A/N : Wow, the last chapter was completely a mess. If anyone of you have read it and made sense out of it, be noted that you have my respect. For those who didn't, I have reposted the chapter using my computer, and I hope it is now readable. Thanks witherwings1972 for the comment, I appreciate it! And again, I'm sorry for the delay. Hope I would be able to keep my promises better in the future. Here's a slightly longer chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 20 : Family

Harry was pacing in the living room, threatening to create a hole in the carpet. To say that he was frantic would be an understatement. Snape had departed from the Manor three hours ago when Harry ordered him out, and had not returned yet. When they arrived there, Snape had made Harry promise not to leave his presence for more than one hour, and never leave the protection of the wards in any circumstances. In return, he complied to do so himself. But now he had broken the promise, and Harry knew it was his fault. If anything happened to Snape, he would not forgive himself.

When Snape left, Harry was more than relieved. He was enraged, and could not bear staying under the same roof with the murderer of his parents. How could Snape not tell him and act as nothing had happened? How could he cheat Harry's feelings? And Harry had grown to see him as a parental figure. How could he not show remorse for the evil deeds he had done? Oh, Harry had been so stupid to hope that he could develop a closer relationship with Snape.

However, when Harry calmed down, his conscience started to nag at him. Snape's last words rang in his head, causing goosebumps to emerge. Sorry. Harry had never heard Snape apologize to anyone, not even Dumbledore. But he had said sorry to Lily and Harry, wasn't that enough to show his grief? And the tone, it wasn't the typical sorry. It conveyed a remorse so deep, Harry had only heard it uttered by himself when he thought he killed Arthur. To top it, Snape did it in his sleep, so it would be safe to say that it was completely sincere.

Harry was never a person to dwell on others' faults, although he was not so forgiving of himself. To Harry, he would even say he owed Snape a life debt after their near-death escape from Voldemort only weeks ago. However, that was not the main reason for the easily granted forgiveness. Despite losing Sirius and knowing about the prophecy, the past month had been the best time of Harry's whole life. He had always craved being loved and cared for, and he never thought we would have the chance to have a parental figure in his life. Even Sirius felt more like an older brother. But Snape gave him just that. Harry might never admit it, but Snape was more than a professor to him after their first civil talk during Occlumency. Now though, Harry had driven the current most important person in his life away, for a past sin that he regretted. Unable to sit still and wait anymore, Harry decided to prepare breakfast. Maybe, just maybe, Snape would return, safe-and-sound.

Snape had been wandering outside the safe wards of Prince's Manor for two and a half hours. Rationality was screaming for him to return. Being a past Death Eater which had just blown his spy covers, being at any place alone with no wards was literally suicide. However, he couldn't bring himself to return to Harry, the youth he had hurt so much, fourteen years ago till now. Snape was never a man to run away from problems, not even death, but the betrayal and hurt in the emerald eyes of said boy was too intense, too suffocating, too devastating to endure. To make it worse, Harry had somehow made way into the professor's heart, and was now his top priority.

He totally deserved the pain. He should have known that nothing could atone his sins, when he voluntarily joined the Dark Lord and killed for him, when he delivered the death of his best friend. Actually, he knew all the time. But there was always a hope, a slim and unrealistic hope, that he could be forgiven by spying, by risking his life for the Light. Of course, he was foolish. Even the ever-forgiving Lily couldn't put past the 'Mudblood' incident, who was he to demand Harry to ignore his past?

Right now, he was lost. What was he supposed to do? He couldn't leave Harry alone, it was too dangerous. He couldn't return either, for it would trigger Harry and worsen his fever. When he was still pondering, the decision was made for him. A charm that he had placed on Harry started ringing furiously. It was a charm to monitor one's physical well-being, and its ringing intensity varies with the pain the monitored person was experiencing. Snape had never heard the charm ring so violently. Without further ado, he ran back to the Manor, praying to God that Harry would survive this torment.

