"All right all right," Harry said, throwing the last few snacks in the bag along with his treasured new clothing, Kenai in his shirt pocket watching this process curiously.

"Surely you do not need this much for one overnight campout?" Severus inquired, coming to stand in the doorframe of the kitchen. They had packed most of the fridge and pantry away, and he had no doubt that the Malfoy pantries were running bare at this moment as well.

"Well we need the marshmallows for smores," Harry explained as he stuffed them into the already overfull bag. "And the sausages for breakfast, and the cheese to catch lizards-"

"Water dragons," Draco corrected with a roll of his eyes, but Harry ignored him and continued.

"And we needed the kettle for tea and the cups for-"

Severus held up a hand to forestall the onslaught of words, and nodded. "Clearly you have thought this out. Where will you be camping?"

Harry and Draco looked at each other and then shrugged. "A flat spot?" Harry guessed, and continued packing.

"Don't know yet Uncle Sev," Draco said. "The stream runs all the way through our property and doesn't belong to anyone on the other side. We just figured on walking until we came to a good spot."

"And you will not go farther than the Chrisholm property, correct?"

Draco nodded and Harry raised his brows signaling that he needed an explanation. As he had found repeatedly over the summer, his father and Draco knew so much more about the area than he did, such as the troll that lived in a hole in the ground a mile south that sometimes sold wizards unicorn dung for a high profit, and the mage that lived on the other side of town that made the weather hot and dry if any of the farmers angered him.

"The Hewitts live on the other side of the Chrisholms," Draco told him. "And they're all crazy. They're Muggles who are convinced that there are witches and wizards and who once tied the town mayor to a stake when he refused to make a city law stating that all citizens had to submit for a witch test."

Harry shook his head and laughed. "Did they burn him then?"

"No, but they are from America." Draco laughed then and said, "Bet they're religious too. Tell him the time they tried to corner you at the market Uncle, because you were buying the goat cheese and they thought you were going to use it in a ceremony." Draco laughed hard and Severus gave him a stern look.

"There is nothing wrong with believing in a higher power," he said, and Harry was reminded of the Bible he had seen on his father's bedside table the other day when he had been sent to retrieve something.

When they were packed and everything had been shrunken down and charmed to be light enough to carry, Severus saw the boys off with a warning not to stir up trouble amongst the neighbors. Normally he would not have allowed them to wander so far for an entire night, but there were only days left until they were to return to school, and he did not want to spoil their summer fun.

Harry and Draco had been wandering farther and farther from the Snape and Malfoy properties since Harry's 17th birthday, and afraid that Harry would rebel against what little authority Severus did have now that he was of age, he did not know how tight to reign him in or how lax to let him go. One overnight campout did not seem, terrible for two seventeen year old boys however, and Severus had grown to trust Harry more than he would have ever thought possible given his past misgivings of the boy.

Each day as Harry returned from as far as the two boys could travel on foot (which turned out to be near ten miles if they were ambitious), he would tell Severus of all the things that he had seen and discovered. For instance, there was a cave full of red fire breathing lizards at the base of a tree on the Mavis estate, a nest of green sleep dust pixies in a field just south of town, and a tree full of stinging bees on the other side of Malfoy Manor (which, Severus hoped for Harry and Draco's sake, they did not stumble into again, because his stock of sting balm was nearly depleted after their last encounter with the vile creatures).

Wondering if he should venture out at sometime in the night to check on the boys, he sat back in his favorite chair in the den and pulled out a missive from Lucius Malfoy, enquiring yet again about sending Harry and Draco off to Durmstrang, and hinting overtly that they may have an open spot on staff for a qualified Potions Master with references. He shook his head. He had considered sending Harry to Durmstrang several times over the summer, but the child seemed to be doing so much better now. He could not deny that Harry had seemed to grow more and more anxious each time mention of returning to Hogwarts came about, but that was to be expected for someone who had gone through what Harry had.

