"Are you sure about that? Everyone knows Weasely is his best friend," Severus pointed out trying to understand and at the same time see if the children would share the facts with him. 

"He is as well, you are allowed to have more then one best friend. Ron is the best friend that everyone expects him to have, Draco is the one everyone needs. We all have parts to play Professor; you of all people should know that," Daphne answered carefully.

"What do you mean by that?" Severus stated out in a dangerously low tone. 

"Oh, I think you know what she means, since you're clearly fishing for information. How about this, the next time you see Draco and Harry arguing or fighting in the hallways pay close attention to their faces. Harry always apologizes after he says something offensive and Draco's eyes are always full of worry that Harry will take it the wrong way," Pansy interjected as she didn't want any blood to be shed.

"Thank you for that insight, next time I will make sure keep an eye out, but right now I have a meeting with the headmaster, sleep well my little snakes," Severus said out wearily before he turned to head out of the common room.

That hadn't been as helpful as he had thought it would be. He still had so many questions that needed to be answered.As Severus headed to Albus's office, he couldn't fathom how all this came about, he actually felt like he had landed bizarre universe.

When he arrived in the headmaster's office, he was glad to see that Albus was alone, but he was looking as old as his age for once."Albus, I found Harry," Severus said not wanting to prolong the good news.

"You did? That's marvelous, where was he?" Albus said cheerfully, his blue eyes twinkling with knowing.

"You're not going to believe where I found him," Severus said in bewilderment. He had seen it with his own eyes but even then, he was hard pressed to believe it to be the truth.

"His dorm room in Slytherin I'd say, judging by your expression," the old Headmaster replied out in amusement.

"His dorm room in Slytherin? Potter is a Gryffindor Headmaster," Severus said slowly as if he was speaking to a small child.

"As of last week, he was sorted as a member of both houses," Albus replied truthfully."As

Slytherin Head of House, why wasn't I told of this new development?" Severus asked, his dark eyes narrowing at the thought of being kept in the dark.

 "I'd assume it was because your snakes are unsure of your loyalties and wanted to protect Harry. Speaking of which how is he?" Albus asked in concern. 

"Suffering from nightmares and visions, he was passed out when I left," Severus explained out, letting himself be redirected. 

"I'll have to ask Remus, if Harry complained of having nightmares to him tomorrow," Albus muttered out to himself.

"Why would the wolf know anything?" Severus asked out carefully, because once again it seemed he wasn't being kept in the loop.

"Harry and Remus meet once a week to talk," Albus answered honestly, he saw no reason to lie.

Severus pushed the jealousy that tried to surface into the back of his mind, at the thought of Harry confiding in someone else other then him.

"Happy to hear that he's pouring his heart out to someone, please keep me informed Albus," the older Slytherin said before turning to head out of the door. 

"Of course, Severus," Albus said, allowing himself to smirk once the man had closed the door. He had seen that jealously, and it was promising to him.

Severus left Albus's office and walked down to his quarters. Thoughts were crossing his mind every minute. Harry was in Slytherin and he had the snake's supports. Knowing that he had to wait until tomorrow to discuss this situation with the boys when they woke up, he enjoyed a cup of tea, trying to calm his thoughts.

~*~*~*~*~~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Harry woke up the next morning after a rare rested sleep, the first thing he realized was he had fallen asleep in the Slytherin dorms. He threw a pillow at Draco to wake him up but he just groaned and rolled over. Shaking his head as he got up out of bed, Harry was in the process of grabbing his towel so he could take a shower, when the door to the dorm opened.

Expecting it to be Daphne, Harry didn't turn around as he grabbed his clothes, and was startled to say the least when he heard Snape's voice instead of hers.

"Good morning, Mr. Potter," Severus drawled out, thankful that Harry seemed to be the only one awake at this time. 

Harry let out a high-pitched wail in surprise at the man's voice, which he would later deny he ever did it. The upside to that was that he had finally succeeded in waking up Draco as well as the rest of his Dorm mates. Harry tried to hold back a grin as the boys positioned themselves in front of him with their wands raised. They made a comical sight dressed in only; boxers, pajama pants, or sleeping gowns.

Severus frowned as this was the 2nd time in 24 hours that his snakes had raise their wands to him. He wasn't sure how to feel that it was Harry who they were all protecting. He just didn't want anyone to get hurt. 

"Hello Professor," Harry replied weakly.He hadn't wanted Snape to find out he was a snake this way.

