As Snape lifted the bronze goblet of floo powder down from the high mantel, Harry wondered if he would ever equal Snape in the height department; he had to stand on tiptoe to reach that mantel. And when he thought back to the spirit of James that Voldemort's wand had regurgitated in the graveyard, his impression had been that he was also tall. So how was it that his own height was so meagre when he had the genetic advantage of having two sires who were tall? It hardly seemed fair.

But then again, it seemed he had inherited James's talent on a broom. Harry took the long metal box out of his pocket again and studied it more thoroughly. The silver lid was etched with a tiny figure flashing forward, lying flat against his broom, with his arm outstretched and a tiny, winged ball just out of reach of his eager fingers. Though the box was made of silver, the snitch had been fashioned in gold. Harry ran his fingers over the upraised image of the little ball. The box was a beautiful work of art and Harry wondered at Sn-no...his father-giving it to him when it had been a gift from his mother.

He said as much while watching his own fingers playing over the seeker. Severus too watched the young Gryffindor seeker touch his metal counterpart. "Who else would I give it to, Harry?" he asked seriously. "It was one of the few things my mother brought with her when she left her parent's home for good. My mother would think it appropriate that her grandson-who is a seeker-should have the box to protect his broom. It is finally being used again for what it was designed."

Harry felt the heat of a hot flush staining the back of his neck. He looked up. "Were you a seeker? Is that why your mum gave you the box?"

"I was never talented enough on a broom to play any position in quidditch. Once I could apparate, I never travelled anywhere by broom." Severus stopped here, his thoughts returning reluctantly to some of the raids he had participated in that had been ordered by the Dark Lord, and where a broom had been a necessary accessory.

Cutting off these reminiscences, he continued with his speech to Harry. "You are James's son in this regard. I can fly a broom but aerial acrobatics was never my forte. And I have to tell you Harry, that as talented as James was-and I would have bitten my tongue out before ever admitting such a thing in school, of course-your own expertise in the air is superior to his. In fact..." Severus turned away to replace the goblet of floo powder on the mantel, as it seemed unlikely that they were going anywhere in a hurry, "though it pains me to say it because you too are a Gryffindor, I have never seen a more talented flyer."

Harry stared. A huge lump had formed in his throat and he tried to swallow past it. He had never seen this man's eyes so full of approbation. And that approval was for him, Harry Potter, pestilential Gryffindor and son of James Potter. But it was also for Harry Potter, son of Severus Snape. And Severus Snape was doing his best to act as a father should act...just as he had promised he would. While he, Harry had just gone on his merry way, acting like a complete arse. His latest escapade had certainly not been within the spirit of their mutual agreement to ‘make an effort' to make their relationship work.

"Thanks," he croaked past the lump in his throat. He was now looking back down at his trainers and rubbing the back of his neck to cover his embarrassment. Severus's highly polished boots and the hem of his robe came into Harry's downward field of vision. Then he felt a firm hand on his shoulder.

"I only speak the truth, Harry." And then with a final squeeze, Severus was turning away and reaching for the floo powder a second time.

"Wait!" Severus pulled his empty hand back again. He looked at Harry with a raised eyebrow.

"Did you forget something?" he asked. "Your bag is still at the Burrow. You should have everything you need there."

Harry ran a hand through his hair, wincing when he touched the tender spot on the back of his head. "Umm...I'm still not feeling brilliant and I thought...well, maybe it'd be better if I stuck around here for the day." When Severus said nothing, but continued to stare through hooded eyes, Harry hurried back into speech.

"I mean, if it's a problem, I'll..."

"It's not a problem. I have told you to think of these rooms as your home. You do not have to ask if you can stay. Even if we are at odds with each other at any time, I will not tell you to leave, Harry." Severus's lips quirked slightly. "I might tell you to go to your room..."

Harry's shoulders had tensed up during his own tentative speech, but at Snape's words, he relaxed. His lips pressed together in what passed for a grin, though it looked more like a painful rictus.

"Well, being sent to my room is a massive improvement on being locked in my cupboard." When Severus's face darkened ominously, Harry wished he hadn't said anything. He had only been trying to get them past the awkwardness of the unusually heartfelt moment. He watched apprehensively as Severus breathed himself back to calmness.

