"Does everyone have a firm grip?" Snape double-checked. "Jilly, hold tight to Harry. On second thought… hold tight to me, too." Harry shot him an irritated glance, but his father continued, "Lily, are you alright? Ok… On the count of three. One… Two…" And on three he spun with a crack! out of the empty emergency stairwell, landing in a quiet, dim alleyway beside the record store that bordered The Leaky Cauldron.

Harry stumbled on the landing, but his dad had expected it and held firmly to a handful of the back of Harry's shirt, which kept him from bringing Jilly down with him. The young girl didn't seem much phased by apparition, and after a quick moment of surprise as she glanced around at their new surroundings, she looked up at him with a smile.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"London," Snape responded.

Harry meanwhile was looking at Lily, who seemed to like apparation just about as much as Harry did – which was to say, not at all. "Do you always feel like a golf ball being sucked through a garden hose?" The older woman asked, her nose crinkling in an expression of dislike.

"Pretty much," Harry murmured, rubbing his stomach as the nausea dissipated.

"You get used to it," Snape said simply. "Is everyone ready?"

They headed out onto the busy sidewalk, and Harry noticed that both Lily and Jillian's gazes immediately settled on The Leaky Cauldron, unlike the rest of the muggles walking quickly past them whose eyes seemed to slide from the bookstore on one side to the record store on the other without really seeing the grimy little pub in between. Harry smiled to himself – it was only more proof of what Snape had already discovered. They really were witches.

"Remember Harry," his father suddenly muttered at his side. "You're not you. So don't be your irritatingly friendly Gryffindor self and say hello to every face you recognize."

"Yeah, I'll remember," he grumbled.

Walking into the dimly lit place, they were immediately greeted by Tom the bald, toothless barman. "Greetings, my friends! May I get you and your family something to eat? Something to drink? It's shaping up to be a hot day out there!"

"We're simply on our way to Diagon Alley," Snape retorted, obviously not happy with immediately being singled out when he was trying to blend in.

"Thank you, though." Harry quickly added, and he couldn't help noticing the two witches in the corner – both about Mrs. Weasley's age – gazing at them. Or more precisely, gazing at Snape. Or… gazing at the scruffy, long-haired visage that Snape had borrowed. They hurriedly looked away when they noticed Harry's eyes on them.

Odd…

But he shrugged it off as he followed his family to the back of the small pub, out into the courtyard where there was nothing but a trash can and weeds jutting through a few cracks in the uneven bricks beneath their feet. The girls looked over at him and Snape in confusion. Harry grinned, not taking his eyes off their faces as his father counted three bricks up, and two across, and tapped the brick he landed on lightly with his wand.

The red stone blocks began to quiver and fold in on themselves, almost like Snape's potion lab at Spinner's End, but in reverse. After only a few moments, they were staring through a large archway that released them onto the narrow, cobbled street of Diagon Alley.

Both Lily and Jillian had matching shocked expressions on their faces, their eyes wide and they're mouths formed into perfectly puckered 'O's. Harry and Snape were on either side of them, and they chuckled knowingly at each other when their eyes met.

"Welcome to Diagon Alley," Snape announced.

Harry remembered wishing that he had eight more eyes to take everything in with, and judging by the looks on Lily and Jillian's faces, they must have felt the same way. His father gently shepherded the group over to Slug & Jiggers Apothecary, which Harry knew was only going to add to the girls' astonishment.

Sure enough, the moment they entered the quiet store, both of them blinked in rapid succession. And even though he'd seen it before, Harry couldn't say that he blamed them. Giant barrels of different ingredients stood on display offering their wares at the front half of the store. Sunlight streaming through the large glass windows highlighted everything from Black Beetle Eyes to Mistletoe Berries brimming from their tops. The rear of the store was dimly lit, and shelves along the walls were lined with jars of herbs and bright powers. Inside some of the jars were even more exotic ingredients than in the barrels up front, such as Dragon Blood, Flobberworm Mucus, Rose Thorns, and Lionfish Spines. The really rare and expensive ingredients – like Unicorn Horns, Wolfsbane, and Acromantula Venom – was lined on shelves behind the counter, which was currently manned by an old, leathery-looking gentleman who smiled warmly at them.