Severus was nervous too, he admitted to himself, folding the letter and sticking it in a desk drawer. He did not want to see Harry fall back into the cycle of depression that seemed so easy a pit to trip into for him.

Perhaps I will keep a close eye on him, he told himself, and cross that bridge when I come to it. He may be fine at Hogwarts, or so he tried to reassure himself, remembering his own seven years as a student at the school. Children could be cruel, and despite the hope he had held with each coming year that it would be different for him, that he would have friends, he was always bitterly disappointed. Wait and see, he told himself, just wait and see.

* * *

Harry and Draco hiked for an hour before they made it to the Chrisholm property and stopped at a flat spot next to the stream.

"What if it rains?" Harry asked, looking to the patches of blue sky beyond the thick canopy. "We'll get flooded out."

"Nah," Draco said. "It never rains this time of year, not unless the mage gets mad."

Harry shrugged and they began setting up the tent and warding against the crazy Americans on the next property. "Don't want any nasty surprises in the night," Draco said as he cast an anti-Muggle charm on the area.

Harry laughed and said, "Well I don't want to be tied to a stake and burned if that's what you're implying. Nasty way to start a day if you ask me." Draco shoved him playfully and Harry accidentally stepped into the shallow stream.

"Hey, now my shoes are wet."

"Use your wand wizard," Draco said, rolling his eyes. "You are 17 now."

Playfully Harry stepped out of the stream and put his hands on his hips. "Maybe I'll become a mage," he said, shutting his eyes shut tight. "I'll just think hard until your hair turns jet black like mine."

Draco laughed and threw a dirt clod at him, forcing Harry to open his eyes again. He pointed to his hair and said, "Still blond, see. Guess you'd better take some classes at Durmstrang then where seventh years can learn mage magic."

"Really?" Harry was intrigued. Why didn't they teach that at Hogwarts?

* * *

Lightening flashed, illuminating the dark landscape. Peering up through the screen door on the back porch, Severus cursed at the sight of a clear sky. Curse the temperamental mage who had to choose tonight to cause havoc on Letham, and on the two boys camping out somewhere in what was sure to be an unpleasant storm. He prayed that they had thought to waterproof the outside of their tent with a charm and that they had chosen to set up on high ground, because otherwise they were likely to be swept downstream, tent and all.

Calm, Severus, be calm, he told himself. Two capable 17-year-old wizards, who will take offense if you go after them before their campout has even properly begun. He sat back down on the couch with his Muggle newspaper and confirmed that the forecast was clear and warm for the night. As lighting lit up the windows once again, he flinched, and considered taking a mild calming draught. Why did being a parent mean so much worry?

* * *
Harry's first thought upon waking was that he'd had a very good dream. His second thought was that his first thought was stupid, seeing as how his hair, arms, and feet felt wet as well. He opened his eyes to see the top of the tent light up as lightening streaked across the sky, and that he and Draco were laying in three inches of cold stream water.

"Draco!" Harry said, shoving his snoozing friend hard. Draco started and sat up, hair askew on the side he'd been laying, and looking around wildly.

"What?"

Harry motioned to the water they were sitting in and then crossed his arms. "Never rains this time of year?" he asked, and Draco looked around in astonishment again before cursing and muttering something about the mage.

Just as Harry was about to suggest a water repelling charm, the tent shifted menacingly as another gush of water soaked in through the sides.

"It's not even raining," Draco complained, thinking now that perhaps they should have chosen a higher spot.

Another gus h of water and now there was almost a foot in the tent, and Harry shouted, "We're going under!"

Scrambling madly to escape the rush of water, they grabbed their bags and began stuffing clothing into them, abandoning the packages of crackers, chips, and wrapped cakes floating atop the water. Within a couple of minutes they were outside the tent, and just in time as they watched it float downstream with their snacks and sleeping bags.

"My shoes were in there," Draco complained, and Harry realized he'd left his jacket in there as well.

It was in this soaking, muddy, and sour mood that the boys arrived on Severus' back porch two hours later. He had just thrown his own coat and shoes on, ready to search for them when the door swung open to reveal them, tattered and worn looking.