When he finally felt in control enough to speak, all he said, in tight lipped disapproval was, "indeed." It appeared that he didn't trust himself to say anything more when it came to the Dursleys.

Despite the newly intensified throbbing in his head, Harry felt happier than he had in a long time. Snape was angry, but this time it was on his behalf. It was not directed at him. And Harry realised with a further lift of his heart that Snape had not really been angry at him for quite a while...well, that wasn't strictly true. He supposed that the man had been angry when he had found him passed out in a drunken stupor last night, but as Harry didn't remember that, it didn't count. Besides, he had a right to be furious about that.

Harry threw himself down in a chair. He put his head back and closed his eyes, his eyebrows drawing together as the drums beating in his head increased their tempo. The bass drums had taken over from the bongos again.

"You're feeling worse, again."

Harry nodded, a barely there movement of his head. "I feel like sh...I mean, I feel lousy. I think that cold has definitely taken hold." And to demonstrate this assertion, Harry flung himself forward to sneeze violently into his cupped hands. Severus rolled his eyes slightly and delved into his robes, removing a pristine white handkerchief and pressing it into Harry's hands. Just in time, for Harry sneezed three more times into the handkerchief. It would appear that teenage boys made it a habit not to carry anything as cumbersome as a handkerchief around, but went out of their way to acquire as many of the squares of cloth from others as they could, only to promptly lose them. As he didn't appear to have it on him, Severus assumed this was the fate of Lupin's handkerchief.

Severus took Harry's arm firmly and hauled him out of the chair. Harry groaned. "Can't I just stay here and die."

"No. You make the place look untidy. Back to bed, I think. Sleep is the best cure, both for hangovers and head colds." Harry didn't argue. Truth to tell, his new bed sounded wonderful right now and while he threw himself down on the still rumpled covers, Severus went to his lab to get some more potions. After he dosed Harry with another phial of headache potion and a decongestant potion that had Harry catching his breath and wiping his streaming eyes as the combined effects of menthol and eucalyptus cleared his head and breathing passages and also filled the room with their refreshing vapours, Severus made Harry undress and don pyjamas he found in the tallboy. He insisted that Harry would be more comfortable if he was dressed appropriately for bed. Within a minute of his head hitting the pillow, Harry was asleep again.

8888

Many hours later, Severus was in his lab, making excellent inroads into the preparation of the hospital potion stocks. He was behind his normal schedule because of all the hassles with Harry, but last night and today, while Harry slept, had advanced him a long way.

Later, Severus couldn't be sure whether Harry's cry of pain or his own dark mark burning viciously had alerted him to the fact that the Dark Lord was in the grip of a significant emotion and that the evil megalomaniac craved his presence ASAP.

The combination of Harry's scream and the pain in his arm made him drop the phial he was sealing onto the stone floor where it smashed, the contents splashing onto Severus's trousers, boots and the hem of his robe. Severus ignored the mess to stride to Harry's room. He found his son on his knees beside the bed with his face buried in his pillow to stifle his groans. Severus shelved his own pain to grasp Harry under the arms and hoist him back onto the bed. But Harry struggled free and buried his face deeper into the pillow. His hair was dripping with perspiration and Severus could see damp patches under the arms and on the back of his pyjamas. Severus raised his wand and pointed it towards his lab. He summoned the same strong pain relief potion he had developed specifically for Harry and had given to him for the first time at Privet Drive. He also summoned the salve to massage into his scar.

"Harry!" he growled. "Please lift your head. I have your potion and the salve to ease your scar." Severus saw Harry's head move from side to side as he mashed his face further into the soft pillow. It was as if he was trying to push his face through to the back of his head. Harry groaned and fisted his hands around the edges of the pillow; his knuckles were white.

Severus wasn't going to take any rubbish when time was at a premium and the boy was obviously in severe pain. "All right Potter, we'll do this the hard way," and he snaked his arms around Harry's thin torso and hauled him upright. At the same time he twisted his body so that both he and Harry fell on the bed. When Harry struggled, Severus subdued him by throwing one leg over Harry's thighs and tightening his muscles. Harry bucked, but Severus's ire was fuelled by worry for Harry and his own pain. Half lying on the boy, he caught Harry's two flailing arms and dragged them upwards, clamping one large hand around his wrists. All the while, Harry bucked and tried to drag his wrists free of the very strong, clamp-like hold.

