-II-

In addition, Harry had gotten a special Quidditch uniform set from Albus, a set of posters of hellhounds and the Chudley Cannons from Alastor and Poppy, and a handmade extra warm mermaid hair scarf from Hagrid-as if he had known Harry would get sick over Christmas. He also got an indoor Snitch, a new card set, and the coolest things ever: a hand-written book by Alastor about the stories his father had told him about hellhounds. Harry had hardly changed into his Animagus form lately, but he still felt very close to it. He had hoped Remus would let him spend time with him during a transformation, but the older man had refused. So Harry hardly saw any use in changing into his hellhound form lately.

Severus read to Harry out of the book when they were finally sent to bed. Even when Harry had fallen asleep, Severus did not stop reading. Only when Poppy came in and took the book away did he rest himself on his pillow and fall asleep to the rhythmical rattling sounds Harry's lung were making.

-II-

"Come on, Severus, you need to get up. There isn't much time. You two still have to pack your things, and you need to take Paulus to Argus," Poppy said, annoyed when Severus turned away from her again and pulled his blanket over his head.

"Severus, up. Now!" Alastor boomed.

"No," Severus groaned when the blanket was spelled away.

"You have three seconds to stand up, or I will Vanish your pajamas as well. Maybe freezing in your underwear will wake you up fully," Alastor threatened.

That woke Severus, or at least made him sit up groggily. "It's too early."

Alastor snorted. "You heard your mother, Severus." He stopped, realizing what he had just said. Until now, they had avoided calling themselves "mother" and "father" in the presence of the boys. They feared they would react badly.

"Yes, I heard her," Severus said and stood up, unbuttoning his pajama top. It seemed he did not care that Alastor had called Poppy his mother, and the old man relaxed, throwing a glance over to his wife who had obviously held her breath as well.

"Then off with you into the bathroom. Your ill brother is already up."

Severus glared at Alastor when he passed him on his way to the bathroom. He hated mornings. Especially this morning as it meant they would have to visit Alastor's relatives.

"Not in a good mood?" Harry asked with a hoarse voice.

"When have I ever been in a good mood in the morning?"

Harry snorted. "Yeah, you have a point there."

"How are you?" Severus asked while he sat down on the closed toilet seat, laying his head on the small sideboard beside it.

"I feel like crap, and the worse part is that Poppy threw the 'I told you so' in my face before I even had a chance to wake up fully."

"Flying without a jacket, Harry. How often do I have to tell you-?"

Someone banged against the door twice. "I can hear you, Severus, and beside the fact that you aren't mimicking me very well, you can't be brushing your teeth while talking. If you aren't finished in ten minutes, I will send Alastor in to help you."

Grumpily Severus lifted his head from the sideboard and shuffled over to Harry to brush his teeth beside him. "She made me take the damn precaution potion thanks to you. I bet I will have to take it twice a day now until you are healthy again."

"I would say three times a day, Severus, and I don't see you brushing your teeth," Alastor's voice boomed through the door.

"Damn his eye," Severus said and grabbed for his toothbrush.

/-\

"Are you finished packing, boys?" Poppy asked when she and Alastor stepped into their room.

"Yes, all done," Harry said, and Severus stopped playing with Paulus.

"Let me see."

"What? We are capable of packing our things. We are not babies," Severus protested.

"I'm sure you think you are capable, but I will not wash your socks by magic just because you haven't packed enough of them."

"We can count to four, Poppy," Severus said, indignant.

"And there we have the first mistake. We may be away for four days, but you might need an extra pair because you got yours wet," Poppy stated.

Severus rolled his eyes when Poppy made her way over to Harry's suitcase. She opened it and out fell all the clothes Harry had stuffed in it unceremoniously.

"I hope this is a joke, Harry," Poppy said, shocked.

Harry blushed and started to gather his clothes that now lay in a big messy pile in front of his suitcase.

