At first, Remus was sure that he was mistaken.

There were no possible explanations as to why his nose had picked up on a random scent in the street and immediately associated it with James’s distinctive scent that he hadn’t been able to find since his…death.

It was a mistake, Remus was half-insane, or the wolf was just messing with his head too close to the full moon, it didn’t matter. The scent wasn’t even completely James’s, just a shallow mingle of it that faintly reminded him of James. It was a mere coincidence, and Remus really had no place sniffing other people in the street to indulge in his fantasies.

James died. He told himself. He had seen the body, he had buried the torn body, alongside Lily’s prone one, he had seen them rest in a matching coffin under suffocating piles of dirt and hardened soil, he had visited their graves nearly every night for years, even fallen asleep by their sides by accident once or twice. There was no questioning that two of his best friends were dead, three of them, if one counted Peter.

And Harry too.

Sweet, innocent Harry, whose smile was the brightest Remus had ever seen, and the sound of his laugh absolutely melted his heart. He was gone from the first moment he had laid eyes on him and he wasn’t the only one.

Harry wasn’t just any baby, he was James and Lily’s, he was pack, and he was the best baby ever to be born anywhere in the history of the world, and no could change his mind. He and Sirius…He and Sirius adored Harry, James, and Lily, in their compassion for the infant had ascended to an intensity that never could have been reached. They were smitten, absolutely enamored with the little bundle of miracle.

James wouldn’t have shut up about him, Lily could barely stand being separated from him, Sirius and Remus played every trick in the book to try and gain babysitting time when they weren’t constantly crashing on Lily’s couch to spend more time with the baby.

“I don’t how I lived before this Moony,” James had told him one night, in their living room as the baby dozed against his chest. It was completely dark, with a solitary candle flickering on the table, Lily was asleep upstairs and Remus was staying the night.

Remus saw what he meant. “I cannot imagine my life without him either,”

“I cannot believe he’s ours,” James said with a nervous chuckle. Harry stirred but didn’t wake. “I feel like the universe is pulling a prank on me. Lily is the love my life, I’m married, we have a kid now! What if this isn’t real?”

“James, you’re clearly sleep-deprived.” Remus had said with a roll of eyes. “Go to sleep.”

“I’m serious though!” they both shared a wary glance and then gazed away, smirking. Sirius would have had a field day with this joke had he been there.

“Never gets old,”

“After eight years of it,” James confirmed.

“He’s not even here to make the joke himself,” Remus complained, half-heartedly as his smirk broadened into a grin.

“I think that’s the greatest prank Sirius’s ever pulled,” they hummed and settled back on the couch.

“Do you think that someday you’ll wake up and he’ll be gone?”

“No, I just…I cannot believe this tiny human being belongs to me, well us. Lily and I that is.”

“Easily the biggest accomplishment of your life then,” Remus said.

James nodded, thoughtfully. “No arguments here. He’s too good for us, too good to be real.”

“You deserve good things James.”

“It cannot last forever though.”

He was too tired to deal with this. “Shut up James.”

But his friend pressed on. “Lily thinks so too.” He said with utmost devotion. “She thinks that the timing is awful. We’re in a war Moony.”
They had been giving this thought, Remus thought. Lily and James were seriously considering death in the wake of their son’s birth. This night couldn’t get any grimmer.

“You’re going to be fine.” Said Remus and closed his eyes, wishing that he could fall asleep on a whim and leave James and his thoughts behind on the couch.

“You don’t know that. Lily and I…well he’s already here.”

Moony cracked one eye open. “Exactly. You should stop talking before your stupidity transmits to your son.”

“We might die.”

“That could have happened regardless of the war. You and Lily are being overly paranoid, my friend.”

“Well the war isn’t helping things,” Prongs retorted, jostling Harry on his chest once again. This time, the small infant woke, softly crying and fussing in his father’s arms. James glared at Remus with accusation.

“You’re not wrong,” Remus admitted as James comforted the baby. “But It’s happening, so is Harry. You cannot stop one in favor of the other. Harry was born and he’s here now, but the war might end soon, so suck it up and stop talking like this mate.”

“You and Sirius would make great godfathers.” His voice was traced with a faint line of mocking, in a way that suggested James was severely insulted by Moony’s condescending tone and words.

“Oh for Merlin’s sake, shut up you twat! You’re not going to die.”

James remained bitter as Harry settled back down in a light slumber. “Lily and I made the right choice.”

