A/T: See? It's slo(ooooooooooo)wly unfolding.

Alley of Dreams

Act 5: Bedtime

"Well, seeing as you've got him covered, I guess I can go on for a few hours?"

Severus and Cedric looked up at the doorway, startled and pulled from their concentration on the bubbling concoction before them.

"Dad?" Cedric climbed off of his stool. "How long have you been standing there?"

Harry smiled at his son before passing the doorway and ruffling Cedric's hair.

"I see you've found him. This is his favorite place, you know," said Harry, somewhat ignoring Cedric's question as he described Severus to his son. "The dark and dingy dungeons. He hardly ever emerges except to eat and he hates ligh-''

"I am in the room, you know," Severus said, looking annoyed at Harry's remark. "It sounds like you're describing a cockroach."

"I'm sorry. I couldn't resist." Harry looked like he wanted to burst out laughing at Severus's last comment and his eyes glittered with humor. "It's too much fun to tease you. Thanks for giving Cedric something to do. What are you two making?"

"Nothing much," Cedric replied, vaguely, hoping not to embarrass his father by bringing up the subject of sleeping draughts. "What were you saying about going out?"

"I'll only be gone for a few hours. Less, even, and I'll only be going to Hogsmeade. If you don't mind keeping an eye out for him and get him to bed by eight thirty, then I think everything would be all right. That is, if you don't mind."

Severus looked curious. "He doesn't want to go with you? I'm sure he'd be ecstatic-''

"I don't think so," Harry said, raising his eyebrow and laying down the law with his iron, parental fist. "Not until he learns how to ride a broom. And I'm only getting a few books for a Quidditch test tomorrow. Some quills, a bit of parchment, a couple of fire whiskeys..."

Severus rolled his eyes, beginning to clear up some of their mess. "Ha-ha, very funny. Speaking of alcohol in front of your son, some roll model you are. But returning to our somewhat relevant conversation, if it's fine with him then it's perfectly fine with me. I don't have anything to do. It is Friday, after all and I won't have to ward off the monsters until Monday."

Harry chuckled. "Don't you mean the students you love and adore?"

Severus grinned playfully. "Of course that's what I meant. The term "monster" is a term of affection, didn't you know?"

The younger wizard laughed. "So you really wouldn't mind?"

"I've got nothing to do except listen to your stupid Godfather drawl on about something unintelligent and mundane."

"You and your wild social life."

"I won't take offense in that very obvious insult."

Cedric seemed enthused by this, however, and happy to spend more time with Severus. In truth, neither man had seen anything like it. Never had anyone attached themselves to Severus like Cedric had. Harry briefly wondered what he found in the Potions Master. He, as a student, never found much of anything, even after he did save his life more times then he'd care to count.

Of course, Harry realized, as he turned and they began working on the potion again, I never looked that hard. I was too afraid I would find something good in him.

He turned his head and looked back at them, silently, and smiled again.

Guess it's too late now.

...

It was rather strange to the students of Hogwarts to have a child at the Head Table at dinnertime. He sat next to Professor Snape, of all people. The kid, whoever he was, seemed to enjoy his company, and the Professor, more surprisingly so, seemed to enjoy the child's.

And Headmaster Dumbledore, of course, seemed to find this very amusing.

Dinner had been much more enjoyable with Sirius and Remus getting to see their great-god son ("I feel so old," Remus complained, grinning. Cedric looked at Sirius Black, who was currently studying Remus and it was obvious that he still thought his husband looked as beautiful as ever. Cedric thought it was nice to see the fact that true love still existed somewhere.)

Night had finally fallen and Cedric was actually tired. Severus didn't blame him- with everything they'd talked about and after meeting every Professor, ghost, and portrait, he was also dragging a little. He led Cedric up to Harry's room, where they would reside for the weekend.

Harry still hadn't arrived, and Severus knew he would kill him if he left Cedric to his own devices. Living actually seemed more enjoyable at the moment, so as Cedric showered and got ready for bed, Severus looked around the room.

They seemed to have brought their home with them.

Papers and robes; bottles and books were scattered here and there. He shook his head. He could never live with someone who couldn't at least take the time to shelve a few books.