"Lower your wands gentlemen," Severus said in a dangerous voice. He was glad to see that a few wands faltered but saw that Nott, Zabini, and Malfoy's, stayed strong.

Before anything else could happen, Daphne burst into the room."Guys he's ok, he swore the vow last night, he won't hurt Harry," she exclaimed, trying to deescalate the the tension in the room.

"How did you guys get him to swear an unbreakable vow in the first place?" Harry asked curiously."We tricked him, hey we needed to know the truth," she added when she saw the frowns on Harry and Draco's face.

Harry sighed in relief when they finally lowered their wands, not liking that they were still pointing them at Severus. Especially because Harry knew whose side the man was really one.

Severus asked the question he had been dying to know since he'd found out that Harry had the snake's protection. "How long have you and Mr. Malfoy been friends Mr. Potter?" He asked. 

"Since we were 11 sir." Harry answered Honestly.

"I thought you rejected his offer of friendship that 1st year?" Severus asked looking a bit confused.

"He did, publicly humiliating me in the process," Draco interjected dryly.

"You deserved it, you were a little prat back then," Harry retorted in his defense.

Yes, he was," Blaise said in agreement smirking at the affronted look on Draco's face.

"Anyways something happened to me as a result of that and Harry found me, and instead of leaving me to suffer on my own he helped me out with it and never told anyone else. The friendship started there," Draco said quickly, bringing the conversation back to the topic at hand.

"And how did Mr. Potter become an honorary snake?" Severus asked carefully.

"After his 2nd year when it was revealed that he was a parsel mouth, the rest of the school turned on him. But Draco wouldn't turn his back on Harry, he even risked getting beat up to bring him in here. The first few months Harry started coming in here without Draco and after showing a few secrets that only he knew about in our common room, He was made a snake and that was that," Theo said softly.

"Of course, some snakes had to be obliviated, because they threatened to tell their parents, that was when Draco and Theo came up with the Vow," Blaise said with a grimace as he had remembered that shit show.

"A clever idea, I must say," Severus reluctantly agreed.

"Well, you guys don't need me to tell him anything since you all know the story.  So, I'm gonna go take a shower," Harry murmured before he turned to head into the bathroom.Taking advantage of the fact that Harry was no longer in earshot, Severus focused fully on his snakes.

"What do you know about Harry's grades? Has his homework ever seemed like it was too easy for him?" He asked in a casual tone.

Draco frowned at that and said nothing; it wasn't his place to tell Harry's secrets. "You'll have to ask him because we don't know what you're talking about, do we guys?" He said flickering his eyes to his dorm mates.

Severus saw the look his godson had given the other boys so he wasn't surprised when they all hurried to nod their heads in agreement to his words. Knowing he wasn't going to get anything out of them, Severus sighed but left them to their own devices.

When Harry came out the shower, he was told about what Snape had asked them, to be honest Harry already figured out Snape would find out about that since he went to Privet Drive. He just hoped Snape didn't know about his cupboard. Not sure what the man knew and not wanting to be called out, Harry avoided Snape for the rest of the weekend and hung out with his friends.

*~*~*~Few weeks later*~*~*~*~*~

As much as Harry himself had been avoiding Snape, he didn't like the fact that the man himself seemed to be doing the same to him. Even in Potion's class where it guaranteed that they would have some kind of interaction, they didn't. If the Professor wanted him to do something, he would ask his partner which was either Ron or Draco depending on the class. He didn't know what he had done, to warrant this behavior. Why was he getting ignored?

Frustrated with the lack of knowing was what led him to knocking on the Potion Master's office the second week of October. He honestly wasn't sure what his plan was, but he was unable to take it back when he heard the man's silky voice, allowing him to enter.

"Hi Professor," Harry said quietly as he shut the door behind him and took a seat in front of the man's desk.

Severus looked up, his obsidian eyes taking in Lily's child, he hadn't really had a chance to speak with him and he was glad that the child had sought him out. Was this another cry for help? 

"What can I do for you Harry?" He asked, gently. If it was a cry for help, he didn't want to be harsh if the boy was struggling again.

"I was wondering if I would have to take ‘remedial potions' this year?" Harry asked slowly. He wasn't sure how one went about asking to spend time with someone they viewed as a pseudo parent. 

"Do you think you actually need to take them?" Severus asked bluntly. "Well last year, you said I was a dunderhead who failed at occluding, so I would assume so," Harry said carefully.

 Severus signed, and pulled out his wand before activating the privacy wards around his office, before setting his wand on the desk.

 "Sir?" Harry asked questioningly, unsure of just what the man was doing.

