Harry could not remember being as nervous as he was at that moment as he watched Severus pace moodily in front of him.

The boy was seated upon the sofa, staring anxiously at his muttering, furious professor. He had hoped, in a moment of fleeting awkwardness, that Severus would forget to punish Harry for sitting inside the tiger's cage. Of course, Severus never missed the chance to lecture and make Harry suffer before, so the Gryffindor didn't seriously expect to escape this situation without consequence.

He thought, in all fairness, it hadn't really been his fault.

Ann challenged Harry to spend two minutes within the beast's cage, and then locked him inside. It wasn't like he could just say “no”, right? She was a scary girl, and would probably shove him inside the cage, anyway. Besides, the ordeal was the condition to gain her friendship, and it was what Harry had wanted. Now he wasn't so sure. Severus halted abruptly and glared down at him, which made Harry feel as though he was shrinking under the angered expression of his professor.

'Do you have any idea how daft your sophomoric behaviour was?' Severus growled. 'Do you indeed have a death wish, or do you truly believe yourself to be above those of mortal status?'

'I know it was stupid.' Harry frowned and looked at his toes, which stuck out from the hem of his now too-long blue and white striped pyjamas. It seemed he'd made his clothes grow in his effort to disappear while Severus was pacing. Too amused by his use of magic, Harry was almost startled when his guardian spoke again.

'It was more than mere stupidity, brat!' Severus barked. 'It was suicidal; such idiocy beyond even your cretinous standards of disregard towards one's own safety.' He continued. 'Pray tell; why did you do it?'

Harry wasn't sure how to reply. He knew his answer would just make Severus angrier as it was a rather silly reason, when he thought about it. And he didn't want to get Ann yelled at too, so even he wasn't aware of what was being said when he muttered something incoherent under his breath.

'Brat-' Severus narrowed his eyes. 'Look. At. Me.'

Harry jerked his head upright at the dangerous tone and gulped, seeing the man's dark eyes glowering down into his own. He wriggled his fingers and felt them disappear inside his longer sleeves. His magic was very confusing sometimes.

'Why did you do it?' Severus repeated. 'Do. Not. Lie. To me.'

'I don't like being called a coward.' Harry grumbled.

It didn't actually matter what he said, as Severus stared intently at his emerald eyes with a silently cast spell. He flitted through the boy's mind for a few seconds, seeing the girl who must be Ann and realising the real reason why Harry acted so moronic.

The man glanced away first and did not comment on what he had seen. If there was any name, above all the rest, that Severus could not handle being referred to as, it would be “coward”. Despite the fact Harry was a child, Severus did not feel comfortable in faulting the boy for his line of thinking. However, it did not excuse jumping into a tiger's cage for any amount of time.

But how could he punish the boy?

Detentions and loss of points had no effect or function within the carnival, and simply locking Harry in his room would hardly get the message across. Uncomfortably, Severus shifted his footing and narrowed his eyes, being careful to keep his expression undecipherable. Maybe he could make the boy write down lines until the brat passed out?

'My dad would understand.' Harry's low, disgruntled tone reached Severus' ears, though he attempted to withhold his entire reaction. A snarl was heard from his throat as he glared over at the Gryffindor.

'Any father, regardless of how thick-headed yours may have been, would surely not wish his son to confine himself inside a cage with a predator.' Severus doubted his own words, due to his lowest opinions of James Potter. It did give him an idea, though. 'You're grounded.' He stated and ignored Harry's shocked response of a wide-eyed expression and stuttering.

'You can't do that!' Harry clenched his fists, enraged that Severus would be so unfair and use a punishment he felt was reserved only for parents. 'You're not my dad.'

'No.' Severus said through thin lips. 'I am, however, your adult guardian for the duration of our stay in this wretched place. That unfortunate duty allows a certain level of discipline you are long over-due to receive.' He waited for Harry to object again before he dashed forward and towered over the boy, effectively silencing him.

'One more word of disagreement, brat...' Severus threatened. 'And you will be immeasurably regretful.'

Harry snapped his jaw shut and glared at his professor. He sat there, defiant and furious, as he waited for the details of his unjustified grounding, which came from a man he felt had no right to give it.

