Harry awoke the following morning with an aching head and found himself in his pyjamas although he couldn't remember changing nor did he recall placing his glasses on his bedside table. Had Snape done that? Surely not. How could the man care anything for him after all the horrid things he'd said to him the previous night? Snape was supposed to hate him, kick him out and never want anything to do with him ever again. Apparently things were more complicated than Harry could understand.

Harry sighed and changed into a red shirt and a pair of jeans before wandering cautiously down the stairs where he found Snape reading the Daily Prophet at the table and there was a plate of food waiting for him.

He eyed the food warily before hunger seized him and he sat down to eat. Snape gave no indication that he knew Harry was there and just continued to read the paper casually as he did every morning.

The silence was worst than any arguing or yelling that could have taken place and it made Harry feel much more nervous and guilty as the minutes ticked by. He wanted to say how sorry he was and how he didn't mean all those things that he'd forced himself to say. He desperately wanted to pretend that the night before never even happened or it was all a big misunderstanding...but he knew that was all just wishful thinking.

"How do you intend to spend your spare time today?" Snape's voice caused Harry to drop his fork beside his plate as the sudden voice had startled him.

"Erm..." Harry felt awkward and unsure as he retrieved his fork and stared at his mostly empty plate. "I...I don't know" He shrugged honestly.

"Than perhaps you could assist me as I brew several extra potions for the Hospital Wing?" Snape offered even though his face was yet to appear from behind the newspaper.

"No thanks" Harry sighed although he wouldn't have minded it so much; he had to remain distant. Why was the man even being nice to him still? Snape was supposed to hate him!

"As you wish" Snape said, followed by a small sigh. "We will be discussing the events of the previous night" He added. "Do not think that I will simply allow it to fall forgotten."

Damn! 'Yes, sir" Harry mumbled, now pushing his plate away as he no longer felt the hunger nor desire to take another bite. And with that he got to his feet and turned to head up the stairs, unaware that the newspaper had now bent to reveal Snape's concerned and disappointed expression as he watched the boy leave.

It wasn't until an hour before lunch that the pair saw each other again, for whilst Harry had spent all morning flipping through the pictures of his parents, Snape had been pacing in his labs and had became even more agitated by the hour.

Harry glanced up from a picture he'd received at Christmas as there was a knock at the door but looked away when he saw Snape standing there as though the dark-cloaked man was on a mission.

"May I enter?" Snape asked.

"It's your house" Harry sighed but nodded and put his stack of pictures as well as his photo album aside.

"I require a truthful explanation as to why you wish to no longer partake in our agreement" Snape said as he sat across from Harry in a wooden desk chair. But the boy would not look at him and instead stared at the floor.

"I hate you" Harry said lamely, no longer having the strength to think of reason why he would ever want to push the man away.

"I believe that I requested a truthful explanation, Mr Potter" Snape scowled but not with his usual tone of anger although it was extensively frustrating to be constantly pushed away by the boy when he was trying to hard to keep his temper in check and figure out what was going on. He even surprised himself by how much he wanted to fix this disruption between himself and the boy.

"How do you know it's not true?" Harry glanced up, annoyed now that he couldn't get rid of the man, even if a part of him didn't really want to. "You're mean and..." He paused.

"Go on..." Snape encouraged with a narrowed glare, almost as if he was daring Harry to continue with what he assumed would be logical but mildly irrational insults.

"You're..." Harry took a deep breath before continuing and vented whatever came to mind as he searched his memories for something to verbally throw at the man.

"You're mean, you speak in ridiculous and long sentences that no one understands, you don't care about anyone but yourself, you turned me against Potions in my first lesson when I had been looking forward to it, you never did anything other than insult me and my friends, you're horrible and I just...HATE YOU!" He yelled the last part out for an added effect but went quiet as there was a hint of sadness in Snape's eyes for a fraction of a second and guilt filled within him once again.

Snape blessed the heavens for granting him patience and control, because during times like these he just wanted to throttle Potter.

"I believe that those excuses are in the past. Have things not changed since I accepted your request to be your father?" Snape asked and Harry bowed his head again.

"You claim to loathe me and yet you have no request to leave? You have not destroyed my home, for if you have no concern for me than my belongings should be of no significance to you either. And you have no objection to sharing a meal at the same table as myself" Snape added slyly and almost smirked in relief as he saw Harry's expression fall into defeat and was so sure that the boy's words had indeed been a lie. He then scowled at himself thinking otherwise for even a moment.

