Severus led the troop of Gryffindors to a little used anteroom off the entryway. Conjuring hard wooden chairs for all of them, he took his seat behind the small desk, hair falling forward and casting his stern face in shadow, so that only his black eyes shone. He knew he’d set the stage correctly when he saw several of them shiver involuntarily.

“I want to know, right now, what was being said that caused Potter-Snape to leave the table. Not from you, Granger, I believe Mr Weasley needs to speak up. Well, Mr Weasley?” He directed his iron gaze at Ron.

Ron mumbled something under his breath that caused Hermione to scoot her chair away from him and gasp in horror.

“I don’t think I caught that?” Snape prodded, his voice low and threatening.

“I said, sir, that Harry should’ve been sitting in Slytherin since it’s obvious he is one.”

“I see. And who agreed with you? Mr Thomas, Mr Finnegan?” The boys in question coloured up, but didn’t say anything. “And what are your opinions, Percival, Frederick and George; do you feel Harry should now be resorted as well?”

“No, sir!” Fred looked at his twin for verification. “We think it is brilliant! We’re guessing that Hermione was right and you’re really Harry’s dad?”

“I am. It occurred in an above board fashion, but I was unaware of it until this summer. Lily and I were married before she married Potter. She kept Harry’s true conception a secret from everyone.”

“Excellent!” George exclaimed.

“Why didn’t Harry tell us?” Ron whinged.

“Honestly, Ronald, you are such an ignoramus sometimes,” Hermione exclaimed, before Snape could even open his mouth, working herself into lecture mode as she faced her friend. “Because he didn’t know until Professor Snape did; and because if that information got out, he would’ve been in danger. I’m sure they have safeguards in place now.” She looked at her professor for confirmation and received a slight bemused nod in response. Really, she was on a roll and he wasn’t going to interrupt a good tirade – her's was much better than the one he had prepared. “He couldn’t send information out like that with an owl!” the irate girl continued. “What if He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named’s supporters got hold of it? He would’ve been in more danger than he is now!

“Do you guys honestly believe Harry is any different as a person just because he looks different? He’s the same person we became friends with last term – he just has a real father now! And I say, it’s about time! Congratulations on becoming a father, sir!” Severus gave her a small nod in thanks as she crossed her arms with a small snort, glaring at her year-mates and receiving sheepish looks in reply. Now Snape knew why she had been sorted into Gryffindor instead of Ravenclaw.

Ron had turned as bright red as his hair but still didn’t say anything. He ignored looking at Granger, and Severus could tell that Hermione’s lecture had fallen on deaf ears. He felt that the friendship would be sorely tested over the next few days, but that he’d staved off disaster in the long run with the others. He really didn’t want to take Harry out of school, he felt that the boy needed his friends – he was very much a Gryffindor in that regard. He sent the students back to the Great Hall to get some food except for Longbottom and Granger.

The two of them stood before the little desk, the chairs having been vanished with a mere swipe of the professor’s wand.

“Mr Longbottom, we are going to try something different this year.”

“S-s-sir?” The child visibly paled as he stammered.

“I have been told, repeatedly, by Professor Sprout that you are a genius in Herbology. With all of that intellect, surely you can do better in my class – where all of those plants are used? You obviously know their magical properties – your essays for her class demonstrate that admirably. However, you and I seem to be at odds with each other in the classroom. Therefore, we are going to arrange extra tutoring sessions for you and you will be partnered permanently for this term with Miss Granger.”

The boy looked stunned. “Who will be tutoring me, sir?”

“Someone other than me,” he stated pointedly, and the boy seemed to relax a measure. “I will find you a suitable Ravenclaw and you will adhere to their lessons. I expect to see improvement from you, Mr Longbottom. You have the potential – use it!”

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir!” Neville appeared to like the new arrangement, as he actually offered up a shy smile to his feared professor. He dismissed the two students and decided to look for his son.

He eventually found him, leaning on Draco in the Owlery, looking out over the grounds and absently stroking his owl.

“Harry?” he asked cautiously.

“Hey, Severus.”  Harry glanced over at his father for a second then settled his gaze back on the grounds, watching as the first stars twinkled in the sky and a bright full moon was peeking over the top of the forest. A howl in the distance sent a shiver down the two Slytherin’s spines, but Severus ignored his own reaction.