"Good day, sir," he welcomed Snape as his father strolled confidently up to the counter. "How may I help you?"

Snape pulled a bit of parchment out of his pocket and slid it across the counter. "I need these supplies, with the allocated amounts." Nodding as he read the list, the man hurried off the collect the requested ingredients.

"What is this place?" Jilly asked.

"It's an Apothecary," Harry replied. "It's where most people come to buy their potion ingredients. Dad is actually the Potions professor at my school."

"Wow! Really?"

"What kinds of potions can you make with all these things?" Lily asked, looking interestedly up at Snape.

"Well," he said simply as he glanced around at the many different jars and herbs. "I am a Potions Master."

"Meaning…?" Lily pressed with a smile.

"Meaning I can brew you just about anything."

"What is it you said in my first class, Dad?" Harry asked with a laugh. Remembering, he turned to Lily and repeated in a very uncanny imitation of his father: "He can teach you how to, 'Bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death – as long as you're not a dunderhead.'" He turned back to Snape with a grin.

But to his surprise, Snape was staring at him with a look of shock on his scruffy, borrowed face. "So you were listening," he murmured. And if Harry didn't know better, he would have thought that his father sounded… remorseful.

"I always listen," Harry replied uncertainly. Was it really that hard to believe?

"Then why did you always make so many mistakes?" Snape asked without heat. He sounded legitimately curious.

"Well… it's hard to get it right when you're always breathing down my neck and taking points for things that aren't my fault," Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. Trying to lighten the mood, he gave his father a half smile and said, "I don't know if you're aware of this Dad, but you can be kind of scary."

Snape sighed, looking shamefaced. "Harry, I… You're right. I was not the best teacher and took every opportunity to mark you down, even when I knew it was your goal to become an Auror…"

Harry wasn't sure what to say, so after a moment he nudged his dad with his elbow. "It's ok," he murmured as he tried to give Snape an understanding smile. "I'd rather have you as my dad than be an Auror, anyway."

At that moment the Apothecarist returned with a large paper bag filled with Snape's requested ingredients. "Here you are, sir. That will be seventeen Galleons, eleven Sickles, and four Knuts." His father handed over the requested amount, but still seemed very serious and introspective as they left.

Stopping outside the door to the Apothecary, Snape suddenly stopped Harry with a gentle hand on his arm. "I'll tell you what," he murmured. "There's still some time in the summer left. We'll practice in my lab, and I'll personally train you in order to raise your grade to O.W.L. level. That way you don't have to give up your choice of career just because I was so unfair to you." He searched Harry's gaze as he looked down at him, genuinely seeming troubled about his past behavior. "Is that a deal?" he asked softly.

"You'd really do that for me?" Harry asked. He had to admit that the thought of not being an Auror had somewhat grieved him, but then everything at the Ministry had happened, and the loss of his preferred career had just been added onto the long list of things he'd lost in his life. Smiling up at his father, Harry nodded. "Ok then. Deal." And as they started walking again, his father put his arm around him.

Jillian, who had reached out to hold Harry's hand and had stayed quiet during the whole exchange suddenly asked, "What's an Auror?"

Harry laughed and Snape explained, "It's what we call our policemen."

"So that's what you'd like to do after school, Harry?" Lily asked. "Become an Auror?"

"Yeah… I can't really imagine doing anything else."

At that moment the small family came upon Quality Quidditch Supplies, and Jilly raced to the shop window with a gasp and pressed her palms against the glass, muttering a loud, "Ooooo!" There on display was one of Harry's most prized possessions: a Firebolt broomstick.

"A girl after my own heart!" Harry said with a laugh as he walked up next to Jillian and gazed at the beautiful sight behind the glass. "You have good taste, Jilly."