Poppy shook her head. "Fold them and then we will pack your suitcase together, Harry," Poppy said after a long sigh. Then she stepped over to Severus' suitcase.

Severus nervously watched while Poppy pulled his suitcase up to open it. "Merlin, what have you packed in here? Stones?"

Severus gulped and looked from Poppy to Alastor and back. Before he could answer, Poppy had opened his suitcase and revealed that half of it was stuffed with books and the new chess board.

Poppy mentally counted to ten to not lose her temper. "Severus, you will not take these with you."

"What? Why not? I need them."

"For what in Merlin's name do you need half of your library for this trip?"

"To keep me occupied?"

Poppy glared at him. "You will meet our relatives, Severus. You will even have playmates at Alexander's place. You could also keep yourself busy by talking and getting to know your relatives better. You can still play at my sister's house. There may not be anyone besides Harry your own age, but there are a few board games and card games for you. And if you insist reading, she has a big library. Still, I want you to get to know them better. As an adult you always avoided talking much with them."

"Yeah, and now you can force me to."

Poppy drew in a sharp breath and pulled Severus by his ear. "Now you are family with them on paper, Severus."

"Oww, Poppy," Severus protested. It seemed his adoptive mother was on the verge of a temper tantrum. "I get it. I will put them away."

"This isn't funny, Alastor!" Poppy said, annoyed when her husband chuckled behind her.

Alastor went over to Severus. "Leave the chess board here, Severus. I know you would like to play with it, but what if you lose a piece? It's hard to get them. There are chess boards in each household we are visiting. Believe me; you will be able to occupy yourself without the books and the board."

Severus grumpily removed the books and the chess set from his suitcase and then blushed deeply when Alastor removed his clothes and found his stuffed cat at the bottom of the suitcase. He bit his lip as Alastor counted his underwear and socks and added some more socks, underwear, a scarf, and gloves. He placed the stuffed cat on top without commenting. Then he turned to Severus. "You can bring one book."

Severus beamed and ran over to his bookshelf to pick the book he had gotten about plants.

"Alastor, really," Poppy said, frustrated, and Severus stopped in his tracks on his way back to his suitcase. He pressed the book tightly against his chest and looked fearfully at Poppy. Would she forbid him to take it?

Poppy rolled her eyes, seeing Severus scared expression. "One book, Severus."

A very un-Severus-like ear to ear grin appeared on his face, and Poppy's heart flip flopped.

"Okay, you are all done, Severus. Now go take Paulus to Argus. Twenty minutes, then you need to come back so we can leave."

Severus nodded to Alastor and took Paulus from his bed and placed him on his shoulder. The two had found that the best way to travel together. The cat was so tiny that it fit well on Severus' shoulder and Severus had his hands free. He grabbed the small present he had bought for Argus and went outside.

He knocked on Argus' door and went in when the caretaker gruffly called for him. "Hey, Argus. Happy Christmas."

"Merlin," Argus said, shocked, and grabbed his heart. "Isn't it enough that you always make me feel so old by using that teenage-slang, but now you sound like the headmaster himself. 'Happy Christmas?' Where is Severus Snape, and what have you done with him?"

"I left him behind for Severus Moody." Severus placed the present on the table and turned his face away from Argus. He knew his old friend was not trying to be hurtful, but his words often stung. Severus cursed his twelve-year-old feelings. He jumped when he heard a gruff, "Happy Christmas" behind him and something was shoved into his back. He turned and saw a haphazardly-wrapped present in Argus' hand. "For you."

There was an awkward silence before Severus took the present. "Err...thanks, I didn't think you would..."

"I'm not good at talking, and I know I often hurt you with what I say, but I can't change that, Severus. I am who I am. That was one of the reasons we became friends I think, but now..."

"Now we still are friends, aren't we? Just.. just in another way, right?" Severus looked hopefully and a bit fearfully at Argus.

"I don't really understand why you still insist on hanging around here with me. I'm an old grumpy man."

"And I'm a young grumpy boy."

