The next day, Dumbledore stopped by the lab while Harry was chopping witch burr for one of the potions Snape was preparing.

"Good afternoon!" said the headmaster's cheery voice. "And what are we working on today?"

"I," Snape said pointedly, "am brewing several antidotes that the incompetence and carelessness of my students will no doubt make essential in the coming month, and Harry is helping me with preparing components. You are standing in the doorway, distracting me, perhaps dooming some third-year to a week of boils."

Dumbledore's mouth quirked into an amused smile. "I will be quick, then," he said pleasantly. "First, the Grangers have agreed to Hermione's return, but I am still receiving other worried queries. I have sent a letter to Fudge requesting that he speed up negotiations with the Muggle Prime Minister, or allow a team to modify the correct memories, so that Harry may be exonerated in the Muggle world. I have also sent a letter to the parents of all Muggle-born students, to explain Harry's situation and refer them to the relevant Wizarding publications."

"I suppose you could not have allowed a few of them to be frightened off?" Snape asked sourly.

"Of course not," Dumbledore said cheerily. "Who can say which of them might be the next Lily Evans?" He winked at Harry. "I also wished to remind you, as you both seem prone to forgetting, that I expect your presence at dinner tonight."

"Will your werewolf be leashed?" Snape inquired bitingly.

"I have reminded Remus of his duties in courtesy and discretion." Dumbledore nodded his farewell. "At seven this evening, then." They listened to his footsteps recede.

"I guess we better go," Harry offered, as he brushed the chopped witch burr into a waiting bowl.

"Hand me the cuttlefish ink, unsealed."

In light of that response, Harry was rather surprised when Snape actually did stop working at five-thirty, and more so when Snape spent longer than usual in the bath. When the door to the bathroom opened, Harry was engrossed in Blood Magic. He looked up only when he caught a whiff of his own shampoo. Snape had used a drying spell on himself, as he usually did before emerging. His hair was a single sheet of smooth, glossy black. Harry goggled.

"Acceptable?" Snape asked wryly.

"Um... yeah," Harry said. "I can deal with that." He grinned. "Wow."

"You have seen me with clean hair before, you know," Snape said dryly.

"Mm." Harry stood. "I might not have noticed, if I wasn't really looking at you. It's so shiny. I'd fill in what I expected to see." Tentatively, he reached a finger out and ran it down the fall of Snape's hair.

"Harry," Snape said warningly.

"Just curious what it felt like. Does this mean it's time for me to throw robes on over this?" Harry gestured down at his own clothes.

Snape nodded. "And comb your hair," he added, smirking. "It's a mess."

"It is not!" Harry retorted, but he went off to his room, anyway, determined that he was not going to look less presentable than Snape, however much his opinion of him may have improved.

Harry decided to try the green robes, open, over his trousers and shirt. Remus often did that. Harry checked in the mirror and decided that the look worked well, with better clothes to base it on.

"Suits you, dearie," the mirror said cheerily. "Tasteful, yet casual."

"Thanks," Harry said, privately agreeing. He looked well-dressed, but not overdone or contrived. He wondered if Hermione would like it. It was a wizarding outfit, but not aggressively so.

"Try it with the boots," the mirror suggested.

Harry did that. It didn't look much different, as the boots were mostly hidden by the slacks, but they gave him a little more height, and he noticed he stood differently in them. He walked back and forth a few times, and decided yes, he looked subtly better in the boots.

"Okay?" he asked the mirror.

"Just lovely," the mirror said. "Run along, now."

As quietly as the boots would permit, Harry crossed to the door of the kitchen and peered into the living room. Snape was standing by the fire, frowning down at it. He had exchanged his dressing gown for his usual full black robes, which obscured his thinness. His hooked nose showed in profile against the light of a torch on the far wall. Harry stepped a little closer, until he could see that glossy sheet of hair, again.

"So," he asked. "What is your ancestry?"

Snape shot him a sharp look. "Witches and wizards," he said coolly. "For at least five generations."

"I'm talking about that hair, not what you can do with a wand." Harry sat down in the armchair by the fire. "And don't tell me it's not my business, because it is."

"Very well." Snape glanced at him momentarily, then went back to looking at the fire. "In that sense, I am a mixed blood on both sides. My father was the son of an Arab man and a Scottish woman, and my mother the daughter of an English man and an Indian woman."

Harry felt uncomfortable. "Parts of the world that I know next to nothing about," he admitted.

