Harry turned to find his father standing there behind him amongst the trees bordering the lake. He turned again and threw one of the rocks he'd been holding into the water, skipping it five times.

"Hm... I never could skip stones," Severus said as he came to stand next to his son. It was only because he'd taken off after Harry so quickly that he had a general idea of where to look for him.

"There was a pond I went to sometimes to get away from Dudley. One day a boy my age taught me how."

"Would you mind teaching a foolish old man?"

Harry turned and raised a brow. "What, has Dumbledore followed me out here too?"

Severus snorted then despite himself and Harry gave a little smile. After all that the child had been through in the last two months Severus didn't expect to see him smiling, especially after such an outburst at the Headmaster.

"Here," Harry said. "Hold it like this. Then you have to throw it with a spin at an angle to the water." He threw the stone and it skipped quite a ways before sinking into the water.

Severus stooped to pick up a flat stone and then threw it into the water. He got a single skip before it sank.

"I'm not a complete basket case you know," Harry said suddenly after long moments of silence.

"Did I imply that you were?"

"No," Harry said, chucking another stone with some vigor. "But this summer you only got to see the basket case side. I didn't want you to think you had to come baby me every time I do or say something stupid."

"Hm. I was not aware you'd said anything of the sort. The Headmaster had what was coming to him, although, it might be wiser in the future to refrain from such outbursts at your elders."

Harry sighed and stooped to pick up some more stones before handing one to his father.

Feeling like he needed to change topics, Harry said quietly, "Draco said you can't swim."

Throwing his stone before he spoke, Severus said, "It is information I would rather not be spread around."

"I won't tell. But I wanted to know... did you know I was your son when you went into the river after me?"

Severus turned to look at Harry and saw a genuine need to know there.

"Black had mentioned it after you ran off, but I did not know for certain. It was not on my mind when I went after you."

"You didn't like me at the time, why did you go in to save me?"

"Is there something specific you would like to know that this line of questioning is leading to?"

Harry threw the last of his rocks and then stared out at the water from his shady spot along the sheltered shoreline.

"Sirius saved me once," he said quietly. "I thought he did it because he loved me. You saved me when you could have drowned, and you've always hated me."

"My past attitudes towards you were a mistake that I would take back if I could," Severus started, before pausing to think about what Harry really wanted to know. "I saved you because you needed saving, and because I care about what happens to you. Regardless of what Black did to you this summer, I believe he too cared about what happened to you in the Ministry when he came hunting for you."

"Do you think he does still?"

Severus looked into Harry's eyes for a long moment. He wasn't sure if he found hope there or uncertainty. "I don't know Harry. I wish I had answers for you."

Me too, Harry thought secretly, but Severus saw it on his face anyway. "Come on. Let's walk around the lake before we go back up to the castle. Tomorrow I will take you and Draco to get your school supplies."

Harry nodded as they set off. He wanted to talk to his father about his fears of his friend's returning and what they would think of the changes in Harry's life, but he didn't bring it up. Instead he was happy to listen to potential potions ingredients to turn the hair cream a variety of shades, and listened as his father also gave him a list of possible other potions they might have luck selling around the school. Despite his encounter with Dumbledore, Harry considered this the best day he'd had all summer, as they strolled around the lake as the sun set, just being normal.

* * *

Harry waited with his hands in his pockets on the train platform in Hogsmead as the sun finally disappeared behind the trees. He and Draco had gone to deliver the last of the potions they'd made in the last week before school and collect their money, and then to wait for the train to arrive with their friends.

"They're not going to be happy, are they?" Draco asked next to him, voicing Harry's fears allowed.

Several fireflies floated past Harry and Draco before Harry said, "Probably not."

"Worried?"

"I think Ginny will be ok with it... and maybe Hermione. I don't know if Ron will disown me or not. I recall him having a fit when he found out Dumbledore was going to make you stay with me and Sirius for the summer."

"Want me to shove off for a few days then?"

Harry sighed as a light breeze blew through his hair in the dark. "No. Better not delay it any more than we have to."

"I bet uncle Severus could talk to them."

Harry snorted then and shoved Draco a little. "Like that would help! As far as Ron knows he and I are still mortal enemies."

"Haven't you written to him over the summer?"

"No," Harry said quietly. "They don't know anything that's happened."

They sat down on the edge of the platform and let their legs dangle over the edge for nearly an hour in silence before they heard a train whistle in the distance.

"Nice night," Draco said. "I bet you could walk back with them instead of taking a carriage. You might miss part of the feast."

"Is that allowed?"

Draco scoffed. "Who's going to catch you? Mean old Professor Snape? I hear he can be a right git." He was hoping to get a laugh from Harry, but Harry only gave a weak smile as they heard the train whistle again a little louder this time.

