The close gathering of olive trees and their treacherous roots began to thin out a half hour after Severus and Harry left Harley and his steamboat, the Livingston, behind.

Severus' eyes were sharp as he scanned the ground for any sign of the elusive black flower he and his son were hunting. It was a lovely, sunny day with a clear sky overhead and a gentle breeze coming off the ocean.

The Melancton Flower, for which Solonus Isle was famous for, was also known as the Potions Master's Gold. Used mostly in healing potions it was a potent, magical ingredient for which Potioneers were finding new, remarkable uses for everyday. The problem was that the flower was not easy to find and it only grew on a few of the Greek Isles. From his research, this part of Solonus was supposed to be a good place to search for the flower.

Severus not only wanted to find a good sized patch but he hoped to harvest a good portion of the seeds so he could cultivate the flower at home. He was certain he could do it, but experimenting with the seeds was cost prohibitive. Even with financial backing from Lupin in place now, he wasn't solely going into working just on Wolfsbane and finding a cure. He wanted to experiment further with the Melancton and to discover lower cost substitutes for the plant in order to make some of the more expensive healing potions affordable.

The Potions Master was not only the best in England, but one of the top three Potions Masters in the world. Severus had dozens of 'recipe' journals where he'd scribbled down ideas he had during the course of teaching and spying. He had despised being the Potions Master for Voldemort, but he could not deny that some of the potions he had worked with had led to ideas and breakthroughs on the more benign potions he wished to work on.

Once again that teaching contract loomed up within his mind and he resolved to deal with it the moment he and Harry had gotten home, no matter the late hour.

"Daddy? Can we rest? My legs are getting all runned out." The plaintive voice was several steps behind him and Severus stopped immediately, wanting to smack himself in the head. So deep had he been in his thoughts he'd forgotten to pace his walk to compensate for Harry's much shorter legs.

"We'll stop right here, Harry. Would you like some water?" Severus sat down, removed the backpack off his back, opened it, and found the shrunken water bottle. Using his wand, he filled the empty bottle with cold water. He handed the water to his son. Harry took several large gulps of the nicely chilled water and then gave the bottle back to his father.

Severus watched his son for a few minutes as he looked around the pretty clearing noting the sudden appearance of a slightly distressed look upon his face. "What's wrong, Harry?"

Harry looked furtively around a bit longer and then spoke in a whisper, "There's no loo."

"That's right, son. There isn't." He suppressed the smirk of amusement.

"But, I gotta go pee!" Truth be told, he'd been doing a good job of holding it in until he drank the water. That had apparently wakened his bladder to the severity of his needs.

"Harry, out in Nature, you have to make your own loo." The look of utter shock and disgust on Harry's face was priceless.

"You mean... I have to... but what if someone sees me?" Harry wondered if he could make it back to Harley's boat.

"I'm the only one out here, Harry. Nobody's going to see you."

Harry crossed his arms indignantly over his chest. "What if you see something you shouldn't?"

"Surely you haven't forgotten, my boy, but I've already seen you naked." Harry's jaw dropped. "As a matter of fact, so did your Healer at St. Mungo's and the nurses that undressed you. Oh yes," he smirked, "lest we forget the incident in the Great Hall? You didn't seem at all embarrassed causing chaos without a stitch of clothing on."

"AUGH!" Harry ran and hid behind a nearby tree.

Laughing, Severus rose to his feet and went over to where Harry was hiding. "Harry, you really shouldn't be so embarrassed, but if it will help, I can cast a Disillusionment Spell over you and you can take care of your needs behind this tree."

Harry, who'd had his face against the tree's rough bark, looked up. "Really? Would you then, cuz I really need to go now."

Severus cast the spell and Harry all but faded except for a barely perceptible shimmer that was like a heat wave. He gave his son some additional privacy by stepping away a few feet.

The Disillusionment Charm felt like a cascade of ice down his back. This was not good considering how his bladder was already rebelling. Harry had learned how to hold his bladder shut until the very last possible moment under his Aunt Petunia's stern rule. She only let him use the bathroom once a day. This had given him unusual control, but the combination of the ice water and the chill of the spell caused the accident he was afraid of.

Harry was mortified. His father was going to kill him. He refused to look down at his soiled trousers and trainers and stared angrily at the tree in front of him. Maybe, if he just stood there long enough and didn't move a muscle he really would disappear. He sniffled.

