On the threshold of the darkened living room, Severus paused with his coffee halfway to his lips. Case in point, there was a large off white bear sitting on (or rather smashing) one end of his couch, and looking rather guilty as he stared at the still groggy Potion's Master. Severus waved up the lights with his wand and lowered his cup of coffee.

"Again?" He questioned wearliy. If the Gryffindor was sitting on his couch in his animagus form it meant he still needed help transforming back. Not how Severus had envisioned spending the next hour (or two) of his morning.

The bear form of Harry grunted and Severus took it as a yes. With a sigh he sat down on the couch across from Harry and set his coffee down.

"I should leave you like this," he said wryly.

Harry grunted again.

"You don't think so? I would have thought that after last night you would have learned a lesson. I thought we discussed that you should not be preforming complex transfigurations on your own."

Another grunt.

Severus sighed again and gave Harry a hard look, and Harry, as a bear, gave him a very sorry look back. It almost made Severus want to snort... almost.

Taking the opportunity to speak since Harry could not argue, Severus said, "What would even possess you to try this in the first place I don't know." He set to work talking Harry back through the transformation, and though it didn't take as long as it had the night before, it was breakfast time by the time they were finished, and both of them were hungry.

"I think it would be wise to figure out how to transform yourself back before you transform into anything else again."

"How will I know when I can do it on my own if I don't transform again?"

"With practice. You may practice here, when I have time to help you. It would be unwise for you to continue showing off your form to others in any case. In your situation it would be to your advantage to have the ability to transform into an animal, yes, even the form you have taken," Severus added at the skeptical look on his son's face. "If you let everyone know what your form is however, the ability becomes useless when you are facing down Voldemort."

"Well no one has really seen except for you, Professor McGonagall, Hermione and Draco, have they? I mean, the Hufflepuff girls don't know it was me in the Entrance Hall last night."

"Even so, if I find that you are using your form around the castle in front of other students when it is not necessary, there will be consequences."

Harry crossed his arms and frowned. What consequences? "Detention?"

"I no longer have the benefit of being only your professor. That is not to say that I am not benefited by being your father, but that I can not simply send you to detention and wash my hands of you. It is my responsibility now to ensure that you learn certain things."

"What does that mean?" Harry wasn't sure he liked where this was going, even if he was confused about where it was going.

"I will ground you if necessary." At Harry's blank look, Severus felt the need to clarify. "I will take away privelages."

Like food, Harry thought, hating that he was suddenly reminded of four Privet Drive.

"So I have to do exactly what you say at all times or else be punished?"

"I did not say that, but it would be appreciated if you would listen to me." He had to work very hard to restrain himself from using the word 'obey'. Even walking on eggshells as he felt he was, Severus could sense the teen's change in mood and demeanor. He seemed like a trapped animal, and for a brief moment Severus pondered on the irony of that considdering that less than five minutes ago his son had been a bear.

"Breakfast will be over if we do not hurry. We can continue this discussion later." Severus rubbed his forehead and watched as Harry headed to the door. When he was gone, Severus went to change and to think over the bungled conversation he'd just had.

Ron and Hermione were already in the Great Hall, sitting at the Ravenclaw table with Draco. During the holidays most students chose to sit at a single table, but because the rest of the students were at Hufflepuff table, and they were waiting to discuss Harry's new ability, they sat at Ravenclaw.

"Is it true Harry?" Ron asked before he'd even gotten a chance to sit down.

"Is what true?"

Ron leaned in conspiriatorily and whispered, "That you can turn into a bear."

"A big ugly bear," Draco said with a smirk and Harry nodded. He had to agree, though he hadn't seen himself in a mirror yet. This morning when he'd woken with full cravings for the dirt, he'd considdered transforming in the bathroom so he could get a better look at himself, but the space was awefully small. Maybe he could try in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom... but his father's words came back to him and he wrinkled his nose. He wasn't allowed to try transforming anywhere else or he'd get grounded. Harry didn't know what the man had in mind for grounding him, but he imagined a week long detention or days on end without food, or maybe even getting his new warm clothes taken away.

"Mum can transform," Ron said then, bringing Harry back to the conversation.

"She can?" Hermione asked.

Ron nodded with wide eyes. "Bit frightning actually. I've only seen her do it twice. She's this big mean wolf, and the hair on her back stands up on end and her shoulders hunch up..." Ron tried his best to impersonate Mrs. Weasley in her wolf form, but only succeeded in making Hermione cover her mouth to hide a laugh.

"Your mother, a wolf," Draco said, shaking his head with a smile.

