Bright and early the next morning, it was a Saturday, Dumbledore arrived to tell the two Snapes the good news. Harry was beaming from ear to ear, looking like he wanted to jump up and down, but was restraining himself with a monumental effort. It worked! My magic wish worked! My dad's awake again!

Tobias was smiling too, happy that his son was once more among the living, for when he'd been in that coma, he had resembled a corpse, at least to Tobias's way of thinking. "How is he? There isn't any . . .um . . .brain damage is there?" he queried the old wizard in a soft tone, too soft for Harry to hear.

"No, indeed. Severus is fully himself again, Merlin be praised," said Dumbledore, the twinkle back in his brilliant eyes once more. Then he sobered when he recalled the unwelcome news he had to tell Tobias. "He wishes to see Harry immediately. He was the first thing he asked about once he was conscious. I can take him over as soon as you've finished breakfast."

There was a plate of toast, ham, and cereal on the table, as well as chocolate milk and orange juice.

Harry shoved his mostly full plate away and jumped up. "I'm ready now, Uncle Al! Let's go!"

"Whoa, not so fast," Tobias held up a hand. "You go nowhere, little boy, until you eat something. I won't have your father thinking I starve you. Now sit down and eat."

"But I'm not hungry!" whined Harry. "I wanna go and see Daddy, Grandpa!"

Tobias gave him one of his famous Looks. "After you eat, Harry."

The child pouted, his lower lip sticking out adorably. "Aww . . .but I don't feel like eating anything. Can't I just skip it?" He shot his grandfather a pleading glance from his big emerald eyes.

Dumbledore would have given in, he never could resist children when they looked like that. But Tobias was made of sterner stuff. He frowned at his grandson and said, "Harry, you need to eat, no arguments. The longer you sit here staring and not eating, the longer you'll wait to see your dad. So, if I were you, kid, I'd eat at least a piece of toast and some ham and drink your milk. Because I'll make you sit here till tomorrow morning if you make me, clear?"

Harry groaned. "You're no fun, sir!"

Tobias placed a piece of toast and some ham cut into small bites on the six-year-old's plate. "Eat, boy. Or else you won't see Sev at all today," he warned, playing his trump card.

At that, Harry quit pouting and started eating, discovering he really was hungry after all.

With Harry taken care of, Tobias sipped a cup of coffee and offered Dumbledore some as well. The old man declined courteously, then said softly, "I dislike having to tell you this, Tobias, but Severus has told me that he wishes only to see Harry at this time. I regret that I couldn't make him see reason, but he was most insistent."

Tobias sighed, Dumbledore's words came as no surprise to him. "Don't worry, Sev can be stubborn as fifty mules once he gets something in his head. I'm not surprised he won't see me. After what I did, I wouldn't want to see me either. We sure didn't part on good terms last time, if you know what I mean." He rubbed his jaw in remembered pain. His son had a damn good right hook, he thought with rueful pride. "It's okay, you and Harry go on, I've got some things to do around here anyway," he lied glibly. The truth was he hadn't planned on doing much this weekend except mowing the lawn then maybe taking Harry to the park and taking a nap afterwards.

"Tobias, I'm truly sorry," Dumbledore apologized, feeling awkward. "Perhaps after a time . . ."

The older Snape waved off his apology. "It's not your fault, you've nothing to be sorry for, Albus. The fault's mine, it always has been, I just never was sober enough to see it until now. I hope that someday he may give me a chance to tell him I'm sorry, but I'm not holding my breath. My son can hold a grudge with the best, he gets that from me, I'm afraid."

Dumbledore nodded sadly, wishing there were something he could do, but he knew that any reconciliation between the two had to come from Severus first, and his interference would not be welcome in such a private matter. Despite his reputation as a meddler, Albus was smart enough to know that he should not get involved in this family affair and so he kept his opinions to himself for once.

Harry ate at top speed, anxious to get breakfast out of the way so he could go and see his father. He was done in ten minutes, and he quickly brought his plate and glass to the sink and rinsed them. Then he washed his hands, recalling Sev's insistence on clean hands, dried them, and sprang down from the stepstool.

"Okay, Uncle Al, I'm finished! Now can we go?"

