A/N- Do not own. What's this? An update?! Sorry for the wait lovelies, I hope you enjoy. Someone said that there wasn't very much Harry/Severus scenes, so here is a chapter with TWO. There is also quite a long scene on Alexis, because I felt a bit more of her background needed to be written. Some of it is quite shocking but nothing is graphic, promise. A bit of swearing and Harry gets in trouble, as he is prone to do. Translations are provided at the bottom as needed, x's are scenes breaks. Italics are usually thoughts, but there is a letter here written in italics. As always, ironically enough, use your words.
~Case

-x-

"Dice it, Harry, not slice." Severus corrected quietly, watching the younger boy's attempts closely. The child would be a fine brewer if he just read the instructions fully. He was inventive but his knowledge could be expanded and he need practical experience. Perhaps that was why Severus was spending this fine Saturday morning brewing with the child. Well if they ever got to the brewing part, anyway.

Harry grumbled, glaring at the fennel in front of him. He was dicing it, at least he thought he was...although the fennel was still in pretty big pieces. He had just wanted to doing something with Severus! But this was frustrating. He glared at the herb, trying once more to get it right. When that didn't work, he slammed the knife down on the table, muttering a curse that Uncle had taught him.

He took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose for a moment. "Harry. Use your words, tell me what the problem is." Severus requested briskly, moving to stand beside the child.

"Don't understand." Harry muttered, glaring at the table. Dicing, slicing; it was all the same! Did it really matter how it was cut?

"What don't you understand, Harry?"

"What I'm doing wrong. It's all the same!" He flinched, knowing he shouldn't have spoken like that. Uncle would have cuffed him for it, at the least.

"Ah, I think I know the problem then. It is not the same. The size and cut of the ingredient can drastically change a potion. Too big and it might not break down properly in one potion, but too small will make it absorbed too fast. If...do you know how to cook?" Severus paused, thinking back on something the child had muttered in his sleep one night. Wary eyes and a slight nod were his only answers. It might be better to show the child on something besides fennel, to use an example that he would understand better. He taught all of his first years the proper preparation methods but he had a feeling that Harry had not been paying attention, or able to pay attention, that day. With that last thought he summoned two apples, setting one in front of the child. "Show me how you would dice an apple please."

Harry frowned, picking up the knife slowly. What was the point of this? Although he often thought that potions was similar to cooking, what did apples have to do with anything? But he knew better than to question, as the Dursleys had taught him years ago. Aunt Petunia had taught him how to dice apples to make the perfect pie and so he did that now, slicing the apple into three pieces and then cubing the pieces up, so that they were much smaller. "Done, sir."

He sighed. Sir again, then. "Good. Those are more than acceptable. Well done. Now, show me how to slice this apple." He drawled, sliding the other apple to the boy and inspecting the cubes. They were done well...if only the child applied the same techniques to his potions!

Green eyes blinked, staring openly up at the older man. Well done? He hadn't heard that often before, only here at school, and never from someone who was his guardian. Never. The men were always praising him, but he knew it was pretend. This, however, he could believe. Perhaps his professor actually meant to tell him that, perhaps he actually thought it was good. The most he would have gotten out of his aunt was a delicate sniff and a stiff nod. He shook his head to clear his thoughts, quickly slicing the apple into thin pieces, like he was making a cobbler.

Severus raised an eyebrow, glancing between the two piles of perfect cuts. "The difference between slicing and dicing is quite visible here. Your dicing should look like the cubes, although often smaller. Your fennel looks more like the apple slices. Does the example help you understand better?" He asked finally, turning to look at the child.

"Yes sir." Harry frowned at the two piles, glancing between them and his pile of fennel. Sliced as it were. Oops. He picked up the knife again and started working on another piece of fennel, much slower this time but at least the fennel looked more like the cubes and less like chunks.

"Good Harry! Well done." Severus praised, examining the diced fennel. It was not perfect cubes, which was better actually. It was more of a finer dice and it was quite well done. "Alright, now slowly stir an ounce of fennel into the cauldron. Carefully, Harry!" He bit back a sigh, watch the hot solution sloop about for a moment before the child slowed down his stirring and added the fennel. The child merely nodded, focusing on the next step. He was happy that his ward wanted to brew, to be able to share this with the child. Now if they could just finish this healing potion.