'You shall attend each of your meals and perform your duties of assistance to the others at the carnival, as per you're required.' Severus detailed. 'You may not, however, engage in any amount of free time or wayward activities. You will keep your distance from that girl, Ann, regardless of what you may naively believe of her intentions.'

'For how long?' Harry growled through grit teeth, fighting the urge to complain with every fibre of his being.

'As long as necessary.' Severus retorted with a smirk. He made a warning gesture with his raised eyebrow when Harry opened his mouth, until the boy huffed and closed it again to sink backwards against the sofa.

'Can I go now?' Harry asked.

Severus looked the boy over and blinked with surprise.

When he didn't say anything, Harry assumed he was allowed to run off to his room. Severus could only roll his eyes when the boy stood and with his first step, stumbled forward onto the floor. Sprawled on his stomach, Harry took a moment to realise why he had trouble walking. The angered moment lost, he glanced at Severus with questioning as the man crouched beside him and examined the lengths of his pyjama sleeves.

Harry expected to be scolded for his accidental magic, as he had so many times while living with the Dursleys. Instead, he was startled to recognise amusement in his recent guardian's face. His regularly glaring and mocking professor was enlightened by the occurrence, and it confused Harry profoundly.

'Usually accidental magic only occurs in moments of profound stress, releasing of bottled anger, or upsetting fears.' Severus stated as Harry sat upright on the floor and watched the motions the man made with his ebony wand, re-sizing the sleeves to the length they should have been.

'Then why did this happen?' Harry wondered. 'I was annoyed, but not...what you said.'

'Perhaps your magic is seeking an outlet of its own.' Severus stood again and tucked his wand into the depths of his sleeve. 'I doubt it. It would make further sense if your magical core was developing at a different pace than it has adapted to. Possibly, it is a result of your recent misadventure with the Spinning Spider ride.' Severus said bitterly, thinking of the discomfort and sickening sensation Harry had experienced as a result of being forced on the ride.

Ann had been responsible for that as well, Severus knew. He despised the girl and was beginning to understand why Mina was so adamant in stating Ann to be nothing more than a trouble-maker.

'Go to your room.' Severus instructed. 'I will inform the house-elves to deliver your dinner here. I believe you have had quite enough mischief for one day.'

Hunching his shoulders since it meant he could not see any of the others as he often did during dinner, Harry knew better than to protest and marched off to his room. Taking pleasure in partially slamming his door shut, he jumped onto his bed and pressed his face into his pillow to keep himself from yelling or kicking something. The singular positive note he could find in the entire rotten circumstance was how he could delay finding out if Mina was mad at him for making her worry when he had been sick. He didn't have to face her; not yet, anyway, and it was the spark which ignited his motivation to calm himself and accept the punishment he was given.

For now, at least.

Harry knew he'd be in trouble again, not just because he was Harry Potter and trouble infallibly found him, nor as a result of Severus always hounding him for something, but simply because Harry knew nothing would keep Ann from getting what she wanted. He had not seen the last of her, as Ann would surely hunt him down once again. Harry rolled over onto his back and sighed, realising he was almost relieved to be having his dinner alone in his bedroom, away from Mina or Ann, and a mostly silent, moody professor being his only possible company during the rest of the night.

Breakfast began at six thirty every morning at the carnival, and every one of those mornings for approximately three weeks since Severus and Harry had resided there, the boy was impatiently ready to leave before the scheduled time. That morning, however, Severus approached the opening of the tent at twenty minutes after six and wondered where the boy was.

The door to Harry's room was partially ajar. Severus silently walked to it in the same way he used to stalk the Hogwarts corridors at night in search of late-night wanderers. He pressed his palm to the wood and lightly pushed it open with a deliberately slow motion. Harry was half-concealed under the bed, dressed in a pair of faded jeans, a blue shirt, and tattered shoes over white socks.

