Harry was snuggled up, all warm and cozy, in the bed in that spare room he secretly called his.

He knew that eventually he'd probably be sent away somewhere else. 

That Dover was just a last resort that Dumbledore had thought up on a whim. 

But in his dreams, this room was his own. And Emmeline was there and Snape stayed the way he was now. 

A kinder, more understanding man who made Harry feel safe.

Like he was worth something. 

There was a gentle knock on the door.

"Good morning darling," Emmeline said softly. "Are you awake yet?" Harry turned and stretched out. 

"Yeah." He said before yawning "what's up?"

"Severus wanted your help with the garden again today," Emmeline explained. Harry smiled.

"Alright." He said. "I'll be down in a bit." Emmeline left again and Harry quickly got dressed, pulling on his gardening clothes. Then he opened the door and froze. His smile became beaming. He knew that smell! "Pancakes!" He cried happily as he rushed into the dining room to see a small stack of Emmeline's perfectly fluffy pancakes on the table.

"Chocolate chip," Emmeline confirmed before putting three on his plate and pushing the bowl of whipped cream under his nose. "And I made cream ahead this time."

"Thank you!" Harry said happily. 

"Eat quickly," Severus muttered as he set down the paper. "I want to have all of the yard work done by the afternoon."

"What are we gonna be doing?" Harry asked around a massive bite, making Severus scowl slightly. 

"We are harvesting everything that can be harvested, preparing it for preservation, and pruning everything down in preparation for the school year."

"Maybe we should lay some mulch down to cut off the weeds," Harry added handily. Severus rose an eyebrow.

"Yes, I suppose that would be a good idea." He agreed. "It will have to wait, as I don't have any right now. The harvesting, however, cannot wait." Harry nodded and shovelled more of Emmeline's absolutely delicious pancakes into his mouth. When he took his last bite he stood up, brushing crumbs from his shirt.

"Let's go then."

"Indeed." Severus assented before he turned to the back door out the kitchen, sparing one final look at Emmeline, who gave him a thumbs up, before following Harry out of the garden. "Right!" He cried, rolling up his sleeves. "There is much to do! Pay attention, and we'll get it done as efficiently as we can."

Harry wiped the sweat from his brow with a slightly breathless huff. Severus hadn't been kidding. This was a lot of work! But at least he didn't have to do it all by himself like the Dursleys had made him. The potions master had been buried elbows deep in peat soil as well. 

The first thing they did was harvest every flower, leaf, and berry of all the plants that Severus insisted needed to be harvested. Then they worked together to pull up all the plants whose roots Severus needed. And then they had plucked out absolutely every single weed in the plots. 

Severus had been very particular about that part.

He hadn't let Harry take a full break until every little sprout was gone.

He had gone in to get Harry some water and pumpkin juice with ice though; so that was nice. 

Now they were just sitting on the edge of the flower bed in front of the huge baskets of their harvest exhausted from the summer heat. Harry saw a flash of black out of the corner of his eyes and looked over. His stomach flip-flopped as he realized what he'd seen was Severus lifting his left arm to wipe his brow. The Dark Mark was so stark against his skin that it was jarring. Harry looked away as Severus felt his eyes on him. He quickly lowered his left sleeve.

"My apologies." He muttered, "I'm sure it must bother you."

"N-no!" Harry insisted, cursing his nervous stutter for making him sound so unconvincing. "It's just. I'm curious is all."

"Oh, I am well aware of that fact," Severus complained with a snort. "You're more curious than a cat. Which is going to get you killed one day." Harry scowled.

"I think I'm pretty good at getting out of life-threatening situations!"

"The point is to remain out of them in the first place Harry," Severus argued with a chuckle. Harry opened his mouth and then clamped it shut. Yeah, he guessed the man had a point. 

"Well… I don't always try you know! I mean the situation with the broom during quidditch was not my fault! Malfoy was the one who stole Neville's remembrall. I just so happened to catch it while McGonagall was looking. How was I to know that A: she wasn't going to give me detention, and B: Voldemort would use the match as an excuse to try and kill me?!" Severus sighed.

"I will admit, that situation was not entirely your fault. Though Rolanda did say you were all supposed to remain on the ground. But seeing as it was Draco who broke that rule first I cannot fault you for that either." His face twisted up. "That boy is a menace to society. One of these days he's going to say something that he won't be able to take back to someone that won't let him off the hook for it."

"I'll say," Harry grumbled under his breath.

"And knowing him as I do. That person will probably be the Dark Lord. Which will not end well for him or Lucius."

"Hang on… Malfoy wants his son to be a Death Eater?!" Harry cried in horror, "why?!"

