It was days like these that Severus enjoyed the most. There was nothing disturbing the silence except his mechanical crushing and grinding of his pestle and the softly simmering cauldrons beside him. Just as he was about to add the powdered Bicorn horn to the batches of Pepper-up potion he was brewing for the Hogwarts infirmary, the alarm that signaled a Floo call sounded. There were only a handful of people that would ever Floo call him, considering Severus mainly preferred to keep to himself and rarely invited friends over.

Must be Dumbledore, he thought with a scowl as he cast a stasis charm over the cauldrons to prevent the potions from spoiling, the old man better have a good reason to disrupt my afternoon.

He quickly stalked to his study.

"Good afternoon, Severus," Dumbledore said jovially from the fireplace once Severus stepped foot into his study. "There is a rather important matter I would like to discuss with you. Please come to my office."

Without waiting for a reply, his head disappeared from the fire.

Severus gave an irritated sigh.

After informing a house elf that he was leaving and to keep an eye on Kieran while he was away, Severus stepped gracefully out of the fireplace and into the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts.

Fawkes greeted him as he usually did, trilling gleefully at his entrance. Severus regarded him with a sideways glare, then turned his attention to the other colorful occupant in the room.

"What is it we need to discuss, Headmaster?" Severus asked without preamble.

"Have a seat, my boy," Dumbledore said. He gestured toward a shiny metal tin at the edge of his desk, "Lemon drop?"

"No, thank you," Severus replied with a touch of impatience, seating himself in that wooden chair in front of Dumbledore's desk.

Dumbledore happily popped a small yellow sweet into his mouth, taking his time to savor the treat as he fished out a piece of parchment from one of his desk drawers. He held it up, and Severus immediately recognized the handwriting.

"I have just received a letter from Lily, as I am certain you have as well," said Dumbledore. "She made me aware of Harry's true parentage."

Severus stiffened, he'd forgotten that Lily mentioned Dumbledore would have received a letter as well. He gave a curt nod, and Dumbledore continued, "Now that we know Harry has another blood relative, I am considering transferring the blood wards from—"

"Absolutely not!" Severus interrupted, knowing exactly where this conversation was heading. "I am not allowing the brat to reside in my home," he said firmly, and hesitated ever so slightly before continuing. "I have just recently discovered that I have a son, who is currently staying with me, and I will not have Potter disrupting both our lives."

Of course, Dumbledore wanted the brat to move in with him. He had just grown accustomed to having Kieran live with him and getting to know the boy. Adding Potter into it would no doubt cause problems. Problems that Severus never wanted to deal with.

"I see," Dumbledore said as he laced his fingers together. "Why did you not inform me?"

"Because I am not obligated to inform you about everything that goes on in my personal life!" Severus snapped, crossing his arms tightly over his chest.

Dumbledore nodded, not at all fazed by Severus' outburst. "Well, I am sure Harry will be pleased to know he has a brother," he merely said, smiling.

Severus snorted derisively, "The boy's most likely being happily spoiled rotten by his relatives anyway. Why not just leave him there?"

Dumbledore looked at him over his half moon spectacles and clicked his tongue, "Severus, you are Harry's father. He deserves to have love and support at difficult times like these."

"All of which he already receives from his adoring relatives and friends, not to mention his plethora of fans," Severus sneered.

Dumbledore sighed, "I implore you to re-evaluate your judgement of the boy."

"There is nothing to reevaluate, Albus. The boy is impertinent, attention-seeking, and arrogant just like James Potter. He is also reckless and impulsive, considering what had occurred at the ministry, endangering his friends, and constantly playing the hero," Severus stated matter of factly.

Dumbledore didn't respond right away, leaning back into his chair. "I feel it is often best to consider what lies beneath to truly understand a person," he finally said, his gaze seeming to pierce through Severus.

"What are you implying, Dumbledore?" Severus scowled, pointing a smoldering glare in return at the old wizard, "Have you forgotten I have had to watch over the boy these last five years?"

"Not at all, Severus. I merely hoped you would have come to terms with your childhood grudges," Dumbledore said calmly.

The only hint that Severus was angry was that his lips had thinned into a line, other than that his face became carefully emotionless at Dumbledore' words. Of course he hadn't gotten over his grudges against James Potter. He took everything away from Severus, mainly Lily. Not to mention the constant humiliation and torment he and his cohorts put Severus through during all their years at Hogwarts. Currently, every time Severus saw their son who looks exactly like James Potter, but with Lily's beautiful eyes, it pulled forth unpleasant memories that he wanted to keep locked away and buried in the back of his mind forever.

After a few minutes of silence, Dumbledore spoke again, "Harry is going to have to stay with you, Severus. The guardianship will be transferred over, and since you are his father, the blood wards will be stronger with you. After all, you might even find yourself surprised—"

"No. He is still the same rule breaking troublemaker he has always been, even if he is my... son." Severus had to force that word past his lips. Saying it in reference with Potter left a bad taste in his mouth. "That changes nothing."

"Severus—"

"No, Albus! I don't want to have anything to do with the brat!"

"It is my final word," Dumbledore said firmly.

Severus glared at Dumbledore for a long moment, before he finally gave a sigh in defeat, knowing there was no point in arguing any further. Try as he might, he could never win their arguments.

"Very well," Severus said reluctantly through clenched teeth.

"I will be transferring the blood wards to you and will retrieve Harry from his relatives tomorrow. Make sure to have all the accommodations ready." Dumbledore pulled out a blank piece of parchment and a quill from his desk. He started to write a letter as he continued, "I will need to have a discussion with Harry, he might be distraught..."

