A/T: Thank you for all the wonderful reviews!!! Some of my favorite reviews were the longer ones that REALLY told me what they liked about the story. stares pointedly at reader So are you getting the hint?

Kidding! But everyone seems to wonder why the house is a mess. I suppose it adds character. MY house is a mess. My room is simply filthy. But then it's always fun to PRETEND there's no reason when there is one. Or maybe it's just two men live in there. Men are pigs.

I'm glad you all love Cedric's name! I thought it would suit him.

Sorry for late chapters! I have three stories going. (All Sev/ Harry. Typical.) I love you all! Hope you like the next chapter!

Alley of Dreams
Act 2: In No Way Awkward

Severus couldn't help but let a smile grace his lips- he'd seen Harry at a loss for words before, but never in a situation such as this. Ah, the irony of it all. Even he found it rather amusing, which was saying something.

"Can he come in, Dad? He's really nice!" Cedric said, looking up at his father with the same green eyes of his grandmother, a grandmother he'll never have the chance to meet. Harry glanced, frazzled, at the imploring look on his son's face.

"I- I don't think he has time. He's probably very busy. Aren't you, Professor? All those papers to grade and students to torture." Harry stated it as if it were a fact. Or a demand. Or a plea to leave his premises immediately. Out of all the wizards in the entire universe, this wizard was the one to find his son.

"It's a common practice for a host or hostess to invite company in, whether or not said company will take the offer," Severus said, smoothly, both hands clutching a shopping bag from a potion's store in Diagon Alley, his long hair framing his face. "My afternoon's cleared. It's so thoughtful of you to invite me in." He peered over Harry's shoulder and Harry flushed again. "But should I conjure up a seat of my own? I'd hate for you to go to all that trouble cleaning one off for me."

He raised an eyebrow pointedly at Harry, who had placed his hands on his hips in annoyance. "I don't remember asking your opinion or inviting you in."

"Don't remember?" Severus asked, actually enjoying this. "That's due to memory loss, I'm afraid. Did you know they have potions for that now? It's a fairly basic concept, even for you."

Harry crossed his arms, shooting daggers towards the older man. His glasses were lopsided and his hair messier than ever and he knew he wasn't as threatening as he wished he could be, but his eyes were still as green as when Severus first saw them.

He looked at his son again (who was still looking up with that darned pleading stare) trying to ignore the amused look on his former teachers face. "Then... I suppose-''

"You can come in, then!" said Cedric, excitedly. "He always does that when he's about to say 'yes'."

Harry's eyes widened and he wondered what other secrets Cedric had let slip to the older man while en route to his home. He opened the door wider and, with a defeated sigh, let the Potions Master in.

"I'll -er- go and make some tea, shall I? After all, that's what a good host does, now isn't it? ... wait, where's my wand?" Harry asked, more to himself than anyone else. He began digging through old papers and books, occasionally throwing a dirty T-shirt over his shoulder. "I know I put it here. Well, not one hundred percent sure, of course, but..."

Severus watched as Harry began sorting through stacks of files. How did they live like this? However, Cedric seemed accustomed to it and merely smiled, shaking his head at his poor father's inability to keep track of things.

"I'll go make the tea, shall I? The Muggle way."

Harry looked up, brushing his long bangs from his eyes, a look of relief crossing his face. "Would you? Thanks very much."

Severus made his way towards the cleanliest of the couches (none of them were actually clean, per se) - the other chairs were piled high with both Muggle and wizard items, most of them probably nonessential. He noticed something sticking up in the couch, and upon closer inspection, realized it was Harry's wand.

He snorted softly and picked the wand, which had somehow gotten stuck between two cushions. Potter never was an organized person- Granger was always making sure he got his homework in on time. Weasley, if possible, was even worse when it came to his academics and everything else.

He made himself at home while twirling the wand between two fingers idly, watching Harry sift through bags.

"So, Professor," Harry said, attempting to make conversation while digging through some library books that were probably so overdue Harry would need to take a loan from the bank to pay the late fee. "How've you been?"

"I've been well," he replied, crossing his legs casually, watching Harry begin sorting through what looked like boxes of Christmas decorations. "And yourself?"

"Everything's been splendid. I got custody of Cedric and we moved in here about a year and a half ago," he began, but quickly stopped himself. He turned and looked at Severus, a rather sheepish look on his face. "I just blurted that right out, didn't I? It's so embarrassing we haven't got everything unpacked yet. There are- hey, wait just a moment! Is that my wand?"

"It sure seems that way, doesn't it?" Severus asked, twirling it between his index and middle finger, the wand lazily tilting left and then right. Harry shot him an annoyed look before grabbing it back, quickly clearing off a few seats with a flick of his now-recovered wand.

"Uh- I'd like to thank you, for, you know... bringing Cedric back home," Harry began, looking uncomfortable and trying to hide it by stacking up some Muggle CD cases. "You must think I'm absolutely the worst parent of all time."

Severus actually felt bad for his former student, one who was trying to balance the one parent role, plus taking care of the house and keeping a steady job. Every parent makes mistakes, but rarely does anything catastrophic result from whatever may have occurred. Harry seemed to be good with Cedric- that much was obvious.

"And here I thought you'd be famous or something, playing Quidditch, living out of suitcases, dating one lovely lady after another."

"I did that for a little while, but it wasn't the life for me. I'm a reserve Seeker for the Chudley Cannons and a part time Auror, but I'm Head of Dark Artifacts at the Ministry of Magic now."

"That sounds..."

"Corny?"

"Like you've got your white picket fence. Nice house, great son, good job."

Harry smiled a bit. "You're right. It is a white picket dream, isn't it? But what about you? Although God forbid you own anything white, much less an entire fence."

