekends that you come home with the boys, we can have dinner.” She let her hand trail along the collar of his shirt. “Or you could come to my place in the evenings. After curfew.”

Before Snape even had a chance to respond, the boys came downstairs.

“Alright,” Harry said in fake exasperation, “enough of that.”

Draco simply waggled his eyebrows as he headed to the fireplace.

Snape cleared his throat. “Why don’t the two of you go on ahead,” he said. “We’ll be right behind you.”

***

 Remus was in the living room when Harry and Draco stepped out of the floo.

“Ah, there you are,” he said with a bright smile as he stood to greet them. “Where’s Severus?”

Harry laughed. “Probably snogging Evelyn.”

Draco sniggered, but Remus looked unamussed, though before he could scold him, Minerva stepped in the room. “Oh, good, you’re here. Are Severus and Evelyn behind you?”

In answer, the floo roared and the couple stepped out.

“Great,” Minerva said, already moving back toward the kitchen. “Now we’re just waiting on Sirius.”

“You invited Black?” Snape asked.

“Mum—” Remus was interrupted when Minerva turned back to Snape with a frown.

“Of course I did. He’s part of this family, is he not?”

“He’s not,” Snape replied flatly.

“Sirius is—”

“He’s Harry’s Godfather. That makes him family.”

Remus rolled his eyes and gave a shart whistle, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. “Sirius is not coming, Mum,” he said. “He’s got a date.”

“A date with who?” Minerva asked, sounding put out. She placed a hand on her hip in a very “Molly Weasley” like fashion. “I made Scottish Shortbread. They’re his favorite.”

“Why are you making his favorite?” Snape asked, though he was completely ignored.

“Her name is Valerie, and she lives in his apartment building,” Remus replied. “Apparently they’ve been seeing each other for a few weeks now.”

“And he hasn’t brought her around so we can meet her?” Minerva asked.

“Does she know he has fleas?” Snape wondered.

“Severus!”

“Really, Sev?”

“Hey!” Snape rubbed his arm where Evelyn had smacked him. He cleared his throat. “I’m going to find Dad. Call me when dinner’s ready.”

“Oh!” Minerva exclaimed. “That reminds me. He’s putting the finishing touches on the Harry and Draco’s surprise. Everyone, upstairs.”

With confused looks all around, everyone followed Minerva up the stairs to the second floor, and down the hall toward Remus and Snape’s old bedrooms.

Albus came out of Remus’s room with a bright smile. “You did a wonderful job with those sticking charms on your posters, son. They were a challenge to get off!”

Remus’s eyes widened. “What do you mean ‘off’?” He stepped around the group and went inside. “Where are my things?!”

His bedroom had been completely renovated. The walls, which had been filled with posters, pictures, and memorbilia from his youth, were now bare and freshly painted. Both the bed and desk had been updated and a new bed set replaced his old blue one.

Albus waved his wand and four boxes levitated out of the closet and down the hall. Each had Remus’s name on them.

Seeing this, Snape opened the door to his room only to see it had been met with the same fate. “What’s going on?” he asked his parents.

“Well, it’s not as if you stay here anymore,” Minerva said. “And we thought that in case the boys ever did, they should have rooms of their own that were to their taste.”

“These are our rooms now?” Harry asked, exchanging a look with Draco.

Snape stepped aside as more boxes floated out of his room and settled next to Remus’s. “But—”

“Now, Severus,” Albus said, “you haven’t slept in that room in years. It was going to waste.”

“Which one is mine?” Draco asked, peering into first Remus’s room and then Snape’s.

“Whichever you choose,” Minerva said happily.

Remus nudged Harry and leaned down to whisper in his ear. “There’s a secret compartment hidden inside the closet. You never know what you might find.”

Harry grinned. “I’ll take Uncle Remus’s room.” 

***

Chapter Text

Hey everyone. 
Unfortunately, this is not the update that I know a lot of y'all want. Recently I have had quite a few personal things happen that are making it hard to write this fic. I never thought I would be the kind of author that would abandon a story, and please be sure that this is not what I want, but for now, this is where I'm at. I would like to believe that I will be able to come back to it, but I truly can't make any promises about that right now. There's just a lot going on mentally and in my personal life with me and my family, and I would feel bad to keep making you guys wait for something that might not happen any time soon. 
I still love this fic and all the characters. I love the direction it was taking, and I had quite a few plans for it. I truly hope that I can come back to it one day. 

Until then, thank you to every single person who has read, liked, commented, favorited, or interacted with this fic in any way. I started it originally in the middle of covid and it has been a life line at times. Reading your comments and messages has sometimes been the thing that kept me going, and I appreciate each of you. 

Thank you. 
ScarlettWriter