Severus woke up with a start. He hadn't been dreaming, he just felt as thought there was something important he was supposed to do tonight. Clearing his head of the cobwebs running around in it, he realized that he was supposed to take Harry out hunting, and he was supposed to have done that at lunchtime.

Groaning at how he could have forgotten, he rolled over, only to fall heavily to the floor with an "oomph". The couch in his office? Oh yes, he thought, well at least I got a days sleep. Standing up and stretching, he looked at the clock. It was 9:30pm on what he hoped was still the Saturday he had fallen asleep on.

Yawning, he made his way out of his office and to his rooms. He was a little surprised to see Harry's pet snake lying on his bed. The was a note strung around the middle of Arien's back, courtesy of Harry, as he couldn't speak Parseltongue. Taking it off and reading it, he saw that, indeed it was a letter from his son. The boy still wanted to know if he was on for tonight and had sent Arien to wait for a reply, as he could sleep comfortably on his bed, unlike Hedwig.

Quickly writing a reply to say that he would still take him out, he carefully tied it back around Arien's middle and opened his door. As soon as Arien had completely left the room, Severus closed the door again and went to change into a more suited pair of robes.

By the time he had finished that simple task, there was a knock on the door and an excited Harry entered into his room. Severus looked the boy up and down carefully. Harry must have been fed at lunchtime, but who would have went out with him? Shrugging his shoulders, Severus looked up to Harry's eyes and smiled. "Ready"

Harry nodded his head so fast, it looked like it was about to snap off and fall to the ground. Severus laughed at this. "So, where did you leave Arien? I don't think he was too pleased to have me touching him round the middle."

Harry put on his own grin, with a mischievous glint in his eyes. "He doesn't, but I told him not to bite and he promised he wouldn't."

Severus shuddered at being told this. He had gotten used to the snake showing up in mysterious places, and sometimes it followed Harry to classes, curling around the boy's waist. Still, being told he could have been bitten by it was a totally different story.

Shaking nasty thoughts out of his head, he walked out of the rooms, Harry close behind him. Closing and locking the door with as many spells as he could think of to keep snakes as well as people out, he was satisfied and led the boy outside.

Stopping at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, he saw Harry shudder with both fear and excitement. He was well aware that Harry had been through quite a bit in here, but knew he wouldn't not go in there again if called for.

Walking into the forest, Severus felt his own excitement mounting. He didn't think there was a feeling quite like the one he was about to share with Harry. Stopping suddenly when Harry trod on a twig, making it snap, he whirled suddenly around. "Have you forgotten how to walk without sound all of a sudden?!" He whispered roughly.

Harry looked away. "Sorry. I forgot to." He whispered back, not sure about the tone of the whisper that his father had just sent his way.

"You forgot? Well you better remember or you can go back." After a break, Severus sighed softly. "Sorry for being rough, but you need to be as silent as possible. You'll scare everything away otherwise." He didn't know about the boy, but he would like to eat sometime tonight.

"I feel like I'm in your classroom right now." Harry whispered so low, Severus almost missed it altogether.

"Some things are easier to learn if taught." With that conveniently said, the two fell into silent steps next to each other. Severus could hardly hold in the sudden urge to run through the forest as quickly as he could until he caught something. He grinned at thinking of how that was how Remus hunted when he was the wolf. With the wolfsbane potion, the werewolf still felt the urge to hunt.

The thought of running though was stupid with another learning how to hunt. That would come when the boy was proficient enough in his sneaking skills. Relaxing his muscles as much as possible, he realized how good this felt. He hadn't been out to hunt since Harry had started to feed on the chickens at Hagrid's hut.

They made their way to a clearing, staying in the shadows of the trees, while watching the river that was found running through it. Standing, lapping at the water was a deer-like creature. Harry wasn't too sure what it was.

Severus unconsciously licked his lips. Perfect. The deer-like creature would be big enough for the both of them. Tonight, Harry could merely observe how it was done. Telling this to the boy, he saw Harry's features fall a little, but he conceded.

Slowly, he made his way into the clearing. The closer he got, the more his muscles tensed in anticipation until, he was wound as tight as a bow. By the time, the creature sensed him it was too late. Taking it by surprise, it easily fell as it lost its footing trying to cross the river with the added weight of a full-grown man throwing it off balance.

In next to no time, Harry had joined him. Looking at each other, they bared fangs before biting down hard in the creature's glossy neck. Expecting Harry to need more than him, he was surprised when he was the last to pull away from the animal's neck. Of course, Severus had missed out on the last two meals.

Dazed, the animal got up fast, but slowly walked away, swaying heavily through the woods. Severus was surprised, yet pleased to know that between the two of them, they had not killed the creature. The chickens they had no choice to as they were small creatures. When Harry learnt how to catch small things like rabbits in this forest, he would have to tell him it was all right to kill it. They were pest animals anyway.

Shaking his head out of the clouds, he saw Harry staring at him. "What?" He asked, a little offended at the stare.

Harry shook his head. "That was amazing." The boy said. Looking over his father, he grinned. "You got blood on your face."

Blushing silently at that remark, he went to the river and washed his face and hands. Harry joined him silently. Shivering suddenly, he realized that winter would soon be here. He didn't like winter. His dungeons got really cold, yet he wouldn't risk a fire in his rooms fireplace as it was hooked up to the Floo network and he didn't want any unwanted visitors in the middle of the night (Voldemort had surprised him before, he didn't want THAT happening again).

Making their way quickly out of the forest, he found a way to make Harry learn how to hunt faster. He got the boy to chase him round the school grounds. By the time they went inside, they were both out of breath and in too good a mood to realize that something had been watching with keen eyes perfect for spying.