Disclaimer: All recognizable characters and settings belong to J.K. Rowling.

Christmas had been amazing, and Harry enthusiastically shared with his friends how his Christmas with his father had been. Both his friends had been happy for him, knowing how much it had meant to their friend to have his parent to celebrate the holidays with.

"Sounds like it was brilliant Harry. Even if it was Snape you spent it with," Ron said as he munched on a chocolate frog. "What?" He asked when Hermione and Harry glared at him.

Harry just sighed and shook his head. "Oh! Hagrid said he got the dragon's egg!" He whispered excitedly. "He sent me a note saying we can go look at it after classes. And he promised that when it begins to hatch, he'll let us know!"

"Brilliant!" Ron grinned.

Hermione hesitated. "I don't know. Isn't it dangerous?"

"It's just an egg," Ron said dismissively.

Hermione gave him a frustrated look. "The egg isn't dangerous but what will come out of the egg is! What happens then?"

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. But think how cool it will be to see it hatch," He said happily.

Hermione sighed. "Fine. We'll just worry about a dragon living in a hut made out of wood later." She said sarcastically.

"Sounds good to me," Ron said cheerfully. Harry nodded in agreement.

Hermione groaned.

HP

It had seemed so simple at the time. Help Hagrid with his dragon's egg and watch it hatch. Harry hadn't thought of the trouble he and his friends could get into. Or that they would be seen with the dragon. First, at Hermione's insistence, they had convinced Hagrid that he couldn't keep Norbert, the baby dragon would burn the hut down. Then that prat Malfoy spies on them through the window. And then, Ron had the idea of contacting his brother Charlie for help. Charlie arranged for some friends of his to meet them at the Astronomy Tower so that they can take Norbert with them to Romania. It was the perfect solution and then the whole thing would be over. Except he forgot his cloak in the Tower and now they were caught by McGonagall after seeing Norbert off.

Now Harry was glumly standing outside his dad's quarters with a very angry Head of House waiting for his dad to answer the door. He was so busted.

"What is going on?" Severus asked after opening the door, glancing at Harry in surprise.

"I found several students out after curfew, including your son and one of your Slytherins," McGonagall said briskly.

Severus's face darkened. "Is that so?" He leveled a glare at Harry.

"Mr. Malfoy is the Slytherin and I have already sent him back to his dorm after taking fifty points. I have also taken fifty points each from your son, Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley. As to why they were out, I have not received an explanation. Mr. Malfoy said something about them and a dragon." McGonagall shook her head. "I can only assume they thought it would be funny to trick Mr. Malfoy."

Severus could tell that wasn't the whole story by the look on Harry's face. "Thank you for bringing him to me." He said stiffly.

McGonagall gave him a nod and then turned, looking at Harry with disappointment. "Hopefully your father can get to the bottom of your misbehavior." She walked away.

"Get inside," Severus said sternly.

Harry entered and went to sit on the sofa, hugging himself.

"Why were you and your friends out this late?" Severus demanded as he summoned a blanket and put it over Harry's shoulders.

"We were helping someone," Harry mumbled.

"Who could you possibly be helping this late?" Severus asked in exasperation.

"I can't tell you. I promised." Harry said in a soft voice.

"Tough. You're going to tell me. Now."

Harry crossed his arms, his chin jutted up stubbornly. "I can't." He insisted.

"You mean you won't," Severus said, his patience about to snap.

"No, I can't! I promised Hag – uh, someone that I wouldn't," Harry stammered.

"Hagrid?" Severus asked in disbelief.

"No!" Harry said quickly.

Severus narrowed his eyes at his son. He was lying. "You can either tell me right now or I will go to Hagrid and demand the truth." He threatened.

Harry sighed. "Okay, just don't go mental."

"Just tell me, Harry," Severus said impatiently. As if I would go mental. He listened as Harry told him about Hagrid getting a dragon, him and his friends watching it hatch and convincing Hagrid he couldn't keep it. By the time he got to the part of helping get Norbert to the Astronomy Tower so he could be retrieved and taken to Romania, Severus was livid. "Are you out of your bloody mind?!" He bellowed.

Harry winced and tightened the blanket around him. I knew he would go mental, he thought.