“I’m half tempted to wake her so she could stop this idiocy. Honestly Prongs.”

“I don’t think we’ll die, I just think that maybe-”

“Maybe?”

“Maybe Lily and I should take Harry and leave before something happens, just in case. Remus, you know that Harry isn’t just any child,” James looked angry with himself. “He’s different, he needs a certain kind of care, and during this war-”

“No.” Remus voiced his thought without it even being processed.

“Hear me out.”

“You’re out of your mind James, it’s not sleep deprivation.” Prongs glared at him but it went unheeded by Remus. “Do you think that You-know-who is only rooted here? Bolted to one place?” he scoffed. “Don’t be an idiot. You should know this already.” They both paused for a beat until Remus delivered the final lash. “Fatherhood is making you irrational.” He said, trying to keep the contempt out of his voice.

It was true, not necessarily, what Remus believed as he himself was besotted with Harry, but James and Lily were more affected and rightfully so. Harry was a miracle.

“We were going to talk to Dumbledore.” James sounded hesitant already, his eyes shifting down to Harry. Remus could barely remember his best friend looking this disheveled and unsure of himself. He hated it.

“You could stop fighting a war,” he said, his voice unintentionally rising. “But you cannot run away from it. Not this one James.” Prongs looked away from him. “When you stop fighting, you become a civilian" the word rolled off his tongue like an insult. “A victim, and that’s not necessarily a bad thing,” he paused.

“But Harry doesn’t need you two to be victims right now. He needs people who are capable of making a better future for him.”

“I know.” The man bit out in frustration. “That’s exactly what I said to Lily,” he groaned and shook his head. “And she agreed but…isn’t it our job as new parents to at least try? I cannot imagine anything happening to Lily or Harry, or any of you guys, ” he paused for a beat. “But I have a bad feeling about this.”

He was being ridiculous. Remus thought in his head. He didn’t know that fatherhood did this to people, he didn’t know if he had a name for it yet, but James didn’t sound like himself at all. If Remus hadn’t spent the whole day with the man, he would have barely believed it to be him.

“We both should go to sleep Prongs,” he said aloud. “We’ll talk about this tomorrow. When we’re both in a better headspace.” and you’re not being an idiot anymore. Remus finished saying in his head.

He wondered if things would have been different if he hadn’t rebuked his friend so harshly. If he had agreed, prompted him to take their child with his wife and run, maybe fifteen months from then they wouldn’t have been dead. Maybe then, Remus wouldn’t have been the one forced to bury them.

As he rounded a corner, the scent got stronger, Remus staggered in his place, his eyes rapidly falling from one passing stranger to the other and finally pinning on a man’s back clad in black as he was hurriedly making his way down the shops. Faster than a striking curse, it occurred to him…that this couldn’t be James’s scent, but it could be someone related to him. It could be Harry’s.

Merlin’s soggy socks, Remus wasn’t sure, this could still be a mistake, but what if it wasn’t? What if Harry was alive, and this man knew him, knew where he was?

Remus didn’t have a single thought swirling in his head as he followed the stranger, all he could really feel was some remnant of his dead best friend clinging to a muggle man. The wolf screamed ‘pack’ in his head, and Remus was utterly convinced. Harry was close. He had to be.

He couldn’t see the man’s face, and he couldn’t get any closer without revealing himself. He pushed the wolf’s impatience to the bottom of his mind, and kept his distance, he would follow the stranger home, to ensure that he was being mistaken and it was just the full moon messing with him, and he would never think of this day again.

And if he wasn’t wrong…then this man could lead him to Harry, and Remus could save him, take him away from the cruel bastards who had been imprisoning him for years. Harry was supposed to be six now, and Lupin felt an unspeakable rage bubbling in his stomach at the thought of strangers abusing his six-year-old godson.

He had failed James once. There would not be a repeat.

**

“I know you’re in there!”

“Let me in.”

Severus let cool hatred wash over him in giant waves, his wand sparkled at the tip and his fingers tightened around it, knuckle white. He couldn’t believe Lupin’s idiocy. Did he really, for even a second, believe that Severus would be naïve enough to open that door, and not kill him in the most brutal manner that pathetic wolf could fathom?

“I can break it down,” Lupin, that irritating creature was saying. It was absolute nonsense, of course, he couldn’t break down any doors that Severus has warded, even Albus himself would find the task tedious and time-consuming, just long enough for Severus to take Harry and run. He had made sure of that.

