McGonagall seemed so flustered by Gryffindor's lack of points that she was now giving points to every Gryffindor for every little thing. Hermione was getting ten points each time she raised her hand ‘for being eager to learn Miss Granger', and Neville was getting points for putting his name on his assignments. She even made a surprise inspection of the tower one day and gave Ron thirty points just for making his bed.

"At least someone's doing something to earn points back," Ron told Dean one day, unaware that Harry had heard as he exited the common room. Harry tried to ignore it, but he had a feeling that even his close friends were no longer so close. Hermione was busy studying for end of year exams and Ron had been distancing himself and spending more time with Dean, Seamus, and Neville.

"Hey Potter, will your daddy be accompanying you to parent's day?" a seventh year Ravenclaw shouted at him one day in the hall after lunch. The others around him laughed and Harry hurried on. Everyone had been talking about the upcoming family weekend on Saturday. Even Hermione's parents were coming to tour the school and talk to her professors. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley would be there for Ron and Ginny, and Harry would be left to himself.

As loathe as he was to admit it, he wanted to go. He wanted one person there who cared about him enough to attend such a useless function. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had always gone to these things for Dudley in primary, and even then he wanted somebody to go with him to ooh and ahh over his school projects and good grades. Of course his grades had slipped in the past month and half since the incident in Potions, but still, he wasn't that bad of a student and he was still passing everything but Potions.

"I'm so excited," Hermione said that Friday evening at dinner. "I've always wanted to show them around Hogwarts."

"Yeah," Ron said. "I mean, my parents already know it but I wanted to show dad that secret dueling room we found behind the Library. I told him and he reckons even Fred and George didn't know about it."

Harry looked down at his plate and pushed the food around it a little.

"Will you be going Harry?"

Harry looked up at Hermione's question, stunned. He noticed Ron had gone quiet and was staring off into space.

"Sorry?"

"Will you be going on Saturday?"

"Yeah, whatever Hermione, real funny. Thanks."

He went back to his food, but Ron said, "Hey, it was just a question. No need to be rude about it."

Harry looked up. "Rude is asking if I'm going to parent teacher night with my father who hates my guts and doesn't speak to me except to give me detention."

Other people at the table were interested now and had stopped eating to listen, although nobody was looking at him.

"Just forget it," Ron said suddenly, going back to his food. "You don't get it."

"Don't get what?"

"Never mind. Can't expect you to understand what it means not to be rude."

Harry didn't know if he felt more like crying or punching Ron in the face. Was this what it took for Ron to turn on him? Having a different father? Now all of a sudden Harry was rude just because Snape was? Before he did something he was going to regret, he stood up and left the table, hundreds of eyes in the hall following him.

I'll just keep my head down Saturday, he told himself, stay in the tower and sleep in. I won't give Ron any more reason to hate me, seeing as how I'm just so rude.

Saturday morning found him in prime position to be frowned upon however. For as hard as he tried not to go down to the Entrance Hall where students were greeting their parents, that's where he ended up anyway, hopes of maybe touring the castle with the Grangers or Weasley's pulling him out of bed and dragging a comb through his hair. Some part of him hoped he would go down the stairs to find Snape waiting for him, wanting to go with him, but a sharp ‘you've got to be kidding' stare from the man made Harry feel deep seeded shame instead.

Harry ducked his head and stood off to the side behind a banister at the top of the stairs and watched as students hugged their parents and younger siblings as they came in through the sturdy oak front doors. Hugs and kisses and I missed you's. Was that what it was like to be loved? Harry ached for that so badly. He always had but now it was magnified having a parent so close and knowing he was despised and hated.

"Come here boy."

Harry looked up at the sound of Lucius' Malfoy's voice. He had never liked the man much, especially since he had threatened him after freeing Dobby, but he supposed he couldn't be so bad if he treated Draco right, and Harry could tell that he did.

"Me?" Harry pointed to himself, unsure if Draco's father was talking to him.

