The man was an oddity to Harry, and some days Harry still had trouble reconciling the stern looking Potions Master who used to revel in torturing him in classes and detentions with the man who sat before him now in a comfortable chair in the dungeon quarters. Yes, he'd been calmer around Harry and had even stuck up for him and taken his side several times in arguments with Jo, but that still felt odd and new to Harry. Sometimes it seemed to Harry that he was still waiting for the other shoe to fall. He was still waiting for Snape to realize he had a perfectly good son in Sam, and he didn't need Harry around at all. The trouble was Harry wasn't sure he was going to get the boot when Snape realized that. He felt like he really should, because that was his lot in life, but he'd almost grown comfortable enough around Snape to forget about that reality sometimes.

"Are you ready to continue?" Snape asked. He'd given Harry a few minutes to collect himself and clear his mind, but Harry had done anything but clear his mind.

"No sir, sorry," he said. "I was thinking instead of clearing my head."

"Perhaps that is enough for the evening then. It is nearing nine."

Harry rose, expecting to leave, but instead Snape motioned for him to follow him into the kitchen and set to making coffee.

"Jo made fresh biscuits. They're in the cupboard there," he said, and Harry moved to the cupboard and found a covered plate with chocolate chip cookies.

Snape brought two cups of coffee to the table and sat across from Harry.

"I see you have been keeping your grades high this term."

"Sort of," Harry said. "Potions has been difficult."

"You may come to me for help. There will also be a study group forming after Christmas holidays to prepare for the term projects and final exam."

"What are the term projects?"

"You will be working with a partner to collect and prepare ingredients on your own for a potion of your choosing from a list I have. Then each partner will prepare the potion. Dungeon classroom A will be reserved for the 6th year NEWT class to prepare and keep their potions and ingredients."

"What are some of the potions?"

"Polyjuice, Amortentia, and Draught Of Living Death to name a few."

"And we get to choose?"

"Yes."

Harry smirked.

"Is there something amusing about the list?"

"No-" Harry hedged. "I just know which potion I'll be making."

"Polyjuice?"

"How did you know?" Harry asked.

"I assume it was you who stole ingredients to make Polyjuice in your second year."

"I didn't."

Snape's brows rose.

"We made Polyjuice I mean," Harry said, "but I didn't steal the ingredients."

"But you know who did."

Harry looked into his coffee and took a sip as an excuse not to answer.

"Polyjuice is one of the easier potions on the list to brew, however the ingredients are harder to come by and to preserve, which is why it's included on the list."

"Do we get to choose our partners?" Harry asked.

"Yes."

Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to partner with Sam or Hermione. If he partnered with Hermione he was sure to get an O, but she would insist on doing most of the work, and Harry didn't want that. He wondered if she would be upset if he partnered with Sam instead.

After a few more moments of enjoying their coffee (Harry didn't mind being kept up late by the caffeine since it was Saturday night), Severus said, "The Headmaster informs me you and your friends have been researching the sword."

Harry looked up and smiled. The sword was one of his favorite topics these days. "Yes sir."

"He said you and Miss Granger have checked out every book on the subject several times over. Have you learned anything interesting?"

Harry told him about several things they'd learned, and then asked, "Why do they call it Arthur's sword when it was Merlin who made it?"

"Because Merlin gave it to Arthur and he used it to fight many battles. Arthur was the king. At the time some magical folk were still accepted within Muggle society and used by royalty to predict the outcomes of battles or provide help to them, and as there was not yet a magical government in place and statute of secrecy, witches and wizards still fell under the King's purview."

"Did he really give it to Arthur though? He only let him borrow it. Merlin made that sword for himself. Merlin forged it with magic and the Mermaids imbued it with even more magic."

"You seem certain," Severus said. "From which book did you read this?"

"Erm, lots of books."

"Which one has the information you speak of? The Headmaster and I have been researching the sword and the prophecy surrounding it as well and have not been able to find the information you just told me."

"I-" Harry hesitated. Ron hadn't thought it odd that Harry dreamed about it, but would Snape?"

"I dreamed it."

Snape's brows rose into his hair.

"I know it sounds strange, but it's real. I asked the mermaids."

"How did you gain an audience with the mermaids?"

"One of them came to talk to me after I took the sword and put it in the lake several times."

"I assume you have not been going out in broad daylight to do so?"

Harry explained about taking the sword out under the cloak at night, his conversation with the mermaid, and how it matched up to his dreams. He was feeling so comfortable around Snape this evening and was so enthused with their conversation about the sword that he didn't think for a moment about getting into trouble for being out after curfew.