He just needed to wait this out. Lupin wouldn’t stand there in the cold for forever.

“I know you have him Snape!” another fist came upon their door, and Severus sneered. That buffoon was going to wake Harry! With a quick wave of his hand, Severus quickly casted a silencing charm over the living room.

“I caught his scent on you, you idiot,” Lupin said, almost growling. “I know he’s in there, let me in!”

Harry’s scent, so that’s how he had found them, Severus had been wondering about the wolf’s sudden appearance, despite Severus’s extreme measures to make sure they could stay undetected for at least a year here.

That horrendous beast and his snot, always ruining everything for Severus, almost killing Severus, and now blowing their cover, two nights before a full moon. Sev had never hated anyone with the same velocity that he abhorred Lupin. He might have hated Potter and the rest of his gang, but he absolutely loathed Lupin.

“Open this bloody door Snivellus!”

Oh, how delightful, now he was resorting to childish name-calling. Severus had done well in casting a silencing charm, all this yelling would most likely frighten Harry into displaying accidental magic again.

The knocking ceased for a beat and then Severus heard Lupin sigh, his weight slumping against the door. “If you don’t then I’m calling the ministry,” the man said. “I don’t care if you kill me before they arrive, they’ll know you have him,” there was a loud thud as Lupin punched the door. “They’ll know they can trace him using a werewolf! I’ll tell them everything!”

“Lupin,” Severus snarled, not being able to contain himself any longer. “Get the hell away from my house.” He strode closer to the door, the wand threateningly raised to the peephole. He could blast that infuriating beast right through the door for making such threats.

“I just want to see him you bloody sodding bastard! Open this door!”

“I will blast you through the door wolf! Get the bloody hell away.” he wasn’t letting that man into his house this close to a full moon.

“I don’t care if I die, kill me! But they’ll know about you even if you kill me before I contact the ministry, I’m not a complete idiot. Let me in, I don’t mean him or you any harm, I swear.”

“You could have fooled me,” Snape grunted then looked around his barely lit living room.

“You won’t be seeing him.” Severus said, “He’s not harmed, and that’s all I’m telling you.”

He just wasn’t going to leave without getting in. Severus was no fool he knew that already, so he wasn’t surprised in the least when Lupin’s reply came.

“Not like this Snape,” he said. “Let me in.”

Sev licked his lips, his thoughts rapidly swirling in his head. His options were awfully limited, not because he was afraid of hurting Lupin. That was a bold-faced lie, what he was wary of, was his son, Harry sleeping in his room.

“Then pass your wand through the door,” he said.

“What-Are you insane!?”

Severus was running out of patience. “Do it or I’ll kill you,” he growled and stood away from his door, ready to blast it and the beast behind ti to pieces of worthless flesh.

“With Harry in the house?” the dubious tone gave Severus pause. Could he kill someone with Harry in the house?

“Take it or leave it,” he barked aloud. He didn’t need to think about that just yet. He’d deal with a body if he happened to end up with a body.
There was a slight shuffling, then the man was shoving his wand from the slit under the door. Severus crouched to pick it up, his wand still pointed at the door. He rolled the unfamiliar wand in his hand twice and then put it inside his robe pocket.

“Step back, with your hands behind your neck.”

Remus swore lewdly from the other side. “Ugh for the love of-”

“Do it.” Sev barked with narrowed eyes.

“I did,” Lupin bit out, strong loathing coated his words.

Severus waited for a full minute, and then reached for the door bolt locks, and unlocked them one by one, there was a total of three, installed on this door. Harry’s room had one too, as did his labs.

“Where is he?” was the thing Remus asked upon shimming into the house through the open crack of the door, with Sev’s wand pointed to his face.
“Don’t get ahead of yourself wolf,” He nodded to the couch. “You can seat there.” It was facing away from the hallway that led to Harry’s room, which was the best subtle protection Severus could offer, he was already ready to bolt for his son’s bedroom at a moment’s notice.

“Where is he?” Lupin asked again, thickly swallowing as he looked around the darkened room as if trying to find a six-year-old huddled in a corner.
“It’s four in the morning,” Severus spat. “He’s in bed, as he should be.”

Lupin had the grace to flush. “Oh yeah,” he rubbed the back of his neck, still looking around with apprehension. Severus watched his with crossed arms and a sneer fixated on his face. He couldn’t believe that mutt was seating on his couch, in his home, less than a room away from his sleeping, defenseless child.