"Harry?" asked Severus.

Don't move. Don't speak. I'm sure I'll disappear in a minute.

"Harry, are you all right?"

The tears dripped slowly down his face as he felt the cold, drifting feel of the Disillusionment Charm being removed. He kept still, though, just in case his father couldn't, yet, see him.

Severus looked in concern down at the frozen figure of his son. He could see the dark stain on Harry's trousers and he could smell the acrid scent. He placed his hand lightly on the little boy's shoulder and urged him to move.

"Step over this way, Harry," he spoke gently and for the moment he ignored the child's tears. He cast a few cleaning spells, one that he'd learned from Molly Weasley that was a disinfectant spell specific to messes children made, and lastly a drying spell. When he was done, he took out his handkerchief, knelt down, and dried Harry's tears.

"You're not going to kill me, daddy?" He sniffled.

Severus held the handkerchief up to Harry's nose. "Blow." His son did so. "I'm not angry over an accident, child. That happens sometimes so don't worry about it. As you can see, just a few spells and you're all clean again."

"So, you still love me?" Severus nodded and Harry threw his arms around his father's neck.

Severus picked his boy up and walked him back to the clearing and sat down. He kept Harry on his lap, and smiled inwardly at the comfort he felt as his son- my beloved child- cuddled up against his chest.

Severus had allowed them both a fifteen minute break where Harry napped, and he closed his eyes.

Once they were on their way again, Harry was back in high spirits and bounced ahead of his father. He asked questions about every plant Severus stopped to harvest and listened carefully to the answers. If they weren't harvesting a plant, root, or seed, Severus quizzed him on a variety of subjects.

"Will grandpa come back to live with us, daddy?" Harry asked in between quiz questions.

"He and Minerva are going to be living at Hogwarts after they get married, Harry."

"Cuz he's Headmaster again?"

"That's right."

"And Aunt Minnie's Depudee Headmistress?"

"Deputy, and yes, she is."

"Daddy? Are you going to teach forever and ever?" Harry bent down to study an interesting bug crawling along a leaf.

Severus stopped and watched his son. There was that damnable contract again. Albus would be Floo calling him soon, for an answer. After all, the start of term was only three weeks away.

At one time Severus thought he just might wind up teaching until his death; death at the hands of Voldemort. Thinking back then that he'd never need the house he grew up in, which had been very rundown and not in the best of neighborhoods, he'd sold the manor at Spinner's End. He'd gotten a surprisingly good price despite the condition it was in and had promptly deposited the profit in his Gringotts account and forgotten about it.

"I have been thinking of leaving teaching which would mean we wouldn't live in the castle anymore. Would that bother you?" he asked his son.

Harry shook his head. "It's a neat place and I like to talk to Phineas. Sir Nicholas has lots of good stories and the Bloody Baron isn't so scary anymore. I don't get to spend lots of time with you when you're teaching, though," he finally commented.

"You do remember that when term begins you'll be going to Primary School, don't you?"

"Oh yeah, I know that. But, see, sometimes you'd get home real late cuz there were Slytherins that needed you, and then you had detentions and you'd miss dinner and sometimes, when we were s'posed to play on the weekends, you couldn't because you had to toot students who were dunderheads. You were..." Harry hesitated and had squatted down, pretending to be interested in a pink flower he'd found.

Severus knelt down beside his son. "I was what?"

"You got mad a lot. Not at me, but you got mad at your students and you always looked like you had one of your bad headaches. Do you like teaching?" Harry looked up at him sideways.

He plucked Harry up to his feet and they continued walking. "Maybe I don't. There were a few times I had an exceptional student that made the headaches worthwhile, but... no. I think you may have clarified my decision, Harry."

"What did you decide?"

"You'll know soon enough. I have to talk to your grandfather first. Back to the quiz?" He ruffled Harry's hair.

"No! My turn to quiz you!" Harry chuckled.

"Quiz me? But I know everything!"

"Okay, then my quiz should be easy. How many Cannon posters does Ron have on his wall?"

"I've never been in Ronald Weasley's room," frowned Severus. "How am I supposed to know the answer to that?"

"Oh... okay, then how about I quiz you from Hogwarts: A History?"