"You know, Harry owns one of those brooms," Snape mentioned offhandedly as he joined them at the window with his arm around Lily.

Jillian looked up at Harry in astonishment. "You do? Really?"

"Yeah… I use it when I'm playing Seeker at school for my Quidditch house team."

Her face scrunched up for a moment as she thought that over. "What's Quit-tich?"

Harry reached out and ruffled her hair. "Oh, do I have lots to teach you..." The family browsed the inside of the store while Harry proceeded to point out the different balls used during the game. With Snape's help, he also explained the rules and what all the different positions were. Snape even discovered a small replica play set in the far back corner, which came to life when Harry podded it with his wand.

"See?" he said, pointing to one of the two miniature players circling above the rest. "I play Seeker. Whichever Seeker catches the Golden Snitch ends the game, and wins their team one-hundred-and-fifty points."

"We'll have to bring you up to the school to watch a game," Snape murmured with a smile, seemingly just as pleased by Jilly's enthusiasm as Harry was.

"That's good," Lily murmured with a laugh, "Because I still don't get it."

They left the store with a smaller bag than the one from the Apothecary. This bag was filled with a miniature model of a Firebolt that zoomed around doing dives, spins, and loop-de-loops – a belated birthday gift for Jilly since Snape hadn't been there to celebrate her actual birthday, he said with a smile.

There was also a gift for Harry in the bag, which he refused to let him see.

"Your birthday is coming up soon," he reminded his son as they left the store. "We'll have to think about how you'd like to celebrate." Harry just nodded, and although he hadn't said anything about how tired he'd suddenly become, Snape noticed right away but said nothing. Instead he led them all to a table outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor.

The family sat down, and Harry couldn't help but perk up at the thought of one of Mr. Fortescue's spectacular sundaes. As a young boy exited the shop alongside his mother, licking a giant cone covered with huge mounds of cold sweetness, Jilly turned to Snape and hopefully asked, "Is it alright if we get some ice cream?"

"Of course," he chuckled. "We can't visit Diagon Alley without tasting one of Mr. Fortescue's confections. In fact," he said, pulling out a handful of money and handing it to Lily, "Why don't you order some for all of us to share? I'm going to be a moment with Harry. Just order whatever sounds good to you."

"Thank you, Severus!" Jilly cried as she grabbed her mother by the hand and started pulling her anxiously toward the door to the ice cream shop.

Snape turned to Harry with his eyebrow raised. Even with a face that was not his own, his father was able to look dangerous if he wanted to. "Don't think I won't take us directly home if I catch you trying to hide how you're feeling from me again," he muttered in his low, silky tone. "You need to realize that you now have an adult on your side who gives a damn about your personal wellbeing. No more of this trying to handle everything on your own."

Harry was a little taken aback and for a moment was completely at a loss for words. Although in the past he probably would have gotten angry and defensive at the accusation, he had to admit that being scolded by someone who really and truly cared about him was actually kind of… nice.

"Sorry Dad," he murmured sincerely. "It won't happen again."

Snape nodded, seemingly satisfied, and put him through his paces like he had that morning. Harry had just finished another nerve potion when the girls returned, a small cup of ice cream in each of their two hands.

"Well," Snape said with a chuckle. "What have we here?"

Jilly looked beside herself with excitement, and Lily a bit overwhelmed as she exclaimed, "Holy cow! I've never seen so many flavors… It was hard to narrow it down to just four."

They set the cups on the table and Jilly eagerly pointed to each one in turn, "Chocolate Chilli, Strawberry & Peanut Butter, Earl Grey & Lavender, and Butterbeer. I asked Mr. Fortescue if Butterbeer was like Root Beer, and he laughed and said it was better."

Lily handed everyone a small plastic spoon, and they all chose a cup and tasted a bite.

"Mmm! I really like Butterbeer!" Jilly said in an excited tone.

"Better than Root Beer?" Harry asked with a smile.

"Much!"