Lying on his stomach and facing the window, though it was out of sight because he was mostly under the bed, Harry appeared to be writing or drawing something. Severus inched closer, choosing careful footing as he peered towards the child to see what he was up to. He noticed a calendar sitting open in front of the boy, which Harry was apparently trying to figure out a date of something. There was nothing marked yet on the page of July, even as Harry hovered his pencil over the 31st in a circular motion as though he was noting its importance.

Severus pulled away and left the room. He had assumed it once he saw the calendar, and now he'd seen the confirmation of his thoughts. The brat was counting down to his twelfth birthday, and Severus' calculations indicated it would be the following day. Had they reached the end of July so soon? Where had the time gone, if they were already halfway through their stay at the carnival in accordance to their “two month” agreement?

He thought it would do Harry some good to be away from his likely doting relatives for his birthday, but Severus was unable to maintain that line of consideration. He was not blind; he could tell Petunia and her husband did not actually spoil the child, as evidence by Harry's thin form and ragged clothes.

Even so, Severus did not think the boy was very badly treated as he was far too defiant and social, he believed. Along with multiple other reasons he told himself to prevent becoming paranoid about the situation. Just because his childhood was poorly did not mean Severus should always jump to that conclusion with others. There could be different reasons for Harry's neglected appearance, Severus did not know...he had never chosen to pursue an investigation into the matter.

And yet, he could not ignore the fact Harry would not be surrounded by his family or friends during his approaching twelfth birthday. Even if the boy had taken a liking to many of the carnies, Severus was aware Harry missed Weasley and Granger. Harry may be meddlesome and arrogantly annoying, but Severus knew the brat was still a child. And no one of that age deserved to sit alone in a room with only their hated professor for company on their birthday.

'Harry!' Severus barked in his practised tone of irritation. 'Breakfast is to be served in three minutes. Cease dawdling; we haven't got all day!'

'Sorry!' Harry sounded as though he had whacked his head on the underside of the bed when Severus had called to him. Regardless, he soon emerged from his room with his hair in a mess and a sullen look on his face.

'You are grounded until I say otherwise; do not forget.' Severus lectured as they walked to the main tent, and made sure the boy stayed close enough to hear him. Any time Harry tried to quicken his pace, Severus would grasp his shoulder and yank him back to his side, ignoring the boy's squirms to escape.

'You will eat your meals at a timely manner, and fulfil your duties as required.' Severus continued. 'There is always something to be done; therefore, I will accept no excuses and no exceptions. Is this understood?'

'Yes, sir.' Harry groaned.

He almost took off running when the grip upon his shoulder was released and the main tent came into view right ahead and only managed to catch himself in time. As he reached the entrance, however, his urgency to flee inside was lost as he remembered Mina would be there.

'What now?' Severus snarled when the boy did not move.

'Mina's in there.' Harry looked at his shoes and sighed. 'I think she's angry at me for making her worry. I don't want her to hate me.'

'Nonsense.' Severus shoved the boy inside. 'Such a notion is impossible. If you are anxious over the possibility of her disappointment or anger, then perhaps you should wait until she is informed of your incident regarding the tiger yesterday.'

'No, sir!' Harry spun around so suddenly Severus almost bumped into him. 'Please don't tell Mina that, please! She'll really hate me then.'

'What am I being told?'

Harry grimaced at the sound of Mina's voice and wasn't aware Severus knew she had been there, in his own efforts to involve her without the boy openly realising his actions. She glanced at Severus and only he noticed the tiny change in her appearance, judged purely in her eyes, as she understood his motives.

'And I could never hate you, Harry.' Mina frowned. 'Why would you think such a thing?'

'Because...' Harry blushed and looked away. 'I did something stupid yesterday.'

'I see.' Mina nodded and guided Harry to their table, which was empty apart from herself, Harry, and Severus. 'Well, why don't you tell me about it? I assure you; I could never be capable of hating you.'

'You promise?' Harry whispered anxiously.

'My word is my promise.' Mina nodded. 'You'll feel better once you've told me. I do hope you weren't planning on keeping it a secret? I wouldn't want you to bottle up emotions that are bothering you in fear I would dislike you for them, Harry.'