"Thank God," Severus said, lowering his hood again when he saw them there, dripping all over the floor.

"Draco lost his shoes when the tent floated away, so it was slow going coming back."

"Why did you not go back to Malfoy Manor? It was a far sight closer than coming back here."

"We tried," Draco grumbled. "But it was on the other side of the river."

"You mean stream?"

Harry shook his head. "No, he means river. It was a foot deep when we set up camp and five feet deep leaving. It jumped the banks and flooded out the neighboring fields. Even part of ours is under two feet of water."

Severus nodded and instructed them to remove their clothing so that he could cast warming and drying charms on them. Before they were finished, he had already sent his doe Patronis to Malfoy Manor, informing Lucius and Narcissa that all was well.

Within minutes the boys were dry, but Severus had sent Draco upstairs to shower off because he was the more muddy of the two, and had instructed him to put on some of Harry's clothing temporarily. Severus did not know if it had been the change of environment, or just a natural growth spurt, but Harry had grown several inches over the summer already and was now as tall as Draco. Severus had needed to charm Harry's clothing bigger twice already.

"You did not think to build on higher ground?" Severus asked as he brought hot chocolate out to Harry, who was sitting on the couch wrapped in a towel.

He gave his father one of those looks that didn't need deciphering and said, "Somebody informed me that it never rains this time of year."

Severus chuckled then and took a sip of his own hot chocolate. Normally he preferred tea, sometimes something stronger, but hot chocolate had more of a calming effect on him than anything else, and he needed that after a long night of worry.

"Perhaps you can try camping out again before we return to school next week."

Harry shrugged and said, "I think I had enough of the outdoors for a while. Too bad the summer won't last longer."

"Oh? I thought you enjoyed school."

"I guess," Harry said, shrugging again. "But I never had a better summer than this one, and I never had a worse school year than the last one." He paused, thinking, and finally voiced the same concerns that Severus had been having himself.

"I don't want to go back to the way it was. What if I go back and they're all still really rotten?"

Setting his hot chocolate down, Severus looked Harry in the eye, simultaneously commanding his attention. "You have the right not to have to deal with such people Harry. Unfortunately there is not much that can be done except to stand tall and let them know they are not getting to you. They may never tire of the way they treat you, but it will deter them more if they believe their attempts fruitless. It took me more than my seven years there to understand that."

Harry sighed. Stand tall, he thought. He didn't know if that would help, but any advice was better than none at all, especially if it was coming from his father, the man whom he had come to love and trust over three wonderful summer months. Summer had the tendency to do that, he supposed, to bring people together in a way that could not be done under foul weather. He could not explain the magical feeling of cool fresh air on a summer night, fireflies and pixies lighting the fields, or the feeling of freedom running through a field, knowing he was not running from something but rather waiting to return home to tell of adventures he had had.

"You won't leave me, will you?" Harry asked, looking up into his father's eyes, already knowing the answer. "When we're back and people expect too much from us."

Putting a hand around Harry's shoulder, Severus said softly, "I will never leave you."

* * *

"There he is."

"Geeze, look how tall he got."

"Think his dad brewed a growth potion?"

"Why is he walking with Malfoy?"

"Think they're lovers now?"

There was a fit of giggles at the last comment as they passed groups of people staring at them.

"Same crap, different year," Draco sighed, bag slung over one shoulder. It had been the same the night before at the start of term feast, where Draco had discovered that he was no longer wanted at Slytherin table now that people knew he was friends with Harry.

"Stand tall," Harry said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Words from a wise friend?" Draco questioned.

"Nah." Harry smiled and stood to his full height, determined to walk down the hall and ignore everyone. "Just from a wise father."

He left Draco standing there as he walked away, and Draco admired the strut that seemed so natural to Harry, making him look confident and uncaring of what anybody else thought. Then he jogged to catch up, giving a supreme look to those around him as he too stood tall, determined that this would not be a bad year.