"Let me see you, Harry," Tobias beckoned him over with a finger. The child came and endured his grandfather's inspection, wriggling a bit until Tobias nodded at last. "You'll do. Go on then, Harry."

The little boy looked up at the blond man in puzzlement. "Aren't you coming too, Grandpa?"

"Nope. Got too much to do round here today. So it's just you and Albus. I'll see Sev another time, Harry. Behave now, y'hear."

"Yes sir." Harry turned and grabbed Dumbledore's hand. "Bye, Grandpa!" he called just before he vanished along with the elder wizard in a flicker of blue light.

* * * * * *

"Daddy! Daddy!" screamed the ecstatic six-year-old when he reached Severus's room, running in the door at full speed and nearly knocking over the nurse who was just leaving. Harry's eyes were glowing and he squealed in delight and raced over to the bed and sprang up and into Severus's arms.

"Hello, Harry!" whispered Severus, hugging his son tightly, burying his face in Harry's dark hair, and breathing in the familiar scent of his child-soap and chocolate and the slightly sweet tang of sweat that was uniquely Harry's own. "I guess you missed me, huh?"

Harry clung to Severus like a limpet, burrowing into the older man's shoulder like a sand crab. "I missed you so much I almost died," he told his father. "I dreamed about you every night and prayed you'd wake up and I even tried to use my magic on you and then you woke up. See, I drew all those pictures for you, Dad," He removed one arm to point at the wall opposite, upon which were hung dozens of crayon and marker drawings, all of them signed Love, Harry.

"They're wonderful, Harry," said Severus, a lump coming into his throat. He cradled his son close, content just to be able to speak with and hold his child again. "I missed you too, son."

"You did?" Green eyes regarded him in awe and delight. "Even while you were sleeping?"

"Even then, scamp," Severus replied, gently running his hand through his son's soft black hair. "You were the reason I came back, you know. I was lost in a fog and then I heard you calling and I followed your voice back home."

"I'm glad, Daddy. I love you."

"Love you too," Severus said hoarsely, brushing a tear from his eye.

"I'm so glad you're awake now, Daddy. You were asleep soo long, I was afraid you'd never get up and you'd sleep forever," his son admitted, his lower lip trembling. "Or-or that you'd go to heaven like Mummy and Granny and Pop Evans." He started to sniffle, tears inching their way down his face.

"Oh, Harry! Hush, son. I'm all right, I was never ever going to go to heaven like your mother," Severus told him, tears prickling his own eyes. He held the little boy close and rocked him gently. Harry wept softly into his thin hospital robe. "There now, scamp. Don't cry. I'm back and I'll never go away again. Unless it's to work," he amended quickly.

"Promise?"

"Promise. And you know a Snape always keeps his word, right?"

"Uh huh." Harry nodded, trying hard to stop crying, lest his father think he was a crybaby. He sat up and wiped his nose on his sleeve.

Dumbledore had to turn away and wipe a hand across his eyes as well.

"Here," Severus plucked a cloth from the nightstand and handed it to him. "Blow. Good job." He gently wiped the tears from his son's face. He felt terribly guilty for making the child so upset and wished he could comfort the boy better than with mere words. He settled Harry in his lap and stroked his flyaway hair. Harry leaned his head on his shoulder, content to be held, Severus's mere presence acting like a balm to his wounded spirit.

Severus cleared his throat and decided to tackle the next hurdle, the fact that Harry was currently living with his father-a man who had proved an unfit guardian once in his life already. Severus was not about to allow another child to be harmed the way he had, especially not his own. "Harry, Uncle Matt tells me that you're living with my father right now, is that correct?"

"Uh-huh. How come I never knew about Grandpa before, Dad?"

Now it was Severus's turn to look away. He paused before he answered awkwardly, "Well, uh, your grandfather and I . . .we don't get along all that well, so I thought it best if I didn't visit him so much."

"Oh. He was a mean old grouch to me too at first, but now he likes me," Harry stated artlessly.

Severus's eyebrow rose into his hair. "Really? What do you mean by that, son?"