'I'm sorry.' Harry muttered as what she said was true; he intended to keep it to himself for those reasons. 'You're so nice to me...I didn't want to make you mad. Or worry!' He looked at her, determined to get his point across. 'I didn't mean to make you worry about me when I got sick from the ride, honest!'

'Oh, Harry.' Mina sighed and shook her head. 'Of course I would worry. I care about you, and it made me sad to think you were harmed in any way. You shouldn't be sorry for that. I'm sure, if the situation was reversed, you would worry for someone you cared about as well?'

'Of course I would!' Harry said quickly. 'So...you're not mad?'

'No.' Mina smiled. 'Now, tell me what happened yesterday. Did I hear something about a tiger? Did Baxer do something?'

'Not really.' Harry focused on his plate of eggs, unable to meet her gaze in fear of her disapproval. 'I...well, I didn't want to be seen as a coward, so I sat in the...in the cage for two whole minutes. Baxer just watched me. I was okay, really-ouch!' He yelped when two squeezing fingers enclosed around his left ear.

'Severus, tell me this is an exaggeration?' Mina kept her grip on Harry's ear as she looked over at the man dressed in black pants and a white shirt.

He did his best not to appear smug or entertained by the ordeal Harry was enduring.

'Unfortunately, the boy speaks the truth.' Severus said in a dull tone. 'Had I not pulled him from the cage during the first opportune moment; I have no doubt the tiger would have made an easy snack of him.'

'Harry!' Mina frowned at him. 'How could you put yourself in such a dangerous situation?' She released his ear. 'Why would you do...wait, she told you to, didn't she? Did Ann make you sit in Baxer's cage, Harry? Tell me the truth.'

Harry rubbed his aching ear and did not reply. He was further annoyed to realise Mina and Severus had several things in common, such as the lectures and dislike of being lied to. He also did not want to get Ann in trouble. They were supposed to be friends now, and Harry knew Mina would forbid him to see Ann at all if he told her the truth.

'I chose to do it.' Harry said, which wasn't openly false. 'You said you wouldn't be mad.'

'I said I wouldn't hate you.' Mina corrected. 'You nearly gave me a heart-attack!' She gasped and placed a hand over her chest. 'Do you realise how dangerous that was? I thought you were afraid of Baxer, and the tiger has made no attempt to conceal his dislike of you.'

Severus slowed his pace of sipping from his morning tea when he heard the words he was casually eavesdropping on. It was shocking enough to have seen Harry sitting in the cage with the tiger, and now it was more so to understand the creature had prior dislike of the boy. He tried not to mentally re-live the moment, but Severus' mind continuously returned to the scene.

He had been walking down the narrow path in search of the brat who had run off earlier. Severus hadn't gone after Harry right away because he had needed a moment to calm himself, lest he actually strangle the Gryffindor. He halted in his tracks; his dark gaze landing on the sight of Harry sitting across from a predatory cat with his arm reaching towards it. Severus lost all sense and reasoning at that moment of fright. He had run forward, and the door of the cage flew open in reaction to his frantic magic before he even reached for it. He'd stretched forward only on instinct, curling his arms around the boy protectively and pulling him from the cage. The door dutifully swung shut again and latched itself.

Severus would not forget the moment, for as long as he lived; recalling the thundering of his own heart and sheer panic that overcame him. As his customary anger seeped into his form, Severus could not internally deny the rush of relief to seeing the boy standing unharmed in front of him.

His unmoving obsidian gaze was fixated on his plate as Severus tuned out of the conversation between Mina and Harry. His hands were under the table, each clenched at the material of his pants over his knees as he fought for calm.

He had protected the Gryffindor in any way he was able to during the past year at Hogwarts, and somehow nothing had compared to the moment with the tiger. Not when Harry was being tossed around high in the air by a jinxed broomstick, or the incident with the troll, or even many of the occurrences in the chambers of strangling Devil's Snare, violent chess piece battle, poisons of his own making, and Voldemort himself.

Perhaps because Severus had not openly witnessed those dangers about to happen, nor as closely, but for whatever the reason...the eleven-year-old child sitting inside a cage with a tiger had shaken Severus profoundly. And so strongly he hadn't thought of who the boy was, or why he had to protect him that fiercely...no, Severus had only reacted instantly without any realisation towards his actions or the reasoning behind them.