“What do you want from me?” he asked, he started circling the couch. “Money?” Lupin did look the shabbiest Severus had seen him, if he hadn’t known the man, he couldn’t tell him apart from a homeless man. “The wolfsbane potion?” he came to a stop in front of Lupin. “What do I need to give you to leave us alone?”

Remus’s face was quick to morph into indignation. His eyes almost bulging and his brows furrowed. “Excuse me!?”

“You heard me perfectly,” Sev snapped. “What’s your price? Say it and get lost.”

“My price,” Remus chuckled, purely out of disbelief and leaned back against the couch, his eyes radiating pure hate as they bore into Sev’s. Severus was acutely aware that a beast was in his living room, only two nights before the full moon. “My price is my six-year-old godson, whom you kidnapped after his parents…” Lupin deflated, his face contorting and his gaze falling down on his lap. “After-”

“Yes I don’t need a recap,” Severus didn’t have time for this.

Lupin’s eyes narrowed into their former glare, his legs bounced almost manically. “I want to see my godson,” he blurted out and looked around again. “Is he…alright? Safe, or are you-”

“I’m not torturing him,” Severus said. “This is the safest place he could be at the moment.” Even these few words pained him to say, he didn’t want the wolf knowing about Harry, he didn’t want him included in Harry's life. Couldn't even imagine Harry's small fragile frame next to such a beast.

The wolf snorted. “Right, living with his kidnapper.”

He could kill Lupin right then and there, cut off the chunks, boil them down in his labs, and then bury the vile emulsion in their backyard before Harry was even done with his breakfast.

Instead, he pushed the vivid imagery to the bottom of the endless sea in his mind and then stared the man dead in the eyes. “If I were you I would be choosing my words carefully wolf.”

“My bad Snivellus , I wasn’t aware you’re afraid of the truth.”

“You cannot see him.” Severus would die first. “He’s sleeping now, and I won’t have you disturbing his sleep,” the darkened room loomed his shadow over Lupin’s tensed figure on his couch. “Even if I were to let you, the full moon is close-”

“HOW dare you-”

“I dare on the account of not trusting you. Seat back down before I stun you.”

Remus shook his head once more in denial and then sat back down, terse and ready to lunch himself at Sev. “I would never do that to him, he’s my-“
“He’s your nothing now.” Severus knew the response was too immature, but couldn’t bring himself to care. “He doesn’t know you. He doesn’t know about you,” he pressed on. “I’m fairly certain he wouldn’t want to anyway. You know what you’ve walked into Lupin.” He nodded at the man.
“You’re wandless, sitting on my couch, and apparently not scared of dying at all.”

Remus didn’t look as if he was even listening. “He’s just a room away from me, I cannot believe it, I thought he was dead,” he glanced over the couch to the darkened corridor. “Six years…I really thought he was gone, and then I found you in a street and now he’s here, asleep in the other room.”

Sev sneered. “He’s staying with me,”

“I’m his godfather,”

“You’re a Werewolf.” Severus was more than happy to point that out. “I’m not letting him-.”

Lupin’s face was strikingly calm and composed as he interrupted him. “It’s not a matter of letting me, I’m his godfather.” He said as if it was an obvious actuality. “He’s my cub. I’m not letting a stranger raise James and Lily’s child.”

“Yet that stranger knows the child better than you do.” The irony was painfully clear to both of them.

“If you really cared about him, you wouldn’t demand he be separated from me.”

Remus was on his feet once again, his eyes dangerously narrowed. “You kidnapped him!” he exclaimed. Showing off every bit of his Gryffindor infused idiocy in those words and Severus had enough of it.

“No I did NOT.” his sneer broadened and an ugly expression came upon his face. “Your dear best friend begged me,” he drawled the words. “Barely breathing, choking on his own blood-.”

“Stop it.”

Severus had no intentions of stopping. He wanted to make it hurt . “Delirious with pain. He was out of his mind Lupin, shredded into chunks of meat, and in that moment, he didn’t ask for Dumbledore, or any of you,” he shook his head. “He begged me to take the child and flee,”

“You’re lying.” Lupin’s calmness was impressive, his face was lax, his posture forcedly relaxed, but the wildness, the utter hatred was evident in his eyes.

“He sobbed at my feet Lupin, balked when I mentioned your and Pettigrew’s name.”

“I know what you’re doing,” Remus said, “You’re trying to send me off rails, fill my head with these lies. Do you want to know the truth, Snape? Even in death, James was more than you’ll ever be.”