"Yes you. Come here." It wasn't quite a demand. Draco looked up at his father and seemed just as stunned as Harry did.

"You are not here with your father?"

Harry bit his lip, afraid an insult was coming his way or an order to get out of the hall since he had no place there. "No." His eyes were drawn to the floor as his face turned red. Confused, he wasn't sure why he was suddenly feeling embarrassment. Perhaps because he knew Snape was Draco's godfather and a friend of the Malfoy family, and therefore he felt like a real disgrace being disowned by his own father.

"You will accompany Draco and I today then."

Harry looked up at him. "Sir?"

Lucius surveyed the crowd and found Severus speaking to several other parents of Slytherin students, and then turned back to Harry. "Come along then. Draco was about to show me a secret dueling room behind the library."

He lead off and Harry and Draco gave each other a questioning look before following behind him up the stairs. Harry didn't notice the look Ron and several others were giving him as he followed the Malfoys. He wasn't even sure why he went, but the feeling of so desperately needing to be wanted hooked him behind the navel like a portkey and he let his feet carry him away up the stairs.

Feeling awkward, Harry followed Draco and his father to the dueling room and several other hidden rooms Draco had found. Lucius then showed them some of his favorite hiding spots from his own days at school before they headed back down towards the lower floors in search of Professors to discuss grades with.

They came across professor McGonagall first, who told him that Draco was getting full marks in Transfiguration and had an aptitude for the subject.

"And Mr. Potter?" Lucius asked, brows raised.

Harry looked up, confused again. Did he just ask about Harry's grades? Why did he want to know? McGonagall had the same questioning look on her face, suddenly realizing that Harry was there with them and not just mulling around the hallways by himself.

"Mr. Potter also has an aptitude for the subject, although his grades have dropped in the last two months."

"Ah, well, he has had a lot on his mind, has he not? I'm sure that they will pick back up again." Here he gave a pointed look to Harry, whose cheeks tinged red again and he nodded.

"See there, he has agreed to it and all is well."

McGonagall nodded, curiosity still dancing over her face, and Lucius thanked her before they moved on.

The same scene played out again with Flitwick, Sprout, Hooch, August, and a number of other professors, some of whom Harry hadn't had in class yet.

When the three of them were finally alone in a corridor together, Harry asked, "Sir?"

"Yes?"

He hesitated, afraid this was all a hoax of some sort, and then asked, "Why are you doing this?"

Draco by now was very curious about the answer as well. He had been ignoring Harry for the most part for the day, but now that Harry had spoken up, he looked to his father for an answer.

Lucius turned to Harry and leaned on his cane. "Severus has long since looked after my son when I have been unable. Now I will look after his when he is unwilling."

Harry swallowed, throat dry and sore. This was the first time anyone had really acknowledged that he was Snape's son, and he was suddenly overcome with a wave of emotions. He had been so hurt and lost in the past two months, but had pushed it all back and tried to take things one day at a time. Seeing that Harry was suddenly struggling, Lucius reached out and put a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"Do not let it get to you. He can sometimes be a fool."

Harry nodded, and bit his lip, trying to bite back all that was fighting to get out.

When he finally had control over himself, they set off again towards the Great Hall where lunch was waiting.

"I don't know if I'd should go in," Harry said, hesitating at the door as some other parents and students passed them.

"And why not?"

"Well, my friends... they'll get mad if I sit at Slytherin."

Lucius motioned inside. "There are no house tables today. Too many parents have children from multiple houses."

Harry peered in and saw that it was true. There were Ravenclaws at Gryffindor table, and Hufflepuffs at Slytherin.

"Come then. You look too thin to skip a meal."

Harry looked down at himself and then allowed himself to be guided into the Great Hall. He had already been skipping a lot of meals, he thought to himself. He tried to ignore the looks he was getting entering the hall with Lucius and Draco Malfoy as they took a seat at Hufflepuff table next to a group of Hufflepuffs and their parents.

