The next day, with his back against the wall, Harry sat on top of his bed in his dad's rooms. He could tell that Aurora was just as worried as he had been when his dad hadn't checked in last night. However, she was trying (and failing horribly) not to let on. Where was his dad? Why hadn't he checked in like he had promised he would? Was he hurt? Or worse?

No. Harry couldn't think like that. His dad was fine. He just forgot to check in. The man who never forgot anything in his life. Harry bit his bottom lip, drawing his legs up against his chest. His dad would contact them today. He would.

Flicking his wand lightly, Harry murmured, "Tempus." It was almost midnight now according to his spell, and there still hadn't been a word. Two days now with no contact. Something was wrong.

At the flicker of light under the gap in his closed door a moment later, he narrowed his eyes on it before letting his feet fall back to the floor. He then heard Aurora's voice.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"Now, dear, there is no need—"

"Can it, Salazar," she snapped back. "You know as well as I do that something is not right."

"Everything is fine, Aurora," Phineas Nigellus replied gently. "Headmaster Dumbledore would have alerted you if something was wrong. Severus likely just is busy at the moment with whatever he's doing for the Headmaster. He'll contact you as soon as he can and apologize profusely."

"No. No something's wrong."

"Nothing is wrong, dear."

Harry frowned, though. He didn't believe either of the portraits. Something was wrong.

"I'm going to see Albus," Aurora stated, her heels clicking against the stone floor soon after.

"He's not here, though."

"What?" Even Harry stood up at that answer. What did they mean, Dumbledore wasn't there? "Where the hell is he then?" Aurora snapped, clearly losing her patience.

"Away. Now, please, sit down. Everything is fine."

"Bullshit!"

Harry nodded as he heard her response. Exactly. He then heard both Phineas and Salazar shout, "No, wait!" before there was a loud whoosh. Unable to stop himself, Harry flew towards the door and ran out into the sitting room, but he was too late. Aurora had Flooed elsewhere.

"Where'd she go?" he asked the two painted wizards.

"Headmaster's office," Salazar said with a sigh.

"But no one's there. Professor Dumbledore left yesterday and hasn't been back since."

Harry's eyes narrowed on them. "So my dad and Dumbledore are missing?"

"They're not missing. Nor is Professor Lupin. They're precisely where they should be."

"Which is?"

"Not here," both painted wizards replied with shrugs.

Harry watched them for a few moments. They clearly knew more than they were letting on. He opened his mouth to speak before he saw the flash of green from the fireplace signaling someone was Flooing in. He stepped back and waited. When Aurora stepped out of the green flames a moment later, he brushed aside his disappointment that it wasn't his dad.

"Anything?" he asked her.

"No." She had shaken her head before she turned towards the two wizards. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves," she scolded.

"Now, young lady, you listen—"

But Aurora was clearly having none of that because she took a step towards them. "No, you listen here. I don't know what Albus instructed you to do, but you will tell me where Severus is now. Or I'll make some new additions to your painting. Understand?"

"Threats will not work on us," Salazar replied while he crossed his arms.

Sure enough, Aurora grabbed the fireplace poker beside her and slashed a bit of the portrait. Both painted wizards were utterly shocked at her violent behavior.

"Now, I will ask you again, where is Severus?" Neither answered so she slashed more before both wizards vanished from the canvas.

"Mum, I'm not sure that was the greatest idea," Harry murmured.

"No, it wasn't, but it got my point across." She tossed down the poker and sighed before she glanced at him. "Go get your traveling cloak and anything else you may need. We're leaving."

"Leaving?" he repeated. Why were they leaving?

"Hogwarts isn't safe anymore, Harry. If it ever was." She then shook her head. "I need to get you out of here just in case something happens."

"You think this is just the beginning?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted, running a hand through her hair. "I just don't like the idea of us being here any longer like sitting ducks."

Harry nodded. He wondered if leaving, though, was a good idea, but he wasn't going to argue with her. She seemed to have an idea in mind.

"I'm ready," he said, having not moved from where he had been standing.

"Are you certain? I'm not sure when we'll be back here."

"Yeah. Let's go." He could leave everything behind because all he really needed was his family. Last year taught him that. He grabbed her arm and followed her as she tossed in the powder and led them into the Floo. He didn't even care where they were going, just that he wasn't alone this time.

"Professor Sinistra?" an unfamiliar female voice spoke as soon as they appeared in a pub.

Harry then gasped when he saw his mum flick her wand at the unsuspecting barmaid. He felt a bit better when he saw Aurora rush towards the now unconscious woman and slowly lowered her so she didn't injure herself as she fell towards the floor. But, still, he had never seen her attack someone like that. At least not an innocent who had only just asked a question.

