Just a week after their visit with Tobias the next Hogsmeade trip arrived. As it was the last one before Christmas, almost all students had left the school with quite a few more teachers than usually, including Lupin. Harry had asked Severus if he could have Ophion for the day and go outside with Hagrid. Severus had checked with Hagrid, swearing him to take care of Harry and in no case to enter the forbidden forest. Harry was now on the grounds, playing with a stray black dog, Hagrid had assured him, was quite had decided to see how to purchase a firebolt for his son. He was currently kneeling in his grate discussing this with a nervous clerk in Diagon Alley.

"I am really sorry..."

"No doubt you are!", Snape snapped "I want to buy the most expensive broom you own and you refuse!"

"I did not refuse, sir. Just... the one we had here was bought just a few days ago and getting another will take time. And christmas is next week..."

"Exactly! It was supposed to be a present for my...", he caught himself "...my nephew. There is no possible way you can make it until Christmas then?"

"No and again, sir, I offer my sincerest..."

"Shove it! What can you offer me?", Snape snapped angrily

"A gift card, sir. We will expressedly state that it will be a firebolt the boy gets and he will receive it as soon as possible. Before the start of next term, I promise. And of course I will give you a discount because of the inconvinience..."

Severus growled "Very well, then. Send it per owl post."

"The child's name? What message should we include?"

"Leave the sappy standard text out, I will write something myself.", Severus decided, too careful to even say "Harry" or "Harold"

He crawled backwards and stood up, seeing the last remaining green fire die in his grate. He hated this kind of communication...

Harry was chasing Black around the grass and having quite a lot of fun with the wolfish dog. He was similar to Fang in that he looked forbidding but was good tempered. He seemed to like Harry a lot and always found a reason or other to lick his face.

"Oi! Stop it, Black.", Harry laughed when the dog was again standing on his hind legs and licking Harry's cheek "Yuck! Stop!"

The dog dropped back on all four and looked at him excitedly, wagging his tail. Harry just couldn't be mad at him for long, he picked up the stick again and threw it wide. Black ran after it at top speed, almost looking like horse in sprint.

"Not too far 'arry.", Hagrid said, carving something with Fang resting by his feet

"Don't worry.", Harry said easily and smiled at the half giant, at that moment he heard hissing and went down on one knee. As expected it was Ophion

"The dog smells like the rat... it is confusing.", he hissed

"Really?", Harry asked interestedly, why would a dog and a rat smell similar?

"Disgusting creatures, dogs.", Ophion remarked lazily, and Harry looked up alarmed as he saw Black returning with thundering steps. He quickly picked up the small snake as the giant dog reappeared. He proudly presented the stick to Harry

"Good boy!", Harry praised, throwing the stick again, this time a little further away. He put Ophion back on the ground "Better stay away from the dog, I'll call you when we leave, alright?"

Ophion slithered away hastily.

This time Black returned with a different stick and made Harry laugh by chasing his tail for a while. It was almost as if he was entertaining Harry. Harry played a little longer and then called Ophion back, they returned to the castle where he ran into the twins.

"Where were you, Harry?", Fred asked

"We wanted to give you an early Christmas gift.", George added.

"Playing with Black outside.", Harry said and turned to show them, but the dog had already disappeared from sight, Harry shrugged "What present?"

"Behold!", Fred said, taking out a blank parchment "The secret to our success."

Harry looked unimpressed until George tapped and activated it "I solemly swear that I am up to no good."

When Harry saw what it contained, he knew immediately what he would do with it. It did not take him long to bring his invisibility cloak and then slip away into the villiage.

He came up behind Ron and Hermione and poked them simultaniously into their sides. They both gave girlish cries and heard Harry laugh in response.

"Harry!", they both said, Hermione in a disbelieving and Ron in a half impressed, half annoyed tone

"Yep!", Harry said, feeling quite smug

"You are not supposed to be here!", Hermione snapped and looked around nervously

"How did you do it?"

Harry told them about the marauders map and at Hermione's disapproving look added "How else am I supposed to get all your presents?"

