AN: Harry Saturday everyone! Assuming it's Saturday when you read this :) I hope ya'll like the chapter and if you feel so inclined, leave a review! Thinking of doing a series of oneshots about Snape and Lupin. Let me know if that's something ya'll would be interested in!

Chapter 33

Harry sat on the couch the next morning with his blanket over his lap as he stared, transfixed, at the Firebolt. Snape had let Harry sleep in and they'd had a late breakfast when he woke up, though straight afterwards he told him that he needed to either rest in his room or on the couch. Harry, of course, chose the couch and had taken his new broomstick and the servicing kit that Hermione had gotten him for his birthday and brought them both with him. The Firebolt hardly needed to be cleaned, but Harry took quite a bit of pride in polishing it anyway. But now, he simply stared at it.

"Couldn't I just take it out for a little bit?" he asked suddenly, and Snape, who had been sitting in his armchair reading a book, sighed heavily.

"Harry-"

"Please, Snape. I feel fine, honestly. And Madam Pomfrey will never know."

Snape huffed but before he could open his mouth to disagree wholeheartedly with his ward, there came a knock at the door and he looked over at it in surprise.

"Who could that be?" he muttered as he closed his book and stood up. Harry turned in his place so that he could see who had come to visit.

Snape opened the door and looked out, but there was no one. He looked down the corridor thinking that someone must have knocked and then left but there was no one in sight.

"It's us, Professor," he heard a voice whisper from right in front of him. He glanced down and saw a foot appear and then disappear. Understanding dawned on Snape and he narrowed his eyes but said nothing. "We've come to visit Harry," the voice, that Snape now recognized as Hermione Granger's, spoke again.

With a sigh, Snape moved back and held the door open with his right arm, leaving enough room that the two third-years could pass by him before closing it once more.

As Ron pulled off Harry's invisibility cloak from around him and Hermione, Snape crossed his arms and glared down at them.

"Ron! Hermione!" Harry exclaimed as he jumped from the couch and came to stand next to his friends. Hermione threw her arms around her friend and hugged him tightly.

"Oh, Harry," she said before letting him go, "we've been so worried about you."

"I'm fine, 'Mione," Harry assured her. "I keep telling Snape that, but he doesn't listen."

"For good reason," Snape interrupted as he walked towards them and pointed to the couch. "You're supposed to be resting." Harry rolled his eyes but sat back down, moving the Firebolt out of the way so that the other two could sit as well. Then Snape held his hand out to Ron who looked at him curiously. "The cloak, Mr. Weasley," he said in a dry voice. "Why are you using it to sneak around the castle?"

Ron sat next to Harry and motioned towards the Firebolt, which Harry eagerly handed him, and they immediately began discussing it in all its glory. Hermione sat in the vacant arm chair and answered Snape instead. "We weren't sneaking, Professor." She eyed him warily as he too sat down. "We just didn't want to cause suspicion if anyone saw us coming down here. So we thought it would be the best option. We don't all have magical doors that let us in."

"Thank Merlin for that," Snape answered before nodding. "Alright, but I don't want to hear of any of you using this cloak to get into mischief. If you do, I will know."

On the couch, Harry snorted, causing Snape to glare over at him.

"Something you'd like to say, Harry?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No. Sorry. 'Course you would." Harry replied, biting the inside of his cheek to keep from grinning, until Snape eventually looked away.

Snape stood up then and conjured a tray of pumpkin juice and chicken sandwiches that settled on the coffee table between them. "I'll be in my lab if anyone needs me," he replied before walking behind the couch to head down the hallway. He put a hand on Harry's shoulder as he passed and said, "Resting. That's all. If I come out here to find you've been running around, you won't ride that broom til the weekend."

Harry glared up at him. "Running around? I'm thirteen, Snape, I don't 'run around.'"

"All the same," was all that Snape said before disappearing from sight. A moment later they heard the door to the lab close softly and Harry turned back to his friends.

"Can you believe him?" he asked Ron who shrugged.

"You were attacked by dementors, Harry." Hermione replied. "Again."

"And you really did fall a long way, mate."

"Still," Harry grumbled, pulling his feet up onto the couch. "He's been impossible ever since."