"Do you have any idea what could have happened to you? How dangerous dragons are? Even while hatching it could have set fire to you or the hut!" Severus shouted. How could the boy be so impulsive? So reckless? So completely unaware of the danger he had put himself in? He could have been killed so easily so many times and Severus would not have it! He had just found the boy, he wasn't going to lose him to his Gryffindor foolishness.

"We knew Hagrid couldn't keep Norbert, we convinced him to send him to Romania. We- we just wanted to help," Harry whispered.

Severus began pacing. "You also just wanted to help Mr. Longbottom retrieve his remembrance and almost crashed while flying."

"I wouldn't have crashed," Harry protested.

"You wanted to help Miss Granger and almost got killed by a troll," Severus continued. "And you wanted to help Hagrid and once again put yourself in danger. Just how many times other times have you been in danger this year?" He asked suspiciously.

"Um -" Harry hedged.

"No more hanging around Hagrid." Severus snapped.

"He's my friend! My first ever friend! Besides, we still need him to tell us more about Fluffy and Flamel -" Harry slapped his hand over his mouth. He didn't mean to say that.

Severus began to shake with anger. "How do you know about Fluffy?" He asked in a dangerous voice. "And why exactly do you want to know about Flamel?"

Harry stared at him with wide eyes. He had never seen the man so angry. "I – I'm sorry."

"I did not ask for an apology, I asked for explanations!" Severus snapped. He ran a hand over his face. Being a parent was more nerve-wracking than he had thought it would be. "Accio calming draught." He held out his hand as a vial flew into it. He quickly took a swallow and felt himself relax a little.

"What is that?" Harry asked curiously.

"A calming draught. It calms someone after they have had a big shock or emotional outburst." Severus sent the vial back to his cabinet.

"Oh." Harry felt more guilt fill him. He had made his father so upset he had to take a calming draught! He wondered if the Weasley twins had ever driven their parents to take potions to calm down before dealing with their antics. "When will I learn to make it?"

"Fourth year." Severus folded his arms and stared at his child. "Now I want the truth about all your exploits. Everything, Harry." When the boy stayed quiet, he let out a frustrated breath. "Until you do, you are banned from Quidditch."

Harry's eyes flew to his in shock. "You can't do that!" He protested.

"Do you want to bet?" Severus raised an eyebrow.

"But it's not fair!"

"I couldn't care less about being fair," Severus said. He didn't know if he could go through with it, Minerva would likely kill him if he tried. But he would definitely restrict Harry from playing for a week or two if had to.

Reluctantly, Harry told him about the duel he was supposed to have with Malfoy, running into Fluffy while hiding from Filch, figuring out the dog was hiding something, and putting it together with Hagrid's slip about Flamel.

"You and your little friends sure have been busy," Severus said sarcastically. "No wonder your grades have needed help." He thought for a moment. It was late and he needed to think about this more. "All right, this is what we are going to do. You are going to go to bed, in your room here. After your classes, you are to come straight here and write me an essay detailing everything you just told me. From the troll to tonight. We'll talk about it and I'll decide on your consequences."

"Yes, sir," Harry said softly.

"Go to bed. I'll check on you in a few minutes."

Severus waited five minutes and then went to check on his son. Harry had changed into pajamas and fallen sound asleep. Severus tucked him in and kissed his forehead. "What am I going to do with you?" He shook his head. He survived being a death eater, and he survived teaching the dunderheads potions but would he survive parenthood?

HP

"The Gryffindors are going to notice the hundred and fifty missing points," Harry said glumly as he walked with his father to the Great Hall for breakfast the next morning.

"Yes." Severus agreed. "They'll likely be upset and they have a right to be. Your poor choices not only affect you, but they also affected those around you. Perhaps you should remember that."

Harry stayed quiet as they entered the hall. He was about to head to his table when his dad put his hand on his shoulder.

"They will be upset, but they will get over it," Severus said softly. He wanted to remain firm with the boy but he also couldn't stand seeing him so upset. "You and your friends can work to earn the points back."

Harry offered him a small smile of thanks before joining his housemates.

"Way to go, Potter." Oliver Wood growled.