Despite all this, he glanced at several Post It Notes, most of which consisted of Find Ministry's file on Muggle Halloween' (Good luck on that.) or Cedric's appointment- seven on Thursday' (He'd probably forget.)

He finally sat down on a green, overstuffed armchair, after clearing it of all its contents. (Take stack of paper. Stack onto next stack of paper. Repeat.)

With a sigh, he settled down and waited for Harry.

"Dad should be home by now."

Severus jumped. Turning, he saw Cedric standing it the stone doorway. There was something familiar about him. The way his eyes, when he was worried or scared or determined, turned very icy and far away, the way Harry's did when he thought about or fought with Voldemort.

Severus felt that eyes of a child should never have to look like that.

"He'll be here soon. I'm pretty sure he can take care of himself," Severus said, trying to sound reassuring and realizing that he was probably failing, as he usually did when it came to things like this.

Cedric sighed and his eyes turned back to their warm hue. "I know. I'd just- well..." He sighed again. He stood there awkwardly for a few moments before Severus invited him to sit.

"Cedric," began Severus, hesitantly, after the child had made himself comfortable. "What do you think about most of the time? What do you worry about or dream about? Just every day things. Anything."

Never thought the word dream' would ever escape his lips again. He was getting too soft.

Cedric sat on the couch and they faced each other. He began, slowly.

"Sometimes... I worry about money, because we don't really have a lot of it. I mean, sometimes we do, when he's paid to do something like this, but then we go back to normal. TV dinners and working late, juggling several jobs. And then I worry about when he works late, maybe something's happened to him. Like right now. He said he'd only be and hour or two, but it's been three and a half. And then Mom only comes when she can, because she plays Quidditch and travels, and sometimes when she visits I can hear them argue late at night. But dad always makes her be quiet, so it won't upset me."

Severus was silent. "He's an excellent father and you love him a lot."

Cedric beamed. "He is. Everything's for me first and him second. I know that."

Severus thought for a moment. "You understand things a lot better than other kids do. Who taught you that?"

"My Auntie Hermione. And she buys me lots of books, so I can read. She says I'm really smart. I'm going to be a Professor. Like you, maybe, but I like History of Magic the best. And Uncle Ron likes to buy me lots of practical jokes. His brothers own a joke shop and they're doing really well."

"Fred and George," Severus said, shaking his head and remembering the horrors they would often unleash in his classroom. "They loved playing jokes. I'm just glad they're doing it in their own joke shop and not here at Hogwarts."

Cedric laughed. "What was dad like when he went here? Did he give you lots of trouble?"

"I think he'd have my head for telling you."

Cedric grinned mischievously. "Oh, now I really want to know! What about his first year? What did he find?"

Severus paused for a long moment, considering. Then, finally, "The grounds keeper used to have this gigantic three headed dog..."

...

Harry stood silently in the doorway a half hour later. There were no flying questions he could detect or bouts of insane laughter, so Harry assumed that Cedric was in bed, surprisingly enough. He stopped as soon as he saw Severus reading an incredibly thick novel on an overstuffed green couch, actually looking relaxed, absent mindedly twirling a piece of his long, midnight hair as he turned the page.

"Sorry I'm late," Harry apologized, walking in with a bag and an umbrella. "It started pouring cats and dogs and there was no way I could fly back." He sneezed to prove his point. "But I found my books and things."

Severus nodded in response. "It's no bother to me. He loved the three-headed dog story. Very entertaining."

"Three headed dog? You weren't telling him scary stories, were you? Because when he gets an idea in- wait- three headed- you told him about Fluffy? Oh- that means- you little snitch! The stone and everything?"

Dumbledore would be laughing his head off right now. "Growing minds need knowledge." He closed his book and looked up. Harry was shaking his head and giving him the most threatening look possible.

Severus, on the other hand, found this rather amusing. "And the great Harry Potter attempts the evil eye' gaze. But Mr. Longbottom's potions have been more heart stopping, I'm afraid. Better luck next time."

"I'm working at it," Harry grumbled, shaking off his broom and setting his bags on the table. "But I don't exactly practice for hours in front of the mirror to scare the daylights out of the first years. No one wants to be a Severus the Second', if you catch what I'm saying."

"With a glove," Severus muttered. He looked up at Harry again, but Harry had long since shaken out his umbrella three times and now on his fourth attempt, as if he were nervous or antsy.

