Snape watched as Harry quickly joined Aurora on the sofa. Where would he even begin? His mind raced with a hundred or so thoughts before he finally just sighed.

"Another student was attacked today. It was Mister Finch-Fletchley. However, Sir Nicholas was also found with him. It appears the ghosts are not immune to this creature either." Harry's face fell.

"They think it was me, don't they? Because I spoke to that snake yesterday?" Harry asked with his hands in his lap and his head down.

"I'm not certain. I wasn't there when they were found." Snape hated seeing Harry like this. The boy took things too personally and too close to his heart all the time. "However, that's not entirely why I brought us here." He caught his son's head come up as the boy's green eyes darted to him. "I believe that the attacks on the students and the attacks on the purebloods are somewhat related."

"How?" Aurora asked, clearly confused.

"We've learned over the past month that Ginny Weasley brought the journal into the castle."

"Yes, and she wrote in it every day until Gilderoy confiscated it from her. I know. She told me in hopes that I'd retrieve it back from him for her."

"Unfortunately, Lockhart, however, lost the journal and had no idea where it was. Or so he claimed. I found it today purely by accident."

Snape drew in a slow breath, forcing himself not to wince at the sharp pain that had rushed through his body. His adrenaline rush was clearly wearing off. He caught Tobias's look and returned it with his 'I'm fine' glance. He would be fine after he explained it to them.

"Where is it?"

"Just listen, Harry. I'll explain." Snape remained silent for a few moments as he thought how to word his explanation. He could just hear their impatience. "After I had finished speaking with Lockhart, I went to speak with the Headmaster. His office appeared deserted. As I turned to leave, I noticed a black leather-bound item on his desk. I opened to the first page and found the name T. M. Riddle inside." He watched them glance at him with identical confused looks.

"Who's T. M. Riddle?"

Snape closed his eyes and heard his father step forward. The pain in his chest was getting worse. However, he hadn't even explained half of what he had wanted to.

"Severus?"

"I got it from here, son. You just sit down and rest. I'll tell 'em the rest."

"Tobias, what's going on?"

"Dad?"

Snape let out a hiss as the pain shot through him again. He inhaled sharply before reaching for an old armchair and sitting down in it.

"Lass, sit down. Please. Just let him have a moment to rest. I'll explain."

"Do it quickly, Tobias," Aurora replied impatiently. Her hand grabbed Snape's a moment later as she knelt beside his chair.

"Tom Marvolo Riddle is Voldemort's real name."

"Riddle? That's not a Pureblood name."

"No it ain't. It's Muggle," Tobias replied gruffly. "Either way, that's few and far between what I'm going on about. So, the story goes like this. Malfoy passed Riddle's diary to the Weasley girl. She got it taken from her by Goldilocks. Goldilocks got it taken from him by Dumbledore. And Severus found it there in Dumbledore's office. Now, here's the part of the story ya ain't gonna like, princess." Tobias frowned before he continued. "Dumbledore found Severus looking at it. Instead of just shrugging it off like he'd usually do and make some oddball riddle about it, Dumbledore attacked him."

"What?!"

"Ya heard me just fine." Tobias sighed loudly. "So, Severus defended himself. He got hurt in the process clearly, but long story short, that book's damn evil and has Dumbledore all messed up in the head right now. That ain't all, though. Once Severus dealt with—well, we'll just call him possessed Dumbledore for now—he obviously wanted to know what was up. So, he did that mind stuff on him. Found out that Dumbledore was going to lower the wards several minutes after that monster thing attacked—when everyone was all distracted by that. Hence why we got the hell out of there and came here instead. A possessed Dumbledore sure as hell ain't something I want my son or grandson around."

"Are you saying that Albus released the monster to attack the students?"

"Well, I sure ain't saying the tooth fairy did," Tobias drawled.

"I don't understand. How is that possible?"

"The journal and monster are distractions," Snape said with a grimace. "I would have been brewing the potion to restore them, while you would be being kidnapped." He shifted in his chair, drawing in a slow breath. "Lockhart's in on it."

"I thought you said he wasn't trying to kill Harry."

"He's not. He wants you, Aurora."

"Why?"

"I'm not certain, but the Baron stated that Lockhart has been lurking around your tower lately. Lockhart was also very interested last night at the Dueling Club about your whereabouts. According to the Baron, he went up there last night."

"I was with you, though."

"Exactly. The Baron stated that Lockhart kept his wand in hand the entire time he was there and seemed extremely frustrated to find you not there. It can only be assumed that he would have tried last night to take you."