-x-

"Be gentle to the furnishings boys!" Alexis called, ignoring the chuckles. She raised an eyebrow, listening for a moment as the bouncing seemed to stop. It shouldn't matter if she was a bit rough of the furniture, there was no need for the children to develop the same bad habits. Granted, she'd rather have them jumping on the beds than afraid of even speaking. She turned gray eyes back to the parchment in her hands, shaking her head when giggles exploded from the next room.

"Is that the form?" Severus asked, leaning forward in his chair slightly. It could be some other bit of paperwork, of course, but he knew most other work would take the teasing light from her eyes.

"Yes. Did you discuss it with Karrie already?" She asked, shrugging slightly. Her eyes went once more to the room where the three children were playing or chatting.

"Of course. She was quite...confused, to be honest. I believe she didn't understand why we would want her. But she agreed to a temporary guardianship, at least." Remus replied quietly, shaking his head sadly. The child had been more than confused; she had been downright upset. She had seemed to think it was a joke or a trick, but after a few hours of talking with her, and baking cookies, he had managed to convince her that they were serious. Of course, Harry was thrilled. He already saw Karrie as his best friend, so foster-sister wasn't much of a stretch. Hopefully, both guardianships would become something more permanent. As there was no contest for Karrie's and the child's parents would not even be considered, that was almost a certainty, if both parties still wanted it. Harry's, however, was not. There was another application in to adopt Harry, although without the necessary steps and signatures, as well as his relatives had yet to sign him over. WCW had seen it best, Lucius had made certain, that Harry would not be returned to his home. It was just a matter of having the damn muggles sign the form to terminate their custody without getting muggle child services involved. But they would if necessary. He'd be damned if his child was going back to that house.

She merely nodded, scanning the form once more. She finally scribbled her signature across one line, offering the form that Lucius had whipped up early this morning to Severus. He took it, read it quickly and signed his own name. He handed it back and she glanced at it once more, passing it to Remus. The other man didn't even read it, he just signed his name on the secondary guardian line and passed it back. Alexis scanned it, tapping the parchment with her wand. It glowed blue for a moment and then Fawkes flew down to her. The poor phoenix was so used to her sending these forms now that he just came automatically. She placed the rolled parchment in the waiting claw and the bird vanished in a flash of light. She loved that bird and she had come to care for Hogwart's guardian. Dumbledore had not been as good to the Phoenix as he should have been, but then the man had neglected his students and staff, even to the point of causing harm to those in his care by his actions and inactions. And Fawkes did not seem to might being used much like an owl, but then she only used him to send the guardianship forms and the forms to dissolve a guardianship. It also helped that Lucius always fed the damn phoenix bacon and the children under his care always gave the bird sweets. The phoenix was going to become fat. She frowned, gray eyes narrowing, when the bird flashed back in and dropped a scroll in her lap before flying to his perch. Lucius rarely sent return letters, unless something was wrong. She opened the letter and froze, eyes darting across the paper.

"Alexis?" Remus questioned, leaning forward in concern. The younger woman had started trembling, although it was a subtle tremble in her hands, a tap of her foot. Similar to the way Severus became when upset...or terrified. The black haired woman did not respond, but gray eyes turned to stone and then he felt the magic rippled around him. The tea cups shattered, he heard glass breaking from somewhere to the left of him, and the familiar sound of cracking wood. Severus had destroyed their living room enough times that the noises were familiar enough but also...odd. Muffled. He frowned as his mate moved at once, crouching in front of the younger woman and gently tugging the letter out of her hands.