"Perhaps now it would be a wise to inform me of the real reason as to why you do not wish to continue our agreement?" Snape suggested.

"Okay, so I don't really hate you" Harry sighed miserably and felt as though he was letting Snape down by allowing him to set himself up for death. "But you really can't be my father anymore" He added, still not looking up as he couldn't stand to face the man right now.

"You are not so mighty that you are allowed to make decisions for another" Snape frowned and Harry glanced up in surprise, looking a bit confused as well.

"Do you think, had your parents been alive, that if you had a disagreement and no longer wished for them to be your parents that they would just throw you out?" Snape asked.

"I would never not want my parents" Harry scowled as though he'd been deeply offended by the suggestion and had clearly missed the point of what Snape was trying to say.

"Exactly" Snape nodded wisely. "And yet you wish to dismiss me?" His tone lowered and he stared at Harry with a different expression that the boy didn't recognize. But the words and emotion laid within the next sentence shocked Harry even further and caused his entire being to ache with non-explainable pain.

"Where have I failed you if you no longer wish for me to be your father?"

Harry had to bite back more tears as the guilt was becoming too much. Snape had just admitted that he felt as though he was the one failing because Harry "didn't want him" anymore.

"I...I don't want you to die" Harry sniffed and finally admitted his tormenting thought as he was unable to keep it inside anymore.

"I admit that you will put me in an early grave..." Snape began but his tone turned firm once again as he continued. "...during the incidences in which you feel the need to risk your neck recklessly for the sake of others, but I cannot see the logic in what you are clearly implying. Unless you are, of course, referring to your own parents?" Snape nodded when he saw Harry glance up again with the smallest hints of hope in his emerald eyes.

"They died saving me" Harry sniffed again but wiped his eyes with his sleeve while glancing at the photos on the bed beside him. "I don't want you to as well."

Snape felt the wave of guilt, fear and remorse washing away as the boy spoke and was replaced with intense relief that the boy didn't hate him, he did want him as his father and it was a silly reason that had caused all of this...one that could surely be fixed or else Snape wasn't a Slytherin.

"Harry, look at me" Snape said and the boy did, although he seemed rather reluctant to. "I will not lie, but your parents had placed their faith in the wrong person. That person than betrayed them and that is why they reached a rather premature end" He explained, although Snape left out his involvement and the fact that he felt James Potter wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway with his reckless tendencies beyond anything he'd ever seen before, (Harry was different because he did it to help others not achieve some new level of thrill; Snape knew that fact now).

"They chose to protect you, however I can assure you that it was unlikely that the Dark Lord would have spared them, had they chosen to stand aside" Snape said and watched as Harry bit his lip nervously.

"Your mother was especially talented in charms and potions, I will not deny that she had unmeasurable talent, but I do believe that I too possess a great deal of knowledge and ability that keeps me alive. I assure you, Harry...that my life is in as much danger as it is, even without you in it. Being my son will not change that."

"But..." Harry sniffled again, trying to control his emotions as he was tired of crying and falling apart whenever the man said something nice about him.

"Our agreement still stands" Snape said and moved to leave the room and give the boy space, but paused as he neared the bed and went to pass him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I am aware that you have discovered the potion in which I had been reading prior to this misunderstanding. If the chance should arise, would you feel ready to accept the potion and what it represents? Perhaps to make this agreement more promising?" He asked, allowing himself to sound curious and concerned.

"You mean...would I like you to...adopt me?" Harry choked out.

"Yes" Snape replied whilst feeling rather anxious now.

Harry couldn't speak, and once again he found himself flinging his arms around Snape and hugging the man only this time it wasn't because he was distraught and there was no awkwardness. It was in pure joy and happiness that the man actually wanted him as his real son one day.

Snape wrapped his own arms around the boy, hugging him closer than he had any previous time and allowed themselves a moment of bliss before he pulled back and nodded.

"Whenever you are ready, Harry" Snape said. "However, I do not believe that it would be wise to make any rash decisions at the present time. Perhaps it would be prudent to take the time to know the other before such a permanent step is taken...for the sake of my sanity, if nothing else" He smirked and patted Harry's head lightly as he turned and finally exited the room.

Harry made his way downstairs for lunch sometime later but found that there was no food prepared and Snape wasn't even in sight.