The boy had nearly died two days before his twelfth birthday celebration, which is why Severus saw it as exactly that.

The event on the 31st of July deserved to be noted, because the boy aging another year was an accomplishment, given the recent events. Harry had survived his encounter with the tiger, as he had survived his double confrontations with Voldemort, and Severus had recovered from his horror towards the entire experience...the Dark Lord be damned.

His thoughts reaching a halt, Severus felt a prickle of instinct and glanced from his plate to look over at Mina. Harry had gone to the other end of the tent to greet Ryan and Pete, who had just arrived for breakfast.

'What?' Severus frowned at Mina, as the woman continued to stare back at him with a too-knowing expression. He always felt exposed around her, and it agitated him terribly, which was why he had developed a habit of being snarkier than usual towards her.

She either failed to notice or simply didn't care.

'You were a Professor.' Mina stated. 'And even so, you're not the sort of person to let Harry evade the consequences of what happened yesterday. How did you punish him?'

'It is hardly any of your concern.' Severus returned. He could never tell if she was curious or accusing him of something, though in his view those two were often the same thing. 'He was adequately dealt with.'

'How?' Mina pressed. 'Harry insists you were very unreasonable.'

'Of course he would.' Severus rolled his eyes. 'If you must know; he was grounded. I have restricted him to his duties with no free time. He is also to avoid that girl I know was involved.'

'Ann?' Mina made a grunting noise of dislike. 'And you grounded him? So, what they say about you is closer to the truth then, is it?'

Before Severus could question what precisely was being said about him and what it had to do with how he had chosen a more parental method in regard to teaching the brat a lesson than a teacher's approach, Harry had rejoined them with extra company. Mina and Severus each looked away from the other and shifted on their seats at the same moment, paying little attention as Harry sat between them and chatted animatedly to Pete, Ryan, and Mac, who each sat across the table.

Harry was not happy with having his free time taken from him, though he probably shouldn't have had it to begin with.

He left breakfast shortly after Mina and Ryan, and wandered to the paddock where he had spoken to Sasha before the entire situation with Baxer. He'd agreed to visit her again to feed the horse Cleon and the reluctant, nervous zebra Stripe. Sasha hadn't really told him when to come by, and he didn't think they needed feeding until the afternoon, but Harry was bored and feeling a bit moody, so he preferred to climb onto the fence and sit on it as he watched the two creature eat grass in the distance.

He had a lot to think about too, with his birthday taking place tomorrow.

He was nervous about still not hearing about what happened to Hedwig and no one had seen her. Harry felt horrible and wished he knew if she was okay. Maybe she'd gone to the Weasleys or Hogwarts? Harry hoped so. Either way, this birthday was likely to pass by without acknowledgement or even a letter from any of his friends. He missed Ron and Hermione a lot. More so with each passing week, and he didn't know if they were worried he had disappeared and wasn't writing to them, or if they hadn't noticed at all.

It was still the summer, after all.

'A sickle for your thoughts?' Sasha spoke calmly from nearby as she approached him slowly, not wanting to startle Harry in case he fell off the fence.

'Oh, it's nothing.' Harry shrugged, even as his sigh of longing wasn't unmissed. 'I didn't know when to come here. I hope you don't mind?'

'Not at all.' Sasha replied. 'You're always welcome here, Harry. They don't need feeding, but I'm sure Cleon won't say no to some fresh company for a while.' She indicated to the chestnut horse, who was now watching Harry with interest, no doubt remembering the boy was the one with the food bucket the previous day. He had received quite a fill of grain from Harry, whereas Sasha often took a closer interest in his health on only limited a certain amount.

Cleon certainly liked Harry better.

'What about Stripe?' Harry looked over at the zebra.

'He's still anxious.' Sasha shook her head. 'I wish I knew why.' She glanced over her shoulder as customers approached, since the carnival had opened only a few minutes previous.

She excused herself and left Harry on the fence. He watched her head inside the golden booth before he focused on Stripe again.