Severus frowned. "Do you know how long ago I read that book?"

"A hundred years?" smirked Harry.

"Don't be facetious," Severus said archly. "I am only 38."

"Are we rich? Like Draco?" He had forgotten his quiz and was now, seemingly, asking his father random questions.

"We're certainly not as wealthy as Draco is, but truly, no one needs that much money. We do have enough that we could live comfortably until I have my own business set up."

"I have money, don't I?" asked Harry.

Severus wondered what could have prompted all these questions. "You inherited your parents estate, which was modest. However, you don't have access to it until you are sixteen years old."

"Okay."

They walked for several minutes, in silence. Harry had a firm grip on Severus' hand, though, and he could see that the child was thinking heavily again. Looking around for a place to take a break he directed his son over to a semi-shady area. He transfigured a rock into a blanket for Harry to sit on while he settled on a large tree root cushioned by a Cushioning Spell. He then poured some fresh water and took out some sandwiches he'd shrunk and put under a preserving spell.

Harry, almost finished with his sandwich, finally broke the silence. "Daddy, who was Sirius Black?"

Damn it all! There was that bucket of ice water down his back again. How much had the Weasley children told Harry about his past on his birthday? First the Chamber of Secrets, than the troll (although, that had been told by Ron to Harry before his birthday), then the Philosopher's Stone. Not to mention that all of those redheaded brats had done their best to remind Harry what a git his father had been to him in class.

"Where did you hear about Sirius Black?" asked Severus.

"I sorta overheard Remus and Mr. Weasley talking." He saw the beginning of a frown on his father's face. Severus had impressed his son early on with the fact that he did not like eavesdroppers. "It wasn't my fault! I was eating cake with Draco by the tree and they were on the other side talking. Most of it I didn't understand... about money and E States and diz... pursements. Remus then got kind of sad, but it sounded kind of angry, too."

"What did he say, Harry?" asked Severus, now very curious, and a bit concerned.

"He... uhm said it was unfair that I forgot everything about Sirius. Mr. Weasley was nice, but then told him to quit being so selfish. Remus gets sad a lot, doesn't he, dad?"

The last thing Severus wanted to be was sympathetic towards that stupidly dense werewolf. How many times was Remus going to need to be told to quit hanging onto what was past? Then again, I couldn't let go of a childhood jealousy and hatred towards a man dead for fifteen years.

Remus, who'd no doubt had few friends from the time he'd been bitten by the werewolf Fenrir Greyback, had long ago put his friendship with the Marauders on an impossibly high pedestal. Even in school, so worried was he about losing those friends, he made excuses for them when he should have had more backbone and spoke up against their stupidity.

Severus had never been bullied by Remus, and truthfully, for all his caustic attitude against the man, it had mostly been due to his own fears and prejudices because of what the man was, a werewolf. What also irritated him, as it had back when they were all students, was the man's fear of standing up to the cruelty his friends perpetrated on others. Severus hated to admit it, but the only other person targeted by James and Sirius worse than he'd been targeted, had been Peter Pettigrew. He had no doubt that the betrayal of Harry's parents, and the frame up of Sirius had all been a fatal sense of payback for what the ratty, ugly boy had put up with in his youth.

He could forgive the man his grief, because he did understand it, to a degree. Remus was a sensitive soul who embraced his friends ferociously and did not easily give them up. Sirius' death at Bellatrix Lestrange's hand after his then so recent escape from Azkaban, had been a terrible blow to Remus who was now the last of an era.

As for Remus and Severus these days? As always, Remus was civil to Severus. The Potions Master, though, had only recently begun to temper his usual snarkisms towards the werewolf. He knew he had nothing any longer to fear from the man, especially since he made the man's Wolfsbane Potion and monitored it. He had been surprised by the offer of financial backing from the now wealthy wizard, but he was certain that hadn't changed his attitude much towards Remus. Baiting the man, as he'd done for so long, just didn't have the appeal it once had. Of course, Remus still irritated Severus numerous ways, but a lot of people irritated Severus and he treated them all the same: snarkily.

Remus Lupin was recovering from his grief, as others were, he just held onto his grief longer than Severus felt was tolerable.

Severus looked down at his son, now picking at his sandwich. Sirius death, though, had broken Harry Potter. Of this, the Potions Master had strongly suspected when reading through the teenager's disjointed journal of his last days before de-aging himself.