"In other words, Goldilocks is in cahoots with the bad rogue people that have been kidnapping ladies like you, Aurora, for the past four months. And instead of us counting on Dumbledore to keep ya safe, it seems like he's trying to help 'em now since he's all messed up in the head because of this evil journal thing that's all interested in Harry."

"So, you brought us here to keep us safe, Dad?"

"Yes." Snape caught Harry's eyes narrow on him. "It was imperative that I removed you two from the danger before something happened." He could hear his unspoken concerns reverberate around the room. He didn't want to lose either of them.

"How long are we going to be here? I mean, is it just for the holidays while we come up with a plan of attack? Or—"

"We will be here as long as it takes for the threat to be dealt with, Harry."

"But the others, Dad!"

"The only people who matter to me, Harry, are in this house, safe," Snape interrupted, holding his son's green eyes.

"So, we're just going to let them fend for themselves, Dad? I—how—my friends are there!"

"And my family is here, Harry. I will not lose you." Snape sighed silently. "The other staff members are perfectly capable of dealing with the threat by themselves. Your friends will be fine."

"What am I supposed to tell them when they ask where I am?"

"I'm afraid that there won't be a way for them to contact you. The wards on this place will confuse any owl that tries." He caught Harry's eyes widen in shock instantly. "I expect you not to send any messages to them either. We must keep our location secret if we're to remain safe."

"What about next term? My classes? Quidditch? Dad, you can't just lock us up here."

"It is better than the alternative, Harry." He frowned as he watched his son glance at Aurora and Tobias for help. "My decision is final. I realize that you don't agree with it or even understand it, but I will not lose you like I lost your mother."

"Fine." Harry stormed away, slamming one of the bedroom doors shut behind him.

Snape closed his eyes before he glanced at Aurora and saw her staring at him with a blank look. While cowardly, his action was the right one to take. He was protecting his family, and that was always the right thing in his mind. He opened his mouth to say just that when she spoke instead.

"I understand, Severus," she said quietly. "You don't need to defend yourself." She sighed and ran a hand through her curls. "Let's check you over and heal you, though. I think you've done this 'tough guy' thing long enough, don't you?"

His lip curled upwards slightly before he inclined his head. He needed time to think anyway. He then watched Tobias head to Harry's room and sighed. The boy would understand. One day.

~FKTF~

Sitting on his bed with his legs pulled up against his chest, Harry glared at the door when he heard the knock on his door. Didn't his dad understand that he didn't want to talk to him? When the door opened a moment later, he threw his pillow at the man walking in, hoping he hit his dad in the face. Only when he realized that it was Tobias walking in instead of his dad, he inhaled sharply.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you. I thought it was—Are you all right?" Harry quickly asked.

"It's a pillow, boy, not a hunk of rock. I'm fine," Tobias replied with a frown, stooping to pick up the pillow before he closed the door behind him. He tossed the fluffy pillow onto the bed a moment later and crossed his arms. "Yer dad's just trying to keep ya safe."

"I know, but my friends are stuck there with a monster. And he didn't give me any chance to say goodbye or anything. He just whisked us off here."

"Yeah, he did. It's cause there are bad people after ya and Aurora."

"Mostly after her," the twelve-year-old pointed out with a shrug.

"Oh? So ya don't care about her now that ya ain't with yer friends? Good to know how self-centered my grandson is."

"No. It's not that. It's just . . . my friends are there."

"And yer family is here."

"But they're in danger."

"And yer family is in danger as well."

"But Dad can handle that."

"Yer dad can't fend off every psychopath, Harry."

"He could try."

"Yeah, and he could get killed, too. Would you rather that happened? Have yer friends but not yer dad anymore?"

Harry flinched instantly and his gut contracted.

"Of course not! I love him!"

"Well, ya sure as hell ain't showing it right now. Cripes, Harry. Ya think it was easy for him to run here? To take ya away from your friends? To act like a big ole coward? Shit, ya don't know him, do ya? Yer dad loves you. He ain't doing this to be a git or to hurt ya. He's doing this to keep you and that pretty woman of his safe. Keep his family safe, Harry."

"But he could keep us safe there," the boy argued.

"Ya weren't listening close, were ya? The minute that boy got attacked, they were coming." Tobias sighed. "If old Moldymort is teamed up with Goldilocks, they'd come for you, too, Harry. They wouldn't just stop at her." He frowned. "Long time ago, I heard a man explain how ya hurt someone. Ya don't kill them. Ya kill their family. If anything happened to either of ya, well, ya can bet yer arse that it'd hurt him. He loves ya."