"Do I have to put you in a body bind, you idiot child? I am trying to help you!" The threat of using, Petrificus Totalus on Harry was just that-a threat. Severus did not want to use magic...neither a petrifying or a stunning hex. He was fully aware that he had done just that in the panic of the moment that first night at the Dursleys when Harry had been in such terrific pain, but Severus had had time to review his actions since and he was convinced that when Harry was in the grip of these episodes, applying magic could ultimately cause damage.

He and Albus had discussed it and the old man had agreed with Severus when he had opined that the Dark Lord may be enhancing the connection with the application of dark magic. Unless they knew just what magic was being applied-if it was being applied-they would be foolish to add to the mix. Not when the effects of the connection were so very volatile.

"I don't want the potion," panted Harry, dragging Severus's dire thoughts back to the struggle and he tightened his muscles as Harry tried to buck him off again. "Let me go!"

"You-are-going-to-take-this-potion!" grunted Severus, as he and Harry struggled. Suddenly, the pain in Severus's arm intensified and he hissed as his shields weakened a little. At the same time, Harry went rigid and screamed. Severus watched in horror as Harry's scar began to trickle blood. It welled faster and flowed down into his eyebrow.

The noise coming from his son's mouth made Severus's skin crawl. Unable to claw at his face, Harry twisted his head to the side and rubbed his scar against the inside of his arm, spreading the blood across his forehead and cheek. Severus wrenched himself from his horrified paralysis. He increased the strength of his hold on Harry's wrists, and with his free hand, he dragged out his wand and pointed it at the pot of salve that was still hovering in midair in front of the madly writhing bodies on the bed. The cork popped out and the container moved to where Severus could reach it. But first, he dropped his wand on the bed and gripped Harry's jaw and forced his face upwards again. Then, with an awkward movement he swiped some of the blood off with the sleeve of his own robe. Harry was still fighting, but his struggles had weakened considerably.

Severus scooped some of the salve out of the hovering pot and without hesitation, he pressed his grease covered fingers against the livid scar.

The shock of a finger exerting pressure against his abused flesh momentarily calmed Harry, though it was obvious from his pallor and the rigidity of his facial and neck muscles that his head was still aching appallingly. He sighed however, as the salve cooled his scar, easing that pain considerably. The salve also seemed to be reducing the bleeding to almost nothing and Severus was grateful to see this.

"Right," said Severus, loosening his hold on Harry's wrists. "Now you can take this." And he grabbed the phial of potion.

Harry immediately shook his head but then groaned as his headache assailed him with renewed ferocity. "I don't want it," he panted. "I don't want to go to sleep. I need to know what's happening."

"But you're not going to know what's happening, idiot child!" pointed out Severus, through gritted teeth. His own pain peaked and Harry took the opportunity to wrench his hands out from Severus's loosened hold. But all Harry did was grind the heels of his hands against his temples.

"He is so caught up in the emotion of the moment, he isn't bothering to occlude. He is deliberately opening the connection at the moment so that you will know he is planning something, or has already done something," explained Severus. "You need to take the potion."

"But you've been summoned, haven't you? I need to know that you're all right."

Severus just stared at Harry. "You do not have to worry about me. I have been doing this for a long time," he finally said, and before Severus could react, Harry vented a cry that was a mixture of pain and rage and frustration. He threw Severus's relaxed leg off himself and curled on his side, throwing a crooked arm over his eyes.

"Well, if you're going to go, you'd better move," Harry said in a would be unconcerned voice. He's getting seriously pissed off. I think he was ecstatic before, but he's hacked off now."

Severus knew this. His arm felt as if it might spontaneously combust at any moment. He had clasped his hand over the dark mark and it felt as if it was singeing his palm. Harry must have seen his movement because his voice issued from beneath his arm again.

"Why don't you use that salve you put on my scar on your dark mark? It works brilliantly. I've hardly got any pain there now."

Severus was stunned that Harry could think about his discomfort when his own pain must be all consuming. Severus had not tried to produce a pain killing salve for his mark since the Dark Lord's return, because he had learned during his early tenure as a Death Eater that nothing eased the pain of a summons. The Dark Lord had made sure of that when he had woven his evil into the spell that tethered his followers to him.

