"But Dad, why?" Harry cried, unable to believe his father would refuse him this one small simple request. "There's nothing dangerous in Hogsmeade, everybody from Hogwarts goes there, they've been going there for over half the year and nothing bad has happened. So why can't I go too? It's not fair!"

Severus set down the last batch of exams from his fourth-years and favored his son with a mild Snape glare. "Harry, you know why I don't want you leaving the castle. It's you Sirius Black is after, not anyone else, and he's been sighted in Hogsmeade a number of times. He can't get in past the wards now that the Headmaster and I have strengthened them, but the village is a different story."

"Yeah, but that's why the dementors are there, to protect us," Harry argued.

"And are you willing to trust your life to one of them after last time, Harry?" demanded his father. "Because I sure as hell won't."

"Fine, then if you're so worried he's lurking in the shadows waiting to grab me, you come with me!" Harry urged.

The Potions Master sighed. He was developing a migraine from all the exams he'd been grading non-stop for hours and Harry's insistence on this visit wasn't helping any. "I can't, and I've told you before I have too much left to do before the end of this term. I need to make sure all of my potions are restocked and Poppy asked me for some more Deflation Drafts and Decongestion Drafts as well. Speaking of which, you're due for a dose, that cold you picked up a few days ago isn't completely gone."

The professor snapped his fingers and a small green vial appeared on his desk. "Drink that all."

Harry scowled mutinously at the vial and made no move to take it. The last thing he wanted was more of that dreadful potion. "I don't need it," he said sulkily, sounding very much like a whiny toddler. "I feel fine, I'm not sick. Except sick of being stuck here in this boring old castle where nothing ever happens."

Severus gritted his teeth and prayed for patience. His son's attitude was wearing on his nerves. "Take your medicine, Harry. And stop acting like a spoiled brat."

"I'm not. You're being paranoid again, Dad."

"One of has to be, since you can't seem to control your impulsive streak at all, Harry." He shoved the potion at his recalcitrant offspring. "Take that now, young man, or shall I put you on my lap and feed it to you like a baby?"

"You wouldn't!"

"If it's not gone by the time I count to three, I most certainly will. And then you can stand in the corner as well for acting like a three-year-old," threatened his father. "One."

Harry gazed at his parent in angry disbelief, then as Severus continued counting, snatched up the vial and drank the disgusting potion down. "There! Ugh! Happy now?"

"Watch your tone, boy. There's another reason why I won't give you permission to go."

"Please, sir? I'm sorry, I promise I'll behave from now until Saturday," Harry pleaded, giving Severus his most potent beagle begging look.

"I'm sorry, son, but the answer is still no. It's not the end of the world if you miss this trip. There'll be other weekends."

"When? Next year?"

"Don't get cheeky with me, mister. I'm not taking any chances with your safety, not after last weekend. Quit sulking and act your age."

Harry's lip stuck out in a slight pout. "What am I supposed to do all day with everyone gone?"

"Oh, I can come up with a few things if you really want me to," Severus purred, his eyes glinting in warning.

"Never mind." Harry said hastily. Knowing his father, he'd end up spending the day cleaning his room or mixing potion ingredients. "I can't believe this. Nobody else's parent acts like this. You treat me like I'm glass. I'm not a baby, I can take care of myself."

"That's enough, Mr. Snape!" warned Severus. "I said no and that's final. Keep this up and you'll miss the next one too, is that clear?"

"Yes sir," his son muttered, then stomped off to his room, sulky and furious. Bloody damn overprotective idiot! What does he think I am, a little baby that needs an adult to hold my hand? I defeated a basilisk and Quirrel without any help. What could Sirius Black do to me? He hasn't even got a wand. What's the use of teaching me defense if I'm never going to be allowed to defend myself?

Rosie glanced up from where she was snuggled on the bed, half under the covers. Harry went and sat by her. "You're so lucky, beagle, you know that? You get to go pretty much wherever you want and don't need to worry about criminals hunting you down or your father treating you like you were a helpless baby. It's too bad Black didn't die in Azkaban. Then none of this would be necessary."

Rosie thrust her nose into his palm, and he stroked her ears. At least if he were stuck here, he still had his dog to keep him company.

• * * * * * *

"What do you mean, he wouldn't sign the form?" Ron asked the next day. "You get in trouble again, Harry?"

"No. He's just being an overprotective idiot, is all," groused his friend. "Says it's too dangerous with Black still loose to leave Hogwarts."

"Well, he is right, Harry," Hermione pointed out annoyingly. "Black is a criminal and a murderer, he was responsible for your mother's death, so no wonder your dad wants to keep you close."

"I know all that, Hermione! But I hate being cooped up, I feel like I'm in prison." Harry grumbled. "And I don't even have my Meteor to fly with, since Dad's still checking it for hexes and whatever. This bloody sucks!"

"It could be worse," the girl pointed out. "You could be waiting to have some stupid committee send a man to chop off your pet's head."

Harry swallowed hard, wincing. In the aftermath of the Quiddithc match and learning how to cast a Patronus he'd forgotten all about poor Buckbeak, who was sentenced to die, and Hagrid. "Maybe I'll go see Hagrid today. When's the uh, date for the execution set up, d'you know?"

"A month from today," Hermione answered, wiping a tear from her eye. "It's just so awful! Buckbeak doesn't deserve to die, he was only defending himself from that git Malfoy."

"I agree, but what can we do about it? The Ministry's decided," sighed Ron.

"The Ministry's a bunch of assholes," put in Aria, coming over to where the three Gryffindors were seated down by the lake. "They only voted to kill Buckbeak because Lucius Malfoy paid them off. Money talks, here as well as anywhere." Her amber eyes were bright with indignation. "Too bad we can't pull off an eleventh hour rescue."

