Harry, flying within the boundaries of the vacation cottage spied a tiny figure down at the edge of the water splashing up on the beach. She was attired all in white, a pretty, lacy blouse and a matching long skirt belted by a belt of turqoise and silver. The silver sparkled brightly in the afternoon sunlight and was what had caught Harry's eye in the first place. She also had beautiful, long black hair that was full of curls and cascaded loosely down her back.

Harry kept flying around the front yard of the cottage, and every few minutes he watched the young woman who had stopped for awhile in her walk and was staring out at the hypnotic waves.

Just as he was feeling hungry for lunch, Harry looked back towards the ocean and saw that the young woman appeared to be swimming. He thought it was odd that she didn't have a bathing suit to swim in, but grown ups were usually odd anyway. Still, he couldn't bring himself to stop watching her as the kernel of something awful began gnawing at his tummy. When her head vanished beneath the next big wave, Harry felt the kernel of awfulness explode into fear. He landed and dropped his broom as he ran into the cottage.

"Daddy! Albus! She's drowning!" he screamed as he ran around looking for both men. "Daddy!"

Albus emerged from his room and knocked rapidly on Severus' lab door. The dark haired wizard emerged, not at all happily, but concerned as soon as his son grabbed his hand.

"What's going on, Harry?" he demanded.

Harry tugged hard against his father's immovable frame. "She's drowning!"

Severus was galvanised into action and ran out of the cottage. He ran down the path, leaped over the short gate, and onto the beach. As soon as he reached the water's edge, he squinted looking towards the horizon for someone, a girl, a woman, he didn't know what.

"There she is, daddy!" shouted Harry just as he reached his father's side. They both could see a plume of white upon the surface of the waves. Harry was crying by now, worrying that she was dead.

"Harry, stay put." Ordered his father. Harry nodded and watched as his father removed his outer robe, his frock coat, and his dragon-hide boots with a spell. The wizard then dove smoothly into the water and swam, powerfully, through the surf and out to the white.

She was just about to go down into the dark depths of the ocean when Snape caught the woman. Turning her so she was on her back, he circled his arm under her left arm and across her chest. He swam one-handed back to the shore, keeping her head above the water.

"Daddy?" Harry asked, his voice full of fright.

With patience he didn't realise he had, he spoke to his son, "Harry, I need you to be brave, now."

Harry knelt down near his father and did his best to be brave. He watched as his father patted the woman firmly on her back until she was spitting up water. Snape then scooped some icky stuff out of her throat. Then, to his astonishment his father kissed her! The kisses weren't like the ones he'd caught Draco and Hermione indulging in when they thought no one was looking. He then realised that his father was breathing into her mouth.

The young woman took an agonised breath and coughed several times. She looked up at Severus and whispered, "Noooo," before passing out.

Severus lifted the young woman up into his arms. "Harry, run ahead and get some tea started. Make sure Albus isn't on the sofa and tell him what has happened."

"Yes, sir!" Harry sprinted from the beach and was through the gate before Severus had walked beyond the wet sand.

The child burst into the cottage, glanced at Albus seated in one of the comfy chairs, and ran into the kitchen. He began the tea and then came out, glancing towards the living room window where he could see his father, carrying the young woman in his arms, up to the cottage.

"What has happened, Harry?" asked Albus gently.

"I saw her walking. Then she disappeared under the water. I thought she was swimming, but she wasn't. Daddy pulled her out and then kissed her until she was breathing." Harry moved next to Albus and leaned against the older man just as Severus entered with the young woman in his arms.

The kettle in the kitchen whistled just as Severus put the woman on the sofa. "Harry, the tea." Harry ran into the kitchen to finish his duty as Severus cast a drying spell over the woman and the now wet sofa. Lastly he cast a drying spell upon himself. He then summoned a pillow to put under the young woman's head and a quilt to tuck around her body. He then began to lightly pat her cheeks with his slim fingers. She roused just as Harry emerged with a cup of tea in his hands.

She had the most startling, dark blue eyes Severus had ever seen and as her gaze locked upon his, he felt as though he were caught under some strange spell. He wasn't released until she blinked.

"Tea, Daddy," Harry said softly.

"Thank you, Harry." He took the tea cup and offered it to the young woman. For several breaths, she struggled to sit up, but found that her arms were shakey. Severus handed the cup of tea back to Harry, then lifted the woman so she was sitting up. He slipped himself behind her in order to support her. Harry handed his father the tea and helped her to drink the warm, fragrant, herbal tea.