"Really, she is," Ron insisted. "One time we were out on Diagonalley. I was only four or five, but someone tried to snatch Fred and she dropped her bags right there in the middle of the street and chased him down. He was so surprised he let Fred go."

"And the other time?" Harry asked, but Ron gave Draco a sideways glance and hesitated.

"OH!" Draco suddenly shouted, drawing attention to their small group and making Harry jump a little. His face turned red briefly but then he lowered his voice and turned to Ron. "It was her! It was your mum that chased him after second year wasn't it?"

Ron turned a little red then and didn't answer.

"What?" Hermione asked.

Draco shook his head. "At the end of second year, my father was in Diagonalley trying to secure a new house elf when suddenly this wolf comes out of nowhere and chases him down the street. He tried to hex it but in the end he had to apparate away. The wolf took a bite out of his best cloak! It was your mother."

"Well he gave Ginny that diary and she and Harry and I almost got killed in the chamber!" Ron said defensively.

But Draco threw his hand down then and said, "You'll get no argument from me. Mother was furious when she found out what father had done. She said anyone, even pureblooded children could have been in danger."

"Can your father transform as well Ron?" Hermione asked, but he shook his head.

"You recon you can teach me Harry?" Ron looked hopeful.

"Uh... I'm sort of in trouble for learning it myself," Harry said.

"What? That's crazy! Hermione said you got points for managing it!"

Harry went on to explain that his father was angry with him just now, and about transforming again that morning in the living room on the couch (which was now slightly crushed on one end), and about how he'd been told not to transform any more or in front of anyone else.

"Come on," Ron said. "That doesn't apply to us. We already know. And besides, imagine all the points we could score on our NEWTs if we could manage. I'd like to be something ferocious. Maybe not a wolf or bear, but something."

"I don't think it works like that," Hermione told him. As Harry ate he let Hermione explain about the different types of animals one could become based on your personality (apparently she'd read up since Harry's preformance last night).

"Well I'm going to try," Ron said. Draco nodded, and although Hermione's lips were tightly shut, Harry had the feeling she was going to try too.

"Maybe-" Harry paused. When his friends were looking at him, Harry hedged, "Maybe my dad can help."

"Right," Ron snorted. "He doesn't even want you transforming."

"Well it's worth a try," Harry said. "I barely managed in the first place."

"Barely," Ron laughed, and Harry frowned. "Bear-ly" Ron said again, and then Harry understood, but he didn't laugh. He wanted to help his friends, but if he went behind his father's back again, he was afraid of whatever punishment might be doled out to him.

After breakfast, Hermione said she had some studying to do, and Draco wanted to go to the library to find his own books on Animagus even though Harry told him he could use his copy.

"Well I want to see it," Ron said as they watched Draco's back as he walked up the stairs in the Entrance Hall.

"It's actually down in my room in the dungeons."

"Well go get it. I'll wait."

Harry hesitated, and then asked, "Do you want to come down with me?"

"To Snape's quarters? I don't want to get my head ripped off, thanks."

"I think I'm allowed to have friends," Harry said, but he sounded uncertain. Dudley had always been allowed to have friends over, and he'd been to Ron's house before... and besides that, it seemed that Draco came and went as he pleased. Then again, Draco was his father's godson and perhaps he'd been giving permission before Harry had come along.

"Just- just a minute," Harry said, and he hurried back into the Great Hall, leaving Ron to wonder what he was doing. He was back in no time however and motioned for Ron to follow him down into the dungeons.

"What did you do?" he asked skeptically.

"Asked if you could go into the quarters with me. Draco comes and goes."

"And he didn't have a problem with it?"

"He said it was ok."

Once they were inside the Potion Master's quarters, Ron gave it a very thorough looking over. "It's different than I thought."

"Yeah," Harry said, "I thought the same thing."

"And you stayed here for the summer?"

"Just the last part of it. The castle was empty and Draco was just down the hall in Slytherin, so..."

"Where's your room then?" Harry lead him down the short hall to the guest room across from the bathroom. It wasn't exactly his room, because aside from some scratches and dents he'd put in the furniture when he was being... detained, everything was the same as the first night he'd spent there under the bed.

"Here it is," Harry said, sitting on the edge of the bed with the book. "I've already read through it several times, so you can take it. But I didn't use any of the methods in this book to transform. There's a seventh method I used in a book Ginny found for me. I had to translate it first."

Ron flipped open the book to a random page and Harry let him read for a minute.

"How did you do it then?"