"Well, when I first went there, Uncle Al brought me, he was very grouchy and he looked at me all nasty and called me a brat. And he didn't want me doing nothin' without permission, ‘cept go potty," Harry added. Severus fought to keep from laughing at his son's recitation. "He smokes too and I told him not to, that it was bad for him, but he told me to mind my own business."

"That sounds like him." Severus remarked dryly, wondering when the hell Tobias had taken up smoking. He never had before. He supposed if Tobias had really quit drinking, perhaps he chose to smoke in place of it. Then he told Harry to continue. "Where do you sleep when you're there, Harry?"

"In your old room," the child answered promptly. Then he made a face. "Grandpa makes me go to bed at eight and then I gotta fall asleep by nine, when he shuts out all the lights. He didn't used to read me bedtimes stories like you, Dad, but now he does. Only he can't do all the funny voices."

Severus was shocked that Tobias was even willing to read to the child, much less do impressions. "Has he ever shouted at you, Harry?"

"Uh-huh. When I'm bad he yells really loud and he's really scary."

Severus nodded, knowing all too well just how scary Tobias could be. "What did you do that was bad, Harry?"

"Uh . . .I answered him back once and-and I, uh, woke him up with a nightmare about the masked men and . . ." he hesitated over the last transgression, squirming guiltily.

"And?" Severus eyed his son sternly.

Harry hung his head. "And I went into his study when he told me not to, ‘cause I was bored and took out the shoebox with the pictures of you n' Grandma in it and looked at them and . . .I left them all over the floor with Inky." He sucked in a breath, glancing sidelong at his father, who wore a look of disapproval, then added, "And Grandpa was really mad at me and he yelled at me and . . .hespankedmybarebottom," Harry mumbled.

"Excuse me? What happened?" Severus demanded, his heart gone cold within him. He knew all too well how fanatical Tobias was about his personal privacy. One of the worst whippings he'd ever gotten had been because he'd gone looking in Tobias's old footlocker for something to play with. "Did he whip you, Harry?"

Harry shook his head. "No sir. He-he said he would, but he didn't. He just spanked me on my bare bum. It hurt a lot."

"Mmm . . .yes, I know," his father said feelingly. While he felt a flash of indignation and anger at his parent for spanking the child that way, even he had to admit the punishment was warranted. "However, you do know it was wrong to go and touch other people's things without asking, right, Harry? So, much as I disagree with your grandfather on some things, I can't say you didn't deserve it."

Harry was shocked. "But-but you wouldn't have spanked me like that, Dad!"

"True, but you would have gotten a good couple of whacks from me and well you know it. What's my rule, Harry James Severus Potter?"

Harry sighed, he hated it when his dad made him repeat the rules over and over. "If it's not yours and you didn't ask permission, don't touch it."

"Good, at least you remember that rule now. Has he ever taken his belt to you, son?"

"No. He says he will though, unless I shape up, but he never has."

Severus tilted his son's chin up and looked directly into Harry's eyes. "You're absolutely sure about that, child? You needn't be afraid to tell me if he has."

"No, Dad. Grandpa never hit me with his belt," his son repeated, gazing into his father's dark eyes steadily. "He only spanked me three times since I was there."

"Why?"

Harry told him, and to Severus's astonishment, he found that in two instances, Tobias had a valid reason to punish his grandson. The first time was uncalled for and made Severus want to punch his father out, but otherwise he was forced to agree with Tobias, though he would have used different methods to punish his son for the most part. Still, compared to what Severus had gotten as a child for misbehaving, Harry had gotten off lightly.

That doesn't sound like the Tobias Snape I used to know. The Tobias I knew used wallop my backside for just about anything. "Your grandfather is stricter than I am, but you deserved to be punished, and you know it. Has he ever drank around you?"

"Drank what?"

"Beer, whiskey, do you know what I'm talking about, son?"

Harry shook his head. "No. All we drink is soda and tea and he makes me drink milk sometimes too."

Huh. Well I'll be damned. Looks like the old man has finally gone sober, at least for now. "What do you do over there, Harry?"

"Lots of stuff. I color and watch TV and one day I helped Grandpa make a stepstool. He made it himself out of wood, Dad, and I got to help sand it. Now I can wash the dishes without getting water all over the floor."

"You do chores around there, I take it?"

