Severus Snape has always been a quietly spoken man. He had barely tried to make friends in Hogwarts, and the only people that remained, in the end, were the people that had decided he was worth it from day one.

So, quite frankly, he didn't see anything wrong with his method of weeding out the weak ones. And frankly, he was glad that some of his friends had never lasted.

He also didn't quite understand the concept of family. His own had been quite terrible and he had never desired for another ever. That was until the Malfoys.

Lucius Malfoy was a smart man. He had above-average magical strength, and his affinity for arithmancy and politics was something he could brag about for days. Not only was he attractive and ruthless, but he was also loyal and a good friend on particularly bad days.

Lucius, much like him, had not understood the concept of friends. He had come to Hogwarts with the set goal of making as many allies as he could before he became Lord Malfoy.

But somewhere, accidentally along the way, they had become friends. Both Severus and Lucius had been quite horrified by this predicament. But due to their limited knowledge or their lack of effort, they seemed to be stuck. And honestly, Severus did not mind.

Narcissa Malfoy was a whole different creature. Beautiful but deadly was a surprisingly accurate phrase when describing her. With shrewd eyes and cutting words, this woman could make or break you in seconds. She had been an Unspeakable until her first son was born if he remembered correctly. She had been quite happy to give up her life of adventure and make a house into a home for her children. Of course, Lucius never expected her to settle down. He had even been prepared to have many sleepless nights taking care of the baby while Narcissa worked.

But she had seemed to want to hang her hat. So Narcissa Malfoy was unpredictable, and that was what he liked about her. And the fact that she had an excellent taste in whiskey.

Her sons, of course, were as brilliant and enchanting as she. Quick to anger but hard to forget, both the boys were a breath of fresh air in the school of dunderheads. He had great expectations of both of them, even after he knew about Harry's background. He had his doubts, of course, but once a Malfoy, always a Malfoy. The boys were not disappointed. He had honestly expected Harry to be in Ravenclaw rather than Slytherin, but he supposed his judgment was for naught. Slytherin, the boy, was through and through.

He had tried to be fair to the students in the school, but in a world where the world was rooted against his snakes, the only way to play fair was to be unfair. He showed quite a bit of favoritism too, he supposed, but that simply couldn't be helped. It wasn't like Minerva didn't have favorites. So he bloody well could too.

Now standing in the common room waiting for his pseudo godson to appear, he sighed heavily. He had refused at first, of course, to babysit his godson. The boy was as independent as they came. He had no intention of getting into the path of someone who was hellbent on getting his own way. And quite frankly, Hadrian Malfoy's temper tantrums were legendary and the path of destruction they left in their wake was as infamous as their creator.

But nevertheless, here he stood, waiting to walk the boy to the hospital wing. Blast it all, he wondered when he had gone soft. He was sure it was Lucius' fault. It usually was anyway.

The boy walked with his face set in a scowl, more of an adorable pout if he was being honest. He smirked and restrained himself from outright chuckling when the boy frowned further. He still looked adorable, but everyone knew what lay beneath that mask of calm. The creature inside was way more frightening.

He walked as Harry followed beside him as he walked in step with the boy. The boy was a little short for his age but was overall average height, so he didn't bother worrying. The Malfoys always had their growth spurts later in life. He remembered a time when he towered over Lucius. That had been the best year at Hogwarts. Perhaps he would look upon those memories fondly.

He had tried his best to be a positive influence in his life and had somewhat succeeded, he supposed. but he couldn't complain, harry was a good kid except for his anger issues and even those hardly surfaced anymore. though he still held a perpetual hatred for healers, perhaps it was something to do with his earlier childhood, maybe he would ask later. he didn't want to set off the bomb when it was already so anxious, the bomb being Harry, of course.

Small talk, he admitted, was not his strong suit... hardly ever had a need for and rarely ever engaged in a conversation that would not prove to be fruitful. So he felt mighty stupid as he turned to Harry and said, "Congratulations on winning the first match of the season."

"I couldn't have done it without you, sir," Harry shot right back, and Severus scoffed in his head.

"Mr. Malfoy, I think you were the only one playing the game between the two of us," Severus repeated slowly.

They walked the rest of the way in silence, the walk seeming longer than usual. He truly didn't know what else he could say to the boy, so he said nothing. Silence speaks a thousand words or some such garbage.

As they reached the hospital wing, he heard Harry say, "Sev, I know you chipped in almost half the money for the Firebolt I got for Christmas. You might not want to hear it, but thank you, "with a smile.

Severus Snape took a sharp breath and stared as Harry walked into the hospital wing. He didn't know how that boy knew about it, he didn't know, but he was glad he did.

He smiled as he walked away. This probably promoted him to favorite uncle and he would enjoy that status. After all, favorite uncles don't get pranked.

Marvalo sat at his desk doing paperwork. In fact, in the last hour, his pile had gotten longer. He kept getting emergency missives which were barely classified as emergencies. His useless followers just couldn't stand to deal with a problem by using their brains.

He cursed as another splotch of ink fell onto the parchment he had been writing on. Three times now, this has happened. Maybe he should look into getting an assistant of some sort. With the right privacy oaths, it could work out in his favor. Maybe even give one of his followers a job.

He sighed at another Wizardingmont missive as he ran his hands through his hair. A bad habit he'd picked up from Harry, who did it almost constantly.

He missed Harry quite a bit, in fact, but he supposed he could complain too much. He had met him just a few days ago, and they had quite the time-

Marvalo jerked forward as he was pulled by an invisible force. It had a grip on his magic, and Marvalo could do nothing but panic as he was dragged across his carpeted room and slammed straight into the wall.

Morgana and all her friends? What the hell was happening? He quickly shot a cushioning charm at the wall as he was slammed into it yet again.

Why did all these things happen to him? He stared forlornly at his ruined table. All over his perfectly arranged papers lying on the floor, his inkpots spilled and their quills snapped in-

He had to go to Hogwarts. Now,

He stood up straight and strode about three steps forward, and then was thrown straight into the wall. Right, he thought dizzily, he had to figure out how to stop that first...