Hermione still looked unhappy but agreed that it would be difficult for him. So they set out to hunt for presents and Harry was in a good mood, when they were standing outside the fence to the Shrieking Shack. That changed when they heard a very hatefull voice

"Hey Weasley, shopping for a new home? It would be an improvement.", Malfoy said, grinning and his companions laughed stupidly.

"Shut up Malfoy!", Ron said, his ears going red but before Malfoy could continue taunting Ron, Harry had already scooped up some snow and thrown it right into his face. Malfoy spluttered and looked around wildly.

"What? Who was that?"

"Your conscience maybe.", Hermione sang "Oh, I forgot, you don't have one."

At that Crabbe and Goyle got a face full of snow and shoved each other out of the way to leave as fast as possible. Malfoy was the only one who looked back and right in time to see Harry slip a little from laughing so hard, so that his face was uncovered. Hermione saw his triumphant look and turned sober immediately. She sent Harry away directly, dividing his presents between herself and Ron to bring into the castle.

Harry left and succeeded into getting to the castle first. But he had to go up and put away the map and cloak before he could try and find an innocent occupation. He decided to go into the library but his plan was smashed by Professor Snape standing with crossed arms in front of the entrance.

"Mr. Potter.", he said, in the same tone that he had exclusively used with Harry during the first year of his schooling "Follow me."

Harry knew he was in for it, he just had to decide if he wanted to admit to everything or pretend he didn't know what happened. From the way Severus threw open doors he decided to go for the innocent look.

"What were you thinking?", Snape screamed the moment the door to his quarters closed behind them.

"What?", Harry asked, trying hard to look young and innocent.

"Don't even try that!", Snape snapped "I know exactly where you went and what you did! How dare you? I trusted Hagrid with your safety and..."

"It wasn't Hagrid!", Harry jumped to the half giant's defence immediately, regretting it the next moment

"Then how did you get out undetected?", Snape asked, narrowing his eyes and resembling a panther ready to strike. Harry gulped

"Well... I met the twins...", Harry saw Severus draw a deep breath for the coming rant and rushed his explanation "They gave me this map and I went under the cloak."

That forestalled the storm some "Map? What map?"

"Its a map of Hogwarts, it shows all the secret passageways.", Harry admitted in a defeated tone.

Snape's mouth opened slightly in shock "Bring me the map and the cloak. And tell both Mr. Weasleys to come to my office after dinner."

Harry opened his mouth to protest but decided against it when he received a glare "Now!"

When Harry returned and gave him the map, he couldn't believe the boy's foolishness.

"You received a map of Hogwarts that pinpoints everybody's location and you did not give it up to an adult immediately?", he asked incredulously "A murderer is on the loose! What do you think he'd do with it? You endangered everyone in this castle by your idiocy!"

Harry looked down at his feet, pressing his lips together in an attempt to stop their quivering. It had been a long while since he had been screamed at and berated like that. He wasn't used to it any longer.

"Of course, some of the fault lies with the twins as well, I'll be writing to their parents after having a little chat with them. I had expected better from you. And to leave the grounds when I expressedly told you to stay here – I cannot believe you!"

"I wanted to buy presents."

Snape actually hissed at that and pressed his fist to his forehead "Harry!"

Harry flinched at the exasperated and angry cry of his name and hugged himself tightly. Snape seemed to come to his senses at that

"You will be staying here for the rest of the day. Put Ophion back and keep to your room."

Harry nodded dejectedly and then quietly closed the door behind him. He knew Severus was only trying to reign in his temper before he would talk to him again. Harry dreaded that conversation. He detangled Ophion from his wrist and put him back into his terrarium.

"Harry's father is angry. He was saying nonsense.", Ophion commented and Harry looked at him confused

"Nonsense?"

"He talked Parsel."

