Harry flopped down onto the couch beside Ron. Both boys looked miserable.

"Mum sent another howler," Ron murmured with a broken expression. "At dinner. Said I wasn't allowed to go to any quidditch matches and I'd be scrubbing the chicken coop with a toothbrush as soon as I got home. Everyone was laughing… it was horrible." Ron recounted with harrowed eyes.

"I'm not allowed to be anywhere alone except for meals, the common room and between classes," Harry muttered back. "Otherwise I have to be with..." he trailed off a big grin spreading again.

"Be with who? Don't tell me Snape let you off easy and you have to be with Hagrid or something! Are we sure it's the same man? Maybe he got swapped before summer and you've been staying with some other random bloke?" Ron argued. Harry laughed.

"No, it's definitely him. I mean who else can make his robes billow all menacingly like that?"

"Fair point. So why are you smiling?" Harry's grin relaxed.

"My parents."

"Your mum and dad? What do they have to do with anything? Are you saying that Snape will kill you? That's pretty excessive…"

"No… I-" Harry took a deep breath. "I just found out that one of my parents isn't who we thought it was, and they're still alive."

"Really?!" Ron cried in shock. "Bloody hell Harry that's amazing! Who is it?"

"Professor Snape," Hermione said from behind them. Harry turned his head to her with a gaping mouth.

"How long have you known?!" He demanded.

"I suspected." Hermione clarified, "I didn't know. About Halloween. Your expressions. You picked a lot of them up from him and it really brought out a lot of your visual similarities. You look almost identical when you scowl."

"Bloody hell…" Ron whispered, staring straight into the fire. Harry turned back to his best mate and bit his lip. "Bloody hell…"

"I'm still me," Harry assured him. "I just… have parents." He finished with another wide grin.

That felt so nice to say.

Parents.

"Bloody hell " Ron repeated.

"Mione, I think I broke him," Harry whined worriedly

"Oh pull yourself together Ronald!" Hermione cried with a huff. "It's not the end of the world!"

"But! Mione! Snape is Harry's dad!"

"Yes!" Hermione agreed. "Which is excellent news!"

"But-but-" Ron whined. Hermione huffed and ignored him.

"I'm very happy for you."

"Thanks," Harry said with a grin.

"I hope he gave you a proper good scolding!" She added. Harry sighed.

"He did. I'm grounded."

"Till when?" Ron asked.

"Further notice."

"Rotten luck."

"Luck had absolutely nothing to do with it!" Hermione shrieked angrily. "If you hadn't convinced him to go out without permission, none of this would have happened!" Then she hit him over the head with her book. The ginger made a distressed noise and shielded his head as she continued to berate him. Harry couldn't help but smile.

"Splains a lot," Neville remarked over dinner the next day. "Thought you looked vaguely intimidating."

"Thanks?" Harry offered with a wince. He didn't know if he should be happy or not that the others seemed to have taken it so well.

"We figure it out months ago," Fred admitted.

"Before Christmas." Geroge agreed.

"During that awful match with the Gale and the dementors."

"You two looked-"

"Identical." The pair finished with a snicker. As Harry stared at them he found himself trying to imagine what James and Sirius must have been like as teenagers. His dad - his dad - often said they behaved a lot like the twins, but meaner. But Harry couldn't imagine the twins being mean. They were just so high-spirited. Oh, they could get revenge, no doubt, but they didn't believe in causing actual pain, or even humiliation that couldn't be reversed with a word. Harry couldn't imagine them stringing someone up and pulling down their trousers, that was for sure.

"You alright mate?" Ron asked casually.

"Yeah sorry, lost in thought." Harry muttered. "still kinda getting used to it all."

"I give it about a month before you get sick of it," Seamus muttered darkly. "Parents are the worst."

"Easy for you to say," Harry muttered. "You've had them your whole life. I just got mine back thanks."

