"Some pain reliever and Pepper-Up potion, if you would, Madame." Severus said, trying to hold the grimace of pain down as he threw back the blanket covering him.

"Whatever for?"

"I need to see to the boy." He said, speaking as if to a very young, very stupid child.

"You've got worse head injuries than I imagined if you think I"m letting you leave this room, you"ve been hit by what I can only assume is the cruciatus, not to mention the various other wounds you seem to have acquired."

You should see Quirrell, he couldn't help but think to himself with a smirk. Or at least, what"s left of him. Out loud he replied, "I suppose it is rather fortuitous then that I am not asking your permission. I will go whether you bring me the potions or not, that much is a fact."

"Don't be ridiculous, the Headmaster can see to Harry. He's likely found him by now."

Severus began to move off the bed. Slowly. He winced in exaggerated pain, hoping the sight would move Pomfrey to get the pain reliever potion. No such luck. "The Headmaster's efforts will be inadequate, I assure you. Now will you assist me or not?"

"I will not! You are absolutely in no condition to be leaving the hospital. I do not understand why you are being so incredibly stubborn about this, even for you. Harry will be fine, he always pulls through."

"And are we all satisfied with "fine"? Because I assure you, "fine" is not good enough for me when it come to my chi---"

"I would suggest that you stop right there, Severus."

He had to admit that up until that very moment he had forgotten that Minerva McGonagall was even in the room. The only reaction he could manage to muster up at her interruption was to raise an inquisitive eyebrow.

She took it for what it was and responded. "There's been a lot of surprising language thrown about here today both by you and Mr. Potter, and about you and Mr. Potter. I understand that the relationship between the two of you has changed, and while Harry's reactions are understandable, I take issue with you referring to him as your child. He deserves better than that!"

As her words registered, rage surged within him. Despite his usual ability to mask his emotions, he was unable to prevent his temper from showing. How dare she?! And yet surely he should have expected as much - no one would think a former Death Eater was an appropriate parental figure for Harry Potter The Golden Boy of The Wizarding World.

"I beg your pardon?" The dangerous tone of his response was impossible to miss.

"Answer me this, Severus, have you made any legal arrangements to adopt the boy, or even to arrange for simple guardianship?"

Well. That he had not expected.

"I cannot say I have. And I fail to see how legalities should matter."

"They wouldn't to you, as I'm sure a piece of paper doesn't change any responsibility you feel towards the boy. And it's quite possible that the "legalities" don't matter to Harry -- right now. But one day he will question whatever understanding the two of you have. He will wonder why, if you truly care for him, you did not make the effort to ensure his remaining in your care."

He found himself staring at her in disbelief, in an unfunny imitation of any of the first year students. He . . . hadn't thought of that. The idea of formalizing the situation between himself and Harry had very simply never occurred to him; he had barely had time to adjust to the sheer amount of simpering emotion that passed between him and the boy.

If he was honest, he had to admit that the boy's use of that particular paternal appellation made him . . . uncomfortable. A frightening number of reactions had passed through him upon hearing the word "Daddy", from the habitual and therefore automatic sneering -- Grow up, Potter, you're behaving like an infant -- to panic and fear of a strength he had not know since he heard that the Dark Lord was targeting Lily, and then to a warmer feeling that he was disinclined to examine any closer.

Shaking off this new and infuriating tendency towards self-reflection, he realized that his colleague was waiting for some sort of acknowledgement.

"You have made your point, Minerva."

Thankfully that seemed to satisfy her.

He headed towards the door, intent on his task, and paused only long enough to take the vials of potion offered by an irritated-looking Poppy.

xxxxxxxxxx

When he found Dumbledore and Harry in the old man's office he was rather surprised at how calm the boy appeared to be. Obviously that was just for show. From where he stood, unseen, Severus was surprised to recognize that familiar mask back in place on the young wizard, the one he had seen first at the welcoming feast back in September. That seemed like a lifetime ago now.

He could only imagine what it must feel like for a child. Another sliver of clarity regarding the verbal slip in the infirmary fell into place.

"I don't think you are giving Professor Snape nearly enough credit, Harry. I have it on good authority that he does not scare easily. Especially not as a result of a simple word."