That made Harry snort, Ophion had tried to understand the hissing sound coming from the angry Snape. Harry put back the lid on top of the terrarium and sat on his bed with hunched shoulders. When Severus didn't enter after several minutes, he layed back. The fear from the punishment that was sure to come was rising gradually. He had been so stupid, he had broken a ton of rules and he had disobeyed Severus. To top it all of he had endangered himself and others. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw. What kind of punishment would he receive for that? It was sure to be something dreadful. Maybe Snape would cancel Christmas. Harry's eyes snapped open at that... Oh no! He really hoped Severus wouldn't turn all Grinch on him. Then again, that didn't seem to be Snape's style. Before second year, Harry would have said tumbscrews would be his style, but that didn't shape up as well. Harry had never been in such a fix with Severus before. They usually got along just fine and Harry was normally one to follow rules. Mostly.

They had never talked about punishments... Did Severus believe in smackings? He felt his face burning, that would be utterly humiliating! And painfull... Harry fidgeted on the bed. He really hoped that wouldn't happen. Would Severus use the same punishments he used as a teacher? Somehow Harry didn't think so... He was jerked from his thoughts when Severus silently opened the door and light from the living room flooded in. Harry sat up immediately and looked up at Severus, his heart beating in fear.

Severus was standing, with the light behind his back, his shoulders hunched, his head bent. What was with this posture? Severus never looked like that. Was he drunk? Could someone get drunk that fast? Oh god! What would he do to him, if he was drunk?

But Severus looked up and the devestated look he gave Harry let his stomach drop. This could not just be about his punishment and rule breaking. Harry felt a different kind of fear take hold of him. He sprang up and walked a few paces up to Severus

"Dad? What happened?"

Severus stretched his hand out and cupped his cheek. Harry could see his adams apple hopping when he swallowed hard. Only now did Harry realize that Severus was only wearing his shirt and trousers and no robes.

"Tobias is dying.", Severus said with a thick voice "We are to go there as soon as possible. I wanted to ask if you would rather stay or come."

Harry's mouth opened in utter shock, his brain froze. What? That was impossible. It couldn't be. He was searching Severus' features for a lie. Was this his punishment, to make him believe Tobias was dying? But in the back of his mind he knew that Severus would never be so cruel to him.

"I wanna come.", Harry said, giving a hopeless look. Severus nodded and gave him the invisibility cloak, then led the way out of his quarters, the castle and grounds, up to the apparition point.

He did not open his arms to let Harry hug him but kept taking deep breaths

"Dad?"

Severus shook his head "I need to concentrate or we will splinch."

He closed his eyes for a moment and when he opened them again, he seemed to be back in control. It was eerie, how he could go from devestated and scared to calm and collected in a few seconds. That was something only Occlumency could achieve. He silently opened his arms and received Harry's hug. He gave a shaky turn and landed stumbling quite ungracefully, with Harry toppling over and falling.

"Ow!", Harry said, picking himself up

"Are you alright?", Snape muttered

"I'm fine."

They walked up to the hospital, were received and led to Tobias. When they entered the room the man's laboured breathing was filling it up. Snape immediately disregarded everything else and sat at his side, taking his hand. Tobias opened his eyes at that and smiled weakly.

"Sev.", he said and his voice was barely more than a whisper "You came."

"Of course, father.", Severus said, squeezing the hands.

"Where's Harold?"

"I'm here grandpa.", Harry said, stepping forward. Severus took him by the arm and pulled him to his side, letting go after that to grasp the old man's hands again firmly. Harry leaned on him, infinitely glad that Tobias remembered him.

"I adopted him, father. He is truly my son now."

Tobias smiled at that and looked fondly at Harry "My grandson."

Harry smiled and nodded, never having felt so proud for anything in his life. Tobias tried to reach out to him, but his hand and arm were trembling so much, Severus had to aid him to put his hand on top of Harry's head for a while.

Tobias went silent after that and Harry felt completely useless, just staring at the man in silence. Beside him Severus was caught up in a battle of mind and heart. Talking to Marty had cleared things up for him and made him realize what needed to be done before Tobias left. He had argued and battled with himself, with her even, if he should say it. Half of it, he was sure, was a lie, only said to sooth a dying man's wounded soul. But looking at his frail father and having Harry lean on him, made the decision. He would want Harry to forgive him for his past mistakes when he was dying: the death of the Potters, the way he had treated him in first year... How could he expect it if he never gave it?

