“Hey! What’s going on here?” A familiar voice drawled from across the room.

All three heads shot around. “Harry!” They cried in surprise.

The teen, on his way back to the table, froze mid-step and gaped at the group of six as if they had just sprung out of nowhere. "Ha….! Wha…?" He stuttered.

A high-pitched squeal turned several heads in the vicinity and Harry immediately tore his attention away from his best friends and godfather, directing it towards his ward, who was reaching out to him in desperation. “Hey! Hey there, cub!” Harry took his seat across from Ginny, unbuckled the infant from his high chair, and cradled him in his arms. Sev immediately latched onto his shirt and screamed into the fabric. “Come on now…Come now…” He rubbed the infant’s back soothingly and signaled to Ginny, who was already digging into the diaper bag for Sev’s sling. “Hey now…shhh…it’s okay…”

“Sir, is your son alright?” A waiter stepped up to their table and peered at them in concern. “I can ask—”

Both Harry and Ginny waved him off immediately. “No, no, thank you! He’s fine!” Harry answered as he began to rock back and forth. “He’s fine! He’s just…uh...” He turned to Ginny with worried eyes.

“You see, he’s around six months old, and they all have separation anxiety at this stage.” The redhead replied smoothly. “He got a little panicky when this nice group of people arrived and he wanted his dad. They’re really close, you see.” She explained.

“We are so sorry about the outburst.” Harry added.

“No, no!” The waiter waved it off, “Don’t apologize! It happens all the time. Plenty of babies pass through here. It’s no big deal. I just wanted to see if there was anything the wait staff could do to help. We have some baby supplies, you see.”

“No!” Ginny shook her head, smiling amicably. “Thank you, but no. He’s still nursing right now, and his father and I are rather reluctant to let him eat anything other than breast milk and the food that we make.”

“Perfectly understandable.” The waiter bowed slightly to them and began to back away. “Just call if you need anything, though.”

“Thank you.” Harry nodded. He wrapped his arms firmly around the infant, rubbing his back with one hand, whispering soothing sounds in his ear, and rocking him back and forth. “Come on, baby boy. Come on now…Calm down, my cub. Calm down…” Ginny stood up and helped him don the baby sling while Severus was still attached to his chest. She slipped the infant into the pocket and helped Harry wrap the sling around his shoulders.

“Is he secure?” She whispered.

“Yeah.” Her boyfriend answered distractedly, still trying to calm the distraught child.

Ginny picked up her chair and pulled it over, sitting next to them so she could peer inside the sling. She leaned in close, placing her head next to Harry’s. “Hey there, love.” She whispered to the sniffling infant. “What’s all this crying now, eh? What’s all this crying?”

Sev leaned his ear against Harry’s chest and peered up at the two of them through eyes filled with tears. “Mmmmmmmmmm!” He moaned sadly, chewing on his thumb and drooling all over the place.

Ginny’s heart went out to him. “Oh, my baby boy…” Cupping the child at the back of the head, she leaned in and gently kissed Sev on his forehead. “When you feel safe enough again, you come on out and eat okay.” Her gaze flickered down towards her chest. “I’ll be right here.” She inclined her head towards where her seat used to be. “You want to stay with Harry now?” Severus nodded, his cries much quieter, but the tears still continued to roll down his face. “Alright. I’m going to cover up. Is that going to be okay?” Sev nodded again.

Ginny took the excess from the sling and began wrapping it around Harry’s shoulders, but the other teen stopped her. “Can you make it so that he can still see me? Is that possible?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Ginny nodded and wrapped the excess from the sling around the shoulder opposite Sev’s head. “There. You can still see in, right?” She peered at the crying baby inside. “Cozy in there?” She kissed Sev’s head through the fabric before moving her chair back to its previous place and turning back to the table next to them.

“What the bloody hell is going on here?!” Ron hissed, ducking his head low and checking to make sure they weren’t overheard. “Your son?! Ginny?!”

“Who is that child?” Sirius added, his voice just as low as Ron’s.

“That’s none of your concern!” Harry snapped in reply, startling half the table’s occupants, as well as half the room.  

“Hey! Whoa! Whoa! Calm down, mate!”

“Guys, we’re in public!” Remus broke in, his voice low but authoritative. “Not now!” He hissed.

Harry and Ginny exchanged looks, as well as Ron, Hermione, and Sirius. “Right.” The teen replied.

“Fine.” Sirius grumbled.

“Harry, would you like to join us?” Remus, ever the diplomat, invited. “We can shift seats around. Sweetheart, you want to sit there, next to Harry?” He glanced at his wife, and then at their son in her arms.

“Oh! Right! Yes. Absolutely!” Tonks stood up.

Harry glanced at Ginny, who then twitched her head in Teddy’s direction. Harry pressed his lips together firmly and glanced down at the infant wrapped in his arms. With a sigh, the teenager tightened his arms around the child protectively and stood up.

“Sirius, maybe you and Ron would like to sit here at the end. Okay?”

“What?”

“Huh?”

“Sit here at the end!” Remus repeated, turning the request into an order. With a wave of a hand, he managed to get a few waiters to help them shift the tables and seats together.

“Why?”

“Padfoot, just…” Remus sighed. “Please?!”

Sirius rolled his eyes and reluctantly stood up. “Fine.”

“Ron, right there, across from him.”