"And you continue going out after curfew to do this?" Snape asked.

"No-" Harry paused. "I only did it a few times. That was weeks ago."

"How many is a few?"

"How many detentions am I getting?"

"At the moment, none, but I would like to know."

"Eight or nine times." He refrained from telling him about Ron joining him on one occasion. He didn't believe he wasn't getting a detention and didn't want to drag his friend into it.

"That ends now. You are no longer to go out after curfew."

"Yes sir."

"It is dangerous."

"I won't do it again."

"See that you do not. If you feel you have reason to be out after dark, you are to come to me first. If it is necessary, I will go with you."

Harry paused, hand halfway to snag another cookie off the plate. "You will?"

"That is what I said."

"Even after curfew?"

"If the task is an imminent need."

Harry frowned. There Snape was being odd again. Why would the man volunteer to waste time out on the grounds with Harry?

"Did anyone else go with you?"

"I didn't take Sam," Harry said. Snape was clearly worried Harry was dragging Sam into trouble again like the night they'd run away or the night they'd fought Avery in Sommercotes.

"That is not what I asked."

"No," Harry said. "I went alone."

A few minutes later after another cookie and finishing his coffee, Harry bade Snape goodnight and headed off to Gryffindor tower. He passed Jo in the Dungeon corridor on his way out as she was coming back from a late shift in the Hospital Wing, but aside from exchanging pleasantries, she let him pass.

A few minutes later Jo found Severus in their quarters still sitting at the dining room table drinking his coffee.

"Hello," she greeted brightly.

"Good evening."

"I passed Harry on the way out. Did Occlumency run late? He didn't seem tired."

"We had coffee after."

"That's nice. He'll be up late but have a nice lie in tomorrow."

"He has been going out on the grounds by himself late at night."

"What? Why?"

She went to the counter and fixed a cup of lavender tea and then came to the table to sit next to her husband.

"He was talking to mermaids."

"Mermaids? They don't come to speak to the students very often do they?"

"They rarely ever converse with anyone, not even the Headmaster. He said he has been out eight or nine times, sometimes as late as half one in the morning."

"Did you give him detention?"

"No. I told him to stop going out at night, and if he believes he must go out at night to get me first so I may go with him."

"He didn't take anyone? That's dangerous. There are creatures that come out of the Forbidden Forest at night to roam the grounds. And werewolves if he was out on the full moon."

"I am aware. He said he did not take anyone with him."

She shook her head. "I feel like no one is looking out for his wellbeing at all, not even himself."

"I believe I informed you over the summer that he heads into trouble at every chance without thought to his own safety," Severus said quietly.

"I remember." She sipped her tea and shook her head, looking far away for a moment. "I still can't believe the things the Headmaster has allowed him and his friends to do over the years. The number of times he's been hurt or could have been. If we were his parents I would put a stop to it."

"We are not."

She looked up at him and their eyes met for a long moment before she said, "Don't you think it's time we should be?"

* * *

Sunday evening Harry received an owl after dinner asking him to come spend some time in the dungeons. At half six Harry rose from the table in the common room he'd been studying at with Ron and stretched.

"Where ya going?" Ron asked.

"Snape asked me to come down at seven."

"More tutoring?"

"I don't know," Harry said, "the note didn't say."

He left the common room and ran into Sam a few minutes later when he was nearly to the Entrance Hall. "You get an owl too?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. Guess it's not tutoring then," Harry said to himself.

Sam shrugged. "Maybe it's board game night."

Harry frowned. "Snape wouldn't play board games."

"Mum makes him," Sam said with a laugh. "Every couple weeks we get ice cream or something and play board games. He's surprisingly good at the Muggle ones. This would be the first time since school got back in though."

They made their way to the Dungeons together and when they got there, it seemed as though Sam had been right. There was a deck of cards on the table in the living room, a plate of fresh cookies, a pitcher of iced tea, and a big bowl of popcorn.

Jo gave Sam a hug, and then gave one to Harry, who felt awkward but enjoyed the contact nonetheless.

"What are we playing?" Sam asked.

"Goblins and Gnomes," Jo said.

"I don't think I've heard of that one," Harry said, and eyed the distinctively Muggle looking deck of cards.

"It's played with Muggle cards," Sam said, "Black cards are goblins, red cards are gnomes. We'll divide the deck between the four of us and place cards down on two stacks. Whoever gets rid of their cards first wins." He explained the rest of the rules as Snape came over to sit next to Jo on one side of the coffee table.