"Father.", Tobias opened his eyes lazyly "I wanted to say... I forgive you, for everything that went wrong between us. I forgive you for mum and all you couldn't do." Tears were welling in the dying man's eyes now and there was a last begging in them, Harry would never understand. Because Harry was too kind, too good, even if he had lacked care and love for more than 10 years. The first year of his life was filled with so much love and care and happiness, that it was not possible for him to understand these two jaded adults in this moment. He had never begged for forgivness nor love he did not deserve. But Severus did and he provided the last comfort he could give, even if half of it was a lie "I love you and I believe it is time to let you go."

Tobias closed his eyes and took a long breath, crying silently and nodded. He mumbled something that Severus could barely make out as "Thank you". Harry stiffened and looked nervously between them. "Grandpa?"

But grandpa wouldn't answer anymore. He was drawing his last breaths, waiting for death to claim him. Son and grandson looked on, silently waiting for him to slip away and at the same time anxious for it not to happen. When it did happen, it was just a moment, hard to even believe. From one to next he was gone and only the madly beeping machines gave any indication of the difference between now and then. A thought hit Harry at that moment, quite forcefully: had his parents gone the same way? One moment they were alive and fighting and the next a jet of green light stopped their heart, stole their life. Tears sprang to his eyes at this and he leaned closer to Severus, who immediately wrapped him in his arms, needing the comfort himself. They looked on for a while, watching the light dance on the peaceful face of Tobias Snape.

The time following was full of dichotomy. As Severus had had long notice of Tobias coming death, he had prepared everything that needed to be done. This was a blessing and a curse. On the one side he had nothing to worry about, on the other he had nothing to occupy his mind with. They had been lucky and unlucky as of the timing of Tobias' death. The following day term ended and all students left, as Black had still not been caught and their parents and caregiver wanted them safely back at again, Christmas was looming at the end of the week. Looming because even if they both had happily anticipated the holiday, now they both dreaded it. It was their first Christmas as father and son, the first they would spend together and it seemed overshadowed by the death of a man that had meant so much for them in their respective ways.

Harry, like Dudley, had never known his grandparents. Tobias was the first and only person to fill this role and Harry had enjoyed the pampering and unconditional love. It had been a short time but it still left a gaping hole in his chest to loose the man. At the same time he felt like betraying the man's memory as he felt relieved for his father. Severus would not have to put on an act and lie to give comfort to the sick man. He would not have to gulp down his own feelings of anger and resentment towards Tobias any longer. Whenever Harry was alone after Tobias death, he found his eyes drawn to his cupboard and at times – mostly when he was sure Severus would not be looking for him – he sat in there and closed the world off around him. He took a few deep breaths then and leaned back, letting go of all emotions. It felt safe and good to sit there in the darkness, enveloped by its warmth. Like this, he was even now sitting underneath the clothes Severus had given him and hugging his legs to his chest.

Severus sometimes felt like time was dragging on endlessly, mostly when he tried to distract himself from what had happened. Then again time sped up to a frightining speed, when he started contemplating his relationship to his father and why he felt so... empty right now. It was surprising to not feel what he had expected to feel and more so, to not feel anything at all. He was in a state of shock, even though he had known for a long time this would happen. It was hard for him to think the word "death". He thought about all of the things, good and bad, that had happened between him and his father. But most of all he thought about him and Harry. He thought how unfair it had been to introduce someone to the child's life he knew to be, literally, short lived. He had attached himself to the old man and Severus could see how much it hurt his son to loose the man he considered his grandfather.

Conversation in Severus' quarters was next to non-existent. This was no surprise as they both had a hang for long silences when they randomly thought about the deceased. Severus sighed and rubbed his face, thinking about Harry had brought on the strange urge that filled him now and again since that fateful day. He wanted to keep checking on Harry, see if he was alright. He had looked in on the sleeping child several times last night, even waking up in the middle of the night. He could only sleep when he had seen the rise and fall of his son's chest. And now it had taken a hold of him again. Usually he didn't do it while Harry was awake as he didn't want to alarm him. But he did feel that Harry had been left alone long enough now.