"Let's not beat around the bush, I know you're smart Harry, extremely smart but I can't figure out why you are constantly getting barely acceptable in your all classes. Are you intentionally trying to fail?" Severus asked bluntly, he genuinely wanted to know. 

Harry sighed but he wasn't surprised, he had been expecting this. A part of him had known that his professor had seen his work at the Dursely house. However, he didn't think the man would come right out and say it? Wasn't he a Slytherin?

"I work hard to make those A's Professor," Harry replied honestly.

"But you can do better, can't you?" Severus pressed.

"I could yes," Harry said with a sigh since it was apparent that Snape wanted an actual reason as to why he wasn't doing his best. He personally thought it was obvious. 

"Then why don't you?" Severus really wanted to know why Harry hid his potential from the rest of the world.

"Because I was always expected to do worse then Dudley at the Dursleys, and when I got here I would've attracted more attention then I already had. I just wanted to blend in with everyone else," Harry replied truthfully. 

"That's not going to work anymore; and you don't have to show off. I just want you to do the best that you can.  And if you don't, believe me when I say you will be getting a lot of detentions until you do," Severus said calmly.

"You can't do that," Harry half whispered, even as a part of him was in awe that the man wanted him to do his best. No one had ever wanted him to do that.

"As half your Head of House, I can and I will. You are now one of mine, and I want you working up to your full potential so you can go far without anything getting in your way," Severus said passionately.

"I've never had anyone care about my grades before," Harry said softly.

"Now you do, and now that little matter is out of the way I want to ask you something," Severus said easily.

"Ask me what?" Harry asked curiously.

"Do you really need help to occlude your mind? I found your book on mind magic and protections at your relatives' house which made me curious. Not to mention I didn't see any memories of your abusive relations when we did do remedial potions," Severus said carefully. That had intrigued him, and now that he was thinking about it, it was clear that the child could already shield his mind.

"No, I don't need any help sir, my shields are airtight," Harry said with a quiet sigh.

"Then why did you lie Harry?" Severus asked in confusion.

"Because I wanted to spend time with you," Harry replied shamefully. He wasn't sure how the man felt about him, and didn't know how his professor would take his words.

Severus had to strain to hear Harry's answer, and when he did he felt happiness swell within him. They had made progress, even though it felt like they hadn't.

"Did I not tell you that you could visit me anytime, when you were released from my care?" Severus reminded him. 

"Yes, but I thought you were just doing it to be polite, not that you actually meant it," Harry said truthfully.

"Do you trust me, Harry?" Severus asked in response to the boys' words. 

"With my life sir," Harry replied without hesitation.

Severus grinned inwardly; they had come a long way since their discussion on trust."Then know that I will never say something like that to be polite, alright?" Severus told him.

"Yes sir, I understand," Harry said with a small grin on his face now that he knew the man wasn't going to mock him. 

Seeing how insecure the small teen was, Severus almost caved right then and there and told the boy about the change in guardianship. As much as Harry and he had come a long way, that didn't mean that the boy wanted to live with his greasy git of a teacher.  

"Harry, are you spending Christmas here at Hogwarts?" Severus asked after a couple of moments had gone by.

"Yes sir, I always do," Harry replied honestly. It was no secret, he was every single break, he never went home, it was strange how the Professors at Hogwarts never questioned that, until now. 

Severus remembered back when he spent every Christmas at Hogwarts to avoid going home, and how much he wished that someone would invite him home with them but never did. Wanting to give the child a real Christmas for once, he had an idea.

"Would you like to spend Christmas with me?" Severus asked casually, ignoring as his heart sped up at the thought of Lily's child spending Christmas with him. 

"Of course, I would sir," Harry replied grinning so hard that his cheeks actually hurt.

"Good we'll discuss this in depth when it gets closer to break," Severus said allowing a rare smile to grace his face. Up until he had seen the boy's delighted expression, he had missed how much of an open book that Harry's face use to have. 

"Yes sir, goodbye sir, and thank you," Harry said ecstatically before he turned and ran out of the man's office before, he did something he might regret, like hug the man. He didn't think he would ever live that down. 

Severus shook his head in amusement as the child ran out of is office, shaking his head fondly. Usually, children didn't run out of his office that happily, but he was glad that he was the reason for that child's happiness. 

Once Harry was a bit away from the Professor's office, he let out a happy sigh, he couldn't believe that he was going to spend Christmas with someone who liked him for him. It was almost like a family. He was so excited that he knew that he had to tell someone, but it had to be someone who was going to be totally happy for him. He knew that it had to be a Slytherin, which is why he turned to head to the Slytherin dorms, to tell Draco. 

