Here's the next chapter!

Back in the sitting room, Severus sat reading a book, he understood that Harry and Draco needed to alone for a while. He was glad they were growing closer, he knew to expect fights along the way, but that didn't mean he was going to tolerate them, he needed them to get along and he would not allow them to hurt each other. He cared for them both too much.

In their room, Harry and Draco were curled up together on Draco's bed. "It hurt," Harry finally admitted. "But I think it hurt more that I knew we'd disappointed him. Sure everything's happening fast, but he's still our Father."

"Yeah, it's unbelievable!" Draco agreed. "And we're twins!"

"And Dad actually cares," Harry put in, unconsciously reaching up to touch his cheek where his Father had wiped off the tearstain.

Draco nodded. "Yeah, Dad cares..." He didn't know that their Father was right outside the door, and heard Draco refer to him as 'Dad.'

Severus walked past their room, thinking. Why did they call him Father to his face, and Dad to each other? Or was this a one-time thing? Frowning slightly, he turned and went back to their room. He opened the door. "Harry? Draco?"

Both looked up from where they were still sat on Draco's bed. "Yes Father?" they said together, both knowing that the other, like him, was wondering why Severus was frowning.

"Father?" Severus questioned, raising an eye-brow. Both Harry and Draco looked at him confused.

Severus sat down next to them. "You called me 'Dad' just a moment ago. Why do you call me 'Father' when we're together?"

"You were eavesdropping on us?" Draco blurted out before he thought. "I did not just say that," he then muttered, looking down, ashamed.

"No, I was walking past your down and I heard part of the conversation, Draco," Severus corrected sternly, but he took some of the sting out of his words by ruffling Draco's hair. "And you still haven't answered my question."

"It just seemed proper," Harry told him. "And you did tell us to call you Father, but erm... well... that was at the same time as you told us not to argue about Gryffindor and Slytherin," Harry admitted.

Severus nodded. "I see." He frowned slightly. "You can pick whichever you're more comfortable with," he said finally.

Harry and Draco nodded. "Yes Father," they both said, automatically.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Well, we'll see," was all he said. "Either way is fine." He gave them a quick hug and left the room. Harry and Draco turned to each other.

"I didn't really just say that, did I?" Draco finally asked.

Harry dissolved into laughter. "Sorry to say this, but yep," Harry told him. "Are you trying to get us into more trouble?" he then asked, mock angry but with a grin on his face.

"No," Draco told him. "But what are we going to do about Fath… Erm... Dad… argh! Now I don't even know what to call him!"

"Well, I suppose we could just ask him which one he prefers," Harry suggested.

"But he said he didn't mind," Draco pointed out.

"You could try both," came their Father's amused voice from the doorway.

"How long have you been stood there?" Harry gasped out, only realising just then that Severus hadn't shut the door behind him when he had left the room and had therefore probably heard every word.

Draco, however, smirked. "You know something?" he asked. "That just might be a good idea!"

Harry grinned, playing along. "Hmmm… I wonder why we didn't think of that!"

Severus smirked. "I'm sure I don't know," he said.

Harry and Draco shared a long look, sharing a single thought - should they?

"Ok, what are you two planning?" Severus asked suspiciously, correctly interpreting the look they were sharing.

Harry and Draco shared another look, both masking their faces into innocent expressions, seeming to say 'who us? Would we plan something?' Severus saw right through the act. He simply looked at his two sons and crossed his arms, a slight smile playing on his face. Harry and Draco shared a long look, knowing that if they were going to pull this off, they needed to distract their Father somehow.

"Father?" Harry asked shyly, standing up. Draco sprawled himself on bed, grabbing two pillows and carefully lying down on them.

"Yes Harry?" Severus responded, attempting to keep and eye on what Draco was doing as well, although it didn't seem to be anything suspicious

"Father, did you ever love anyone else after Mum died?" Harry asked curiously.

Severus was completely shocked. Where had that question come from? "No," he answered slowly. "It took me a long time to accept the fact of your mother's death, and to face the loss of having to give you two up."

While Harry was speaking with Severus, Draco, ever so slowly, crept up behind his Father, a pillow in his hand. He also somehow managed to get a pillow into Harry's hand. Severus saw this, but was too late to stop the attack before it came. Both boys began attacking Severus vigorously with pillows, grinning and laughing. Despite not having a pillow, Severus was still stronger and he managed to pick both Harry and Draco up, sprawling the three of them across Draco's bed and tickling them mercilessly.

"Dad, stop!" Harry shouted, laughing helplessly. "Dad..." He wriggled out of Severus' reach. Severus grinned, still tickling Draco, despite Harry's attempts to help his twin, it only resulted in Harry being recaptured. Next Draco managed to pull away from Severus, but Harry was still captured. Despite it being two on one, evidently Severus was still winning... Panting breathlessly from all the laughing, Draco watched as Harry still squirmed in their Father's grip. Draco looped him arms round His Father's neck from behind, in an attempt to distract him, only to find himself pulled round so that he was once again next to Harry.

Severus looked down at his sons. "That was a good try, boys," he said lightly.

Draco and Harry glanced at each other. "You're not mad, Father?"

"No," he said, smiling. "That's the first time I've managed to beat someone in a pillow fight... your mother was much better at it, I can tell you!"

Both Harry and Draco still lay panting, once again in their Father's arms. They shared a look, letting Severus know that this was far from other, and the both moved to roll over and off the other side of the bed.

Laughing, Severus walked to the door, and just before he left the room, he said, "Oh, by the way...we're going to have a visitor later."