"Yeah. I have to clean my room, wash the dishes, and empty the ashtrays," Harry grimaced. "But it's not too bad, really, and sometimes he teaches me how to play cards and checkers, we did that when it rained all last week."

Severus listened to Harry's account of his time with Tobias and felt as if he were still dreaming, for the man Harry described was almost nothing like the man Severus had grown up with. It almost made him believe in miracles. Almost. But a part of him was still wary and cautious, and he did not fully trust Tobias, not given what he knew of the man. Sure, he was sober now, but how long would it last? Severus could recall the times when his father was sober on one hand and it had lasted no more than a week at most.

"Daddy, when can we go home?" Harry asked after a bit. "I don't mind staying with Grandpa, but I really want to go home."

Severus sighed, relieved that his son seemed to have suffered no real harm at his father's hands. "I know, scamp, but I'm not quite better yet. Your Uncle Matt needs me to stay here for awhile longer and rest and take some more potions."

"For how long?"

"A week, I'd say," answered Severus.

Harry's face fell. "That's too long. I want you to come home now."

"I know you do, but I need to get better first, son."

Harry scowled, temper flashing in his green eyes. "It's not fair! I've been waiting forever for you to wake up and now you can't come home. Why can't they just magic you all better, Dad? It's no fair!"

"Harry, what have I told you about fair and unfair?" asked Severus quietly, but with a hint of sternness in his tone.

"That not everything in life is fair and sometimes you just have to accept it," the boy recited irritably. "But I don' wanna!" he snapped.

"Now that'll be enough of that, young man," his father said firmly. "You're acting like a spoiled brat, now stop it."

"Don't care."

"No? Would you like to get a time-out?"

Harry shook his head.

"Then stop whining this instant," Severus ordered.

Harry sniffed, he hated it when his father used that tone of voice. "'Kay. But I really do want you to come home."

"I'll be home at the end of the week. It's not that long, only seven more days," Severus reminded him. "Tell you what. Ask your grandfather if he has a calendar, and see if you can put a check mark on each day as it goes by. Then you'll see how many days you have left until I'm released from the hospital. It'll make the time go by quicker."

"All right. I'll ask him." Harry agreed.

He spent the rest of the day looking at all the presents Severus had gotten and listening to Matthew tell Severus all about the patients who had visited him while he was asleep. The funniest story was that of little Stevie Perkins, who had volunteered to get a dozen shots in his bottom if Severus would wake up. Harry was brave about getting shots, but even he would be scared to get twelve all at once!

"He must really like you, Dad."

Severus chuckled. "I guess so, but he sure doesn't act like it when it comes time for me to give him his vaccinations for school. Then he thinks I'm Voldemort reincarnated."

Harry laughed at that. "You're silly, Daddy. Voldy's dead and he was ugly, but you're not and besides he was a mean nasty murderer and you're a Healer."

"And you are too smart for your own good, mister," said his father and then he tweaked his son's nose, making Harry smile.

* * * * * *

When Harry arrived home that afternoon, he immediately asked Tobias if he had a calendar and when Tobias showed him the one that hung on the wall in the kitchen next to the phone, Harry asked if he could draw a checkmark in the boxes for the rest of the week until Severus came to pick him up. Tobias agreed and handed Harry a black marker to check off that day.

"But that better be all you use that marker for, boy," warned Tobias. "Because if I see you drawing on anything else with it, you're going to be very sorry."

"I wouldn't do that!" Harry exclaimed indignantly. "I'm not a baby anymore, Grandpa, I know not to draw on the walls, only paper."

"Just so you know, imp." Tobias smothered a smile at the kid's expression and said, "Now go and wash up for supper."

Harry climbed onto the stepstool and washed his hands obediently, then came back to the table and sat down to eat his chicken and mashed potatoes and carrots.

The next day he pestered Tobias into taking him to the park, since it was a cool day and Tobias agreed, anything to keep Harry from asking ten million times when he could go back and see Severus again. At the park, which was a short way down the street and could be walked to in a matter of ten minutes, they met one of Tobias's co-workers, Carl Middleton, and his son Bobby and his big sister Callie, who sometimes watched Harry while Tobias was at work.