“Your starry-eyed delusions won’t change the truth, Wolf.” Remus instinctively shrank back as Severus advanced on him. “If you really insist on knowing the truth then maybe you should see it with your own eyes!” The moron’s face paled and his eyes widened and in the next instant, Severus was in his mind, pushing that one specific memory forward with all his might.

**

“He was being spiteful on purpose. Of course, he was.” Dad would get so mean, without even meaning it sometimes. Harry knew the peculiar mood better than anyone else. Because he knew Dad better than anyone else. “Dad does that a lot, as a defense mechanism.” Harry frowned at Shacklebolt.

He felt the need to explain…more. More of everything. Add depth to the words he was saying, or rather, to the version that Kingsley Shacklebolt was hearing. “He wasn’t scared that night, just…angry.”

He reached for a clean piece of parchment. The pile was already dwindling. “He showed Lupin everything,” that’s the version Severus had admitted to Harry. And he took Dad’s word for it. “Invaded his mind or something, he never told me the specifics.” He was always vehement to avoid Lupin as it came up. The truth about that night was one of the seldom things Harry doubted to be a lie.

“They had a deal together. Lupin and my Dad.”

**

It took the wolf over five minutes to lift his head from the couch, his eyes were wild, lost and raw with old grief. Severus was silent, standing there and waiting for Lupin to gather his wits about him.

“I want to be involved in his life.” it was the first thing Remus said upon clearing his throat several times.

That was just a big “No,”

“I need to see him.”

Severus shrugged. “I can provide pictures,”

Remus scoffed at him. “In flesh and bones Snape,” he threw his hands up in frustration. “You have to grant me that much,”

Severus didn’t have to do anything. He didn’t owe this man “I don’t have to grant you anything. Especially after you followed me home and endangered Harry’s life by exposing us! A picture is all you’re getting.” He crossed his arms. “Twice a year.”

“Twice a month.”

“Once a month and that’s it. I don’t want you sniffing around our residence, talking to him, or staring at him from a distance, I don’t want him stressed and pressured into loving you.”

“Of course not, I could send letters-”

“No letters.” That would be Lupin, basically holding up a huge neon sign to their hiding place. The full moon was truly making him daft. The grief and desperation could have had a hand in it, but Severus was pointedly ignoring that part. “I’ll send you pictures, once a month with a dose of the wolfsbane potion and that’s it.”

Something flashed in Lupin’s eyes. “I didn’t ask for that.”

“Yet you desperately need it.”

“I’m sending him the letters anyway,” said the stubborn man. “And gifts.”

“Do as you want,” Severus would make sure that none reached their destination. “I’d doubt a six-year-old would be able to write back.”

“His life is in danger, constantly, he’s not just a child Lupin. You’ve got to understand that. He’s special.”

Remus regarded him with a strange expression on his face. “James said that a lot too you know, he never explained why.”

Of course, he didn’t.

“Maybe that was done on purpose.”

“I wouldn’t hurt him. He should have known that, and so should you.”

“This isn’t about you, this isn’t about us.” How could he not understand this? “It’s about Harry, don’t you understand how larger the scale runs?” he shook his head at Lupin and paced to the fireplace and back.

“We’re nothing but pawns in this game Lupin,” he had known this for years now. Such a harsh truth. Biting, and unfair, but true. “My job is to protect that child with everything that I have, at first because of a vow, but now because I cannot imagine doing anything else…your job,” he pointed a finger at the wolf.

“Is to stay away and avoid endangering my son’s life.”

“Your son.” It infuriated Severus, how that man chose that part of his speech to focus on instead of reading between the lines and getting lost. He thought that Remus Lupin was supposed to be smarter than this. The full moon was already addling his brain.

“He’s mine in every way that counts.”

“He doesn’t even know about James and Lily.” It was more of a statement, but it sounded like a question, coming out of his mouth. “He doesn’t even know about his real parents.”

“He’s six years old,” it wasn’t a lousy excuse to Severus, it wasn’t rock solid, but who cared? Harry needed a parent. He needed a father, and he was only a child. The only logical choice was for Severus to fill that role. It never occurred to him to do this any other way. One day Harry started calling him Daddy, and that was that.