"The salve will not work on the dark mark," he said shortly. "I have tried many similar formulations over the years. He made it that way when he designed his spell." Severus stood and looked down at the suffering bundle of humanity on the bed and he wondered how he could ever have thought of the boy as an arrogant little burke who deserved everything that he got.

He had been wilfully blind.

"Will you take this potion?" Severus asked one last time. Further battle would be pointless, he knew. It would just increase Harry's suffering; he was beginning to shiver violently, as if he was in the grip of an ague.

"No," stuttered Harry, through his chattering teeth. "I...I h...have to b...be aware of wha...what's going on." He removed his arm and looked beseechingly at Severus. "Please, don't...don't make me take it."

Severus drew in a pained breath. Perhaps emotional blackmail was the key as it seemed Harry was so worried about him. "You do realise that having you and your suffering on my mind will not be conducive to helping me to fully occlude while in the presence of the Dark Lord."

Harry stared at Severus, his face devastated. Then he screwed his face up as a fresh wave of pain reverberated inside his skull. He rubbed his forehead. "I didn't think," he moaned. I'm sorry," and he held out a shaking hand for the phial. Severus, feeling guiltier than he would have thought possible, broke the seal and uncorked it.

"I'll be fine, Harry," he reassured as he handed the phial over and watched as Harry drank it down immediately, obviously not wanting to give himself time to talk himself out of it. "You do not need to worry, and I am not just saying this to get my way. I am too valuable to the Dark Lord for him to do anything dire to me."

Harry's hand had already flopped onto the bed, the phial falling from his loosened grip. "But if...if he..." his eyelids were drooping, "if he sees your thoughts."

Severus pulled the rumpled covers back and threw them over Harry. He then threaded his fingers through the impossibly messy hair. "He will not. I am a better occlumens than he is a legilimens." But Harry was asleep, his face relaxed for the first time since Severus had rushed into the bedroom.

Now Severus left Harry, and in the living room, he transfigured his robes into his Death Eater regalia before pointing his wand at the logs in the grate and incanting, incendio. Taking up some floo powder, he threw it onto the flames. But instead of stepping into the fireplace, he just knelt on the hearth and called for Dumbledore's rooms before sticking his head in the flames.

"Albus!" he called desperately, and before two seconds had passed he called out again, "Albus, for God sake man, answer me!"

Severus nearly collapsed with relief when he heard hurried footsteps on the stairs and he was winding up to launch into speech when Remus Lupin's face appeared instead of the headmaster's. Severus's face fell into a stiff mask and his voice was frigid. "What are you doing here Lupin? Where is Albus?"

"Good evening Severus. Albus has been called away. I have been preparing my rooms and Albus asked me to stay up here to explain in case someone tries to contact him here."

"Shit!" said Severus frustratedly. "Where the hell has he gone?"

Remus shook his head. "He didn't say, I'm afraid."

An extra vicious twinge reminded Severus that he really did need to get a move on. Though only about ten minutes had passed since his mark had started to burn, Severus knew he couldn't leave it much longer or he really would be in more trouble than he wanted to think about. Cruciatus was not high on his list of enjoyable ways to pass the time. Though he did not want Lupin in his rooms or hanging around Harry, he didn't have any choice. He could not leave Harry alone.

Taking a deep breath, he swallowed his distaste and said, "I need your help, Lupin. Can you step through?" Remus raised his eyebrows in bemusement, his lips quirked in a questioning half smile. When he didn't move immediately Severus's eyes narrowed menacingly and that was enough to release Remus from his study of Severus, and he stood up.

Severus removed his head from the fire and sprang to his feet. When Remus stepped onto the rug, automatically brushing at his robes (Severus couldn't understand why he bothered, as they were so disreputably old and patched in the first place), Severus was dragging his travelling cloak from the rack near the door.

Remus didn't waste time looking around, he just stared at Severus questioningly. "I need you for babysitting duties," Severus stated baldly. "I've been summoned and Harry has just had a severe episode of scar pain and headache."

Remus was suddenly on alert. "Where is he?" he asked quickly. Severus indicated Harry's room by pointing with his chin. "He's sleeping now. I've given him a strong potion that I developed especially for these episodes."