He knocked softly on the door and when no answer came, opened it quietly. He looked in and had a dejavu, when he found the room empty and his heart hammering in fear. But this time he knew where to look. He went straight for the cupboard and opened it, to find his child asleep in it.

Severus went down to his knees and stroked the messy curls out of his closed eyes. Harry's cheek was pressed against one of his arms, that was squeezed between him and the cupboard wall. He had his arms, loosened by sleep, around his knees, that were too leaning against the frame of the cupboard. Severus looked at him, waiting for his heart rate to calm down. Then he picked the teen up, realizing that Harry had gained weight in comparison to last year. He felt quite pleased by this as he laid Harry on the bed.

"Papa?", Harry mumbled, when he came into contact with the cold sheets.

"Got to sleep.", Severus whispered, Harry mumbled something and rolled on his stomach. Severus put his hand on the messy black hair for a moment. Then left the room, satisfied for the moment, that Harry was very much alive.

Severus was not listening to his colleagues low chatter in the staff room, the funeral feast having been held at Hogwarts. All his colleagues had been surprised to find Harry here, all but Albus, Minerva, Lupin and Sinistra. Harry had felt distincly uncomfortable and tried to not look too sad, as not to show his relationship to Severus and Tobias. Dumbledore had explained that he had custody of Harry now and he would stay with him during Christmas in Hogwarts. Harry had picked a black outfit and was glad when he saw that he fitted right in with all others. He hadn't been sure how the custom was in the Wizarding World. Uncle Remus had kept his distance from his father, only giving a short condolescence and then leaving him be. To everybody's wonder it was Aurora who was sitting beside him, conversing quietly. They would stop their conversation whenever anyone drew near, so the others kept their distance, asking McGonagall and Albus about the details of Tobias' passing. After a while Harry couldn't contain his curiosity anymore and drew nearer to them. Aurora stopped talking but Severus said "Its ok."

Aurora gave the boy a doubtful look, then said "Yes... so I do believe you should not feel bad about that. I know from experience how conflicting these emotions can be. Don't beat yourself up about it. It was all part of him and your history. In the end no one can take one simple truth from you: you were father and son."

Severus nodded at that and sipped his drink, seeming deep in thought. Harry just wanted to be near him to comfort him somehow. But being in between all of the teachers, he had no chance to and it would seem strange to them, so he left after a bit, glancing back every so often. Professor Sprout approached him and said

"Did you give your condolence?"

Harry gave a non-committal sound at that, surprised to find her talking to him. She seemed to have taken pity on the lone student in their midst.

"That is very nice of you. Of course you two had your differences, but everyone noticed that you grew closer as your talent emerged."

Harry gave a weak smile at that, she had no idea!

"Still, such a personal situation must be uncomfortable for you. I am glad you still plucked up the courage to approach him, that was brave and he will respect you for it.", she smiled kindly and Harry felt rather bad for lying to her through his silence "Forgive me if I'm being too bold and you don't have to answer. But did you ever visit your parents' grave?"

Harry felt like she had smacked him around the face, he opened his mouth but nothing came out of it. He simply shook his head, not trusting his voice.

"You should talk to Albus – that is, the headmaster – if he can take you sometime.", she said kindly and then saw that Madam Pomfrey was waving, she excused herself to ask her what she wanted, leaving Harry confused. His uncle saw his agitation and quietly came up to him.

"Hey Harry, what's going on?", he whispered, taking him by the arm and leading him a little way away.

"I...", he closed his mouth, when he felt his throat constrict with emotion. He avoided Remus' eyes. Lupin waited for a moment, then gently prodded "What did Professor Sprout want from you?"

"Nothing.", he said quietly, still fixedly staring at his shoes "She asked if I had ever seen my parents' grave."

Remus put a hand on his shoulder "Have you?"

"No.", Harry choked out, shocked about his own reaction to the simple question "I... never even thought... I..."

And Remus understood. Harry was feeling the exact same as he had felt when he learned about the boy being abused by the Dursleys. Like an idiot, for never even thinking, never checking, never doing anything. He felt guilty and ashamed, because he had never even considered to visit his parents until now.