Argus looked thoughtfully at Severus. "No, you aren't, Severus. I'm not good for you."

The color left Severus' face. Was this Argus' way of telling him he would not be his friend anymore?

"See? There, I did it again, Severus. I hurt you without wanting to."

"But I want to be your friend. Please don't push me away."

Argus growled. "Open it."

At first, Severus did not understand what Argus wanted from him, but then the old man tapped the thing wrapped in brown paper with a lot of Spellotape. Severus unwrapped it and looked at the Snitch-sized orb in his hand. "What is it?"

"A Warning Glass. If someone is trying to read your thoughts or is performing any kind of invisible magic on you, it will change. Red smoke mean the person has bad intentions. Grey smoke means neutral, and blue smoke is friendly intentions. You can ask someone to transfigure it into a pendant. That way you can wear it all the time. I wasn't sure if you would like it that way. It's more a woman thing to wear a pendent, right?"

"Where did you get it? It's amazing." Severus knew the Squib would not have been able to buy it as he avoided all kinds of magical shops.

"Won't tell you. Now shouldn't you leave for your Christmas travels?" A nasty grin appeared on the caretaker's face and Severus rolled his eyes.

"Take good care of Paulus, will you?"

"I will see if Mrs. Norris is willing to give him a bit of her food or not. If not, I think he will survive for four days without it," Argus grumbled.

Severus looked shocked, but slapped himself mentally for it when he saw another nasty grin appear in his friend's face. "That's not funny."

"Yes, it is. Now off with you. I'm sure your relatives are dying to mollycoddle you."

Severus glared at Argus, petted Paulus, and then left. He did not see Argus went over to his present resting on his table. The caretaker looked fascinated at it as if it was the first present he had ever got. Maybe it was.

/-\

"What's going on in your head, Harry?" Alastor asked.

Harry's head snapped up. He had not realized that he had zoned out so deep in thought. "Nothing. I'm just a bit tired."

"We know you good enough to know that there must be more than just tiredness to make you look so worried. So what is it?"

Harry sighed. "You will be mad if I tell you."

"I promise to try to stay reasonable, and Poppy is here to stop me if I get mad. So out with it."

Another sigh and then Harry started to talk. "Severus thinks we will get in trouble at your relatives' house. He says they are...you know...they are even stricter than you and we will be punished. I don't want to get in trouble with your relatives, but I often seem to attract trouble and I can't do anything about it."

"Sometimes your brother is really stupid, Harry," Alastor said and ruffled Harry's hair. "You should know by now not to believe everything he says. Yes, my brothers are strict, but they are not monsters. You will like them. They expect some respect, but you both never seemed to be lacking that. Maybe only when you are in some kind of temper tantrum, but believe me, my brothers should be the least of your concerns if you throw one during our stay there. Nobody beside Poppy and me have any right to punish you, except the headmaster and your teachers if it regards school matters. My brothers would never attempt to punish you, Harry. I would not punish their children or grandchildren. As for your feeling about attracting trouble, that is totally normal. You are boys, and boys get into trouble. We as your parents are there to show you what's wrong and what's right, and sometimes that includes punishments."

"Would you...would you punish us in front of them?"

"You know I have quite a temper, Harry, but I promise I will always try to not punish you in front of strangers or your peers. Still, if you do something really dangerous, I can't promise that I will have myself under control to not give you or Severus a tongue lashing in front of anyone."

"But we don't have to stand in a corner while your relatives are in the room?"

Alastor looked at Harry seriously. "Is that what Severus told you?"

Harry looked down. "I knew you would get mad. Severus is really worried about that. You've never spanked me, but you spank Severus. He thinks your bothers will spank him, too."