"Rosmerta's fine, Harry," Aurora stated when she saw his look. "Just asleep. We need to make certain we're not followed." She smiled softly when Harry nodded. She then stepped back towards him before she grabbed his arm gently. At the tug behind his navel, he knew she had Disapparated them away from the small pub. Where would they end up this time, he wondered.

Glaring murderously at the man in front of him, Severus considered which hex to use. Two days! Two days he was stuck in that godforsaken rat hole. Two days away from his family! And for what? Because Dumbledore, stupid meddling Dumbledore, deemed him unable to return home.

"You may glare all you wish, Severus, but this is for your own good," the old man said softly.

"My own good? My own GOOD?" Severus spat out. "How in the hell is any of this for my own good? You're holding me prisoner here!"

"Yes. Just until we are certain that—"

"Fuck you," Severus hissed, his nostrils flaring as he glared at Dumbledore. "Fuck you and all your meddling, your games, your sacrificing others for the Greater Good! Wake up, Albus! There is no Fucking greater good when it comes to you. Only lies and pain!"

"Now, Severus, I understand your anger—"

"You understand my anger?" he repeated before roaring with dark laughter. "No, old man. You most certainly do not understand it at all. Release me this instant!"

"I am doing this—"

"If you so much as utter another 'Greater Good,' I will strangle you with my bare hands," Severus snarled. "Release me."

"You were nearly attacked, killed even," Dumbledore said, though, brushing off Severus's anger. "You witnessed your fiancé's mother's death. I cannot fathom—"

"Lupin!" he yelled, turning away from the old man and onto the younger wizard who was looking on in nervousness. "You know as well as I that this is wrong. That what he is doing is wrong! So, for once in your pathetic little life, Wolf, stand up and lead!"

The shabby looking wizard twisted his hands painfully as he stared back. "Severus, if there's even the slightest truth to—"

"To what? That Aurora is in danger? Brilliant, Lupin! Just bloody damn brilliant. You lock up the one person who might be able to protect her all because of some stupid vampire! GREAT!"

"I'm actually with Snape there," another voice joined in.

Severus's eyes narrowed briefly as he watched the other wizard walk in. Black!

"Locking him up just because of something some vampire says is all sorts of ridiculousness. Something bad is going to happen with or without him being there. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the guy said that just so you'd keep him away from her."

"Sirius, if we—" Lupin started to say before Black interrupted.

"If we're wrong, then at least Borealis has a fighting chance against this whatever this is. She's stronger knowing he's with her than not knowing where the hell he is."

Severus stared at Black in utter shock. It was a sad day when Black was the voice of reason.

"Oh, quit looking at me like that, Remus. You know I'm right," Sirius said with a shake of his head before he glanced at Severus. "We only know what the vampire told us, right? Now, that could mean any number of things. It does not mean, however, that we need to act like scared little first-years, locking him up on the off chance that it might prevent something from happening. I mean, honestly, how do you even get that from that? Not to mention, Harry is currently with her. Harry, remember him? Little boy with green eyes? Don't see him around here, do you? In fact, I only see Snape."

"Harry's just a boy."

"No, Albus. He's not. That kid's gone through more than most of us," Sirius stated. "So, far be it from me to ask this, but is the only reason we have Snape locked up here because, well, Snape was a Death Eater in his younger years? Because I don't know about you, but none of us are our teenage selves anymore. We've grown up. Some of us, myself included, are still doing that." Sirius frowned when everyone just stared at him. "What? I was in Azkaban for twelve years. It's not like there's all that much entertainment there, you know? So, you just tend to look in on yourself and realize things." He then sighed quietly. "So, end your spell, Albus, and let Severus go. Because whatever's happening, locking him away isn't going to fix a damn thing. It's only going to make things worse."

When Severus felt the barrier vanish soon after, he inclined his head in gratitude to Black. When their eyes met a moment later, Severus turned on his heel and Disapparated far from there.

The minute they passed through the door to an old rundown house in Cokeworth, he knew why Aurora had brought them there.

"All right there, lad?" Tobias Snape asked with a brow raised as he stared back at Harry.

Harry couldn't help but smile, though. She had brought them to his grandparents' house. "Yeah. I'm good, Grandpa." He then noticed his grandmother standing in the doorway a little behind Tobias. She looked better than she had the last time he had seen her. "Hi, Grandmum."

Eileen snorted before she crossed her arms and directed her full attention onto Aurora.

"How long?" Eileen simply asked.

"Two days," Harry heard his mum reply. "And before you start anything, it was Severus who told me to wait two days. So take it up with him, all right?"

