Severus was seated on the sofa in his sitting room, wearing maroon-coloured silk pyjamas and a matching dressing gown, flipping through the pages of his new potions journal.

Harry knocked softly on the open door. "Hi, can I come in?"

Severus looked up and smiled at him. "Of course. You don't even have to ask."

As Harry came to perch on the sofa beside him, it crossed his mind that while Severus always wore black during the day, his pyjamas were more colourful.

"How come you always wear black?" He asked.

Severus raised an eyebrow at him. "Why, Harry, don't you know that I am the bat of the dungeons? How else am I to maintain my image? Besides, the black robes are much more dramatic, don't you think?"

Harry grinned at him. "Nobody does dry humour like you, Dad. But you're not the bat of the dungeons anymore, are you?"

"I suppose not." Severus shrugged. "There was a time in my life when wearing black suited my frame of mind. Now I suppose it's more of a habit. My robes are well-made and in good condition. It seems wasteful to buy more clothes when I don't need them. In any case, if I suddenly began wearing other colours at this point, it would cause quite the stir and I would not like the attention. Black suits me."

He eyed his son. "Are you truly concerned about my wardrobe choices?

"No, actually I was going to ask you to check on Draco." Harry explained to his father about the conversation he and Draco had shared earlier and why he was still concerned about the other boy.

Severus nodded. "Yes, I'll go and make certain he's all right."

He stood and patted Harry's shoulder. "You're a good boy, Harry, and a good friend."

Harry immediately shook his head. "No, I'm..."

"Yes, you are," Severus said firmly. "And no arguing with your father unless you want to scrub cauldrons tomorrow."

Harry grinned. "Yes, sir. Oh, Dad, don't tell Draco that I told you all that, all right? He said he was fine and I don't want him to think that I just went and blabbed everything, even though I guess I did. But I'm a little worried about him."

Severus nodded again. "I will be careful not to mention you. And Harry, whatever Draco said, I think you were right to come to me. If you have any cause for concern, it is better to err on the side of caution than to risk a tragedy."

He swept out of the room, leaving Harry alone.

Watching him go, Harry thought to himself, that while black robes might be particularly dramatic, Severus could be a striking figure even in his pyjamas and dressing gown.

Wonder if he could teach me that trick?

After a few moments Harry got up and crossed through the wide arched opening into the bedroom section of the suite. He was tired and though the sofa was comfortable, the bed looked even better. Perhaps he should just go on to his own room and go to bed, but he wanted to talk with his father about the possibility of going to the Yule Ball, to see if Severus would be willing to give him polyjuice and if he thought it would be a good idea.

So he lay down on the bed, curled on his side, with his head resting on one of the soft pillows, to wait for his father's return. He was sound asleep within five minutes.

***

Harry blinked up at his father and looked about fuzzily. Severus was sitting on the bed beside him, shaking his shoulder.

He yawned. "Sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep. Guess I was more tired than I realized."

"Well, that's fine, though if you're that tired, you ought to go on to bed," Severus replied.

"I wanted to ask you something first."

"All right." Severus settled back against the pillows and looked expectantly at his son.

Harry propped himself up on the pillows as well. "Oh, but first, is Draco all right?"

Severus nodded. "Yes, I think so. We talked for a bit and he was upset at first, but I think he was more at peace by the time I left. Of course he's grieving and it's a difficult time, but I think Draco will be all right. It will just take time."

Harry wondered what his father and Draco had said to each other, if Draco had cried, if Severus had held him as he so often did for Harry when he was upset. But he decided not to ask. That was private between the two of them and, now that he was secure in his father's love, he was okay with that.

So back to the topic of the Yule Ball.

"Did you hear Ron and Hermione say that there's going to be another Yule Ball this year?"

"No, but I'm not surprised," Severus answered. "When we had the Yule Ball during your fourth-year, Albus did keep saying that it was a charming tradition that ought to be kept up. But then last year was so grim, with the war and with Umbridge, that he didn't mention it. Now that things are more settled I'm sure Albus is delighted to have the Ball again."

Severus shrugged. "There's nothing Albus likes better than a grand party."

"Well, Ron and Hermione want me to go to it," Harry told him.

"And you're actually considering it?" Severus looked a bit surprised.

"Only if I could be disguised in some way," Harry answered quickly. "I told them ‘no' but they kept saying that you could give me polyjuice potion or something."

"So you're asking for a supply of polyjuice?"

"I don't know. I guess so. I'm not really sure if I want to go or not, but if I could be disguised and no one would know it was me...well, it might be fun." Harry looked over at his father. "What do you think?"

Harry was already shaking his head. If his father wouldn't give him the polyjuice, then he just wouldn't go at all.

Severus must have realized that for he continued. "But if taking polyjuice would help you to feel more comfortable and you want to go, then I'm agreeable to that."

"Thanks," Harry said. "Oh, but polyjuice takes a month to brew and there's only three weeks until the Ball."

"Fortunately I keep a supply on hand. One never knows when polyjuice might be useful," Severus reassured him.

"But would I still look like a kid my age? I don't want to go if I would look like some old person or something."

"And just how old would you consider too old? Most of the current supply would make you look an adult about my age." Severus commented.

"Hmm, well, no offense, Dad, but..." Harry's voice trailed off awkwardly.

"So thirty-seven is much too old to have a good time at the Yule Ball?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

Harry just looked at him.

Severus relented. "However, I suppose it would look odd for you to spend the evening with the other children if you were in adult form. As a matter of fact, I do have a bottle of polyjuice that would keep you a teenage boy."