"Sorry," Seamus muttered with a blush. "It's just my dad wants me to go to some army cadet summer camp this year. It's pointless! My mum and I keep telling him that I'm a wizard! Not like I'm gonna join the army once I'm done Hogwarts. He says it'll teach me discipline! As if I need more of that!" Dean winced.

"Rotten luck. My mum just signed me up for football camp."

"Lucky," Seamus muttered darkly as he stabbed a piece of broccoli with a glare. Harry made a noise.

"I wonder if there any kinda clubs I could join in Dover. I'm not gonna be able to fly much at home." He trailed off, another wide grin spreading over his face.

Home!

An actual home!

With pancakes and a garden, he wasn't forced to work in and food whenever he wanted!

He swallowed to stop himself from crying like a little swot in the middle of dinner.

"Why not?" Ron asked with a frown. Harry cleared his throat.

"Oh uh, the wards aren't really tall enough. They only extend as tall as the willow tree. They're tied to the rock wall that goes around the house, so they're pretty permanent. Mum added a few extra runes last summer, but other than that, there's not much else you can do." He was smiling again.

Mum.

An actual living breathing mum.

He started to sniff.

"Are you okay mate?" Ron whispered worriedly. Harry smiled and wiped his face.

"Yeah sorry, just… a lot to take in." He whispered hoarsely. Somewhere cleared their throat behind him.

"Mr. Potter," Emmeline said with a somewhat admonishing expression. "If you would accompany me to my office." Harry sighed but stood and followed her, without glancing back at his friends at all. "Are you alright darling? You were crying at dinner."

"I'm okay," Harry began, still trying to swallow the lump. "I told my friends about… you know."

"I see, " Emmeline said with a sigh. "I take it they were less than pleased? I can talk to them if you like."

"Oh no!" Harry cried "they were really happy for me. It's just… I'm still wrapping my head around it." As they stepped into her office he sighed heavily. "I've spent so long wishing for a family. I used to dream about it at the Dursleys. Dream that some long-lost relative would come to take me away. But when I came to Hogwarts and I learned more I realized that was a lost cause." Harry's smile widened, even if it was a little watery. "And now all my dreams are coming true! I've got a home, and a dad and-" he cut himself off and gave the woman a suddenly serious expression. "Ms. Emmeline… is it okay if I call you mum?" Emmeline choked.

"I-" she began as her heart nearly exploded. "Of course darling!" She cried with a bright smile and her own collecting tears. "It would be my honour. Even though," she paused. "Your father and I may not always be together you know."

"A lot has changed since back then," Harry assured her. "Dad definitely has."

"Oh, he has." Emmeline agreed. "I just don't know if we should tempt fate." Harry pursed his lips and let out a sigh.

"Alright. Still gonna call you mum though." He assured her. Emmeline had to bite her lip to keep from sobbing.

"Thank you." She eventually whispered out shakily. Then Harry gave her a big hug and she couldn't hold back anymore, clutching onto him and kissing his hair as she shook with silent happy sobs.

Severus walked through the halls, on the lookout for misbehaving teenagers. Darkness had descended over Hogwarts, making it his domain. There was a dark alcove in this castle Severus didn't know. Not a secret nook he hadn't mentally mapped. There would be no late-night dalliances as long as he stalked these halls. Then he turned the corner.

Emmeline. She was standing in the window, framed by a beam of pale moonlight. She looked almost ethereal, with her gaze fixed on the horizon. Severus waved his wand and muffled his steps before he crept up, right behind her.

"Miss. Vance." He purred. The woman jumped and spun around, eyes wide with fright, before softening into admonishing mirth. "Just what do you think you're doing out of bed?"

"Why Mr. Snape," she crooned back, placing a hand on his chest. "Waiting for you of course."

Severus wanted to ravage her.

Then Emmeline made the first move.

Severus sighed as she kissed him, so like they had done in the hospital wing. When she finally let him go they were both breathless. Emmeline sighed and leaned her forehead against his shoulder.

