Sirius was quiet after returning from the beach. He sat down next to Dora and began eating the crispy roasted sausages and toasted cheese sandwiches. His mind was full of the events of the evening, the attack of the bullies and Severus coming to his rescue. A part of him still had not processed the fact that his former rival had saved him, thus proving his theory that all Slytherins were dark null and void. As he mused on the fact that Snape was no longer the slimy greasy dungeon bat, he took a large bite of toasted cheese, which was hot, and swallowed quickly.

To his surprise, he heard Alby and Jamie discussing the fact that Alby was a Beast Master. Sirius recalled that Beast Masters were rare, the talent showing up once in every six generations or more. Sirius felt both admiration and envy. Admiration because Alby was so young to have a talent like that, and envy because once he had hoped he was a Beast Master.

Beside him, Dora was congratulating Ginny on her second pregnancy. "Ooh, I'm so excited for you! What do you want this one to be, Ginny?"

"Uh, healthy for starters. And we're hoping for a girl." Ginny answered, beaming.

Sirius was so startled to hear that the Potters' were expecting that he swallowed a big bite of sausage. The sausage didn't go down right and lodged in his throat. He began to choke, gasping for air.

Dora turned when she heard gagging noises, and screamed when she saw her son. "Oh, Merlin! Oh my God, I think he's choking. Remus, help me!"

Remus looked over to see what all the fuss was about. Sirius' skin had started to turn blue, and Remus ran over and tried smacking the boy on the back, but it was no use.

Sirius was still gagging and choking.

Harry stood up, setting Severus down, and then he raced over to Sirius, thanking God he'd not forgotten his emergency first aid lessons. He stood the gasping Sirius up, then performed the Heimlich Maneuver on the child. He did it twice before the piece of sausage popped out; Sirius took in a great lungful of air, and then he threw up.

Harry grimaced slightly, but held Sirius' head as he puked up his dinner. He was about to ask Ginny if she had a Stomach Soother when the little boy started crying for his mother. At first, Harry couldn't figure out why Sirius would be calling for his mother, as he knew Sirius hated her, but when Dora pushed him away, her eyes filled with tears, Harry understood. He released Sirius and Dora took over, holding and comforting her son, and also giving him a pinkish potion.

"I . . . I couldn't breathe, Mum," Sirius gasped and sobbed. He had an arm wrapped about his tummy. "And now my . . . my tummy hurts." Sniffling, he glared a bit at Harry. "You made me throw up, Harry."

Before Harry could say anything in his defense, Severus spoke up. He felt bad for Sirius, but not enough to let him badmouth Harry. "He also saved your life. If he hadn't done the Heimlich, you would have died."

"Severus's right, sweetie," Dora agreed. "I know you feel sick, but at least . . . at least you're alive to feel this way. Great Merlin, Siri, but I thought I was going to lose you." She nearly burst into tears again, but managed to compose herself. Siri was already upset, having her crying wouldn't do him any good. She hugged Sirius tightly instead. "Siri, I love you so much."

Sirius hugged her back and whispered, "Love you too, Mum." He didn't know exactly why he had suddenly started calling Dora "Mum", except that he had been terrified and wanted his mother, even though she was long gone and had never really cared for him. Dora had stepped in and filled the void naturally.

Harry backed away, allowing Remus to come and inspect his son and hug his wife and child. He left the two relieved and grateful parents to fuss over Sirius and went to sit back down. To his astonishment, Severus immediately sat in his lap, and snuggled with him.

Next to him, Alby came and snuggled with Ginny. Ginny looked at her husband and asked, "Harry, how did you know how to do that?"

"It's something I learned when I went to Muggle primary school. A safety procedure. I never thought I'd use it." Harry admitted, ruffling Severus' hair. "I didn't know it would make him sick."

Ginny squeezed his arm. "Better sick than dead."

Harry silently nodded, he knew Ginny was right, though he doubted if Sirius thought so. "Maybe we ought to go back to Driftwood House. Sirius should really rest. They can do that at the house."

Ginny waited until their friends had calmed down and then suggested they return to the cottage.

Dora agreed and she held Sirius while they walked back to the cottage.

Remus followed with Jamie and Teddy, both of whom were upset and kept asking their father if Sirius needed to go to St. Mungos. "No, he'll be fine after some rest. Uncle Harry got the piece of sausage he was choking on out," the werewolf reassured his sons. "Now, when we get back to Uncle Harry's, I want you both to put on pajamas. You don't have to go to bed yet, but I want you prepared."