After several minutes, she couldn't drink anymore and began to cry softly. Harry was distressed at her tears and patted her shoulder. "Please don't cry. We're not mean at all," he assured her.

That little, childish assurance helped to stop her tears. Looking through the glistening remains of the tears, she looked down at Harry.

"I can see you're not, sweetheart." Harry smiled at the endearment.

She nodded briefly to the older wizard and then looked into the impassive face of her rescuer. His eyes were the deepest black she'd ever seen in her life. Although no emotion was evident on the man's face, in his eyes were concern for her.

"Thank you," she whispered.

"Why did you walk into the ocean, Miss...?"

"Prosper. Echo Prosper. May I inquire as to whom my rescuers are?" she was avoiding the question he'd asked.

"Severus Snape," he introduced himself. "This is my son, Harry, and my... father... Albus Dumbledore."

"I've heard of you both. From Hogwarts. You're the Headmaster and aren't you a teacher there?"

"Be wary of what you read in the Daily Prophet, Miss Prosper," warned Snape. He was rewarded by very pleasant laughter. Suddenly feeling a bit too close to the pretty woman, he slipped out from under her, and laid her back against the pillow. He retreated to the safety of one of the comfortable chairs and welcomed his son as he climbed into his lap.

Severus took a moment to study the young woman as she drank her tea. She had the dark olive complexion of a native of Greece. She wasn't slim, but nicely rounded where it looked the best for a woman. Her face wasn't plain, but neither was it what most might consider beautiful. Hers was a pretty face made beautiful by her deep, ocean blue eyes.

"You shouldn't go in the water if you can't swim, Missus Prosper," cautioned Harry. "Daddy says there's undertoads that will drag you away forever."

"Undertow, Harry," Snape corrected softly in his ear.

"Call me, Echo, if you would?" she smiled at Harry, finding him to be a sweet and engaging child.

"Echo," replied Harry with a grin.

"And, I'm not married..." her slight smile vanished abruptly. "Not... anymore!"

To Severus' chagrin she burst into tears. He allowed Harry to scramble off his lap to comfort the young, emotional woman by giving her a hug.

"Please don't cry, Echo. You'll make me cry and I don't have anything to cry about," requested Harry.

Severus conjured a handkerchief and floated it to Harry. He plucked it out of the air and handed it to Echo.

Dabbing at her eyes, she smiled again. "Thank you, Harry. I'm sorry for crying so much. It's just that my heart is broken."

Harry blinked rapidly and turned slightly to face his father. "Daddy? Do you have potions for broken hearts?"

"I'm afraid not, son. A broken heart must heal with time." He dropped his gaze to Echo, who met his dark look briefly before looking away.

"I'm tired," she said softly. "Would it be all right for me to sleep a bit before I leave."

Severus rose to his feet and stood behind Harry. "You're welcome to stay as long as you need to, Miss Prosper. Harry, say goodbye. It's time for you to have some lunch and then to get your own rest."

Severus directed his son to the kitchen where he began fixing the child a sandwich for lunch. In the living room, Echo tried to close her eyes, but her curiosity about the elderly man known as the wizarding world's most powerful wizard, kept her awake.

Giving in, she opened her eyes and looked from her prone position towards where the famous Albus Dumbledore sat.

"I do hope it's true what I read in the Prophet that You-Know-Who is truly gone," she said quietly.

"Young Harry Potter fulfilled his destiny," said Albus. "It was a remarkable, yet sad day, too."

"And that's him?" she asked. "That little boy?"

Albus nodded. "Harry saw too much death that day and although he was not physically wounded, the mental anguish was hard for him. He blamed himself for the deaths of his parents, young Cedric Diggory, and then his beloved godfather, Sirius Black." Albus sighed heavily. "I suppose he might have tried suicide, but he dearly wanted to have a chance at a normal childhood. As foolish as it might have seemed at the time to de-age himself, it has been a blessing for not only Harry, but others as well." He watched Snape in the kitchen as the man spoke quietly to his son as he ate.

"Who did you lose, child?" asked Albus gently.

"Everyone, really..." she still had the handkerchief and dabbed at new tears. "Both my parents were killed by Death Eaters during Voldemort's rise. My father, he was a Muggle from Cypress and owned an olive farm. My mother was a witch. You probably knew her since she was taught at Hogwarts. Yasmine Leandros?"

