Chapter One

Harry could not wait to go to his first movie with Severus! It had taken so much begging, bargaining, and pleading, but Harry had managed it! Now he would gloat and boast to himself all the way to the theater! He even got to pick the movie and he knew exactly which one he wanted to see. Harry had heard from his friend Hermione that there was a new horror movie out call the Devil Inside Me. They were having a couple showings in the theater before it was gone until it came out on muggle DVD.  Harry knew there was no way in Hell he would be able to convince Severus to buy such a thing, so that meant he would have to be sure to catch it in theaters.

“Popcorn, Sev,” he gabbed as they walked down the London street. “We have to have popcorn… Mione says it isn’t proper to see a movie without it!”

“Yes, and of course Miss Granger knows all,” the Potions Master sneered. “Honestly Harry, I don’t see why you can’t just wait for the bloody thing to come out on DVD…it is ten times more expensive to go to a movie.”

Severus could scold all he wanted; it really did not matter to Harry. He was too busy lusting after chocolate, buttered popcorn, and nachos. He never had the chance to go to a movie before moving in with Severus. The only reason Harry was acquainted with the proper movie-goer traditions was because his porker of a cousin, Dudley, seemed to go every other day with his Aunt and Uncle. 

“You haven’t even told me what movie it is we are going to,” Severus said loudly, gaining Harry’s attention once more. “It better not be one of those vulgar comedies I catch trailers of on the telly. I refuse to sit through one of those.”

“It’s not, Sev,” Harry said turning to face him. “You’ll probably like it! The overall mood of it just reminds me of you.”

He smiled, innocently, as Severus cocked his eyebrow at him. He hoped that this wouldn’t backfire and become an insult for his father. Really, Harry knew that his teacher would find this movie interesting. It wasn’t one of those pointless slasher films either, no, this one actually appeared to have taste. In Harry’s book that meant it was a must see, and he would be bloody damned if Hermione saw it and he wasn’t allowed to.

“If it’s another movie with Alan Rickman in it I will have to throttle you.” Severus warned.

“Awe, but dad,” Harry whined. “You guys look so much alike! I still think you should try cutting your hair like he had it in Die Hard…you won’t be so scary then.”

“I don’t want to look less scary,” Severus maintained. “I like the way I look brat, and I would thank you not to comment further or you just might wake up bald tomorrow morning.”

Harry instantly fell silent, he wasn’t so sure that Severus wouldn’t actually do something like that. Harry had quickly learned upon moving in with his professor that the man before him rarely made idle threats. So he really did not want to risk his tail by teasing him any further with hair tips, not when there were so many other things he could tease him about.

When they finally got to the theater Harry had to do everything he could to not bounce around in excitement! This was going to be the best film ever, and the only thing that made it better was that he was going to get to watch it with his dad. He wondered what scared Severus, really, the man always seemed so calm and collected no matter what the situation called for. Harry had often asked what his dad was afraid of but he always got the same answer back. There is nothing to fear but fear itself.

Yeah, that was all well in good, but not exactly the kind of tangible answer Harry could extort. He would never taunt Severus for being scared of something, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t throw it in front of the man to see his reaction. His dad was such a creature of habit, he just wanted to know that there were some things in the world he did not account for, some things that even Severus Snape had no plan for.

“Harry,” Severus called him back. “What movie am I paying for?”

Harry went back to the ticket booth and looked up at the black screen that had the movie title glowing in red. He really didn’t see anything else of interest other than the Devil Inside Me. That was perfect, it meant that Severus wouldn’t be able to find a movie of greater value.

“Devil Inside Me, dad.” he said, about ready to turn on his heel back to the popcorn.

“Wait a minute…” Severus hissed, grabbing his son by the shoulder and wheeling him back. “That movie is rated R…Harry James Potter…I told you no-

-but dad, please?!” he begged. “Hermione has seen it already, and she’s a girl!”

Severus rolled his eyes and sighed, he knew what was going to happen here. Harry was going to watch this horror movie and then end up with even worse nightmares than he already had. The boy was thirteen and in no way mature enough to handle a movie that was BASED off of real occurrences. It was a never ending cycle of pain in the arse, Severus didn’t even know why he was considering allowing him to watch such a thing.

“The last time I let you watch a horror movie,” he scolded. “You spent three nights in a row sleeping in my room; I couldn’t get a single wink of sleep.”

“This time will be different,” Harry pleaded. “I will stay in my room all night, and I won’t be scared at all. Please dad? Pretty please…please…please, please, please, please, please?”

Severus looked away as Harry made his eyes wide and the green sparkled at him. Damn those eyes, damn them, and damn him for always melting before them. If he didn’t have Lily’s eyes this wouldn’t be so difficult. He supposed that he could just make sure his son stayed in his room after seeing this film, really, it wasn’t like Severus wasn’t capable of being firm with him…granted, this situation would suggest otherwise.

“You will NOT be sleeping in my room if you get scared,” Severus hissed, turning back to the counter and paying for the tickets. “And I mean it, Harry Snape.”