"Its not your fault.", Remus whispered "The Dursleys never talked about them, didn't acknowledge their existence, I presume." Harry nodded "Of course you wouldn't get the idea."

"But after I got here, after I learned about the truth and how they had died...", Harry looked up desperately "I should have... And then I let Severus be... let him adopt me... What would they think? I forgot about them, I replaced them."

Tears were now pooling his eyes and Remus understood that it wasn't simply Harry feeling guilty about what he just said. He was grieving for Tobias Snape and that brought back the grief he had never been allowed to have for his parents' death. Remus felt his heart breaking at the realization. He took Harry in his arms, at which point Minerva joined them.

"Is everything alright here?", Minerva asked, trying to ignore the curious stares and whispers of her colleagues.

"Yes, he was just...", Remus glanced around and dropped his voice "...remembering his parents."

Understanding spread over Minerva's features and she gave an uneasy look at Severus. He still sat hunched, talking to Aurora, his back to the scene with Harry.

"I'll take him.", Minerva decided and Remus shook his head. He respected his former Head of House, but he doubted her ability to comfort the young boy who just felt like being orphaned all over again. Minerva shot another look at Severus "Remus, I am sorry for being blunt, but we should take away Harry from prying eyes and Severus would go insane if he went with you alone. Please lets just take him to my office to have some privacy."

Remus looked angry for a moment, then looked at Severus, who chose that moment to drink a shot of the same liquid he had once shared with him. Then he nodded briskly and supported Harry out of the room. When they had reached her office, he deposited the boy in a chair and gave him a handkerchief.

"Remus, please leave us alone.", Minerva requested softly, Remus wanted to argue but she gave him a stern look "Inform the headmaster and Severus where Harry is. Tell him nothing of why he is here. You may say he wanted to talk to me privately."

Remus seemed undecided but left after stroking Harry's hair one last time. Minerva sat down beside Harry, who resolutely looked at his lap

"Its quite alright to grieve for your parents, Harry."

"I'm so stupid.", Harry said, kneading the handkerchief in his hand "They've been dead for 12 years and it feels like they just died with grandpa."

Minerva put a hand on his shoulder and nodded "You have felt the effects of being an orphan all your life. But just now, when you have gained a parent, will you have actually realized what you missed all these years. It is quite understandable that the loss of a close person would bring up these emotions. Its perfectly natural."

Harry shrugged at the explanation, it sounded a lot like something Marty would say. He found himself wishing he could see her now and talk to her. Marty was just the best, she knew exactly how to handle these embarrassing moments.

"Well, you will only have to ask Severus and he will take you to see them whenever you wish.", Minerva said, squeezing his shoulder "Now, lets take your mind off things. Would you like to play chess? I heard that Mr. Ronald Weasley is quite the force in this game and he has been schooling you since first year."

And so Harry found, to his surprise, that Minerva McGonagall had the talent as well to bridge such awkward, emotional and embarrassing moments.

It took Severus a while to extract himself from Aurora's soothing company. He had found that she had quite a lot of similarities with him. Especially their upbringing had been comparable. She understood the guilt, sadness and relief he had begun to feel once emotions came back to him. Her words had felt like balm on his conscience. When he looked up from their comfortable silence, she was sporting a glass of amber liquid and she gave a sad little smile. He was grateful for her to have shared her personal experience with him and he would keep her secrets. And he understood perfectly how raw and open she must feel right now. He leaned forward and shortly put his hand on her forearm "Thank you."

She looked surprised, then nodded. He decided to give her some space and stood up to walk around. Most of his colleagues had left, when they saw that there was nothing they could give him expect their condolescences – Aurora had taken it upon herself to be his saviour. When he looked around, he immediately stiffened. There were a couple of people missing he certainly did not want missing together.

"All is fine, Severus.", he heard the headmaster from his right and turned to look at him "Harry is with Minerva. You can go pick him up."

