Harry nervously paced back and forth in front of the couch in Hogwart’s Potions Master’s quarters, waiting for Severus Snape to return from an evening detention he had given the Weasley twins. The sound of the door clicking shut made his head snap up, and he saw Severus walking toward him.

“Harry! This is a surprise. I thought you would be in Gryffindor common room right now with your friends and Ginny,” Severus said, somewhat surprised that Harry was down here.

“Sorry, Dad,” Harry apologized. “I needed to get away for a little while, and knew you wouldn’t mind if I came to our quarters.”

“Is there anything I can do to help you?” Severus said. “Even if it is a sympathetic shoulder to cry on, I am always here for you, Harry.”

“I know, and I appreciate that, Dad. I promise I won’t cry on you, though. I could use some advice, please.”

“What’s on your mind, son?” Severus motioned to the place next to him on the couch, and Harry sat down next to him.

“Well, Dad, this coming weekend is a Hogsmead weekend. Ginny wants me to take her there,” Harry started.

“It is Valentine’s Day weekend, y’know. It is understandable that your girlfriend wants a date,” Severus pointed out.

“That’s the thing. She is beautiful, I admit. However, I see her as more of a sister than I do a girlfriend. As a matter of fact, I couldn’t see her or any girl as a romantic interest. Dad, I am gay,” Harry admitted sorrowfully.

“Child, that is perfectly fine,” Severus said.

“No, it’s not,” Harry said, starting to cry, even though he wished he wouldn’t. “Uncle Vernon said-”

“Probably something about freakish ways or some such rot, I’m sure. He has always hated things that he thought was different,” Severus snarled. “I am SO glad I could rescue you from that hellhole. I promised your mother before she died that I would take care of you-“

“And you did, Dad. Albus may have sent me to the Dursleys’ place after Mum and Dad Potter were killed, but ever since first year, when you rescued me from that hellhole, you have taken great care of me. Now will you shut up and listen, or should I go and find another person to get advice from? I know Moaning Myrtle wouldn’t mind listening to me!”

“No, no. I will help you,” Severus said hastily. ‘Every time I start to think he is the epitome of Gryffindor, he goes and say something so… so… Slytherin!’ “Harry, I know that you were raised to believe in the Muggle viewpoint, or rather, the distorted Dursley viewpoint of things. Just as you know that magic is real and is not ‘freakish’, as your relatives led you to believe, the same goes for homosexuality. The Muggles are becoming more and more tolerant of it, and the Wizarding World has had no problem with it, due to the existence of spells and potions that allow two men or two women to have biological children.”

“Really? That was one thing that I despised about my feelings of liking men. Being an only child, I would like to have a large family. The thing is, Dad, while I really do like Ginny, I couldn’t be with her that way. Like I said, she is more of a sister to me. The same goes for the rest of the Weasleys. They are like family.”“You know, for an orphaned only child, you seem to have a large family! The Weasleys, Draco and his family, Granger, myself,” Severus pointed out. “I do see your dilemma, though. Ginny wants you to take her to Hogsmead for Valentines Day, and you don’t want to take her on a date, but you don’t want to hurt her, either. Do you have a plan?”

“If I did, would I have been pacing in here, waiting on you?” Harry said sardonically.

“I suppose not. Is there anyone you DO fancy, if it is not a female, and not Ron?”

Shyly, Harry glanced quickly at his dad before mumbling something unintelligible.“What was that, Harry? I didn’t quite make that out,” Severus said laughingly.

“Neville Longbottom,” Harry quietly said.

“Hmm… you have been friends with him for a long time. Ironic, wasn’t it, that there happened to be one Wizarding home in Surrey that the Headmaster didn’t know about when he sent you to your relatives. You two essentially grew up together, didn’t you?”

“Yes, dad, we did. I’ve told you all about it before. What of it, though? It’s not like I can go turn down one friend for a date and turn around and ask my best guy friend out. He probably doesn’t even see me that way at all. He has been chatting with Hannah Abbot a lot lately. I think they might be going out.”

“There is one thing I think you should know. Come to think of it, two things. The first is that Neville is not dating Hannah Abbot. If you had continued on in NEWT Herbology instead of taking it as an independent study, you would have known that they are doing a long-term project, and Neville and Hannah are working together on it.”

“Oh! Well, I always knew they were the two best students in the class. Makes sense that they would work together.”