When everyone was properly seated, Tonks and Teddy sat at the head of the table, with Harry and Sev on her right and Ginny on her left. Remus and Hermione sat next to each of them, respectively, and Ron and Sirius sat at the end, buffered from Severus by people he trusted.

“Okay! Is everyone ready to order their drinks?” The bubbly waitress asked when she returned. “Oh! So you all know each other?” She beamed at the two now conjoined groups.

“Yes, it’s…really funny.” Ginny chuckled nervously.

“That’s fantastic! Splendid! So I’ll just bring your appetizers here. They should be ready in a minute or two.”

“Thank you.”

“Was something wrong with the little guy?” She asked the couple worriedly.

“Oh, no!” Harry shook his head, rubbing Sev’s back.

“He just saw something that startled him, and he wanted his daddy. That’s all.”

“Oh, okay!” The waitress nodded. She took everyone else’s drink order and then asked if they were ready to order any food.

“Just give us a few minutes, please.” Remus waved her off.

“Absolutely!” Sticking the pen back in her apron, she turned back to Ginny. “May I ask one more question? I’m sorry.”

“No, no! Go right ahead.”

“Where did you buy those shirts?” The waitress asked. “They were the most adorable things I’ve seen all day. My husband and I are expecting as well and I’d love to get them a pair of those. It’s so precious.”

“Oh! Well, first of all, congratulations on the baby.” Ginny smiled.

“Thank you.”

“But, unfortunately, I don’t remember where I got them.” She lied, giving the waitress a sad look. “My husband and I went baby shopping a while back, before little Henry was born. So…I don’t really remember where I bought them.” The tall tale flowed out of her like water through a sieve. “I remember buying them from a street vendor, but for the life of me, I can’t remember where.”

“It was right outside of a baby store.” Harry threw in.

“Yeah, it was.” Ginny nodded. “But I’m sure you can find them in tons of places. They’re rather popular, from what I gather.”

“Oh, okay.” The waitress nodded, a bit disappointed. “Well thank you anyway.”

Ginny apologized for not being able to help more, but the waitress just waved her off amiably.

“Are they the ‘Big Kid—Little Kid’ ones?” Tonks asked excitedly.

“Big Fish—Small Fry.” Ginny smiled.

“Oh! You didn’t tell me you had those!”

“I didn’t?”

“Wait just one second here!” Ron broke in. “You knew about this, Tonks?” He gaped at the metamorphamagus before turning to the werewolf. “Remus?”

“Well it’s kind of hard not to know about something like this when you live next to them.” Hermione pointed out.

“I went baby shopping with Ginny.” Tonks answered.

“I stumbled onto it the same day.” Remus added.

“So you have been avoiding us.” Sirius spoke up, leaning across the table to look beyond Remus and directly at Harry. His eyes looked a bit hurt.

“You don’t know the whole story, Sirius.” The teenager replied, forcing himself to calm down.

“Then tell me the whole story!”

“Not here!” Remus hissed, frowning at his best friend. The animagus grumbled and turned away.

“Why don’t we all choose what we want to eat right now, before we get into anything else, okay?” Hermione interjected, picking up her menu and studying it daintily. The two argumentative boys reluctantly followed her example, while Remus, Ginny, and Tonks all shot her looks of relief.

Just then, the appetizer Ginny ordered arrived and Harry thanked the waitress before ducking his head into the baby sling and addressing Severus, wandlessly casting Muffliato first for privacy. “Hey there, cub.” Harry murmured soothingly, running his hand up and down Sev’s back. The infant had thankfully stopped crying, but his whimpers had yet to cease. He was sticking his ear to Harry’s chest as close as it could go, and sucking his thumb with a vengeance. “What’s going on in that head of yours, huh?” Harry ran his thumb over the back of Sev’s head, through the fabric of the sling, and sent a wave of calming white magic to the baby through the caress.

Severus relaxed instantly. His thumb-sucking slowed down considerably, his shoulders loosened up, and his eyes closed, though he remained awake. He began taking slower, deeper breaths now, as opposed to the shallow pants he had going just moments before, and the pressure on Harry’s chest from Severus’ ear began to ease up. “There…” The teenager gave the baby a gentle smile. “Are we calmer now?”

The infant sighed and popped his thumb out of his mouth. When he opened his eyes once again, and turned his sad gaze towards Harry, the teen could see even more unshed tears in his eyes. “Mo wike.” Sev moaned.

“You don’t like that Sirius is here?” Sev shook his head. “Or Ron?” More shaking. “How about Hermione?” The infant stopped shaking his head and shrugged. “Just Sirius and Ron then?” Sev nodded. “This is more than the fact that you don’t like Sirius and Ron, though, isn’t it?”

The infant sighed, “Mo wike!” He repeated himself, sounding sadder and more frustrated than before.

“Listen to me, cub.” Harry adjusted his position so that the child could see him better. “This was bound to happen at some point. And just so you know, I don’t give a damn what Sirius or Ron have to say about any of this, alright? I made a promise to myself—when I took you in—that I would take care of you and protect you to the best of my ability. That protection is against everyone, including my own friends and family. Do you understand me, cub?” He reached down and brushed a stray tear away with his thumb. “You’re stuck with me for the rest of your natural life, whether you like it or not, whether Ron likes it or not, or whether Sirius likes it or not. Is that clear?” He gave Sev a playful half-smile. “So he can bitch and moan and whine like a little girl about it,” he paused to smile when his comment drew giggles out of the infant, “but at the end of the day, he’s just going to have to learn how to deal with it.” He raised an eyebrow at the baby. “Alright?”

