The preparation for the operation was long and tedious and Poppy snapped at Severus for hovering over her shoulder. "It's going to take as long as I need it to," she exclaimed with exasperation. "Stop looming over me like some oversized bat!"

Severus sneered at her, but he moved to the end of the bed, where he could still see everything, but not be in the way. The sterile field surrounding Harry hummed as Poppy used her wand to open Harry's hip.

"Keep the area clear of blood, Julia," Poppy said to the seventh year Hufflepuff assisting her. The girl nodded and intoned her own spell, one to gather up blood and place it in a sterile container surrounded by a stasis field until the end of the operation, when it would be magically injected back into Harry's veins.

Poppy worked quickly and efficiently, keeping up a running dialogue as she went. "See how the new fracture runs just above the old break and how the bone has calcified around that area," she pointed out to her assistant. "We'll need to remove most of that first."

Fifteen minutes later, the sound of the bone snapping caused Severus to wince, but that was the only movement he made during the entire operation. He kept his eyes firmly on Harry, watching for any sign of distress or waking, even though he knew that the potion would not allow that to happen.

Poppy set the bone, closed the incision and then replaced Harry's blood. After placing a localised stasis field over Harry's leg, she stepped back and dismissed Julia.

Leading Severus to her office, she called a house-elf and ordered tea.

"I'll give him the Skele-Gro when he wakes. Then I'll put him back into the healing coma for another twelve hours," she said and Severus nodded his acknowledgement. "Go get some rest, Severus. I'll let you know when he's awake."

"I'll stay," he said.

"You will not," she said firmly. "Remus will come up to watch him. You have Draco to look after and you look like you haven't slept in days."

Severus rubbed a hand across his face. "I haven't," he reluctantly admitted.

"Have tea," Poppy said as she poured some into his cup. "Then go sleep."

"Yes, Mum," he said dryly and she laughed.

~HPSSHPSS~

Severus watched from his chair next to the bed as the boy stirred, finally waking from the second healing coma. A hand emerged from under the blanket and Harry mumbled something unintelligible. Severus leaned forward slightly and took Harry's hand.

"What is it Evan?" he asked softly.

"Dad," Harry whispered and Severus sat back abruptly, his mind reeling. Had the boy called him Dad, or was he hallucinating?

"Evan…" Severus started, but wasn't certain what to ask. He cleared his throat and tried again. "Are you thirsty, son?"

A small smile crossed Harry's face. "Knew it," he murmured sleepily. "I knew you'd be my dad someday."

Severus picked up the glass of water next to the bed and placed an arm around the back of Harry's head to lift him up enough to drink. After a few sips of water, he laid the child back down and returned the glass to the bedside table.

"How do you think you know?" Severus asked.

"I thought I was dreaming," Harry said, his fingers rubbing the edge of the blanket. "I heard you talking to Mr. Lupin about an adoption. A…blood adoption. I thought that it must mean that you'll be my dad for real."

Severus jerked in his chair, shocked. How had he not known that Harry was awake? He should not have woken from the Dreamless sleep for at least another hour. He would need to talk to Poppy about how Harry was metabolising the potion and see if they needed to make any changes to the dosage.

Then he wondered how much of their conversation Harry had heard. Had he not placed the silencing spell correctly? No, he thought, shaking his head slightly, the boy's bed must have been close enough to him and Lupin that it was included in the spell. He squeezed his eyes shut and replaying the conversation the night before in his head. Had they mentioned James, or the effect of the spell in Harry's presence? They hadn't, he decided. That part of the discussion had taken place in his rooms. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he tried to decide what to do next.

His eyes flew open and he turned his head side to side, rapidly scanning the area as he realised that they were in the middle of an open ward where anyone could be listening, including sneaky headmasters. Quickly he drew his wand and muttered the same spell he'd used the night before, followed by one to detect warm-blooded animals. It was a spell mostly used by farmers and sheep-herders, in order to keep track of their flocks, but worked just as well on humans. When he had determined that the only other presence in the area was Poppy sitting in her office, he murmured, "Silencio", and then waited for the magic to settle before turning his attention back to Harry "You were supposed to be asleep."