Lupin didn’t look as if he was following the same line of logic as him. “So that’s why you love doing this.” He said, somberly, he was miraculously smiling. In his mind, he had solved the grand mystery, the skeletons in Sev’s closet. “This is your way of screwing around with James’s legacy. You’re so petty that you couldn’t resist making Harry yours,” He laughed. “You just had to be included, to push James and Lily out of the picture.” He looked disgusted with Severus. “Has he asked about his mom? Have you told him that you slept around with her?”

It wasn’t true. None of it was, of course it wasn’t. Severus needed to keep track of that, or else he would lose his last nerve with this wild creature, invading his home. What sort of example would he set for Harry if he killed this pathetic, blubbering excuse of a man?

‘Don’t let the monsters win,’ that’s what he always told Harry, the least he could do was standing by his own words.

“Shut. Your. Gab.” Severus ground his teeth. “You said your piece and so did I.” he raised his wand to point at the wolf’s face. If he refused to cooperate, Severus was going to stun him, disrobe him and then leave him in the cold to freeze his dirty paws off until someone found him. “Get out of my house.”

Remus stood, complying almost too easily.

“I’m not leaving because you’re pointing a wand at me,” Lupin seethed, his face was disturbingly and utterly calm, his voice not wavering. “I’m leaving because I don’t have the power to stop you yet, but when I do,” he shook his head with a humorless laugh. “Merlin when I do, I would run you down, reduce you to ashes and free him of this. He deserves the truth that I’m about to give him.”

Severus just stared at him. “I won’t let you.”

“You could try.”


**

“I could tell the difference,” Harry said. “When we ran away from you lot,” he had more than a dozen paper cranes resting by his elbow. It was getting late, and he was getting tired. He had no concept of time, and he was afraid to ask. They still had to do the interrogation under Veritaserum, Shacklebolt had said, but Harry insisted to talk first.

Someone needed to know as much as possible before Harry was under Veritaserum, and not in control for a little while. Harry had to explain, try and dwindle enough for it to get late, to delay the interrogation to the following day. “Dad was more composed, almost stoic.”

He missed his dad. He missed him like someone missed a lost limb and fantasized that it was still there. If Harry closed his eyes, he could almost pretend that Dad was standing in the corner with his arms crossed, watching him with narrowed eyes.

“He didn’t worry as much. He always had backups in place. I didn’t even notice him the tension in his shoulders. When Lupin came knocking on our door…He was different. I couldn’t hear a thing, Dad had a silencing charm placed all around the living room, but I could see. He was frantic, twitchy…he avoided the man’s gaze, he was hunched as if ready to bolt to my room any moment, to protect me from that man…

“The thing was, Lupin was the gentlest stranger I’ve seen. His mouth moved a lot, his face was calm but his words were disturbing Dad, making him irritated, I remember getting sick the following morning. I’d made it snow in my room, and then slept in it, because I was trying to cheer Dad up in the morning…it was a whole thing.”

“We didn’t run after Lupin came for a visit. But I remember us running away from Death eaters. Dad wasn’t languid and sure of himself that night, he wasn’t angry or stoic, he was beside himself with fear. I’ve never seen him as afraid as he was the night he thought some Death Eater was on our lawn.”


**

Severus was barely breathing, he held the air restricted in his chest, racing from room to room, madly waving his wand. He raced back to Harry’s room, rousing the groggy child and fiddling for the child’s winter coat. “Harry, wake up for a second now,”

Harry whimpered, sleepily protesting, and sluggishly complying as Severus maneuvered his limbs into the jacket. It was so very cold outside, it had been snowing earlier, almost all day, and the biting cold after the snow was almost as worse as hell that had frozen over. Severus looked around for Harry’s scarf before carrying the sleeping child to the living room.

His lab and the kitchen were already packed, their traces cleansed from every visible surface, Severus didn’t know how much time he had, he didn’t know who was after them, but they couldn’t stay there, that much he knew.

He lowered Harry on the couch and then bolted up the stairs to take care of the bathroom, still not allowing himself to breathe properly, if he paused to breathe, the fear would get to him.

This wasn’t the first time he was doing this, he had been running away for years, more times than he could count, in fact, he was somewhat of an expert on the subject. But he had had time to think before, before, they were on the run from light wizards, ministry Aurors, bumbling witches and self-righteous fools that he could easily manipulate. This time, there was a Death Eater on their tail. Severus wasn’t sure , he was in no way certain that it had been him, but if he had seen Yaxley’s withering figure in their backyard, even if he had thought he’d seen it, then they were screwed.