"Is that what you'll do with Pansy and Crabbe and Goyle? Break the news to them easy that you're now friends with Harry Potter? You could probably tell them that your dad is Arthur Weasley too." Harry did laugh at that but it was a short laugh that wasn't from real humor.

"I don't think you've got your facts straight," Draco said, the train whistling a third time now. It would be there any minute.

"How's that?"

"I hang around Pansy because that's what my parents expect. I've known her since I was born. Crabbe and Goyle hang around me because they think I'm going places with the Dark Lord, but I'd rather be spending my time with other people. I like Teddy Knott ok, he and I study together, but either way, none of them are actually my friends. If they don't like who I'm hanging around with then they can shove off. I didn't see any of them sticking their necks out for me when I told them I had to go stay with Sirius Black. And I didn't see any of them putting themselves on the line to get me to safety."

They heard the engine of the train then and both stood up. "Maybe I will walk back to the castle with them then," Harry said. He hadn't realized that things were so clear cut for Draco. If anything, the walk in the cool night air would give him some time to think... give his other friends some time to think. For Harry losing any of his friends was a big deal. They'd all put themselves on the line for him time and again, and Draco had been there for him all summer when he otherwise would have been completely alone.

"I'll let uncle Severus know then," Draco said. "Maybe he won't take so many points." Draco grinned then in the dark as the train was pulling up to the platform.

"If he hints at taking points tell him a werewolf got me or something." Harry had intended it as a joke, but it only made him think of Remus and the three letters hidden under the guest bed in his father's quarters.

With a screech the train finally came to a halt and students began offloading in the hundreds. "See ya," Draco said as Pansy hopped off the train and roped him into a hug. Harry gave a small wave and then stepped up onto an overturned wooden box so he could be more visible to his other friends.

Amongst the chaos of students, hooting owls, and Hagrid's booming voice, Harry heard Hermione say, "There he is!"

Harry couldn't help but grinning at seeing his friends. He'd forgotten how good it would be seeing them again, amongst all his fears and everything else that had gone on to pull at his attention this summer.

"Harry, we hadn't heard from you all summer mate," Ron said, opening his owl cage to let Pig fly up to the castle.

"Hedwig was gone until a couple of weeks ago."

"Where?" Ron asked with a smile, giving Harry a slap on the back.

Harry looked around him to see if he could spot Draco, who was just boarding a carriage with a group of Slytherins. Draco gave him a nod as his carriage lurched forward.

"Maybe we can walk back to the castle and I can tell you about it," Harry said, feeling bolstered that this plan had already been set in motion.

"We'll get in trouble," Hermione pointed out, but Harry shook his head.

"Not tonight. I think we'll have a little leeway."

"Part of something you'll tell us on the way?" Ginny asked with a smile, and Harry turned red a little before nodding. He'd also forgotten how much he missed Ginny. They'd come close to dating last year, but Harry had never gotten up the nerve to ask. Maybe he'd throw caution to the wind and ask her this year.

"Let's wait until everyone else clears out," Harry said, and his friends nodded, for the first time mistakenly free of worry that something bad might have happened to Harry over the summer. Surely anything he had to tell them this time around would be good news.

When the last carriage had pulled out of the station, they started their long walk up to the castle, their things all in a pile with the other student's belongings to be taken to the castle by house elves.

"So how was your summer Harry?" Hermione asked.

"I'll bet it was a blast," Ron said with a smile.

"Well, that's what I wanted to talk to you about," Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck and feeling a little uneasy about this. He wasn't sure how much detail he wanted to go into with them, but some detail would be required in the telling.

They listened quietly as they walked and Harry said, "There's been some changes. I- I didn't stay with Sirius after the first month."

"Why? Did you go with Remus or something?" Ron asked.

"Not exactly," Harry said. "Some bad things happened. I don't want to talk about it really, but I helped Draco run away, and then when Professor Snape came looking for him... I asked for him to take me away too."

They stopped walking then, wands all lit in the darkness of the path leading through the trees.

"You asked Snape to take you?" Ron asked. "I don't understand."

Harry rubbed the back of his neck hard again. "We spent a few days searching for Draco, and then another couple in a cabin while I was... er... healing."

"Oh Harry, what happened?" Hermione asked. Harry's eyes found Ginny, listening attentively. He had realized she wasn't asking questions.

"Like I said," Harry continued. "It's not something I want to talk about. But some bad things happened. I had some broken bones and pneumonia. Snape was still being a git but Draco made sure I got healed up... because I helped him escape. Come on, let's walk again or else they might send a search party for us."

They started walking again in silence, but after a minute, Ron said, "You make it sound like Sirius was so horrible Draco just had to escape."

"He did," Harry said. "I gave him my broom and he climbed out my bedroom window. I- I wasn't sure he'd make it or not."

Ron was frowning in the darkness as they walked and Harry wasn't sure if he believed him or not. As far as Ron knew Sirius had always been good to all of them. Suddenly a warm hand gripped his and drew Harry's attention away from Ron for the moment. He looked over to find Ginny next to him, holding his hand as they went.