Albus smiled as he recalled the diminuitive, yet very outspoken Greek student. Yasmine had been a contemporary of Tom Riddle and the two clashed terribly. "I did know your mother. Brilliant at Charms. She and Tom Riddle were the top students at Hogwarts back then."

"Then you know the rumours that Riddle, well, Voldemort, tried to solicit my mother's help in his bid for power," replied Echo.

"Indeed," remarked Albus. "Yasmine was very well known for many of the domestic charms she created. Riddle felt such talent would be used better if she created charms for him."

"So you know, then, why my mother returned to Greece as soon as she was able. She thought she'd escaped, but Riddle kept after her. I didn't know it, of course. By the time my mother had married my father, she gave up magic to live in the Muggle world. She felt it was the best way to avoid Riddle and his followers, and that it was safer for me. He didn't let up, though, which is why I was sent at age nine to a cousin of my father's in America. I didn't even know the newly christened Lord Voldemort had murdered my parents until I was almost thirteen."

Albus glanced up subtley at Snape who leaned against the kitchen door jamb as he listened to Echo's story.

"What did you do after you finished school when you came back?" asked Albus.

"Floundered around. I was a bit lost for awhile. My father's olive farm had been burned by the Death Eaters and my mother had given up her home when she married my father. When I came to Solonus I settled here. I opened a little bookshop in the village. Rather eclectic, I think. I very much enjoyed it. Then, two years ago I met my husband Oland Childermass." Echo shifted slightly and pulled her blanket higher up over her shoulders. "I was such a naive fool. Too much in love and not enough suspicious." She sighed.

"What happened?" that question came from Severus as he left the kitchen and walked back into the living room. He leaned against the fireplace.

Echo looked up at the tall, dark wizard. She suddenly felt too vulnerable lying down and so raised herself so she was sitting up. She pulled the quilt tighter around her shoulders.

"Oland stole everything from me. He took my home, my bookstore, my vir... " Echo's cheeks darkened in embarassment, and she lowered her gaze as she realised what she almost said. "My... uhm... everything!"

"And so you came to our beach to drown your sorrows," stated Severus rather sharply.

Stung by his tone, she shouted, "I have nothing left! No family! No gold! No home! No business! What reason do I have to live for?"

Severus didn't change his position as the young woman rose angrily from the sofa. She threw the quilt down, and stomped out of the cottage in her bare feet.

"Dad?" asked Harry as he watched the woman navigate the small path of pebbles on her bare feet. "If Echo doesn't have anyplace to live, where's she going to stay?"

"We really can't allow her to leave if she truly is in such dire circumstances, my boy," Albus' voice had that tone in it that meant Severus was supposed to do something about the situation.

Severus straightened and glared at the old man as he saw that twinkle in his blue eyes. It didn't help that Harry was gazing at him with that very same twinkle. With a melodramatic sigh, he left the fireplace and went over to the open door. "Son, take care of Albus. I don't know how long I'll be gone." Harry nodded and went to stand over by the ex-Headmaster. Under his breath, Severus muttered, "That child is spending too much time with Albus." Snape automatically reached for his outer robe which usually hung upon a peg by the door but recalled it was still down on the beach with his frock coat. "Bloody hell."

Harry watched his father disappear down the pebbled path and through the open gate. "Daddy's mad, Albus?"

Albus patted Harry on the back. "Not mad, child, just annoyed with the situation. All will be well, though." Slowly the old man rose to his feet, summoned a white ivory cane from the fireplace and leaned on it. "I think we're going to need to add another room for our guest. Care to watch, Harry?"

"Yeah!" Harry stepped to the other side of Albus and held his hand as they walked down the short hallway that led to the bedrooms. "Albus?"

"Yes, Harry?" Albus took out his wand and studied the area he had to work with.

"Daddy called you his father. Did you adopt him?"

"At one time I would have, Harry, but it was something I was never really able to do. Over the years, though, I have come to think of Severus as my son." Albus looked down at the thoughtful looking little boy. "What is on your mind, child?"

"Well, if daddy is sort of your son, doesn't that kinda make you my grandpa?"

The hopeful look on the little boy's face made Albus' heart swell with love. His fingers touched the soft cheek, and he smiled. "Would you like me to be your grandfather, Harry?"

Harry nodded rapidly, stepped closer and grasped a handful of the older wizard's dark blue robes. "Would you be? Please?"

Albus leaned down very carefully and kissed Harry's cheek. "I would love to be your grandfather, my child."

Harry enveloped his grandfather in a tight hug, and grinned up at him. "I love you, grandpa!"