Bobby was five to Harry's six, but the year's difference in age didn't mean a thing to either of them. They got along like a house afire and ran all over the park, playing on the slide, the swings, and the jungle gym.

Callie watched their antics with a martyred air, while her father and Tobias discussed the latest rugby and cricket matches. Tobias paid the kids half a mind, at least until he caught his grandson doing a handstand on the top of the monkey bars.

"Harry, what the bloody blazes d'you think you're doing?" he cried. "Get down off there this minute before you break your neck!"

"But I'm fine, Grandpa!" called back the intrepid youngster. "I can do this all day, it's fun."

"Never you mind, boy. You do as I say, right now, or else I'm going to tan your bum with my belt."

Harry, no fool, got down.

Carl just shook his head. "Kids! They have no fear, that's why they get hurt so much." Then he said, in a much softer tone, "Not that I'm criticizing you or anything, Toby, but if I were you I'd watch how I spoke to my kid in public."

"What are you talking about?"

"That comment you made before, about taking a belt to Harry, well, you gotta be careful ‘bout saying stuff like that nowadays, is all. Somebody might hear you and report you to Child Welfare for cruel and unusual punishment."

Tobias just stared at the other man. "You've got to be kidding me. Who the hell would do a dumbass thing like that?"

"People who don't know how to mind their own business, mostly." Carl answered, brushing a lock of dark hair from his eyes. "I know, you probably got threatened the same way by your old man when you were a kid. Me too. But those were different times, and back then it was all we knew. Now though, they got laws ‘bout how you can discipline your kid and all, and if somebody ever heard you talkin' like that, they could report you and maybe even have you arrested."

"Arrested? Bloody hell, Carl, I never laid a hand on the kid!"

"I know, Snape, no need to get all steamed. I'm just warning you, is all. Child Services would come and take your grandson away if they suspected you'd been walloping him with a belt."

Tobias was stunned. He'd never heard of anything like that before. "I've never taken a belt to Harry. Thought about it, but I've never actually done it. You're telling me they'd arrest a man for disciplining a child? That's ridiculous! Why my dad used to wallop my arse on a regular basis and nobody ever questioned it, much less arrested him for it."

"Like I said before, Toby, times were different then, and a licking with a belt was nothin' out of the ordinary. But not now. Now they'd have your arse in jail for abuse and whatnot, trust me. That's why I only spank my kid with my hand or at most a wooden spoon." Carl shrugged. "Works just as well as a belt ever did on me."

"Unbelievable!" muttered Tobias, then he turned back to watching Harry, making sure he didn't get into anymore trouble. Still, Middleton's words made him think, and he knew that if such laws had been in place when Severus was growing up, he'd have probably been in jail long ago. Then again, he'd been different back then, drunk and nasty and without the patience God gave a gnat.

Now however, he doubted very much if he could bring himself to use a belt on Harry, though of course he'd never admit it to a soul. Something had changed in him the night he'd caught the little mischief maker in his study, and that odd empathy he'd felt then would not permit him to truly harm the child.

At last Tobias called Harry in and said it was time to leave, it was getting on towards evening and he was hungry. Harry reluctantly bid goodbye to Bobby and Callie and went with Tobias back to Spinner's End. Tobias walked along calmly, but Harry was like a hummingbird, here, there, and everywhere. Tobias wondered where he got the energy and wished he had a tenth of it.

They had just reached the house and were crossing the street, Harry running a little ways ahead of Tobias, when the older man caught sight of the garden hose abandoned in the middle of the lawn in an untidy heap.

Tobias scowled. "Harry, didn't I tell you before to roll up the hose after we watered the plants?"

His grandson shot him a guilty look. "Uh, I forgot. Sorry."

"If you can't remember to follow instructions and put things away right, I won't let you help me anymore," Tobias scolded, going over to begin coiling up the hose.

"I'll remember next time, sir," said Harry, looking a bit crestfallen at the reprimand.

"See that you do. Go and get the mail, it ought to have come by now."

Harry ran to get the mail, hoping there was something interesting in it. But when he opened the mailbox, all he saw were letters and none of them were his. Disappointed, he pulled out the envelopes and shut the mailbox.