Yaxley wouldn’t strike alone, he was too much of a coward to face Severus alone, but not all Death Eaters had been rounded up if it had been him in their yard, and if that man dares to go, back for reinforcement before breaking into their house…Severus couldn’t even finish the thought.

He had half a mind to scoop Harry in his arms, get out of this blasted house before setting it on fire, but it was too obvious, they would know for certain that it was him, muggles would notice the house burning down, and Severus couldn’t stay to fight off the ones coming to raid his house by himself. He had a child now. He had a seven-year-old that had no one but him in this world. An acutely isolated child, who hadn’t communicated with a single person but him nearly all his life.

Severus couldn’t stay, and he couldn’t destroy the evidence. He had to wipe everything clean and then apparate them to Norway, to Slogen and the mountain range where Albus had taken him all those years ago when he’d realized his mistake. When the thought of obeying a monster sickened him and the headmaster offered a way out.

No one knew about Norway, or Slogen, no one would find them there. They could stay there, at least until Severus had found a safer place for them to stay, maybe in another country for a while, maybe in Scotland, or further up, somewhere that Death Eater scums couldn’t touch his son.

The bathroom was cleared, that only left Harry’s room and the living room, both of which were downstairs. Severus avoided touching the stair rails as he quickly made his way back to Harry. He rushed past him to the boy’s room, not daring to turn the lights on, in case someone was stalking their house.

They would know that Severus knew and they would attack, sooner than they had planned. Severus needed to get the hell out of this place.
Harry’s room was the hardest to pack, not only because of the untidy state of a room inhabited by a toddler but because the room stank of Harry’s magic more than any other place in the house. The Death Eaters wouldn’t know that the source was Harry Potter upon inspection, but they would know that the wielder would interest them more than Severus’s head. Sev didn’t need new targets on Harry’s back.

Severus promptly started with the bed, shrank it and then waved his wand at the wardrobe, leaving the curtains closed and untouched and praying that the dark wouldn’t cast the flying furniture as silhouettes against the curtains. It was pitch dark, of course, such a thing was scientifically impossible, but he didn’t bloody care about science.

He had to consider other options as well, it had never occurred to him what would happen to Harry if he were captured or killed, or just died by an accident. The thought came upon him at a terrible time and place, adding more to the anxiety that shamefully shook Sev’s hand. Severus paused, forced himself to breathe and let the occlumency shields wash over him.

Harry would have no one, no place to stay, and no way to tell whether the Aurors would get to him first or the Death Eaters that still roamed free. He was a child. He couldn’t even talk properly.

With a final swish of his wand, Harry’s sizzling magic was dampened and Severus was back in their living room, taking an unwilling and languid Harry in his arms. He sat back down on the couch with urgency.

“Harry, you need to wake up for a moment.” He didn’t want to frighten Harry into showing accidental magic, not at the radius that Harry’s magic would show. Harry grumbled against his chest, lazily blinking.

“Sleep.”

“No, Harry I need you to listen to Daddy for a moment.”

“No,” Harry said even though he looked more aware, no gazing up at Severus with bleary eyes. Sev nodded at him.

“We’re leaving the cottage,”

“Why are we leaving Daddy?”

“It’s all part of the game,” Severus said in a rush and then stood. Harry blinked.

“We’re playing at night?” the words were slurred and muffled into Sev’s robes, hastily out on and barely buttoned, but at least the child was awake. Severus swallowed and forced himself to breathe again.

“We’re always playing Harry, we have to.”

“I wanna sleep!” this was accompanied by half-hearted sobs that faded into mild complaints as Severus did one last round around the house.
“I know, we’ll sleep soon I promise,” he peaked into the bathroom and deigned it the best place for apparating as it was facing away from their front door and the windows. Before Slogen, he had to apparate to a few other places too; obscure his tracks in case he was followed.

“Just stay awake enough for Dad to apparate.” He said, trying his best not to sound pleading. “I know you can do it,”

Harry pouted but leaned away from Severus’s chest and gazed around the empty bathroom with increasing alarm. Before he could voice his thoughts-rather loudly, Severus was sure- he apparated them both, and they disappeared with a loud crack.

**

Harry was having the time of his life, tangled with the tinsel strips that Severus had begrudgingly acquired for him in addition to the ones they already had.

“I cannot believe how much you like that monstrosity Potter.”

“DA!”

“Yes, it looks fascinating.”