Potter had hinged much of his hoped for happiness and freedom on Black. Whether or not it might have ever happened, Severus couldn't say. Witnessing the man's cruel death not only took away what normalcy Potter had wished for, it also made it crystal clear to the boy that anyone ever close to him was in danger. The final straw to what thread of sanity he'd been holding onto was gone when Albus sent the boy back to his relatives. He had been there when Albus had told Potter he had to return.

"...but Voldemort is dead, sir," protested Potter, his high pitched whine irritating Severus' sensitive hearing. "I don't need to go back!"

"There are still Death Eaters who would hurt you, my child," Albus tried to explain. "Your mother's Blood Wards are still effective and shall keep you safe until I can find another home for you."

"I'm safe at Hogwarts," muttered Potter stubbornly. "Why can't...?"

"Stop being so selfish, Potter!" snapped Severus who'd had enough of the boy's whining and wheedling. The stupid boy couldn't see that Albus, severely injured himself at the battle, was far too tired to put up with the brat's pleadings.

"I'm not!" Potter snapped at his Potions Teacher. "I could stay with the Weasleys, or Hermione's family."

"So you would sacrifice their safety for your comfort?" asked Severus sharply with a knowing sneer on his face.

Harry whitened and fell back against the chair he was in. "No, no, you're right. I-I-I'm sorry. Sirius... he... no! I can't hurt anyone else."

All fight the boy had come into Albus' office with that day fled in an instant. Looking back, Severus felt he should have realised that the boy's sudden acquiescence was a warning sign. Potter had given up in that moment, not just to the Headmaster's directive, but to everything.

"Sirius Black was your godfather..." began Severus. He steered clear of his own feelings for Black and told Harry about Sirius and how he'd been friends with James and Remus. He then explained how James and Lily had trusted Sirius to be their Secret Keeper when they went into hiding. Sirius, though, had made the fatal error of telling Peter Pettigrew where the Potters were.

Here was a part of Sirius' story that Lupin did not know. After all, Severus had been a spy and he was part of Voldemort's Inner Circle of Death Eaters. He had learned that Voldemort had instructed Pettigrew to get the secret of the Potters whereabouts any way possible. It was useless information, and one of the reasons Severus felt responsible for Lily's death. He had not discovered Pettigrew's ruse until minutes before Lily and James were killed.

Severus knew that Sirius, in his anger, had gone after Pettigrew with the intention of killing him, but no one knew that it was Pettigrew that had killed the innocent Muggles, thus setting Black up for his time in Azkaban.

For a moment, the story of Sirius Black was sidetracked as Harry lit upon the notion of Animagi. He thought there was nothing more wicked than for a wizard or witch to become an animal.

"Are you an Animagus, dad?" Harry asked hopefully.

"It is a difficult discipline to learn and one I never really had a curiosity about."

"I'd like to be a dog. Then Hector and I could talk," just as abruptly as the boy had veered off pursuing his interest in Animagi, he was back on topic with the question, "What happened to Sirius after he went to Azkaban? Did he die there?"

Severus went on to explain that in Potter's third year, after Black had been in the prison for twelve years, he escaped. As of his escape, no one had ever successfully escaped the horrible prison.

"Was he going after Potter?" asked Harry. He was now completely referring to his past self as another person.

"It's what everyone was afraid of. They were certain he was mad."

Harry listened, enraptured, as Severus told him of Sirius Black finding his way into Hogwarts and scaring Ron, and supposedly almost killing Potter. Everything culminated with an encounter in the Shrieking Shack.

"How did you know to get there, dad?"

"As you know, I had pledged to Lily to keep Potter safe. After his escapades with the Philosopher's Stone and the Chamber of Secrets, I devised a Tracking Spell that would allow me to know where he was. Potter had taken to sneaking about after curfew and after the incident in Gryffindor tower I had a suspicion as to who was letting Black into the castle."

"Who?" asked Harry in a soft whisper of awe.

"Remus Lupin."

Harry's jaw dropped. "Did grandpa know?"

"Much later I discovered that it was under your grandfather's orders that Lupin was supposed to smuggle Black into the castle. Albus wished to help him. Unfortunately, Black was intent upon seeing Potter and so, for awhile, he only made things more difficult for himself."

