Groaning, Lily and Severus stirred first, Lily struggling to lift a hand to her forehead, and Severus blinking slowly at the kitchen ceiling.

“Ugh, did you see whoever was riding the hippogriff that hit me?” Lily asked.

“No, but perhaps they saw the elephant that sat on me,” replied Severus, his voice hoarse and rusty. He coughed. “What happened?”

“I have no idea,” said Lily. She was attempting to prop herself up on her elbows, but her muscles were loose and shaky, and she eventually gave up and flopped back down to lay flat on her back. “Trix told us about the fire-call from Narcissa, then she started Seeing, and then . . .”

Severus raised his head, then dropped it back with a thunk. “Next time, Trix can keep her weird and wacky stuff to herself.”

The bond suddenly twanged with an intensity that made them feel like they were levitating – which they were, they discovered as soon as it stopped and they crashed back to the ground, setting up a new round of groans.

“Harry,” gasped Lily, and began trying to force herself upright again. “Mummy’s coming, baby . . . oof!” Her left hand slipped, and she fell back again. “Mummy might take awhile . . .”

“Oh, honestly, Lil, did your brains get scrambled?” Severus asked, rolling his eyes. He knew Lily couldn’t see him doing so, just as he couldn’t see her sticking her tongue out at him. “Lissy!”

There was a small pop beside him. “Yes, Master Sev, sir—” There was a pause, then, “Why is Master Sev and Mistress Lily on the floor?”

“A magical accident, Lissy,” Severus said. “Could you bring Harry down here to Lily, please, then fetch some tea and something to eat for us all?”

“Yes, sir, Master Sev,” the little house elf chimed. She snapped her fingers once, twice, and a third time, with first Harrison, then a steaming pot of tea and then a plate of sandwiches appearing beside them. With a quick bow, Lissy popped away.

“Mama!” Harry cried, and threw himself bodily at Lily.

“Harry! You’re alright, you’re okay, baby,” she crooned to him, cuddling him close. “Mummy’s okay, everyone’s okay.”

“Speak for yourself,” groaned a voice from the other side of the kitchen table. “Oh, ouch. Merlin, I’m not doing that again.”

“I should hope not!” said Lily, as sharply as she could manage.

“You keep your weirdness away from me!” Severus added, as he rolled over and folded his arms under his head. His eyes slid closed, then flew back open as Harrison landed on his back. His breath escaped him in a shocked grunt. “Ow! Hey, Imp, careful there!”

“Papa Sev, Papa Sev,” the boy babbled, and then descended into a rushed gibberish that Severus couldn’t make head nor tails of. He gingerly rolled back over, and wrapped his arms tightly around Harrison.

“I’ll be okay, Imp,” he assured the boy, running a hand through Harrison’s messy hair. “Just Trix’s . . . uh, Seeing was a bit unexpected.” A rude noise came from where Bellatrix was still lying.

Lily had finally managed to sit upright, and she was now pouring tea for the three adults. A wave of her hand had Harrison’s sippy cup floating across the room to her. “Here, baby,” she said, offering it to him. Sitting on Severus’ abdomen, Harrison took the cup and began drinking from it. “Sev, here’s yours,” Lily continued, sliding a cup across the floor. “Trix, yours is . . .”

As Lily’s voice trailed off, Severus craned his neck to see what had caught her attention. “Lil?”

“Why are you staring at me like that?” Bellatrix’s voice came from higher up than it had been before. She’d managed to work herself upright and was now balancing shakily on her knees, clutching the nearest chair for support.

“Oh, Bellatrix, your hair!” Lily gasped, one hand going to her mouth. Startled, Bellatrix lifted a hand to pat wildly at her hair, trying to determine by touch what was wrong, whilst Severus took hold of Harrison as he forced himself upright as well. His jaw dropped when he caught sight of Bellatrix.

Zigzagging through her jet-black hair was a moonlight-coloured streak of white.