Sliding down from the fence until his feet landed on the grass in the inside of the paddock, Harry reached into his pocket for a piece of bread he had taken from the breakfast table before realising he wasn't hungry enough to eat it. Not wanting to waste the food, Harry had pocketed it, and now he felt it would come in handy.

'Hey, Stripe.' Harry spoke in a careful tone as he took a step forward, holding out his open palm to reveal the bread. Luckily, Cleon had moved to a different section of the paddock and wasn't paying attention, otherwise Harry was sure the horse would have trotted over and stolen the food.

'No. I can't do it!'

Harry turned quickly when he heard Ann's voice. He saw her march out of the tent nearby, and Sasha followed her. The pair didn't get far and Harry couldn't make out all that was being said as there was still quite some distance between himself and the girls.

'Fine.' Sasha said. 'Give up. Prove to everyone how good you are by being a quitter.'

'Not one cares anyway!' Ann shouted back, sounding utterly livid.

'And what am I, your nanny?' Sasha looked hurt by Ann's words. She waited for the girl to reply, however, Ann hurried away without another word. Sasha sighed and stared at the ground, before she walked back to her booth and vanished from sight again.

Harry flinched when something touched his hand. He looked over to see his palm empty and thought for a moment that Stripe had finally come over while his back had been turned.

'Cleon.' Harry shook his head disapprovingly at the horse who was happily munching on the bread. 'That was for Stripe.' He frowned and decided to leave the paddock.

The boy was determined to get through to the zebra, even if he had to stand around with food scraps every day. For now he had duties to do, so Harry bid good-bye to Sasha and hurried into the depths of the carnival in search of a carny to assist.

--

Having spent almost the entire day shovelling elephant manure, Harry was exhausted by the time he'd finished his dinner and returned to his residential tent for a nice warm shower. Dropping onto his bed, Harry exhaled and reached under his pillow for his calendar. It was his birthday tonight, and Severus Snape or not...he would still go through his yearly tradition of staying up until midnight, counting down to being a year older.

Occupying himself with random drawings of Hedwig, Hogwarts, and Quidditch-related subjects, Harry was numbly aware of time passing by. With an hour until midnight, he was startled from his activity when his door swung open, which blew out two of the candles he had been using for light.

'What infernal reasoning do you have to still be awake at this time of night?' Severus glared at him.

Harry took a moment to reply, as he recovered from his shock of being interrupted and seeing his professor in his pyjamas.

'I'm sorry, sir.' Harry blushed. 'I hope I didn't wake you.'

'Your birthday will surely not pass you by whilst you sleep. I insist you go to bed. Now!' Severus glowered, having been unable to sleep himself as he knew the boy was awake and what sort of day it would be tomorrow.

'But it's tradition.' Harry sighed. 'I always stay up until midnight...wait, how did you know it will be my birthday?' He instantly became suspicious because Harry knew no one at the carnival was aware of the fact, and he certainly hadn't told his guardian at all.

Severus decided he was too tired and irritated to bother answering. He cast a charm to tell him what time it was and exhaled with dread. There was about fifty minutes until midnight and Severus had no desire to spend it trying to force the brat to sleep.

Grunting, Severus left the doorway of the boy's room and entered the main one. Sitting on an armchair, he levitated a book to his lap and decided to wait as well. There was no point in returning to his soft bed until the boy was asleep in his own, anyway. Unable to see the pages of the thick, red book he had chosen, Severus conjured and lit many more candles, which floated around the room in a similar manner the ones in the Great Hall did.

He paused, his wand still raised, when Harry slowly joined him and sat on the floor only a few feet away. He had a pile of scrap parchment, muggle paper, and an assortment of writing or colouring materials with him. Harry propped his muggle watch against the leg of the sofa and resumed his detailing of the feathers of the owl in his picture. Severus curiously glanced over his book to see what the boy was drawing, before he retreated backwards and flipped the page.

And so, the mostly quiet countdown to midnight began.

However, the moment came and went. By the time the sun had risen, there was concern sweeping through the form and mind of Mina. She rushed past several tents until she reached the one Harry and Severus shared. Peering carefully inside in case her worst fears had been confirmed, she was met with a rather unusual sight. It was just after seven in the morning, which was why she had sought out the pair in determination to discover why they had missed breakfast.

