A/N: Tomorrow, I'm leaving on vacation. I promise that I'll continue updating as soon as I get back (Monday, July 5 ..... 3 days before my birthday!)

Chapter 10

Godric's Hollow

"Hi, daddy," Carrie chirrped as they came through the door. "Is that a Death Eater?"

"No, sweetie, this is Harry, my new partner," he responded, hugging her. "Tell Harry what you think of Death Eaters."

"Buttheads!"

"Kid's no dummy," said Harry.

"Daddy, Mommy says you hate her cooking."

"Tell Mommy hate is a mild word," he said. Carrie giggle and ran upstairs as the two Aurors entered the kitchen. Severus greeted his cooking wife.

"Hi, honey." He opened the oven. "We're having something brown. A largish brown object."

"It's roast."

"Dammit, I wanted to guess. Honey, this is Harry, my new partner. He'll be joining us tonight, okay?"

"Sure. Roast okay with you, Harry?"

"It's fine."

"How about brown, roast-like substance?" Severus asked.

Trishia hit him upside the head. "Sev, you're being an asshole." She kissed his ear. "Don't forget to compliment Brianna on her shoes."

"Got it. Drink, Harry?"

"Sure, whatever you've got."

"I'm not much of a cook," Trishia commented as Severus left the room.

"Don't worry. I could burn water." He reached for a stray piece of roast, but Trishia slapped his hand.

"Don't pick."

Harry smiled.

Severus ran into his Brianna as he headed back towards the kitchen.

"Hello, Father."

"Hello, daughter. Nice shoes."

"Oh, Daddy, aren't they great?"

"Absolutely. How much did they cost?"

"Fifty Galleons. Do you really like them?"

Severus choked. "Fifty ...... They're shoes."

"Right."

"You wear them on your feet."

"Right."

"And that's all they do? There's not, like, a TV inside?"

"Nope."

He shook his head. "I'm very old."

Outside

Trishia Snape wheeled the garbage pail past her husband's boat on the way out to the curb. "That's okay, honey," she called sarcastically. I'll take out the garbage."

Severus head appeared over the side of the boat. He looked sheepish. "Yeah. Thanks, hon."

Aboard the boat, Severus worked on the engine. Harry was sitting on the driver's seat.

"What do you think?" asked Severus.

"Do you know 'anything' about boats, Sevlet?"

He ignored the name. "I know how much they cost."

"I mean, can you sail this thing?"

"What's wrong with you? This isn't a sail boat."

Harry smiled. "That's what I thought."

"No trick to it. That's the front. That's the back. Water all around. Why do you have make things so complicated?"

"I don't. That's just how they are."

"Oh, yeah. You mean Susan Bone's murder."

"Now did I mention that?"

"You don't have to. I can read your mind."

"Wasn't it you who told me there was no such thing as mind-reading?"

"You know what I mean." He sighed when Harry didn't respond. "I don't get you, Potter. What's the problem? We've got one dead girl and one dead guy. Dead guy killed the dead girl and you killed the dead guy because he wanted us to be dead guys. Seems pretty easy to me." Harry just inspected the dashboard of the boat. "Look, her sugar daddy was dealing drugs. She said something or did something or saw something she shouldn't have, and he pitched her off the balcony. That's why he came at us today."

"I don't know. Sounds a little too neat to me."

"Of course it's neat. And what's wrong with neat? I like neat." Harry switched on the engine. "Hey! Watch what you're doing!"

Severus fumbled with all the switches in a futile effort to turn off the engine. But Harry knew exactly which switch to flip.

"Looking for this?" He silenced the engine. Severus glared at him.

"You asshole."

"Hi, Dad," said a voice behind Severus, causing him to jump.

"What is it, Brianna?"

"Mark wants to take me out to a club tomorrow night."

"You're grounded, you know that."

"Please, Daddy."

"Which one is Mark again?"

"The blond one."

"Oh yeah, the one with pits in his face."

"Those are dimples."

"Those are pits. When he smiles, I can see through his head. The answer is no. End of story."

"C'mon, Sev. Have a heart," said Harry.

Severus shot him a look. "The girl was smoking pot in the house. She's grounded!"

"Next time, I'll just take a beer instead. Why can you have a beer, but I can't have a joint. It's not sacarna, Dad."

He looked down at the beer in his hand, sheepishly. Harry grinned to himself.

"Because ..... it's legal for me to have a beer, but it's not legal for you to have a joint. Right or wrong."

"Wrong," she said at the same time Harry said, "Right."

She stomped off and Severus turned back to Harry. "I've lost track. Did we resolve anything here tonight?"

Harry shook his head and climbed off the boat. "Yeah. We resolved that your wife takes out the garbage. Your daughter smokes pot, which is illegal, but shouldn't be. You don't know anything about boats. And you've got one hell of a family."

"Thanks."

"Enjoyed the meal.

"Bullshit, but thanks anyway."

"You don't trust me at all, do you?"

Severus looked taken aback. "Tell you what. Make it through tomorrow without killing anybody. Especially me. Or yourself. Then I'll start trusting you."

"Fair enough." He turned and look Severus straight in the eye. "I do it real good, you know."

"Do what?"

"Kill people. Everyone always said so. It was my destiny: to be killed or to become a murderer." He sighed. "Well, see you tomorrow."

"Yeah. See you then."

Streets of Paris

Harry Apparated from Godric's Hollow to a couple of blocks to his house, the closest the wards of Le Mort would allow him. The streets were empty ...... except for a young hooker on the corner. Harry's eyes widened in recognition.

"Hi, handsome," the girl said as Harry approached. "Looking for something?"

"Aren't we all. Come with me."

They walked along the road in silence.

"How old are you?" Harry finally asked.

"Twenty-two."

"Seriously."

"Why? You like 'em young?"

"How old are you?" he repeated.

"Sixteen."

Harry nodded and handed her fifty Galleons

"Wow," she breathed. "So, what do you want?"

"I want you to come home and watch television with me."

"What?"

"And I want to know why you are doing this, Miss Weasley."

Harry's Appartment

Sandra Weasley sat in front of Harry's TV, an over-sized sweatshirt now covering her revealing top, and watched the Three Stooges. "So, are you another Auror my Dad sent after me," she asked distractedly.

"I am an Auror," said Harry. "But nobody sent me."

"Then how'd you know who I was?"

"The hair."

She laughed bitterly. "Always."

"Who's daughter are you anyway?"

"Bill Weasley's." She looked at Harry's sad expression. "You're not having a very good time, are you?"

"You don't know that. Maybe this is how I look when I'm having a good time. Maybe I'm having the time of my life."

"Are you?" Harry didn't answer. "I know. Sing me something."

Harry gave her an incredulous look. "I don't sing."

"Come on. Sing me a song."

"I don't know any songs."

"Not even a Christmas song? Everybody knows a Christmas song."

"Something through the snow," he sang, half-heartedly. "In a one-horse open sleigh."

"Good. That's good. Over the hills we go, laughing all the way."

"Something something ring, making something bright .... "

"Oh what fun it is to ride .... "

"To grandma's house tonight!"

Caught up in the moment, Sandra threw her arms around her neck and hugged him. Harry looked shocked until she let go.

"Sorry," she said softly.

"It's okay," he assured her. "But you never did tell me why you're doing this."

"Why shouldn't I? What else is there for me to do?"

"Don't your parents care that you're a ...... "

"A prostitute? No. My Dad's too busy with the resistance and my mom has three other kids to deal with."

"They don't know, do they," he stated quietly.

"I ran away three weeks ago."

"I think it's time for you to go back."