"He's just worried," Hermione assured him. She began to pass out sandwiches to the boys and took one for herself as well before looking around the room. The moment her eyes landed on the bookshelves against the back wall, she was out of her seat and walking towards them.

"Oh, I've never read this one before!" she exclaimed as she ran her finger across the spine of an old leather-bound book that Harry had never paid the slightest attention to before. "Do you think that maybe Professor Snape would let me borrow it?"

"Dunno," Harry answered her, barely glancing up from the Firebolt long enough to even see what she was talking about. "Go ask him," he suggested.

Hermione took in a sharp breath. "I couldn't. You can't just wander around someone's home, Harry."

Harry did look up then as he stared at her in confusion. "Why not? It's my quarters, too. Sort of. Go on, he won't mind. It's the last door at the end of the hallway. Just knock first. He's touchy about that."

Harry went back to chatting amiably with Ron as Hermione weighed her options, shifting from foot to foot as she tried to decide if it would be worth it. Ultimately, she decided to take the chance and began to walk slowly down the hallway. When she reached the door of Snape's personal lab, she timidly raised her hand, clutching the book in her other, and knocked softly.

"You're supposed to be resting, Harry," Snape called out.

Hermione opened the door slightly and stuck her head inside. "It's actually me, Professor."

Snape turned around from where he had been filling vials with a dark blue potion and looked at her curiously. "Do you need something?" he asked.

"I...um," Hermione stuttered over her words before taking a deep breath. "I was wondering...Harry said you might let me borrow this book," she finished in a rush.

Snape walked towards her and held his hand out. She placed the large tome in his hands and stepped back. He inspected the book first and then glanced at Hermione.

"This is a book about werewolves, Ms. Granger," he said slowly, as if she couldn't possibly have intended to pick that book for herself. "Is there any particular reason why you would want to read it?"

"No, sir," Hermione was quick to say. "I just find them fascinating. The lore around them from a Muggle perspective is much different than how wizards see them. For instance, werewolves can't actually be killed by silver and the differences between them and a real wolf is complex-"

Snape felt unsure of what to think of this. He wasn't blind. He knew that Hermione Granger wasn't called "the Brightest Witch of her age" for nothing. But why could she really be wanting to read this particular book? She already seemed well versed on the subject and he wasn't dense enough to think that she might uncover certain secrets if he let her borrow it. However, he wasn't sure that he had a good enough reason not to lend it to her. He supposed he could only hope that she didn't connect any particular set of dots.

"Alright," he said quietly. "You may borrow it, on the condition that it be returned to me by Friday and in the exact condition that it was in when you left here with it."

"Of course!" Hermione said excitedly. "Thank you, Professor!"

Snape nodded and passed her the book which she clutched close to her chest; however, instead of leaving, she remained where she was.

"Was there something else?" Snape asked, looking down at her.

Hermione bit her bottom lip as she looked down at her feet.

"Ms. Granger?" he asked.

"Can I...can I ask you a question, Professor? About Harry?" she clarified.

Snape found himself studying the girl in front of him once more and eventually he nodded. He motioned to his desk behind him and asked, "Would you like to take a seat?"

Hermione nodded and they both walked over and sat down. She kept the book in her lap and tapped her fingers on the cover of it nervously. "Has Harry talked to you about what had been going on at his relatives?" she asked quickly, abandoning her nerves and just getting straight to the point. "I know he said he was but I wanted to make sure because I'm really worried about him."

Snape let her speak before holding up his hand to interrupt. "He has a bit. Though not much. We try and talk a bit every week. Why? What exactly is worrying you?"

Hermione took a deep breath and said, "I'm not sure exactly. He doesn't talk to us about it, obviously, but Ron said that he's been talking in his sleep a lot. About his uncle. He said it sounds like he's talking to his uncle. Pleading with him." Hermione's voice hitched on her last words and she took a minute to calm herself down before going on. All the while, Snape watched her closely. The girl was nearly in tears and he could see a slight tremble in her hands as she continued to drum them against the book. "Professor," she started again slowly, and for once, she looked Snape directly in the eyes as she spoke. "Harry has nightmares that his uncle is hurting him."

Snape sighed and nodded his head. He conjured a handkerchief and passed it to the girl who was now freely crying. She took it without comment and wiped her eyes but then she simply held it in her hands tightly as she studied the floor. Snape was at a loss for what to do. He had absolutely no idea how to deal with a crying child, especially not a crying girl. He took a moment to put his thoughts together before speaking.

"Sometimes, when one goes through trauma such as Harry has, it stays with you. No amount of talking about it or trying to work through it will simply make it go away. Though of course it is good to try and get things out. To not bury your emotions but instead to try and free yourself from the past. To not let yourself be consumed with it. But unfortunately, not even wizards have invented anything that can magically heal a person's mind."

"So what can I do to help him?" Hermione asked desperately.

For a moment, Snape was reminded of another young girl from a past life that he tried his best not to think about: Lily. His first, and very best, friend.

Lily had known about the abuse. She had known and she had been furious when Snape made her promise not to say anything. It had been a week or so into the summer after first year and Lily had come by unannounced to check on Severus because she hadn't seen him since they'd gotten off of the train. It just so happened that she came by at precisely the same moment that Tobias Snape had shoved Severus out the back door with a bloody lip and a bruised cheek. Severus had stumbled into her and for one terrifying instant, they locked eyes before Severus had walked past her, pulling her along all the way to the park where she had finally come out of her shocked silence. She wanted to go to her parents that moment but Severus had begged her to keep quiet, pleading with her to forget everything she had just witnessed. He'd promised her anything if she would just keep his secret.

She'd been furious with him. She had wanted to hex him with every first-year spell she knew and Severus had no doubt that she would have been able to. But eventually, he got through to her by telling her that no one would believe her. No one had believed him, and it would only end up making things worse for him. Finally she, with tears in her eyes, promised not to tell.

They had sat together under the large oak tree at the park for hours and talked about everything except for what had happened, what had been happening. But when they heard Lily's mum calling her for dinner, she had turned to him and asked, "What can I do to help you?"

"Just don't say anything," Severus had answered swiftly. And so she hadn't. Everytime she saw a new bruise, she would be angry and threaten to tell, but Severus would remind her of her promise, Stating often that it would do no good.

But as he looked at Hermione, he knew he would give her a different answer.

"Be there for him." He said quietly. "Listen to him if he ever talks about it but don't push him to do so. Just be there."

By the next day, Harry was simply bursting with the expectation of flying after classes. He breezed through Potions class with Snape but then after Lupin dismissed them from Defense, he called for Harry to stay behind.

"I heard about the match, Harry," Lupin said as he perched on the side of his desk and looked at Harry who had moved to stand in front of him. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"It's alright, Professor," Harry assured him, "you didn't miss much besides me losing."

"I wish that were only the case. And just so you know, you can call me Remus when we're not around any other students. I've never been a fan of the titles anyway."

Harry smiled. "Thanks, Remus," he said, trying out the name and finding that it wasn't as strange as he had expected it to be.

"How are you?" Remus asked. "Really? After the dementor attack?"

Harry shrugged before dropping his backpack onto the closest desk and taking a seat. "I'm fine," he said unconvincingly. "I just don't understand why they keep coming after me."

"They're hungry, Harry. It has less to do with you and more to do with the fact that Dad won't let them on the grounds. They've nothing to feed off. They just couldn't resist being drawn in by the crowds at the match."

"So they're not just after me?" Harry asked.

Remus shook his head. "No." He sighed then and sat down at a desk next to Harry's. "Severus told you about them, right? About how they feed off of your memories?"

"Yeah. He said that's why I...I hear my mum being murdered by Voldemort." Remus didn't flinch at the sound of Voldemort's name and that surprised Harry. Most people he talked to, including Snape, refused to call him anything other than the Dark Lord or You-know-who.

"Can you teach me how to defend myself against them?" he asked suddenly. "Snape said that you could."

"I can, but not until after the holidays, I'm afraid." Remus replied. "I picked quite an inconvenient time to fall ill."

Harry nodded. "Sure." As he stood up to go, he glanced back at Remus. "You're okay, aren't you? I mean, you're not...dying?"

Remus smiled faintly up at him. "No, Harry, I'm not dying. I'll be fine."

"I don't suppose you'll tell me what's wrong with you?"