She entered the tent entirely, and a smile graced her features as she looked at the pair, who were each still dressed in their pyjamas. Harry was sprawled on his stomach, surrounded by papers and pencils. Severus was slumped in an armchair with a book sitting on the floor with his loosely hanging hand inches above it.

They were sound asleep.

Mina knew it was an important day, though, so she approached Severus first. Standing a short distance away, she pondered on the best method to wake him. Simply shaking him or placing herself in harm's way would be considered foolish, which was something Mina was not - for amusing reasons and very serious ones.

'Severus?' Mina spoke carefully. 'It's morning.'

'Hnn.' Severus made a sound and opened his eyes, not acting the slightest bit startled as she had been expecting. Wincing at his uncomfortable position and being caught in his sleepwear, Severus rubbed a hand over his blushing face and through his hectic hair. He followed her gaze to the boy, who remained blissfully oblivious of their company.

'Late night?' Mina wondered with a knowing smile.

'Apparently there was a tradition in which kept me from achieving any rest until it was fulfilled.' Severus grumbled.

He rose from his chair after retrieving the book and wandered sluggishly to his bedroom, no doubt to return in a more presentable attire and alertness. As he did that, Mina moved to lightly shake Harry. Surprisingly, he was the one who jerked upright with wide eyes and a gasp of alarm.

'Oh, hi.' Harry calmed when he saw Mina, his cheek flushing red as he let his sleepiness overwhelm him. 'It's my birthday today!' He blurted out, though mostly in vocalised realisation when he saw it was morning.

'I know.' Mina brushed some hair from his face with a fond smile. 'Happy Twelfth Birthday, Harry.'

'Thanks. But...how do you know?' Harry frowned, thinking too many people knew about his birthday already without him saying anything.

'Severus told me.' Mina looked over at the man who emerged from his bedroom, trying to button his white shirt and snuff a yawn at the same time. 'He's not a morning person really, is he?' She chuckled as Severus looked down at his own feet and returned to his room in search of his missing shoes.

'How did he know?' Harry huffed. 'I never told anyone here.'

'I'm glad Severus told me!' Mina cast Harry an exasperated look. 'How can we celebrate such a wonderful occasion if we don't know about it?' She shook her head. 'You missed breakfast, both of you. However, I do think the house elves will bring you something anyway, since it is such an important day. Run along and get dressed Harry...the others are waiting to wish you Happy Birthday.'

Harry's eyes and face lit up with a smile as he jumped from the floor and ran to his room to get dressed. His drawings and materials hovered after him with the aid of Mina's wand. Once the door slammed shut in the boy's excitement, Mina tried not to laugh as she walked over to where Severus was standing in his doorway.

'I believe you like to abide by comfortable schedules and regular sleeping hours.' Mina teased as she stood in front of Severus and ignored his glare when she reached to fix the top two buttons on his shirt for him.

Waving her wand to groom his hair, Mina checked for any other signs of early-morning disorientation. Looking at his face, their eyes met and she raised her hand to flick a strand of hair from his face.

'You really do look good in white.' Mina said in a soft tone. 'I'm glad you have taken to wearing it more often.' She smiled.

'It is a necessity, nothing more.' Severus retorted and wondered why his feet felt to be frozen to the floor or if the pounding in his ears really was from his own pulse. She was too close, with her bright blue eyes staring into his dark obsidian ones.

'I'm re...' Harry halted as he burst from his room and noticed the proximity of the adults.

He saw Mina blush with a smile as she looked away from Severus and took a step back. Severus seemed confused, though no less awake, before he returned to fiddling with his top button even if it was now properly done up.

'I'm ready.' Harry repeated, looking from Mina to Severus and back again. 'What's going on?'

Before another word was spoken, there was a loud screech and something whooshed into the room. Several items fell at Harry's feet, but he was preoccupied with the feathers in his face. As he swiped his blurry offender away, Mina stepped closer in hasty reaction, only to be halted by Severus' hand, which had lightly grabbed her elbow.