"Please, stop being so polite," said Severus, sarcastically.

"Oh, come on. Is everything as it was when I last saw you?"

"I still teach Potions, I still live alone, and I still own this absolutely huge manor that I don't need but have to keep. Your two Godfathers are still driving me insane and Albus still collects socks and lives off lemon drops. In all technicality, it's just peachy."

"'In all technicality?' What's that supposed to mean?"

Severus was saved from having to reply when Cedric entered the room, tucking some stray hair behind his ear in attempt to look presentable. "Would you like your tea hot or on ice?" he asked, leaning against a chair.

"Ice?" Severus asked, wrinkling his nose. "That sounds completely..."

"Try it on ice," said Harry, making room for his son next to Severus (the only sitting space with enough room for two to reside). "It's not nearly as horrid as you'd think."

Severus smiled at him and shrugged. "Alright then. I'm sure Albus'll force it down me one day or another," he said as Cedric disappeared back into the kitchen, a Muggle icemaker heard whirring in the background.

Severus shook his head, once again observing Harry's somewhat frantic attempt to make room for his guest. "I absolutely cannot imagine how you live here," he told Harry, who turned red with embarrassment but tried to defend himself anyway.

"You know, it's never polite to insult your host. I was hardly expecting company," Harry replied, rolling his eyes. "Besides, it's not as if anything's alive in here. Well, besides the Monster's Book of Monsters. I see it scuttle around every now and then."

Severus tried not to look as if he bought it, but every now and then he caught a slight movement in the corner of his eye. It was a publicly known fact that he despised the Monster's Book of Monsters, and jumped when he saw the Harry's window curtain move, despite the fact that the window wasn't open.

Cedric only stared at the two, a tad confused as he entered the room; it was impossible to miss the electricity that frizzed the air... if only he knew why. He handed Severus his glass of cold tea (the older wizard took a very small sip to test it first) and then handed his father the other glass.

"I'll ignore your complete lack of manners about my house and continue our civil conversation. How has everyone been at Hogwarts?"

"I'll ignore your complete lack of brains, and answer the clichéd conversation starter. No one's died."

Harry couldn't help but grin. It was so typical of that man to answer a question that way.

"No one's died? In other words, everything's going splendid?"

"That's as good news as any in my book. Although I keep rigging all these traps for your Godfather-''

"Which one?"

"The stupid one."

"I'll assume you're referring to Sirius."

"That's his name, as I recall. So I keep rigging all these moron-proof traps, and somehow he always seems to miss them."

"Moron-proof?" Harry said, laughing out loud this time, unable to fight Severus's strange but hilarious sense of humor.

"You bet. Only the most idiotic or brilliant individual can escape my exceptional cons."

Harry grinned again. "I vote for brilliant."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Then you've obviously never seen him in the classroom."

...

"Bloody hell, it's ten," came the soft voice of Severus as he peered at the Muggle clock hanging on Harry's wall, it's hands ticking away the minutes. It had numbers, which irritated him. Cedric was already asleep, leaning against the Potion's Master in his child-like innocence. He had fallen asleep about an hour ago, and his own glasses were beginning to slant.

Harry smiled secretly at the two; whether he liked it or not, Cedric was attached. He couldn't figure out how anyone could be attached to the menace that was and always would be Severus Snape, although perhaps Cedric could see the way he was always making Harry laugh or the way they eased into conversation as if they had done it all their lives.

No one noticed that time was flying by nor how the sun was setting. Severus and Harry had actually managed a friendly, relevant conversation that consisted of more than just death threats and evil glances.

They had covered everything and Cedric listened with fascination, never uttering a word unless he was asked a question. Severus told them how Dumbledore, McGonagall, and even Filch were doing. Peeves was being more annoying that usual this year and Lucius Malfoy had come to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts even since the fall of Voldemort, with Remus there to help out occasionally.

In return, Harry told him about Cedric, Quidditch, Ron and Hermione, and even Draco, who kept in touch. Severus didn't ask about Cedric's mother, because he had a feeling Harry nor Cedric wanted to talk about it.

And surprisingly enough, their conversation went into the night, right up until Severus had noticed the time and Cedric had fallen asleep.

Harry rose up and glanced at the two again.

"I'll go put Cedric up to bed. I think today's been pretty hectic," he said softly, moving to pick the young child up. "Could you wait one moment before you go? I-''

"Dad?" asked a voice. It was Cedric, looking at the two of the quite groggily, rising up and rubbing his eyes, trying to fight a yawn.

"Hello again," he said, suddenly but quite cheerfully. Severus smiled but he said nothing as the young man smiled at him. "Very sorry I fell asleep. But it's a little-'' he began, punctuating his apology with a yawn. "Late for me, I suppose."

"I think it's bed time for you," said Harry, taking Cedric's glasses in hand and ruffling his hair. "Say good-bye."

"Good night, Mr. Snape. Will you come again tomorrow? It's Saturday and I don't have any school."

"Well, I..." Severus began, digging through his brain for a believable excuse. And there he was, the meanest Potions Master Hogwarts had ever known- people hated him, and Harry Potter's kid wanted him around for a little bit. "I'm afraid I'll be at work. I have papers to grade. Double, considering I took the day off. I really am quite sorry."

"Oh." Cedric looked terribly disappointed. "Well, okay. Maybe some other time, then?"

Severus nodded, smiling at this bright, obviously wonderful boy.

"Sure."

And that night, two wizards lay on their beds, far away from one another. Their thoughts, on the other hand, were slowly starting to intertwine.

A/T: I will have the next chapter up sooner! Don't give up on me yet! (Or is that a little too late to ask of you?)