"Yeah, but how?" asked Harry glumly.

"Don't know yet, but if I think about it enough, maybe I'll come up with something." Aria said determinedly.

"Yeah, put that cunning Slytherin brain to good use, Lupin," teased Ron.

Aria smirked at him slyly. "I will, Weasley. It's time somebody took that rattler Draco down a peg."

Hermione looked alarmed. "But Aria, you can't interfere with the Ministry. You'll get in big trouble!"

"Only if I get caught," answered the other. An imp of forbidden delight gleamed in her eyes as she plotted a way to recue an innocent animal from death. Then she abruptly switched subjects. "Are you ready for Hogsmeade tomorrow, Harry?"

"No. I'm not going."

"Why not?"

"Dad won't let me. He says I need to stay here, because it's too dangerous," Harry gritted out, rolling his eyes. "He's worried Sirius Black's gonna come and kidnap me or something. If Black ever came within ten yards of me, I'd hex him into oblivion, the filthy traitor!"

"Oh. That's too bad," Aria shook her head, for she had really been looking forward to exploring the quaint little village with Harry. "But you can't really blame the professor, Harry. I mean, you did almost die last Saturday because someone tampered with the Meteor."

"So? I'm still here, aren't I? He's jumping at shadows, Aria."

"Maybe so, but that's what fathers do," she said wisely.

"Yours didn't forbid you to come along when he did his research."

Aria bit her lip. "He had no choice, there was nobody else I could stay with once Gran died and Mom was in St. Mary's. And there were plenty of times he made me stay back at camp while he was taking photos. The only reason I went with him that last time was because I begged him to, and promised that if anything went wrong, I'd run and get help. Only I never got the chance and sometimes I wish I'd never gone that day."

She glanced away, her eyes misty, and they all remained quiet until she had composed herself. "My dad was a reckless fool sometimes, Harry, careless about his own safety, but one thing I do know is that if there were a murderer stalking me, he'd stick me in a tower like Rapunzel and never let me out till the guy was dead. It's no different with Severus. All fathers are overprotective of their children."

Harry flung a rock into the water. That might be so, but it didn't mean he had to like it.

• * * * * * *

Harry went to bed early that night, still sulky and uncommunicative. Severus longed to shake the boy until he saw sense. Couldn't he see that nothing mattered more to his father than his son's life? He had already lost Lily, he would be damned if he'd lose Harry too. He'd come far too close to that last week and he swore it wouldn't happen again. Flitwick still hadn't identified all the hexes on the Meteor, which made Severus suspect that whoever had jinxed it was an expert, probably Black.

And if Black could do something like that here, under the noses of Albus and himself, there was no telling what he could do in Hogsmeade. Severus refused to risk his only son's life just so Harry could visit some joke shop and sweet store and whatever. It wasn't worth it. Better safe than sorry. One day he'll understand, when he has children, that you do whatever you can to keep them safe, no matter what it costs, because your child is your life.

Snape leaned back in his recliner and sipped his evening cup of Earl Grey, idly watching the flames flicker and dance in the fireplace. Thinking about family brought him around to wondering what was happening with Melody and her scoundrel of a husband. He still hadn't heard back from Aurelia in nearly a week and that concerned him greatly. He was half tempted to go over there and see what was going on himself, but then he figured it was best to wait and see if Aurelia thought it necessary for him to interfere. Normally, he never would have considered involving himself in another's private life, but if Devon were hurting Melody or Mia then he would feel no compunction whatsoever about going over and rearranging the bastard's face.

No sooner had that thought crossed his mind, his fire turned an odd shade of emerald green and he heard a familiar voice calling him. "Severus! It's Mia! Oh, please be home, I really need to talk to you!"

He jerked bolt upright, startled out of his wits by the little girl's desperate plea. "Mia? Is that you, child?"

"Sev? Where are you?"

"Just a moment, let me cancel the scramble charm," he called, then did so, allowing Mia's face to appear in the middle of the emerald flames. Only then did he remember showing her how to use the Floo powder before he left, telling her to only use it in case of an emergency.

He knelt down so he could see her. "Mia, what's happened?"

The little girl's eyes filled with tears. "Sev, I found you! I thought maybe the Floo powder didn't work. You gotta come here right away!"

"What's the matter, child?"

"My mom needs you. Daddy brought Kendra here and told her that she's gonna be his wife now and Mom could just leave and Mom said over her dead body would that happen and then they started yelling and Daddy told me to get my stuff, I was going to live with him and I said no, I wanted to stay with Mom and he said she wasn't my mommy anymore!"

"He said what?" Severus repeated incredulously. The man was clearly out of control, saying such things to his child. "Mia, stay put, I'm coming over there in a minute. I just need to leave a note for Harry, he's sleeping."

Severus scribbled a hasty note for his son in case he woke up and wondered where his father had gone, telling him what had happened and that he wasn't sure when he'd be back. Then he wrote a note to Remus also, informing him of his whereabouts as well and asking him to keep an eye on Harry while he was settling some family matters in New Jersey.

He whistled Hedwig from her perch and asked the snowy owl to deliver the letter to Moony as quickly as she could. Hedwig hooted in understanding and flew off.

Then, his face set in a grim line, his wand tucked in one fist, Severus Snape strode over to his fireplace and grabbed handful of Floo powder. "Mia, I need you to get out of the fireplace now, little one, so I can come through."

"Okay." Her little face vanished and Severus tossed the handful of powder at his fire and spoke the words, "Melody Prince-Barry's residence, New Jersey, United States."

The flames surged up and turned a deep emerald and Severus stepped within them and was whirled away across the ocean.