Jamie and Teddy murmured affirmatives.

Ginny carried Alby and Harry carried Severus up the path to the cottage. He planned on doing the same as Remus, preparing them for bed before they actually had to go there. Once they had reached the cottage, Remus began to get his older boys ready for bed, while Dora sat with Sirius, who was almost asleep after his near death experience.

Harry turned and said to Severus, "Sev, would you mind going upstairs and starting to run the water in the tub? You can pick out your own pajamas and would you mind grabbing a pair of Alby's too?"

"No, that's easy," Severus reassured him, and headed upstairs.

"That's my big boy," Harry said proudly. He followed a few minutes later with Alby, who was sticky with marshmallow all over him.

Once they'd had their bath and gotten in pajamas, Harry told them to go and play for an hour or so with the Lupin brothers before bed, as it was only eight o'clock. Severus carefully put the necklace of disguise back into its box and placed it in his trunk. Teddy and Jamie were grilling Alby about the secret passage, and Alby explained they had found it by accident.

"I was tryin' to get the Oreos on the top shelf an' it moved and there was the secret way," Alby told them. "But we're not allowed to go there again. My daddy said it was off limits."

Jamie shrugged. "We just wanna see it. That's all. I've never seen a secret way before."

"Me neither." Teddy admitted. "I wonder if there's more treasure down there?"

"There isn't," Severus said. "Unless you like firewhiskey and butterbeer. And it's not worth getting in trouble to go back down there."

"I still wanna see it," Jamie insisted stubbornly.

Severus snorted. "Fine. It's your funeral if an adult catches you."

"They're all too busy fussing over Siri, they won't notice," Jamie said arrogantly.

Alby yawned, he was growing sleepy. He crawled into the bottom bunk and called, "Sevvy, can you read to me?"

"Yeah, in a minute," his brother answered, then he picked up the book they'd been reading and continued, reading three whole pages before Alby fell asleep.

"You always read to him?" Teddy asked.

"Sometimes. But usually Ginny will, or Harry if he's here."

"How come you don't read to us, Teddy?" asked Jamie.

"Never thought about it before," his sibling replied. "But maybe next time I will."

"You coming to see the secret passage, Severus?" Jamie queried.

"No. I've seen all there is to see," Severus answered. "You two can go. And don't blame me if you get in trouble."

The Lupin boys quickly went downstairs.

Severus climbed into the top bunk and hugged Mimic, muttering, "Dunderheads!"

They snuck down into the kitchen and crept to the pantry. They could hear the adults talking in the den, where Sirius was sleeping. Dora was thanking Harry again for saving her little boy's life, and asking him to show her and Remus how to do the Heimlich maneuver.

Teddy opened the pantry door and the light went on. For a moment or two, the children were distracted by the array of sweets and snacks arranged on the shelves.

"Look, Teddy! It's a whole box of chocolate frosted donuts! Let's have some," Jamie whispered, licking his lips.

"Later," his brother hissed. "We gotta find the secret passage. Now, where did Alby say it was?" He began feeling along the shelves.

"What are you looking for, boys?" came a familiar voice.

Teddy straightened up so fast he bumped his head. "Uh . . . hi, Aunt Ginny!"

"We were . . . umm . . . looking for donuts," Jamie said, giving her his best innocent look.

"The donuts, James Sirius, are right here," Ginny said, picking them up and showing them to him. She knew perfectly well he wasn't there for sweets.

"Oh! We must have missed them, right, Teddy?"

"Uh, yeah," Teddy agreed, looking sheepish. He wasn't fooling anyone, however.

"You wouldn't have also been looking for the secret tunnel down to the ocean as well, now would you?" Ginny queried sharply. "Because I know neither of you would be so foolish as to upset your parents by trying to go into a dangerous place right after that scare they just had with your brother. You two are smarter than that, I'd think. You certainly wouldn't want your mum to borrow my wooden spoon and tan your backsides with it for risking your necks, right?"

"No, Aunt Ginny," Teddy said quickly. He'd only gotten paddled with a spoon once, after nearly burning down the house playing with matches and it was not something he wanted to repeat . . . ever.

"No, ma'am." Jamie echoed him. He regretted that Ginny had just happened to find them poking about in the pantry, but at the same time he was rather glad too, for he disliked small spaces and he really was hungry for a donut.