"Harry asked if he could call me mum today." She whispered. Severus felt his stomach flip flop. The pair had had a similar conversation the evening previous, where Harry had asked Severus if he could call him dad. It was surreal.

And wonderful.

"Do you think Lily would hate it?" Emmeline muttered nervously. Severus immediately shook his head.

"No. In fact, she wanted me to apologize to you for her. For quote 'stealing your dream'. She also said that if we were still together she expected us to have a Weasley-sized brood." Severus murmured gently as he could. Emmeline hummed.

"Well, I'm glad she stole it." She whispered. "It wouldn't have come true otherwise." Severus frowned.

"There must be some way." He muttered. Emmeline sighed again. "I could develop a potion that-"

"You can't." Emmeline insisted. "It's my magic." She explained. Severus went slack. "My magic is what kills it. It doesn't recognize the new cells and attacks them as a threat. So there is nothing you can do. No one magical has ever survived losing their magic, and even if I did, potions would be off the table." She explained with a sad expression. She sighed. "Charles and I had this same conversation…" Severus immediately reaffirmed his grip.

"The difference between us is that I do not blame you for this Emmeline."

"Why not?" She demanded bitterly. "It's my body! My magic! Why shouldn't you blame me?!" She demanded, but her face and posture were so crumpled. Severus pulled her into a hug.

"I don't blame you, because you'd have to be blind to not see how much this is crushing you." Severus snarled. "Charles Tippet is Definitely blind." Emmeline chuckled even as she buried her face into his chest. Then she straightened up again, looking forlorn, but still smiling, that way she could that Severus would never understand.

"Let's get back to your rounds then." Emmeline insisted with a smirk. "Wouldn't want to have any unafraid children running about." Severus smiled before they began walking together, at a much more subdued pace. That's when Mrs. Norris scampered up to them and meowed loudly. "I really don't like that cat," Emmeline complained. "Seems like an unfair advantage."

"Come now, Emmeline," Severus said with a roll of his eyes. "Who said life was fair." He followed the cat, who would inevitably lead him to students who would soon be in big trouble. Instead, it led him to another cat. It was twice as big and fluffy as she with a squashed face as though it had run headfirst into a wall. Severus rose an eyebrow at the door it was scratching at.

"Emmeline." He murmured. "Fetch Poppy."

Poppy Pomfrey scanned the shelves one more time before leaving the room.

"Several nutritional potions are missing, as well as a large quantity of aconite."

"For what purpose?" Emmeline demanded.

"I'm not certain. The nutritional potions are used to provide missing nutrients should one of the students not be able to keep anything down. Aconite-" she paused. "Well considering Remus, it may be to incapacitate him."

"What do you mean?"

"Aconite affects werewolves differently than most," Severus supplied with a frown. "It suppresses their wolf-like traits: enhanced strength, enhanced sense of smell, improved eyesight." As he listed them his eyes narrowed "someone is trying to sneak around without being seen."

"A student?" Emmeline question. Poppy immediately shook her head.

"This ward was too powerful for any student to break. It was taught to me by a healer at St. Mungo's. They use it to keep patients out of their storerooms as well. It's password protected. But whoever did this removed it through brute force." Emmeline frowned.

"I'll put a trap rune down." She muttered before she crouched down and etched a rough set of runes into the threshold. "That should tell us when someone tries to break your ward next," Emmeline muttered before she closed the door. "Reset your ward?" Poppy did so. The door frame glowed blue for a second before returning to normal. "Try your password?" Poppy leaned forward and whispered her key phrase. The door opened as normal. Emmeline nodded. "Right. The next time someone tries to break it I'll know. I'll come straight to you and we'll come to inspect the runes."

"I hate to voice this possibility," Severus muttered. "But it is a legitimate chance. Black may be the one who did this." Emmeline froze.

"We can't tell Harry." She insisted. "He's weary enough as it is!"

"Hardly." Severus drawled, exasperated. "He forgot about Black, remember."