"Hello, I'm Denise Richards," said a Muggle woman who held her hand out to Lucius. "Are these your sons?" Her two daughters gaped at her question, but she didn't seem to notice.

"This one is," Lucius said, placing his hand on Draco's head instead of shaking her hand. "And this one is Harry Potter, a friend of the family."

She looked him over and smiled before reaching across to shake his hand. Harry took it briefly and then concentrated on filling up his plate with asparagus, which he hated but did to keep his hands busy as it was the only plate near enough to him to reach.

Lucius engaged Draco in talk of Quidditch for the next half hour, asking Harry occasionally about Gryffindor tactics and games, to which Harry gave short answers and then sat listening at how normal Lucius Malfoy seemed compared to the monster Harry had always envisioned him as when the man crossed his mind. He doted on Draco, and for a brief moment before scolding himself, Harry envisioned Severus Snape sitting beside him running his fingers through Harry's hair and laughing at a joke as Lucius did to Draco.

Unconsciously Harry gazed up at the staff table, where he was brought back to reality by a scathing look from Snape. Hurt more than he liked to admit, he hung his head. There was a gentle hand on his shoulder then, and Harry turned to look at Lucius, who was leaning in and talking gently to him. "I do not pretend to know why he acts as he does towards you, but I do know that he is a complicated man with complicated emotions. And until he comes around, you are always welcome at Malfoy Manor. It is very close to Snape Manor."

"I don't know where that is," Harry said. "And every year the Headmaster makes me go back to my Muggle relatives."

"The Headmaster is not your guardian," Lucius said matter of factly. "Not now that you have a living parent. And since Severus will most likely not impose rules on you as to where you stay, then you are welcome to stay with us should you so choose. You will simply ride the train with Draco and come home with him."

Harry glanced at Draco, who was suddenly very interested in his potatoes. Perhaps Lucius had had words with him when Harry had gone to the bathroom earlier, because Draco had been nicer to Harry today than he had ever been in the last six years.

"Thank you sir," Harry said. It was a nice invitation, but Harry didn't want to stay with the Malfoy's. He didn't want to stay with the Dursley's or at Hogwarts either. And yet, Lucius was probably right: the scowling man at the table would never let him into his home.

That evening as Harry made his way back to the common room, he felt in a daze. For the first time in two months he felt sort of good. It was nice having someone there to comfort him and ask about his grades, even if it wasn't his own parents. It was weird too, spending the day with Lucius and Draco Malfoy, but what wasn't weird these days. Harry was forcefully reminded of how much his life was changing when he entered the common room and found Ron telling a joke to Dean and Seamus.

"I mean, what can you expect with his father being who he is? Can't expect him to use a napkin at lunch or anything. Didn't you see how he hogged all the vegetables to himself like he owned the whole table?" Dean and Seamus laughed hard then, but stopped when they saw Harry standing there behind Ron.

Harry's mouth was dry again and he didn't say anything as Ron turned around. The common room had quieted down now to see what was going on.

"Well?" Ron asked, holding his arms up, "did you want something, or are you just going to stand there and stare at me?"

Harry looked him in the eyes, feeling betrayed and trying to keep tears from flowing out. "I thought you were my friend. Why would you say mean things about me?"

Ron snorted and Harry turned to go, but he didn't get very far before Ron shouted, "Hey! How was I supposed to know I was being tricked into being friends with a Slytherin! Don't see any of use tromping around all day with Lucius and Draco Malfoy do you?" He had a look of real anger on his face, and Harry turned to look at him for a brief moment before he could no longer hold the tears and left for his room before they spilled his emotions all over the ground in front of everybody.

As he lay in bed listening to people laughing and talking downstairs, Harry finally confronted the truth. The Malfoy's aside, he was truly alone now. His friends had abandoned him, the school hated him, and his father didn't want him. What else was there? Certainly not a life that felt settled and safe. Certainly not something he wanted to continue on with.