They ate in silence for a moment before Lily asked, "So are there a lot of – what did you call them, Harry? – muggle families that have magical people in them? Or is it in the genes, passed down through blood?" She took another bite of her ice cream. "This Earl Grey & Lavender is good…"

"So is this Strawberry & Peanut Butter," said Harry. "You know, one of my best friends is muggle-born, and she's the most talented witch I've ever seen. I dunno… It seems pretty random to me. What do you think, Dad?"

"I think it's time to switch ice creams," he said with a smile. "Everyone slide their cup to the left." Picking up Harry's Strawberry & Peanut Butter, he took a bite and made a noise of approval. "And yes, I think that as the pure-blood families die out, nature seems to be taking over to ensure the survival of the magical populace. There are many muggle-borns who have no idea they have magic in their blood until they get their Hogwarts letter."

"Was that how it was for you, Harry?" Lily asked as she took a bite of Snape's Chocolate Chilli. "Man, dark chocolate and chili… Who would have known?"

"Yeah," Harry said with a laugh. "And that's exactly how it was for me. How do you like the Earl Grey & Lavender, Jilly?"

"Mm-hmm!" Jilly responded with a mouthful. They all laughed.

"Ok, pass again!" Lily announced. It was her turn with the Strawberry & Peanut Butter. She took a bite and after a moment asked, "I wonder why I never a got a letter…?"

Snape, who now had the Butterbeer ice cream, put down his spoon and looked seriously at Lily. "Your name is in the school archives – I checked. Your letter was never sent because you were living in an orphanage."

Harry stopped with a spoonful of Earl Grey & Lavender halfway to his mouth, a look of confusion on his face. "Why should that matter?"

Snape's borrowed blue gaze slid to rest upon his son. "Can you think of no one else who grew up in an orphanage?" he asked quietly. "Someone who changed the history of the magical world for the rest of time?"

The truth hit Harry like a wrecking ball to the chest. "Voldemort…"

His father nodded, then turned back to Lily. "The dunderheads at the Ministry believed that the fact that Voldemort grew up at an orphanage may have played a role in his turning dark. It's complete and utter nonsense, but soon after he came to power, they mandated that any magical child with a similar background would not be allowed to attend Hogwarts."

Lily was silent for a long moment as she digested his words. Instead of being angry about the unjustness of her situation, she met Snape's gaze and asked, "Is it even legal to bring me into this world?"

"It doesn't matter," he answered simply. "I have every intention of giving you back the life that the idiots at the Ministry stole from you." Lily's eyes warmed as she gazed at Snape, and she reached out to squeeze his hand. Even though it was generally a new experience for him, Harry had never been more proud of his dad.

After the family had finished their ice creams, Snape decided it was time to visit Flourish and Blott's to purchase Harry's sixth year school books. The witch behind the counter almost jumped out of her skin when she turned around to find Snape – in all his blond, scruffy, blue-eyed glory – requesting Hogwarts books. Harry shared a look with Lily, and they laughed as the bookstore clerk stuttered and stammered, blushing to the roots of her hair when he spoke to her. Snape didn't seem to understand her befuddled behavior, and Harry could tell that he was getting more irritated with the woman by the minute.

Harry took pity on the flustered woman, and decided to take over. However, as he stepped up to the counter next to his father, he couldn't help but notice the same witches from The Leaky Cauldron earlier that day lurking in the fortune-telling section, once again staring at Snape, whispering and giggling excitedly amongst themselves. Harry had to admit that he was glad when Snape paid and they finally gathered their purchases to leave.

His father was still a little miffed at the woman's "Brainless behavior," as he called it, so Harry suggested they visit Fred and George's joke shop next (which, if Harry was completely honest with himself, would probably do nothing to improve his father's mood and may even worsen it further.) But he figured that the visit was worth a few good laughs for Jillian and Lily, at the very least. Not to mention, he was anxious to check on Mrs. Weasley, and was nearly exploding out of his skin to tell the Weasleys all about their two unexpected family members.