"I don't think it's that simple of a word, Professor." Harry muttered, looking briefly down at his hands.

Snape resisted a snort of amusement. He had to agree with the boy on that one. If there was any word in the English language that was fraught with complexities of emotion and meaning, "Daddy" was it. Particularly from the mouth a heavily mistreated child who had absolutely no reason to give that word away to anyone, least of all him. Leave it to Albus to call it "simple".

Harry continued, "I was stupid to be so childish. I got along just fine before him and I just let down my guard. It won't happen again. I shouldn't have let it happen in the first place. Besides, it's the end of the school year soon and I'll be gone and all this --" he gestured vaguely with one hand, "will end anyway."

Severus set his face into stony neutrality and stepped forward, making his presence known.

"Well, I suppose if that's the way you feel, I do not have to extend the offer I was about to make." He made sure his tone betrayed nothing - if Harry wanted to pretend that everything was back to the way it had been before his assault, then that's what they would do. Until the boy cracked, that is, and he was fairly certain it wouldn't take long.

As he expected, Potter glanced up at him with a mixture of surprise, confusion, and of course, embarrassment before he quickly managed to school his features.

"Pr-professor," Harry stammered out with a blush. "Are you okay?" The anxiety in his voice was apparent, even to himself, and he clenched his hands into fists.

"I will be soon enough. Do not concern yourself."

Harry couldn't tell whether that was meant to be a dismissal or a comfort, and he frowned. He could not, however, completely stifle his earlier curiosity.

"What offer sir?"

Severus almost smiled. He had been counting on this. Instead he replied, with a forced casualness to his voice, "I was going to see you would be amenable to coming to stay with me for the summer. I had assumed that you would agree however apparently you prefer to regain some of your previous independence." With that, he took a sip of the tea Albus had conjured for him, playing out his role.

Albus for his part, seemed like he couldn't decided between turning that infuriating twinkle on the Potion's Master or rolling his eyes. Clearly the headmaster found Severus" little act to be highly transparent. Ah well, he wasn't inclined to waste his talents for sophisticated manipulation on a child. He knew all too well that they seldom required it.

"You were - you were going to do what?" Ah, how easily a hastily built wall is breached!

"I was going to see if you wanted to stay with me for the summer."

"You were going to take me home with you?"

"Yes." He wouldn't have worded it that way himself. It made Potter sound too much like a puppy. Then again, such a description wouldn't have been inappropriate at certain times over the past school year.

"And you were going to ask me about it when you came up here?"

"Yes, but as you stated, you believe all this was a waste of time, so I will not bother you with such things."

Harry felt rage surge inside him. He had been so close! If only he hadn't said that horrible word; if only Snape hadn't heard what he'd said to Dumbledore! "Of all the bloody stupid things to do. Now I"ve ruined my one chance" he muttered to himself.

Severus could tell the boy was caught. It was so easy to spot in the clenching of his fists and the working of his jaw. Not to mention the way he was muttering to himself. Snape only managed to catch a few words, but they were telling.

"You are angry."

"Yes! How could you think --" Harry hollered, and then remembered himself and the fact that his companions were teachers. "Sorry. So, Professor, I mean, you were going to ask me even after -- after what happened downstairs? After what I did?" How could that possibly be true?

"What is it that you think you did, Harry?"

The child looked surprised at the question, as if it was completely daft to ask him such a thing.

"I overstepped boundaries, I took liberties. I must have freaked you out. I swear I wasn"t trying to ingratiate myself to you sir!"

Severus noticed how he carefully pronounced the word - in-gray-shee-ate - it was clearly not a part of his vocabulary, although there was no doubt he had heard all of these phrases many times. From the lips of Vernon and Petunia Dursley no doubt. And perhaps even from his own, he had to admit, thinking back on his early interactions with the boy.

Pulling himself back to the Headmaster's office, he met Harry's eyes.

"You did nothing of the sort. If we have to repeat our conversation about needing and wanting parents, we will do so; I meant what I said when I offered to fill that role for you Harry. How could I then fault you for putting words to it?"