"He wasn't really thinking, was he, dad?"

Severus smirked. When had Black ever thought anything through? But, he did not wish to speak ill of of a dead man, so he replied, "They say that the reason Black was able to escape was because he was singularly determined to see the son of James Potter. James had been his best friend and it was said that Black needed to know that Potter was safe. Twelve years in Azkaban, Harry, makes it exceedingly difficult for a man to think rationally."

Harry's father went on to describe how he discovered Potter had sneaked out after curfew and Severus had gone after the boy. Severus did not say anything about his own fear of the Shrieking Shack, just that he followed the hidden tunnel beneath the Whomping Willow where he found Black, Lupin, an injured Ron, Hermione, and Potter.

"Black was shouting madly about Secret Keepers, rats, Pettigrew. I meant to subdue him for the Headmaster to deal with, but Potter was a headstrong child who felt he knew best. To my surprise, and utter disgrace, Potter and Granger not only disarmed me but knocked me out rather badly."

"Idiot!" huffed Harry with a glower.

"Yes, Potter did have a distressing tendency towards idiocy," agreed his father.

"See, I wouldn't have done that. You're a grown-up and if Lupin wasn't helping, and Black was nuts, then I'd help you."

Severus studied his son for a moment, and realised, even more strongly, how different Harry was from the teenager Potter. Seeing this, he could better understand how his son felt he was someone separate from Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived. And none of us will ever see Potter again, sighed Severus to himself. Another casualty of the war and none of us ever realised it.

That epiphany actually had Severus' hands trembling and he had to stop his narrative for a few minutes. While he recovered he handed Harry an orange and took several long sips of his water. He could finally understand how Ron felt; the Weasley boy truly had been grieving. And I have been unduly harsh towards Lupin knowing how close he'd become to Potter.

Severus leaned forward and brushed aside the curtain of long, black hair that obscured his son's profile. Harry lifted his head and smiled.

"Are you going to finish the story, dad?"

Needing to be closer to his son, Severus left the perch of the old, dead root he'd been sitting on and moved to sit beside Harry. Giving his son some of his water, he continued what he knew of Sirius' story. Finally ending with the wizard's brave death as he sacrificed himself for his godson.

After the story, Harry leaned against his father's side and picked at blades of grass. Severus slipped an arm over his son's shoulder and just quietly watched him for several minutes.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, child?"

"I think Potter's heart broke when his godfather died."

"I believe it did so, too, Harry. Potter loved his godfather very much and I think he was unable to cope with his death."

Harry just nodded in reply. Severus touched the shruken broom in his pocket. "I have a question for you, son." Harry lifted his head. Severus removed the small broom and held it in the palm of his hand. "This was a gift to Potter from his godfather. In his journal he mentions this broom and a wish for it to go to his friend Ron. Your cousin rescued it from his mother, recognising how much it meant to Potter. Technically, it is still yours, but I'm wondering if you'd like to..."

Harry interrupted, "Ron should have it," said the seven year old firmly. "I don't know how to explain it, daddy, but I really don't feel like it's mine. Other than the story you told me about Sirius, I never really knew him. I bet Ron would love the broom more."

Severus drew Harry tightly to his side briefly and kissed the top of his head. "Shall I take care of giving it over to Ron?"

"Yeah. Thanks, dad."

Severus pushed himself to his feet and grimaced at his cracking knees. Harry giggled. He put his hand out to his son and Harry grabbed his father's hand, letting him pull him up to his feet.

"We have another hour before we have to start back. Are you ready to find that flower?" He smiled at his son.

"Yep! I'm gonna find it!"

The Melancton Flower hunt ended about twenty minutes before they had to turn around and head back to Harley Walnut's steamboat. Harry had darted off after a snake, and Severus, worried it might have been a poisonous adder, had chased after the boy. The snake eluded Harry, but led him straight to a large patch of the black flowers hidden at the base of a rotting olive tree.

Severus demonstrated how to harvest the entire plant. Harry gently tugged the flower, stem, and its root from the ground then handed it to his father who cast a Preservation Spell over each plant. After they harvested as many as they could carry, they next picked up dried seeds from the ground surrounding the older blooms. Severus would later remove fresh seeds from the plants he and Harry harvested.

It was now time to head back to the Livingston, Harley, and then home to Echo.