Draco gave Severus a look then murmured to Harry that he was heading back to the feast. Severus stopped Draco, as he moved past his godfather, and gave the boy’s shoulder a squeeze in gratitude before sending him on his way. He was glad that at least these two were getting along. Severus moved to stand beside Harry and when Snape put an arm around Harry’s shoulders, he was gratified to have his son lean into the comfort, instead of an initial flinch, as he was wont to do. They had come a long way this last month.

“What happened after I left?” Harry eventually asked.

“Not much; sorting, food, announcements, me having a talk with your dorm-mates.” Harry looked startled at this bit of news then groaned.

“You didn’t take points, did you?”

Severus smirked. “No, I didn’t take points, although I was sorely tempted. No, I can’t deduct points for people’s opinions; but I did have a long talk with them about their attitudes. Miss Granger was quite vocal in her chastisement of them. I felt positively superfluous!”

Harry chuckled in spite of himself, “That’s Hermione!” Then his face darkened in thought and he voiced his concern to his father. “Is Ron ever going to come around?”

“Are you sure you want him too?” Severus asked gently.

“Yeah, I still consider him my friend – even if he is being an idiot. But I’m not sure if he wants to be.”

Severus sighed as he considered his son’s problem. “I’m not sure if I can give you any good advice; I was never one to cultivate friends. Acquaintances, yes – but friends? Never deliberately. If he is truly your friend, Harry, he will eventually learn to accept your situation. As to how long that will take – I can’t say. Weasley’s tend to be volatile when ired, but they will defend those they consider their own to their last dying breath. So you may have a short wait, or a long one. Are you willing to wait if it takes a while?”

Harry nodded his head. “But it will be hard…”

“Indeed,” Severus sympathized, then he changed the subject. “I also am arranging for Longbottom to be tutored by an older NEWT student, as we spoke about. Hopefully he will gain confidence from this arrangement.  Now, are you ready to come back down? It’s starting to get a bit cool up here.” Severus gave a false shiver that brought a slight grin to Harry’s face.

“Yeah, I guess. I really don’t want to go to my tower, though,” he said a bit more seriously.

“I understand, but you’re going to have to face them sometime – it’s better if you get it over with quickly. Like ripping a plaster off of a scab.” He gave Harry’s shoulder a squeeze before releasing it as they started down the circular staircase that wound down through the tower back to the main part of the school.

“I saw the Slytherins, sir,” Harry began a few moments later. “They did not look happy at the news. Is Draco gonna be alright?”

“No, I would say they weren’t,” his father agreed. “And Draco will be fine. He was born to be Slytherin, that one; he will stay safe – he knows exactly what to say and how to say it. However, he will never betray a friend, or a brother, and that is how he considers you now.”

Harry smiled at this. “I think I consider him in the same way, even though it’s only been a couple of weeks. But he knows things even Hermione and Ron don’t know.”

“And he will keep that trust, Harry.” Harry pondered this as they continued down the circular staircase that curved along the inside of the tower. He worried at his lip with his teeth as he considered his next question. Severus knew the boy wanted to ask something, but he waited patiently.

“I’m worried for you in the dungeons, sir,” Harry finally blurted out.

“I can handle myself, Harry,” he reassured. “This isn’t the first time I’ve had to worry about my snakes attacking me. I have my ways of protecting myself from their machinations. Now, do you have your Portkey with you?” he asked.

“Yes, Severus. I keep it on its chain at all times.” Severus had taken the precaution of the Portkey for Harry in case hostile students backed him into a corner. It deposited him straight into his bedroom in Snape’s quarters and set off an alarm to notify Severus of its activation. Severus had also taken the time in the last week to teach both boys some simple, but effective, hexes - only to be used in the direst of circumstances.

“Good. All right, I’ll walk you back to your dorm; everyone should be coming up soon. Do you want me to send anything up for you to eat?”

“No, sir, I’ll be fine. I’m not that hungry anyway.” Harry looked at him gratefully as they headed down the seventh floor corridor to the entrance to the Gryffindor tower.

***

Harry took a deep breath before stepping through the portrait and heading into the common room. As he expected and dreaded, all conversation ceased. Ron took one look at him, turned bright red, and set off for the stairs with a disgusted look on his face. That seemed to be the signal for everyone to resume their activities and the murmurs gradually increased to normal levels. Harry found Hermione at her customary study nook with a young redhead sitting near her with Fred and George hovering nearby.

“Hey, Harry!” George welcomed him. “Have you met our sister yet? This is Ginny, she made it into Gryffindor!” the big brother said proudly.