He could see that Harry was simply befuddled. He sighed and knew he had to bring it down a level for the boy. It was always difficult to do so; he learned early on that longer, fancier language did a good job of hiding sentimentality. Emotional bluntness made him wildly uncomfortable. But if he wished Harry to understand what he was trying to say it had to be done.

"While I admit to some surprise at the wording you chose, I was not surprised to hear you refer to me as father. You did not, as you say, 'freak me out'."

"Why not?"

"I do believe you've been referring to me in such a way for some time, have you not?"

For the second time in the space of an hour, Harry felt all the blood drain out of his face. He couldn"t possibly...

"I don't know what you mean."

His patience faltering, Severus rolled his eyes. "What is your sign for me, Harry?"

"It doesn't matter, it's not important --" Panic was beginning to set in, that much was obvious.

"It doesn't matter if you show me now or not Harry. The point is the words themselves." He paused meaningfully there, giving the boy a chance to catch his breath. "I've created a sign for you as well, Harry. Would you like to see it?"

He got nothing in response beyond the widening of the green eyes that were staring at him. So he signed two words, and stated them verbally for everyone's benefit.

[[Student]] "Student." [[Son]] "Son."

Harry was literally backed up against a wall now, wonder written all over his face. It did not stay there for long, for he hid it away as soon as he found his voice.

"You didn't have to do that. Make a sign for me. You don't have to do any of this."

It hadn't been enough; he hadn't gotten through to the child.

"Come here Harry." He waited as he made his way over slowly, as if under the Imperius curse, unable to resist.

"You seem to be labouring under a false impression. You believe that I have done all these things, offered all these things purely out of compassion and sympathy and pity. You think that all of this is one-sided. That is simply not so. I did not create that sign only to show you that I knew the meaning of yours."

Harry was listening with such rapt attention that he didn't even notice the man's hands come up to cup his face. He just knew that something big was coming.

"You are like a son to me, Harry."

He couldn't believe it -- he just couldn't.

"I am?"

"No, I give ridiculously saccharine speeches about family to all my students."

Harry couldn't help but laugh at that. The man had a point.

"So I will ask then, Harry, would you like to spend the summer at my home?"

"I would love to!"

And for the first time Harry had ever seen, Snape smiled fully and freely.

"Then I do believe we have an acceptable arrangement."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Not long after the Headmaster sent Harry off to Gryffindor tower. It had been a long day, and all Severus wanted was to get to his bed as well. But he knew Albus would want to know what happened in the chamber.

He did not wait for the man to ask.

"It is as you feared it would be. The Dark Lord was after the Stone for himself."

Tension hung thickly in the air while he waited for his mentor to process this. What this meant for the wizarding world at large, what it meant for Harry in particular.

"So Voldermort is back, then."

Severus could not contain the flinch, but he tried to ignore the name.

"In a manner of speaking. He is not fully corporeal. All his deeds were done via Quirrell, through some type of pseudo possession that I have never seen before. He was . . ." Snape found himself at a loss for words. How did one even begin to describe the intertwining of the two men? He supposed sometimes the only way was the blunt way. "He was looking out of the back of Quirrell's head. Hence the turban."

Even Dumbledore was slightly bewildered at this; he could tell by the slight raise in eyebrows, but that was the only sign the man gave away.

"Did he see you then? Does he know?"

"Yes."

"Are you absolutely positive?"

"I believe that when I retrieved the Stone and yet refused to hand it over he sussed out that I was a traitor, yes." He replied dryly. He reached into his pocket and proceeded to place the Philosopher's Stone on Dumbledore's desk. He was relieved to be rid of the thing, to tell the truth.

"I suppose it could not be helped. It is unfortunate that we will be losing our inside information into Voldemort's activities."

I'd say it's more unfortunate that Voldemort has returned, Severus thought. "I would not have been able to continue my role as a spy regardless Albus."

"May I ask why?"

"I intend to seek full guardianship of Harry. Provided you have no objections?"

At this Dumbledore chuckled. "Would it truly stop you if I did?"

"Not in the least." Snape stood to leave, believing the conversation over, but as he reached the door the Headmaster had one more question.

"You will protect him and take care of him, won't you Severus?"

"With my last ounce of strength and until the last breath leaves my body."

And then he did leave. He had legal procedures to begin, after all.