"Nobody will touch my sons. You know I only do it when Severus has done something very, very dangerous or has had several warning to get himself under control. Believe me, if I had been the one to catch you flying without your jacket, you would have gotten a smack as well. And I fear it would have been in front of your peers even though it would have been embarrassing for you. I never plan those things, but with Severus, sometimes I need to give him a smack to get his head clear or to make him realize that what he did was very wrong. Flying without your jacket was dangerous too, Harry, and now your are paying the price for it. But you also could have fallen, and you didn't wear any protectors as they were on your jacket. You could have hurt yourself."

"Poppy pulled me by my ears," Harry quickly added in fear that Alastor would pull him over his lap right now and punish him.

"Yes, and she was right to do so. That will make you think twice before you fly without protection next time. But back to the topic. Nobody will spank you or Severus beside me, and I would prefer not to do so at all."

Harry nodded. "You won't tell Severus that I told you about it, will you?"

Alastor looked seriously at Harry and then his wife, who nodded. "No, we won't. So can you come with us now without making a face as if you are going to Divination?"

"Alastor, really, I told you to not encourage that. Divination is a subject like all their other subjects in school. They should take it seriously...at least as long as they have to attend it."

"What about Divination?" Severus asked when he stepped into the room.

"Your mother says it is a serious class as long as you have to take it. After that, you can call it rubbish," Alastor said and got a smack at the back of the head for it.

"You will not repeat that to anyone, Severus Moody," Poppy said, wagging her finger in front of him. "That wasn't what I said, and you should do well to not listen to this old man." She glared at Alastor again as she guided Severus over to the bed Harry and Alastor were sitting on. "So, boys, some rules."

Severus groaned, and Harry grinned at his brother's cheekiness. Both behaved when Alastor laid a warning hand on their necks.

"I want you on your best behavior during our visit. If you break something or do something else which you know was stupid, come to us and tell us before we have to find out about it from someone else. Be respectful to your relatives. If you feel uncomfortable with anything they do or tell you to do, come to us. Any questions?"

Severus lifted his hand.

"Severus, we are not in a classroom."

"How much do they know about us?"

"What do you mean? They already knew you as an adult and have heard about Harry as well."

"I...I mean about our problems." Severus looked down.

"Severus, they all read the Daily Prophet, so of course they contacted us as soon as they had read that awful article about the fake examination record. My relatives were very worried and offered their medical help. We calmed them all by telling them the truth. So they know about your health and mental conditions. They are your family now as well, Severus."

"They will fuss over us."

"I don't think Alastor's family will fuss over you, but I can't promise the same for mine. I think they will have enough professionalism to keep it to a minimum as they know you are not so keen about fussing. Remember, you have already had some encounters with my sisters and their husbands."

Severus groaned. "Yes, I remember. That's why I'm worried."

"You will survive it," Alastor said and ruffled Severus' hair.

"Hey, I'm not Harry. My hair gets all tangled up from that."

Alastor chuckled. "What's that?" He pointed at the Warning Glass.

"Oh." Severus grinned mischievously, forgetting his worries for a moment. "Do that thing with your eye on me."

"The thing with my eye? I'm sorry, but I don't get it."

"The reading. When you let it roam all over me when you think I'm hiding something."

Alastor raised his eyebrow, but then started to scan Severus with his magical eye. Suddenly, the little orb became smokey. Thick gray smoke filled it.

"What is it?" Harry asked curiously.

"It warns me if someone is using some kind of magic on me. It even shows if it has a good, bad, or neutral intention. Gray means neutral."

"That's cool. Where did you get it?"

"Argus gave it to me for Christmas."

"Wicked!" Harry said before a coughing fit hit him.

"Time for your potion, Harry," Poppy said and went to fetch it.

To Severus' horror, she came back with two spoons and two vials.

"Why do I have to take it? I don't feel ill." Severus looked pleadingly at Alastor, who had taken his potion from Poppy and was measuring out a spoonful.

"You have to take it so you won't catch the virus from Harry."

"I hardly get ill with colds."

"You are twelve now, Severus. Open up," Alastor instructed.

His face screwed, Severus obeyed. The next few days would be terrible, Severus was sure about that.