"Nephele!"

Severus halted. Did he hear someone calling Harry's owl? Good god, if the bird got harmed or killed-

What nonsense. Severus quickly reined in his emotions. He lost himself in his thoughts about Harry and thus imagined hearing the name of Harry's familiar. He certainly couldn't have heard anyone shouting anything at two in the morning. He knew curfew didn't mean much for Harry and the rest of the Gryffindor brats, but even if there were students wandering around, they would be as quiet as mice.

He nodded to himself. He had definitely imagined it. It was a bit surprising that he hadn't imagined throttling Minerva and Albus instead. How damned blind they were!

The worm of doubt remained, though. Better safe than sorry, Severus decided. He pulled out his wand and incanted silently, 'Point me Harry Potter'.

The wand gave a pull to a highly different direction than where Gryffindor tower laid. Severus cursed. Then he cursed again, as a portrait - an aristocratic looking witch - dared to reprimand him.

'Point me Ronald Weasley,' he muttered. Now that was the right direction where Harry should dwell. 'Point me Granger,' he incanted and the wand revealed that the know-it-all was also safely in Gryffindor parts of the castle.

Severus frowned and he quickly recast the search charm for his son. He swiftly walked where his wand indicated. It was the Astronomy Tower. He paled. Harry certainly wouldn't...

He sprinted up the stairs. Scilla's words repeated over and over in his head. Depressed, serious, blocked, dangerous. The words hammered in his temples as he pushed his body to reach the top as soon as possible, or sooner.

Completely out of breath, he flung the door open. He fell to his knees in relief - or was it exhaustion? Harry was still there. Very much alive.

He saw the boy jump in shock. Then, Harry, with his Gryffindor bravery, stepped tentatively forward. "'fessor Snape?" he asked in disbelief.

Severus noticed that his son's face was wet with tears.

"What are you doing here, in the middle of the night?" Severus asked when he caught his breath. He tried to stand; to his displeasure, he had to lean on his hands heavily to shift part of his weight in order to push himself up. As he did so, he suddenly noticed the foolish boy's state of undress and added sharply, "In light shoes and without socks! You must be freezing."

He saw Harry blink owlishly and then look down at his feet, to find that he was indeed clad only in his indoor shoes. "It's cold," he admitted unconcernedly. Then he added, as if it explained all, "Nephele wanted to go out."

"Of course she wanted to go out, she's nocturnal!" Severus retorted, more than a bit peeved.

Harry blinked again. The sharp tone evidently didn't scare him - as Severus had feared it would as soon as the words had left his mouth. Harry looked at him imploringly. "I need you to help me find her."

So now he was a trusted expert on owls, was he? Damn, he should have given Harry a cat. "You need me to help you go inside and unfreeze you, foolish child," Severus said and cast a heating charm at Harry. The boy shuddered, as if he just noticed how cold he had been.

"She flew away," his son explained and new tears were flowing down his face. "I want her back. I want her back now!"

Good Lord. A complete breakdown, Severus thought, horrified. Back to childish talk and falling apart before his enemy. It was worse than he feared, and probably even worse than Scilla thought. He felt a surge of anger at Albus. Master it himself, my ass. Next time he saw Albus, he would stuff him his infernal lemon drops where sun didn't shine.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts. Harry was alive; that was all that mattered right now. He would take him to his chambers and dose him with a Calming Draught. Then they would talk and Severus would have to decide what steps to take and how much to reveal to his son. Afterwards he would dose Harry with Dreamless Sleep - the black circles under the boy's eyes were alarming - and when Harry woke up, Nephele would undoubtedly be back.

It was a good plan. However, it collided sharply with Harry's unshakeable insistence that he had to stay at the top of the tower and call his owl back. Severus thought quickly. He didn't think that logical arguments would get him far at the moment. He didn't want to force Harry either, as he needed his son to trust him.

"What if she's waiting for you already in Gryffindor tower?" he asked and cringed inwardly. He certainly hadn't just asked such an inane question. There was no chance the poor bird had returned yet. Severus seriously doubted she had been flying since Harry had got her.

The green eyes shifted to him, suddenly pensive. "Would you- Would you go there to check, please?" The odd trust again. As if reading his thoughts, Harry added, "I know that you like owls too."

Well, that was... surprising. "A Slytherin in the Gryffindor common room? Alone? I don't think it's a good idea, Harry." Severus used his son's first name intentionally. People who called you by your first name must be friends, right? If you are reading in Gryffindors' books, of course.

"I'll go and you stay here, then?" Harry improvised, his eyes still searching the sky.

"We will both go. We'll check the Gryffindor tower first and if she's not there, then we'll go through other possible places," Severus said persuasively, trying to implant the certainty that he was the one who was able to help Harry to find Nephele.

"No, no, no." Harry shook his head fiercely. "We must stay here."

Severus took a deep breath. If he was able to recognise something, it was a situation where there was no arguing. "All right," he agreed quickly. "There's another way. But Nephele won't like it."

The green eyes were on him immediately. The intense look of utter hope was painful. Severus never again wanted to see his son in that level of despair.

Severus nodded. "I can summon her."

"With accio?" Harry asked. Then he frowned. "Is it dangerous for her?"

"With a very similar spell used for living beings. And no, it won't be dangerous, just uncomfortable and embarrassing. She will be certainly very angry with us both," Severus warned.

Harry hesitated - just very briefly - and then nodded. "Please, do."

Severus summoned the owl, who was indeed as furious as an owl could be. Severus quickly stepped before his son and tried to restrain the bird. It earned him a gash on his cheek and other two bleeding wounds on his hands. Damn it, he should have bought Harry a bunny rabbit.

"Enough," he hissed at the owl and the bird calmed in his arms, with a last displeased click of her beak. Severus handed Nephele to his son, who scooped her into a tight embrace immediately. Severus shot her a smirk. Tit for tat.

"Let's go," he said. The boy nodded and they - finally - started to descend the spiral staircase.

***

Harry didn't pay any attention as to where Severus was leading him and he stepped into Severus' private chambers without batting an eyelid. He kept talking to his owl in a soft murmur, sometimes sounding loving, sometimes gently reproving. Severus rubbed his eyes. This was completely out of his abilities.

Severus gently pushed Harry's shoulder and his son obediently sat into the armchair next to fireplace. Severus lighted the fire. It got Harry's attention. Finally. The boy looked around Severus' living room in surprise, slowly taking in the dimly-lit, monochromatic beige room. In the end, the green eyes turned to Severus inquiringly.

"You and I will have a cup of hot chocolate and a talk now," Severus told him, trying not to sound too harsh. "Stretch out your legs nearer to the fire, you foolish child. I'll be back in a minute."

Severus knew Harry wouldn't be able to leave the quarters even if he tried, and frankly, he didn't expect him to. Before Severus went to prepare the hot beverage, he went to his bathroom to heal his wounds. After using an ointment and one or two spells, he was nearly healed. Tomorrow morning, the wounds would probably be completely gone.

He quickly went to the kitchen, where he pulled out a dry mixture of hot chocolate - a wonderful Muggle invention - and he quickly warmed water with a single tap of his wand.

When he returned to his living room with two steaming cups in his hands, however, he found his son fast asleep.