"I thought I was." Harry tried to turn onto his side, but stopped with a grimace of pain. With a sigh, he settled onto his back again. "I thought I was dreaming that Mr. Lupin was holding my hand and the two of you were talking about adopting me and Draco. I didn't know if it was real or something I had made up, and in my dream you said that it was a big secret, so I didn't want to say anything." Harry's hand clenched in Severus' larger one.

"And?" Severus asked, even though he was fairly certain of the answer.

Harry's mouth turned down slightly. "I didn't want to get my hopes up," he whispered.

The anxious feeling in Severus' stomach, caused by the fear that Harry would not ever really learn how to trust Severus completely, relaxed at the boy's words.
Severus leaned closer to Harry. "If you thought it might not be real, why did you call me Dad?"

A blush rose up Harry's neck and stained his cheeks. "I…I had just woke up and I knew you were sitting next to me. I just…umm…wanted to try it out." His hands fidgeted with the blanket. "If you didn't like it, I could blame it on the fact that I wasn't totally awake yet."

Severus smirked. "You thought about it beforehand, didn't you?"

Harry's smile lit up his face. "Yeah, I did."

Poppy chose that moment to come out of her office and head towards Harry's bed, a quill and parchment floating behind her. With a quick slashing movement of his wand, Severus lowered the silencing spell.

"Severus," she said admonishingly. "Why didn't you let me know as soon as Evan was awake?"

Severus glared at her, a look that she studiously ignored. She turned away from him to run her wand over Harry and mutter diagnostic spells.

"He has only been awake for a few moments," Severus said after she had intoned the first spell. "I was intending to let you know shortly."

"Right," she said, her tone of voice letting him know that she didn't quite believe him. She murmured another spell and the hovering quill scribbled down the results on the parchment next to her.

Severus sat back in his chair and watched her intently. "Well?" he asked sharply after a few minutes.

"One moment, Severus, please." She gathered up the parchment, sent the quill back into her office, then settled into the chair next to his.

"The procedure on his hip went fine," she said, after scanning the document in front of her. "Evan will need to stay in bed for the next twenty-four hours. He can't have any solid food, but I'll have one of the house-elves bring him plenty of liquids and broth and he can have a pain potion every six hours. After that, he can go back with you to your quarters. He should start putting weight on his leg the day after tomorrow, standing only, and with someone to support him. He can try walking a few steps on it the next day. I'll want to see you every day to scan for progress and to decide when to start physical therapy."

Severus nodded. "Fine, that's all fine, except that I'm taking him back to my quarters now. He can spend tonight and tomorrow in his own bed."

"That isn't a good idea, Severus," Poppy interrupted. "He needs supervision in case there's an emergency."

Severus stood, folded his arms and scowled at her. "Lupin will be there, as will I. We are perfectly capable of caring for him." His expression softened slightly. "I can't leave him here, Poppy. It's not safe enough."

Poppy sighed. "I knew you would say that."

Severus smirked at her. "I knew you had to try."

~HPSSHPSS~

Draco sat on Harry's bed, reading the next chapter in their current book. He was in the middle of describing a huge battle in space, which included all the sound effects that he thought such a battle might include; loud whooshing noises and bangs and explosions. Harry was laughing at Draco's descriptions as he bounced on the bed to accompany the sounds.

"Do spaceships make that kind of noise?" Harry asked through the laughter.

"Of course," Draco said in his 'I know everything' voice. "They make whatever sound I want them to make."

Harry snorted. "Right. I forgot about that."

There was a sound from the doorway and Draco looked up to find Uncle Sev leaning against the doorframe, his arms crossed and a smirk on his face.

“Draco, it’s nearly dinnertime,” Uncle Sev said. “Go eat in the Great Hall and reassure your friends that you and Harry are recovering.”

“But…” Draco started.