“Yes, and the second thing that you should know concerns a letter I got earlier today. It concerns you, and it is from one Neville Longbottom. As the Head of Ancient and Most Noble Houses of Prince and Snape, and Regent of the Ancient and Most Noble House Potter, Neville wrote to me for permission to begin to court you. He says that ever since the two of you were children, he knew that one day he would marry you. At first, I thought it was a joke, because he always seemed too afraid of me to approach me about something like this. At the bottom of the letter, however, he acknowledged that as your adoptive father, all permissions of courtship must be signed off by me.”

“Wow. I never thought Neville liked me that well. We grew up three houses apart in Surrey, and were best friends. Due to our accidental magic, we were treated as outcasts in school and in the neighbourhood. I remember him saying something once about how he thought we would always be in each others’ lives. I never got a chance to ask what he really meant by that because Dudley’s gang started chasing us about then. I know now what he means.”

“Does this mean you want me to give him the go-ahead to approach you for courtship, or do you want to go to him?” Severus asked. “Either way, you have my full support. You could also send him… well, his grandmother, as she is regent for his House… a letter asking to court him, but since he already has extended an offer, I wouldn’t recommend making a counter-offer. It is a bit redundant, and you wouldn’t want Augusta Longbottom to think you are a stupid dunderhead, now do you?”

“I will talk to Neville tonight, Dad,” Harry said. “I just never thought that you would be so understanding about all this. One thing, though.”

“What’s that?”

“Well, we worked out that I can be accepted in the Wizarding World even though I am gay. And we worked out that Neville likes me as much as I like him. But that still doesn’t fix the problem of what to do about Ginny!”

“It doesn’t, does it?” Severus said thoughtfully.

All of a sudden, there was a knocking at the door, startling Severus and Harry out of their thoughts.

“Enter,” Severus called out, waving his hand for the door to open.

Of all the people to be visiting the Greasy Git’s Dungeon Chambers™, the guys would have never expected to see Ginny Weasley and her brother Ron step in. Although they were aware of Harry’s being adopted by Severus, they never came down here, since Harry lived up in the Tower, and Severus and Harry lived at Prince Manor during the summers.

“Were you guys talking about little ole me? My ears were burning!” Ginny said.

“Good afternoon, Professor,” Ron said before turning to Harry. “Harry, we were getting worried about you when you ran off from the tower. We checked everywhere before realizing you probably came to see your dad. What’s wrong?”

“Oh, I needed some advice to figure some things out. We need to talk, though. There are some things that I need to tell you, and I don’t know where to start,” Harry replied, starting to get nervous again. “Ginny, about this weekend…”

“You don’t want to go with me to Hogsmead. Yeah, I sorta figured that when you bolted after I asked you to take me,” Ginny said.

“I see you as more of a sister. It wouldn’t feel right. Especially since I… I…” Harry started stammering.

“Am gay,” Ginny, Ron, and Severus said in unison, causing Harry to look around at them in shock.

“I knew Dad knew, because I just told him, but how did you two know?” Harry asked the Weasleys.

“Well, Harry, you have to remember I live in the same dorm room as you, and you know that blood brothers ritual we did?” Ron said. Harry nodded, and Ron continued, “It allows me to hear around some of your lower-powered silencing charms. I heard you calling out Neville’s name a few different times.”

Harry blushed brighter than the Weasley Red Hair™ “Okay, more than I wanted my dad to know, but moving on…”

“Harry, I knew you were gay even before you probably realized it yourself. Ever since I started at Hogwarts in your second year, I had looked up to you as an Idol. Hell, even before Hogwarts. As our friendship developed, I could see some telltale signs, though. You were always looking for Neville when you entered a room. Whenever there were opportunities to pair up for projects, you would choose Neville. Ron and Hermione may have been dumb enough to fall for the old reliable, ‘Neville needs some extra help’ bit,” (“Hey!” Ron interjected indigently) “But I didn’t. The only reason I asked you to take me is to see if you would have the courage to admit you were gay, or if I was reading all the signs wrong,” Ginny explained.

Harry visibly relaxed while Ginny was speaking, glad that she wasn’t going to hit him. “I am so glad you guys don’t hate me for this. I mean, Ginny, I thought you would end up using me as a human target to perfect your Bat Bogey hex, and Ron, I was even more scared of your right hook.”

“Man, it’s not MY right hook you need to look out for, it’s Hermione’s. She’s got a wicked one, I tell ya.”

“So,” Ginny said slyly. “You gonna ask Neville out? Or should I do it for you?”

Laughing, Harry said that he would. “Come on guys, let’s get back to the Tower,” he said, standing. He turned to his dad and said, “Thanks, Dad. I am glad to know that I can come to you when have a problem.”

Enveloping his son in an embrace, Severus lovingly said, “Anytime, son. Anytime.”