"Sir?" Harry glanced around for the man but it wasn't until noticed the door leading down to the potions lab was open that he allowed himself to calm down. Harry glanced through the fridge and decided to make them both sandwiches instead of just requesting food as he felt any other child would do. He was perfectly capable of making them himself and couldn't see why Snape should have to do everything for him as though he was a helpless baby.

After placing two sandwiches on a plate for himself and left it on the table, Harry carried Snape's plate towards the door and knocked.

"Professor?" He called down once a rough "What?" echoed from within. "I am...made you lunch, if you're hungry."

There was a pause, followed by footsteps and the appearance of the dark-clothed man himself.

"Lunch?" Snape raised an eyebrow as Harry hadn't prepared such a meal for him before...or any meal for that matter, not unless they had prepared dinner together.

"Yes, sir" Harry said, holding up the plate of sandwiches.

Snape spotted a similar plate over on the table and noticed the time. "Very well, thank you" He accepted the plate and joined Harry at the table.

"Sir...did you, I mean did you really mean all those things before?" Harry asked after a moment of silence and he really wanted to know, although he wasn't very specific in which parts he was referring to, if not all of it.

"I do not believe that I would have given such ridiculous answers if I did not, as you say...mean them" Snape replied and Harry knew that was true.

"If I wanted to be rid of your presence already than you would not be here right now" He added.

Harry cracked a light smile at those words and nodded while finished the last of his first sandwich.

"And you really want me to be your son? You can take it back if you don't, I won't mind" Harry said although it wasn't entirely true.

"I don't want you to not be able to turn back on it later or regret...you know? Being my father. I would understand" He shrugged for it wasn't new for an adult not to want him or love him in a way that a family member should. The Dursleys were living proof of that.

Snape paused and sighed in annoyance before staring hard at Harry.

"Do you have such lack in self-worth that you believe yourself unworthy of having a family?" Snape asked, although he could ask himself the same question. "Harry, you are already a son to me. Now enough of these silly questions and let us eat in peace" He grumbled, reaching for his sandwich again.

"Right, sorry sir" Harry said but sounded rather relieved and calm now.

Snape himself was quite content that he and Harry had escaped their first real drama as a family and somehow managed to come out relatively unharmed, but there was always the fear of it reoccurring once again.

"Harry?" He asked once the dishes had been cleared away and the boy paused to look at him curiously when he'd been making his way towards the sofa.

"Perhaps you are simply too forgiving much alike your mother was, but I am curious to know if perhaps there is anything left unresolved between us? I do not consider myself as knowledgeable a father as I am sure Mr Weasley is and I am also quite unfamiliar with having a family member that I previously did not. Your doubt is enough reason to feel as though I have failed you" He admitted although the last part he had not overly intended to say.

"No" Harry said with such determination and honestly that Snape was rather surprised as the boy approached him.

"You've helped me with school, you took Quidditch into consideration and you even let me stay with you for Christmas when you really didn't have to. Sir, you let me eat whenever I need to and as much as I wanted to, you never forced me to do chores all day and you make me feel better when I have a nightmare or when things were hard. If that's not what a father does, than what?" He smiled.

"I don't remember my real parents and the Dursleys hate me more than a filthy rug on their perfect floor...you're the first real parent I've ever known" He hugged Snape and the man couldn't help but return the gesture although it was a subconscious reaction for he was a bit stunned by the boy's words and abrupt contact.

"You haven't failed me" Harry said, although his voice was a bit mumbled. "You're the first one to really be there for me."

Snape had nothing to say, so when Harry pulled back, he simply nodded and watched the boy walk over to turn the television on.

Harry may be becoming more comfortable with hugging but Snape was further agitated by it. In the duration of the Christmas holidays, he had endured more physical contact than he had in months...if not years! It was going to take quite some time to get used to if it wasn't for the purpose of comforting the child after a nightmare.

Snape wondered what his "fellow" Death Eaters would say if they saw what he was now...a father. And to the boy-who-lived! Except that Snape was now starting to consider him as the boy-who-won't-stop-hugging. Although he had said that he would initiate the contact should he feel fit to do so only he hadn't expected Harry to consider it to apply both ways or to be so open-minded about the suggestion.

Snape pinched the bridge of his nose and decided to return to his potions for at least they would not talk about emotional situations, attempt to establish further contact with him or make him feel as though he was still failing them. Yes, potions have always been very understanding of their master.