Harry set to explaining trying to calculate the right time to try his transfiguration, going out to the forest to 'scare' himself into it, and finally managing even though he didn't know what he was.

"When can I see?"

"I have to wait for my dad."

"You may try now if you wish."

Both Ron and Harry jumped and were surprised to find Severus in Harry's doorframe. They hadn't even heard him come back into the quarters, and Harry wondered if there was a secret entrance somewhere. He looked at Ron, who looked uncomfortable and like he'd just been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"Here?" Harry asked.

"I believe it would be wise to save the furniture and find a bigger room to practice in. Dungeon classroom A perhaps?"

Harry nodded and he and Ron followed the Professor out of the quarters and down several corridors until they came to the room usually used for first and second year Potions.

Severus cleared the tables and stools to the sides of the room with his wand, and then motioned with his hand that the floor was Harry's.

"Well?" Ron asked after a few minutes.

"I- I need a minute. I have to feel like I need to transform. Like I'm in danger."

Harry cast his mind about for anything he could use and tried to avoid thinking about Sirius, as he had done this morning, and his mind instead flitted back to the punishments his father had promised him. His stomach clenched tightly and he remembered what it felt like to be in his cupboard back at Privet Drive.

"Whoa! That's awesome Harry!"

Harry opened his eyes, unaware that he had transformed, and found himself higher up than he'd been a moment ago and staring down at Ron. He remained quiet as Ron walked around him in awe.

"Not as scary as mum, but still nice."

"Really?" grunted Harry. Draco thought he was ugly, but Ron seemed to like the form he'd taken.

"What are you again? A grolar bear?"

That sounded better to Harry than a pizzly bear, so he nodded his head in the same awkward way he had the night before.

"You're huge. You could just sit on anybody who bothered you."

Harry felt like his cheeks were turning red then in embarassment, remembering the crushed couch, and didn't know if that was possible since his face was covered in hair, and suddenly found himself back in his own body at his own height.

"That was fast," Ron said. "Do it again."

Harry flexed his fingers, and shrugged.

"What were you feeling when you transformed back?" Severus asked. It had taken him almost an hour to help Harry this morning, and the Gryffindor had just managed it on his own in just a few seconds.

"I was thinking about my cheeks turning red and how that felt when Ron mentioned crushing people, because I thought of the couch. And then I was back to myself."

"That is, interesting. You were remembering what it was like to be in your own body."

"Wait," Ron said, and he opened the book back up to the page he had randomly flipped to earlier and handed it to Harry.

"Is that like this... the fourth form of transformation?"

Harry took it and read over it again. It was. The book described feeling what it was like to be himself, or to be in his animagus form. He couldn't do that before because he didn't know what it felt like to be a bear, or to be himself as compared to being a bear, but now he did.

"Let me try," Harry said, and he thought about the way he would awkwardly nod his head sideways and how that felt, and he transformed again.

"Try to transform back," Severus said, and Harry tried to think of something aside from being embarassed and feeling his cheeks turn red. Instead he thought about flexing his fingers, and subconsciously he tried to flex them when they weren't there. His claws scratched at the stone floor and then he found himself standing before them as a man again.

"That is... impressive," Severus said. He had read about animagus forms many times over the years, and was well aware of the mechanics and complicated theory of the subject, but had never managed to transform himself. Harry had seemed to master it in under 24 hours.

"Once more," his father told him, and Harry went through the cycle of transforming to a bear and back again, hoping his father would be satisfied and allow him to transform other places whenever he wanted. He still had the idea to go to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom and look at himself in one of the many mirrors.

"I have to try that," Ron said.

"It is dangerous and there are many things that can go wrong," Severus said, and Ron shrugged.

"My mum can do it. I recon she wouldn't mind if I tried."

"Perhaps you should write and ask before you begin. Perhaps Professor McGonagall would be willing to tutor you in the subject."

"They would let us learn?" Harry asked.

"If you would have asked or expressed interest in the subject, you would have most likely found your head of house, or the headmaster willing to teach you. Professor McGonagall learned to transform when she was in school from Headmaster Dumbledore."

"I'm going to go ask. Harry, can I borrow this?"

Harry nodded and Ron hurried out, perhaps excited to go and find McGonagall and perhaps wanting to escape the sudden tension between Harry and his father.

Suddenly alone, Harry was feeling the tension too.

"So... can I transform other places now?"

Severus gave a single nod and then lifted his wand to move the desks and stools back into place.

"I am curious," he said when he was done, "why you did not come to me to ask for help with your... project, especially given the dangerous nature of it."