"Alexis, look at me. Alexis. You are fine. You are at Hogwarts. Take a deep breath and for god's sake, control your magic woman. Before you bring the castle down around us."Severus growled, not glancing at the parchment. His eyes were locked with vacant gray but he knew she could still hear him. She took a breath, although a shaky breath, and he felt her magic draw back in. Empathic magic helped with potions, he could feel the magic, even if he could not always see it. Not as she did anyway. He had to look for the magic to see it, but strong magic, and strong wizards, he could feel immediately. Alexis had power but she also had talent. Her ability to bend and shape the energy around her was quite different than the brute force and strength that Dumbledore had had. That man had been powerful; she was not that powerful but strong enough. Strong as him, even. And her control was normally as good as his, so it was unusual that her magic would react this strongly to something. His mind could easily think the worse, that perhaps they couldn't get guardianship of Karrie or that their guardianship of Harry had been revoked. Even that Alexis' guardianship of Teddy had been revoked, which he doubted seriously. She had nineteen wards, which as Headmistress she was legally able to do. They would not revoke one, not when she was taking wonderful care of all of Hogwarts' children. "What happened?" He questioned finally, when she seemed to calm down enough.

Alexis shook her head, eyes blank. "Nothing. I'll be in my office. Watch the children, please." She remarked briskly, standing on shaking legs and striding to the door to her office. She hesitated, her hand on the knob, before shaking her head again and vanished through the door.

"That was...odd." Remus remarked dryly, brown eyes still on the closed door. He knew the three children were still in Teddy's room and Bain was studying, apparently, in his room, so that wasn't a problem. It was just odd, her behaviour was out of character. If she had a visitor in her office, then he could understand, but the flash of light that was the indicator for that had not gone off. There had been no reason for her to leave.

Severus scowled, glaring at the closed door for a moment before turning his attention to the letter still in his hand. She seemed to have not noticed he had it. He hesitated for a moment but opened it anyway. She was his sister, after all, and if something was upsetting her, he wanted to know. Sooner rather than later. He read it with a raised eyebrow and then read it again. With a growl he shoved the letter to Remus before stalking toward her office. He tried to open the door and hissed; apparently she had not only activated the wards but placed a stinging spell on the handle. He knew quite well that an unlocking spell would not work. Not this time. He murmured a curse under his breath, pacing the room rapidly for a moment. Remus had already set the room back to rights and now the slightly older man was scowling at the same letter he had just finished. Damn Alexis. Why did she always have to run?

Alexis, this was on my desk this morning...I thought you should know first.- Lucius. Child-trader found dead! Jakob Retten, a German wizard, was accused of buying magical children and selling them to the highest bidder. Child slavery is forbidden in most societies... Retten was rumoured to have bought a highly valuable young witch nearly seventeen years ago. He had been rumoured to speak of this witch often and although no names have been given, this reporter can only venture a guess that perhaps the witch he mentions, also German, might be in a much better place now. Perhaps even working with our children...

Remus blinked, frowning at the article clipping. It wasn't from the Prophet, but from a well known international paper, one that was normally trusted. But for Alexis to react that way meant... "Alexis was SOLD as a child?!" He growled, raising a silencing spell around the room. This was not a conversation, nor topic, for little ears.

"She- yes. I need to call Tim. Or Filius." Severus sighed, dropping into his chair.

"Perhaps both." Remus suggested softly, reaching for and grasping Severus' hand.

He merely nodded, grabbing his pendant with his free hand, summoning both of the older men. Even if Alexis would not want Filius, he did. Because he couldn't protect the younger woman from this and he couldn't comfort her. But he was hurting with her. Damn empathy. And they weren't even legally related yet! Or blood either, but they would be. Soon. Besides that, they might need Filius to unlock the office so that someone could enter.

"Severus?" Tim called, stepping out of the floo. A moment later and Filius followed with a deep frown.

"What's wrong son? And where's your sister?" The diminutive man questioned, eyes scanning the room quickly.

In answer the young man merely copied a piece of parchment and handed a piece to both of them. Tim frowned at him, before dropping his eyes to scan it. "Fuck!" He growled, dropping the article like it was hot. "Where is she?" He questioned quickly, raising an eyebrow when the younger man merely scowled and pointed at the office.