"Good, because I would hate to see you get in trouble after the way you all behaved so well at the bonfire," she said. "Come and sit down and have a donut."

The boys, sensing their opportunity to explore the tunnel disappearing, went to the table and sat down. Though their expedition had been a failure, at least they got some sweets out of it. They licked their lips as Ginny handed them a plate with a donut on it and cups of milk icy-cold from the fridge.

Ginny began making tea for Harry, Remus, and Dora, happy that a potential disaster had been averted. The last thing the Lupins needed was for something to go wrong with their other boys, and Ginny thanked Merlin that being the sister of Fred and George had given her a sixth sense about boys plotting mischief. Smirking slightly, she poured herself a large glass of milk and ate a half a donut. Lately she'd been craving sweets but limited herself to one or two only. She supposed that the baby had a sweet tooth like its father.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

The Potters left Driftwood House in the afternoon of the next day. Harry had contacted Edyth Brentwood and had told her about his boys discovering the tunnel and what they had found there. She was very excited about the finding of the necklace and her ancestor's journal. She Flooed over and her eyes lit up when she saw the rosewood box and the leather journal.

"This is simply an amazing discovery!" she said, beaming. "My family always wondered where the necklace of disguise was. We knew it had been hidden for safekeeping, but Miranda never wrote anything down as to where it might be. She never returned here, you see, because the excise men took this house over and used it for a time as headquarters. The family remained in hiding for several years and eventually bought a new home in Gravesend. This house was later bought by some Ministry official as a vacation home and it's only within the last twenty years that we managed to buy it back and put it in our family's hands again. For a time we all searched for the necklace and her diary, but had no luck in finding it. Might I say thank you and you'll forever have my gratitude for discovering this," she beamed at Alby and Severus.

Severus gazed at the journal wistfully. He had been reading it diligently, but still hadn't had a chance to memorize some of the potion recipes. "I wish I could finish reading the journal."

"Then you found my ancestor's story interesting?" asked Edyth, pleased.

"Yes," Severus said honestly.

Edyth tapped her wand against the journal and uttered a spell. Within moments, a perfect copy appeared next to the original. "There you go, lad! Your own copy. 'Tis a small enough thing considering you found one of the great treasures of my family." She clasped the rosewood box to her. "Mr. Potter, if you would ever like to return here for another holiday, you and your family may stay as long as you like, free of charge."

"Free?" Harry repeated. "Oh, but we couldn't, Miss Brentwood . . ."

"Edyth, and you can and you shall," she told him firmly. "If it weren't for your youngsters discovering that secret passage, we might never have recovered the necklace or the journal. Some of us had given up hope and assumed that it had been lost forever, or stolen by our rivals, the Gowers. Now, thanks to your boys, it's back where it belongs."

"Thank you, Edyth," said Ginny. "We had a wonderful time here and would be very happy to come back next year."

"I look forward to it," the older witch said, smiling.

Severus clutched the replica of the journal to him. He had enjoyed using the necklace for a brief time, but he recognized the dangers in having the necklace and using it on a regular basis. It was a powerful item and it could be tempting to use it for selfish reasons, like stealing things. So he was sort of glad when he saw Edyth leave and take the necklace with her. He much preferred the journal, as it contained many useful and unusual spells and potions, which to him were more valuable than a dozen necklaces.

Page~*~*~*~Break

Upon arriving home, Ginny sent Alby and Severus out to play in the yard while she unpacked and called Dora to ask how Sirius was doing. Dora told her that Sirius was his old self again, running about and getting into mischief. "Not half an hour after I let him get out of bed, he found trouble," she lamented to her friend. "He tried to use the blender to make a shake or something and whatever he did made it explode. I had vanilla ice cream and bananas all over my kitchen—on the ceiling, the walls . . . it's a good thing I'm a witch and can clean up messes fairly easily."

"Dora, you cleaned the whole thing yourself?" Ginny asked. "Why didn't you—"

"—make Sirius do it?" she finished. "I did make him clean up some, but the mess was too much for a seven year old to clean, so I helped. That boy! I never know what he's going to do next."

Ginny was grateful she didn't have Sirius to deal with. Growing up with Fred and George had been bad enough. She told Dora she would have to come over soon for tea or lunch, whichever she preferred, then broke the firecall and returned to the kitchen to prepare dinner.