Harry began playing with his fingers. Would he be in trouble for telling him the truth? Because the truth was, he didn't tell him because he thought he would say no, and that was like disobeying just the same as if he had said no and Harry had done it anyway.

"I didn't want you to say no."

"You didn't want me to say I would not help?"

"I didn't want you to say I couldn't try. I just wanted something to pour myself into, to keep myself busy."

"Because of the cravings?"

Harry nodded.

"And you tried to transform in the living room this morning because?"

"Because I woke up with really strong cravings and when I'm in the... pizzly form," he winced as he said it, "I don't feel them at all."

"It is possible that because you attained the addiction in your human form, that the addiction would not transend the link between your human and animal form. I am brought back to my original question however. Why did you not ask me for help, or tell me that the cravings were that bad?"

"Because they're that bad a lot of the time, and I didn't want to bother you. I need to learn to handle it on my own. I can't come running to you every time I wake up at night in a cold sweat, or in the middle of the day during class, or..." he trailed off, a little upset now, because he realized that it really was most of the time that he was still struggling with the dirt and the desire to go and find some (or a lot).

Severus leaned on a student work table and crossed his arms. Harry was aware the man was staring at him, but he didn't want to look up.

"Would you have gone to your aunt and uncle for help if they were here?"

Harry scoffed then. "Definitely not."

"What about to Black?"

Harry swallowed hard. He didn't know. Maybe he would have before... he had spent a lot of time writing to Sirius about his problems before he'd gone to stay with him during the summer. Even now that he was afraid of his godfather, he had still written to him, even if it was only to rant.

"The book you have on transfiguration is one from the restricted section of the library, one I know for a fact is still in it's place at the library, so I assume you have obtained it from an outside source."

"You think I got it from Sirius?"

Severus didn't answer, only stared. He was aware from years of being a teacher and diciplinarian that staring and staying silent worked well to make others uncomfortable enough to answer, even if they didn't want to.

"I didn't," Harry said. "I wrote to Remus and asked him if he knew how it was done. He sent me the book."

"I was unaware you were in contact with him."

Suddenly angry, Harry snarked, "Well I wasn't aware I had to make you aware of everything in my life!" He turned to go for the door, but it closed of it's own accord and Harry spun back around to find his father with his wand out.

"I did not say you had to tell me everything, I was merely making a statement of my own ignorance to the situation."

Harry felt like he should deflate a little, but he was still on edge. He wasn't certain if he was in trouble or not for witholding information from his father. He seemed to want to know everything... wanted Harry to rely on him for things that he'd never relied on anybody else for before. How was he supposed to know what to do? He'd never been in a family before, never had an adult aside from Remus and Sirius to fall back on before. It seemed like there were just too many new rules to follow.

"I don't know what you want from me," Harry finally said, feeling sick with the uncertainty that had been flooding him all morning since he'd crushed the couch and upset his father. His response seemed to take Severus by surprise.

"I- do not want anything from you," he replied, but that wasn't what Harry wanted to hear and Severus could see that from the look on his son's face. "Please clarify what you just said."

"I haven't had a parent before. Sirius was the closest I came and Remus was the closest before that. They had no expectations of me. You have all these rules that I don't know about. You want me to tell you things or else I'll be punished. I don't know what the punishments are or what things I have to tell you and what I can keep to myself. You want me to be this other person I don't know how to be. If you would just tell me what you want, then I can know how to be."

Severus furrowed his brows, opened his mouth, and then shut it again. He really hadn't set any expectations for the boy other than to be honest and not to transform until he had figured out how to control it. Yet Harry had come up with all sorts of expectations Severus had and hadn't even realized. The boy was apparently very observant and also anxious over said observations.

"I would like to get to know you better, and I would like for you to get to know me well enough to know that you can trust me, and that I am here to help when you need it. I would like you to be able to rely on me, but I am also aware that it is not something I can force on you. I was surprised to find that Lupin had been writing you letters all summer, and I was surprised again to find that you were in contact with him later to learn how to become an animagus. I had feared that you had started writing to Black." He paused. That wasn't exactly true. He was afraid Harry had contacted Black and forgiven him. Not only was it dangerous to go back to Black, but it would mean Harry had chosen an abusive godfather over him, and that was saying volumes about his parenting.

"You have learned to rely on yourself, and I can see now, that you have not yet learned to rely on my help." Of course, it hadn't helped that the one time Harry had tried to rely on him by giving him the stash of Asphodel that he had misread the situation and treated Harry poorly.