"What happened next Harry?" she asked him.

"Well," he said quietly, "this is sort of where things get strange."

"Stranger than Sirius beating up you and Draco?" Ron asked. He didn't sound angry but his voice was as serious as Harry had ever heard. He supposed he had implied enough information to get his point across.

"Yes," Harry said. "Sirius... he came after me. I mean, after we had been back at the castle for a while, he just showed up. It was just Draco and Professor Snape and me there. All the other professors... even Hagrid were gone for the summer. He just walked right in and found me in a corridor. I don't know what he wanted," and it was the truth, because Harry had been so terrified, he hadn't been listening.

"I sort of fell over backwards and the next thing I knew Professor Snape was tackling him."

"Harry, Professor Snape wouldn't resort to such a Muggle-"

Harry cut Hermione off. "But he did. Took him right into the wall. I didn't stick around to find out what happened next. I took off. I ran straight up into the foothills on the other side of the castle. The next morning Snape found me. I- well, I tried to cross a river and I went right under. He went in after me and pulled me out."

"I guess that's not too strange," Hermione said then. Ginny squeezed Harry's hand and he was grateful to know that someone was there no matter what he had to say next, or at least that's what he felt like.

"Later... a week or two I guess, Snape told me something. He said that when he and Sirius fought, Sirius told him that... that I might be his son."

Ron stopped dead in his tracks now just as the castle came into full view. "Sirius must have gone starkers or something! Going after you like he did and then saying that!"

Harry bit his lip. Well, at least Ron believed the first part of the story. "Professor Snape did a test. He used a potion to see if Sirius was telling the truth."

"What did it say?" Ginny asked quietly. He looked into her eyes, which seemed interested in the answer, but Ron laughed then.

"We'll what do you think it said? James Potter!"

"I don't think so Ron," Hermione said a moment later when Harry still hadn't answered.

"What?" Ron's voice had grown very quiet.

"He's my father," Harry said, looking down at his shoes as the cool breeze blew through his hair again.

"How?" Ron asked, voice raised in pitch a little. Harry wasn't sure if he was scared or not of what Harry had said.

"I haven't really asked," Harry said. Then feeling like he needed a laugh he added, "But I assume it goes something like: when a man loves a woman-"

"Harry!" Ron seemed distressed and shoved Harry a little to get him to stop. "That's horrible!"

Harry grinned. He knew it. "The summer wasn't all bad though," Harry said.

"Sounds like it was," Hermione told him, and then there was that hand squeeze again from Ginny.

"Well, I decided to buy a new broom," Harry said, and Ron's interest was instantly piqued. "But I have to earn forty galleons so I started making potions with Draco and selling them to the apothecary in Hogsmead."

"Blimy," Ron said. "He really is Snape's son."

"A Blue Zephyr," Harry said, and Ron looked up again as well as Ginny, seeing as how they were both on the Gryffindor Quidditch team.

"A Blue Zephyr?"

"I figure somebody will need my old Firebolt when I get the new broom," Harry said. "Mind you we've still got to make about 200 gallons of potion before I'll have enough to buy it."

"If Fred and George would have thought of this they'd've been rich," Ron ogled.

"Well, we've made up some other potions some of the students might like to buy, and we're going to try selling those this year to see if I can't make the money faster."

They were finally nearing the Entrance to the castle now and Harry was glad no fists had been thrown and that the mood had taken a lighter turn.

"I'll help," Ron said. "The more money you make the faster I'll get that Firebolt."

"Well who says I was going to give it to you?" Harry asked.

"Well you're not giving it to Malfoy, if that's what you were thinking," Ron said.

"No, he already got a new broom and I had to promise him the first ride on the Zephyr for his help."

"Well who then?"

Harry turned red a little and then gave a look to Ginny, who also blushed.

"Oh, well then," Ron said in a huff, puffing up his cheeks.

They could hear that the feast had already started when they finally got into the Entrance Hall, and when they walked inside, Harry searched the head table to find his father watching his entrance. Assured that Harry was safe, he gave a single nod to Harry, who returned the gesture and then took a seat at the table with his friends.

"It's really true then?" Ron asked when they sat down, having seen the exchange between Harry and the Potion's Master.

"It's different now," Harry said. "He's been different to me. Nicer. I don't think he'll be bad to us this year."

"Well, we'll see," Ron said, loading up his plate. Once Hermione and Ginny were otherwise engaged in conversation however, Ron leaned in to Harry's ear and whispered, "You're still just Harry, right?"

"Far as I know," Harry said, which seemed to satisfy his friend, although inside, Harry knew that he too had changed and was different. He wasn't sure yet if it was a good change or bad. He still had too many mixed emotions to feel overjoyed, even at the prospect that his friends had seemed to accept the changes in his life.