"I take it she warded herself in then. Which means she is either destroying the office or drinking herself to death." Filius remarked coolly, brows knitted. Lucius should have warned them first, before he told Alexis. Did the man not realize how she would react? Well no, actually, he probably hadn't. After all, he probably he just wanted to get her the notice as fast as possible, without considering what she might do first. Or he might have thought that she was at the place where she would speak of something that was bothering her. But he knew better. This child had been hurt badly; her first reaction was to shut down. Much like that of his soon-to-be grandchildren. The note written in the margins of the article, which was not from Lucius and had been circled, was a bit concerning. Tell the Headmistress to watch out, or her darkest secrets will come back to haunt her.

-x-

Alexis took a deep breath, eyes staring blankly at the wall. She had know, of course, that it would come out eventually. That was not the problem. It wasn't even that someone was threatening her, as she had noticed the small note. Someone wanted Lucius to know that they didn't approve of her. That was fine, she could handle that. But Retten was dead. He had rescued her twice in her life time. Perhaps even a third time, as Albus never could give a explanation as to why he showed up in that alley that night. He had sent her a letter, a few years before, but she had never opened it. No, it was still sealed even, in a locked box in her desk. She hesitated for a moment but opened a hidden compartment and pulled out the rosewood box. She tapped her wand to it thrice, closing her eyes when the lock clicked and the lid popped open. There were many things in this box that she had not looked at in years. Her darkest secrets indeed. With trembling hands she lifted an envelope out of the bottom, picking up a pendant with her other hand. She curled her fingers around the pendant, eyes focused on the letter. Meine liebe Kind, Alexis. Biting her lip, she sat the pendant down and opened the letter. She took a shaky breath, slowly focusing on the words on the parchment. Damn.

Child,

If you are reading this, I have probably died. Know that I destroyed all blood spells I had of you after I sent this letter. The pendant will not help me find you anymore, although keep it. It had my magical signature in it and that will allow you access to the vault I am leaving you. You were my favourite child, know that. Because you were special. But if I had known that bastard would abuse you, I never would have left you with him. Rescuing you at thirteen, after you had ran away, was not my original plan. I had wanted you to grow up loved and cared for. As he voided the contract by harming you, however, every euro he ever took from you was placed in a vault. Every Euro I got from him was as well. I wish I had killed him when I had the chance. Your lovely foster father is the one who paid those goons to attack you. They would have killed you if the British wizard had not shown up. When I heard you were employed by him, I was quite pleased. I know you wondered who paid for your apprenticeship, I did. The first one, anyway. Rainwater refused my money when I found out you were with him. Don't vex the man; his hexes take a bit to wear off. I promised myself that I would not get attached to a child but I did. You were the first and only child I ever wanted to keep. And not because of your talents. No, the little girl who formed a barrier of energy around herself when she thought she would be beat, did not worm her way into my heart with her magic. But the road was not a place for a child. All of the money I had I split into vaults for each child I found. Most were not cases like yours, bought from abuse. Most were bought because their families were starving and needed the extra cash. Each and every single child, save one, went to good homes, muggle and magical. When I learned you were a mind healer, I was thrilled. You would do well at it, healing had always been your passion. Especially hurt children. Good luck, my child. And be good. I hope you find a loving family one day, one who can care for you well.

Jakob.

She took a shuddering breath, running her hand across her eyes. Tim had taken her as an apprentice when she was sixteen, two years after she started training with the hedge-witch; a year after she started apprenticing to another healer. That healer had found Tim and ended the apprenticeship, because he could only train her so much, She had been a prodigy and yet she had come from a bad background. Sold to a child-trader at the age of eight...well, given really. Retten had threatened to report them and have her taken away either way; his way they would get a bit of money for her. He found a pure-blood couple who could not have children and sold her to them for a high price. A very high price. She didn't even want to think about how much money he had left her, then. Even after a year of her apprenticeship and paying the hedge-witch for her living expenses. She didn't blame him for her foster father. The man was..not a good person and after his wife died, he grew much worse. She sighed when the door clicked and she heard it open. Filius must have undid her wards then. She had left loopholes for a reason, after all. The men were not above breaking down the door if they thought she was in danger. Especially Tim, the overprotective mentor that he was. Damn man.

"Alexis?" Filius questioned softly, moving slowly to the younger woman. Tim was a step behind him, shutting and silencing the door once more. He could see the trace of tears but there was little damage done to the office and no alcohol in sight. Perhaps she had taken his warning seriously then.