Harry looked at his twin. "A visitor? I wonder who?" he asked Draco. "Does Father have anyone who's good friends with him at Hogwarts? Would you know?"

Draco looked thoughtful. "Well, I don't know if she's friends with Father or not, but Madam Hooch used to be in Slytherin, she told me."

Harry looked puzzled. "When did she tell you that?" Draco shrugged. "When you went off with McGonagall that day, our first flying lesson, I started making a joke about how you'd be expelled... I wouldn't of if I knew about Father and us, I'm sorry... and Madam Hooch said you wouldn't be, not if she knew Professor McGonagall, and she did, being her only Slytherin friend."

"Wow, cool," Harry said. "And don't worry about it - that lesson got me on the team!"

"I know, Harry," Draco said, grinning. "I hope I get on Slytherin's team. You think I will?"

"You should do!" Harry told him. "But it'll be kind of weird playing against each other."

"Duh," Harry told him. "Of course not… and besides, if Father found out that we'd argued over a Quidditch result I'd be willing to bet that neither of us would be on the House teams!"

Draco snickered. "And," he said, lowering his voice to a whisper, "there'd probably be no guarantee that we'd be able to get on our brooms, either. Do you think he'd do that at school?"

"Not sure," Harry answered. "Probably, in a way I kind of hope so, you know, so that everything kind of stays the same," Harry explained.

Draco considered this. "Yeah, I suppose you're right. Only, it'd be terrible to not be able to sit in class or anything..."

Harry put a hand on his twin's shoulder. "So, we don't get in trouble, then. I can tell you right now that I don't plan on getting any detentions or the like next year!" Harry told him.

Draco nodded. "Yeah, no kidding. I'd rather serve detention with Filch than with Father..."

"Same here, but for some reason I get the feeling that if we get a detention with someone else, one with Father will follow…" Harry trailed off. "And you know what would probably happen then."

"Yeah," Draco said, cringing. He closed his eyes. "At least...at least we know Father loves us," he said finally.

Harry nodded. "Even if he is really strict."

Draco nodded too. "When I lived with... Lucius," he said, finally deciding to refer to the man by his first name, "I didn't know if he loved me or not. I don't suppose he did... Narcissa... seemed to," Draco said.

Harry put a comforting arm around Draco's shoulder's. "I hate to say this, but I think Lucius just wanted a heir."

Draco nodded miserably. "So...what in all hell did those Muggles' do to you?" he said, echoing his words from the first time they found out, now that their Father wasn't in the room to reprimand him.

Severus however, had left the door open again, and although he hadn't heard much of the conversation, his ears had picked up on Draco's language. "Language Draco!" he called out. "I won't tell you again!"

Draco called back "Sorry, Father," and said, "Harry, what did they do to you?"

"Not a lot really," Harry said. "It sounds similar to what you've been through, although they only took me in because they had to."

Draco nodded. "Lucius used to lecture me for hours about being a proper Malfoy, and if I did the slightest thing wrong…" He cringed. Biting his lip, he turned his back to his twin and rolled up his shirt. There were red marks across his back.

Harry nodded. "I know," he said quietly. "I wasn't a member of the family, I was just the slave who lived in the cupboard under the stairs and if I done the slightest thing wrong… well… you know." Draco did know.

Draco looked at his brother sympathetically. "Well, you've got me and Dad now," he said. "Nothing like that will ever happen to us again."

"Luckily," Harry told him. "Coming to Hogwarts was brilliant! And now it looks like we'll be getting to spend the summer here as well!"

Just then, a roar from the fireplace and an alarm going off told them that a visitor had arrived... the one Severus had expected, most likely. Draco glanced at his twin.

"Who's come to see Father?" Draco whispered to Harry. After Severus passed their room and went toward the fireplace, Draco sneaked out into the hallway and listened carefully.

He watched as their short, grey-haired Flying instructor was escorted by their Father toward the kitchen. He darted back into the room. "Harry! Hey, Harry! Madam Hooch came to see Father!" he hissed.

"You are joking me!" Harry hissed back. "This is just too weird!" Harry and Draco decided to go into the kitchen to investigate and to possibly do some teasing.

Madam Hooch however, seemed surprised to see them. "I didn't realise that you were watching over students in the holidays, Severus," she commented.

"Yes," Severus commented neutrally. Harry and Draco fled the room. A minute later Severus heard the door to their room slam.

Draco burst out laughing. "Madam Hooch came to see Dad! This is too perfect! She noticed we were here!"

Harry was more sober. "But she seemed really surprised to see us there," he pointed out. "And she seemed to have no idea that he's our Father!"

"Yeah, well, he'll have to tell her, won't he, he'll have to talk about us! Maybe now there's a chance of me getting on the Quidditch team, wouldn't that be great? I wonder if Father has a broom shed somewhere, I'd like to go practice Quidditch," Draco added, his excitement slowly fading as he dropped into silence.

"Draco, can you please concentrate for a second here!" Harry exclaimed. "Father brushed us off as looking after student's over the holidays! I don't think he plans on telling her…"

Draco sighed. "Sorry. Yeah, I guess you're right...hey, things seem awfully quiet, I wonder what they're doing?"

"I don't know and I don't particularly care," Harry told him. "I can't believe Father done that to us! Come on, let's go for a walk."

Draco shrugged. "Okay." He knew they'd have to pass by the kitchen to get out the door leading out of the quarters, so maybe he could take a look and see what his Father was up to.

Harry grabbed jackets for the two of them and they headed out. Passing the slightly a jar door to the kitchen, they heard the sound of laughter.

Draco could see that Harry was really upset about being brushed off and the more he thought about it, he didn't like the thought either.