It annoyed Bellatrix beyond measure that nothing she did seemed able to remove or cover up the streak for long. It made her look like a badger, she complained to Lily and Severus, and when this caused them to collapse into gales of hysterical laughter, she stormed off in a fit of pique. Hair dyes just slid off it, spells seemed to go transparent over it, and when she spent a week wearing a headscarf over it, Harrison developed a liking for them and insisted on pulling the scarves off – or, when Bellatrix refused to hold him so he couldn’t reach them, Summoning them right off her head.

Her colleagues at the Ministry found it equally as funny, although they were equally perplexed as to how she’d gained it in the first place.

“Too much power ricocheting around your bond?” one suggested when she tried explaining for the twelfth time what had happened.

“But then why didn’t this happen to Severus and Lily, too?” Bellatrix wailed in frustration.

Not even the Department’s other Seers could help, although each and every one refused to touch her. “The hearth has been lit,” said one. “It burns brightly now – to touch it would burn our own power out.”

Bellatrix could do nothing but fume in frustration. It appeared she was stuck with her new hair style.

Dumbledore and James Potter had been having an equally frustrating time. After the debacle with Lucius Malfoy, Potter had been called before a disciplinary board, headed by the Minister of Magic, Millicent Bagnold, and comprised of two members of the Wizengamot and two Auror trainers.

The charges facing him were attempted breaking and entering, and reckless behaviour, resulting in malicious endangerment of a minor. Potter’s defence consisted of the statement “He was about to hurt the children. I stopped him.”

“But he was at his sister-in-law’s home,” one of the Wizengamot members pointed out. “Why would he deliberately hurt his niece and nephew, not to mention his own son?”

“Because he’s a Slytherin,” Potter said, blithely. “That’s what they do.”

“Except if he was going to hurt his own child, why would he wait until the child was at his sister-in-law’s home?” one of the Auror trainers asked. “He could have injured the boy any time whilst at his own home.”

Potter made a dismissive sound in the back of his throat and shrugged carelessly. The stuck-up blond git was a Slytherin, what more excuse did he need?

The other Auror leaned forward, peering intently at Potter. He looked like something had taken a bite out of his nose, and he’d lost a lower leg at some point in his career – a wooden replacement was propped up at the side of the table. “Perhaps the question isn’t why you thought Mr Malfoy was going to hurt the children,” he said, roughly, “but why you were outside that particular house in the first place.”

Potter remained silent. Dumbledore had warned him that You-Kn . . . Voldemort had spies everywhere – including in the Ministry. He didn’t know how far up the rot went, but it was clear to see, Dumbledore had told him, that it wouldn’t be long before the Ministry was completely compromised. It would be best, Dumbledore had confided in him not half an hour before this hearing, if the Ministry didn’t know about the Order of the Phoenix. Otherwise, they might try and stop the Order, and then Voldemort would win, and they didn’t want that, now, did they?

Agreeing vehemently that no, they did not, this now left James Potter in a bit of a quandary. He could not explain why he had been watching that house unless he explained that it had been on Dumbledore’s orders. And revealing that would reveal the Order and might take Dumbledore’s attention away from the vital planning he was doing to stop the war. The Order had all heard the prophecy that Seer had given Dumbledore, and talk was rife on how it could be used to lead Voldemort into a trap. It was imperative that Dumbledore be free to manoeuvre.

“I received a tip-off,” he said finally, sullenly.

“From who?” the same Auror barked.

“I don’t know – it was anonymous,” Potter replied.

“Well, how did you receive it?” the other Auror asked.

Potter shrugged. “I have no idea how it arrived. It just turned up one day on my desk.”

After an hour of the same basic questions repeated over and over, the hearing was finally dismissed, once they realised they would get nothing further from James Potter. They decided it was best that he be suspended for three months, without pay – not that that made any difference to James, who had inherited a minor fortune from his grandparents – with a probation warning going into his file.

All things considered, Potter thought he’d got off rather lightly.

“Harry, no! Don’t you dare, young man!”

Severus aimed his best glare at the little boy, who was sitting in the bath tub, splashing merrily. Severus’ shirt was already in a sodden pile near the bathroom door, and his hair was plastered to his head. Harrison was apparently very enthusiastic about his bath this morning. Severus was not so pleased.