Potter’s giving me priority over Black?! Me, Severus Snape, gets priority over his own dogfather?! Ha, ha, ha! Take that, you mangy mutt! For once in my life, I take priority over you! Ha, ha! Revenge is sweet! I get his attention and you don’t! Sev sang in his head. I get his attention and you don’t! I get his attention his attention and you don’t! The baby began to dance to the tune in his head.

“Meh poh—dad?”

“Po—dad?” Harry echoed, analyzing the pronunciation in his head. A match came to him and his eyes widened in realization. “Important? You’re asking if you’re important?” The infant nodded. “Of course you’re important!”

“Ah! Back!” Sev pointed down the table, where he figured Sirius was seated.

“Are you more important than Sirius? Is that what you’re asking?” Sev nodded. “Yes.” Harry answered without hesitation.

Sev grinned. “Meh poh dad ah back!”

Harry chuckled and nodded. “Yes, you’re more important than Black.”

Sev squealed in delight and reached up for Harry. “Up! Pea?” The teen cancelled the Muffliato and obliged the infant, who continued to chant, “Meh po dad ah back!” over and over and over again.

“Meh po dad ah back! Meh po dad ah back! Meh po dad ah back!” He turned to Ginny across the table. “Immy!”

“Yes, sir?”

“Meh po dad ah back!”

Ginny turned to Harry questioningly.

‘I’m more important than Black.’ Her boyfriend mouthed.

Ginny threw her head back, laughing hysterically. When she was able to calm down again, she leaned on the table and looked Severus in the eye. “Yes, you are.”

Sev squealed around the two fingers in his mouth and began bouncing in his sling.

“Can I see your shirt, uh…?” Tonks turned to Ginny questioningly, not sure what to call Severus in public.

“Henry.” The teen supplied.

“Henry?” Tonks’ eyes widened. “Henry like daddy?”

“Just go with it.” Ginny replied, feeding herself some of the appetizer.

“Can I see your shirt, Henry? Please?”

Sev looked down at his shirt as a droplet of drool landed on it. Removing his fingers from his mouth, he pointed his wet digit at the little fish in the picture. “Boop, Boop, Boop!”

Tonks gasped. “Is that the sound a fish makes?”

“Boop, Boop, Boop.” The infant repeated with a smile.

“Boop, Boop, Boop.” Tonks grinned at Remus.

“Peb-by?”

“Oh no, sweetheart, Teddy’s eating right now.”

Sev gasped and turned to Ginny. “Immy!” She signed ‘milk’ and ‘please’. “Mewmew, pea.”

“Oh, here we go!” Harry sighed. The teen stood up and made his way around the table.

“Come here, love.” Harry placed Sev in Ginny’s arms and proceeded to transfer the baby sling from around his shoulders to around Ginny’s.

“Do you want the privacy shawl?”

“Uh…yes. Would you please?”

Hermione gasped next to her. “Oh my god, Gin! Do you—”

“Yes.” She answered before Hermione could finish her question.

“Do you what?” Ron squeaked from Hermione’s other side. “Do you what? What’s going on here? What’s all that? What are you doing?”

Ginny ignored him.

“Since when have you done that, Gin?” Tonks asked, naturally curious. This was the first time she and Remus had ever seen Ginny nurse.

“Last week.” Ginny answered distractedly. Once Harry had placed the privacy shawl over her shoulders, she began helping Severus latch on. “I made a…drink. There we go, sweetheart.”

“He on?” Harry asked above her.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Right.” Harry nodded and retook his seat.

“A drink?” Remus questioned.

“It was in a parenting book. It was for adoptive mothers to help them…lactate.” She whispered the last part, but it appeared Ron heard her anyway.

“Lactate? Lactate!”

“As in breastfeed?” Sirius questioned.

Ron stood up so fast his chair nearly tipped over, but Hermione managed to grab both the chair and Ron’s shoulder on time, making him sit back down. “Ronald, would you kindly calm down!” Hermione hissed in her boyfriend’s ear. “We are in public, for Merlin’s sake! People are starting to stare!”

“Is everything alright at this table?” The bubbly waitress asked, giving them her signature cheerful smile.

“Yes, yes! We are so sorry for all the disturbances. Our friend…just…” Remus began to stutter.

“He thought he forgot his wallet at another store, but it turned out his girlfriend had it all along.” Ginny filled in smoothly. “We apologize if we alarmed anyone.”

“Oh, it’s quite alright.” The waitress smiled. “Just…try to keep it on the down low, if you please?”

“Absolutely! And we apologize again.” Remus smiled.

The waitress mirrored his expression, asked how Harry and Ginny were enjoying their appetizer, and assured them that their meal would be right out, before bouncing back the way she came.

Remus then fixed Ron with a stern expression, making the redhead blush. “I told you, Ron, not here!”

“Sorry.” The Weasley man replied. He glanced at his nursing sister and then turned away, his ears getting redder and redder by the second. “This is just too weird!”

“You’re telling me.” Sirius muttered.

