He crumpled the brat's note further and stuffed it into his pocket. If the whelp thought he was going to get attention for injuries of his own making, he was wrong. Severus wasn't going to fall all over himself and coddle the boy. He strode through the castle gates and out onto the lane leading to Hogsmeade. With a breath to steady himself so he didn't start yelling at the brat the moment he saw him, Severus apparated to Little Whinging.

* * *

Harry stared at his black eye in the mirror of the upstairs bathroom. He knew he shouldn't touch it, but he couldn't help himself and did it anyway, touching the puffy dark skin and then flinching away immediately afterwards. He cursed himself gently and huffed as he continued to stare. He looked a real mess. He didn't know if the Headmaster would come for him or not, but he hoped he would. He'd begged the man for the last two years to let him stay at Hogwarts over the summer, but he'd refused. He half imagined the man showing up on the doorstep, taking one look at Harry, and then whisking him off to Hogwarts while apologizing profusely for leaving him there with his relatives. "It's ok," Harry would tell him. "It's nothing, really. They do this every summer." It wasn't ok, but Harry would just be glad to be safe and back in his warm four poster bed in the dorm instead of stuffed into the cupboard under the stairs.

You were supposed to be given gifts on your birthday, weren't you? Dudley always got gifts. Today was Harry's birthday and he imagined this would be his gift to himself: finally being rid of the Dursleys forever. He imagined the black eye and broken ribs were his ‘gift' from uncle Vernon (or at least, he imagined his uncle thought so), but in reality they had given him a gift by leaving him alone for the day while they drove to London to buy new clothes for Dudley. If Harry was lucky, (and he really hoped he was), they would be gone until after dinner, and the Headmaster or professor McGonagall would have come for him by then. He'd sent Hedwig off late last night with his plea to be taken to see Madam Pomfrey for an injury caused by accidental magic. When the Headmaster saw him, he'd know Harry had lied but it would be ok, because it would result in him being seen to and taken away from here forever.

Harry's stomach grumbled but he ignored it. All the cupboards and the fridge had been locked. Aunt Petunia always locked them when she was out of the house. It ensured Harry wouldn't ‘steal' any food. He really wished he could break into the cupboard for some peanut butter and crackers though, or even just some dry cereal. He hadn't eaten since yesterday morning.

The doorbell rang and Harry looked up suddenly. This was it! The Headmaster was here. He flipped the light in the bathroom off and raced down the stairs as fast as his injuries allowed, and threw open the door. His stomach did an unpleasant somersault when he saw who was on the threshold though. Dumbledore hadn't come for him. Neither had McGonagall.

"Potter. Would you care to explain this nonsense?" It seemed like a question, but Harry knew it was more of a demand as the Potion Master thrust his own crumpled note towards him. Harry took it and stared down at it, mind working furiously for the right words to say. Snape would never believe him if he said his uncle had hurt him. Now he would have to come up with some reason why he was hurt... a magical one, since that's what he'd put in his letter.

"Do you want to come in sir?" Harry asked, wishing for more time to think something up. He should have come up with a backup plan before he'd sent off that letter. He kicked himself mentally for not doing so, because he always had a backup plan.

"Contrary to what you and the Headmaster may believe, I do not have all the time in the world to waste on catering to your every whim Potter."

"So- you don't want to come in?" Harry hazarded, and then he shrank back from the sour look Snape gave him.

"Show me your injuries Potter, and explain. Now."

Harry lifted his pant leg and showed his swollen and bruised ankle. He'd twisted it trying to get away from his uncle in the back yard the previous evening. Then he pointed to his black eye. They weren't even the most serious of his injuries, but he dare not show the man the rest. "My friend and I were playing tag," Harry lied, but it was all he could think to say, because he had watched Dudley and Piers playing tag the day before. "I guess I must have wanted to win, because when I was running away my magic lifted me into the air and threw me to the other side of the yard."

"Pathetic," Snape sneered, eyes narrowed. "You do not owl the Headmaster claiming magical injury when your relatives could have taken you to a Muggle doctor."

"They're gone," Harry said. At least he didn't have to come up with a lie about this. "They went to London yesterday. They won't be back until tonight."

"You could have waited," Snape spat. He surprised Harry by pushing past him into the entryway then and slamming the door. "Madam Pomfrey is not at Hogwarts. I will take you to St. Mungos where you will explain your idiotic behavior to a healer. Then I will bring you straight back here." He wanted to make it clear to the boy that they weren't going to be making any side trips to the Quidditch Emporium or Sugarplum's Sweet Shop while out.

"Yes sir." Harry tried not to let all his hopes wash away with Snape's words. He had been so sure he'd be allowed to spend the rest of the summer at Hogwarts, but now that plan had been dashed.

Snape reached forward and gripped Harry's arm painfully, and with a pop they were gone.

* * *

Harry coughed and doubled over, clutching his stomach when they reappeared on a platform in the waiting room of St. Mungos a moment later. "Pathetic," Snape said again, leaving Harry there as he went to the counter to check Harry in. He clearly believed Harry was sick from the apparation. Harry was dizzy, but the way they had popped back into existence had made his ribs feel like they'd all been shuffled around and then pushed back into place. It made him feel like he couldn't breath for several long moments, but he finally regained his breath and slowly stood up straight, trying hard not to wince as he did so.

Snape sat in a waiting room chair in the half empty room without a word to Harry, and Harry took the seat next to him quietly.

Minutes passed without a word, the impatient tapping of Snape's fingers against the arm of the chair and the occasional murmur of a waiting patient or laugh of a nurse the only sounds to keep Harry company.

"Potter," a woman called only ten minutes after they arrived, and Snape stood abruptly and walked to the open door the nurse was holding open for them, leaving Harry to bring himself over, which he did, slowly, as it hurt to walk on his swollen ankle.

The nurse led them down a hall to a lift, and then took them up one floor, down another hall, and to a room with a bed and a chair.

"Are you able to get up onto the bed?" the nurse asked. Harry looked at the bed skeptically. It was a little taller than he was, and while he would normally have been able to climb up, his ankle and ribs were going to make it difficult.

"Is there a stool?" Harry asked.

The nurse pulled a step out from under the bed and Harry stepped gingerly up onto it and then sat on the bed.

"Where are you hurt?" the nurse asked.

Harry pointed at his eye and then lifted his pant leg again. He noted that Snape was standing in the corner with his arms crossed and looking irritated.

"Anywhere else?" she asked.

"No," Harry lied.

"And how did this happen?"

Harry repeated his lie about being lifted into the air by magic (not so far a stretch considering he had once ended up on the school roof), and the nurse wrote it down on the chart.

"Healer Davies will be in with you shortly," she said.

Harry chanced a look up at Snape, who caught his look, scoffed, and turned away, arms still crossed.