"Oh, forgive me. Here I thought my future daughter-in-law wasn't the damsel in distress anymore," Eileen drawled before rolling her eyes and turning away. "Want some tea, Harry?"

The young man nodded, trying to ignore the uneasiness that was settling onto the room. He was with his grandparents now. Everything would be okay. His dad would walk through that door any moment, and they would all live happily ever after.

"All right there, Princess?" Harry's grandpa asked quietly, causing Harry to stop and turn back. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that his grandmum had paused as well.

"Yeah. Fine. Just worried. That's all. I just keep thinking about the last time we were in this situation . . ." his mum's voice trailed off before she sighed. "And it's stupid, really, because we're not even certain if anyone's really after us this time."

"Of course someone's after you. The whole world knows now that you have the serum in your blood. Frankly, I'm surprised it's taken this long before someone tried something again. After all, you do seem to be a bad luck charm to our family."

"Eileen," Tobias warned.

"What? It's the truth. If she can't handle that, then perhaps—"

"You're right, Eileen," Aurora cut in, though. "I have brought bad luck to you and your family."

"No she ain't, Princess." Tobias frowned at his wife. "If it weren't for you, Severus never would have known his boy. Hell, he'd not know about me or El either. So, ignore my wife, all right? She's just got her knickers in a twist 'cause her baby boy ain't here and she ain't got a clue where he is either."

"But she's right, Tobias. All I've done lately is cause pain and—"

"Now you just stop right there, young lady," Tobias interrupted, pointing a finger at her. "It ain't true. None of it. You can't be blamed for the vampires and werewolves and other such scary shit going mad lately. The world don't revolve around you, ya know? So, you just let those thoughts die right there once and for all. You haven't done anything but bring us all together."

Harry saw her soft smile before she walked over to a window and looked out. His eyes narrowed when he saw a flash of light in the window. A clap of thunder then rippled around them. Was it storming now? It hadn't been earlier. He then saw Aurora whirl around, her wand quickly sliding into her hand.

"We've got company," she declared before she headed for the door.

Harry noticed his grandmother quickly followed, her own wand in hand now. He then felt his grandfather wrap an arm around him and pull him back. He glanced up at Tobias with wide eyes.

"Come on, lad. Let's get you to safety."

"But—"

"I think the lasses got this one."

He turned back, though, as Tobias continued to pull him into another room. He didn't know how to describe the power both his grandmother and his mum were giving off right then. But 'Whoa' didn't even come close. They were not messing around with these guys. When the door burst open, he watched them in perfect sync with one another raise their wands before they both slashed violently towards the shadowy figures who were now trying to enter. He gasped and felt his mouth drop when he saw one of the attackers fly back into a nearby wall.

"Left," Eileen yelled, her wand slashing the air once more like a blade. This time a jet of red light streaked from her wand to another attacker who tried (and failed) to get out of the way.

Harry winced when he saw the red light envelop the figure and send him to his knees screaming. He then watched his mum throw her elbow back when one of the men grabbed her arm. A loud crack reverberated around the room followed by the man's yell.

"Avada—" yelled another of the black shadowy figures.

His grandmum was faster, though. She slashed her wand once more, and the man crumpled to the ground instantly as a bloodied lump.

"If anyone else would like a go, please do step right up," Eileen snarled. "I've got plenty more where that came from."

Looking on eagerly, Harry craned his head to see the others' reactions. He laughed when he saw the figures turn on their heels a moment later and vanish. Yeah, he'd run too if he was facing down either his grandmum or his mum like that.

"Severus?" he heard his grandmum say a moment later. What? Where? He turned his head every which way to see around the various things impeding his view. He then felt his grandpa release him and scrambled towards the door. Sure enough, a moment later, he saw his dad heading towards them.

"Glad to see you followed directions," his dad remarked before shaking his head. He looked all right from what Harry could see. Well, except for a black eye. When Severus reached Harry and Aurora, he inclined his head to them before he met Eileen's gaze. "We need to leave before they return."

"Yes, son, we have been in these types of situations before," Eileen quipped with an eye roll. She then turned to Tobias. "You've got him?"

Harry's eyes narrowed. Got who?

"Yeah," Tobias replied gruffly. "Meet you on the other side, El."

"Huh?" Harry said, glancing up at his grandpa when he felt the man's arms around him again.

"Just remember, Tobias; destination, determination, and—"

"Yes, woman. I got it," his grandfather muttered before Harry suddenly felt another tug behind his navel. His mouth opened, and he screamed. No. Not Disapparation! He hated Disapparation! But it was too late. They were already gone.