As they rounded the corner past Gringotts ("Wow!" Gasped Jilly, "It's like a crooked castle!"), Weasley's Wizard Wheezes came into view – or more precisely, the shop practically exploded onto the street in front of them. The group came to a sudden halt. Looking around at his family, Harry saw that the entire group had the same wide-eyed, Dobby-ish expression of disbelief and astonishment plastered across their features – even Snape.

"You are friends with the people who own this, Harry?" Lily asked, her eyes roaming the dazzling window display full of products that revolved, popped, flashed, bounced, and shrieked.

"Yeah… And you're related to them!" He said with a grin.

His father tore his gaze away from the garish display, his face grim as he more than likely considered the many nuisances that would be caused in his classroom because of these same products. Meeting Lily's gaze he murmured, "I think you're starting to understand why the thought of a Weasley and myself together is so unbelievable."

Lily reached out and slipped her arm around his waist. "So you're telling me a gift certificate for your birthday is out of the question?" She asked innocently.

"Only if you want to be murdered in your bed while you sleep," he growled down at her. Lily laughed, but Harry noticed that his father's arm tightened ever so slightly around her.

"Can we go in?" Jilly asked enthusiastically, bouncing up and down on her toes.

"If we must," Snape sighed. "C'mon, let's get this over with." And he walked to the entrance with Lily under his arm like a man walking toward the gallows on the day of his own execution.

The shop was crammed with people, and Harry had a difficult time even getting near the shelves. Jilly however, could easily fit in the spaces between people, and since she had hold of his hand, she dragged him to a solid wall of pink products. As they got closer Harry noticed a sign above: "New WonderWitch products! Love the skin you're in – and make him love it, too. Guaranteed!"

"Ooo, look! It's all pink!" Jilly said in an excited voice as she dragged him toward a space next to a gaggle of giggling teenage girls.

"Uhhh…" But it was too late. The girls all went silent, their many pairs of eyes landing on him and Jilly.

"What's this, Harry?" Jilly asked, completely oblivious to the girls' stares as she picked up and handed him a pink box. Harry tried not to blush as he looked down at the box in his hands.

"Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher," he murmured.

"What are pimples?"

"Something that you don't have to worry about for a long time," he answered, placing the box back on the shelf. He tried not to hear the whispers of the pack of girls beside them, but they may have well been shouting.

"Awww, he's taking care his kid sister… That's really sweet!"

"He's CUTE! Does he go to Hogwarts? His face seems kind of familiar."

"I don't know, but he can take care of ME any day of the week."

They giggled, and even though Harry didn't look like himself, he wanted nothing more than to fall through the floor until the girls had gone.

"You should have told me you needed pimple cream," Snape suddenly said from behind him, loud enough for the group of girls to hear as he picked up the box and turned it over in his hand. "Lily has some at home that you can use."

"Hey!" Lily smacked him on the shoulder.

The girls started giggling again. His father seemed to know exactly the torture he was inflicting upon Harry, and Harry glared up at him. But as Snape turned to glance over at the girls with a smirk, one of them suddenly stopped laughing and looked at him with a shocked look on her face.

"Oh my GOD!" She whispered frantically to her friends. "You guys, do you know who that IS?!"

But at that moment a face he recognized walked by, and he nudged his father and gave a slight nod over toward the familiar girl. Snape followed his gaze and, seeing who it was, nodded his understanding. "I'll be right back," he said as he quickly followed the girl to the back of the store, where she was about to disappear behind curtains marked with an "Employees Only" sign.

"Angelina!" he called.

She turned around but her gaze slid over him as she looked for a face she recognized. He hurried over to her side. "Angelina, it's me!" His voice dropped to a murmur. "Harry Potter."

"Uhhhh," She said as gave him a blank stare.