"Nothing you need to concern yourself about. Now, I believe you have History of Magic next? Let's get you to it, shall we? Wouldn't want you to miss any of Professor Binn's exciting lecture." He laughed then and Harry found himself smiling back at him as he followed him out of the classroom. For once, he did not mind that he was still being walked from class to class.

The week passed quickly for Harry. He spent nearly every afternoon, including the ones that weren't quidditch practices, flying with Ron and the twins. He spent so much time out that Hermione had started lecturing him about neglecting his homework. Which wasn't entirely untrue, though Harry figured he could make it up over the weekend if he worked hard enough.

On Saturday, Harry found himself lying face down on his bed in bedroom in the dungeons. He had one arm hanging off the side of the bed and was lazily running his fingers along the carpet. Snape had gotten tired of trying to convince Harry to wear shoes while down in their quarters and had eventually just put carpet in nearly every room. With how quickly he had done it, Harry wondered why he didn't just put the soft, dark grey carpet down months ago instead of wasting his breath on the shoe issue to begin with.

A knock on his door pulled him from his thoughts but he didn't raise up or answer it. Snape would just come in anyway.

"Are you ready to go?" Snape asked, leaning against the door jamb as he surveyed the teen. Harry sat up and let his legs hang over the side of the bed.

"Do I look alright? For a family dinner, I mean?" he asked nervously as he gestured to his blue button-down shirt and black trousers.

Snape nodded. "It's not going to matter what you wear, Harry. Everyone just wants you to come." Harry took in Snape's own attire. He also wore black trousers but instead of his usual white button down shirt, he wore a grey jumper. It was the most casual Harry had ever seen the man, unless you counted that morning back at Prince Manor when he'd come in to find Snape shaving before he'd gotten properly dressed.

"Harry?" Snape's voice caught Harry's attention and he shook his head, trying to clear it.

"I'm coming," Harry answered, "I've just got to find my shoes."

"They're in front of the couch where you took them off." Snape supplied as he turned and walked from the room.

"Right," Harry mumbled before following him out.

Back in the parlor, Harry sat on the couch and pulled his shoes on before moving to stand next to Snape by the fireplace. When they had both stepped inside, Snape dropped the floo powder and stated the name of their destination.

"Dumbledore's Cottage."

Seconds later, they were stepping out into a small living room and Remus was sitting on the couch, facing them with a book in his hands. He closed it at once and dropped it onto the coffee table.

"Hello, Harry!" he greeted him with a bright smile.

Harry smiled back. "Hi, Remus."

"'Remus?'" Snape asked as he glanced down to Harry who looked back up at him with a grin.

"He said I could," Harry said, raising his eyebrow so that he was mirroring Snape's expression, gaining a laugh from Remus who stood up then.

Snape turned to Remus and asked, "Where are they?"

"Mum's in the kitchen. I've already been kicked out." He looked down at Harry. "I'm rubbish at cooking."

"Really?" Harry asked with a grin.

"Really," Snape answered. "Dad?"

"Upstairs in his study."

"Sounds about right." Snape turned towards the kitchen and Harry and Remus followed after him, though Harry stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Minerva.

"Remus?" he whispered. He waited for the older man to turn back to him before he continued. "Is she…"

Remus looked between Harry and Minerva before understanding dawned on him and he smiled brightly. He pulled Harry gently back into the living room and said, "Yes?"

"She's wearing...trousers!" Harry whispered in such a shocked tone that Remus couldn't contain his laughter.

"This is a Muggle neighborhood, Harry. People would look at her awfully funny if she were wearing robes outside." Remus spoke above a whisper but still low enough that their conversation wouldn't be overheard.

"That explains the jumper," Harry murmured. "Wait." He looked up at Remus then and his green eyes were wide. "So then, Dumbledore…"

Lupin nodded. "It took Severus and I quite a long time to teach them how to wear Muggle clothing properly. You wouldn't believe how many times he went out wearing checkered brown trousers with a purple, ladies trench coat."

"You're joking!" Harry couldn't contain his shock.

Remus shook his head. "I've got pictures."

"Show me," Harry demanded, causing Remus to laugh, which in turn, brought Snape out from the kitchen to investigate. He had the sleeves of his jumper pushed up to his elbows and a kitchen towel draped across his shoulder.

"What's going on?" Snape asked, looking between the two.

"Nothing," Remus and Harry said in unison before looking at each other and laughing.

"Right." He glared at them both for a moment before saying, "Dinner will be ready soon. Why don't the two of you make yourselves useful and set the table?"

"Don't tell me what to do, Sev," Remus shot back, though Harry thought he saw a ghost of a smile across his lips.

"Remus," McGonagall called from where she stood at the stove, "you and Harry set the table, please."

Remus leaned past Snape to answer her. "Yes, Mum." He then glared at Snape who only smirked back at him before heading off into the kitchen. Remus bent his head down towards Harry and whispered, "I've got a few really good photos of Severus as well."

"Wicked," Harry replied with a grin.

"I'll dig them all out for you later."

"Remus!" Minerva called again.

"Coming!" he called back.

Remus and Harry set the table while Snape helped Minerva with the food. When everything was ready, Dumbledore came downstairs and, sure enough, he wore a pair of grey trousers, a white button down shirt and matching grey blazer. Albus Dumbledore was wearing a suit! Harry caught Remus's eye and the older man winked at him. Harry dropped his head to stare down at his plate in order to hide his smile.

The food (roast turkey and gravy, brussel sprouts and carrots) was delicious and even better was the fact that Harry didn't feel nearly as nervous as he had thought that he would. He sat beside Snape and for the most part, he was content to let the adults do the talking, though he chimed in a few times here or there.

Eventually though, the conversation turned to Harry's favorite topic whenever he had Thursday morning breakfasts with Albus and Minerva: Snape. And now, Remus.

"Harry, my boy," Albus said with that never ending twinkle in his eye.

Snape, knowing this couldn't be anything good, said, "Dad, have you heard back from the Minister yet?"

"We can talk about that later, I think." Albus replied. "Now, what was I saying, Harry?" He paused a moment and then smiled brightly. "Oh, that's right." He leaned over slightly so that he and Harry were closer to eye level and asked in a conspiratorial tone, "Tell me, Harry, have you ever heard of Gigglewater?"

"Dad!" Remus said suddenly at the same time that Snape said, "No!"

Harry grinned widely as he looked between the two. If Harry weren't seeing it with his own eyes, he would never have believed it,but Severus Snape was blushing. Remus, however, was leaning back in his chair as he rubbed the back of his neck, doing his best to look anywhere but at the other occupants of the table.

"Never," Harry answered, waiting for Dumbledore to tell him what he was sure would be a fantastic story.

"Well, it's a form of wizarding alcohol that has a special ingredient in it that quite literally makes the drinker giggle uncontrollably."

"No," Harry said, his interest growing.

"Yes," replied Dumbledore. "And around the end of the summer before their sixth year, Remus and Severus got hold of a bottle of it-"

"Remus got hold of a bottle of it," Snape interjected. "And don't get any ideas," he said to Harry.

"Quiet," Dumbledore scolded Snape lightly, causing Minerva to laugh. "I'm telling this story." He turned back to Harry and continued. "Anyway, Minerva and I were gone for the evening and we left the two of them alone,highly underestimating their ability to stay out of trouble for even one night." Across from him, Harry heard Remus scoff and looked up to see him rolling his eyes. "So they decide to take the Gigglewater up to Severus's room and start drinking it. And they drank, and drank, and drank. They were still drinking when we came home."

"There was that much of it?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Heavens, no," Minerva chimed in suddenly. "They were giggling so much that they couldn't even drink it properly. They hadn't even finished half the bottle! They were singing in between fits of giggles!"

"That's not how it happened!" Severus interrupted.

"He's right!" added Remus. "We were doing just fine. We both knew how to hold our drink long before then!"

"Oh, is that right?" Minerva asked, eyeing Remus sternly.

Snape's eyes flashed to Remus's. "Would you shut up?!"

"You can't tell me what to do!" Remus shot back.

"Yes, I can," Snape disagreed. "I'm older."

"By two months!"

"And eighteen days!"

"No fighting at my table!" Minerva cut in as sternly as she had never spoken to any of the students at Hogwarts. It seemed that the effect was the same, because both Remus and Snape quieted down immediately.

All was quiet at the table for a long moment until suddenly, Harry could hold it in no longer and he let out a laugh. Followed by another and then another. Pretty soon, he was laughing so hard that he was clutching his side and he fell off of his chair. But that only caused everyone else to start laughing. First Dumbledore, then Minerva and Remus and finally, even Snape's shoulders were shaking as he valiantly tried to hide his own laughter behind his hand.