"He's unconscious?" asked Remus worriedly. He was already striding towards Harry's room.

"No, Lupin!" barked Severus and Remus turned back to face him. "He's rousable but I would prefer you don't rouse him. He doesn't need to be aware at the moment. He'll just stress." Severus turned away and reached for the floo powder. He had to exit the castle via Albus's fireplace.

"I'll be back as soon as I can." And he threw the powder into the flames for the second time that evening. "Just watch him," he ordered, and then Severus was whirling away in the flash of green flames. He had to step out of the fireplace in Albus's office to point his wand at the floo and incant a spell that acted as a password. When Albus was not in residence, the floo was protected. No one who did not know the password was able to access the floo to either enter or leave the castle. And that list of people was very short indeed.

8888

Once again Severus had lost track of the time. He didn't know how many hours had passed since he had followed the call of his mark. But unlike the time spent in his lab, these missing hours were not the mindless, relaxing time that had passed him by while he worked on getting the hospital potion stocks up to date and monitored the wolf's potion. These hours had started off with a dose of the most excruciating pain known to man-albeit a miniscule dose that was the result of an angry flick of the Dark Lord's wand when Severus had finally arrived at the home of Amelia Bones, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

Madam Bones wasn't dead when Severus arrived, but he was sure that she wished she had been. He wished that she had been. She was a broken and bloody mess and whenever she passed out from the pain, she was re-enervated. It was a long, slow bloody process before the Dark Lord had delivered the welcome coup de grace. Severus had been sickened, but that had not been the end of the ‘fun'.

They had then apparated to Emmeline Vance's home and the whole bloody trauma had started over again. And he had had to pretend that he was enjoying it. Somehow, in the spirit of celebration that had pervaded both scenes of horror, no one had noticed that Severus did not really join in the torture of the two middle-aged women. Oh, he had wielded his wand and cast a few spells, but none of them had caused pain. In fact, for Emmeline, who had recognised him because he had arrived with the rest of the party, he had managed to cast a couple of silent charms that had partly shielded her from the pain of the next couple of horrific curses, mostly delivered by the maniacal Bellatrix.

Two talented witches were dead because the greatest dark wizard the world had ever known had decreed it be so. He had decided to mark his return to open active duty by murdering a high profile Ministry official and then compounding it with a swipe directly at Albus Dumbledore and the Order by murdering one of their own.

Severus couldn't remember exchanging more than half a dozen words with Emmeline Vance in the whole time he had known her, but she had been one of the few Order members whose company he could tolerate with impunity. She had been quiet and unassuming and she had not judged him. She had carried out any orders given to her by Albus without fuss or argument.

Harry's connection had obviously been reacting to the Dark Lord's feelings of ecstasy rather than fury this time. The man was never happier than when he was causing pain and suffering.

Severus didn't enter the castle via the floo. He apparated to the gates and walked across the dark grounds, allowing the fresh air to wash the smell of blood and gore from his nostrils and lungs. The floo would have gotten him back much quicker to see how Harry was faring, but he didn't want to confront him in his present frame of mind. The boy would know immediately that something dire had happened. He already blamed himself for every single death that happened at the Dark Lord's hands. Or as Harry preferred to call him, Voldemort!

Severus didn't have to spell the huge oaken doors open with his wand as Filch was just unlocking them for the day. Severus swept past the obnoxious caretaker without a word, his re-transfigured robes and cloak flapping behind him as he headed towards the dungeons. At his clipped pace, he traversed the dungeon corridors to his rooms in less than seven minutes, very different from the day not so long ago when he had made a convalescing Harry Potter walk to the Great Hall and it had taken fifteen odd minutes with the boy collapsing three-quarters of the way through the journey.

Just one more sin he could add to the extensive list of crimes he had committed against the boy he now had to call son.

Severus stood outside his door and breathed himself to calmness; he buried the memories of the night's horrors deeply behind his shields. When he had gotten past his wards and entered his rooms, Harry-who had been sitting at the table with Lupin-jumped to his feet and was waiting with his hands clenched. Lupin stood up more slowly to face his old school adversary. He saw a look of quiet relief pass across the werewolf's face and just had enough time to be surprised by the evident relief before he turned his full attention to Harry.