He had just begun to turn around and go back up the drive when he heard a menacing snarl from behind him.

He froze, and then slowly turned his head to see what had made that awful noise.

To his horror, he saw a large black and tan Doberman standing not two feet away, head lowered and growling deep in his throat. From the dog's spiked leather collar dangled a length of chain.

Harry gulped and trembled, not daring to move. He couldn't even breathe, he was so terrified. He knew this dog, he'd seen it dozens of times, chained to a stake in the yard across the street. This was Butch, old man Skinner's guard dog, and it hated small children with a passion. Tobias had warned him about the dog the first day he'd arrived here and had since stressed the danger of going anywhere near the property, for Butch was trained to bite trespassers.

Harry didn't know how the dog had gotten loose, nor did he care, except for the fact that Butch looked ready to make a meal out of him. The dog took a step forward, head lowered and teeth bared, snarling loudly.

Harry whimpered, trying to back away slowly, his dad had told him once to never run away from dogs, it made them chase you.

Butch followed, still growling.

Harry began to pant, fear creeping up all of his limbs. He'd never been afraid of dogs until now. He gulped sharply, shaking, there was an awful sick feeling in the pit of his stomach and he felt his bladder tighten in warning. He backed away another step, so frightened he nearly wet himself.

"Nice, Butch. Nice doggy," he whispered.

Butch advanced, now barking and growling.

That was too much for the child. He threw the mail at the dog and fled, shrieking in terror, up the drive. "Grandpa! Help! Butch's after me-e-e-e!"

Tobias had been coiling the hose near the side of the house, grumbling over Harry's forgetfulness when the little boy's scream reached his ears. The sheer terror in his grandson's tone struck an answering chord in him and he bolted around the side of the house, the hose still clutched in his hand.

Now he could hear the dog growling and his heart nearly came up out of his throat at the sight that met his eyes.

Harry was running up the drive and hot on his heels, slavering and snarling like hound from hell, was the Doberman attack dog.

"Go away! Leave me alone!" Harry wailed, sobbing, as he tried to run faster. The dog was a scant four feet behind him and closing fast.

Then his foot caught on the uneven grade in the drive and he tripped, sprawling flat on the ground, skinning his hands.

Before he could get up, Butch was on him.

Tobias yelled in horror and ran forward, snatching up a rock from the ground and throwing it hard at the dog.

But just before the rock struck, something amazing happened.

A bright blue shield snapped into place around Harry and the Doberman's teeth could not penetrate it.

Harry's mortal peril had brought his magic surging to the surface, and it acted to protect him without conscious direction.

Then the rock struck the dog on the shoulder and it yelped in surprise and turned to face this new attacker, a crazed gleam in its eyes.

Tobias slowed, glaring at the dangerous animal. "Come on, you bastard! Come and get me, you blasted hound of hell!" He waved his arm about, trying to get the dog to focus on him.

Butch sprang forward, a paroxysm of growls springing from his throat.

But Tobias was ready. He lowered the hose and pointed it at the beast and opened fire with the nozzle, for Harry had forgotten to shut off the water as well.

The hard jet of water caught the dog full in the face, knocking it back and down.

"There! That'll teach you, you bastard animal!" growled the former soldier, spraying the dog again when it tried to come for him.

The Doberman yelped and backed off, not liking the hose at all.

"Get in your own yard you mangy insane beast! Get!"

Faced with the hose, Butch turned tail and ran, bolting back across the street and disappearing behind his own house.

Tobias waited a moment more before turning and dropping the hose upon the ground, where it sprayed water everywhere.

But the man ignored the water and raced over to where his grandson lay sprawled, still encased with that blue shield. "Harry! Harry! Are you all right?"

Harry gasped, not knowing quite what had happened. One minute he'd seen the jaws of death coming at him and the next there was a blue shield in front of him. Did I do that? Wow! He thought in awe, then he recalled his grandfather didn't like him doing magic and he became frightened and the shield collapsed.

He looked up at Tobias, who was looming over him, his blue eyes wild, and started to cry. "I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do magic!"

"Are you hurt?" Tobias demanded, kneeling down next to the child and feeling him over. He couldn't see any blood on the boy except for some nasty scrapes on his palms. "He didn't bite you, did he?"