Snape shrugged. "Anything I know is from books. Neither of my foreign grandparents passed down any cultural details, except for a few recipes from my Indian grandmother. Even that was no more than most people would find familiar. Since my grandmother died when I was young, my tastes were still childish, and I remember only sweets." He frowned thoughtfully. "Except for a warm drink I make sometimes."

"What?"

"I don't know a name. It's milk, with saffron, pistachios, cardamom, and sugar, beaten or poured to a froth." He returned Harry's confused look with amused superiority. "I'll make it for you tomorrow morning, if you like."

"Not tonight?"

"No. It's a morning drink." Snape turned from the fire. "Now, we are going to dinner."

Harry sighed. "Okay," he said.

They arrived slightly late, again. Harry found himself unable to restrain a grin at the double-takes that Snape got from various faculty members. He dared a glance at Remus. To his surprise, the werewolf was staring at Snape with undisguised hatred.

"Company seems to agree with you, Severus," Professor McGonagall commented dryly, attracting Harry's attention. He wondered when she had returned.

"Hello, Professor McGonagall."

"Good evening, Harry. Have you had a productive summer?"

Harry smiled. "If nothing else, my Potions grades should improve."

"Really?" Remus asked mildly. "Why is that?"

"Practice, Lupin," Snape answered mockingly. "You were familiar with the notion at some point in your life."

Remus opened his mouth to answer, but Harry frowned at him and shook his head. While he was hesitating, Dumbledore intervened.

"When I want to find you, now, I check Severus's lab." He smiled slightly at Harry. "Not a development I expected."

"He is merely bored," Severus stated. "The moment his friends return, I'm sure he will drop all productive activity in favor of causing trouble on a daily basis."

"Much of your youthful trouble, Severus, was caused in the Potions lab, as I recall."

Snape looked archly at the headmaster. "More than you know," he said.

Dumbledore's silver eyebrows rose. "Oh, do you think so, Mr. Snape?"

"Your reputation for omniscience is overstated."

"I admit I don't know everything, but I may know a bit more than certain young people think."

Dumbledore and Snape continued to banter in this vein for some time, neither revealing what "trouble" they were referring to. Harry, after deciding nothing of substance would be said, returned his attentions to Remus. When Remus noticed, he responded first with a furious glare, then a pleading look. Harry attempted to convey, with expression alone, that he had no idea what Remus wanted.

"Have you finished your summer Transfiguration essay, Harry?" McGonagall asked.

"A few weeks ago. Would you like it now?"

Professor McGonagall nodded. "It would be one less thing to grade the first week of term." She looked thoughtfully at Harry. "We could discuss career planning, as well. Are you still interested in becoming an Auror?"

Harry was suddenly aware that Snape and Dumbledore were no longer talking. In fact, no one else was. He suspected Snape did not think much of Aurors.

"Yes ... that is, I think so," he said, stumbling over the words. He felt his face heat.

"It is a difficult path, Mr. Potter. I think you had better be sure."

"Perhaps we should discuss it on Monday."

Professor McGonagall looked puzzled. "If you wish. Come by my office at noon, then."

"Thank you, professor."

Harry looked nervously at Snape. His father was regarding him with a frown, but it seemed to be the frown that meant he was thinking through something, rather than the one that meant he was about to launch into insults.

Remus leaned forward slightly. "Harry?" To Harry's relief, Remus spoke in his normal mild tone.

"Yes?"

"I have a number of arguments for and against you becoming an Auror -- things you may not have considered. If you have time, perhaps we could talk before your conference with Professor McGonagall?

Harry hesitated. At the moment, he didn't want to talk to Remus; were it possible, he would avoid any further private meetings with Remus until he could tell him about his parentage.

"Lupin, the boy does not need you to choose a career for him," Snape said contemptuously.

"Am I supposed to leave that up to you?" Remus retorted. "Anyway, I don't want to choose for him, I just want to point out some --"

"Fill his head with muddled ideas of righteous glory --"

"Severus, I don't want him to become an Auror any more than you do!" Remus snapped.

"Remus," Dumbledore warned.

"Excuse me."

"Does this mean we don't need a conference?" Harry asked.

"I want you to understand why," Remus said intently. "And also that I recognize there are reasons to do it -- I will respect that decision if that is what you make, but I want you to hear me out."

Harry sighed. "Fine. Monday at eleven."

Remus shook his head. "That doesn't give you time to process what I say. How about tea, tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow," Dumbledore contributed, "Harry will be going to Diagon Alley."

"Yes!" Harry exclaimed, delighted. "Thank you!"