The boy's features were drawn and pale and there were huge dark circles under his eyes. Severus had been gone longer than he had thought he would be, and Harry's features were a testament to his worry. He turned to hang his travelling cloak on the rack near the door and he could feel Harry's eyes raking over him.

He turned back and approached the table. "I'm all right," he reassured as those haunted green eyes took in his tired and drawn face. Lily's eyes had looked like that when she had come to beg him for his assistance to save her fiancé's life.

"Why were you so long?" asked Harry, in a slightly confrontational tone. Severus raised his eyebrow and Harry reddened a little. "Sorry," he said, "but I was worried."

Severus looked more closely at the smudges under Harry's eyes and now he noted his reddened sclera. "How long have you been awake to be worried?" he asked, clearly annoyed. Harry should have slept for at least eight hours if he had not been woken. He turned sharply to look at Lupin who was pouring tea into a clean cup.

Though he was concentrating on his task, Remus obviously felt his regard because without looking up, he said, "I didn't wake him, Severus. He only slept for about four hours."

Severus turned back to Harry, his brow furrowed. "You've been awake since two AM?"

"I've been dozing on and off," said Harry defensively. He had seated himself again and was fiddling with a piece of toast that he obviously had no intention of eating.

Remus thrust the cup of tea into Severus's unresisting hand and Severus looked at it in surprise. "Drink it," ordered Remus. "I'm sure you could use it."

Severus wanted to say that his welfare was definitely not any of Lupin's business, but he really did need the tea. So he grunted a barely civil thank you and raised the cup to his lips. After a long swallow of the strong nectar of the God's, he fell into the nearest chair and put his saucer on the table while he proceeded to drink the rest of the tea. Remus moved the teapot and milk to within easy reach. Harry watched Severus warily, almost as if he was looking for some sign of spell damage.

"Were you in pain the whole time since you awoke?" Severus asked as he poured another cup of tea.

"It wasn't anything like what it was before I took the potion." Severus quirked that eyebrow again, as if he wasn't sure whether to believe Harry's assertions. "Honestly!" said Harry, seeing the doubt.

"He wasn't in agony, Severus," interjected Remus. "He insisted on getting up, but I made him lie on the sofa, where he dozed on and off."

"And you were awake the whole time to ascertain his level of wakefulness, were you?" snapped Severus accusingly. He knew he was being totally unreasonable, but he couldn't seem to help the nasty impulses where Lupin was concerned.

But as usual, Lupin was impossible to rile. "I do not find staying awake a problem, except for the first two days after the full moon." He walked over to the nearest chair and picked up a book that he had left open over the arm. "You have an excellent library, Severus. Your Defence Against the Dark Arts section is most impressive." Severus saw that the title of the book Lupin was holding was ‘Defending yourself against the Indefensible'.

"I've been planning some lessons for the NEWT level students." He looked back at Severus and said with quiet emphasis, "I did not fall down on the job. I had plenty to keep me occupied while Harry dozed.

"He couldn't have dozed for long. He's exhausted."

"He was fitful, I confess, but what do you expect when his father was away and in eminent danger."

"I was in no more danger than you were tonight, Lupin," groused Severus, fully aware that the claim was patently untrue, but he refused to allow Lupin the last word. "And if that is the kind of garbage you've been feeding him, then you were way beyond the pale."

Remus bestowed a look of exasperated tolerance upon Severus, making Severus want to draw his wand and direct some kind of painful hex at the bloody infuriating man. "I know you don't really believe that to be the case, Severus..."

"Hey!" said Harry irately. "I'm right here." He poked a finger into his own chest.

Both men looked at him in some surprise. "For God sake, you're not in school now. Get over it!" It was obvious that this verbal attack was directed at Severus. "You asked Remus to babysit..." and here, Harry flexed the index and middle fingers of each hand in the air, "...me and you wouldn't have done that if you thought even for an instant, he couldn't be trusted. And for future reference, I don't need babysitting."

Severus wanted to berate the boy for his cheek, but the memory of Harry's suffering the night before and the realisation of just how worried he had been stilled his tongue.

"I apologise, Harry," said Remus contritely. "You have to excuse two old school friends..."