He gently lifted Harry up, turning him around to check his legs and backside. There was no sign that the dog had bitten him. Tobias felt his heart begin to beat again and he grabbed his grandson and held him tightly. "You're okay, Harry. He didn't get you, thank God!"

Harry was bawling loudly now, clinging to Tobias for all he was worth and Tobias was trembling slightly as he took his grandson into the house. He had never been so terrified in his life as he was that split second before the shield had snapped around the child. He had known he would be too late to prevent the dog from savaging the little boy, and then the shield had appeared out of nowhere and Butch had been unable to penetrate it.

Accidental magic, Eileen had called it.

Tobias had never been so grateful for it as he was then.

He carried Harry into the kitchen and sat down on one of the chairs, the child cradled on his lap. He patted the boy on the back awkwardly and murmured to him, reassuring him that he was safe and unharmed.

Harry continued to cry hysterically for a few minutes more, until he was spent, and only then did Tobias sit him up on the table and ask him to stay there while he got some water and antiseptic for his hands.

Harry simply nodded, still shaken from the dog's attack. Tobias returned with a wet cloth and a bottle of peroxide and some gauze pads and cottonballs. "This might sting, kid, but I have to clean your hands, otherwise they'll get infected, okay?"

Harry shook his head and allowed Tobias to gently wipe his hand with the wet cloth first. He yelped when his grandfather cleaned the scrapes with the antiseptic, but he made no move to get away, as the son of a Healer he understood the importance of cleaning out cuts, though Severus had never hurt him when he'd cleaned scrapes because he used magic.

"Almost done," Tobias said, doing the other hand.

"Oww!"

"Yeah, I know, it hurts like a bitch, but I have to do this."

At last he was satisfied and he wrapped Harry's hands with the gauze pads and taped them. "You hurt anywhere else, kid?"

"N-no. Am I in trouble?"

"In trouble? For what? Nearly getting your backside chewed up by that crazy Doberman?"

"No. For doing magic. I didn't mean to, sir. It was an accident!"

"Hey. Calm down, will you? I'm not mad at you."

"You're not? But you said if I did magic without permission you'd whip my bottom."

Tobias winced, only now recalling that he had said something like that when he'd told Harry the rules of the house all those months ago. Before he'd grown to love his grandson and look upon him as family and not an unwanted brat thrust upon him.

"I-I didn't mean that," he said haltingly, for apologies didn't come easy to him. "That magic of yours saved your life so I guess you can do it if you need to."

"You don't mind? Really?"

"No," he answered honestly and meant it. "C'mere, mister." He held out his arms and Harry jumped off the table into them.

Tobias couldn't speak all of a sudden, so profound was his relief that his grandson was unharmed, so he settled for holding the little boy close and rubbing his back. They remained that way for a very long time, until Tobias's heart calmed and Harry stopped shivering.

"Harry, you scared me to death," Tobias admitted softly.

"I'm sorry. It wasn't my fault, sir."

"I know. I'm not blaming you. I'm blaming stupid Skinner. After dinner I'm going over there and giving the bloody arse a good piece of my mind. That damn dog's a menace and if it ever comes on my property again, I'm going to shoot it."

"Like with a gun?"

"Exactly. No damn dog is going to threaten my grandson, not on my watch."

Then he hugged Harry again before going to put away the first aid kit and start supper, which neither of them felt like eating after their scare, but Tobias needed to do something and figured cooking was a good way to calm down. While he cooked he smoked, for his nerves were shot, and all he could think about was that Harry was okay, for if anything had happened to the child, he would have never forgiven himself. And neither would his son.

While Tobias cooked Harry went upstairs to change, for his clothes were dirty and bloodstained and to his embarrassment he'd wet himself a little. It was a good thing Tobias hadn't noticed, he'd really think Harry was a baby. He quickly changed into dry things and went downstairs, his stomach was reminding him that he had not eaten in a few hours.

Tobias was making cheesesteaks and they smelled heavenly. Harry inhaled the aroma and thanked Merlin for accidental magic and for Tobias, who had saved him from being eaten by Butch. He wondered what his dad would say when Harry told him the story.