"Draco, guess what?" Harry said excitedly as he burst into their dorm room to find Draco and Theo and Blaize on their beds. 

Draco sat up at Harry's entrance, grinning at the excitement on the other boy's face. He knew it had to be something good, and he wondered what had happened?

"What? Did Ron outscore Granger on the last Transfiguration assignment?" He said half jokingly.

"No, that was last week," Harry said absently as he went to go sit on the blonde's bed.

Draco's mouth gaped open before he caught himself. "He actually did?" He asked in disbelief.

"He did, he got an O without her help, and she ended with an EE, she was pissed," Harry said giggling as he remembered.

"Weasely is smart, if he applied himself, he would be a force to be reckoned with. He's unmatched in chess," Theo said thoughtfully.

"I know that, and he's starting to realize that too," Harry said fondly. "We're going to come back to this topic, because I need to know the whole story, but if that's not the reason for your excitement was is?" Draco asked eagerly.

"You'll never guess what happened, so I'll tell you. Snape invited me to spend Christmas with him, and I said yes," Harry said excitedly, as he remembered the feeling of being wanted, of being cherished. He mattered to that man, and he didn't know if it was fully because he was his mother's son, but he was happy nonetheless.

 "What?" Draco muttered out, because he had heard wrong. He had asked Severus when they had gotten back to school if he could spend Christmas with him and the man had yet to reply to him. But he had told Harry he could? How was this fair?

"I know, I couldn't believe it," Harry gushed out happily.

"You told him no right?" Draco said tightly.

"I told him yes, what's wrong with you?" Harry asked in confusion, only now noticing that Draco wasn't a happy about this as he had thought he would be. Forget happy the blonde Slytherin was downright angry with him? What had he done?

"Why would he ask you to spend Christmas with him? I'm his godson," Draco grumbled out, feeling jealous. Was Harry trying to take his place? He realized he was being a little bit irrational but he had never had to compete for Severus's attention before, and now he did?

Harry flinched slightly at his friend's words before he nodded to himself. "I thought you would be happy for me, otherwise, I wouldn't have told you, "He said before he turned and walked out of the room. He didn't want to deal with this, it seemed like he could never just have happiness without petty problems getting in the way.

"Seriously?" Blaize said as he jumped off his bed to go run after Harry. 

Draco gritted his teeth, angry at himself because he knew immediately that he had hurt Harry, but he couldn't stop his own hurt feelings. Severus was his godfather, why didn't he get an invite to spend Christmas with him?

"I honestly don't know what to think right now Draco," Theo said after letting the blonde stew in his thoughts for a moment.

"I don't want to talk about it Theo," Draco mumbled out.

"Good, you just need to listen anyway," Theo said truthfully.  "In case you forgot Harry doesn't have anybody left in this world to care for him. His parents and godparents are either dead or indisposed. You however, you have both sets of godparents and parents, can you see how incredibly selfish you just were?" He pointed out gently.

Draco swallowed thickly, because when it was put into perspective like that, he felt like a jackass. Not to mention it wasn't Harry's fault that his godfather hadn't replied to him, it was the man himself. He should have said something to Severus instead of doing what he did.

"The way I see this, Snape was probably giving him a chance to spend Christmas with people who care for him, almost like a family. In a sense this will be Harry's first Christmas and you made him feel guilty about being somewhere he would be accepted. Besides who's to say that Snape wasn't going to invite you too? Didn't you think that you being there would help make the transition smoother for Harry?" Theo asked, watching impassively as a proud horned owl flew in through their dorm window with a letter. 

Draco didn't answer Theo this time, as he recognized the animal as his godfather's owl, Aeris. Draco's stomach dropped as he read the letter to find out it was his invitation to spend Christmas with him and Harry.

Theodore shook his head as he took in Draco's expression, he took no pleasure in being proven correct. "Recklessness and impulsiveness are not Slytherin traits, think about that. And it better be a damn good apology, you really hurt Harry. I'm gonna go see if Blaize caught him." Theo said before he shook his head and walked out of the dorm room. 

Once alone Draco allowed his head to drop into his hands, feeling terrible. What had he done?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry was running fast; he didn't know where he was going but he needed to get away from Draco. What had he done? He wondered absently if his blonde friend thought that he was trying to take Snape away from him.