"Because Lucius Malfoy is a coward," Severus declared blackly, "who would sooner curse his son to a life of torture and death than suffer in his stead. The Dark Lord will demand it of Lucius. And he will do it to save his own skin. Even if it would mean the death of his wife and son should Draco underperform."

"That awful " Harry said with a sallow face. "Doesn't he love Draco? Even just a little?"

"Draco is not a child to Lucius," Severus explained bitterly, "he's a chess piece. And everything Draco says and does is weighed in Lucius' mind against the time he had invested into him."

"I thought dads were supposed to love their kids," Harry muttered sadly. Severus sighed.

"That is how it should be. But not all parents can give what every child deserves. Draco is a product of Lucius' own upbringing, which was even more brutal and regimented than Draco's." Severus paused. "I think that perhaps in his own way Lucius does love Draco. But he was brainwashed so heavily by his own father that he will never show it." 

"That's really depressing." Harry said glumly, "it's just this vicious cycle that keeps going on forever and ever."

"Indeed." Severus muttered, "perhaps one day a scion of the Malfoy family will have the courage to break this cycle. But I highly doubt that Draco will be the one to do it." Harry snorted.

"Malfoy couldn't be brave against a flobberworm." 

"No, likely not." Severus agreed with a chuckle. Then he reached out and ruffled his hair on a whim.  Harry looked up at him in slight shock, the man looked equally amazed at his behaviour. He then removed his hand, cleared his throat, and picked up the baskets. "Can you get the door for me?"

"Yep!" Harry agreed before he rushed to open the door. Harry followed the man when suddenly he stepped to the side.

"SURPRISE!" Emmeline cried with a grin. Harry blinked in shock. There were colourful streamers strung across the ceiling and gold and red balloons floating around, occasionally lighting up or whistling 'for he's a jolly good fellow'. And on the dining table was a square slab cake with thirteen little candles dazzling in it. "Harry Birthday Darling!"

"It's… it's my birthday!" Harry cried in shock. He'd completely forgotten!

"Come sit!" Emmeline insisted with a hand wave. Harry grinned and rushed to sit in the head seat that Severus usually filled. He stared down at the loopy icing which wished him a happy birthday. "It's strawberry flavoured."

"Really?!" Harry cried happily. he loved strawberries! Then suddenly a pile of presents landed on the table.

"You have far too many friends," Severus complained. "I almost ran out of space downstairs."

"All those are for me?!" Harry cried in awe. Severus rose an eyebrow.

"Are there any other young men turning 13 running around that I don't know about?" 

"Why don't we all have cake first? Then you can open your gifts." Emmeline proclaimed. Harry smiled then blew out the candles one at a time. When he got to the last one he hesitated.

He knew what he wanted to wish for. 

But it was one of those wishes that he knew would never come true. 

So he plucked it from the cake and shook it out instead, drawing raised eyebrows from the two adults beside him. Emmeline tossed Severus a worried look which the man remained silent and stoic about. They both suspected this was yet another traumatic habit Harry had obtained thanks to his despicable relative. Emmeline chose to remain silent as well, save to ask Harry how big of a slice he wanted. As he dug into the cake he moaned in delight.

"This is delicious!" He proclaimed. 

"Thank you, dear," Emmeline said with a smile. Severus meanwhile was lost in a memory. Emmeline had made this very same cake for his birthday the first year they had dated. Convincing the house elves to let her cook in the kitchen had taken a solid hour according to her. But it had definitely been worth it. It was the best birthday he'd had in a very long time. "Severus?"

"Hmm?" He said with a slight jolt. Emmeline looked at him worriedly

"Are you alright?"

"Yes sorry," Severus mumbled with a slight cough. "Lost in thought. The cake is spectacular."

"Oh thank you," Emmeline said with a grin. Then she watched Harry take his last bite. "Presents?"

"Yes please," Harry said with a grin. 

"Weasley's gift is first," Severus said as he handed the small, poorly wrapped box over. Harry tore it open and blinked.

"Some kind of spinning top?" He question as he held the small device up.

"It's a miniature sneakoscope," Emmeline explained. "It lights up, spins, and whistles if someone untrustworthy is sneaking around."

"Surprisingly practical," Severus muttered with a raised eyebrow.

"It's like you said, Ron is strategically brilliant. He's just not good at homework." Harry argued, feeling a bit defensive of his friend.

"Granger next." 

"Probably a book," Harry said with a chuckle. But when he pulled off the wrapping paper he let out a cry of delight. "It's a broom servicing kit!" He looked at the list of contents with a beaming smile. "I can finally fix that loose twig you were telling me about!"

"I can show you how to properly use the polish as well," Emmeline assured him. "It can be a bit tricky. And applying it incorrectly can lead to a wobble. Which you don't want, especially in bad weather." Harry nodded. 

"Miss Weasley next," Severus said as he handed over the box.

"Ginny got me a gift?" Harry said in shock. He opened it and made a noise. It was a stack of slightly beat-up comic books, featuring a young witch battling various beasts and dark wizards. The illustrations even moved around, though some of them left shadows behind, evidence that the movement charms were beginning to wear off.

"Oh!" Emmeline cried in delight. "The Wonderful Witch! Oh, I used to love those when I was your age! A very entertaining read. There's one where she has to battle a dragon to save her friend's cat." Harry flipped through the first one with a smile.

"I wasn't expecting a gift from her." He admitted.

"Mr. Oliver Wood," Severus said. As he held out the small pouch and letter. Harry blinked.

"Oliver?" He opened the letter first then snorted and shook his head. "It's just a command to practice more." Then he opened the little pouch, made a noise of surprise, and tipped the familiar golden walnut-sized ball out into his hand.

"A practice snitch!" Emmeline cried with a smile. "Well, you can put that to good use."

"Mr. Longbottom."

"Neville?!" Harry cried in shock. Now he hadn't expected that at all! Inside was a remembrall accompanied by a small thank you card. Harry grinned and held the ball up to the light. The gray smoke sparkled inside of it. 

"Mr. Thomas."

"Wow, I did get a lot this year," Harry muttered. Dean had given him a football decked with the arsenal logo. Harry grinned. He was looking forward to playing with Dean again. It had been fun. 

"Is that some kind of new Quaffle?" Emmeline wondered in confusion.

"It's a football," Severus said with a chuckle. "It's an extremely popular muggle sport."

"I see," Emmeline said with a smile. "Perhaps you can teach me?"

"Sure! I don't know all of the rules, but I know the general premise." Harry said.

"Next is Finnegan."

"Seamus too?!" Harry cried in awe. Inside was a Quidditch magazine espousing the Irish World League team. Harry made a noise of awe. 

"Did you know that Ireland is projected to win the World Cup next year?!" He said with a grin.

"No, I was not aware," Severus admitted with a shrug.

"I was," Emmeline added sheepishly. When both boys gave her incredulous looks she laughed. "The entire team and all the reserves just bought the latest Cleansweep racing model, the Firebolt. Analysts are saying it's the fastest broom ever made." 

"Holy heck really?" Harry asked before he rapidly flipped through the magazine until he found an article discussing what Emmeline had just described. "Nought to 150 in ten seconds?! Sweet Merlin that's an amazing broom!" Harry looked at her in shock, "your family makes these?!"

"Yes. My grandfather used to test them himself in fact, until his fall in '87. Now he pays someone else to do it."

"That's a job?!" Harry cried with sparkly eyes. Now there was a career! Testing new brooms all day?! That would be amazing!

"Finish your education before you dream about falling off untested brooms for a living," Severus said with a snort. 

"Er," Harry chuckled. "Yeah, I guess I should do that first." Severus rolled his eyes before he lifted another present, placing it in front of him. Harry blinked and opened it. Inside was a stage fountain pen. It had a silvery metal tip, but no inkwell and the handle felt like cold Stone.

"What's this?"

"It's a rune stylus." Emmeline declared with a smile. "You use it to create runes."

"Please be cautious should you attempt to practice with it. The stylus is designed to etch the runes via heat which can cause some serious burns if you aren't careful." Severus said firmly. Harry nodded. Then Emmeline pushed another bow towards him.

"Guys… this is too much." Harry insisted. He'd never received so many gifts before! It was a little overwhelming. 

"It's alright darling." Harry sighed and opened the box. Inside was a hand-knit hat and mitts in stripes of blue and green. Harry stared at them before he looked up at Emmeline with misty eyes. 

"You made these for me?" He asked thickly. Emmeline smiled and put a hand on his shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. "Thank you," Harry said quietly. "So so much… for everything… all of it." Emmeline rubbed his back as he cried into the hat for a minute or two. Severus reappeared with a mug of hot chocolate which made his sobs turn to laughter. He sipped it pensively when suddenly there was a tapping at the kitchen window. Severus frowned and got up to allow the Hogwarts owl to flutter in, clutching a package in its claws.

"Strange…" Severus muttered. The bird dropped the package in front of Harry and left as quickly as it could, seemingly terrified. Harry reached out to open it when Severus grabbed his hand. 

"Just a moment!" He snarled. Then he waved his wand over the package. Instantly the package glowed red then gold. "Whatever is in there is enchanted in some way that could cause you bodily harm." 

"What?!" Harry cried in horror as he pushed the package away.

"Whose it from?" Emmeline demanded coldly. Severus waved his wand again and instantly scowled.

"Hagrid."

"Hagrid?! But what would he give me something that might-ooooh." Harry said with a wince. "This is one of those times when he thinks it can't be all that bad."

"Indeed." 

"Well let's open it outside." Harry offered. 

"Right." So Harry led the way to the front garden. Emmeline set up a ward around the present so that whatever the thing was, it couldn't escape.

"Revlishio!" Severus cried with a jab of his wand. Instantly the wrapping paper fell open. Harry blinked. 

"A book? How can a book be dan-" then suddenly the thing opened up and charged for them, snarling and growling and snapping at the ward. Harry jumped back with a scream. "Bloody hell!"

"Language." Severus reminded him coolly. Harry flinched.

"Sorry… but I should get a pass! Who expects that?! The book was to eat us!"

"The Monster Book of Monsters by Edwardus Lima. How original." Emmeline read with a roll of her eyes. "Stupefy!" The book flipped over then squealed and flipped back looked docile from pain, but not subdued. Emmeline flinched.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She cried.

"Obviously there must be a humane way to calm it and make it readable." Severus insisted. 

"Well, Hagrid says the trick with anything is to know how to calm it. And that it's usually really unexpected." Harry said before he took a step forward. 

"Harry!" Severus growled as Harry stepped into the wards. The book was glaring at the teen with its beady yellow eyes. When Harry reached a hand out it clamped down on it. Hard. Harry flinched but didn't try to fight back, despite the dribble of blood from where the book's tiny fangs had priced his skin. Instead, Harry reached out and pet its cover. The creature made a weird noise between a sound of shock and purr. Then Harry stroked down the spine, with the grain of its furry spikes and its eyes fluttered closed and it definitely purred then before opening up fully. Harry looked down at his hand with a wince. He had four little punctures on the top and bottom of his hand but was otherwise unharmed. The book was still purring as Harry closed it. So Harry pet him again and it made a little whistling noise. As he stepped out of the wards with the now becalmed book in his arms Severus let out a growl.

"I'm going to send a very angry letter to Hagrid!" He proclaimed even as he rubbed a salve on Harry's hand. "Monster Book of Monsters! And he thinks that's a suitable school book?! I better warn Poppy! The school is going to have a lot of hand injuries in September!"

"It's not that bad really." Harry insisted before he pet the book creature again. "I wonder what it likes to eat?"

"School children seems like," Severus muttered as he inspected Harry's hand one more time then huffed. "Well I would say read ahead, but I'm on half a mind to send it back!" The book made a whining noise and opened its beady little eyes to give Severus a pitiful look akin to a small wet puppy lost in the cold. The potions master made a noise of incredulous disgust. Harry was also giving his slightly heartbroken looks.

"He's my birthday gift!" He argued. "I'm naming him Snappy."

"Damn," Severus muttered. There was no getting rid of it now. So he just shook his head and waved him off. Harry grinned and ran upstairs with all his new treasures. He had a lot of thank you letters to send. Including several questions for Hagrid about his new pet. 

Harry looked up from his magazine with a start. Snappy was sleeping at his feet, after finding the warmest, sunniest spot on the dormer seat. Harry found his little snores endearing and so hadn't dared move him to the shelf Hagrid told him he'd find most comfortable. In addition, Hagrid helpfully informed him that his favourite food was parchment. Harry laughed as he read that before feeding Snappy a couple of sheets. But Snappy wasn't what startled him.

"Come in." He said casually. Severus opened the door.

"I see you're putting Mr. Finnegan's present to good use." He remarked, pointing out the parchment full of scribble on his lap.

"Oliver said last year that he wanted us to come up with tactics over the summer. The Irish team had a lot of members with really interesting signature moves I think could be adapted." He turned to face the professor, becoming more animated. "Moran has this thing he does where he rushes the goal post then feints and throws the Quaffle back. Angelina is great at that sort of thing! And McTavish is an amazing seeker! He's famous for jumping off his broom into the crowd to confuse the other team. I kinda wanna try it! How cool would that be? To hide in Gryffindor for a few minutes and then jump out when Malfoy least expects it!" Harry cried happily.

"Ah," Severus said with a raised eyebrow. "So you're planning to use all these newfound strategies against Slytherin eh?" Harry blinked then scowled.

"Hey! You can't tell them what I planned! That's not fair!"

"Life isn't fair young Harry. Slytherins do what they must to achieve victory" Severus argued with a sneer. Harry gapped at him before the man chuckled. "But regardless, I won't tell them your secrets. Just as I won't tell you theirs. Even though it would make the matches more interesting."

"There interesting enough!" Harry complained bitterly. "What with all the cheating!"

“Slytherins only cheat when they know that they cannot beat someone fairly.” Emmeline piped up from behind Severus. Harry got up and poked his head out the door at her.

“Did you cheat when you played on the Slytherin team?”

“All the time,” Emmeline admitted un unabashedly. “The best was when I spent the entire match flirting with your father. That was hilarious.” Harry and Severus both choked on air.

“YOU WHAT?!”

“We were dating!”

“What about mum?!” Emmeline laughed.

“Honestly Severus. You said it yourself. A Slytherin does what she must to achieve victory.” she argued with a sly grin. “Though it wasn't my idea. Carrow was the one who thought of it. Alecto and I were the only girls on the team. We knew James spent far more time thinking with his pants rather than his head. I just sallied up, batted my eyelashes a few times and complimented his hair. He spent the rest of the game trying to ask me what I liked about it. That's how Amycyus got him with that bludger.”

“Oh, it was that game!” Severus cried in awe. “I remember that one! That was very bizarre… also the only one we won that season.”

“That's because Lily Evans called him a chauvinist pig and made him promise never to flirt on the pitch ever again,” Emmeline said with a snicker. “Mostly because the first thing he said when he came to was ‘where's Vance?’.” Harry was staring at Emmeline with slight shock.

“My dad really did that?” he whispered in shock. Both adults turned to him. Emmeline winced, nibbling on her lip. Severus sighed.

“Harry… you should understand. Your father was a very different man in his youth. We all were. Emmeline was demure as a mouse off the pitch.”

“Oi!” Emmeline piped up in irritation.

“I was an unlikable snot with a bad attitude.”

“So not much has changed there,” Emmeline said matter of factly. Severus sent her a very clear ‘not helping’ look.

“And your father was…”

“A womanizing egotistical prat.” Emmeline finished for him. Harry flinched. “But,” she began as she came forward with a smile. “He was a good man in the end. Severus and I both fought with him in the first war. He was brave and chivalrous and good in the end.”

“Really?” Harry asked nervously. It was the same story he'd always been told. But it seemed so strange to think he'd changed so much.

“Your mum really straightened him out,” Emmeline argued with a laugh. Then the laugh drifted off and she glanced at Severus. “She was good at that… straightening people out… smoothing out their rough edges.” Severus cleared his throat.

"We came up here to ask if you're ready to head out." He said. Harry instantly noticed the way Emmeline seemed to wither a bit at his dismissal, almost as though she'd wanted him to say something about his mother. To agree or disagree. 

"Go out where?"

"To dinner. Neither of us feels particularly inclined to cook, and it's a special occasion after all." Severus argued casually. Harry smiled.

"The White Horse?"

"Yes!" Emmeline declared. "I simply must see this famous restaurant the two of you keep mentioning." Harry smiled and looked down.

"I'm still dressed in my gardening stuff." He admitted sheepishly. "Give me five minutes."

"Right," Severus said before he closed the door. Harry rushed over to the dresser. As he finished pulling on a new shirt and uselessly running a comb through his hair he felt eyes on him. He went over to the now awake book, ripped a corner off the parchment stuffed into his magazine and let the book snap it out of his hand before giving his a pet down the spine. "Bye Snappy. See you tomorrow." Then he put him into the bookshelf when the book purred before going completely still. Harry was suddenly reminded of all those enchanted books in the restricted sections. Lying in wait to ensnare their next victim. Harry chuckled and rushed downstairs. 

"Ready to go?" Emmeline asked before she held out her hand. Harry stared at the scene. She was dressed up. Not super fancy, but nicer then she usually was. Severus also looked put together, especially with his hair pulled back by a clip. But it was more the tableau that made him pause. A tall father standing by the door with his watch and an expectant smirk, while a kind mother with a smile reached out for her son's hand on their way to dinner. Harry closed his eyes.

This is what he'd wish for. 

But he knew that it was all a dream. 

Still, he took her hand. He felt instantly warmed by her reassuring grasp. 

"I'll get a pudding this time right?" Harry said to Severus with a cheeky grin. "You did promise last time."

"I did, didn't I?" Severus said with a disappointed sigh. "How incredibly foolish of me." 

Harry and Emmeline laughed loudly into the night.