“Then pretend it’s not!” Remus retorted, his voice low and even. “And if you can’t pretend, don’t say anything! This is neither the time nor the place for theatrics right now.”

“I don’t do theatrics.” Sirius replied, indignant.

“Padfoot,” Remus’ lips thinned to a line, “Go with the flow or don’t say anything at all until we get to Grimmauld Place. Is that too much to ask?”

The animagus growled and turned away, sipping his water and sulking.

“So you made a drink that would help you lactate?” Tonks asked, as if the interruption never happened.

“I’ve heard of that one!” Hermione broke in, her eyes lighting up. “It’s called Matrilac, isn’t it?”

“So that’s what you were…mixing…last week in your room!” Ron spoke up, mindful to keep his voice down.

“If you must know, yes!” Ginny hissed in reply, fixing her brother with the coldest look she could muster.

“So this baby’s been in the picture since last week. Meaning you have been avoiding us every time we try to come over.”

Ginny’s jaw tightened. “Yes, Ron, we have. And once you hear the entire story, you’ll know why.”

“Neither the time nor the place!” Remus sang from the side of his mouth.

Ginny turned away from her brother with a huff.

Harry and Ginny’s dinner arrived moments later, along with the small bowl Ginny requested. The teenager looked down, through the privacy shawl, at the infant in her arms, and asked if he wanted to try his hand at eating some noodles tonight. Sev’s eyes lit up at the prospect of a new challenge and he unlatched and nodded.

Ginny grinned at Harry. “He’s excited about trying noodles.”

“Does he understand you?”

“It’s a long story, Hermione.” Harry replied.

“No, I’m just curious.”

“Yes, he does.” Ginny nodded as she fixed her shirt and removed the privacy shawl.

“And he was doing baby sign language with you a while ago, wasn’t he?”

Ginny turned to her in surprise. “You know about it?”

“Of course! Yes, I do! I think it’s brilliant, and when I have a baby, that’s something I definitely want to teach them.”

Hermione, Ginny, and Tonks then began a thorough discussion about baby sign language, while Harry strapped Sev back into his high chair and Ginny scooped some noodles into the baby bowl.

“Dora, you want to switch seats?” Harry asked.

“Sure.”

“Coo!”

“Peb-by!” Sev grinned and his hands and feet began bobbing up and down excitedly. The two boys then began babbling at each other incessantly.

Harry and Ginny had decided to wait for everyone else’s food to show up before tucking into their own meals. While they waited, the girls continued their discussion, Remus and Harry politely listened in, and Sirius and Ron sulked in their corners. The food arrived in no time.

Severus had a whale of a time trying to grip the noodles and bringing them to his mouth. He especially enjoyed it when he got one end of the noodle in but the rest of it hung out. That way, he could suck it in and watch the noodle wiggle around on his way into his mouth. Ginny had a blast taking pictures of it all with the muggle digital camera Harry bought her earlier today.

“You like noodles, huh, Henry?” Ginny smiled. Sev gave her a toothless grin, a noodle clamped tightly between his gums. The teen took a picture.

“Coo!” Teddy, who was sitting upright in his sling, saw Severus partaking of the meal and decided he wanted to join in as well. Thus, he made a grab for the spaghetti hanging off of Tonks’ fork. “Ah!”

“Oh! Whoa! Whoa!” Remus chuckled, grabbing onto Teddy’s little hand. “You’re not old enough for that, big guy!”

“AH!” Teddy whined.

“Henry’s five months old, sweet. You’re only two.” Tonks added, keeping her fork out of Teddy’s reach. Her words, of course, meant absolutely nothing to Teddy. He saw his friend eating some noodles, he wanted to eat noodles as well. When mummy took the noodles away from him, he showed his displeasure the only way he knew how—he cried.

Sev looked up from his noodles when he heard Teddy crying and turned to Harry questioningly. “He saw you eating noodles, now he wants to eat noodles too, cub.”

“Peb-by?”

“He can’t eat noodles yet, love. He’s only two months old.” Ginny added.

“Oh.” Sev’s shoulders fell. Then an idea came to him and his face lit up once again. “Mo moodoo! Mek!” He pointed to his plate of noodles and signed ‘no’, then pointed to his diaper bag and signed ‘drink’.

“Oh, there! Look, Teddy, Henry wants to drink milk now. So you drink milk now too, okay?” Ginny made a show of handing Sev his bottle. As the infant started drinking it, and little metamorphamagus saw that his friend was now drinking milk, and mummy held a bottle in front of his mouth, Teddy’s cries quieted and he opened his mouth to accept the peace offering his mummy was giving him.

“There we go!”

“I’m proud of you, Sev.” Harry whispered in the infant’s ear before giving him a kiss on the head.

Across the table, Sirius’ ears perked up imperceptibly and he frowned. Did he just call that child…? No, it can’t be. Sitting back in his seat, the animagus peered across the table to study his godson, the girlfriend, and the kid. To the outside observer, they appeared to be a family unit; a pair of teenagers who married early and recently bore a child. The rings on their fingers fooled many, though they rested on the wrong hands. The corny shirts that read ‘Big Fish’ and ‘Small Fry’ definitely contributed to that assumption; as did the actual breastfeeding Ginny did a while ago. Yet Sirius wasn’t fooled. He had visited his godson at least once a week since Victory Day. Nothing struck him as out of the ordinary until last week.