He wasn't but like he knew from the Weaseleys there was enough love, or care to go around. He needed to get away he needed to think on this new development. Not to mention that was the last time he was ever sharing with Draco. He wondered if he needed new friends now.

He didn't know where he was going which is why he was surprised when his feet led him to Myrtle's bathroom. He could hear Blaise's footsteps behind him which is why he walked into the bathroom, not surprised to find it empty, as it usually was.

He hurriedly opened the Chamber and closed it behind him, preventing him from being followed. Harry called for Sammy who didn't appear; he guessed he was out hunting.Unsure of what to do with himself, but knowing if he allowed his thoughts to continue on their dark paths, he would do something he didn't want to do.

He took a deep breath before he started looking around for other exit points. He stayed down in the chamber for two hours, before he finally came out, relieved to find Blaize gone. He shook himself out, and headed to the great hall where he and ate dinner at the Gryffindor table ignoring Draco's looks to get his attention. 

"We missed you Harry, where were you last week?" Neville asked curiously once they had finished dinner and headed up to their tower. 

"I had a vision, and the headmaster wanted me to stay with Snape to deal with it," Harry said half truthfully. 

"That's good, is it better now?" Neville asked worriedly.

"Yeah I'm alright, thanks for asking," Harry said kindly.

"You're welcome," Neville said brightly before he turned to disappear into the bathroom. 

"Are we good Harry? I know what really happened, and you don't need to explain to me. I'm with you," Ron said quietly.

"Yeah? Who told you?" Harry said still slightly shocked, because what had he missed?

"Daphne," Ron said honestly, before grinning as he remembered how that conversation had gone. 

"What did she tell you?" Harry asked curiously.

"The truth, I'm glad she trusted me with it," Ron said before he turned to his bed.

Harry really wanted to know what was all said, but he didn't want to push. Whatever had been said, he just decided to take it all in stride, glad that his mate had finally grown up.

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Harry spent the next couple of weeks fully in Gryffindor, the only time he associated with Draco and by default his Slytherin mates were in the classes they shared together. He wasn't ready to forgive the Slytherin, because Harry had felt Draco should have known better.

Not to mention, he didn't take kindly to being hurt for no reason, and he knew how the blonde Slytherin could be. He missed the snakes, but he was enjoying this time getting to spend with his fellow lions. 

Severus saw the strain in the boy's friendship but since Harry never brought it to his attention; he just brushed it off as a slight disagreement between friends.

The truth was Harry wanted to tell Snape but he was scared that Snape was going to take Draco's side and revoke the invitation.

After all, Harry was just a student of his, and Draco was the man's godson. He knew the family dynamic, the Durselys had showed him that. Harry was just lucky that for all Snape saw the man thankfully knew better and didn't pair him and Draco up during this time. He wasn't sure how to feel that day in potions when he was paired up with Theo.

"Stop staring at me," Harry said after about 5 minutes had gone by, and the Slytherin boy had been staring at him with this rather peculiar expression on his face.

 "Sorry but we need to talk about Draco," Theo said quietly.

"I would rather not, if its all the same too you," Harry said with a yawn. 

"He was jealous Harry," Theo says getting straight to the point.

"I don't understand why," Harry replied tiredly as he put down his knife to look at his friend."

He thought you were taking Snape away from him," Theo answered honestly.

"But I wasn't," Harry said softly.

"You know that, I know that, but he didn't at the time; now he does. He's sorry Harry." Theo replied.

"So why doesn't he just apologize himself?" Harry asked, his eyes flickering over to his blonde best friend who he could see looked quite miserable. 

"Because you go out of your way to avoid him, we miss you too you know," Theo blushed and hurried to explain, "Daphne was the one who said that." 

If Harry was being honest with himself, he missed them too."Maybe I should tell Snape that I can't spend Christmas with him anymore, will that make Draco happy?" Harry asked, he didn't really want to but with friendships some sacrifices had to be made.

Theo shook his head at that. "No Harry, Snape invited Draco to Christmas too, not 5 minutes after you left," he explained.

Harry turned around to look at Draco again, whose face still looked dejected as he felt. Draco was paired with Ron who had also seemed to know that the blonde wasn't in the mood and was steadily focused on the potion as a result. 

Draco finally looked up to find Harry staring at him, not knowing if Harry was going to hurry up and turn around to ignore him still, he took that time to mouth ‘I'm sorry'. 

Harry nodded then smiled a half of a smile and turned back around. 

Draco knew that he would have to talk about it with Harry later, but all that mattered now was the lump of hurt in his throat was gone and he had Harry back.