"I'm alright." She murmured, setting the German letter back inside the box. But she kept the pendant out, curling her hand around it once more.

"You are not. As much as it pains me, Retten did well by you. He had your well-being in mind and you, in turn, saw him as the only stable adult in your childhood. He cared for you in his own messed up way. So you are not alright." Tim retorted, frowning at the younger woman. Filius was proving that size didn't matter by squeezing Alexis' shoulder and offering comfort in the way he knew how. It did help, however, that the young woman was sitting and slumped down in her armchair.

"Jakob never harmed me. He made sure I was cared for and he taught me spells that saved my life." Alexis sighed, head in her hands. The man had sold her, yes. Twice, technically. Her feelings for him were confusing to say the least. He saved her from a bad situation, her birth parents would had killed her. Her foster father wasn't much better. He was a social worker in his own way, he had once told her. Because he did care for the children, he just turned a profit by charging a large 'adoption' fee. "Warum, Tim? Warum?" She murmured finally, looking up at the two men.

"Merlin only knows why, Alexis. He thought he was saving you, so he did. You would not have survived the system there, we both know it. He kept you from that. So for that, I am grateful." Tim responded softly, answering in English so that Filius would understand him as well.

"I am also grateful, for now I have a daughter. I am not please about what you had to go through before you came to us, but he did his best. Grieve for him, child. Because you can grieve now. We will protect you from any backlash from this article, as well as from everything else that we possibly can." Filius added, patting her arm gently. The next moment he was scooped into a tight hug before the young woman released him.

"Papa." She whispered, fighting back tears once more. It was the first time she had ever called him that, but it was also the first time it really sunk in. Jakob would be proud; she had a family now, a real one.

-x-

"What on earth?" Severus questioned, raising an eyebrow at the mess in their little kitchenette. Three children were grouped around the counter, silver cooking sheets sat in front of each. A large bowl of dough was between them and Remus was watching from the table with Bain. There was flour and dough everywhere.

"The children wanted to make cookies." Remus shrugged, sharp eyes watching small hands use cookie cutters.

"We wanted to cheer the headmistress up." Teddy remarked quietly, brown eyes focused intently on the dragon he was cutting out.

Karrie grinned, placing her unicorns and elephants onto the tray and then sliding it carefully into the oven. "Sweets always make the older girls feel better when they're sad." She added, watching as Harry slid his own pan into the oven. Teddy finally added his and she set the timer, before splashing a bit of flour on Harry.

Bain bit back a snort, knowing quite well what the younger girl was referring to and also knowing that that was not Alexis' problem. "How is she?" He asked softly, gazing over at the man when he sat down at the table with them.

"Grieving but she was feeling much better and missing the noise of her quarters when I left." He replied, equally quiet, running a hand through his hair.

"Why do sweets make girls feel better?" Harry questioned, frowning slightly. It had always been a mystery to him. He knew his aunt had always wanted chocolate at a certain time of each month and one of his teachers had always been snappy if she didn't have salt. He just wasn't quite sure why. He never asked before, because he wasn't suppose to ask questions and the time Dudley had asked his aunt, she had turned red and told him that he would learn about it when he was much older.

Teddy gaped briefly, staring at Harry. Granted, his sexual education was a bit more advanced than it should be, for his age, and he knew that they would cover puberty more in depth this year in their monthly health classes, the older years had warned them about it, but they already knew a bit about it. Except the first years, but even they learned fast. Severus made sure that his students were well educated in matters of their own bodies, he thought all of the houses did that. That all of them had a monthly, or occasionally weekly, health class for each year. "Don't Gryffindors have health class, Harry?" He asked, glancing at Karrie who had dissolved into giggles.

"No, does Slytherin?" Harry frowned, eyebrows knitting together. Teddy merely nodded.

"Ravenclaw does too. Although, I think that's because Professor Flitwick knows we'll just find the information on our own and he wants us to know the truth, not the devastating lies of human sexuality. " Karrie remarked, checking the cookies before shutting the oven once more.