"My friends, though—"

"Ya are the most stubbornness damn boy I ever knew. I swear it," Tobias grumbled. "Yer friends ain't in the danger ya and Aurora are in. They're just getting knocked out. They'll live. You two on the other hand—we ain't sure what they want ya for. Could be to torture ya. Could be to murder ya. Could be to sell ya for all we know. We just ain't got a clue at this point. Yer in danger, and that's all that matters. Yer friends and their welfare take the back burner. Ya take priority. Simple as that, Harry. We're focusing all of our energy on ya two. No distractions. No nothing. That, my grandson, is why we're here. No school. No friends. No Wood Itch. No bad guys under the same roof as us. Just us together, watching each other's backs in a small little cottage. Severus will always know when yer up, and you'll always know when he is. Ain't nobody can hide here."

"I miss them, though."

"And they likely miss ya, too, but keeping ya safe is all that matters to us right now. Plus, yer dad did sort of attack one of the most powerful wizards of the century. Ain't exactly a good time to be there considering that, even if Dumbledore is messed up in the head." Tobias gave the boy a sideways hug then. "Yer dad loves ya. So, he'll do whatever he needs to do in order to keep ya safe. Sometimes that means taking ya away from yer friends. You'll be back before ya know it, though, kid. Trust me."

~FKTF~

A half an hour later, Snape winced and clenched his jaw to keep from hissing in pain as Aurora tended to his wounds. He glanced up when he heard the approaching footfalls and inclined his head slightly to his dad. He heard the man's responding snort instantly.

"He got ya good, didn't he, son?"

"Something like that," Snape replied quietly.

"He's gonna need some stitching to that one cut, lass."

"Stitching?" Aurora repeated, glancing at Snape with a puzzled look.

"Ah, never mind. I'll do it for ya after ya get done."

Snape hissed again at the feel of the stinging as she continued to clean out his cuts. He caught her apologetic look and merely gave her the look to continue. It wasn't the first time he had been forced to this sort of healing.

"Ya got any potions here?"

"No," he answered, jerking at the feel of a burning pain in one of his wounds. "Unfortunately."

"All right. Do ya got stuff to make some, then?"

"No." He breathed in deeply, smelling the peroxide and other various antiseptics she was using. "Other than the wards that came with the house, I don't use magic here. And it's better if we stick with that so they can't find us here." He jerked again and gasped at the feel of her cleaning out his cut.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, pausing for a moment.

"Don't, Sinistra," Snape rasped, drawing in a slow breath. "It's fine. Just keep cleaning them out. I don't have anything to fight an infection, so it's up to you to help make sure I don't."

"I can heal the minor cuts, but your dad's right. The one across your chest is going to need something else." Her warm brown eyes held his. "What did he hit you with?"

"Pretty much everything and anything until I disarmed him."

"Judging by the bruising, ya got some broken ribs, too, son. We're gonna need to wrap that extra tight, and yer gonna have to rest."

Snape nodded slowly. Broken ribs certainly explained the sharp pain he felt every time he took a breath. He caught her look again and sighed inwardly.

"What?"

"How in the hell could you just act like you were perfectly fine as we're gallivanting about the countryside? We should have gone to Mungo's."

"And have them find you there and take you? No thank you."

"You don't get to kill yourself over me, Snape," she growled.

He snorted. "Oh please. As if I haven't been hurt worse than this before, Sinistra."

"We should have gone to a hospital." She rubbed the washcloth against one of his cuts, washing away the blood and grime. She then lowered her voice to mumble, "Stubborn arse who thinks he's freaking invincible."

"The stubborn arse can hear you," he replied dryly.

"Good! I hope this hurts, too," she snapped, glaring at him as she then pressed the cotton ball with antiseptic against his open wound.

He winced, but forced himself not to hiss. He supposed he deserved her anger. At least partly. He did pretend that he was perfectly fine when he clearly wasn't. One could say he, in fact, intentionally hid his numerous lacerations and broken bones.

"Easy, lass."

"Of all the stupid things you've ever done, Severus," she muttered under her breath.

"All right there, Princess. Time to take a break." The older man held his hand out to her. "I'll finish up for ya." Tobias said nothing when she slammed the washcloth into his hand. He gave her a forced polite smile before she stormed off to one of the spare rooms. "Well, then. Where were we, son?"

Snape sighed. "I should've told her earlier that I was hurt."

"Probably would have been good, yeah." Tobias shrugged. "She'll get over it, though. She's just worried about ya. Just give her time. Now, let's stitch up that cut, shall we?"

"Yeah." Snape frowned. Now, two people were upset with him. He couldn't catch a break.