"Lay off him, Oliver," Fred said. "He's probably been terrorized by Snape already." He looked at Harry sympathetically.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked anxiously.

"Yeah," Harry said as he put a small amount of food onto his plate. He wasn't very hungry.

"Did Snape totally lose it? Did he hurt you?" Ron asked anxiously.

"No, of course, he didn't hurt me. He was upset, though." Harry said. "Furious, actually."

"Sorry, mate," Ron said sympathetically before rummaging through his bookbag. "Hey, we went to get your cloak early this morning," Ron said as he passed it over.

"Thanks!" Harry said, tucking it into his bag. He lowered his voice. "My dad knows about us finding Fluffy and researching Flamel."

"What? How?" Hermione gasped.

"Uh, I told him," Harry admitted. "I didn't mean to! It just slipped out!"

"Merlin, it's bad enough that my parents are going to hear about being out after curfew but if Snape writes to them that it was because of the dragon and about Fluffy, I'm done for." Ron sighed.

"He didn't say he would do that." Harry frowned.

"Did he tell you anything about Flamel?" Hermione asked eagerly.

Harry stared at her. "You mean in between lecturing me and yelling at me?" He asked sarcastically.

"Oh, right," Hermione said sheepishly. Her face brightened. "Well, I found something last night after doing a bit of reading." She pulled out a huge book from her bag and flipped it open.

Ron's mouth dropped open. "That's a bit of reading?"

Hermione ignored him and instead read to them about the Sorcerer's Stone. "That's what Fluffy must be guarding!" She said triumphantly.

"So who is after it?" Ron asked. "I mean, I would have thought Snape but -"

"It's not him," Harry glared.

"I know. But that means someone else is after it."

"One of the other professors?" Hermione gasped

"Maybe." Ron shrugged. "Or one of the older students, doing their parents bidding or something."

"I don't have time to try and think who it could be. I also have to write an essay about all the things I've been up to this year, and then we're going to talk about it. He said he would then give me my consequences." Harry said glumly.

"I guess that was the good thing about only having the Dursley huh? No one cared if you got into trouble at school." Ron said as he dished up more eggs.

"Ron!" Hermione scolded.

Ron flushed. "I didn't mean...I, just meant -"

"I get it," Harry said with a laugh. Actually, Ron's words had made him think. Even though he hated knowing he was in trouble, at least he finally had someone who cared about him. There was a feeling of security in that, that he had a father who cared about his safety.

"Uh oh," Neville said as an owl flew above them and dropped a red envelope in front of Ron.

Ron paled.

"What's wrong?" Harry asked.

"It's a howler," Neville said. "I received one from my Gran once." He shuddered.

Ron gulped and opened the letter. It floated up and faced him, forming a mouth, and then began shouting at him, in Mrs. Weasley's voice.

"Ronald Weasley! How dare you be out after curfew! Your Father and I are furious! I better not hear of this happening again or else I will floo over to deal with you myself! And I'll bring my wooden spoon, young man!"

Ron stared in horror as the red envelope tore itself up, the pieces falling on the table like confetti. Giggles erupted in the Great Hall.

"You deserved that, Ronald," Percy said with a sniff.

"Oh, Forge," George said with a pleased sigh. "This is a proud day for us."

Fred nodded. "Our baby brother's first howler." He pretended to wipe a tear from his eye.

"And his first wooden spoon threat," George leaned over and patted Ron on the back. "Congratulations. Well done."

"Don't encourage him," Percy scolded the twins.

"But we're proud of him," Fred protested.

"Yeah, he's on his way to being more like us," George added with a grin.

"Merlin forbid," Percy muttered.

Hermione was looking at Ron sympathetically while Harry was laughing at the twins. He glanced at Ron, who still looked pale. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Ron said hoarsely. "But I never want to get one of those again."

Harry nodded. "I don't blame you." He said. He glanced over at the head table where his dad was speaking with McGonagall.

"A good thing your dad is here," Hermione said. "You won't get one of those."

"No. I get to have my howlers in person," Harry said wryly.

HP

Later that day, Harry sat in his room and watched nervously as his father read through his essay. He had returned to his quarters right after his last class to begin writing. When Snape was done, he set it down and began rubbing his temples.

