... Yeah... please review... I NEED FEEDBACK ON WHETHER I'M DOING THIS RIGHT.

Severus was quite sure that the hall had never been as quiet. The only sound that could be heard was Hagrid's sobs which were slightly stifled by his ridiculous tablecloth handkerchief. Severus was also quite sure that he had never had every single student stare at him, even when Albus had introduced him as the new potions master he hadn't had this much attention. Of course most of the attention wasn't on him, but the stubborn brat that had refused to sit in his father's lap since 'Unca Sev's' lap was so much better.

So here Severus was, with nearly five hundred students eyes glued on the baby gnawing on 'Birdy' completely oblivious to the shock and awe that he had just inspired.

"Why is that greasy git holding him." A shout came from the Gryffindor table as a fifth year stood up and glared as the potions master, "He's a dark wizard, a Death Eater, so why is holding the- the-" the boy struggled to find the right words, "The-boy-who-lived?"

James stood up at that and growled angrily at the boy, "If it wasn't for Professor Snape than both myself and my son would be dead, and he has never been a Death Eater, he has always been on the side of the Light."

This caused an uproar in the room; Hufflepuffs chatting about how cute that was, Ravenclaws wondering about how the new professor knew this information, Gryffindors yelling that Snape was obviously a Death Eater, and the soft murmur from the Slytherin table as their thoughts and the rumors that some of them had heard from their parents about Severus' status was confirmed.

Harry looked up, startled, at the sudden uproar and he turned to burrow his head into Severus' robes as he tried to hide from the noise. Dumbledore stood up from his seat and raised his arms, "SILENCE!" He shouted which made the whole room shush as if hit with a silencing charm. And then a noise arose from the edge of the teacher's table where Severus sat.

Harry cried and his tiny body convulsing as he sobbed into the man that held him. Severus glared first at the students before he turned his glare to the Headmaster, "If you excuse me, I need to calm him down, all of you dunderheads have managed to upset him." He said clearly enough that the entire hall could hear him over Harry's cries, Severus then stood and quickly made his way out of the room as he gently shushed the toddler who was clutched tightly to the potions master's robes.

Once they left the room Dumbledore cleared his throat, "Yes, now then, I will have your head of houses hand out your new schedules and please enjoy your Friday off as I am quite sure that, come Monday, that none of the staff will allow for this impromptu day off to affect their lesson plans, Mr. Scottelle, I believe that you should come with me to my office, I wonder what your mother will think of your outburst? Oh yes Sinestra dear, could you please do the Slytherin schedules for Severus? Thank you dear."

The fifth year who had shouted paled as he and the rest of the students began to filter out of the grand hall and to scatter throughout the school and grounds in various groups to talk or to write letters to family members to tell what had happened.

"James?" Dumbledore asked as he looked at the melancholic man who stared at a eagle plush in his hands as if it was the only thing that he could see. The headmaster put his hand on the younger man's shoulder surprising him, "Are you alright James?"

James smiled, his eyes distant, "I was just thinking that I should ask Lily about how I should do the lessons for the kids, then I remembered that... but it didn't really hit me till I thought 'Oh, I could just ask Severus.' What the hell is wrong with me, my wife just died and I'm thinking about lesson plans and how cute Severus is when he sleeps and did you know that you forgot to add a room for me?" He asked as he looked at the sparkly eyed old man, not even noticing what he had just babbled about to the old man.

"Hm, did I? Oh well, I'll ask Hogwarts if she'll add the room for you, but I don't know if she will, she's a stubborn old lady." The headmaster said with a twinkle, "And it is good that you are moving on, Lily would be proud that you are, you have a son to think about and Severus to, he's been so lonely lately even if he won't admit it. And I think that it will be good for him to have a young one to watch you should see his face light up when Lucius leaves Draco with him."

The headmaster stroked his beard, "Yes, yes, its very good for him, as for lessons, I think you would probably be better off if you ask Minerva about lessons, Severus is afraid that if he is too nice to the students that they will become careless with their potions. I believe that a proper defence class is built on trust that the professor has the ability to protect the students." The old man stopped stroking his beard and smiled at James, "Well have a good day m'boy, I believe that I should go and see Madame Rosmerta for a butterbeer. And remember you're not alone in this, you have Severus and Harry with you." With that the old man left the now confused animagus as he sat at the edge of the hall, the eagle plush still clutched in his hands.

Severus hummed as he held the still sobbing child in his arms, "Now, now, shush." the potions master muttered, "Honestly between you and your father, I'm going to lose my reputation as a scary bat, how will I keep those foolish brats from blowing themselves up if they think I'm nice." Slowly Harry's sobs faded into whimpers and then slowly they became soft snores as the child fell asleep on his shoulder.

"He's sleeping a lot more than normal." James commented from where he stood next to the door.

Severus frowned, "When did you get here Potter?"

The newest member of the Hogwarts staff shrugged, "A few seconds ago?"

"That sounded like a question."

James held up his hands in mock surrender, "Do you really think I pay attention to that sort of thing?" He walked over to the other man and took Harry from him carefully, "He left that eagle plush in the Grand Hall."

Severus raised an eyebrow, "Did you leave it in the Grand Hall?"

James shook his head, "Nah I was too lazy to carry it, so I shrunk it and put it in my pocket." Severus just rolled his eyes and went over to his kitchenette and pulled out two mugs and a baby bottle and made tea and a bottle just in case Harry woke up, "You're pretty good at that Severus."

"Hm? Don't call me Severus." Severus muttered distractically as he placed the tea on the table and he pulled his wand out and summoned a soft blanket and laid it on the floor near the living room, "Put the brat down on that, we need to talk."

James frowned at how short Severus seemed to be with him now, while this morning the man seemed to have been at least trying to warm up to him, "Sure Sev."

"Don't call me that."

"Well you don't want me to call you Severus." Severus glared at James as they sat down at the table after James set Harry gently down on the blanket, "So what do you want to talk about?"

"What is going on." James blinked in confusion which caused Severus to pinch the bridge of his nose, "What are you planning Potter, Lily's funeral, informing Tuney-"

"Who's Tuney." James cut in which earned him a glare from the irate potions master.

"Lily's sister."

The animagus looked sheepish, "Oh, yeah, forgot about her, her husband is incredibly stupid and boring."

Severus rolled his eyes, "And what about your pet mutt and his wolf, what are you going to do about them."

James' face crumpled and the man sighed, "I can't believe I was suspicious of them, I mean, I never even thought that Peter… I mean Wormy never seemed the type to just- I never thought." James put his head in his hands and Severus looked away, he knew that the former Gryffindor wouldn't appreciate someone watching him breakdown. "I need to apologize to them, I need to tell Petunia about her sister, I need to go back to Godric's Hollow to see if I can recover anything. Merlin, Severus what do I do?"

The potions master turned to look at the other man slightly shocked that he would ask him what to do, Severus coughed nervously for a second before he looked down at Harry, "I believe that you should inform Tuney about Lily today, perhaps visit Godric's Hollow as well. Black is probably at the Ministry filling out paperwork or chasing Pettigrew, and no one has seen Lupin in four months since he went to Germany to talk to the pack there."

James sat there for a second, "I should send Remy a letter, tell him what happened, just in case Sirius forgets. He always forgets to tell Remus the important stuff." He then looked at Severus with large hazel eyes like some sort of demented puppy, "I don't want to face Petunia alone." He whined.

Severus sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, "I'll pack a few nappies for Harry in the bag and see if I can get him to drink some milk, you write your letter then we'll go to Tuney's." James nodded and ran off to find paper. Severus shook his head and glared down at the baby sleeping on the floor, "You are making my life difficult." His greatest hope had been that he would never see Petunia Evans after she had left Spinner's End.

James looked nervously at the incredibly muggle neighborhood, "Well this place is… nice?"

Severus rolled his eyes as he adjusted the babbling toddler on his hip (he wondered if his eyes would fall out with how often he seemed to be doing that), "Just say its creepy and get it over with."

"Malfoy manor is creepy, Sirius' mom's place is creepy, the forbidden forest is creepy, this- this- this place is just sad." James shook his head, "I can't even tell which house is Petunia's, they all look the same."

The potions master scowled, "I think she lives at number four Privet Drive."

"How do you know that?" the animagus asked.

"Lily made me mail their Christmas card last year." Severus muttered as he walked across the street towards a house with ridiculously neat flower beds, the exact opposite of what Severus remembered Mrs. Evans' rose garden had been. "This is it."

James scrunched his nose, "It's so… plain."

"Then it fits Tuney." Severus growled as he stepped onto the porch and knocked.

A few seconds later the door opened to reveal a sour faced horse-like woman holding a small red beachball wearing a bonnet and a nappy. "What are you two doing here." She spat out.

"We came to tell you something, important Petunia." James said gently as he wondered why she had a red beachball in her arms.

"We need to talk Tuney." Severus said at the same time as James as he marveled over the realization that the beachball had feet and hands but no arms or legs, muggles came up with the strangest ideas.

The woman's nose flared in the same way that a horse would, "If you must, and get in quick before the neighbors see you."

Soon they were all in the living room, James shared the couch with as Severus had Harry in his lap and the beachball rolling on the while it shook its hand and foot-like appendages while Petunia cooed at it like it was a child (which maybe it was, now that the two men looked closely at it) from one of the chairs. Eventually the two men exchanged uncomfortable glances. The room seemed almost sterile and it was filled with pictures of the red beachball. 'Is that a baby?' James mouthed silently to Severus who nodded in disgust while Harry just babbled away to Severus about Birdy the eagle intermixed with the child gnawing on the poor thing's wing. James cleared his throat, "Petunia we, we came to talk about Lily."

Petunia glared at James, "She is not living with us."

Severus glared while James stuttered, "W-what?"

"You just used her to get a baby didn't you? I always told her you were scum, unlike my Vernon. I'm not surprised at all that you used her to get your spawn and then have your homosexual," She sneered at the word as if it was some sort of week old garbage, "lover take care of it. Lily should've known better than to mix with freaks like you she should have stuck with normal people and forgotten both of you and that freakish school of yours." She said with her nose up in the air which made her look snootier than any pureblood that either man had ever seen.

"Are you stupid?" Severus asked completely shocked, "My magic would allow me to carry a child, and I would never sleep with a Potter, or do something like that to Lily." He said frantically which caused Harry to look up at him with large eyes and babble some more, "Lily is dead you horse-faced bitch, grow-up and look around you. This is not normal, your son looks like a beachball and Dursley was always a bully, or don't you remember him dragging Lily by her pigtails through the mud when we were kids, he nearly scalped her. You used to have ambition, now you're a house-wife surrounded by pictures without a trace of your family or personality." He got up and placed Harry on his hip, "Lily would cry if she saw you now." He sneered and walked out of the room in a way that if had been wearing normal robes instead of muggle jeans would've most likely made a snapping sound as he moved.

James tore his eyes away from Severus' arse (which he wasn't admiring at all) and gave the angry woman a sheepish look, "I'll owl you the date for Lily's funi-"

"Don't you dare. Get out of my house. Get out of my life. Forget about Lily. Forget about me. Let me live a normal life. Now get out." She snapped sharply, "How dare you come into my house, you filthy freaks!"

James stood up and with a glare walked out of the house to where Severus stood fuming at Petunia's actions, "Are all the nosy housewives looking?" James asked darkly.

Severus looked around and noticed a bunch of curtains that were slightly parted, "Yes I think they are, but wha-"

"Good." James growled and grabbed the back of the potions master's neck and slammed their faces together. In the middle of Privet Drive, right in front of the Dursley residence, James Potter kissed Severus Snape.