Harry was eventually able to get up and retake his seat beside Snape. They finished their dinner and when Dumbledore tapped the table top, it disappeared only to have bowls full of chocolate pudding appear in its place. The conversation flowed easier after that as well, with Harry feeling better about jumping in to ask questions or give his opinion on something. Of course, the never-ending stories told by Dumbledore helped matters immensely. Every so often, either Remus or Snape would even chime in to clear up something he had gotten wrong, or to try to convince Harry that it had actually happened the way that they remembered it instead.

Harry noticed that Snape seemed to truly feel at ease tonight as well. He had finished his pudding and was now having a cup of tea, but instead of his usual straight, formal posture, he was turned slightly in his seat, leaning back in it, and he had his left hand resting on the back of Harry's chair. If Harry sat back all the way, he could feel Snape's hand nearly brush against his hair.

It felt nice, Harry thought absently. Like he was part of a proper family.

Harry had just come out of the upstairs bathroom and was about to head back downstairs when a door at the end of the hallway caught his eye. There was a sign that said: Severus Snape's Room. Keep Out. This Means You, Remus!

"No way," Harry breathed. He glanced down the stairway and seeing no one, he took a few steps towards the room. When he was standing in front of it, he quietly turned the doorknob, letting it swing open on its own. He stood in the doorway and peered inside. Of course it was impeccably clean. A single bed sat along one wall and a desk across from it, here which didn't have much on it aside from a couple pieces of parchment. The window above it let in a stream of moonlight through the curtains and Harry noticed a few books that remained on the mostly bare bookshelf. Other than that, it looked as if Snape had taken most of his things with him when he'd moved out. Either that, or it had always just looked this clean. Harry backed away and shut the door softly. Across from this room was another, but its door was already open.

Figuring that since he'd already had a peek into Snape's room, he may as well see what Remus's looked like as well, Harry crossed the hall and stuck his head in.

"Whoa," Harry breathed. Remus's room was completely different and Harry found himself walking in. The bed was made up with a light blue comforter, but that was about as close to tidy as the room came. Parchment, dried up ink, and quills were scattered across the top of the desk, and the rubbish bin beside it was overflowing with crumpled up pieces of parchment as well. There were posters on the wall as well. Harry recognized one as an Appleby Arrow's quidditch team poster and he smiled.

Movement out of the corner of his eye made Harry jump in surprise, but when he turned, there was no one there. That's when he saw it; there were pictures above Remus's desk and the people in them were moving. Smiling, Harry moved closer.

Immediately Harry noticed a picture with a smiling Remus between a younger Dumbledore and McGonagall. In another, a Remus with much longer hair had someone by the collar of a black t-shirt and was trying to force him to stay in the picture. Harry squinted, trying to see better, and his mouth dropped open. It was Snape. Remus let go of his collar to wave up at Harry and when he did, the miniature Snape fell to the ground and glared up at him. Harry nearly laughed out loud before another picture caught his eye.

Four boys in Hogwarts robes were standing outside near the Black Lake. Their arms were wrapped around each other and they were all grinning like mad up at him. Harry immediately recognized Remus standing next to his dad. Two other boys were next to him on the other side but Harry didn't know who they were. Though the middle one, a tall, dark haired boy with bright, grey eyes and a charming smile, looked vaguely familiar.

Harry stared at him in confusion for a long moment trying to place where he had seen him before. He couldn't be someone he personally knew, could he?

Another moment and the color drained from Harry's face. No. It couldn't be him.

Harry reached up to take the picture from where it was attached to the wall but it was stuck. He tugged hard and after a moment, whatever was holding it gave way and the picture was in Harry's shaking hands.

He swallowed hard and raced downstairs. As he came into the dining room, everyone was still sitting around the table, smiling and laughing just as they were when he left. Snape was the first to notice that Harry seemed upset.

"Harry?" he asked, already standing from his chair.

Harry thrust the picture out to Remus, who looked down at it in surprise. It quickly turned to shock as he saw the smiling faces of the four boys.

"When were you going to tell me that my father was friends with Sirius Black?"