Harry glanced away from the stack of photos on his lap and looked at Snape who had rejoined him mere minutes ago and was now sitting several feet away while reading an aged book. Harry sighed and held up a particular photo, pulling out a mirror he'd found in a bathroom cabinet. He hadn't wanted to use it while Snape was in the room but it didn't seem as though either would be moving and he enjoyed the man's presence.

Snape rolled his eyes as Harry eyed him again but only looked up from his page when Harry held a mirror to his face and appeared to be comparing his reflection to several photos he was holding up.

"What in Merlin's cauldron are you doing?" Snape verbally snapped out of pure confusion and concern for the boy's metal state as it continued for several more minutes.

"Erm..." Harry blushed and lowered his mirror. "I was just...comparing" He winced slightly as Snape rose his wand but merely summoned the photos the boy had been holding.

Snape eyed them and saw that there were only two: one of James with those annoying Marauders and the other was of....himself and Lily. If Harry was comparing his appearance to his parents than why hadn't he just used a picture of them as a couple? Snape refused to acknowledge that he too was in one of the photos and just hovered them back to the boy.

"I know I have my mother's eyes and everyone says I look just like my birth...um, I mean my dad" Harry mumbled and Snape wondered why he was talking because he certainly gave no indication that he wanted to discuss the boy's crazy reasons for his mirror vs photo comparisons. Although he did catch how James was almost referred to as his "birth father" and that caused the edge of his mouth to twitch upwards in effort to hide a smirk.

"But my hair is too dark" Harry eyed the photos again. "My mum had red hair and dad's was brown...where did my colour come from? It reminds me of your hair: dark and weird" He frowned.

Snape pointedly ignored the "weird" comment. "I believe that a child can inherit more than simply parental traits. Lily's father had rather dark hair, perhaps you inherited the colour from him? I do not know about... James" parents however; my theory may be incorrect. Lily's eyes were also inherited from her father" Snape stopped his rambling there and scowled at himself...why was he even answering such a stupid comment from the boy? Who cares where his hair colour came from?

"Why do you know more about my mum than my dad?" Harry asked curiously, raising his mirror again to examine his features.

"Your mother...we were friends" Snape replied simply. "James and I were not."

"Oh" Harry answered and pondered on that thought for a moment but seemed to have nothing else to say as he returned to his photographs.

There was silence even after Harry lowered his mirror and busied himself with sorting through his photos, placing them in categories that Snape couldn't quite decipher. The man got to his feet and went about preparing dinner, well aware that the time was nearing for them to return to Hogwarts. In a way he longed for the simplicity and schedule of the school while there was also the fact that things would go from casual to cautious once again. How far they had come in such a short time made him very anxious and unsettled.

Snape swished his wand and paused to glance at Harry but the boy appeared oblivious to the attention and continued with what he was doing. Once strangers, then enemies and now a budding family. Life worked in strange ways, but Snape was still having trouble accepting their situation and that perhaps it could last or end happily.

He turned away from the boy and continued to prepare their meal, hoping that they had indeed cleared up all their issues before they returned to Hogwarts as it would be much harder to comfort and talk to him in that surrounding whereas here it was only the pair of them.

-------

Time and the world around them had seemed to slow down for the Christmas duration, although it still felt as though it had gone too fast, not allowing them to fully enjoy it's possibilities. Snape knew the following day they would be packing and preparing to leave his humble home in Spinner's End but he wished it wasn't true.

Harry had gone to bed a mere hour ago and was sleeping contently even though he'd woken ten minutes ago but fell asleep again with ease. Snape moved swiftly into his room, silent and unnoticeable just as years of spying had taught him. He stood beside the boy's bed and looked down at him for more time than necessary. Slowly and cautiously, he brushed some hair from Harry's face and just watched him, wondering how simply their lives had because so entwined and complicated.

Snape recoiled his hand and frowned, turning to leave the bedroom while shutting the door partially ajar, until a small voice broke the muteness and he paused to ensure that he heard it correctly.

"Night, dad" Harry mumbled as he rolled over onto his side.

Snape stood there transfixed but the boy did not appear to have woken from his rest. It gave him an odd sense to hear those words, if they had even been directed at him or if Harry was even aware of his mutterings. Nonetheless, Snape felt compelled to answer before he turned and headed to his own bedroom in anxiety for the upcoming day.

"Goodnight, my son."