Harry came in and wrapped her in a bear hug. "Hey, beautiful. I need to run over to Hogwarts, I left a text there that I need to finish my third year curriculum for next term. I'll be back soon."

Ginny turned around, looking up into his eyes. She adored his gorgeous green eyes, she had ever since she had first seen him that morning at breakfast, they had captivated her with their honesty and purity. "Don't be too long. Dinner should be ready in about an hour and I want you to be able to eat it hot, okay?"

"Not a problem," Harry reassured her, kissing her lightly. Then he stepped free of her embrace and Apparated away to the gates of the school.

Ginny chopped and mixed ingredients for a chicken, broccoli, and cheese casserole, as well as some quick rise mini loaves. She had just finished putting them and the casserole in the oven, when she felt a bit dizzy and went to sit down. It was then she realized she had hardly eaten a thing all day and Summoned some bread and peanut butter with jam to make a small sandwich.

As she was eating her sandwich and drinking a glass of milk, Severus came in, looking sweaty and a bit dirty. "Hello, Sev. What are you up to?"

"We're playing a game where Alby and I are shipwrecked on a desert island, like in Robinson Crusoe. Only we need some water and crackers," he explained.

"Water and crackers?"

Severus nodded. "You know, 'cause that's what a lot of sailors ate back then. And Alby and I are kind of hungry."

"Well, there's crackers in the pantry and you know where the water is," she said. "Just don't eat too much, you need to save room for dinner."

"What are we having?"

"Broccoli, chicken, and cheese casserole."

"Sounds delicious," Severus said. "You're a really good cook, Ginny."

"Thanks, Sevvy. I tried to learn as much as I could from my mum."

"She's an excellent cook also." Severus said, reaching into the fridge to grab some bottles of water.

"So is Harry," Ginny said. Her timer beeped and she rose to check on the mini loaves. As she leaned over to see if the bread was done, a wave of dizziness assailed her and she felt the room spin for an instant.

Severus had just grabbed a box of salted crackers from the pantry and was turning about to go outside when he saw Ginny start to sway. "Ginny!" he cried in horror as the witch started to fall. He thought for a terrible moment that she was going to fall into the oven, but something in her woke and she fell backwards onto her bottom instead, though her hand struck the oven rack as she did so.

"Ginny, are you okay?" Severus dropped everything on the floor and ran over to her.

"I . . . oh, Merlin, Sev, I got lightheaded again," Ginny murmured. "Maybe I should have made Harry wait."

"Put your head between your knees," Severus said, recalling that was a standard procedure for lightheadedness. "Where'd Harry go?"

"He went back to Hogwarts to get a book he needed in his office," Ginny answered, putting her head down as Severus had suggested. The dizziness seemed to be passing. "Sevvy, can you shut the oven? Get the potholders first."

Severus did as he was told, then he said, "Can you get up? I'd help you, but . . ." He gestured helplessly at himself. "Should I call Remus or Dora?"

"No, that's okay. It's passing, I'll be fine in a minute." Ginny said softly. "Sometimes I hate being pregnant."

"I'm glad I'm not a girl," Severus said feelingly.

Ginny laughed, then she put her hand on the floor and tried to stand. "Ow!" she yelped. "I burnt my hand." She turned her hand over to look, and there was a large blister on the side and part of the palm.

Severus saw and winced. "You need some of my burn salve. I'll get it," he turned and ran out of the kitchen to the potions cabinet in the den.

Only when he got there, it was locked. Severus was angry and frightened. He hated being helpless, and he hated more when someone he knew and liked was injured. He closed his eyes and concentrated. "Alohamora!" he yelled.

He felt the swift surge of his magic, but couldn't get total control of it.

The cabinet burst open and the jar with the burn salve fell out . . . as well as two or three other jars, from the violent way the cabinet had been opened.

Some of the vials broke and their contents flowed all over the floor in a gooey sticky mess, along with the glass that had shattered. Luckily the jar with the burn salve was sturdy and did not break. Severus picked it up then stood there, staring at the mess in dismay. "Bloody hell!" he swore.

"Severus Snape!" Ginny cried, she had managed to get to her feet and was leaning on the doorway to the den. "You know better than to swear like that."

"I'm sorry," he apologized, hanging his head. "I didn't mean it. I didn't mean to make a mess. I just . . . tried to get the burn salve out and it was  locked, so I tried to cast an Unlocking Charm and I . . . I . . . my magic was too strong and when the cabinet opened . . . the potions fell out and broke . . . I'm really sorry!" He started sniffling, for he knew breaking vials was serious, he had put students in detention for a week for doing that as a professor, and made them brew the potions they'd wasted over. His lower lip trembled.