"Something the matter?"

"Nothing," Harry mumbled. "Listen, thanks for watching Cedric. I hope he wasn't a lot of trouble. I mean, he isn't usually, but I've found you can never quite be sure when it comes to kids." He laughed a little. Suddenly, this situation was really embarrassing.

Severus grabbed his book and started for the doorway as nonchalantly as he could. Obviously, Harry didn't feel like chatting tonight. "It was no trouble at all. He's quiet and listens to me, unlike his father used to. If you catch what I'm saying," he said, dryly.

"Used to... say, how old are you? I mean, not to be impolite or anything."

"That question is always impolite."

"Well, I'm not your student anymore. I can't go running around and painting your age on the wall."

"Potter, it wouldn't surprise me if you did it now. You're still a child at heart, and I fail to believe you will ever grow up."

Harry laughed at this. "Well, you're still a brooding old potions master, and I fail to believe that you'll ever learn to be a kid. Were you ever a kid?"

They made their way out the doorway, not wanting to wake Cedric. ("Once he's up, he's up.")

Severus simply shook his head in response to Harry's question. "Of course I was a child once. You still ask the most obvious questions."

They began walking across the castle towards Severus's private rooms, conversing as they did so.

"You are unsuccessfully avoiding my questions."

The older man sighed and rolled his eyes. "All right, fine. If you absolutely must know lest you die of curiosity, I'm thirty five years old and I was once a child."

"You know," Harry said, stopping and looking at him, "I've learned that a kid and a child aren't the same thing. Children are people, just twelve and under. Kids have fun, and -you know- somehow get into mischief and trouble. So which one were you? A kid or a child?"

Severus was now uncomfortable with the topic. He shrugged and they began walking again. "There's no use dwelling on the past. It doesn't seem to make much of a difference now." Thinking about his childhood was painful.

Harry looked interested. Severus rolled his eyes at Harry's persistent gaze.

"All right, fine. I was just a... child, I suppose."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Why did our parents die? Why doesn't Cedric have a mother? Why do horrible things happen to people when they don't deserve it? Chain reaction, I expect. If my fath-''

The mention of Harry's parents and Cedric's mother dimmed Harry a little, until Severus let a little bit of his past slip from his mouth.

"Your father? What about him?"

"It's nothing. I don't know why you're asking me this," replied the darker wizard, briskly. They were closer to his rooms now and he wanted to get there as quickly as possible.

"You can tell me. Like I said, I won't go painting it on the walls."

Severus flinched, dreading the fact that he knew he'd tell his story and wanting to all the same. "I can't believe I'm saying all of this to you." Pause.

"My father... died. When I was seven. He went by way of suicide, if I recall correctly. Just took his wand and turned in the opposite direction."

Harry looked horrified. "That's terrible! I'm so sorry it happened that way."

Severus shrugged dispassionately. "It served him right in my opinion- he spent all of his money, which was our food money, on alcohol. He thought he could drink his problems away, but he had too many. He wanted me to join the Death Eaters like all Slytherin fathers, and I refused at first. But he had ways of convincing people. If he wasn't drinking, he was at a Death Eater meeting, if he wasn't at a meeting, he was drinking. It was a cruel cycle."

"What about your mum?"

"Ah. She began slipping away after his death, after they found him in the library. When he was alive, she used to be good to me. Trying to help me when he went on one of his infamous "persuasion" sprees. I was working full time by then and I would always hide the money somewhere but she would always find it; she'd go spend it on alcohol just like my father did. I suppose she didn't learn the lesson the first time around."

"Is she still... well..."

"Alive?"

Harry nodded, rather guiltily.

"She died on my eleventh birthday. I remember it was Sunday. I was walking to mass when I saw her on the steps of our church."

"She died there?"

"It was snowing, I think, and the church bells were ringing. Her skin was blue. Her hair was ratty and everyone was crowded around her, praying for her when she didn't deserve it. And then our Pastor came up to me and said, "I'm very sorry for this, Severus." I felt a little guilty when I realized I couldn't share that same emotion with him."

"And then?"

"I supported myself a few months before Hogwarts and was able to make it through. It was better that way, without them. I was always worrying and paranoid. I suppose you notice those things in me now, am I right?"