They only waited a few minutes until a tall, skinny man with neatly trimmed brown hair came into the room through the open door.

"I understand you had a tumble after a gust of magic lad," he said with a smile. The smile eased Harry's anxiety for a moment, but it came back full force a moment later. He'd already lied in front of Snape twice. How was he going to get the Healer to look at his ribs without Snape seeing?

The healer lifted Harry's pant leg and ran a scan with his wand, and then did the same to Harry's eye. He went to a tray against the wall and brought back a tin of bruise balm. Harry recognized it by sight. He'd had it often enough after rough Quidditch matches.

"This will take care of your eye," the healer said. "This bruise balm has an anti-inflammatory salve in it that will help take the swelling down. You'll have to put it on again later tonight and it'll be best if it's put on again twice tomorrow." He handed Harry the tin when he was done and Harry screwed the lid back on.

"The tendon is torn in the ankle. Bet you had a hard time walking in here."

"Yes," Harry said quietly, not wanting Snape to think he was getting a big head and enjoying the attention. The only thing he was enjoying was knowing his ankle and eye were going to be healed at least, though how he would explain his miraculous healing to his aunt and uncle, he wasn't sure. He'd be sure to get another beating so they could ensure his punishment would ‘stick'. Maybe instead of owling Dumbledore he should have just run away. He bet he could take better care of himself out in the country for the summer than the Dursleys could. Maybe he could even just start to walk to Hogwarts.

After pressing on Harry's ankle painfully several times, the healer did a spell and then took the jar of salve from Harry so he could apply more to his bruised and swollen foot and ankle.

"This is going to take longer to heal. A few days. You should stay off of it and keep it raised. The balm should be applied twice a day until it's completely healed."

"Yes sir," Harry said quietly, looking down at the tin as it was handed back to him. Running away was out then if he couldn't walk.

The healer was quiet for a moment, and then he turned to Snape and said, "Do you mind if I speak to him alone? Standard procedure when a child comes in. You understand."

Severus gave a single nod and left the room. Harry breathed a sigh of relief.

"You didn't get hurt by accidental magic," the healer said. It wasn't a question.

"Yes I did," Harry lied.

"No you didn't. I ran a trace along with the diagnostic spells. No traces of magic at all. Even if this had happened days ago there would be some trace of a levitation charm."

Harry shrugged.

"Did he do this?" the healer asked. "Your dad?" He motioned behind him to the door.

"What?" Harry said with a frown, "No."

"What happened then?"

"Kids," Harry lied. "In the neighborhood."

"Um hm. Where else are you hurt?"

Without hesitation Harry lifted his shirt up to show the rest of his damaged body. The healer sighed and took the tin of salve back from Harry again.

"Broken," the healer said after another diagnostic, and then he did three healing spells. "Three ribs." He put more of the salve on and told Harry to put it on twice a day for several days.

"If this really was kids in the neighborhood, why don't you tell your dad?"

Harry looked up at the Healer like he was crazy, and then back down at his lap and said quietly, "I wish I had a dad to tell."

"You don't?" he said, surprised.

"That's Professor Snape," Harry said. "He came and got me to take me to get healed this morning. You can't tell him," Harry said.

"If he isn't your guardian I'm not allowed to tell him legally."

"Good."

"It wasn't kids," the Healer said a moment later, and Harry didn't correct him. "Twice a day with that salve Harry. I don't want to see you back in here again."

Harry wanted to promise him, but he couldn't. He supposed if Dumbledore or McGonagall weren't going to come for him though, that sending another letter to Hogwarts when it happened again would do no good. "I won't be back," Harry said.

The healer gave him a stern look and helped Harry down off the table. When Harry and the healer walked back into the hallway, Snape was twenty feet away leaning against the wall. Harry had no idea that he'd been standing just outside eavesdropping the entire time.

* * *

Snape didn't sneer at him or yell at him anymore that day. He simply apparated Harry back to Four Privet Drive and left him there without a word.

Harry took the bruise balm into his cupboard and tried to think of any place he could hide it. There wasn't a loose floorboard in here like there was in the room he used to use upstairs. There was little place to hide anything in such a sparse closet. There was a thin cot mattress on the floor and in the wood supports of the walls Harry had several pairs of folded socks and underwear, and his watch. There were a few pairs of folded clothes at the foot of his bed and his empty backpack. That was it. His wand and trunk were upstairs in the now unused second bedroom, locked away.

No place to hide the bruise balm, Harry decided. His aunt and uncle would wonder why he'd healed so quickly and find it in his cupboard. Then he'd be beaten again and have nothing to show for his trip to St. Mungos at all. He supposed he had no choice but to run away then. If the Headmaster wouldn't come take him away, he'd have to take himself away. He could break the door down to the room upstairs and get his wand and trunk, and drag the trunk and his belongings to someplace close by where he could lay low for a few days while he applied the bruise balm and healed. Or maybe he could stash his trunk someplace close by like a drainage ditch and sleep at the park until he was healed. That would work, wouldn't it?

Harry climbed the stairs, leaning heavily on the railing and faced the locked door to the second bedroom. The cat flap was still in it from when he'd been locked in last summer. Harry poked his head through the cat flap. He could see his trunk sitting in the middle of the floor. If he could just reach through and grab it... he pulled his head out and reached through, blindly groping for the trunk, though he knew he'd never be able to reach it. He was surprised then when the trunk scraped across the floor and met his hand. He was also surprised a moment later to find that the trunk had also shrunk and was now small enough to fit through the cat flap. He hoped dearly he wasn't going to be sent a howler for using magic at home, even though there were no muggles around. He hadn't even intended to use magic, it had just happened.

Back downstairs with his trunk, Harry opened it and found his wand, thankfully not shrunk with the rest of his belongings. He closed the trunk and began packing his clothing into his backpack. When he was done, he put the bag on and then picked up the trunk, now the size of a large shoebox. With a last look at his cupboard, he went to the door and was gone. He hoped he'd never see the inside of four Privet Drive again.

* * *

Why had Potter lied about having broken ribs? Broken ribs were certainly something that should have been seen to immediately, yet he'd only shown Severus his ankle and black eye. He'd lied about how he'd gotten the injuries too. The healer had seemed to think it was an adult who had done it, but Harry had insisted it had been neighborhood kids.

‘Why don't you tell your dad?' .... ‘I wish I had a dad to tell.'

It was just a ploy for sympathy, Severus thought with a sneer. A bid to get the healer to recognize him as the orphan Boy-Who-Lived so he could get attention. But the healer hadn't asked and Harry hadn't told, and if the boy really had wanted sympathy, why hadn't he shown his Professor his more serious injuries? He hadn't said a word... hadn't even complained about it hurting. Severus had had broken ribs on a number of occasions and knew it hurt like hell. Potter hadn't let out a peep.

‘Pathetic.' That's what Severus had called him when he'd doubled over after sidealong apparation. Severus sneered as he remembered it, but not at Potter this time. Potter hadn't been the pathetic one calling an injured thirteen year old names.

Severus sat and stared at his lunch at the Muggle restaurant he'd stopped at, stomach grumbling, though he didn't feel like he was hungry. Why had Potter lied? He couldn't get it out of his mind. He knew Potter was a liar, he'd accused him of it often enough, but why lie about what injuries he had and how he'd gotten them?

Leaving his lunch on the table, Severus found an empty alley to use and apparated to Diagonalley, still mulling things over. He had a few ingredients he wanted to buy at the apothecary since he was already out and away from the castle.

It only took him a few moments to procure his short list of ingredients, and he stepped back out onto Diagonalley. He was ready to turn and apparate back to the castle when a voice stopped him.

"Severus, fancy seeing you out and about. From the way the boys talk you never leave the dungeons."

He turned to see the Weasley matriarch with her arms full of shopping bags.

"I was summoned to take the- to take Potter out and thought I would stock up on ingredients since I was out."

"Harry? Is he here with you? Do you think Albus would mind terribly if I took him home for the night? It's his birthday and we'd like to celebrate with him."

"His birthday?"

"Yes, the thirty first isn't it? We'd love to have him."

"I took him back to his relatives."

Her face fell. "It's a shame. I know the muggle's don't do anything for his birthday. If only Albus would let us keep him over the summer we could celebrate it with him. Every child deserves a birthday party don't you think?"

He was about to open his mouth to say that no, he didn't think Potter deserved a birthday party, but clamped it shut instead. Molly Weasley chattered on for several more minutes, though Severus didn't pay attention to what she said, and she finally apparated away with her shopping bags.

What she'd said had only started the wheels turning in Severus' mind again. Even if he didn't believe the big headed boy needed a birthday party, surely his family would throw him one. Parents always threw their children birthday parties. Even his own mother and father, whom he didn't always get along with had thrown him parties until he was fifteen. Potter hadn't mentioned it being his birthday today though, maybe Molly Weasley had been wrong about the date. Potter's family had gone out of town after all. Surely they wouldn't go out of town and leave Potter to his own devices on his birthday.

Severus meant to apparate back to Hogwarts, but when he disappeared, he found himself back at St. Mungos. Damn. His mind had been too focused on questions about Potter and he'd ended up here.

"Professor Snape?" the healer who had treated Harry came over to him in the waiting room before he could disapparate. "Did you bring Harry back?"

"No."

"Are you injured then?"

"No."

The man gave Severus a critical look before waving him through the door and down the hallway. Severus followed.

"You look like you don't want to be here any more than the first time you were here," Healer Davies said.

"Accidental apparation."

"I believe that like I believe accidental magic carried Harry into the air and dropped him."

Severus gave a grunt in response.

"You know I can't tell you anything about him since you're not his guardian."

"I am aware."

"You wondered though."

Severus didn't correct him. He had been wondering. "What makes you so certain it was an adult that hurt him and not neighborhood children?"

"You didn't see the size of the bootprint on his back."

Severus stilled. "You are certain?"

"I can't tell you anything," he said, "but if I were to tell you anything I would tell you he lied."

"Why don't you call the authorities?"

Healer Davies laughed then. "On Harry Potter? I didn't realize it was him at first. Not until he said he had no parents and I looked up and saw his scar beneath his bangs. I did some digging and found out Albus Dumbledore is his guardian in our world. You and I both know there's no going up against him in court. I can alert the authorities, and I did, but as soon as they see who the case is opened for they'll throw it in the bin."

Severus stared at him.

"See, even you don't deny it. Call the authorities," he laughed again, but it was a laugh that was hollow and didn't make it seem like he thought it was funny.

"I wish that boy had parents as much as he does," the healer said. "He'll be back. Same injuries. I guarantee it. That's if he makes it back."

A nurse was calling to him so the healer left Severus there in the hall.

'Why didn't you tell your dad?'

'I wish I had a dad to tell.'

'You don't?'

'That's Professor Snape.'

Severus sighed and apparated away. He didn't even attempt the Hogwarts gates this time and instead went straight to Privet Drive.

The car was still absent from the driveway, he noted. Good. It meant Potter was home alone. He wanted answers. The healer could suspect abuse all he wanted, but Severus was going to get to the bottom of this. If Potter hadn't preformed accidental magic, and it hadn't been neighborhood kids, then he likely got himself into some fight with an older boy and got himself beat up. Albus Dumbledore was no fool. He wouldn't leave The-Boy-Who-Lived with abusive muggles. No matter what Healer Davies thought, there was no way the Ministry would let Albus get away with something like that.

Severus' answers would have to wait though, because Harry wasn't in the house. He went upstairs to check the bedrooms and found them all empty (even the locked one). He tried every door downstairs, even the cupboard under the stairs, and that was empty too aside from a thin stained cot mattress and lumpy pillow on the floor. Severus stared at it for several long moments. Why was there a mattress and pillow in the cupboard under the stairs? When he pulled on the light chain and a weak light flooded the tiny space, he was dismayed to see several pairs of holey socks on the floor and a Gryffindor red t-shirt he'd often seen Harry wear at school. With a heavy sigh he went into the kitchen and wondered for several minutes why every cupboard and even the fridge were locked. His stomach grumbled then to remind him that he hadn't eaten his lunch and was hungry. Was Harry hungry too, or did he have the key to all of these locked cupboards?

Severus left the house through the front door as the sky began to darken, and looked up and down the street. He'd felt a trace of magic inside that he hadn't felt earlier that day when he'd first come to take Harry to St. Mungos. Harry must have used his wand or really had an accidental bout of magic.

He looked up and down the street and saw no sign of the Gryffindor.

"Who are you?" a nosy neighbor asked. Severus turned to look at the man who had been out watering his garden in the cool evening air.

"A friend of the family."

"I didn't hear them saying anything about family in town," the man said.

"I am a second cousin. I came to visit Harry."

"The boy?" the man asked. "If you're visiting why did he head towards the park an hour ago?"

Severus looked in the direction the man indicated.

"I must have just missed him," Severus said, and set off down the street. It only took him a few minutes to get to the park, which was deserted as the streetlights came on. Severus discreetly pulled his wand out and cast a locator spell. It wasn't a very good locator spell, but it was one of the simpler ones that didn't require him to use a potion with parts of Harry's skin or hair, and didn't require dark magic. It only gave him the direction Harry had moved off in, but it would have to do. He could be feet or miles away. Severus would just have to walk quickly and hope he could overtake him since he had an injured ankle.

It was completely dark by the time Severus spotted Potter in the distance an hour later. The boy had moved completely out of the neighborhood and out onto the motorway. Severus picked up his pace. At least the boy was walking on the side in the grass and weeds and not on the road.

"Potter," Severus said smoothly as he came even with the boy and slowed his pace to match Harry's. Harry was limping and Severus thought he had made a good distance considering his injuries and how sore he still must have been.

Harry looked up at him but didn't say anything and kept walking. Severus noted the boy's trunk was the size of a shoebox and decided that must have been the source of the trace of magic he'd felt in the house. Not knowing what else to say, he said, "You are not allowed to use magic outside of school."

"It was an accident. I was reaching through the door to get it and I couldn't reach. It shrank and came to me so I could get it out."

"Through the door?"

"Through the cat flap in my bedroom door."

"Why did you not simply open the door?"

"It was locked. I don't have the key."

They continued on in silence for ten or fifteen more feet until they came to a road that crossed the highway and headed out into the country. Harry turned onto the quiet road and Severus followed.

"Where are you going?"

"North."

"Why?"

"Does it matter? You won't believe me no matter what I say. I could just lie."

"You have already lied several times today."

Harry shrugged and it irritated Severus. When Harry failed to provide any answers to the questions spinning through Severus' mind, Severus decided he would have to ask more pointed questions.

"Why did you lie to me today about your injuries?"

"Would you have believed me?" Harry asked. "If I told the truth, would you have believed what I said?"

Severus hesitated. He and Harry both knew the answer, but Severus said, "It depends on what you told me."

"Liar," Harry said, though he didn't say it with any real malice.

"You would not know because you have not tried telling me the truth."

Harry frowned as he looked up at him in the darkness. "You didn't believe me last year when I said I couldn't do my summer Potions essay because my family threw my Potions book away."

Severus stilled and stopped walking for a moment, but began again to catch up to Harry who hadn't yet stopped. Before he could say anything against the accusation (because he hadn't believed Harry, because what child's parents would throw away their school books?), Harry started talking again.

"Professor McGonagall didn't believe me when I said I didn't have a winter coat. She thought I was just embarrassed because I forgot to pack one. Professor Dumbledore didn't believe me when I told him aunt Petunia slaps me when I mess up cooking meals. Professor Sprout didn't believe me when I said I got a black eye at the end of Christmas holiday last year from my uncle. She sent me to get it healed by Madam Pomfrey and then gave me detention because she thought I had fought with Draco Malfoy on the train. I'm not even the Boy-Who-Lived. I'm the Boy-Who-Lied. So let me tell you another one. I'm running away to Hogwarts. I'm going this direction because it's the opposite direction of London and I don't want my family to see me on their way home and pick me up."

"And it's your birthday," Severus said, not missing a beat. Harry glared up at him.

"I got a great present this year," Harry lied. "Professor Dumbledore came to the door this morning and saw that I was all beat up. He apologized for not believing me and took me back to Hogwarts to spend the rest of the summer." Harry's stomach gave an embarrassingly loud grumble, and he grumbled himself.

‘I wish I had a dad to tell.' Severus sighed. Potter didn't have a father to tell because his had died and his uncle had failed to pick up the senior Potter's mantle. All Harry had was teachers at school. Teachers who he had apparently told constantly about his home life. Teachers who didn't believe him. And one Potions Master who was starting to.

"Molly Weasley said the Muggles don't celebrate your birthday."

Harry shrugged again.

"She asked me if you were with me because they wanted to celebrate it with you."

"She didn't believe me, Ron, or Fred and George when we said there were bars on my bedroom windows."

"I believe you."

"No you don't. Why are you following me?"

"I want to ensure your safety."

"It's not your job. Leave me alone." Harry tried to pick up his pace but couldn't and when Severus kept walking beside him, Harry turned and shoved him with one hand. Severus didn't even stumble.

"You told the healer you wished you had a father to tell about your family."

"Yeah, thanks for reminding me I don't have one."

"I am not a father," Severus said, and for the first time in several years the familiar ache of wanting to be a father came back to him. After Lily, he'd never found a woman he wanted to even consider having children with. Harry stopped and stared at him and Severus stopped too. "But I will listen to you."

"And make fun of me," Harry said.

"Have I made fun of you so far?"

"Pathetic Potter," Harry repeated from earlier that day. "Explain your foolishness Potter."

"Allow me to amend my previous statements," he said. "Are you injured Mr. Potter? Please explain how this happened."

Harry scoffed and took a step forward to keep moving, but in the darkness his foot caught a rock on the side of the country road and he went flying face first, trunk leaving his hands and flying through the air in front of him. His chin smarted from where it had hit the dirt and he could tell his hands were scraped up. His ribs didn't feel great either. He didn't expect Snape to help him, but was surprised when he rolled onto his side and found the man crouched beside him and staring at him in the darkness. "Your chin is bleeding," was all he said.

Harry reached up to his chin and his fingers came away with a little blood.

"If you are intent on walking to Hogwarts, I will walk with you to ensure you make it. If however you would like to spend the evening with the Weasleys, I will apparate you there."

Harry gingerly pushed himself into a sitting position. "Why?" he asked. "You don't care about me at all. You think I'm spoilt and dumb and big headed."

"I was mistaken."

"And just like that you want to be nice?" Harry was skeptical.

"I told you, I want to ensure your safety and I will listen if that is what you want."

"I told you what I want. I want you to leave me alone."

"I will not."

Harry huffed. His ribs ached badly and he wondered if he'd broken them again even though he hadn't felt them crack. Even if they didn't hurt, his ankle did and he was tired and hungry. He didn't think he wanted to spend the evening with the Weasleys celebrating his birthday. This day didn't feel like one he wanted to celebrate. It felt like one he wanted to go to sleep and forget all about. From the disappointment and anxiety of that morning, to realizing he was never going to make it through the summer if he stayed with the Dursleys, he wanted to forget it all.

"I want to go back to St. Mungos."

Severus stood up and Harry wondered where he was going until he saw him walk down the road ten feet to where his trunk lay and picked it up. He returned a moment later and crouched next to Harry again. "Take my hand."

Feeling like this was giving up and he was bound to end up back at the Dursleys this evening, Harry took the hand, resigned to his fate.

* * *

"Same injuries," healer Davies tutted. "What did I say? I'd see him again with the same injuries. Foot and ankle more swollen than this morning and ribs broken again. At least his face looks ok." He seemed to be talking more to himself than to Severus or Harry.

"You have to stay off your feet if you want the ankle to heal. What did you do, go running on it?"

Neither Severus nor Harry answered and the healer shook his head. "If I see him back here again for this I'm holding you responsible," the healer said to Severus, and Severus gave a nod that he understood.

"It's settled then. I'm releasing him to you. He's in your care at the moment. I won't hesitate to put your name down on the next report if he comes back in here like this again."

"He will not," Severus said, and Harry wondered how he was going to keep that promise if he was going back to the Dursleys.

Half an hour later, ribs re-healed and salve re-applied to his foot and ankle and swollen eye (and both Severus and Harry having been properly scolded by both Healer Davies and a nurse), Severus and Harry found themselves both back in the the St. Mungo's waiting room.

"Do you wish to go to the Weasleys?" he asked.

"I just want to go to bed," Harry said, looking forward to passing out but not looking forward to it being because of his uncle's anger.

"Take my hand." Harry took it and was surprised to find himself at the Hogwarts gates a moment later, staring up at the castle in the darkness. There were only a few lights on.

"What are we doing here?" Harry asked.

"Putting you to bed."

"I thought you were taking me back to the Dursleys."

"After the effort you spent running away and I following you?"

Harry shrugged and followed him up to the castle at a slow pace. Instead of being told to go up to Gryffindor tower once inside however, Severus led Harry down to the dungeons. At first Harry thought he was going to be put up in the Slytherin dorms for the night, but was surprised to find himself in Snape's quarters.

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"Are we in your quarters?"

"Yes. I have a guest room. The healer released you into my care and I intend to make you stay in bed for at least three days to ensure your ankle heals. At that time Madam Pomfrey will be back and if your ankle should still not be healed she can tend to it."

Harry was too tired and achy to argue. He half thought this was some strange dream his mind had come up with after he had passed out in his cupboard. He followed the man down a short hall and into a guest room where he was told to get into the twin bed. A few minutes later he was brought a sandwich and a glass of water.

"I assume you did not have the key to the locked kitchen cabinets?" Severus asked.

Harry shook his head.

"Eat slowly or it will be back up in half an hour." Harry did eat slowly and relished the simple turkey sandwich and glass of water. Barely able to keep his eyes open when he was done with it, he didn't notice his Potion's Professor take the empty plate and glass from the room. Harry didn't notice him come back a few minutes later and cast a motion charm on the room either because he was already asleep.

"Happy birthday Harry," came the professor's quiet voice from the doorway.

* * *

"The house elves said you brought Harry back with you."

"Harry said you didn't believe him when he said his aunt slapped him around at home."

Albus and Severus stared at each other for the space of three seconds. "I was merely stating that you chose to bring him back," the headmaster said. He'd come down to Severus' dungeon quarters early the next morning.

"He had broken ribs, a torn tendon in his ankle, and a swollen black eye. The healer at St. Mungos was very upset that he came in twice with the same injuries. He released him to my charge and told me to ensure he stayed off his feet until his injuries healed."

"Twice?" Albus asked a little warily.

"After I returned him to his relatives, he ran away. I found him almost ten miles away on the motorway headed North for Hogwarts. He fell and re-injured himself."

Albus sighed and sounded tired, as if he hadn't slept. Or maybe it was just that he was feeling old and tired at that particular moment.

"I did believe Harry when he told me that. I also believed him when he told Minerva that his family had not provided him a coat, and when Pomona reported he was afraid to go home. I also believed Molly Weasley when she said there had been bars on his windows."

"Then why did you not remove him from that home?" Severus demanded.

"When I placed him there 12 years ago, the Ministry stated that should he ever be removed it would be their choice to which family Harry went to next. The political climate revolving around The-Boy-Who-Lived is charged. Can you imagine him going to live with Lucius Malfoy or one of the relations of the Lestranges? They all have ties with the Ministry. As much as I have wanted to remove Harry from the Dursleys care, I have been unable for fear that he would be placed in much worse conditions."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Severus asked, feeling a little stunned that his mentor was coming clean like this. Albus treasured his secrets and it was a rarity for him to share even one.

"I have done what I could for the boy when he is here. I provided funds for Minerva to buy him a coat and suitable shoes and mittens, a broom and replacement books when his family throws his away. I have asked all staff," here he gave Severus a pointed look, "to give him extra time on his summer assignments, and have asked Poppy to check him over whenever he returns. I have asked Molly to send him food over the summer and I have sent numerous letters to the Dursleys on Harry's behalf."

"It wasn't enough."

"I know."

Albus wasn't the only one feeling guilty though. The Headmaster had told him to give Harry extra time on his summer work, and he'd scolded the boy for not having his work done instead. Albus had also warned him that Harry wasn't what he thought, and he hadn't listened.

"He must be returned to the Dursleys as soon as he is healed."

"He'll be beaten again. The Healer at St. Mungos has already made a report to Wizarding Protective Services about his injuries."

Albus sighed.

"Can't we do anything?" Severus asked.

"You say he was ‘released' to you?"

Severus nodded.

"Stay here and look after him. I have someone I must speak to." The Headmaster left and Severus frowned, wondering if he'd be told whatever this new secret was the Headmaster had to go see about. It was lunch when Albus came back. Harry was still asleep in the guest room and the motion charm hadn't gone off once since he'd fallen asleep the night before.

"I firecalled St. Mungo's. Healer Davies put in Harry's medical chart that he was being released to you for care and keeping of his injuries. He also wrote a second report to Wizarding Protective Services stating as much."

"And?"

"He did not specify for how long you were to care for Harry or his injuries. He also did not specify for which injuries you were to care for. We may be able to work this to our advantage."

"How?"

"If Harry were to be in your care for all injuries, current and future, that could very much be argued that you are his legal guardian."

"Davies is just a healer, nothing more. He doesn't have any authority with the Wizengamot."

"He does," Albus said, "and he knows it. When it comes to injuries and being treated at St. Mungos, licensed healers have a say over the wellbeing of their patients. If a patient has been shown unable to care for their own injuries, a temporary guardian can be assigned to them. It is generally used for those mentally incapable of caring for themselves, but after looking into the law this morning I believe it can also apply to Harry. I believe Davies knew as much when he wrote it into Harry's chart and the report to WPS as he did."

"You are saying I am Harry's guardian?"

"For as long as it can be proven that Harry is incapable of taking care of his own injuries. He did run away instead of staying off of his injured ankle. I happen to know that Madam Pomfrey also has a record of his friends dragging him to the Hospital Wing several times for minor illnesses or injuries sustained during Quidditch."

"If I agreed to this it would only work for so long. Anyone could argue that he is capable as he grows older."

"I imagine by the time that argument could be made in several years, that Wizarding Protective Services would be unwilling to separate the two of you and would be willing to grant full custody on the basis of you having provided for his protection and wellbeing for so long."

"This is underhanded and cannot work."

"This is the law Severus."

"You imagine I want to look after the brat for the rest of my life," Severus said, but even as he said brat he hated himself for it, and Albus gave him a knowing look. Harry wasn't a brat. He was anything but. A brat would have demanded his birthday be recognized, he would have demanded to be taken to St. Mungos instead of asking politely, and he would have acted very dramatic about his injuries instead of downplaying them.

"Are there papers to sign?" Severus asked, pretending to look through a stack of books on his end table.

"There will be after I file a petition to make this longer term. You'll tell Harry?"

Severus gave a nod and Albus turned to leave. He stopped at the door though and turned back. "Severus."

Severus looked up and stopped nudging his stack of books.

"I'm glad it was you."

He left, and Severus wondered if this was all part of some scheme. He had sent Severus to take the boy to St. Mungos after all. Hagrid could have taken him, or Madam hooch, or even Sinistra, yet he'd sent him.

"Secret keeping old fool," Severus said minutes after the Headmaster had left. But he knew as well as anyone, that Albus Dumbledore was no fool.

* * *

Two weeks later, Severus Snape stood on the threshold of the door leading into the Burrow, Harry in front of him. You agreed to this, he had to remind himself as he was greeted with loud cheers and shouts and greetings from the family of redheads, all aimed noisily at Harry. Harry smiled and made his way inside, and Severus followed.

"Thank you for bringing him Severus," Molly said with a smile, and put a gentle hand on his forearm. "It means a lot to us."

"Every boy needs a thirteenth birthday," he said, hardly able to believe the words had come out of his mouth. But over the last two weeks he'd come to believe it about Harry Potter. The boy was so unassuming, and asked for nothing. It reminded Severus again and again that the boy asked for nothing because he expected nothing because that was all he had ever been given. Molly only smiled at him.

"We would have liked to have had him," Molly said as Harry disappeared up the stairs with Ron and Ginny, "but I'm glad it was you."

"Minerva has been angry at me for weeks."

"Has she?"

"She fancied herself becoming his guardian."

"Well he lives at the castle now, doesn't he? She can still dote on him if she likes."

Severus grumbled. Just because the boy didn't ask for things, didn't mean he wanted Harry to learn to get a big head. He had to admit that the sound of others ‘doting' on Harry didn't offend him as it once had though.

Severus endured the party for two hours, and then returned back to the castle with Harry and his large box of gifts. When they were back in the dungeon quarters, he pulled out one more from his desk drawer.

"What's this?" Harry asked. Severus motioned for him to open it, and he did. It was a black journal.

"I have a copy," Severus said. "You once wished for a father to tell important things to. I am not a father, but if you want someone to tell things to, you can write it in your journal, and it will appear in mine."

"Thank you," Harry said. He took his box of gifts and the journal and disappeared into his room. A few minutes later Severus' journal glowed and he opened it, surprised that Harry had written in it already.

"I wanted someone to care enough to believe me and do something about the Dursleys. I wanted to be safe. You did and I am."

Severus closed the journal and sat back in his desk chair, pride swelling in him a little at Harry's words. He hadn't needed to be a father to do those things for Harry, but he was beginning to feel like one. That ache he sometimes felt wishing he had children was no longer so prominent now that Harry shared the quarters with him and depended on him to keep him safe.

Severus wanted to write something back in the journal, but didn't know what to say. Instead he turned his attention to the legal papers sitting on his desk. The Headmaster had been right. The politics involving Harry were heavy and several Ministry officials had had a fit over the healer giving care of Harry's injuries to Severus. Albus had managed to use his pull with the rest of the Wizengamot to stretch the terms of Harry's care to his fifteenth birthday however. That would give them two years to look after Harry before they had to worry about how to keep custody over him. Two years in which Severus could ensure that no harm came to Harry from other adults.

Severus stood and went down the hall to Harry's open doorway. Harry was still sitting at the desk in his room and staring at the journal, apparently waiting for a reply.

"I will keep you safe," Severus said. It was the only thing he knew for sure he could promise.

"I know," Harry said.

"In two years we will have to apply for full guardianship in order to ensure I can continue to protect you."

Harry looked up at him. "You want to do that?" Harry seemed surprised.

Severus paused for a moment and then said, "You are not as bad as I once thought."

Harry frowned and after he didn't say anything Severus went back to the living room. A few minutes later his journal glowed again and he opened it to see Harry's untidy scrawl. "You'll get tired of me eventually. Everyone does."

Severus sighed and rose from his chair and made his way back down the hall to Harry's door again. Harry frowned at him.

"I thought the point of the journal was you writing back."

"Some conversations are better had in person. Explain what you wrote to me."

Harry bit his lip for a moment and looked down at the desk he was sitting at. "I'll mess up and you'll kick me out. I'll end up back at the Dursleys."

"I will not turn you out and if the Headmaster and I can help it you will never return to your relatives."

"You say that now, when I haven't done anything wrong."

"I will not turn you away."

Harry sighed. "I've seen you angry before." He raised his brows as if asking, ‘remember?'

"I was under the impression you were getting into mischief on purpose."

"I don't go looking for trouble, but it seems to find me anyway. You'll toss me out. You will," Harry insisted at the stern look Severus gave him.

"There is nothing you could do to make me send you away. If you require a wizard's oath to make you believe that, then so be it."

"So-" Harry hedged, "if I break a bunch of professor's enchantments protecting a priceless artifact and end up battling Voldemort, you won't throw me out?"

"You will find yourself grounded from everything possible for months on end, but will remain right here so I can ensure your punishment is carried out properly."

"And if I fight a giant snake in the basement?"

"You will get a tongue lashing you will not soon forget."

Harry bit his lip.

"And?" Severus asked, leaning on Harry's door frame.

"I'm stupid's all," Harry mumbled. "I'll do or say something stupid and mess this up. You'll hate me for making you take care of me when you don't want to, and that's when it'll get bad."

"Like at the Dursleys?"

Harry shrugged, looking down at his hands.

"Give me your wand."

Harry looked up and frowned but Severus was holding out his hand and Harry reluctantly picked his wand up off the desk and handed it to Severus. He was equally as surprised when Severus handed Harry his own wand.

"Touch the tip of the wands together and repeat after me, ‘This is a wizards oath.'"

"This is a wizards oath."

Severus made a gesture to Harry to be silent then, and then said, "I Severus Tobias Snape, give my word as a wizard that I shall never intentionally harm Harry James Potter, or intentionally do him ill, or knowingly allow others to do him ill. I will never send him to live with a person he does not wish to live with, and he will always have a place in my home."

Severus gave Harry a serious look and noted that his mouth was hanging open in surprise. "Now you say, ‘I hold you to your wizard's oath'."

Harry's voice shook as he said, "I hold you to your wizard's oath." The two wands glowed momentarily and then Severus held Harry's wand back out to him. "What- what happens if you break it?" Harry asked, taking his wand back and giving Snape's back to him.

"It will be considered a magical debt that is unpaid, meaning you may collect on that debt as you see fit and when you see fit. Whatever you required of me I would have to do short of giving up my life. My magic would be held in check until the debt was repaid as you demanded."

"In check?"

"I would essentially be a squib."

"You didn't have to do that- I'm not worth it."

"You are, and someday you will see that."

Severus left Harry's room and decided that it was for good that night, so Harry could have a chance to think over what had been said. Harry didn't write in the journal any more that night, though he did write in it a lot over the coming school year. While Harry was living in Gryffindor with his house mates he wrote questions in the journal to Severus about Sirius Black, about the role Black had played in his parent's murder, and about Voldemort. The more he asked Severus in the journal the more comfortable he seemed to become asking more mundane things such as what to do when you liked a girl (he swore the question was for Ron), and what extra books he should read for help with his Transfiguration or Charms homework. Sometimes he wrote in the journal to tell Severus rude things people said to him, though he wrote those things as often as he wrote about good things that had happened to him during the day or week. By the time the term was coming to an end, Severus felt he had gotten to know Harry quite well, between the conversations they'd had in the journal, the time they'd spent together over Christmas, and the various times Harry had come to Severus' office throughout the term to talk to him (or to be told off for wrong-doings). It was in his office, and not the journal, that Severus found himself facing Harry down at the end of the term after the incident in the Shrieking Shack with Sirius Black and Remus Lupin.

Harry fidgeted with his fingers as he sat staring down at them, totally silent as Severus paced around him.

"You could have been killed tonight. Black could have used an unforgivable on you if he wanted, and Lupin could have ripped you and your friends limb from limb... in fact, almost did rip you limb from limb. Then there's the dementors, who would think nothing of giving you the kiss." He turned sharply to face Harry and Harry jumped, startled. "And what, after all we've been through in the last year, you could have possibly been thinking cursing me when I came after you in the shack, I won't pretend to know."

"I told you I'd mess this all up!" Harry said, feeling panicky and rubbing his sweaty hands on his pant leg. "I'm stupid! You know I am!"

"What you did was stupidity but you are not stupid, which makes this worse. I know you're capable of making good decisions, which means you chose not to."

"You were going to kill Sirius without listening to what he had to say! You were going to let the dementors have him!"

"I was going to bind him and bring him back to the castle for the Headmaster to deal with!" Severus spat. He had taunted Black with the possibility of being kissed, but if he admitted it to himself, it hurt that Harry thought he was so callous that he'd just let the man die (deserving or not) without hearing him out. He'd believed he'd proven himself to the teen but apparently he hadn't. Perhaps he'd never be able to.

Severus sat down behind his desk feeling that he'd finally paced himself out. Harry made a noise and Severus looked up and noted that the boy's bottom lip was trembling and he was trying to hold tears back.

"Potter-"

"I'M SORRY!" Harry burst out, finally bringing his arm up to wipe his eyes on his dirty and torn sleeve. "I told you you'd want to be done with me."

"And I told you if you did anything like you did tonight you'd receive a tongue lashing you'd never forget and be grounded for the summer. Now you've been lectured and the only part that remains is the grounding."

Harry was shaking his head though and biting his bottom lip.

"What are you shaking your head for?"

"I don't deserve that. I cursed you and you hit your head," here he looked up to the recently closed but still very red gash on the Potion Master's forehead. "You shouldn't have to keep me just because of an oath."

"I made that-"

"I looked it up," Harry said, interrupting him and looking up at him, eyes red. "You don't have to keep the oath if I release you from it early."

"Potter, stop-"

But Harry wasn't listening. He was looking down at his hands and fidgeting with his fingers as he said quietly, "I release you from your wizard's oath to me."

Severus felt his wand grow warm in his pocket signaling the oath had ended and frowned at the boy with a sigh.

"Regardless of what you believe you deserve or don't deserve for your foolhardy behavior, you are going to remain with me."

"You don't have to say that anymore."

"Why are you determined that I should send you away? Has my care not been satisfactory?" He'd purchased the boy new clothes and new school things, he'd helped him with his homework, and he always responded to the boy's questions or thoughts in the journal. He'd even put himself between the boy and his friends and a raging werewolf.

"I don't want a Potion's Professor."

Severus' face paled. "What?"

"I want a father."

It was Severus' turn to fidget. "I can't-" but for the second time that evening Harry interrupted him.

"Why not?" he asked, looking up, eyes shining.

"I don't know what you want me to say Potter," Severus said quietly. The Ministry wasn't going to let him just adopt the boy. It was only on the shaky foundation the healer had laid for them that he had temporary custody of the boy at all.

"Tell me why I can't have a father but everyone else gets one? Why does Ron get to have a dad to take him places? And Draco gets to have a dad to brag about to anyone who will listen, and Hermione has a father to look up to, and Dean has a dad to write to for advice? Why not me? Why do I have to have aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon and everyone else gets a real family?"

"Why does everyone get to have a family that cares about them?" Severus rephrased Harry's question.

"Yes."

"I care about you."

"But you can't be my dad. It's not fair."

"It is not," Severus agreed, for as much as Harry wanted a father, Severus wanted a son.

"Can't we make a wizard's oath?"

"The only oath that would matter to the Ministry is one from a current guardian, and your Muggle relatives are not capable of such a thing."

"Too bad Sirius is just my godfather and not my guardian, or he could make an oath."

Severus frowned for a moment and then looked up. "Black is your godfather? How do you know?"

"He told me on the way back from the Shrieking Shack before Pettigrew got away."

"If that is true, than he is your guardian. If he had not been sent to Azkaban you would have been sent to live with him as his ward."

"So Sirius could make an oath?"

"Yes, but he will not."

"Why not?"

"As you and Draco are now, he and I were in school."

"But," Harry hedged, "if I asked him, he might."

Severus stared at Harry. "You can ask, but it would be unwise to get your hopes up. As I told you previously this year, Sirius Black is a callous, self-conceited man who does nothing if not for his own gain."

"People change," Harry said, and when Severus looked like he wanted to protest, Harry raised his eyes and Severus kept his mouth shut. People did change, Severus knew they did because he had. Everyone from Minerva to Weasley and Granger had commented on it over the course of the school year.

Severus stood up and walked to the door. He opened it and Harry followed him out and then up through the castle to the Headmaster's office, where Black was currently bound and speaking with the Headmaster. When they reached the Headmaster's office they were bade to enter and found the bindings on Black's wrists were gone.

"Ah Severus, Harry," Albus said with the smallest hint of a smile, albeit a very tired one. Despite his smile his eyes were grave and serious.

"Harry wondered if he could have a word with Black... alone," Severus said.

Dumbledore looked between Harry and his red rimmed eyes to Sirius and his gaunt, hungry features. "Yes, I think that would be a good idea," the Headmaster said, and left the office with Severus towards what Harry could only assume was the Headmaster's sitting room or quarters.

Sirius watched both men go and then turned to Harry once the door was closed. "Harry, I wasn't sure I'd get to see you again."