“Hullo,” Harry said, friendly enough, and he gave the younger girl a little smile. She squeaked, however, and her eyes grew round as she blushed furiously. She hastily got up from her seat, nearly overturning it, and rushed up the stairs toward the girl’s dormitories.

“Harry, you smooth talker! You have such a way with the ladies!” Fred said while laughing.

“Yeah, mate, you really ought to patent that approach!” George chimed in.

“Oh, stop it you two!” Hermione chided – but she was failing miserably at holding in her snickers. “Harry, don’t worry; Ginny is just in awe of you. You know, ‘The Boy Who Lived’ legend.”

“Oh,” he said, a bit deflated.

“Yeah, Harry, she’s had a crush on you since she was little.” George – or was it Fred – explained.

“Drove us nuts!” agreed the other twin. “Well, we’re off – have some planning to do!” The twins saluted the two second-years and went off to the other side of the room where their friend, Lee Jordan, was sitting and chatting up Angelina Johnson.

Hermione made room for Harry and he gratefully sat down next to her, heaving a huge sigh.

“I’m sorry about Ronald,” Hermione started.

“Don’t, Hermione. Don’t apologise for him. I pretty much expected it – it just hurts, you know?”

She did know and she nodded her head in sympathy. “How was it this summer? With your Dad, I mean,” she asked quietly.

Harry smiled. “Not bad, actually. He’s pretty strict – but you’d expect that. Won’t let me swear at all around him, washed my mouth out with soap once. But he was also – understanding – about what it was like with the Dursley’s. I’m pretty sure he was the one who let the word leak out about them abusing me, and everything. And when the changes started happening, I found out I really liked to study. He had me redoing all the potions from last year, and then had me brew Dreamless Sleep this afternoon.”

“Dreamless Sleep? But Harry that’s…” Her eyes were wide in wonder.

“Fourth-year; yeah, I know. And I did it perfectly,” he related.

“So, all your essays?” she enquired incredulously.

“Done, turned in and already marked. The joys of having a professor for a father, and living in Hogwarts for the last month. Academics were nearly the number one priority.”
The two young lions sat comfortably in silence as the common room started to empty. Neville came over though and sat across from them at the table.

“Hey, Harry. I wanted to tell you what Professor Snape is doing for me…”

“Teaming you up with Hermione and getting you a tutor? Yeah, he told me. I think it’s brilliant, Nev,” Harry said sincerely.

“I hope so. He just really scares me, but my Gran really expects me to do well… keeps quoting my dad’s marks at me.”

“I think you’ll do fine, Neville,” Hermione said. “Just listen to me in class and I will lead you through it.”

“Yeah I can give you help, too; especially after this summer. But I won’t be able to in class. He’s already told me he’s pairing me up with Malfoy.”

“Why?” Hermione asked.

Harry was prepared for this question; he had wanted to ease his friends into gradually accepting that he and Draco had ceased hostilities, and he and his brother had easily come up with a clever explanation. “Severus wants us to get to ‘know’ each other better. We’re god-brothers,” he said.

“I’m sorry, Harry,” Neville sympathised.

“Thanks, Neville – so am I,” he easily lied. “But really, he wasn’t that bad. Yeah, surprising, huh?” he said at Neville’s spurious glance.

“If you say so, Harry,” his friend said.

They decided at that point to head up to the dorms, their three dorm mates had already gone up a while before and Harry was hoping they were asleep by now. They said a sleepy goodnight to Hermione as they went separate ways at the top of the stairs, and climbed to their floor – grinning to each other at the sign “Second-years” posted on their doorway.

Harry was not surprised to find the other three snoring, or at least feigning sleep, but he was ticked off when he found his bed had been treated. The smell hit them as they had opened the door.

“Very funny!” he murmured, and could swear he heard a giggle from Seamus’ side of the room. Neville made a face at the acrid smell.

 Harry sighed and stripped his bed, dumping the dampened sheets, comforter and pillow into the dirty laundry hamper in the bathroom. It disappeared as soon as the lid closed. He wished he knew a charm to dry the mattress and get rid of the ammonia smell as well, but he didn’t; he’d have to let the elves handle it. He’d learnt about the elves while living with Severus – but he’d yet to spot one.

He returned to the dorm room, gathered up his pyjamas and headed out the door, back to the common room. He had reason to know that the sofa was comfortable to sleep on, and it looked like he was going to be spending several nights there. He made sure to lock his trunk magically before he left. No need to leave temptation behind.

Neville gave him an apologetic shrug as Harry whispered goodnight and shut the door behind him.