Severus ran through the things Harry had said in his mind. "As for punishments, I may sometimes have to give you detention for breaking school rules. That I cannot help being staff. I can assign your detention to other professors if you prefer. There are times when I may need to ground you by taking away privelages however. I can assure you I would never treat you as Black did or harm you in any way. What were your punishments when you lived with your aunt and uncle?"

Harry took a deep breath and let it out. That he didn't want to talk about, though it was good to finally know what his father expected of him.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"I am aware they did not like you. Did they treat you like Black?"

"Not exactly." Harry's stomach rumbled then and he realized they'd been down in the dungeons for quite some time.

"Would you like to go out for lunch?"

Harry nodded and they made their way quietly back to his father's quarters so his father could get his cloak and Harry's new warm coat which was also there from the night before. They made their way through the falling snow to Hogsmead and got an order to go of hot sandwiches and warm pumpkin hot chocolate. Harry would have liked to have stayed there and eaten, but he knew they couldn't afford to be seen together and on good terms out in public because Voldemort could have spies anywhere.

Harry ate his hot sandwich with one hand and drank his hot chocolate with the other, glad that he had something hot to keep him warm on their slow trek back to the castle through the deep snow.

"What are your expectations of me?" Severus said after Harry had finished his sandwich and was getting ready to finish off his hot chocolate.

"What?" He seemed surprised.

"What expectations do you have of me?"

Harry gave a little shrug. "I don't know."

"If I have expectations of you, it is fair for you to have them of me also. I have never had a son before."

Harry allowed a small smile to come over his face. He'd been so focused on himself and how he was struggling with the situation that he'd forgotten all about the adjustment his father had been going through. Just a few months ago they were enemies and Snape had hated him. Now they were family and the Potions Master had made an admirable effort to keep his usually snarky demeanor at bay, at least arround Harry. He supposed he hadn't made it easy for him either, especially getting hooked on the dirt like he had. And then comming up on him in the Entrance Hall as a bear...

"Just... be nice to me."

"Have I not been?"

"I mean..." he didn't want to think about it, let alone say it. Not that his father didn't already know, but he hated to talk about it. "Don't hurt me. Feed me and stuff. Don't- don't lock me up just because you don't want to deal with me."

Severus withheld a sigh. He hated knowing that if Harry was asking for these things, then these things had been done to him in the past. He didn't expect Harry to say anymore, but he continued.

"If I got in trouble at the Dursleys, they locked me in my room... the cupboard under the stairs. Or they locked me out of the house and I had to sleep in the shed. And if I missed a meal, or more because I couldn't make it to the kitchen, then it didn't bother them any."

"It is unacceptable to withold food from any person, let alone a child, or to lock them away and out of sight. I will never do these things to you."

"What will my punishment be then when I'm grounded?"

"Are you asking because you plan on getting grounded?" He'd meant it to be a joke but Harry hadn't seemed to take it that way, so Severus continued. "As I said before, I will take away priveleges. Flying, spare time with friends..." he trailed off realizing that he didn't know what other things to take away from Harry because he still didn't know him that well. When he glanced over, Harry was staring at him.

"Food and safety are not privelages. Those will not be denied to you."

"Will you take my new clothes away?"

"No. Those are all basic necessities. Did your relatives not clothe you?"

"No one ever bought clothes for me before you did. Except Mrs. Weasley always makes me a sweater at Christmas, or a hat or gloves."

Severus shook his head as they passed over the threshold of the school grounds. They continued on in silence until they were almost to the steps leading up to the Entrance Hall.

"Christmas," Harry said suddenly, and they stopped walking.

"What about it?"

"I've never had a real Christmas."

"You said you had received presents before."

"I always spend Christmas alone, except last year I got to spend it at Grimmuald Place, and in my first year Ron stayed behind with me in the common room. I never got to spend it with family."

"I expected that you and Draco would spend Christmas in my quarters this year."

"Well Ron and Hermione are here, and Gryffindor is empty otherwise. Can they come too?"

Severus looked up at the sky. His home full of teenagers for an entire day. He supposed he could survive it if that was what Harry wanted.

"That is acceptable so long as there are no more transformations, accidental or otherwise in the living room, by you or your friends on Christmas or Christmas eve." Harry grinned.

"How'd you know they were all going to try?"

"Once they saw you, it was only a matter of time."

Harry laughed as they continued up the stairs. "I don't think a pizzly bear is anything to aspire towards."

"When you say it like that, it is not. Perhaps if you refer to yourself as an ursid..."

"An Ursid. That's not so bad. Better than pizzly and grolar." Harry laughed again as they went inside.