"What did the Headmaster say?" Harry asked.

"He performed Legilimency on me... he looked into my mind," he clarified at Harry's confused look. "He knows I'm telling the truth. But Peter is gone so I have no evidence to prove myself to the Ministry and there aren't many who can do what Dumbledore can with the mind."

"So what does that mean?"

"He's not going to turn me over to the Ministry, but I'm still going to have to live in hiding until we can catch Peter."

Harry sat in the visitor's chair next to Sirius. "You offered me a place to live," Harry said quietly. "That can't happen now."

"Not yet."

"Did the Headmaster tell you about my situation?"

"No, what situation?"

"I have to stay with my relatives. If I don't the Ministry will put me with someone like the Lestranges or the Malfoys. But I can't stay with my relatives. They- well they don't like wizards. They put me in St. Mungos last summer."

"Harry, I'm- I'm so sorry I haven't been here for you all these years."

Harry bit his lip. "A healer released me to the custody of one of the Professors here, but only until I'm fifteen, then I have to go back to the Dursleys. I don't want to go back," he said seriously, looking up at his Godfather. "And you can't take me. They might never catch Peter. The only way for me to stay where I am now, and to be safe, is if you make an oath saying I can have the guardian I choose. ‘Cause that would be legal I guess."

"That would be legal," Sirius agreed.

"Please Sirius."

"You like the person you've been staying with?"

Harry nodded. "Yes, but you're not going to like who it is."

Sirius looked thoughtful for a moment and then said, "Snape."

"He's been really good to me. I've never had anyone before. At my relatives I lived in a cupboard under the stairs and I barely got to eat."

"You had Lily and James."

"I can't remember them. I can only remember aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon, and Professor Snape. I know you don't like him."

"I don't. We were always fighting. He used to throw dark curses at me during duels."

"I cursed him tonight," Harry said.

Sirius smiled slyly. "I saw that. That curse packed a punch. Remind me not to get on your bad side."

"And he forgave me."

Sirius frowned. "You knocked him out."

"I got my butt chewed for cursing him, and I'm pretty sure I'm grounded for the summer, ‘cause he said I put myself in danger all night... but I didn't get hit, or locked in a cupboard so small I can't stand up in it, and when I released him from his wizard's oath to keep and protect me, he promised not to throw me out anyway. I like him Sirius. For the first time I can remember there's someone who believes me when I tell them things and doesn't put me down and has promised to protect me. I want that. It's not fair that all my friends have parents and I'm not allowed to and have to be stuck with my aunt and uncle."

"If I were to give over rights of you to him, that's it, you know that right? There's no going back. Whether you like it or not, from that point forward he'd be your permanent guardian until you're 17. What he says goes and you'd have to live with it."

"I know."

"And you'd be ok if he said you couldn't play Quidditch anymore? Or couldn't have Hogsmeade weekends? If he said you could only date Slytherins?"

Harry laughed. "I'd probably be grounded all year for sneaking out to play Quidditch in the middle of the night every night, and I've already been grounded once this year for sneaking into Hogsmeade when I wasn't supposed to be there, and if have to only date Slytherins I guess I'll have to get used to it."

"You really like him that much?"

Harry nodded.

"Anyone would be lucky to have a kid like you Harry. I hope he realizes that. Your parents certainly knew it, even if you don't remember. If I could have the chance I would take it."

"I know."

Sirius got up and went to the door Snape and the Headmaster had disappeared through and opened it. Both men came back in.

"I'm never going to like you," Sirius said, looking Severus in the eye.

"Understood."

"But if you'll continue to treat Harry as good as he says you do... then I can probably stand to tolerate you... until he's 17."

Harry could see Severus biting back several retorts, and was glad he was doing so. Harry didn't want Sirius to change his mind. Sirius held out his wand to Snape and Snape exchanged wands with him. Sirius looked like he wanted to change his mind, but before he could he said, "This is a wizard's oath," and Snape repeated his words. "I Sirius Regulus Black, promise to transfer my guardianship and right to adopt, and right of the heir as Harry James Potter's godfather to Severus Snape."

"I hold you to your wizard's oath," Severus said.

Both wands glowed, and Sirius looked sad as he took his wand back from Snape.

"Splendid," Dumbledore said, beaming, and all of them turned to look at him.

Sirius turned to Harry and put his hand on his shoulder. "I hope this turns out to be everything you want Harry," he said. "By law I'm not your godfather anymore, but here," he touched his chest above his heart, "I'll always be your godfather. You can come to me for anything. Remember that. Promise?"

"I promise," Harry said. Sirius pulled him into a hug and then with a nod from Dumbledore, stepped into the man's floo and in a flash of green smoke and ash, disappeared.

"If you'll excuse us Albus," Severus said, putting a hand on Harry's shoulder and turning him towards the door, "I must put Harry to bed. He has a detention to serve first thing in the morning."

"Of course," Albus said, meeting Harry's eyes briefly as they both smiled.

Harry couldn't be upset about his impending detention (he felt like he deserved it for cursing Severus), or about the weeks of grounding he was probably facing. Not when it was the price to pay for a father: one who would listen to him and keep him safe, and not throw him out when he messed up.

Severus walked Harry to the entrance to Gryffindor and said, "Be at my office at eight. I have a room that needs to be scrubbed and painted from floor to ceiling."

"Painted?"

"If you are going to stay in the room in our quarters all summer, it should be painted."

Harry bit his lip and wished he could step forward and hug Severus, but was afraid to do so. He was surprised then when Severus stepped forward and pulled him into a hug. "If you want a father to tell things to, I will be there to listen."

"If you want a son that gets in heaps of trouble every year, I'm ok with being grounded for doing stupid stuff."

"Good, because you are very much grounded for the first two weeks of summer."

Harry laughed and was surprised but happy when Severus did as well.

When he entered the common room a minute later, Hermione was waiting for him. Everyone else was in bed as it was nearing one thirty in the morning.

"What happened? Professor Snape whisked you away out of the Hospital Wing so quick I wasn't sure if I'd see you again."

"I got yelled at, and then I got grounded, and then we went to the Headmaster's office and I convinced Sirius to let Severus be my dad."

"What do you mean?" Harry explained it to her, though he yawned so many times through the story that Hermione sent him to bed only a few minutes later, and he was grateful not to be kept up any longer.

Once upon a time Harry Potter had made a wish to have a father he could talk to. He'd never dreamed it would come true, as complicated a wish as it was, but he was happy it was a wish fulfilled. Severus for his part was also happy to see this wish come true, as it fulfilled a wish he didn't even realize he'd had: to have a son just like Harry... to be the type of father a son would want to talk to. As it turns out, the wishes that aren't simple are the best kind when fulfilled, and that was something Harry and Severus would testify to for years to come.