Harry grinned. "Thanks, Dad."

"You're welcome."

They were quiet for a moment and Harry was just about to say good night and head off to his own room when Severus spoke again.

"So are you planning to ask anyone to the Ball?"

"What?" Harry stared blankly at him.

"Are you going to ask someone to go to the Ball with you?" Severus repeated. "I believe you escorted Miss Patil to the last one, didn't you?"

"No! I mean, Parvati did go with me back in fourth-year," Harry clarified. "But I'm not going to ask anyone this time. How could I?"

"You simply approach the girl...or boy...and inquire if she or he might wish to accompany you," Severus responded calmly.

"I know how to ask someone," Harry retorted, ignoring how clumsily inept he had been back at the fourth-year Yule Ball. "I just meant that there's no way I'm going to. I can't."

"Why not?"

Harry looked at him with a mixture of frustration, bewilderment, and hurt. Surely his father understood why it was impossible. Why was he making Harry talk about it?

"Because I'm a slave, that's why. No one in their right mind would want to go out with me."

Severus' expression was identical to his son's, a combination of pain and frustration.

"Harry, any girl would be proud to date you...or boy, if you are so inclined."

"I like girls," Harry said softly.

Severus simply nodded in acknowledgement and continued without missing a beat, speaking quietly but forcefully. "You are kind-hearted, intelligent, and generous, not to mention a strikingly handsome young man. The slavery spell has nothing to do with any of your personal qualities. And if a girl is not willing to date you because of the slavery spell, then she is not worthy of you."

Harry swallowed and looked away, at the dark sky outside the window. He wanted to believe his father, but it was so hard. He really wasn't special; Severus just loved him so much now. It was kind of the opposite from the old days back when Severus had despised him and had refused to believe any good of him. Now his father loved him so that he couldn't see Harry's failings.

And whatever his father thought, Harry felt certain that girls would be bothered by the slavery spell.

And even if there were some girl out there who would be willing to overlook it, what was the point in dating if it could never lead anywhere? Not that Harry had ever really thought about marriage...that was years and years in the future, so far away that it had never seemed like it would really happen to him. But he had occasionally thought of the future and had vaguely imagined himself with a family of his own one day, assuming that he would survive the war, that is.

But now he was a slave and he had to live here with his father for the rest of his life and marriage was just out of the question.

So Harry sighed and shook his head. "Thanks, Dad, but there's just no point," he said in a weary defeated voice.

Severus reached for his hand, squeezing it gently. "Why do you think there's no point? Your friends are not put off by the slavery spell. They don't judge you by it. I'm sure there are girls, many of them, who would see what an amazing person you are and would love you for yourself."

"Well, even if I could find her, it's not like there would be any future for us or anything, so why do that to her or to me?" Harry replied.

"I presume you are thinking of marriage or at least a long-term relationship when you speak of the future?" Severus asked.

Harry nodded.

"The slavery spell does not forbid marriage."

"I still just don't believe that any girl would want to marry a slave," Harry began.

His father interrupted. "She would be marrying you first of all. You, Harry James Potter, a wonderful person who, some day far in the future, will be a wonderful husband. The young woman who will be fortunate enough to become your wife will love you so much, Harry, that the slavery spell will be nothing to her."

"Even if I found someone who loved me that much, the slavery spell wouldn't exactly be nothing to her," Harry had to point out. "I love living with you, Dad. But she might not want to. I don't mean that she wouldn't like you cause I could never marry anyone who didn't love you too. But most people expect to have a home of their own when they get married. They don't expect to live with their parents or in-laws for the rest of their lives. She might have a hard time accepting that. And would she become a slave if she married me? And if we had kids, would they be slaves because I am?"

Harry shook his head. "It is a big deal, Dad, even if you don't want it to be."

Severus gave his hand another squeeze before letting go and moving closer to slip his arm around his son's shoulders. Harry leaned against him and buried his face against his father's shoulder.

"No, your wife and children would not be slaves, not unless someone cursed them with the slavery spell as well. According to the Malfoy book, it is not a heritable condition. So that is not a concern," Severus said.

"Living at Prince Hall is not an insurmountable obstacle either. For one thing, it is large enough that we could all have our privacy. For another, among wealthy families with heritable estates, it is quite common for several generations to live together. As I just said, the manor houses are spacious enough for everyone to have some degree of privacy."

"Your future wife would have quite a few advantages as well," Severus went on after a moment. "She would have you for a husband. She would also have a beautiful manor, access to great wealth, and most importantly, she would have me as a father-in-law."

Severus spoke in his usual calm rational voice. Harry looked up at him in consternation, wondering for a second if he had heard him correctly. Then he saw the gleam in his father's eye.

"True, she could have free potions for the rest of her life," he agreed, equally matter-of-fact.

Then in spite of his tumultuous emotions, he had to laugh.

"I never said I would supply potions for free," Severus deadpanned, but then he actually chuckled.

Harry relaxed and leaned back against him, feeling a little better. "Well, okay, maybe it isn't impossible. I'll think about it. All right, Dad?"

Severus nodded and kissed the top of his head. "Good."

Harry yawned and thought that he really ought to go on to his own room. But it was so warm and comfortable and nice just lying here with his father's arm around him, his head resting on his shoulder. He would stay just a few more minutes.

"Harry, you're falling asleep." Severus sounded rather sleepy himself.

"Hmm mmm," Harry mumbled and snuggled even closer.

Severus gave a wry grimace, but just pulled a blanket over them both and lay back, his fingers lightly carding through his son's hair as he too drifted off into slumber.