After Dumbledore finished explaining his plans, Severus rose to his feet and grabbed a pinch of Floo powder, eager to return home. Just as he was about to shout out his destination, Dumbledore stopped him by saying, "Get to know the boy, Severus, you may chance upon some surprising revelations."

The old man's blue eyes were twinkling, like the stars on his irritatingly colorful robes he was sporting.

Severus turned his back to him, rolling his eyes. As if.

"Prince Manor," he muttered, throwing the Floo powder into the fireplace and watching the green flames swell forth.

"Don't forget, he is your son, you and Lily's."

Damn the old coot.

Severus just scowled and gave a menacing glare back at Dumbledore before he vanished in the green flames of the Floo.

Later that evening, Severus went to one of the spare bedrooms in the manor. Choosing the small room in a far away corner of the manor, he called for a house elf and told it to freshen up the room. There was a thick layer of dust settled on all the furniture, obviously from being unoccupied for so long.

If he was going to have to put up with the brat for the rest of the summer, he wanted to put as much distance between his and Kieran's rooms. Even if he wasn't a Potter, he was still a trouble magnet.

He purposefully told the house elf to leave the walls bare and the furniture in this room wasn't near as elegant as their rooms.

No need to spoil the already pampered prince, thought Severus, I want to be clear that he's not going to get that from me.

After giving his orders, he strode back towards his study to get a little more work done before turning in for the night. On the way there, he pondered how he should tell Kieran about Potter coming to stay with them. The boy's presence would no doubt cause some disturbances.

Severus put off telling Kieran about their new guest until after breakfast the next day. He found that he completely underestimated Kieran's reaction to it. He knew there was going to be some protests, but he didn't anticipate the full blown temper tantrum.

"You can't be serious, Dad!" Kieran screwed his face up, "Harry Potter's your son? So he's sort of like my… brother?"

"Mind your tone, Kieran." Severus said, a warning in his voice. He was surprised at the disgust already present in Kieran's tone.

His son huffed, "Why's he coming to stay with us? Doesn't he live with his relatives or something?"

Severus gave an agitated sigh and ran a thin hand through his hair. "Professor Dumbledore has decided to transfer his guardianship over to me, because of our… relations, the blood wards are expected to be stronger."

Kieran drew his brows together, "What blood wards?"

Severus waved the topic away as unimportant, and simply responded with, "They are for his protection."

His son crossed his arms, "And your just letting Dumbledore tell you what to do? Just like that?"

"I am not liking this situation any better than you are."

Kieran let out an irritated sigh, glaring down at the tabletop. He seemed to hesitate for a moment, as if debating whether to vocalize his thoughts, then he said, "How you could have a kid with a... a Mudblood!"

A wave of fury swept through Severus.

How dare he call Lily that?

"Do not ever use that word in front of me again," Severus said, his voice dangerously low as he enunciated every word. He clenched his hands tightly into fists against his sides, struggling to rein in his anger before he did something he might regret later.

"No! I don't want Potter here! He's going to ruin everything!" Kieran shouted, something indistinguishable flickering through his dark eyes that Severus couldn't place. He was a bit surprised at the hatred already present in Kieran's tone.

"I suggest you lower your voice," Severus said, in his most menacing voice, splaying his hands on top of the table. It could have scared away even his seventh year students. This time, his glare made Kieran flinch back slightly, though the defiant look never left the boy's face.

"Now, go to your room and stay there! I need to calm down before we discuss this subject any further," Severus ordered in a tone that brook no arguments.

Kieran opened his mouth as if he was about to protest, but the intense expression on Severus' face stopped him. Instead, he snapped his mouth shut and defiantly lifted his chin as he turned to strut out of the room.

A few moments later, the slamming of a door reverberated throughout the halls of the manor.

Why are teenagers so melodramatic?

Severus dropped his face into his hands and gave a long sigh. How was he ever going to handle taking care of two teenage boys?

From the reaction he received from Kieran, Severus knew that it was going to be hard keeping both boys from cursing each other. Given Potter's recklessness and arrogance and combining that with Kieran's hot attitude and pompousness, Severus was going to have his hands full for the next few weeks.

He groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose, feeling a headache building behind his eyes.

How was he ever going to survive the rest of the summer?

Kieran swiftly kicked the side of his dresser, his big toe painfully taking the brunt of the force, but he didn't care at the moment.

He couldn't believe it. How was he possibly related to Harry bloody Potter of all people?

Mother always said Potter was nothing special, just some boy who somehow survived the killing curse and became famous for it. He had the whole world at his fingertips, being bloody praised for his incredible feat. Potter most likely had his relatives waiting on him hand and foot at this very moment, probably fawning over his every whim.

And now Potter was coming to stay with them. Kieran was sure his father wouldn't cater to Potter's every need, but the thought of sharing his recently found father with someone else made him unbelievably irritated. This was supposed to be the summer when he'd finally get the chance to know his father, after all these years of wondering who he was and what the man was like.

Kieran huffed, belly flopping onto his bed and burying his face in the pillows. When Kieran had been younger, he'd actually longed for a sibling, but now he couldn't comprehend why he had even wanted one to begin with. Perhaps he'd been bored or lonely, but Kieran figured he'd rather be both than to have to share his father with someone such as Potter.

What if his father somehow ends up liking Potter more? What then?

Kieran rolled onto his back, glaring up at the top of his four poster bed. No, he wasn't going to stand for Potter intruding into his life. He'd made it his mission to finally bring his mother and father together, and be the family he'd always dreamt of. No so-called half brother was going to get in his way.