Ginny sighed. "Oh, Sev. You should have waited for me." She knew she should be angry over the mess, but somehow when faced with the little boy's repentant gaze, her anger melted.

"I . . . wanted to help. You were hurt and I don't like it when someone I care about is in pain," Severus said, biting his lip hard. He walked over and held out the burn salve. "Here."

Ginny took the salve and gently rubbed it on her hand. She felt immediate relief and said, "Ahh! That feels much better." She drew her wand and cleaned up the spilled potions and glass, then shut and locked the cabinet.

Severus looked up at her, trepidation lining his brow. "I'm in trouble, aren't I?"

"Only for swearing. Not for the potions, that was an accident, you can't control your magic," Ginny said. She would have liked to not punish the child at all, but knew the rules they had set down for bad language had to be followed, and Harry had already warned Severus about his mouth. "Come with me."

Severus followed her unhappily into the bathroom. He knew he deserved the mouthwashing he was about to get, but it didn't make it any easier to open his mouth and have Ginny take a washcloth with a tiny amount of soap and rub it on his tongue.

"Thirty seconds, Sev," she informed him.

He wanted to gag at the horrible taste, but managed to bear it while she counted.

"Rinse," she said, and gave him a large glass of water and held him over the sink.

He gagged, coughed, and spit for five minutes, trying to rid himself of the awful taste. "Ick!" He started to cry a little, for he was afraid he'd never get rid of the taste in time for dinner. "I can still taste some!" he wailed.

"Shh . . . here's some mouthwash, Sevvy," Ginny gave him some mouthwash to rinse with.

Severus used it, and to his relief, the taste went away.

Ginny set him on the counter and used a different washrag to clean his face. "You'll watch your mouth from now on, won't you?"

"Yes, ma'am," he said contritely. He had forgotten how bad soap tasted. "How's your hand?"

"It feels much better, Sevvy," she said, then she hugged him. "Try not to make me do that again."

Severus hugged her back. "I will," he promised.

She carried him back into the kitchen and sat down. "You can go out to play, Sev. I'm not going to move until Harry comes back."

Severus looked uncertain, but then recalled that Alby was waiting for him and slipped down from Ginny's lap and picked up the water and cracker on the floor. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

"Yes, I'll be fine. I think it was 'cause I bent over that I got dizzy. But I feel fine now. Go, Sev. Poor Al must be wondering what happened to you."

Severus went, though not without a few glances over his shoulder.

When he reached Alby, he gave him the water and crackers and then sat down beneath the fort they'd made out of lawn chairs and a tablecloth. He no longer felt like playing shipwrecked, he was too worried about Ginny. "Here, Al. You play, I don't feel like it."

"What took you so long? I've been waiting here forever!"

"Your mum burnt her hand and I had to get her some salve, only the cabinet was locked, but I opened it with my magic . . ." Severus said, telling the younger boy everything, including his punishment.

Alby's eyes went wide when he heard about that. "You got in trouble?"

"Yes, why are you looking at me like that?" asked Severus irritably. "I'm not perfect, you know."

"You almost never get in trouble, Sevvy." Alby said. Then he got up and hugged his brother. "Daddy washed out my mouth too. The soap tastes nasty, doesn't it?"

"Disgusting," Severus grimaced, and the two shared a look of commiseration.

After a few more minutes, Alby said, "Let's go inside, Sevvy. We can play like we're coming home and be near Mummy."

Severus smiled at his intuitive brother and picked up the water bottles. "All right, Al. Get the crackers."

So they trooped inside, where they found Harry back and setting the table, the casserole cooling on the counter and the bread sliced and buttered in a basket. Harry turned and saw them and smiled. "Hello. Looks like you two shipwrecked sailors found your way home . . . just in time for dinner. Go wash up and then go sit down. It's almost ready."

Severus and Alby raced into the bathroom. When Severus saw the bar of soap he made a face. "Ugh! Soap!"

"Yuck!" Alby said.

It was probably the fastest handwashing ever, for the two boys were eager to eat the delicious dinner and leave the bad taste of soap behind them.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

From then on, Harry rarely left Ginny alone in the house, and he made sure that when he did, Molly, Hermione, or Luna was there to make sure there were no more accidents like the last one. Ginny didn't really like it, but she couldn't deny that sometimes she needed someone to bend down and reach for a bowl or pot. And she did like the comfort of her friends.