"Well, he can hardly forget now, with you reminding him about it every five minutes," Emmeline argued with a scowl.

"It is not every five minutes!" Severus said with a roll of his eyes. "He's exaggerating."

"Exaggerating or not!" Emmeline snarled. "You've been frightening the poor thing!"

"Good! Maybe a little fear will remind him what's at stake!"

"How could you say such a thing!" Poppy cleared her throat. The pair looked over at her with a start. Instantly they remembered where they were and consciously took a step back.

"Regardless of your discussion," Poppy began with a little amused glint in her eye. "The others should be informed. I'll tell them and check up on Remus in the morning." Then she gave the pair a firm look. "It's very late, and the pair of you are both snippy from stress and tiredness. So go get some rest!"

"Alright," Severus said with a sigh. The matron was exceptionally good a reading people if she could pick up just how tired he was. Emmeline nodded as well. The pair slowly made their way toward Ravenclaw tower. Emmeline raised an eyebrow as they passed yet another stairwell toward the dungeons.

"Aren't you going to bed, Severus?"

"I think it would be prudent to see you settled first," Severus muttered. "Considering we have no idea who might be sneaking around. If only to put my mind at ease."

"Hmm." It was a casual walk, the argument from before banished by the gentleness of the night, though the apprehension still lingered. At last, they arrived at Emmeline's office, and then the quarters beyond. Severus seemed to hover in the doorway, uncertain. "Stay." The man blinked.

"What?"

"Stay," Emmeline repeated, as she pulled off her outer robes and gathered up her nightclothes into her arms. "Please." Severus frowned. Though they had reconciled and returned to casual affection, they had yet to do something so profoundly intimate as sleep in the same bed. He could not help but think up the other times they had done so. "You better be changed when I come back out!" Emmeline cried from her little attached toilet. Severus cursed under his breath and quickly pulled off his own outer robe and jacket before transfiguring his clothes into something more suitable for sleep. Emmeline returned in a loose t-shirt and sleeping trousers, her hair left loose in that rippling curly way that Severus found so beautiful. Then she slipped into the covers, motioning for Severus to do the same. And then they were cuddling, nestled in their shared warmth. Severus let out a sigh and buried his nose into her hair. And slowly he drifted off, lulled into sleep by Emmeline's gentle breathing.

Emmeline hummed with a little smile, watching Severus do up the ridiculous number of buttons on his overcoat. She could count forty with her pleasantly tired eyes. Then she stretched out, causing the sheet that was barely covering her to ride up ever so slightly

"That was nice." She murmured. Severus looked over at her with a nebulous expression, which Emmeline knew the meaning of instantly. "Wonderful. In every way." Severus chuckled, and placed a hand on her thigh, rubbing a small circle with his thumb. Then he drew back to pull on his boots. Emmeline watched him still with a smile. Then she frowned and let out a melancholy sigh. "Oh, I wish we could stay here all day."

"As do I," Severus muttered, pulling his laces tight. "But unfortunately, you and I have chosen teaching as our primary method of obtaining income, the fools we are, and as such, I am obligated to go down to the dungeons and teach ungrateful brats how not to blow themselves up. And you," he turned and leaned over her. Emmeline grinned and tilted her head up, expecting a kiss, but Severus just pulled the sheet further up, covering her fully. "have to teach those self-same ungrateful brats the history of their country." Emmeline huffed into his face with a pout. Severus stood up, pulling his grey outer robes on, once again the image of an angry black cloud.

Emmeline honestly felt a little light-headed with how handsome he was. As he moved for the doorway she sighed again.

"You can tell Harry about Black," Emmeline insisted, sitting up, pulling the sheets with her. "Just… promise to try not to frighten the poor dear. Too much anyway." Severus crossed back over the room and did lean down to give Emmeline a kiss, a gentle one just aft of her temple.

"I'll try." He murmured against her skin before he whirled away, cloak billowing, leaving Emmeline a touch breathless.