'It's the boy's owl.' Severus revealed, just as Harry discovered what was going on.

'Hedwig!' Harry exclaimed with shock and relief, when his owl screeched again and fluttered over to perch on the top of the nearest piece of furniture. 'You're okay. You found me!'

'The poor bird.' Mina said sympathetically.

'What do you mean?' Harry frowned and looked Hedwig over. Apart from being tired and having a few plucked feathers, she didn't look injured or otherwise poorly.

'Animals are not excluded from the magic hiding this carnival, Harry.' Mina explained. 'Your owl could only have found you by being lonely, longing of something she lost or wanted with all her heart, or having a desire for love and acceptance. You owl found you, yes, though likely because without you she had felt lonesome, desperate to be reunited with you while fearing you had abandoned her. Any one of those reasons....it's the only way she could have located you now.'

'Oh.' Harry looked sadly at Hedwig. 'I'm so, so sorry! I didn't know about the magic or that it would stop you from finding me. Will you forgive me, Hedwig? I promise I never forgot you or anything. I missed you...I'm so glad you're okay.'

After sharply biting Harry's ear with her beak, Hedwig hooted affectionately and seemed to have forgiven him, being equally happy to have finally found her magical boy after exhaustive weeks of endless searching.

'Let's not keep the others waiting, Birthday Boy!' Mina said as she reached and clasped Harry's hand in her own, giving it a tug to encourage him to move.

Her bright blue eyes shone with motherly love, though Harry remained entirely oblivious.

Harry nodded and glanced at Hedwig and saw her tucking her head under a wing, no doubt hoping to get some much-needed rest. Deciding to let her be for now, Harry expressed a wide grin in eager anticipation to his first real birthday celebration. He wasn't sure what to expect; Mina said there were several who wanted to wish him well and share the joy of his day, and that excited him. Heading to the door, his smaller hand gripping Mina's larger and far more elegant one, Harry startled her lightly when he stopped suddenly and turned around. Confusion on his face, Harry looked over at Severus and realised the man hadn't moved. In fact, his professor he had once thought to be vile and horrid almost looked uncertain and shy.

He didn't know how many emotions he had assumed on the man's usually blank face in the past few weeks, but Harry had never seen so much in the entire year prior. Was it because the carnival was so very different to Hogwarts, or was Severus himself somehow altered?

'Sir?' Harry looked at him boldly. 'Aren't you coming too?'

'I am not needed.' Severus replied in a familiar grumble. 'Go on. Your friends await.'

Before Harry could work out the words to say, Mina beat him to it with a stern yet kind expression on her face.

'You are wanted, Severus.' Mina said.

'And you are my friend.' Harry decided. 'I mean, if you're okay with that? I know you don't like me much, so I'm probably not your friend. But...you're my friend. I want you to come too.'

'See?' Mina chuckled. 'You've been invited, Severus. It would be rude not to accept. Besides, the house elves made plenty of cake and we will need your assistance in eating it.'

'Very well.' Severus agreed. 'I shall momentarily attend this event.'

'Okay.' Harry nodded. 'As long as you stay for the cake!' He said and hurried out of the tent, unlatching his hand from Mina's as he went.

'Oh yes, that is a must.' Mina winked at Severus, waiting by the opening for him to join her. This also prevented him from making a carefully crafted escape and disappearing for the rest of the day.

'You gain too much pleasure in teasing me.' Severus glowered at Mina as he passed her.

'You could have stopped me at any moment, if it truly bothered you.' Mina retorted as she joined his side and offered Severus a knowing smile. 'It's Harry's birthday; do you think you can manage a smile for us?'

'I doubt it.' Severus said sourly.

'Well, at least you're honest.' Mina sighed. 'Tell me, do you really not like Harry at all?'

Severus looked over at the twelve-year-old hurrying towards a small group nearby, and in the process of saying “no”, he could not make a sound. Closing his mouth, Severus decided not to reply as he continued walking at his slow pace. Mina seemed to understand, because she smiled and nodded her head.

'It's quite alright, Severus.' Mina whispered to him. 'Your secret is safe with me.'