So Severus and Alby saw a lot of Frankie, which was fine, for both of them liked the vivacious little girl, as well as Rose, who enjoyed making biscuits with Molly and also brewing kid potions with Severus. Both little girls also liked playing house, and regularly dragooned the boys into being the dad or the big brother to their baby dolls, much to Severus' disgust.

Severus was thankful that none of the Lupin boys were over to see his loss of dignity. But he couldn't stand to see Rosie upset or Frankie either. "As long as you don't expect me to kiss you, I'll play," he told the girls. "I don't care what your mother does when your dad comes home."

That made the girls giggle, and Frankie, who could be a tease, kiss him on the cheek.

Scowling, he wiped off the kiss and growled, "Stop it! Or else I'm going inside."

Of course, that only made Frankie more determined to kiss him and she chased him around the yard, laughing.

She was fast and also quick, and she caught him as he was going around a bush and pecked his cheek again. "Gotcha, Sevvy!"

"Brat!" He wiped his face. Then he turned and tickled her, making her squeal. "Ha! You wanna kiss me, then I get to tickle you."

"No! No, Sevvy!" she shrieked. "I'll be good! Promise!"

"Too late. Now quit whining like a baby and take it like a big girl, Longbottom," he ordered, tickling her so much she fell on the ground.

Rose started laughing too, then she began to chant, "Frankie and Sevvy sittin' in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g, first comes love, then comes marriage . . ."

"Eeew! I don't wanna marry him, Rose!" cried Frankie.

"And I don't love her," Severus growled.

"Who do you love then?" Rose asked impudently.

"Nobody . . . yet," answered Severus. He turned away, blushing faintly. He couldn't wait for Lily to return, but at the same time he was concerned. What if she returned and didn't love him back? He knew she had said things would be different, but he still worried. He had waited and hoped and dreamed of the moment she would come back to him, forgive him for his temper, and they could be together. Only it had never happened. And if she had most of her memories as an adult, like he did, what if she rejected him for becoming a Death Eater? She had died before he could reveal his role as a spy and how much he loved her.

"Let's play something else," he told the girls.

"Like what?"

"Like art show," he said, and then he ran to get the art supplies.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

That night, Severus was pensive and he picked at his food. He pushed his peas and meatloaf around on his plate and hoped no one would notice.

But of course, they did.

"Sevvy, why aren't you eating?" Ginny asked.

"I'm not really hungry," he mumbled.

"You're not sick, are you?" asked Harry. He gently felt the child's forehead with the back of his hand. "Hmm . . . you're not running a fever. Does your tummy hurt?"

Severus shook his head. "No. I'm just not hungry." He pushed his plate away. "May I be excused?"

"All right, but drink your milk first," Harry said. He eyed the youngster in concern. "Is there something else that's bothering you?"

Severus nodded. "I . . . need to talk to you later, Harry. In private."

"All right. Come into my study in about fifteen minutes." Harry said affably.

Severus pushed his chair back and left the kitchen. He went into his room and lay on his bed, hugging Mimic. He was trying to make a hard decision and it was giving him a headache.

Meanwhile, back in the kitchen, Harry was asking Ginny if anything had happened today with the children. "Sev seemed upset about something."

"As far as I know, Rose and Frankie get along fine with Sev," Ginny said. She looked at Alby. "Alby, did Sevvy quarrel with the girls today?"

"Umm . . . kinda. Frankie kept trying to kiss him and then Rosie said he loved her, but he said he doesn't and he got kinda mad . . .and that's all. Girls are weird."

Harry chuckled. "I used to think so too when I was little. But when you get older . . . you change your mind."

"Do you think . . . he might be embarrassed over that?" Ginny wondered. She knew at that age, little boys embarrassed easily.

"I'll talk to him," said Harry. He suspected the problem ran a bit deeper than that.

Severus waited exactly fifteen minutes before making his way down to Harry's study. He found Harry sitting down at his desk in his comfy leather chair.

"What's on your mind, Sev?" he asked, gesturing for the boy to have a seat in the plump wing chair opposite.

Severus sat down, then couldn't think of a way to begin and just sat there, gnawing his lip and staring at the tops of his trainers.