"Do you need another calming draught?" Harry asked in a small voice.

"No. More like a headache potion." Severus muttered. Merlin, he didn't know if the child went looking for trouble or if trouble just seemed to find him. "What is this about an invisibility cloak?"

Harry froze. Had he really written about that? He had just started writing frantically to finish, he must have rambled on more than he had thought. "Um..."

"Harry," Severus said in a warning tone.

Harry sighed. "For Christmas, Dumbledore gave it to me. He said he had planned to give it to me because it belonged to James and he thought I was his son. Then he said James would probably still want me to have it."

"Is that so?" Severus clenched his fists. Blast Dumbledore! Who in their right mind gives an eleven-year-old child an invisibility cloak? It was insanity! He would be having words with the Headmaster, that was for sure. "Why did you not show it to me?"

Harry rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, I didn't think you would let me keep it." He admitted.

"You thought correctly," Severus said. "I will be holding onto it for you."

"What? No!" Harry jumped to his feet.

"Do not tell me no," Severus scolded. "You are far too young for such a cloak. When you turn seventeen, you may have it back."

"You're just doing this because you hate James!" Harry accused. "You know what your problem is?"

"Oh, please do enlighten me," Severus said sarcastically.

"You are just an overgrown bat who -" A firm tap to his backside from his father's hand stopped him from finishing. He stared at Snape with wide eyes. The swat hadn't really hurt but it had startled him out of his tantrum.

"I'm going to stop you there, young man," Severus said in a low voice. "You are treading on very thin ice, so I suggest you reign in your attitude. Now, if it was because I hated James, I would destroy it or give it away. Instead, I am going to hold on to it for you, until you are an adult."

"But -"

"You are in enough trouble already, do you not agree?" Severus asked with a raised eyebrow. "Stop whining. I will not change my mind."

Harry huffed but stopped pressing the issue.

"Now, as to your little adventures. They stop now. No more sneaking around the castle. No more breaking curfew. No more researching Nicolas Flamel." Severus said firmly.

"But what if someone is after the stone?" Harry asked.

"Even if someone is, what can an eleven-year-old do about it?" Severus asked scornfully. He sighed at Harry's dejected look. "I will investigate, all right? I will also let Dumbledore know of your concerns." He wasn't going to tell him he already suspected Quirrell of wanting the stone and was keeping an eye on him.

"Okay," Harry said quietly.

Severus nodded. "Now, for your punishment. I want an essay -"

"Another one?" Harry groaned.

"On the dangers of dragons," Severus eyed him sternly for the interruption. "You also have detention for a week. With Filch."

Harry's eyes widened with horror and Severus smirked at him. "Kidding. It is with me. My classroom after dinner. As of now, I will let you stay on the Quidditch team."

Harry's eyes lit up and Severus felt his heart clench at the sight. He liked seeing the child happy. "But Harry, mind me on this. If you sneak out after curfew again, I will restrict you from the team until I feel you have learned your lesson. Understand?"

"Yes," Harry said, relieved that he could still play. He looked pleadingly at his father. "Can I still be friends with Hagrid?"

Severus sighed. He had gone to talk to the overgrown child about letting the children near a dragon to find Albus already in his hut, having tea and rock cakes. Albus had immediately assured him that he had already talked to Hagrid about being more responsible. Hagrid had tearfully apologized for putting the children in danger and then had begun wailing about how much he missed Norbert. It had been nauseating to witness.

"I suppose," Severus grumbled. He watched as Harry's face lit up again. "You mentioned before that Hagrid was your first friend?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah. He was so nice when he came and got me on my birthday and took me to get all my supplies. He even bought me, Hedwig, as a birthday present! My very first present! That I remember, anyway."

"You hadn't had friends before?" Severus asked casually. "Or received any presents?"

Harry shook his head. "Dudley and his gang would beat up anyone who tried to befriend me so everyone stayed away. And no, I never got presents before. But now I've received really good ones!" Harry beamed at him.

"I see," Severus said, inwardly seething. Blasted Dursley's. It was definitely time to pay them a little visit. They had a lot to answer for.

TBC: