"Dad! Are you almost finished brewing yet?" Harry shouted down the basement stairs. "Uncle Moony and Aria will be here in, uh, five minutes!"

"In another seven minutes," Severus called back. "You can entertain them for that long, can't you, Harry?"

"A whole two minutes? No problem, Dad!"

"Cheeky brat!" he heard Severus mutter before he shut the door.

Then he returned to the den and waited for the arrival of Remus and Aria, whom he hadn't seen since the end of the term, three weeks ago.

Right on the dot, the fire flared emerald green and his werewolf godfather and Remus's niece, Aria, came through the flames and into the den. Rosie bayed a welcome and rushed up to them, springing up and licking their hands enthusiastically in her typical beagle fashion.

"Hi, sweetie! I missed you!" Aria crooned, picking up the little hound and hugging her.

"Hello, Harry. How's your summer so far?" asked Remus.

"It's been good. And it just got better," he said, and went over to hug his godfather. "Welcome to Point Pleasant, New Jersey."

"Where's Sev?"

"In the basement brewing up potions for customers," answered Harry. "He should be up in a few minutes. And my Aunt Relia's at the store, going shopping for dinner."

"Hi, Harry! Long time no see, huh?" Aria said, giggling a bit as Rosie licked her face. "Aww, beagle kisses!"

"Hey, Aria." Harry smiled shyly at his friend, whom he still found quite attractive, though as yet he hadn't gotten up the nerve to admit how he felt, even to himself.

"You say that like you enjoy it," remarked Severus from behind them.

"I don't mind her licking me, Uncle Sev. It's sweet."

"Sweet? Ugh! Do you know where that dog's tongue has been, Aria Lenore?" Severus grimaced.

"Uh, no."

"And you don't want to know either," the Potions Master said, coming over to hug her. Rosie immediately transferred her affectionate greeting to her alpha human, making Severus groan and shove the little hound's nose away. "Please, Rosie! I don't need a bath, thank you very much!"

"Hello, Moony. Come into the kitchen. Would you like something to drink? I know Flooing long distance always leaves my throat dry."

He led the way into the kitchen, where they all sat around the table drinking tall cool glasses of iced tea and lemonade. "My aunt should be here any minute. She needed to run to the store for something. I think she's making a special dinner for you two," Severus informed them.

"What is it, Dad? Is it spaghetti carbonara?" Harry asked eagerly.

"Yes, I think that's what she said she was making. She ran out of heavy cream for the sauce."

"Yes!" Harry cheered. "Aunt Relia makes the best spaghetti carbonara on the planet. Just wait till you taste it. It's to die for."

"Sounds delicious," said Aria. "And I'm starving too. I never eat before I travel by Floo powder. Sometimes it makes me sick."

"Really? Me too." Harry exclaimed. "See, Dad. I'm not the only one that gets sick with Floo powder."

"All right, Harry. Now you and Aria have something else in common besides being magnets for trouble. Congratulations." Severus said, gently teasing.

The two kids made a face at him, then Harry asked Aria if she wanted to see the backyard. "We could take Rosie for a walk and I could owl Neil, he lives about two minutes from here by broom and maybe he could fly here with a Concealment Charm and meet you."

"Sounds cool." She finished off her lemonade and they went outside with Rosie.

Harry whistled for Hedwig and sent the owl off with a note for Neil, who arrived at the Prince residence in a few moments, riding the Nimbus 2000 Harry had given him six months before.

"Hi. I'm Neil MacIntyre," he held out a hand for Aria to shake, smiling.

"Hi. Aria Lupin. Nice broom you've got there."

Neil grinned proudly. "Yeah, it was a gift from Snape there. You like Quidditch, Aria?"

"Uh, no I don't play it, but I don't mind watching Harry play. Unless he's falling to his death, that is."

Neil looked puzzled. "Falling to his death? When did that happen?"

Aria's jaw dropped. "Harry! You never told him about the Quidditch match where we both almost died? With the hundred dementors and your broom that was hexed?"

"Uh . . ."

"No way! Harry, what've you been holding out on me?" Neil demanded.

"I forgot."

"You forgot?" Neil repeated. "What, you nearly die every day or something?"

"Pretty much," Harry admitted.

"So, what happened?"

Aria told Neil the story of the Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match that had nearly resulted in her and Harry getting killed.

Neil whistled and shook his head. "Hell, Snape, you ought to be in a movie. Those kinds of things only happen to movie stars. What is it with you?"

"Uh, I'm a trouble magnet, my dad says. Want to go flying?"

"Does a beagle hunt? Of course I want to go flying," laughed his friend. "But what about Aria? Where's her broom?"

Aria smiled. "I don't need one, Neil."

"Why not?"

"Because I was born with wings." With that she shifted into her hawk form, and soared into the sky with a soft screech.

Neil gasped. "Holy Merlin! Harry, why didn't you tell me she was an Animagus?"

"Because she's not," Harry replied cautiously. "Ever heard of a shape-slipper?"

"Yeah, my cousin Andrew's one. What of it?"

"So's Aria. She can change into a cougar and a hawk."

"That's cool. Drew can become an Arabian stallion and an osprey." He mouted the Nimbus. "Let's fly, Snape."

Harry took off on the Meteor, shooting up so fast he nearly gave himself whiplash. But he didn't mind. He was a born speed demon, as Severus lamented on one occasion after watching his son fly.

He circled about and came to fly in tandem with Neil, Aria soaring up above on an updraft.

Neil watched the golden hawk circling lazily in admiration and said, "How fast can she fly? Fast as one of us?"

"Why don't you race her and find out?" challenged Harry.

"Okay. Yo, Aria, want to race?" Neil called up to the hawk.

She squeaked a reply, then came down so she was level with Neil's head.

"Ready?" Harry cried. "One, two, three. Go!"

Neil kicked the Nimbus up full throttle and went streaking across the sky.

He expected the hawk to have been blown over by his blazing start, but instead he found the hawk at his elbow, riding his jetstream.

"Good God, but you can fly!" he laughed, then tried to throw her off by performing a few loops and spirals.

But Aria matched him easily, she could outfly any wizard on a broom except Harry.

Neil chased the golden hawk all across the sky before finally admitting defeat, but he was laughing. He loved a good flier.

Harry trailed them, not interested in racing for the moment. When the two circled about and came back towards him, he said, "Hey, Neil! Want to come to the boardwalk with us tonight? I promised Aria we'd go there and she's never been."

"Uh, yeah, I think my parents are going to a movie or something, so they won't care. And I'd rather go to the boardwalk then stay home with Mike."

"It must be really boring without any more wild parties, huh?" Harry teased.

"For Mike it is," Neil snorted. "Where shall I meet you?"

"Here. Around seven. We can all fit in my aunt's car, as long as Dad space warp spells it."

"Cool, Snape. And this time I'm going to whip your butt in skee ball."

"Right. But I can dust you in the dart game."

"Dart game's for girls. How many times can you ride the Himalaya without puking?"

"Dunno. But I'll bet it's more times than you."

"We'll see, Snape," Neil smirked.

Harry just smiled, gliding in slow careless loops around the yard. This was the life, flying with his two best friends, and then going out with them later for more fun and games and ice cream. Here he was plain Harry Snape again, with no prophecy hanging over his head, no homework, no prisoners to rescue, and no followers of Voldemort trying to kill him. Not to mention no Malfoy to annoy him. It felt good to be home, just an ordinary kid once more.

Severus came out into the yard an hour later to call Harry and Aria in for supper, and saw two young wizards flying in tandem accompanied by a golden hawk and a beagle puppy baying up at them.

The Potions Master smiled and thought, Just a typical afternoon at the Jersey shore, I wish all our days could be like this. Perhaps they will be, for awhile, now that we're back where we belong. For this is how it should be.

Then he raised his voice and called, "Harry! Aria! Neil! Time for dinner!"

The three teens and Rosie all swerved about at his announcement and came in. No one wanted to miss Aurelia's spaghetti carbonara and garlic cheese bread. Neil was an unexpected guest, but that didn't matter. In the Snape household, there was always room for one more at the table.

Severus had no inkling of what the future would hold for him or his son, but right then the future was of no consequence. All that mattered now was spending some quality time with his friends and family, as an ordinary wizard, back where he belonged, in Point Pleasant, home at last.