Sam and Jo laughed as they played, and Harry enjoyed the game even though he lost the first two hands. On the third hand it was an intense battle between he and Snape, but Harry won, finishing the game with a grin.

They finished off the snacks and tea, and by nine Sam said something about having to finish a Charms assignment before bed.

Harry rose to follow Sam out, but Jo asked Harry to stay for a minute, so Sam gave him a wave as he closed the door.

Harry sat uncertainly on the couch again and Jo brought out a pot of hot tea this time and sat down next to Snape again.

"How have you been Harry?"

"Good," Harry said.

"We wanted to talk to you about Christmas holidays. Severus said you usually spend them at the castle."

"I spent Christmas with the Weasleys last year."

"We'd like you to spend them with us this year," Jo said. "We'll be going back to the house."

"Will I be allowed?" Harry asked. "The Headmaster usually makes me go back to the Dursleys over holidays so I stay at the castle instead."

"The Dursleys still have not been found, and you will not be returning to them even if they are," Severus said.

"Did the Headmaster say it's ok?"

Snape and Jo exchanged a glance, and Jo said, "That's something else we wanted to talk to you about Harry. We'd like to take you to the Ministry and file for custody over you. Then the Headmaster wouldn't be making those decisions anymore. You're already a part of our family. We'd just like to make it official."

Harry stared at her. Custody? Did that mean they were adopting him?

"Harry?" she asked, when he hadn't answered a minute later. "What do you think?"

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Harry asked. "I don't think the Headmaster will let this happen."

"It isn't about what we want, or what the Headmaster wants," Snape said, but at a stern look from Jo, he said, "Yes, it is what we want."

"I'm not sure," Harry said, and Jo's face fell a little.

"What is it you're not certain about Harry?" she asked.

Harry gave a look to Snape, who met his eyes, and then said to him, "Will I be able to keep doing the Swordmaster's club? And the DA? Quidditch? Will I still be allowed to go see the Weasleys on holidays sometimes?"

Jo looked like she wanted to say something, but let Severus answer instead. "Any extracurricular school activities you are currently doing, you will be allowed to continue. And you will be allowed to have friends over and to visit friends. However, you will no longer be allowed to continually place yourself in danger."

"Sir?"

"Going out after curfew alone, brewing illegal potions, leaving school grounds during the school year without permission..." he trailed off, but Harry knew he could have gone on at length about the rules Harry had broken over the years.

Before Harry could say anything, Jo spoke up and said, "We want you to be safe and taken care of Harry. You deserve that. When you're part of a family you think of the family as a whole as well as your own wellbeing. It would devastate us if something were to happen to you. As your guardians we'd also be responsible for any laws you break before you've reached majority."

Suddenly it made sense to Harry why Mrs. Weasley was so upset when he and Ron had taken the flying car to school. If Ron's parents were going to be held responsible or have to pay fines for the laws they had broken unknowingly, the howler she'd sent Ron in second year made a lot of sense.

"Can I think about it?" Harry asked.

"Of course Harry," Jo said with a gentle smile.

Harry stood up and Severus stood to see him to the door as Jo took the tea cups back to the sink.

At the door Harry turned to Severus and asked quietly, "When do I have to have an answer by?"

Severus gave him a stern look but then the look softened and he said quietly, "There is not a deadline. Should you ever wish to join this family, you will be welcome to do so."

Harry stared into his dark eyes for a moment and then nodded. He pulled himself away from the cozy quarters and out into the corridor as Severus shut the door. He didn't move off immediately though, and stayed in the corridor staring at the closed door. No one had ever offered to adopt him before, and he'd wanted to throw himself at Snape or Jo or both of them right there and forget he'd ever been an orphan at all. But there was a reason for his orphanness... many reasons. There was an evil man, his hundred followers, two prophecies, and the constant danger Harry found himself in.

Sirius would have liked to have had Harry living with him. He'd offered that once. But Harry's actions had caused his godfather to die before they had a chance to make a go of it as a family... just like Lily and James. They'd had a year together and as Harry's parents and that was all. If Harry said yes to Jo and Severus, how long would they get before they died just by being associated with Harry? A year? Two? A day?

Harry slowly backed away from the door to their quarters, and Draco's words from that summer in Diagonalley came back to him again, ‘Don't be fooled. You'll never be one of them.'

Harry had always dreamed of having a family all of his own, and here it was being offered to him a third time, but like so many others, this dream was broken, and not meant to be put together again.