So the kid’s been in the picture since last week. Sirius deduced. Remus has obviously known about it, Tonks as well. I had the feeling they were all conspiring to keep us from Harry. The kid must’ve been why. What Sirius didn’t know was why Harry wanted to keep the kid away from him. Remus had known about it. What was the difference between him and Remus? Then there was also the fact that Harry didn’t want to tell Ron or Hermione about it either. All three of them had been chasing after Harry for the past week and a half. Why wouldn’t Harry want to tell his best friends about this kid? Sirius could maybe understand not telling him, but why not his best friends? Something smelled fishy here, and he was definitely going to find out what it was.

“Hey, did you guys see that car crash earlier today at the intersection of Oxford and Regent, by H&M?” Hermione asked.

“See it?!” Ginny scoffed. “That car was careening towards us!”

“What?!” Ron squeaked. “That was you?!” The garlic bread he was chewing fell out of his mouth. “That couple with the baby I saw today was you two?!”

“You saw us a while ago?” Ginny’s eyebrows furrowed.

“We were at the intersection when the car crash occurred.” Hermione explained.

“At the entrance to the underground.” Sirius elaborated.

“Yes. Ron said he saw the blue car swerving and heading towards a couple with a baby carriage. The lady had red hair, and the man had black hair, and they were trying to comfort—”

“A baby inside a baby sling that the guy was wearing.” Harry nodded. “That was us.” He inclined his head towards the infant. “Henry got a little upset because we squeezed him too hard. He had no idea that a car was coming towards us.”

“Had it not been for Harry’s…ahem…reflexes…” Ginny eyed their surroundings nervously, lowering her voice to a whisper “…the car would’ve crashed through the guardrail and killed us.”

“Oh good heavens!” Hermione’s eyes widened. “But the three of you obviously came out okay, right? No scratches or bruises or anything? Nothing came at you?”

Harry shook his head, mouthing ‘Protego’.

“Just a little shaken, is all.” Ginny elaborated.

“That’s good.”

“That must’ve been terrifying.”

“We were afraid for the baby more than anything.”

“Did you know we almost ran into you guys several times today?”

“What are you talking about, Ron?” Ginny raised an eyebrow.

“That baby carriage—the one with the moon and stars design—that was yours?”

Ginny pulled the folded-up pram from under the table. “You mean this one?”

“Blimey! That was you!” He pointed his fork at his sister. “You were at the intersection! You went into the West One Shopping Centre today, didn’t you? The Plaza, too!”

“How did you know that?!” Ginny cried, a little disconcerted.

“I told you! We almost ran into you guys several times today.”

“And look at that.” Harry smirked. “We end up eating dinner at the same restaurant, at the same time, with the same hostess, and in the same section.” He chuckled. “Life has a sense of humor.”

“Hello! Is everyone ready for dessert?” The bubbly hostess asked, bouncing behind Harry.

“Ah! Ah! Ah!” Sev bounced in his high chair as well, looking up at Harry with an expression that read Please, please, please, may I have some dessert?

Harry gave him a mysterious half-smile and narrowed his eyes playfully. “Sweetheart, you want anything?”

“Order for me, love.”

“A Torta de Mela Rustica for mio amore and…” His eyes narrowed even further. Sev cranked up the pleading look by several notches. Harry chuckled. “…a Créme Caramel for myself and the little fish here.” Sev squealed and began bouncing in his seat. Teddy, next to him, imitated the noise.

“Oh! I swear, this is my favorite table of the night. We have two young gentlemen here who are just angels!” She complimented both Harry and Ginny and Remus and Tonks on their little ones before taking everyone else’s dessert order and assuring them they would only take a few minutes.

“Ankoo!” Sev giggled, signing ‘Thank you’.

“You’re very welcome.”

“I thought he was grounded.” Remus smirked.

“He was…until half an hour ago.” Harry nodded. “A full three days.”

“Must’ve been some kick.”

“It was.” The look on Harry’s face spoke volumes.

Dessert came and went and Sev enjoyed every second of it. He loved dessert. Absolutely loved it! That grounding was pure torture, it was! Sev swore to himself, as Harry fed him some crème caramel, that he was never, ever, ever going to do something that would earn him a grounding ever again! Or a spanking either. He was going to be a good boy from now until the day he died. Harry was never going to need to stick him in the corner, or ground him, or spank him ever, ever again! Yup, Sev was going to be an angel from now on.

“Hey, Sirius!” Harry addressed his godfather, startling him out of his thoughts.

“Huh?”

“Remember that garage you told me you were going to build for your motorcycle?”

“Yeah?”

“Have you built it yet?”

“Finished it just last week, actually.” The animagus nodded, “I was going to show it to you after we helped Remus move in, but I couldn’t find you.”

“Can it fit an SUV?” Harry asked, giving him a mysterious smile.

“I made it…charmingly spacious.” Sirius’ eyes twinkled, “It can fit almost anything. Why?”

Harry smirked. “Would you guys like a ride?”

Everyone’s head turned towards him. “You have a car?” Ron squeaked.

After the check was ordered and paid, and the bubbly waitress tipped generously, Harry and Ginny led the group back to the car park and their SUV.

“Bloody hell!”

“Ron!”

“When’d you get a car, Harry?”

“When’d you get a license?” Hermione interjected, her voice shriller than Ron’s.

“The license I got right before I turned sixteen.” Harry used the remote to shut off the car alarm and unlock the vehicle. “The car I got about three weeks ago, when I first started working at Godric’s Hollow.” Harry lifted Sev out of the pram and handed him to Ginny. After folding up the baby carriage, he placed it inside the car and quickly transfigured it into another car seat for Teddy. “Here you go, buddy.”

Harry let Sirius, Remus, and Ron climb into the third-row seats first before clicking the second-row seat back into place and buckling Teddy’s car seat next to Sev’s. Tonks and Ginny were going to sit next to them, respectively (with the help of some spatial charms, of course). Hermione would ride shotgun.

“Whoa! What’s all this?” Sirius asked, after he leaned back and his head bopped against a stack of boxes.

“IKEA.” Harry explained, showing Tonks how to strap Teddy in, using Sev as an example.

“So that’s what Merlin was talking about when he said you went to an IKEA!” Sirius realized. Turning around, he kneeled on the backseat and snooped inside each of the bags, seeing what he could find.

“Padfoot, what are you doing?” Remus rolled his eyes.

“Goodness, Ginny, I thought The Den already had plenty of furniture.” Hermione commented as she peered towards the back of the SUV.

“Furniture, yes. Enough furniture to compliment the space, no.”

“Alright!” Harry declared, jumping into the driver’s seat and shutting the door. “Is everyone strapped in? Seatbelts, please.”

“Yeah, Padfoot!”

“Shut up, Moony!”

As Sirius buckled his seatbelt, he noticed that the infant “Henry” was staring at him. Frowning, Sirius met “Henry’s” eyes and stared back. The car started moving, yet the two boys refused to break eye contact. “Henry’s” eyes narrowed at him. Sirius’ eyes narrowed in return. Harry yelled at someone out the window, muttering something about babies on board. Neither Sirius nor “Henry” blinked. Remus cleared his throat…loudly…several times. No effect. “Henry” scowled at Sirius; Sirius scowled right back. “Henry” sneered at Sirius; Sirius bared his teeth in return. “Henry” growled at Sirius; Sirius growled in response.

“What’s going on back there?” Harry exclaimed, not liking what he was seeing in the rear view mirror.

“Henry” blew raspberries at Sirius.

Sirius blinked.

“Henry” sneered.

“You spit on me!” Sirius cried, pointing an indignant finger at “Henry”.

“Hey! Stop it! The both of you!” Harry admonished from the front seat.

“Henry” blew more powerful raspberries at Sirius.

Both Remus and Ron dodged out of the way.

“That’s not nice!” Sirius pointed an admonishing finger at the baby.

“Henry” kicked at it, but Sirius pulled away just in time.

“I said stop—”

“Did you just try to kick me?!” Sirius’ face replaced his finger as he tried to stare the baby down.

“Henry” pulled back to kick again, but froze at Harry’s voice.

“SIRIUS! SEVERUS! Do not make me pull this car over!”

Everyone’s head shot towards the driver.

“Did you just say Snivellus?”

WHACK!

“OW!” Sirius grabbed his nose and fell back against the boxes. “Jeez!”

“Oh my god!”

“Sirius, are you alright?”

“Padfoot, it’s bleeding!”

Sev giggled.

Before anyone could do anything further, the car lurched to the side and came to a complete stop. Without a word, Harry parked the car, shut off the engine, climbed out, slammed the door behind him, and walked away from the car.

Silence reigned inside the vehicle.

Sev’s breaths suddenly started coming in small pants. “Haweh?” He squeaked, looking at Ginny worriedly. “Haweh?!”

Ginny leaned against the door and rubbed her eyes wearily.

“HAWEH!” Sev screamed at the top of his lungs, seemingly getting rid of all the breath in his body. His face screwed up, his ears turned red, and with his following gasp of air came his most agonizing cry. “Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhh!”

Ginny sighed. “Sev…” The baby began kicking and bucking in his car seat, hindering her efforts to untie him. “Sev…”

“HAWEH!” He wailed.

“Severus…” The teen groaned. Finally, when she was able to get his belt off, she lifted the weeping baby into her arms and turned him to face the car window. “Look, Sev! Look, look, look! Look, love!” Ginny pointed towards a park bench a mere twenty-five feet away from the SUV. On it sat Harry, hunched over with his head buried in his hands. “He’s right there, sweetheart. You see him?”

Sev’s cries immediately died to whimpers and he instinctively began to smack the car window. “Haweh!” He cried, slapping with all his might. “HAWEH!” His voice cracked and he sniffed. Why wasn’t Harry turning around? Why wasn’t he moving?! “Haweh…” Sev’s window-slapping suddenly died down as the second wave of water works began to assert itself. “Ah…” Sev began drooling everywhere as the tears in his eyes blurred his vision. “Haweh…” He moaned and buried his face in Ginny’s chest.

“Oh, angel…” Ginny hugged him close and began rocking him back and forth. “Shhh now, Sev. Shhh now…”

“Haweh…!”

“I know, Severus. I know…”

Suddenly, a whirring noise filled the air and everyone looked around for its source. Then, a breeze blew by Ginny’s neck and made her realize her window had just been rolled down.

“What’s all this now?” Harry began, leaning against the window frame.

Sev immediately pushed up against Ginny’s chest and, upon seeing Harry, brightened up like the sun. “Haweh!”

“Ah…crocodile tears…” Harry said in a singsong voice. Pushing himself upright, he held out his hands and Sev instantly dived into them. “Or maybe real ones…” Harry lifted him through the window and wrapped him in his arms. Then he walked back and retook his seat on the park bench, leaning back to let Severus cuddle against his chest as he admired the view of the park. They sat that way, in silence, for the next five minutes.

Meanwhile, in the car, Sirius and Ron were trying to make sense of what just happened.

“That was Severus Snape, wasn’t it?” Hermione asked, drawing shocked looks from both boys.

“SNAPE?!” They both exclaimed simultaneously.  

“Yes, it was.” Ginny nodded. She rolled up the window, but kept her eyes on Harry and Sev.

“WHAT?!”

“Severus Snape? As in Greasy-Haired-Git-Bat-of-the-Dungeons SNAPE?!”

Ginny whirled on her brother, her eyes blazing with fury. “SHUT UP, RON!” All three men in the backseat flinched. “You know nothing about this situation, you know nothing about the past week and a half, and you know nothing about Severus. Thus, you are in no position to start judging!”

“You breastfed him?!” Ron squawked.

“What?!”

“You breastfed Snape?!” Sirius gagged.

“Now you listen to me and you listen well!” She pointed an authoritative finger in both their faces. “YOU!” She pointed at Ron and her brother flinched back. “My body is my own. I have a right to it. It is my choice to do what I want with it!” Her snarling face replaced her finger. “DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?!” Then her voice lowered to a threatening growl. “If you breathe one word about any of this to mum and dad, I swear to you bat-bogies will chase you down ‘til the end of your days. You won’t even be able to escape them in your dreams. Do I make myself perfectly clear? And if you think I’m joking, try me!” Ginny had gotten in Ron’s face, making him shrink against the boxes.

Ron gulped. “Wh—Wh—What about—Th—They should know…!” The redhead squeaked.

“They’ll know when I tell them. You will have no part in that conversation. Do we understand each other?”

Ron nodded shakily.

“And YOU!” She whirled on Sirius, making him flinch back as well. “You have had it against Severus since the beginning and why? WHY?!” Sirius jumped back against the wall of boxes and Ginny got in his face. “Because he wanted to be in Slytherin and you wanted to be in Gryffindor. Well guess what. That reason is childish! The rivalry between the both of you started for a childish reason and it’s continued throughout all these years because of both of your damn prides!” Her voice lowered to a hiss. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, Sirius, but you are an adult now!” Remus snorted in the background. “You should start ACTING LIKE ONE!” She pointed out the window. “Harry was able to talk Severus into tolerating you—”

“Tolerating me?!” The animagus boomed. “He broke my nose!”

Ginny pointed her wand at him, making him cringe. “Episky!”

SNAP!

“AH!” Sirius grabbed his nose and doubled over.

“There! It’s not broken anymore!” Ginny yelled into his back. “And don’t you mind about Severus. He was in the wrong and he knows it. Harry will deal with him. I am speaking to you!” Sirius straightened up once again, wiping the remaining blood off with his sleeve. “If Harry can learn how to tolerate Malfoy, you can learn how to tolerate Severus.”

“Will you stop calling him Severus!”

“Yeah!” Ron agreed.

“What I choose to call him is none of your concern!”

“Why are you so protective of him all of a sudden?”

Ginny straightened up to full height and fixed both of them with a condescending glare. “Seeing as the both of you are men, you wouldn’t understand.” She replied, her voice deathly calm.

Sirius and Ron both looked like they just sucked a lemon. “Ew!” “Argh!” “Yuck!” “Gross!” “Ewwww!” “Ugh!” “Is that why you were breastfeeding him?” “UGH!!!” “Yuck!” They both pretended to shudder violently and gag some more.

Ginny fixed them with her sternest glare and stared them down. Ron and Sirius were silent within seconds. “This is not a laughing matter.” She breathed, her voice so cold they could almost see her breath.

Sirius and Ron exchanged a dreaded look and the former cleared his throat nervously. “Um…are you telling me you feel as a mother to him?”

“The same way Harry feels as a father to him.” Ginny’s gaze pierced through Sirius, forcing him to look away. “You are poking fun at your godson’s child. You should be ashamed of yourself! It’d be the same thing if you poked fun of Teddy in front of Remus and Dora.”

“But that’s Snape!”

“That is a child with Snape’s memories!” Ginny corrected, calm yet fierce. “You are an adult. Act like it!” Sirius slumped against the boxes and scowled at his jeans. “You might as well get used to it, Sirius. You as well, Ron! Like it or not, Severus Tobias Snape is Harry’s ward now. And he is every bit as protective of him as Remus and Dora are of Teddy. Meaning if Severus doesn’t feel safe around either of you, Harry will not see you. So unless you and Severus can make nice…” she gave each of them a meaningful glare, “…you’re never going to see Harry again.”

With that, Ginny turned back around and settled down on her seat once again, leaving them to their thoughts.  

Outside, Harry straightened up on the park bench and lightly tapped on the underside of Severus’ trainer. He chuckled. “You know, these little feet are always getting you into trouble, huh?” Sev shifted on his chest and continued to suck his thumb. “And you’re not even walking yet.” He looked down at the little head, a gentle smile on his face. “How much trouble am I going to have after you actually start walking, eh?” Sev pushed up and turned worried eyes towards him. “Now, now, now, none of that.” Harry repositioned him so that they could look at each other. “I’m keeping you, remember? Whether anybody likes it or not?” Sev grinned around his thumb. “No, no…I was referring to these little feet.” He tapped on them once again. “And the fact that you broke Sirius’ nose.” The teen whispered.

Sev’s eyes widened. “Ah, yes…now the incident suddenly becomes clear.” Harry chuckled. “Now, I think you and I can both agree that hurting people has a warning attached to it by default. Right?” Sev gave him a puzzled look. “I don’t have to warn you not to get into a fight with anyone, do I? You very well know that fighting is wrong.” Severus’ face screwed up and he leaned towards Harry’s chest, wanting to hear that comforting heartbeat once again.

Harry sighed and allowed him his comfort. “Or maybe you don’t…” He murmured to himself, rubbing Sev’s back soothingly. Severus’ mind was an intricate puzzle for Harry. He knew Snape had a sense of right and wrong, but that sense could have been different from Harry’s, considering the man’s history. Plus, the fact that Snape’s old neural pathways were nonexistent in this miniature version added a whole other dimension to this brain teaser. Sev probably did have a warped-up sense of right and wrong, but his little mind couldn’t process it at the moment. Meaning, he wasn’t entirely at fault for what just happened in the car. Yet…he somewhat was.

The complexity of it all was giving Harry a headache.

“Alright, cub.” He decided, nudging the infant to get his attention once more. “How’s this—one swat, twenty minutes time-out, no grounding?”

Sev’s eyes widened in surprise. He had expected something a lot more severe than that! He had expected maybe three swats and some grounding, but none at all! Severus was getting away with a slap on the wrist!

“Listen to me, Severus.” The child’s eyes snapped towards him. “That mind of yours is a really difficult thing to figure out, so this is my way of giving it the benefit of the doubt. Be warned: if you get into another fight again—with anybody—I will not be this lenient next time. Do we understand each other?” Sev nodded eagerly. “Now when we get back to Grimmauld Place, I’ll have Ginny take you into my room. You will do your time-out with her while I have a discussion with Mr. Black and Mr. Weasley. You will be an angel in that corner. Do you understand me?”

Sev signed ‘yes’. “Yep, ehw.”

“You will also apologize to Sirius.”

Sev scowled at him.

“None of that!” Harry pointed a warning finger at him. “No cub of mine is going to go around breaking people’s noses just because someone called him a bad name. If Sirius is acting immature, I expect you to be the better man and walk away. One, it annoys him like hell, and two, imagine his humiliation when someone points out he got shown up by a baby.”

Sev giggled.

“Exactly!” Harry smirked. “Can you imagine? The bigger man of the pair of you is the infant, and the infant is the big guy. Oh, he’d be red in the face.” Sev collapsed against his chest in a fit of giggles. Harry let him ride it out, running his fingers through his baby hair affectionately. When he finally calmed down, Harry gave him a gentle smile. “So are you going to apologize?”

Sev nodded against his chest.

“That’s my big man.” Harry kissed him on top of the head and then turned back to admire the landscaping. The pair of them just sat like that for another minute or two.

Then, with a sigh, Harry stood Sev up on his lap and pointed to his left. “Look at that tree, Sev. Isn’t it nice?”

“Huh?”

SMACK!”

“AH!” Sev jumped, glancing back and scowling at Harry.

The teen smirked. “That was your spanking. Quick, wasn’t it? And look at those dry eyes. You took that like a man. I’m proud of you.” Sev stuck out his tongue at him. Harry chuckled. Wrapping the infant in his arms, Harry gave him a kiss on the forehead before standing and cancelling the Muffliato he applied earlier. “Now for the hardest part, eh?” They reached the car just as Ginny climbed out.

“I had a little talk with Sirius and Ron, just so you know.” She whispered to them.

Harry smirked and Sev’s eyes widened. “Thank you, sweetheart.” The teen gave her a kiss on the cheek before ducking into the backseat.

“Severus has something he wants to say to you, Sirius.” Harry started.

The surprised animagus turned to the infant.

“OWY!” Sev snapped before promptly scowling and turning away.

“Sev…” Harry warned.

The infant sighed and pouted. Turning back towards Sirius, he met the man’s eyes and repeated in a calmer voice, “Owy.”

“Translation, ‘Sorry’.” He turned to the baby, “For…?”

“Kick…ooo.”

“Kicking you.”

“Sirius, don’t you think you have something to say to Severus as well?” Remus spoke up.

“What are you talking about, Moony?” The animagus scowled.

Remus elbowed Sirius in the ribs—hard.

“Ahem!” Rubbing his chest, Sirius glanced at the baby through his fringe, “I’m…sorry as well.” He grumbled.

“For…?” The werewolf pushed.

“For…calling you that…ri—ridiculous name.”

“Excellent! Severus, offer the man your hand.” The infant scowled but did as he was told. Remus nudged Sirius yet again, and the two former arch rivals shared the briefest of handshakes.

“Good! So I expect not to be bothered when I pull back onto the road.” Waving a hand, Harry reversed the direction of Sev’s car seat to face the front seat rather than the back. “And that’s just in case.” He strapped the child in, allowed Ginny to retake her seat, started the car, and pulled back onto the road.