Severus nodded and after one last look around the staff room, left. When he reached Minerva's door and raised his hand to knock, he stopped dead. He had heard a sound from within. He listened closely and felt surprised to hear laughter. A smile krept up to his face as he carefully opened the door and peered in. Harry's back was to the door and he could see Minerva's stricken expression as Harry laughed

"Well... I believe you won, Mr. Potter. Again."

That, for some reason, made Harry laugh again. Severus felt like he wanted to stand here and listen to that wonderful sound for the rest of the evening. It felt like ages when he had last heard his son laugh. But at that moment Minerva spotted him and smiled

"Your son is quite the capable player."

Severus entered and saw Harry turn around to look at him guiltily. He came up to the board and casually put a hand on Harry's shoulder

"He flattened you.", Severus observed with a smile, Minerva smiled back.

"Ah, I thought if I could never beat his Dad, I might be able to beat him.", Minerva gave a fake sigh, that had a giggle escape from Harry. He stopped immediately and Severus felt his muscles stiffen. He squeezed the child's shoulder, trying to tell him that he did not take offence to his happiness, quite the opposite

"Well, if my son has shown you up enough for one evening, I would like to take him back now."

Minerva huffed and nodded.

Back in their quarters, Severus was surprised to hear what Harry had to say to him.

"Daddy, can we go visit my parents one day?"

He had said it quietly, not looking at him and his voice had sounded so young and vulnerable. He looked so fragile and still too thin. And Daddy? He had never used that word before, Severus doubted he realized he had now. He was too preoccupied to be anxious about his father's answer.

"Of course, Harry.", Severus said, putting one arm around his shoulders and steering him to the sofa "Sit down, I'll make you some hot chocolate."

Harry looked up and smiled at him. Severus was struck with how red his beloved green eyes looked. He had been crying. Severus felt a surge of warmth and gratitude towards Minerva who had taken care of him, while he himself was unable to.

"You make the best hot chocolate, Papa."

Severus smiled at that and got busy, contemplating how much had changed between them since the last time Harry had said something similar to him in the summer. Now he did not mind being called "Papa" or "Dad" or even the new addition "Daddy". His responsibilities still filled him with anxiety, he had so much to achive with Harry. But strangely, now he felt confident that he would form a responsible, happy and healthy adult out of him.

When he returned to the sofa with two cups, Harry had taken a blanket and was huddled in a corner of it, staring into the fire he must have lit. Severus sat beside him and they shared a few minutes of comfortable silence, sipping their hot drinks.

"Can you tell me something fun you did with grandpa?", Harry asked suddenly, looking curiosly at Severus. Severus looked quite surprised and thought about it for a moment

"When I was little I enjoyed to go to the fair and he would never let my mother take me alone, but insisted he go with us. He would carry me on his shoulders and ride everything with me I was too scared to ride alone." Severus smiled, while contemplating this "I remember how my mother used to laugh whenever he tried to shoot something for us and failed miserably. But I was happy for whatever he got me."

Harry smiled too at that.

"Actually...", Severus suddenly said and then stood up to disappear in his bedroom. He came back soon after with a foto album and sat back down. Harry scooted closer until he was leaning on his father and looked in. Severus flipped the pages until he came to a picture, where an obviously much younger Tobias had his small son on his shoulders and was presenting a miniscule golden cup to the camera. With the other hand he was holding onto his six year old son's leg and Severus was clapping enthusiastically, grinning from ear to ear. Severus caressed the picture slowly and said quietly "He was my hero then."

Harry felt almost afraid to ask, but still took the leap "When did that change?"

"I always knew they had problems, it was hard not to. But he had never been violent before. He lost his job, started drinking. Then he hit my mother and I felt like... he died to me that day."

He gave a dry laugh "You can always say that, but in the end they stay with you, your parents, until they actually die. Whatever they do or say, they are your flesh and blood and no one can take that away. Even if you wish you could."

Harry looked up at him with a guarded expression and Severus returned it, before he seriously said

"You know, you are very lucky you had parents like the Potters, even if only for one year. They loved you enough to die for you."

Harry waited a moment, before he responded "I am very lucky now, too."

Severus nodded and answered with a smile "I am as well."