They were at his door now and Severus was relieved. He felt... exhausted from remembering it all.

"So you were definitely a child."

Severus laughed. "Yes, I suppose I was. But I'm afraid you're opening a huge can of worms when you dig into my history."

Harry grinned, glad that the conversation wasn't too uncomfortable. "So I guess we're alike in that category, eh? I mean, kind of. My parents were killed by Voldemort, but yours..."

"We're kind of alike," Severus echoed, unlocking the door. He turned and gave Harry a smile. The biggest one he's given in a long time.

"Cedric's a good... kid, I suppose. According to your child-and-kid' theory. You're very lucky to have him."

"I know. His mother would of been proud."

Severus was silent, his unasked question hanging in the air.

Now it was Harry's turn to look away- to try to avoid the past. But, as anyone else, it finally caught up with him. No one could hide from it forever.

The green-eyed wizard sort of half grinned. "I can tell you want to know."

Severus held up both his hands. "Guilty as charged."

"I suppose after unearthing your previous misfortunes, you deserve to know some of mine."

"Only if you-''

"Want to? Trust me, I need to. Else I'll explode."

"The former is the more desirable option."

Harry grinned again before taking a deep breath.

"I once thought she was beautiful. Inside, I mean. Outside, she was a radiant beauty. We started dating, Cho and I. You remember her, don't you?"

Severus only nodded quietly in response.

"Six months afterwards she found out she was pregnant with a boy. She hated me and thought it was my fault. I wondered if perhaps we could get married and have Cedric, but she refused. She birthed him and gave him to me, and left without ever turning her head or lifting a finger. She was a Quidditch player at the time and still is. She travels all over the world. Famous. Beautiful. Rich. But those are only photos you see in the paper. The fact that she had Harry Potter's child and she hates the father... and sometimes, I think..."

"That she hates Cedric?"

Harry sighed. "She sees him now and then. But it seems he knows everything- and, unlike me, he can read people like a book. Which is weird," Harry laughed, softly, "Because he's attached himself to you like a magnet. I mean, well, I mean...''

"I should hope that if there was anything I ever taught you in this school, I would hope you'd learn to stand firm. How many times did you have to stand up to me in double potions, and how many times have you stuttered "I mean" this weekend?" Severus asked, evenly.

Harry looked surprised. "I don't know. I mea-''

"There it is again. If you mean it, say it. Many occasions there's not enough time to "I mean" everything."

Harry sighed again and shook his head. Severus crossed his arms and leaned against the stone wall of the corridor, the candles of the wall making him glow. His long dark hair framed his face delicately.

"Is that why you joined the Death Eaters? Because you were... convinced?" Harry asked, softly, leaning against the opposite wall.

Severus nodded. "I made a promise to myself to get out. But I couldn't do it until Lucius Malfoy left with me."

Harry looked surprised. "What? He didn't want to join?"

"He wanted to make his father proud of him. Many pureblood families were similar to mine. Vain mothers; demanding, sometimes cruel fathers. There wasn't a lot of affection via family for a lot of my classmates. So Lucius decided he'd do the one thing that he thought would make his family proud. I went with him that night- I begged him not to go, I pleaded and I told him what would happen and what Death Eaters went through. So when I couldn't convince him, I decided it was inevitable for me anyway. I didn't want him to be alone."

Harry smiled. "You're very brave."

"We were very foolish. But he thanked me once, about half a year later. By then he knew how it all worked and he felt he was living in a nightmare. But I told him not to worry. I would make sure nothing would happen..."

"And now you're still friends and teaching at the highest rated magic school in the Northern hemisphere."

Severus's eyes took a happy spark. "Things change. Luckily for us, things changed for the better. The war's over now and we can be free from all that mess. It's very refreshing, actually."

Harry nodded. "I guess you're right. Things do change. Lots of things." He took a moment to look sheepish. "I hope I haven't emotionally drained you tonight. I didn't mean to pry."

Severus rolled his eyes once more. "Don't bother lying. You most certainly did mean to pry and did a bloody good job of it."

"See you tomorrow?"

"Of course."

Harry looked up at Severus and smiled, before turning and heading for his room.

Severus's eyes followed him the entire way, until he bled into the darkness.

Change indeed.