Harrison just giggled happily at his caretaker. “Waves!” he shrieked. “Duck ‘ide waves!” And he brought his hands down to smack the water again, the movement of the water causing the small bath toys to bob up and down, quacking in alarm.

“Harrison!” thundered Severus, as he blindly reached for the nearby towel. “Sit nicely and behave, otherwise I’m taking you out of there.”

Harrison blew a raspberry at him, then giggled again, reaching out to pat the nearest duck on the head with a force that sent it under the water.

“Having fun, Sev?” chortled a voice from the doorway. Severus sent a black scowl in that direction.

“Now I know why Lily was so quick to pawn him off on me,” he said, reaching for another towel. “Come on, Imp, time to get out of there.”

“No!” Harrison squawked, smacking the water again. “Wan’ play ducks!”

“I think the ducks have had enough for one day,” Severus told him dryly, and a gurgling quack from under the water agreed with him. “Come on, Harry.”

“No!” Harrison repeated, firmly, his brows drawing together in a scowl.

Severus raised an eyebrow at him. “I beg your pardon, young man? Would you care to repeat that?” he enquired, silkily. Harrison knew when he was pushing his luck, and he sulkily held his arms up so Severus could remove him from the bath.

Bellatrix snickered at the pair of them as Severus carried the boy down the hall towards his nursery. “You needn’t look so smug,” Severus told her. “It’s your turn to bathe him tomorrow.”

“It’ll be fine,” said Bellatrix, airily, waving a hand. “Harry likes it when I bathe him, don’t you, Harry?” The toddler, still sulking, didn’t answer her. Severus laughed.

“A ringing endorsement,” he teased, and Bellatrix stuck her tongue out at him.

Lily was in the nursery already, tidying away the toys Harrison had left scattered everywhere. Her smile of greeting faded when she caught sight of her scowling son. “Oh, dear,” she sighed. “I thought Harry liked his baths.”

“He does,” Severus assured her. “He’s just pouting because I made him get out. He was having too much fun playing drowning.”

“Drowning?!” Lily screeched, and before Severus could say another word, she’d whisked Harrison out of his arms, carefully examining her little boy before turning a gimlet eye on Severus. “The water shouldn’t have been that high in the bath,” she said, suspiciously.

Severus rolled his eyes. “It wasn’t,” he said. “It was the ducks that Harry was trying to drown. And me,” he added wryly, gesturing at his soaked hair.

“Oh,” was all Lily could say. She eyed Severus’ bare chest, then bit her lower lip and turned away, burying her face against Harrison’s hair.

“Are you laughing at me?” Severus demanded. He folded his arms across his chest and glared at Lily.

“No,” she replied, in a very strained voice, but then ruined the effort by bursting out into giggles anyway. Severus huffed in disgust.

“See if I ever give the Imp a bath again,” he said, in a mock-cross tone, and departed from the nursery with an indignant toss of his head.

By the time they all gathered for breakfast, Harrison had obviously still not forgiven Severus for depriving him of playtime. When he wasn’t blatantly ignoring Severus, he was throwing bits of his breakfast at him. After a while, Severus’ tolerance ran out, and his mock-irritation became very real.

“Lily, would you please get your son to stop that,” he finally snapped, exasperatedly, as the piece of buttered bread that Harrison had just thrown at him landed in his mug of tea.

“Harry, baby, behave,” said Lily, absently, and turned her attention back to the lesson plans she was discussing with Bellatrix.

The toddler blew a raspberry at Severus, unwilling to give up his grudge. He wanted to play with his ducks!

A faint vibration ran through the room, unnoticed by everyone. The air in the kitchen turned thick, humming as though struck by a tuning-fork. Severus closed his eyes as another bit of Harrison’s breakfast landed in his tea, and his hand clenched around the mug. The vibrations ramped themselves up until everything was imperceptibly shivering.

“Harry,” he warned, “stop that!” Harrison stuck his tongue out at Severus, and this time, he threw his plastic spoon at the man.

The air seemed to still in the room for a breathless moment, and then an explosion of magical rage tore through, as Severus’ mug hit the table hard enough to crack it into tiny pieces, and Severus himself shot to his feet. “That is ENOUGH!” he bellowed.

Squeals of surprise and alarm came from both Lily and Bellatrix, and Harrison stared with wide eyes at his Papa Sev, before bursting into loud, noisy tears.

For once, Severus ignored the boy’s distress. He stalked out of the room, and the series of slamming doors let the others follow his progress through the house to his private potions laboratory.

Bellatrix and Lily sat stunned for several seconds, before Lily reached out to pull a wailing Harrison into her lap. “Well,” she gasped out. “What brought that on?” She cuddled Harrison tightly, trying to soothe him. “There, there, it’s alright, Papa Sev didn’t mean to scare you.”

Bellatrix eyed the door that Severus had stormed through. “Perhaps he did,” she said, softly. “He did tell Harry to stop, after all. He asked you to tell Harry to stop. We can’t blame him for getting annoyed.”

“But there was no need to scare Harry like that,” Lily protested. “He could have just walked away. Goodness knows he’s done that often enough!”

“Still, maybe next time Harry won’t be so naughty,” said Bellatrix, reaching over to stroke Harrison’s hair. The boy hiccupped a little, but his sobs had mostly stopped by now. He gazed up at Bellatrix with damp green eyes. “Little Imp,” she said, fondly, smiling at him. “Mustn’t torment Papa Sev. He doesn’t like it.” At the very mention of the name, Harrison’s lower lip began wobbling again.

“Trix!” Lily scowled at her blood-sister, then turned back to Harrison. “There, baby, if you’re nice to him tonight, I’m sure he’ll forgive you.” A shrill chime rang out from the living room, and Lily let out a gasp. “Oh, Merlin, I’m going to be late!” she exclaimed, and swiftly handed Harrison over to Bellatrix. “Here, baby, go to Mama Trix. I’ll see you both later.” And kissing them both on the cheek, she disappeared with a sharp crack!

Bellatrix looked down at Harrison and sighed. “Well, Imp, looks like you’re stuck with me today,” she said. Harrison sniffled and buried his face in her shoulder. “Let’s go find Lissy, I’ll contact the Ministry, and then, my boy, we can go play.”

“B’oom?” Harrison asked, softly.

“Yes, I’ll let you ride on your broom for a bit,” Bellatrix promised as she got to her feet, propping Harrison on her hip. Carting the toddler from the room, she left that morning’s edition of the Daily Prophet on the kitchen table, ignoring the headline which read, “Dumbledore denies he gave orders to attack prominent Slytherins!”

Harrison was very subdued all that day, and there was no sign of Severus at all. He appeared to have placed a very strong silencing charm on his lab. By the time Lily got home, Bellatrix could feel faint twinges in the bond, and Harrison had taken up station outside the lab door, staring at it forlornly. Obviously he missed playing with his Papa Sev.

“Come on, Harry,” Bellatrix said, eventually, scooping him up. “Mummy will be home soon!” Harrison twisted in her arms to stare over her shoulder, his gaze fixing on the lab door until Bellatrix turned a corner and it was out of his sight. Then he slumped, his thumb creeping towards his mouth for comfort.

“Oh, dear,” said Lily as soon as she saw him. “What’s happened now?”

“Sev hasn’t come out of his lab all day,” Bellatrix explained. “I think Harry’s missing him.” She handed Harrison over to his mother and headed for the kitchen to make a start on dinner. “And in the future, he’ll know not to annoy poor Severus so much, won’t you?” she added to the toddler over her shoulder.

“Papa Sev ang’y,” Harrison agreed dolefully.

“Yes, he was. It’s not nice to act like that,” added Lily. She shuddered and pulled a face. “That’s the kind of thing Potter would do.” She tapped Harrison on the nose with a forefinger. “And you are going to be much better than him, young man.”

“That won’t be hard,” Bellatrix said with a snicker.

“Speaking of the devil, or his minions, did you read the paper today?” Lily asked, following Bellatrix into the kitchen and seating herself at the table whilst Bellatrix rummaged in the fridge.

“Not really,” came Bellatrix’s muffled voice. The fridge might have been a muggle one, but it had been charmed to stay cold, and wizard space had been added to it, making it almost a walk-in cupboard. “I saw the headline about Dumbledore, but that was about it.”

“Potter’s been suspended,” Lily informed her, lowering Harrison to the ground and summoning his toys over. “Go play nicely over there, Harry,” she said, running her hand through her son’s hair. Harrison weaved his way over to the special corner they’d set up for him, so that he could remain in the kitchen with them but be kept safely out of the way.

“Just suspended?” demanded Bellatrix, indignantly. “For how long?”

“Three months, according to the paper.” Unable to see the paper anywhere, Lily quickly summoned it and flicked through it. “Yes, three months unpaid suspension.”

“That’s not going to make much of a difference,” Bellatrix snorted, finally emerging from the depths of the fridge. “Was that all he got?”

“And a warning in his file, but basically, yes.” Lily shook her head and reached up to take out the hair-tie she’d been wearing. “Dumbledore must be thrilled – he’s basically been given a mild slap on the wrist and told not to do it again.”

“And if Dumbledore’s denied orchestrating everything, Lucius must be spitting feathers by now.” Bellatrix dumped her armful onto the counter. “Still, I’m sure it won’t help Dumbledore’s cause,” she added, beginning to rummage in the cabinets. “If anyone believes Lucius’ account, then it makes Dumbledore and his goons look paranoid, and just as eager to attack as Voldemort’s side.”

“Trix,” Lily said, slowly. “When you were Seeing . . . before . . .”

Bellatrix’s movements slowed, and then stopped as she peered over her shoulder at Lily, biting her lower lip worriedly. “I don’t know,” she said, finally, softly. “I don’t know what it means. For us, or anyone. But the war is coming, Lil. The war will swallow us all. I just don’t know who’ll survive.”

Severus had still not come out from his lab by the time Harrison was put to bed, which took a lot longer than usual, as his Papa Sev wasn’t there to read a story to him. It seemed that Lily and Bellatrix just didn’t read them right.

“I’m sure he’ll be back by tomorrow,” Lily said, soothingly. “And if not, then Mama Trix and I will go and turf him out for you.”

Harrison didn’t look like he believed his mother, but sleep was unavoidably calling him, and his eyes slid closed.

“What will we do if Sev is still sulking tomorrow?” Lily asked Bellatrix, once they were back in the living room.

“Smack him,” Bellatrix replied, cheerfully. “Hopefully knock some sense back into him.”

Lily giggled. “I’d suggest a time-out, like I give my class,” she said, “but I think that would just upset Harrison.”

“You finish there soon, don’t you?” Bellatrix waved her hand, and a bottle of elf-wine floated across the room to her, followed by two glasses.

“At the end of next week,” Lily confirmed, taking one of the glasses and holding it as the bottle tilted itself to pour. “I shall be glad of the rest, but I shall miss the children.”

“Where’s your next placement?” asked Bellatrix, curling her feet up underneath her as she snagged her own glass from the air.

“In France. A little town just outside of Calais.” Lily took a sip of her wine. “They’ve suggested that I board there. Should I?”

Bellatrix gazed into her wineglass and hummed thoughtfully for a while. “No,” she said, eventually, looking up again. “Your school – your contacts – will be here, so your foundation must be here, too. We can take holidays over there, as it will do Harrison good, but hearth is where the home is.”

Lily raised her eyebrows at the mangling of the phrase, but said nothing. Bellatrix said what she meant, and what she meant was what she Saw. So . . . daily long-distance portkeys it was.

Breakfast the next morning was just the three of them again. Bellatrix and Lily had both knocked repeated on the door to Severus’ lab, but either he still had up the heavy silencing charm, or he’d managed to sneak out of the house already as there was no response.

“Will you be alright taking Harrison again?” Lily asked, anxiously, as she got ready to leave.

“We’ll be fine,” Bellatrix assured her. “I was planning to visit Cissy today anyway, to see how Draco is doing, so I’ll just take Harry with me.”

“Okay. Be a good boy, Harry,” said Lily, pressing a kiss to her son’s forehead. He blinked after her and gave a small wave as she apparated away.

“Come along, Imp,” Bellatrix cooed, lifting the toddler to her hip. “Let’s go get ready to see Aunt Cissy and Draco.”

Unfortunately, Bellatrix’s plan to distract Harrison from Severus’ absence failed, as Draco, barely recovered from his injury, had become very clingy after his fright, and he refused to leave his mother’s side for any reason whatsoever. He screamed like a banshee whenever Narcissa tried to put him down, and not even the presence of his cousin to play with placated him.

Eventually, faced with two miserable little boys, the sisters decided a trip to Diagon Alley was in order. Lucius Malfoy, upon hearing of the idea, decided to join them, stating that if Bellatrix’s back garden wasn’t safe, then nowhere was, and he was determined that no more harm would come to his family.

And so it was that they meandered down the Alley together, Narcissa carrying Draco, who had his little arms wrapped tightly around her neck, and Bellatrix holding Harrison’s hand as he tottered at her side. Lucius prowled in front of them, occasionally circling around them like a herding sheepdog, ensuring that nobody could get close to his charges.

Any relaxation they gained, however, disappeared as James Potter came strutting out of a shop a little ahead of them. Casting an arrogant glance around the Alley to see who was there to see him, the suspended Auror caught sight of the group, and froze. Then his face twisted into an expression of disgusted hatred.

The small group also halted. Little Draco’s body tensed, and he whimpered quietly, so that only his family heard him. Harrison spotted Potter, and remembered the last time he’d seen the man.

“Mama T’ix, bad man!” he exclaimed, loudly, pointing insistently at Potter. Potter’s gaze dropped to the boy, and his lip curled up in a sneer.

“Hush, Harry,” Bellatrix said, pulling him closer to her legs.

“But, Mama T’ix,” Harrison protested, his voice still loud enough to carry to the passersby. “He the bad man who hurt D’aco!”

“Can’t you shut that brat up?” Potter growled, his hand twitching towards his wand. “I don’t even know why they let people like you in Diagon Alley. Should stick you in Knockturn where you belong!”

As more and more people stopped to watch, Lucius stepped in front of his wife and sister-in-law. “We have as much right as you do to be in Diagon Alley,” he said, coldly. “And my nephew only speaks the truth as he knows it. Now let us pass.”

“Why, planning to rob some poor shopkeeper?” Potter jeered at him, his wand suddenly springing up to point directly at Lucius’ chest. “Or perhaps you were heading to Gringotts to drop off more spoils?”

“Planning on attacking more children?” sneered Lucius, his hand freeing his own wand from its cane holder. “Didn’t you learn your lesson the first time?”

“I know you’re up to something!” Potter bellowed, his face flushing an angry red. Draco began to scream in Narcissa’s arms, high-pitched and terrified. Harrison huddled behind Bellatrix’s legs. Bellatrix anxiously tried to decide whether she should call for Severus or not. Her Sight wouldn’t let her see the result of either path.

“I see, only Gryffindors are allowed to be good,” Lucius was saying, his eyebrows raised haughtily. “What a very narrow – and wrong – view you have.”

“Slytherins can never be trusted!” roared Potter.

Bellatrix suddenly seemed to be moving in slow motion. She heard Draco’s scream rise, until she was fairly sure that only animals could hear it, judging by the noise so many nearby creatures were suddenly making. Harrison shuddered behind her, remembering the last time he’d seen Potter, and becoming desperately frightened. She could feel faint echoes in the bond – Harrison was beginning to call for Severus, although the call wasn’t urgent enough to penetrate Severus’ temper yet.

She saw Lucius’ mouth begin to move, in the beginnings of a shield spell. Narcissa was clutching Draco to her, holding his face against her shoulder, beginning to turn so that her back was to Potter, curved protectively over her son.

She saw Potter’s wand begin to move, and realised that he was about to send a blasting curse at them . . . in broad daylight, in the middle of the bustling Diagon Alley. If he did that, his career would be finished, and his reputation in tatters. But if he was allowed to complete the action, so many innocent bystanders would be injured or killed.

Concentrating on the middle of the space between Lucius and Potter, Bellatrix pressed her palms together, swung her hands up, and then brought them down again in a swift chopping motion and jerked her palms apart. “No!” she cried out, and the two men were flung away from each other.

Lucius merely staggered back a few steps, until Narcissa and Bellatrix caught him with a hand each on his shoulders.

Potter flew backwards into the window of a shop behind him, shattering the glass and landing in the window display. Time rushed forward again, and noise battered against Bellatrix’s hearing. Shouts and exclamations sounded from all sides.

“You all saw that! They attacked me!” Potter was bellowing, as he struggled to right himself from the broken glass. Two ladies outside and several shop assistants inside fluttered around him.

Once the Aurors arrived, they had to cast a Silencing spell on Potter to allow the other witnesses to be heard. All agreed – Potter had detained Lucius’ group first, and had drawn his wand first. Lucius had only been protecting the women and children. Potter was marched off between two Aurors, still shouting obscenities, even if no-one else could hear them.

“I think our shopping for today is done,” Narcissa said, shakily, and Bellatrix agreed. She left the Malfoys to make their own way home, and apparated herself with Harrison. Harrison was a bit shaky, but was more inclined to be fascinated with how Potter had flown without a broom.

“You are absolutely not going to try that,” Bellatrix was telling him, sternly, as they appeared in their kitchen. A noise startled them, and they looked over towards the doorway to see Severus lounging there, one shoulder casually propped against the doorframe and his arms folded across his chest.

“PAPA SEV!!!” shrieked Harrison, all but deafening Bellatrix, and squirmed out of her grip to launch himself across the room at Severus. Severus had apparently gotten over most of his temper, as he bent to scoop Harrison into his arms. Harrison flung his little arms around Severus’ neck, buried his face in Severus’ shoulder and burst into tears, babbling a litany of “I so’y, I so’y, I so’y,” in his ear. Severus said nothing, but just patted him on the back.

“Where have you been?” Bellatrix asked, advancing to hug the man. “We knocked on your lab door.”

“Silencing charm, then I went to the Leaky Cauldron,” Severus responded. “I guess Harry missed me.”

“Of course he did,” said Bellatrix, impatiently, smacking Severus on the arm. “Took me and Lily ages to get him to sleep last night, because we don’t read him stories the right way.” Severus chuckled, and Bellatrix stuck her tongue out at him.

Lily was just as glad to see Severus when she returned home that night, but she was more interested in Bellatrix’s account of Potter’s attempted attack in Diagon Alley. The Evening Prophet had held a small article – no doubt Dumbledore’s attempt to brush it off, the trio decided – mentioning that suspended Auror James Potter had had a misunderstanding in the Alley, and a shop window had been broken. Potter was given an extra month’s suspension, a month’s worth of community service, and was forced to pay a heavy fine to the shop owner.

“It’s ridiculous,” Lily grumbled as they sat in the living room. “You can bet anybody else who’d done something like that wouldn’t get off that lightly.”

“Anyone who isn’t a Gryffindor,” Severus said, idly running his fingers through Harrison’s hair. The toddler had refused to be parted from Severus, and was now drowsily curled up in his lap.

“Lucius and Potter didn’t have much to do with each other at school, so how is Dumbledore excusing these attacks on Lucius?” wondered Lily.

“He isn’t,” Bellatrix answered. As a Seer in the Department of Mysteries, she had access to a lot of the behind-the-scenes gossip. “Potter passed off the first attack as an anonymous tip-off.”

“And the second?” Severus asked.

“The old stand-by of Gryffindors everywhere,” said Bellatrix, her voice a tad bitter. “Lucius was – is – a Slytherin, and therefore can’t be trusted any further than you can throw him.”

“What did he think Lucius was going to do when he was accompanied by two women and two young children?” Lily demanded, incredulous. “Did Potter think he’d get the babies to spit on shop-keepers to get what he wanted?”

“Well, we always knew Harry didn’t get his brains from Potter,” Severus said, his mouth curling up into a smirk. The two women laughed, and Harrison muttered incoherently and buried his face more firmly into Severus’ body.

“No-one in the Ministry knows about Dumbledore’s group,” Bellatrix said once she’d calmed. “Apparently the all-knowing, all-wise Headmaster doesn’t trust them.”

“You think he wants to replace everyone in the Ministry?” queried Severus, arching a sceptical eyebrow.