Bain did snort this time; Filius had used the same speech on his year when they were younger. Devastating lies of sexuality indeed! "Hormones, Harry. That's what makes women crave sweets. It makes them feel much more...human." He chuckled finally, glancing at the two men. They seemed to be having a whispered conversation and it didn't look very good.

He felt like they were laughing at him. It didn't help that Teddy and Karrie were both snickering. He didn't like it. He hated being laugh at, treated like he was dumb. It wasn't his fault Gryffindors didn't have a health class. He knew the older ones usually learned about that stuff from books or from older siblings. So he didn't know what they were talking about, although he thought he heard about hormones from somewhere before, he just sure where, or what he heard, exactly. They still didn't have to laugh at him. It made him angry. He hated being laughed at. He bit his lip and stomped his foot, glaring at his two friends.

Teddy fell silent instantly, eyebrows knitting. "Harry?"

Harry glared at him, stomping his foot down again. He wasn't even quite sure why he was so angry. He just...was.

"Use your words, Harry." Remus requested, surveying the three children.

He was so tired of that phrase! He was not a child! He was a man, a man of all of twelve, but a man still! "I don't want to use my fucking words!" He snapped, glaring at the older man.

Severus bit back a sigh, raising an eyebrow at the child. "Go to your room, please." He instructed quietly. The child had the nerve to sneer at him. At him!

"No." He was pushing here and he knew it. But he didn't care. They'd get rid of him anyway. Eventually. And they had Karrie now, so they couldn't possibly need to children. He wasn't jealous or angry about Karrie becoming their ward. She was one of his best friends and like a sister; she deserved a family that loved her. He did not. He was a freak and eventually they'd tire of him. Better him than Karrie, anyway.

"Harry." He warned, his tone deadly quiet. Well, the child was no longer timid. But he did nothing in halves, oh no. But perhaps there was a reason for his behaviour.

Harry glared at him but his professor merely looked at him and he gulped, turning and stomping to his room.

"Alright. Well, why don't we decorate these cookies. They should be done now." Remus suggested, moving to the oven and removing the hot pans. "Careful, Karrie!" He warned gently, stopping the small hand from grabbing the metal pan. He nodded to his partner and the younger man sighed, turning to speak to Bain for a moment before heading toward Harry's room.

-x-

Severus had gone to his office first, to find a book he used with his younger students. But he had stalled long enough and he needed to go speak with his ward. Remus was too much of a pushover to do it, although he wasn't much better himself. He knocked on the child's bedroom, entering at the soft come in. He bit back a sigh, surveying the child who sat quite rigidly on his bed. He clearly expected to be beaten, he could see that in his body language, in how he didn't even raise his head, at how his muscles were tense. He pulled up a chair, watching the child for a moment. "Relax, Harry. I just want to talk with you. Will you tell me why you are angry?"

He blinked, scowling down at his blankets for a moment. "I hate being laughed at." He muttered, not bothering to look up. It was half the truth, anyway.

"Your friends were not laughing at you, Harry. They are still at the age where some mentions of puberty is still funny. I believe it was Bain's attempt at an explanation that had them laughing." Severus explained quietly, quirking an eyebrow at the child. Perhaps that was what set off this episode, but the child had been on edge all day.

He still didn't understand what they had been laughing about but he did understand what his professor meant. Teddy had looked at him with concern when he first became angry; the other boy would never hurt him, even by laughing at him. He knew that. He finally gave a sullen nod, staring at his bed. He knew he was in trouble, so why didn't the man punish him already?

"What else has made you angry, Harry? Is it because we have added Karrie as our ward as well?" Severus questioned softly, knowing quite well that he wouldn't get a response from the child unless he asked. The boy would have learned from an early age to not volunteer any unasked for information, if only to save himself some hurt.

"I- no. Karrie needs someone to take care of her." Harry shrugged, worrying his lip.

"As do you."

He grimaced, shaking his head. His professor's tone was sincere, gentle, but he still could not accept that. They would tire of him soon or decide that he was better put to work than left idling about. After all, Aunt had always said that idle hands did the devil's work. Did they even believe in the devil?