Harry swallowed a bit, he knew that when the title Harry Snape came into play his father was serious. Usually Severus still called him Harry James Potter…it got awfully confusing at times. There were certain times Harry felt that the Potter was for when Severus didn’t want to be his father, and that the Snape was only reserved for when he was either in SERIOUS trouble or Severus wanted to claim him as his own. He never voiced this opinion, but it did often come into play in his head.

They moved past the ticket booth and Harry began picking out the snacks he wanted. He managed to get the extra large popcorn and soda out of his father, but his dad absolutely refused the chocolate. Harry supposed that was fair for being allowed to watch a Rated R movie, so he really did not push his luck farther when it came to the sweets.

“Thanks dad,” Harry grinned, popping a piece of buttery popcorn into his mouth. “You rock.”

“Flattery will get you nowhere with me, brat,” Severus sighed, leading him to their seats. “I still think this is a horrible idea.”

“Would you calm down?” the boy who lived grinned. “This is going to be awesome! Hermione says that you would probably find this movie interesting because of all the science mixed into it.”

Severus rolled his eyes; Miss Granger always felt that she knew everything about everyone. Severus was not the most religious man in the world. He had been raised in a Roman Catholic family, but he really did not discuss his faith much with anyone. That was a personal matter, and he never bothered to ask Harry where he’s belief’s lie. Part of him felt that his son was just too young to really give it too much thought, and the other part of him did not want to spend a better of the evening going over theology.

Harry looked at his father and sipped from his soda, he really had hoped that Severus would come around to enjoy seeing this movie with him. He wanted this to be a nice moment of bonding and fun between father and son. Taking another piece of popcorn, he moved over and rested his head on Severus’s arm.  The man stiffened a bit at first, but Harry smiled the moment he relaxed and glanced down at him.

“Come now,” Severus teased. “The movie hasn’t even started and already you are hiding your face in my arm.”

“Psh!” Harry snorted. “I am just getting comfortable, dad, I am not scared of anything. Gryffindor bravado and all that jazz, you know.”

Harry winked causing Severus to snort himself.

“Seriously though,” Harry said gently. “I’m really happy you took me to a movie, it means a lot to me that you and I get to spend time together. It doesn’t seem like we get to all that often.”

Severus smiled warmly at the boy against his arm and gently ruffled his hair. He knew that he had a lot to make up for when it came to how he had treated Harry Potter, but he was hoping that the boy was seeing how hard he was trying. Severus had not known those pig relatives of his had been so cruel to him, and if he had Severus would have made sure they had never had custody of him, but Severus had let his old school grudge blind him and his, current, son had to pay the price for his foolishness.

“We spend plenty of time together,” he smirked. “You are just usually scrubbing cauldrons because you can’t behave and do as you are told.”

Harry had to keep from rolling his eyes and talking back. He didn’t want Severus to make him leave the film early, but he wanted to point out that he often felt that Severus never really wanted to spend time with him. Harry tried to get into potion making, but he still wasn’t good enough at it to impress his dad. And Severus got motion sickness far too often to be able to ride brooms with him. They really didn’t have much to bond over unless Harry WAS to get in trouble.

“Harry slow down with the soda,” Severus scolded. “The movie hasn’t even started and you are already halfway through it.”

“But the popcorn is salty dad,” Harry sighed. “I can’t just eat that and NOT drink my soda.”

“So stop eating all of your popcorn.”

“But it’s sooo good!”

Severus chuckled and shook his head, how was it that most boys chose to think with their stomachs rather than with their heads. Merlin, he would never truly know how a boy could stuff so much into his face and not be sick afterwards. He tried to keep Harry from eating unhealthy foods, so he supposed that Harry enjoying his popcorn and soda at the moment was not the worst thing he could be doing.

“Okay, okay,” Severus chuckled. “I just don’t want you to have to go to the bathroom in the middle of the film.”

Harry rolled his eyes; Severus always treated him like he couldn’t take care of himself. Granted, there were times that Harry did need him, but when it came to going to the bathroom Harry could sense and do that on his own.

“Do you wab some oda, Ev?”  Harry asked, his mouth full of, buttery, popcorn.

“Harry James, chew and swallow before you speak to me.” Severus scolded.

Harry rolled his eyes and nearly choked when Severus’s hand found its way to the back of his head. Coughing slightly he glared up at him briefly and would have said something, but just as he was about to the lights went from being dim to nonexistent.

“Shh!” Harry grinned. “Quit trying to distract me while I’m watching a movie.”

Severus glared at his son, but didn’t comment further. He hoped that Harry would keep his word and not get so scared that he would have to spend the night with him. He loved the boy, but he didn’t get enough sleep as it was without his son slimming his chances even further.

Harry smiled as he watched the movie continue past the trailers. He could not believe he had been able to convince Severus to come and see a horror movie, Harry felt that he deserved some sort of reward for this. Glancing up at his guardian he popped another piece of popcorn into his mouth and leaned his head back against his shoulder. Tonight was going to be one of the best nights he and Severus shared in a long time.