"We were never, and nor will we ever be friends, Lupin," bit out Severus, ignoring Harry's harangue completely. "My life would be infinitely improved if I could be assured that I would never have to see you again. But as you refuse to disappear, reluctant acceptance of your presence is all I can promise."

Harry pushed his chair back as he shot to his feet. He glared at Severus. "Obviously age is no indication of maturity. And you think I'm the one who needs babysitting!" He looked at Remus with a slightly less pugnacious expression. "Thanks for keeping me company Remus. I'll see you later." And he stalked into his room and slammed the door.

Severus was yelling before Harry had taken two steps, but his, "get back here, Potter!" was ignored. He slumped back into his chair and watched dispassionately as Lupin poured more tea into two cups. He was really too tired to chase after the disrespectful little whelp, or to insist that Lupin now leave.

"It will get easier, Severus, I'm sure it will," opined Lupin most unhelpfully.

"And you've been a father for exactly how long, Lupin?" asked Severus with exaggerated confusion.

Remus chuckled. "Unfortunately, I don't think I'll ever have that pleasure," and there was something akin to extreme disappointment in his voice. Severus looked at him with wonder.

"You mean to say, you would actually volunteer to find yourself solely responsible for the welfare and wellbeing of a disagreeable, disobedient and wholly ungrateful child?"

Remus just shook his head. "If I were ever in the position of being able to father a child Severus, I would hope to have a wife to help with the responsibility. And I would hope that my hypothetical child was not disagreeable, disobedient or ungrateful. But the situation will never arise as I do not think there would be many women out there who would be attracted to a werewolf." He stood up and picked up his discarded book.

"May I borrow this?" Strangely, Severus didn't even think about refusing and he nodded. He was still ruminating upon Remus's words. As the thought of marriage to any woman other than Lily had never occurred to him, and the thought of procreating left him cold, he had never thought that there might be other bachelors out there who would actually crave these things.

Lupin, of course was right. Any woman who would be attracted to a werewolf would be a very strange woman indeed. But as Lupin bade him goodbye, Severus had a fleeting image of bright pink hair framing a heart-shaped face adorned with a soppy expression, as aquamarine eyes rested on Lupin.

Severus looked after Lupin thoughtfully as he called out for his own quarters and disappeared with a loud whoosh. He wondered if Lupin knew that there was one woman out there who was attracted to him.

Severus shook his head and pushed his aching body to its feet. Knowing Lupin, as Severus was appalled to realise he did, if Nymphadora (what a truly ridiculous moniker Andromeda had foisted on the unfortunate infant) Tonks, pushed herself at him, Lupin was far too noble to allow the girl to continue in her infatuation. He would push her away, even if he developed a reciprocating attraction. He pondered just how difficult Lupin's life really was and he was surprised and dismayed when he had to force a fleeting pang of sympathy away. He steeled his jaw and pushed all thoughts of the werewolf away. He had nearly been killed by that werewolf many years ago and that was something he would never get over. But he could not help the small voice that niggled in the back of his mind that Lupin had known nothing about that plan of Black's and that he had been as appalled by what may have been as Severus was.

Severus slammed the doors shut on the old nightmare. He had other things to think about than his and Lupin's disagreeable past and the fact that the man's love life was probably on a fast rack to nowhere. Rounding the table to go and talk to the son he had not asked for, Severus was pulled up short when a blindingly bright phoenix materialised in front of him. It opened its beak and Albus's voice issued from it...Albus's very weak voice. Severus was immediately on the alert.

"Severus, please...I need your help. I'm in my office. Quickly!"

Before the Patronus had finished relaying its message, Severus had thrust Harry's door open. Harry, who was lying with his hands behind his head shot upwards in alarm at the look on his father's face.

"What?" he cried, swinging his legs off the bed. "What's happened?"

Severus tried to calm himself. "The headmaster needs to see me. Will you be all right by yourself for a while?"

Harry's brow furrowed and he looked at Severus suspiciously. Severus raised his eyebrows and Harry scowled. He must have imagined the worry on the man's face. "Of course I'll be all right. I told you I don't need a babysitter."

"I'll be back as soon as I can," Severus said as Harry lay down again. Harry just nodded.

"I'll be here," he said off-handedly. Severus had to trust that Harry would behave himself.

Less than a minute after Albus's message had been delivered, he was stepping out of the fire in the headmaster's office.