"Tea Sunday, then," Remus said doggedly.

Harry looked at Severus, who muttered "you may," as if the words were physically painful. Relieved, Harry nodded at Remus.

"Sunday, then." He saw McGonagall open her mouth, then shut it without saying anything. She sat back and looked curiously at Snape, then at Harry. Harry quickly shifted his attention to his dinner.

When the pudding arrived, Remus excused himself, but did not leave immediately. He walked to the head of the table and bent to speak quietly to Dumbledore. Dumbledore questioned him, then nodded. After a final look at Harry, Remus left.

At the end of dinner, Dumbledore asked Snape and Harry to come to his office. "I've promised to speak to Remus, first," he said. "Give me ten minutes -- Remus is usually concise."

Five minutes later, Snape stood.

"Come with me," he said to Harry. "We have a few things to discuss."

Harry followed him willingly, but Snape did not stop to talk. He led Harry to Dumbledore's office, and they rode the spiral stairs up to the small anteroom. Harry could hear Remus yelling before they stepped out onto the floor.

"Believe what you want; I demand you remove Harry from that man's care!"

Snape held a finger to his lips and motioned Harry to the side. Harry gave him an amused look, but remained compliantly silent.

"You cannot demand, Remus --"

"Then I will contest this!"

"Remus, you cannot get custody of Harry -- or anyone. You are a werewolf. You know what --"

"Severus doesn't have custody either, nor, I believe, could he get it. Take Harry out of there! He can live with me. You know I would take good care of him."

"When you are well enough, yes."

"That would still be an improvement! Albus, listen to me! Harry is vulnerable, right now. You cannot continue to leave him with the most manipulative, unprincipled, vengeful person at Hogwarts!"

"Harry seems to be thriving."

"Thriving! Have you been paying any attention at all? Harry is following him around like a cowed stray. He's wearing Lily's -- Oh, don't give me that look! I know his personal history far better than you do."

"I am not sure that is true."

"It had better be. Because if you knew, you should have done something."

Harry glanced at Snape. Snape was stepping anxiously towards the door. He stopped, one hand raised, when Remus continued.

"Never mind -- I don't want to hear it. However he may be doing it, Severus has Harry completely under his thumb!"

"I understand that you have personal difficulties with Severus --"

"I loved Severus!" Remus bellowed. "That is not the point. If you had cared when he was in school, it might matter. If I had been braver, it might matter. But I will not lose Harry because you cannot admit that you lost Severus Snape twenty years ago."

Snape brought down his hand and rapped sharply on the heavy door. Harry could see the bright touch of blood at the top of his father's cheeks. When the door opened, Remus first paled, then turned far redder than Snape. Harry decided he was the most capable of speech.

"You wished to see us, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore nodded. "A moment, Harry." He turned to Remus. "Thank you for your observations, Remus. Good day."

Remus nodded a coldly polite farewell. "And good day to you, Headmaster." For a moment, his eyes locked on Harry's. The look was feral, warning. A second nod. "Harry." With a bitter smile, Remus nodded a third time. "Severus." The werewolf left the room, closing the door softly behind him.

"It was unkind of you to listen, Severus," the headmaster reproved.

"We were only there for a moment," Snape returned angrily. "It is not my fault if the werewolf must shout his complaints."

"You realize, of course, that it is highly unusual for Remus to raise his voice. He is very concerned about Harry."

"I take no responsibility for the beast's fits of hysteria. Now, why did you summon us here?"

Dumbledore sighed. He walked back behind his desk, but did not sit. "You know I have pressed Fudge on the matter of clearing Harry in the Muggle world?"

"He refuses," Snape guessed.

"He claims that, as Harry is a minor, he cannot authorize any action until it is approved by Harry's legal guardian. At the moment, Harry does not have a legal guardian. Fudge would like him to become a ward of the Ministry. He says if I promise not to challenge, he will start the proceedings immediately."

Harry was gripped by terror at the thought of being directly under the control of the Minister of Magic. "You can't!" he blurted out.

"I agree," said Dumbledore. "It would be most unsafe. Severus?"

"We cannot, of course," Snape agreed slowly. "However, I had hoped that I could maintain my position as a spy at least until Halloween...."

"Then we are in agreement!" Dumbledore, who had looked relieved at Snape's statement, finally sat down. "I will apply to be Harry's guardian."

"Will that change anything?" Harry asked. I hate being bounced around like this, he thought. It isn't as if I wanted to live with Snape, but I'm used to him, now. I know what he expects.

"Other than legally, Harry? No."

Harry nodded. "I suppose you've been running my life for years, anyway," he said flippantly.

Dumbledore sighed. "Harry...."

"He will continue to be under my care?" Snape interrupted.

"Covertly, yes."

"Then I agree. Harry?"

"As far as I can tell, I'm just the bloody quaffle."

"If that were true, Harry," Snape said tightly, "I would not be asking for your opinion. Both of us have asked for your opinion. Now stop sulking like a spoiled child and reply."

"I don't --" Harry stopped before saying he didn't care. He tried to figure out what he was thinking. Finally, he said:

"Whatever happens, Professor Dumbledore will continue to manage my life, or as much of it as he feels politically necessary, and Professor Snape, you'll still be my father. I've never thought about what I want, because it just doesn't matter. Of course I can't go to the Ministry, and of course we can't give up our spy any earlier than we need to, so there's no choice to be made." He turned to Dumbledore. "You will become my guardian. That's fine with me. I'll try not to be rude about it, but don't pretend we have options."

"We understand your position, now, Harry," Snape said coldly. "Now, apologize to the headmaster for being rude -- respectfully."

Harry glowered briefly at Snape, who looked contemptuously back at him. Sighing, Harry turned to Dumbledore.

"I'm sorry I was rude, sir." At Dumbledore's unhappy expression, Harry found himself more sincerely contrite. "I like you, and, under other circumstances, would have been happy to have you as a guardian." Harry thought for a moment. "Although I think you'd be a bit weird and difficult to figure out," he added honestly. He looked back at Snape.

"I apologize for sulking, sir. Is that better?"

"Much," Snape said, with arrogant satisfaction. "You are not an adult, Harry. If you want to be treated as a mature young man, you must remember to act like one." He sighed and rubbed his temples. "So, you become his guardian," he said to Dumbledore. "That will work while he is perceived as an orphan. What do we do when the inevitable happens?"

Professor Dumbledore looked searchingly at Harry. "Perhaps it will not," he said. "He may not look as much like you as we fear he will."

To Harry's surprise, the headmaster's words filled him with dread. I couldn't take that, he thought. I don't want to spend the rest of my life lying to everybody.

"I expect he will," Snape countered. "I have seen subtle resemblances already."

Dumbledore sighed. "The change will be complete by the end of January, but identifiable resemblance, if it is present, may come earlier. How long will it take you to implement the contingency plans we discussed?"

"It depends on who I see and when. Six to eight weeks will probably suffice for distributing the devices, but I need them to be available, first. Flitwick is still uncertain of his results. It would help if I could tell him more of our intent."

"I cannot expect him to risk --"

"Of course," Severus interrupted dryly. "But the fact is, the information we can provide to him is limited. And even if everything works, this will still cost us. Passive monitoring is never as effective as being able direct a conversation towards potentially valuable information."

Dumbledore turned to Harry. "How would you feel about being acknowledged, if it came to that?"

Harry looked uneasily between the two men. Both looked anxious.

"It will eventually happen, whatever we do, right? I mean, even if he doesn't acknowledge me, people will probably know."

Dumbledore nodded slightly. "It may become obvious. It will almost certainly be obvious that your former resemblance to James was contrived."

"So all right then." Harry shrugged. "Some people will be a pain about it, but that will happen anyway." He thought about Ron's possible reactions and tried not to shudder. "Actually, if we could get a month into term, that would help."

"Understood." Dumbledore smiled sympathetically at Harry, and pushed back from his desk. "Very well. Fudge has allowed me a week to decide. I will take all of that." Amusement lightened his weary features. "We will drag every stage of this out as long as possible. At worst case, Severus, that should give you your two months, and Harry, you should have more than a month of school behind you." He stood, and moved over to Fawkes's perch. One hand stroking the bird's brilliant plumage, he said:

"It may be time to tell the Order."

"No." Snape's reply was immediate, and almost angry. Harry shrank back in his seat.

"Remus, at least."

"No. It is my personal business, and I will not have anyone's stupidity or sentimentality endangering my last efforts. We will tell them when we need to, not before."

Harry wanted to protest, just to end the fights with Remus, but then he thought about who else was in the Order: pretty much all the Weasleys, except Ron and Ginny, and Fred and George would tell Ron. On the whole, he would much rather tell Ron himself, though he wasn't sure how he would do it.

"Harry?"

Harry shrugged, then pressed back in his chair again. "I want to tell Remus. Everybody else can wait."

"We are not telling Remus!" Snape shouted.