Potter seemed in awe of the way the tinsels felt against his skin, and so buried his head in the tangled mess with high-pitched giggles and his hands flailing in excitement. The lamps dangerously flickered and Severus rolled his eyes. Potter was only a fan of extremes. He either burned something down by throwing a tantrum or burst lamps by being too happy.

“Alright enough for now,” he said, albeit with a bit of hesitation as he leaned down to pluck the boy off the floor. Harry whimpered and wriggled in protest, but Sev was adamant.

“This is the third lamp in danger of bursting since we got those tinsels Potter,” he explained to the child, carrying him to the kitchen. “And while I and the tinsels appreciate your enthusiasm, I cannot possibly buy a new set of lamps every few hours.”

Potter gave him a dirty look and then pouted. Grunting in displeasure as Severus gently lowered him in his high-chair. Potter absolutely adored the chair, it won’t make up for the tinsels, but it might prevent a power outage in the whole neighborhood.

The cupboards rattled with the boy’s displeasure as Severus went over to fetch his mug. “Really mature Potter,” Severus rolled his eyes and spared a glance over his shoulder. Harry glared back at him, furiously tapping his hand against his chair.

“Yes, I’m the worst father-.” Severus choked on himself, his eyebrows rising. Father? Did he really just say that out loud? He refused to shudder at the weird sensation crawling down his spine and slammed the cupboard shut without retrieving the mug.

“No,” Harry said as Severus sat across him. ‘No’ was Potter’s favorite word as of late. The boy refused to talk much, couldn’t say anything beyond five or six words, but the most that Severus had heard from him in this past two months was either ‘No’ or ‘Please’.

Clearly, Potter hasn’t been adjusting well in these two months.

“I am not your father Potter,” Severus said, staring into the baby’s eyes. Potter stared back, unimpressed.

“No!” the cupboards mildly rattled again and Sev sighed.

“Your parents,” he cleared his throat. “They’re gone. I am not your father, I’m just some man who takes care of you to fulfill a debt.”

“No,” Potter said again, staring at him dead in the eyes.

“Oh come off it,” Sev snapped. “You have no idea what I just said, you’re still mad about the bloody tinsels.”

Potter grunted in indignation and shifted in his chair. “NO.” the chair shook. A plate set by the edge of the sink clattered to the ground, breaking with a loud thud and Potter barely flinched. They were getting used to the sound of chaos, much to his discontentment.

“Fine,” Severus spat, he glared down Potter’s glare with a vengeance. “But I’ll only bring one string over, and you’re not allowed to smother yourself in it,” he grudgingly pushed himself to his feet. “I won’t have the Boy Who Lived suffocating by tinsel.”

“No,” Potter agreed.

**

“Come on Dad, are you really throwing those out?”

“You can clearly deduce as such using your eyes Harry, I thought we’ve talked about stating the obvious.”

The thirteen-year-old rolled his eyes. “Yes, it’s insulting to the both of us, but what’s more insulting is you throwing that package of chocolaty goodness-”

“They’re going into the trash,” Severus cut him off. “Don’t even think about sweet-talking your way out of it.”

“They’re not poisoned.” Harry pointed out, rather unhelpfully. Not only they didn’t look or smell poisoned, they looked to be home-cooked, and Harry mourned their loss as they were thrown into the bin instead of his mouth. Those looked like perfectly made fudges, what a waste.

Severus’s eyes darkened. “You could never know with that bastard.”

“Swear word.” Harry quipped back, flopping down in one of the chairs.

“Don’t push me on this brat,”

“Dad, you’re being too paranoid,” the boy groaned as though the scene taking place in front of him wasn’t a yearly occurrence. “And those smelled delicious. I don’t think Santa’s nemesis is going to mind us eating a few of them, I mean he did send them for us.”

“For you,” Severus corrected, dumping the rest of the package down the bin. “I don’t see why we’re still talking about him.” he dusted his hands off as if to rid them of the dirtiness. “He’s bad news.” They both shared a look before Severus finally glanced away. “Go get the pastry platter from the living room.”

Harry snorted but got to his feet. “Yeah let’s pretend you’re not going to set that bin on fire the moment I’m out of your sight.”

“No pastries for you then.”

“Hey!”

“Santa doesn’t bring gifts for bratty boys who talk back.”

“He wouldn’t,” Harry agreed, whole-heartedly. “If he was real.”

“Go get the platter.”

“I’m living in tyranny,” Harry shouted on his way to the living room.

“Yes, you’re right.” Severus rolled his eyes. “Your life’s a tragedy.”

He had no idea how right he was.