Harry could see he was struggling and decided to help him along a bit. "Would it have anything to do with the girls teasing you?"

Severus' eyes flashed and he snapped, "No! They're just silly girls, who don't even know what love is yet." Then he sighed. "And neither do I, really. I know what it means to love someone, but not whether someone loves me back. I've been thinking . . . if Lily comes back with all her memories, like I did, who's to say that she'll love me once she remembers that I was . . . a Death Eater once?"

"Sev, I have all your memories . . . and I still love you," Harry said softly, gazing into the dark eyes. "Ginny does too. When Mum came to you through me, she knew everything you'd done . . . and she forgave you and accepted you for it. She's returning for you, Sev. Because she loves you and wants you to be happy."

"And what about her happiness? I want her to love me back, not just . . . settle for me."

"She does love you, Sev."

"Enough to share her life with me?"

"Yes. She's coming back through the Veil to get a second chance, just like you, because there are things in her past that she wishes she'd done differently. One of those things was you."

Severus was silent for several minutes, pondering what Harry had said. This was such an odd conversation, he mused, talking to the son of his best friend and also his hated rival about how much he loved his mother. And yet, he trusted Harry to understand . . . and even to sympathize with him.

"I guess I'll just have to trust in her. She claims it's destined this time that we're together. That should make me happy, but . . . somehow it makes me feel like . . . I'm trapping her. I don't want that. I want her to love me for me . . . for it to be her choice . . . I don't want to put pressure on her to grow up so we can be together, I want her to have a normal childhood with whoever is her guardian."

"That's a good thing, Sev. So why are you so anxious?"

"Because the way I feel about her isn't like some silly teenage crush, Harry. It's the love of a man for a woman and we're both children still." Severus sighed. "I think I need to use the Pensieve again, Harry. I need to put all those memories of how I loved her in there."

Harry was startled. "Why would you do that?"

"Because I want this to be natural. I want her to fall in love naturally with me, that way I'll know it's real this time. I also want the same for me. I've loved her forever, and if it's meant to be, as she said, then it will happen, whether or not I have my memories of loving her the last time around. I'm not a pervert, I don't want to be . . . lusting after a little girl, Harry. I don't want to forget her, I just want her to be my friend and hopefully love me the way I did her. Do you think that's the right thing to do?"

"Sev, you need to do what's right for you. If that's what you think is best, then we'll visit Minerva tomorrow. But you need to remember something too. Love is endless, and what you loved then you'll love always. That goes for her too. Maybe last time she wasn't ready to love you despite everything, and now she is. Love's funny that way."

"And it doesn't bother you that . . . she might love me more than your father?"

"Sev, that love story's been written. I'm here because of it. But that was then and this is now. This is your time, your chance, and I don't begrudge you a moment of it. I'm glad you love her the way you do. She deserves it and so do you. Besides, I've always been a sucker for happy endings." Harry smiled encouragingly at the youngster sitting before him, with the too wise eyes and the conflicting emotions. "Does that help any?"

"Yes. It does," Severus said. "Let's visit Minerva tomorrow."

"All right. Sounds like a plan. You want to go back and eat dinner now?"

Severus nodded. He was hungry now, now that the nervous anxiety that had possessed him was fading. "Suddenly, I'm starving."

"Figured. Let's eat then. Ginny saved your plate just in case." Harry said, rising.

Severus slid down from the chair and walked over to Harry, gently grasping his large hand in his small one. "Harry? I have one more question to ask you."

"Go ahead."

"Does it . . . bother you that I don't . . . call you Dad like Alby does?"

"No. That's your choice. I know I'm not your father, only your guardian. And once I was your student, so I know that can be . . . awkward to say the least. I don't mind you calling me Harry."

Severus nodded, relieved that Harry understood. "It's not that I don't . . . respect you, you've treated me better than my own father ever did. You took me in and gave me a home when nobody else would have. You gave me a family again. I . . . I love you like I never did Tobias. It's just that . . ."

"I know, Sev. And it's okay. Whatever you call me, I'll always be a father to you, and you'll always be my son. Names aren't important. What's in here is," he tapped his heart.

Severus smiled up at him. "That's right." Then he held out his arms and Harry lifted him up and Severus threw his small arms about his neck and hugged him hard. He knew he was luckier than he deserved, because Harry was very much like his mother, a fact that Severus had never realized until now. Lily would be proud of you, he thought as Harry carried him back to the kitchen and the supper that awaited him.