He hurried to explain, "I'm using a Glamour." She still looked at him suspiciously, so he sighed in exasperation and continued, "You used to be a Chaser on the Gryffindor Quidditch team before you graduated Hogwarts. You wore your lucky red sock on your left foot for every match. Before every game began, you would spin three times to the right and sing the—"

"Alright, alright! I believe you!" She said, waving her hands to stop him and looking frantically around to make sure no one had overheard. "Harry, what are you doing here? I heard about the attack on the Burrow—"

"I still have a life, Angelina! I'm not going to let Bellatrix Lestrange make me stop living it. Besides, we're taking precautions," he muttered. "Are the twins here? I wanted to check on Mrs. Weasley, see how she's doing."

"Yeah, you just caught them, actually. They're here gathering supplies, but are leaving in a few minutes." She glanced around again, then motioned for him to go through the curtains. "Come on," she whispered.

Behind the curtains were a set of stairs that led up into a tiny flat. He knocked and gave it only a few seconds before walking through the door. The twins were there, throwing clothes and other items into a large duffle bag.

"Sorry mate, this area is private." Fred said as he moved toward Harry, obviously ready to escort him back down the stairs. But then Angelina appeared behind Harry.

"Guys, its Harry!" she said.

"Harry…?" George asked in confusion. "Harry Potter?"

"I'm using a Glamour," he explained, but the twins still looked him up and down suspiciously. Fred glanced at Angelina over his shoulder.

"Are you sure it's—?"

"It's him," she assured him, and she went to sit on one of the small beds. The twins both looked at Harry appraisingly.

"Sorry, mate. After everything that happened at home, we can't be too careful."

Harry completely understood. "How is your mum? Is she alright?"

"She had to go to St. Mungo's for some blood replenishing potions, but they are releasing her later today. Dad says she'll have the scars for the rest of her life, but at least she's alive." Fred said, and although his words were grateful, he still had an angry look on his face when he mentioned the scars.

"How about you?" George asked. "Are you ok? Snape took off with you so quick after everything happened, we were all kind of worried…" His words hung in the air between them. It was obvious what he meant: They were all kind of worried that he was safe with Snape. But Harry was in a much better place today than he had been yesterday, and he felt no anger at his friend's question.

"Yeah, I'm good. Snape and I… Well…" How do I explain this?

"You called him 'Dad'…" One of the twins murmured, and Angelina's eyes widened in shock, her mouth hanging slightly open.

"Well," Harry admitted, "He kinda… Is. It's complicated…" The group stood in silence for a very long, uncomfortable moment.

"Does he treat you well?" George suddenly asked.

"Yes. He takes better care of me than anyone ever has."

"Are you happy?" Fred questioned.

"Yeah... I am."

"Then it doesn't matter," the twins said in unison.

Fred stepped up and hugged him like he would a little brother. "We're happy for you, mate."

"And don't worry, we're all in the Order," Angelina piped up. "We won't blow Snape's cover and tell anyone."

"Thanks," Harry murmured, smiling at his friends.

"Ron's going to have kittens when he finds out," George murmured with an evil grin on his face. "You haven't told him, yeah?"

"No, you three are the only ones that know."

"Why don't you come for dinner tonight? Everyone'd love to see you. Dumbledore is planning a feast to celebrate mum getting out of the hospital."

"Dumbledore?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Oh, we're staying at Hogwarts until we can figure out where to go. Dumbledore says it's not safe at the Burrow right now, and wants us to go underground until he can figure something out."

"Wow…" Harry muttered, thinking of the impenetrable wards that Snape had set up on both Spinner's End and Lily's apartment, and determined to mention the Weasley's current situation to his father. But the others were looking at him expectantly, waiting on an answer about dinner. "Oh… yeah! We'll be there! Also…"

Although he had been excited to break the news to the twins, he suddenly wasn't sure how much he should say about Lily and Jillian. The fact that they were family, or the fact that Snape was dating said member of that family was sure to open a can of worms that Harry didn't want to get tangled in at the moment. It was all too complicated for him to try and explain, so he decided to just say nothing for the moment.

"Uh… Is it alright if we bring a couple of guests?"