"Harry. Look at me, please." He requested softly, catching the child's wrist when he dug his nails into his leg. Green eyes finally looked up at him, but didn't quite meet his own. That was alright, at least the child was looking at him, instead of at that damn blanket. "Our home, and hearts, are quite big enough for both you and Karrie. We did not take Karrie to replace you, nor could we. Once the six month trial is over, we were planning, hoping, to adopt you. Both of you. If you are alright with it, at that point in time. That is a while away, however. We do not need your decision now. But we have already made ours. You have stolen both of our hearts, Harry. There is no need to feel angry or upset over Karrie, although I do understand it. I once felt that same way." He kept a gentle grasp on the child's hand, meeting shocked green eyes when they finally met his. Every word was true. They loved the child as their own and he had once felt jealousy over another, believing that she might steal his surrogate father. Filius had been extremely displeased over his tantrum, which had been quite spectacular, and had a very similar discussion with him afterwards.

"But I'm just a freak! You'll tire of me! You shouldn't want me. I'm a freak!" He objected, startled.

Severus sighed, quite glad for the silencing spell he had cast over the room. Remus would have been very...upset to hear their child call himself a freak. "We will not 'tire' of you Harry. You are not a toy to be throw away when you are having a bad day or neglected when you are hurt. You are a child, to be loved and cherished for all that you are and all that you do. Whether that be the light in your eyes when you finally understand a potions concept or the stubborn set of your chin when you don't want to do something. The spark of fear in your eyes when you are in trouble, fear that you will be beat even though we promised that we never would; the furrowing of your brow when you are deep in thought; the way you know when your friends are hurt or scared before they say anything. We love you for all that you are, Remus and I do. You are our child now. You are not a freak, but a gifted young boy. We do want you, so very much Harry. I don't think our lives would be the same without you in them." He replied quietly, squeezing the child's hand gently. He could see the unshed tears glistening in emerald eyes, tears of a child who never knew what love was before. Had never felt loved or cared for. "It is alright, Harry. You are safe now. You can express your emotions here." He added softly, watching as a tear dripped down the child's face. He opened his arms to the child and received a lapful of preteen. Not a weeping preteen, but one who needed to make sure it was really real, so to speak. To remind himself that this was actually happening, that someone cared. The messy head of hair buried into his shoulder and he felt tears dripping onto his robes. He wrapped gentle arms around his child, rocking slightly with the boy until he was calm once more. He knew that this was not the last time they would have this conversation, but it was good enough for now. Nothing else he could say would convince the child; his actions needed to speak louder than words.

Harry pulled back from the hug but remained on his professor's lap, glancing up at his with a tear streaked face. He fought back a flinch when a wet flannel gently ran across his face, relaxing slightly in his guardian's arms.

"Now, as for your behaviour. It was unacceptable, although understandable. So, you will write me two sets of lines. The first "I will use my words and control my temper." I believe twenty-five times shall be enough, this time. However, the next time you swear at us, your mouth will be washed out with soap. The second set of lines is a bit simpler. "I am not a freak". Fifty times, if you please." He instructed, tipping the child's face up so that he could finish washing the tears off.

Harry grumbled and started to shift off the man's lap, but a strong hand stopped him. He glanced up at him, confused, but said nothing. His punishment was more than fair, although he wasn't sure about the second set of lines. His uncle would have beaten him for swearing at him, although not for swearing in general.

"You may write these lines later. I also have a book for you to start reading and I will answer any questions you have about it, or any that you can think of in general. It is a book about puberty, and yes, Harry, we will be having the sex talk. But not just yet. I do not talk to my Slytherins about intercourse until fourth year, although they know the basics of it. You will too, before the summer is out." Severus remarked in a very light, teasing tone. The child flushed but nodded anyway, leaning back against him. He tightened his arms around the child once more, content to just hold the soon to be thirteen year old for as long as the boy would let him. Because soon, the child would declare himself too hold for cuddling, and, although he would never admit it, he liked cuddling his children. So he would, for as long as possible.

-x-

A/N- So do you enjoy the bit about someone being out to get Alexis? I'm evil that way.

Meine liebe Kind- my dear child
Warum- Why

Retten is a form of rescuer, or to rescue. I found it...fitting.
~Case