Harry felt a bit safer now that Snape was yelling. He sat straighter. "Now who can be heard from the anteroom?" he asked bitingly. Snape twitched, then, to Harry's surprise, nodded slightly.

"Good point."

"Well then," Dumbledore said, leaving the phoenix, "are we done for the night?"

Harry nodded and stood. Snape stood also.

"Should you have any concerns, Harry," Dumbledore offered, "you are always welcome to come speak to me."

Harry nodded. "I know."

"And Severus?"

"Should I have anything of significance to say," Snape said coldly, "I will come speak to you."

"By then, it is often too late." Dumbledore smiled at the potions master with evident fondness. "You are too practiced in ignoring the stirrings of your heart, Severus."

And that, Harry knew, was intended for him as well. Snape snorted contemptuously, much as Harry wanted to, and bid the headmaster goodnight.

They walked to the dungeons in silence. As soon as the door of Snape's quarters closed on them, Harry turned on Snape. "I want to tell Remus," he said fiercely.

"I have told you before," Snape said, in a threatening low voice, "and I tell you again, no."

"What is your problem with Remus?" Harry demanded. "Don't tell me he's a werewolf -- that doesn't half explain it. You can brew the wolfsbane potion, so you know that's a disease, not an indication of character."

"I have sufficient experience with Remus's character to know you should not trust him."

"What?" Harry screamed. "Don't tell me he can't be trusted, give me a frigging example, okay?"

"Language, Harry."

"Fuck my language!" Harry shrieked. He stopped suddenly and giggled. "Um...."

"You were saying?"

Harry took a deep breath. Evenly, he said, "I want to know why you don't trust Remus."

"He spent his school years leading his friends into danger --"

"And you spent yours practicing Dark Arts. I don't believe that's why you distrust him!"

Snape glared at Harry. Harry sat deliberately in the center of the couch and stared back. He waited.

"Very well," Snape said icily. "Be it on your head. In our sixth year, Remus decided to come apologize to me for his friends' behavior, and his inability to control it. He thought that if I was better groomed that James and Sirius might not give me such trouble, so he made my ... socialization a project. This, of course, made no difference to Sirius and James, but Remus and I ... courted."

"What?" Harry asked, astounded.

"He was my boyfriend for nearly three months. You can imagine, of course, Sirius's reaction when he found out. Remus, who had previously given all his attention to Sirius and James, now had a lover -- not only that, but another boy -- not only that, but the boy they hated most in all the school. When Sirius failed to break us up by persuasion or verbal trickery, he decided that having Remus kill me would do the job nicely."

Harry looked at the hate on Snape's face with confusion. "But that was Sirius. Remus didn't know."

"Remus never told me!" Snape bellowed. "Three months I was with him. I was far more precocious than he, and had him in bed by the end of that. Yet he never told me he was a werewolf."

"What does it matter?"

"That I was doing that with an animal?" Snape said in disgust.

"Remus is not an animal! He is a person -- ninety-nine percent of the time, anyway."

"Closer to ninety-seven point nine, if you are counting only the physical time as a wolf, but he is affected far more than that."

"But a person, still."

"Even if I accept that," Snape said contemptuously, "he would still be a person with a very dangerous disease."

"Is that relevant? I thought it could only be spread by a bite in the wolf form."

Snape shivered. He looked off into empty air as he mused:

"There was a slight risk. A bite the other way can provide a transmission avenue during the days of the full moon. He had told me not to bite him, but I would have had his blood eventually. He had scars, and frequently fresh wounds, and no plausible explanation of why. I had guessed that he enjoyed ... either inflicting them or receiving them, and was afraid to admit it. It wasn't an unreasonable theory - he was the sort who would not say what he wanted, if he thought he shouldn't want it."

"So you were at risk."

"Not much. He avoided being near me the days that it might have mattered." Snape slumped back. He looked oddly drained. "It was more ...." He took an audible breath. "I had told him things I had never told anyone. Things about my family, and how I grew up, and surviving in Slytherin without physical power." Snape met Harry's eyes. His own were a shadowed, bottomless black. "He told me nothing, not even the secrets he had shared with them."

Harry sat for a moment, frozen by the despair in Snape's face. Suddenly, he remembered something. "But he didn't tell them."

"Don't be ridiculous --"

"He didn't! I remember him telling me about it, after I found out. He didn't tell them; they figured it out and confronted him. As far as I know, Remus has never told anybody."

An odd expression crossed Snape's face, then resolved into a sneer. "Pathetic."

"Yes, well we have discussed Remus's character flaw," Harry retorted. "And we might be able to find one or two more, but it could take us ten minutes to list each other's. I admire Remus, and I still see no reason to distrust him."

It was a measure of his father's distress that the other stayed silent. Harry looked at him and sighed. "Still..." he said. "How you feel makes a bit more sense to me, now." Harry sat back. "Was this before or after my mum?"

Snape snorted. "Do you honestly think Remus would have so much as spoken to me after I discarded Lily as an unworthy mudblood?"

Harry flinched slightly at the epithet. "I suppose not," he agreed. Absently, he looked down at the ring on his finger and twisted it back and forth in the light from the fireplace.

Snape sighed and sat down in the armchair. "Lily was Remus's best friend," he continued, "and the only one of Remus's friends who accepted me. She and I had a certain ... intellectual compatibility. While I was with Remus, we became close. Unlike Remus, who was moderately clever and very studious, Lily was my intellectual equal. While she did not approve of my fascination with Dark Arts, she was capable of understanding the theories I explained to her. I told my friends in the Dark Lord's camp -- I was just starting to enter that set, at that point -- that she was different from other Muggle-born witches. She was brilliant, powerful -- perhaps some sort of sport."

"Genetically, you mean?"

"Yes." Snape thought for a moment. "My justification for her, of course. Lily attempted to intervene on Remus's behalf. Neither of us was precisely sure when we switched to talking about ourselves. I asked her out before the month was over. Remus and I avoided each other as much as possible -- he got top marks, that term. Sirius was as awful as ever, but James ... James had finally seen Sirius do more than he was willing to go along with. He kept Sirius in line, and was actually civil in his interactions with me. Peter followed the lead of the most powerful one present, whether that was Sirius or James."

"You weren't with her for very long, though."

"No. It had been four months when term was over."

"But you proposed to her." Harry looked down at the ring, again. He and Remus ... Does Remus think he gave me this because I have taken her place? He winced. Oh hell. That's exactly what he thinks. "I know more of his history than you do..." Himself? No, Dumbledore seemed to know about that. Oh -- Lucius. Hell!

"... impetuous." Snape was saying. "She didn't think we were old enough, but she loved me -- and perhaps hoped to bind me to her, to temper my prejudice. She accepted on the basis of long engagement -- we would not marry until we graduated. I gave her the ring. She went home to her Muggle family, but I ... I did not want to go home, no more than you did. I split my summer between Augustus's house and Lucius's."

"And became a Death Eater."

Snape clasped his hands before his face and nodded. "Yes. I did not take the Mark until Halloween, but I ... I made my first kill in August. I broke up with her on the train in September, and I was back to outright war with James before we set foot in school." Snape grimaced. "And he had her by October."

Harry rested his chin in his hands. "And I thought my personal life was complicated."

"Don't speak too soon. Your sixth year hasn't started."

Harry nodded. "Severus," he said earnestly.

"What did you just call me?"

"Severus. Is there something you would rather I called you?" Harry bit his lip. "'Professor' seems a bit distant, and you're not a 'Dad' sort."

Snape thought about this for a while. "You may refer to me by my given name," he decided, "since you refer to James, that way. I still do not want to be addressed that way. I would not object to 'Father' in absolute private, though I do not expect it." He snorted. "On the whole, I think you would be foolish to become accustomed to anything you cannot use in front of your fellow students."

"Father," Harry started again. The word sounded odd, coming from his lips. For a moment, he felt as if he were in a play, and then he felt very emotional. He tried to ignore both feelings and plowed on. "Remus is very worried about me."

"I have noticed that," Snape said dryly.

"He has warned me you are possessive, sometimes unreasonable."

"He is correct."

"Fine, but..."

"I do not want Remus Lupin informed of any further details of my private life!" Snape bellowed.

Harry flinched. He recalled noting that when he was ordering Remus out of the Snape's rooms.

"Go to bed," Snape ordered. "It's late."

"Oh, fine," Harry muttered. Ordering Remus out.... In the door to the kitchen, he turned back. "Where do you think Remus thinks I sleep?" he asked. The words out, he fled.

Harry considered his own words while getting ready for bed. Perhaps it would help matters with Remus if he simply talked about his bedroom, and how much he would miss the privacy when term started. It's a plan, he decided. I'll base my teatime conversation on why I'm not completely thrilled about returning to the dormitory. Neither of us has to admit to thinking anything improper. That settled, he fell into bed, and, immediately, asleep.