“The girls will be worried, Draco,” Harry said.
“Especially Hermione. You know how she gets.”

Draco carefully put a bookmark in the book and set it on the night table as he slid off the bed with a sigh. “Yes, okay, but you owe me, Harry, and don’t think I’ll forget it.”

He slid into his school robe, closing it up over his casual clothes, and left the room. He hadn’t taken more than three steps down the dungeon corridor when it occurred to him that he was alone for the first time in days. Uncle Sev and Mr. Lupin were not hovering over him and Harry was not here, needing to be looked after. A shiver of something he was not going to call fear crawled up his spine and he turned his head to look behind him.

The corridor was empty and Draco told himself sternly that Father was not here, would never be allowed into the castle again, but a week ago he had been certain that Father would not be able to get onto the grounds of Hogwarts, much less kidnap him.

With a low moan, he sprinted towards the stairs that led to the Great Hall, certain that he could hear his father’s footfalls behind him. He didn’t look back, although it took more strength than he thought he had. As soon as he caught up with a group of Slytherins heading that way, he fell in a few steps behind them and stayed close enough to feel a bit safer, but not close enough for anyone to notice him.

The sight of the doors leading to the Great Hall was such a relief to Draco that he felt his knees sag a little.

~HPSSHPSS~
"I may know of a suitable a room," Lupin said later that evening, after the boys were in bed and Severus had poured them each a cup of tea.

“Where?” Severus asked, his mind working through the different areas of the castle that might be available. “You’re not thinking of that ridiculous shack are you?”

Lupin waved a hand, dismissing the idea. “No, of course not. The room I’m thinking of is beyond the corridor that goes past the Slytherin common room; there’s a hidden passage off of one of the alcoves and the tunnel leads to a huge room. I don’t know when it was last used, but it looked like it might have been for dangerous experiments.”

Severus narrowed his eyes at Lupin. “How did you find it?”

Lupin’s gaze never wavered as he calmly folded his hands in his lap. “I used to know most of the hidden passages in the castle. This is one that I discovered in my seventh year, but never explored beyond a quick turn around the room. It was just before NEWTs and there was hardly any time for sleeping, much less exploring.”

“Hmmm,” Severus said, not really certain if he believed him or not.

“We could ask Minerva to spend some time with the boys, and have a look at the room tomorrow,” Lupin suggested. “If it’s a workable space, we would be able get started with the potions and runes right after I return from France.”

Severus nodded abruptly and rose to his feet. “I’ll ask her,” he said and stalked from the room.

The trip up to Minerva’s rooms was quiet, as all but the seventh years were in their common rooms for the night. Several of the portraits watched him as he passed and Severus knew that the headmaster would know within minutes where he was going.

He knocked briskly on her private door and it was opened within seconds by a house-elf dressed in a Hogwarts tea towel. Severus looked down at the tiny creature with surprise. Minerva rarely had a house-elf attend her.

“How may Dotty help you, Professor Snape sir?” the house-elf asked in a squeaky voice.

“Tell Professor McGonagall that I wish to speak with her,” he said.

Dotty bobbed her head and indicated that Severus should enter the room. “Missus Professor McGonagall not be here Professor Snape sir. She be with the headmaster. You wish to wait?” Dotty was wringing her hands anxiously.

“Yes,” he said and sat down in one of her wing chairs. “Bring me some tea.”

Dotty disappeared without a sound.

He was halfway through his cup when Minerva entered the room. “Severus,” she said and came to sit across from him in the other wing chair. “Dotty told me that you were here. What do you need to see me about that it couldn’t wait until tomorrow?”

Severus set his teacup aside. “I need to ask if you would be willing to stay with Harry for a few hours tomorrow morning. He will be allowed out of bed by tomorrow afternoon, but I should be back by then.”

Minerva considered him for a moment. “Yes,” she finally said. “I don’t know what you and Remus are planning to do, but don’t make me regret it.”

Severus grimaced at her. “No promises,” he muttered and she sighed.