Harry was frying sausages in a pan, stirring mushroom soup and chopping vegetables for salad simultaneously. Others might not be able to multitask like this, but it was something he was familiar with since five. He would never be able to prepare breakfast in time for the Dursleys if it wasn't for this skill. It had almost become a reflex action. In fact, Harry found it relaxing and calming to cook, clearing his mind from burdens and problems in real life. That was when there was no Vernon or Petunia breathing down his neck, of course. He was just about the turn the stove off when a piercing pain struck him. Next moment, he heard himself talking in Voldemort's high and cold voice in obvious fury.

"Bellatrix, you are telling me that that Dumbledore fool had taken possession of Helga's cup which I had personally put into your high security vault in Gringotts." The danger in his tone was evident, as if daring Bellatrix to agree with the statement. However, Bellatrix knew better than to lie to her master. Shaking, she replied, "my Lord, I'm not sure how Dumbledore did it, but I checked the vault myself and the cup was definitely gone. The goblins claimed that Dumbledore confunded a goblin when they notified me about the break in an hour ago."

Eyes downcast, Bellatrix waited for the punishment. She knew she wouldn't be forgiven easily for such carelessness. "You lost me a Horcrux," Voldemort growled. "Crucio!" The pain just struck Bellatrix when it suddenly dissolved into nothingness. The scene before Harry became blurry, and Harry found himself fading into blackness. When he next opened his eyes, he was back in the kitchen of Snape's Manor, sitting on the floor.

He fought to steady his breathing and wiped the sweat off his forehead. His head throbbed as he tried to make sense out of the scene he had just witnessed. His instincts told him that it contained vital information about the war. With his slightly improved Occlumency skills and Voldemort's awareness of their connection, Harry had not experienced similar visions. And the final sight, it seemed that Voldemort was fainting, something unheard of. Helga's cup, Bellatrix's vault, Horcrux. What the hell did it mean?

His thoughts were interrupted by a sizzling sound. Oh, he hadn't turned off the stove yet. Panicked, Harry pushed himself up. Damn, the sausages were burnt and mushroom soup was boiling and spilling out of the pot. Harry moved to the switch of the stove. That moment also, drops of soup spattered out of the pot and landed on Harry's outstretched hand. He hissed in pain. Nevertheless, he proceeded to turn off the stove before running cold water on his burned flesh.

The pain was barely subsiding when the door opened with a loud smack. Behind the door stood Snape, eyes flashing around, fear and worry evident in them as he didn't bother to hide it. Then he saw the teenager he was looking for. "Harry, are you-" He was cut short when Harry flung his arms around the professor. Everything, anything, that was bothering Harry was forgotten. All Harry could see and feel was the man currently wrapped in his arms. The man that treated him like a son. He would never, never drive the man away from him again.

"Harry, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-" "Sev, it's fine. I don't care what you had done in the past, the only important thing is that you are here now for me. I'm sorry for blaming you and shouting at you just now." Harry squeezed his mentor, as if assuring him that he meant what he said. This time, Snape didn't hesitate to return the hug. "Harry, just keep in mind that you have the right to be happy. It is my fault, after all." "Shh…don't talk about it, it doesn't matter." With that, Snape let the matter die.

"Severus-" "Call me Sev, if you don't mind." Harry raised an eyebrow at Snape's request. It was unlike the sour professor role that Snape played for so long. Nonetheless, Harry obliged. "Sev, I've prepared breakfast, do you want some?" "Sure, but let me attend to your burn first. If you may?" Harry held out his arms. He had momentarily forgotten about the pain but it returned after Snape mentioned it. Harry winced a little when Snape cleaned the wound, but the flesh healed completely after a simple healing charm.

Harry motioned for Snape to wait for him at the dining room while he served breakfast. He blushed when he placed the burnt sausages in front of Snape. "I'm sorry, I was…distracted when I was preparing breakfast, and it got burnt." "Don't apologize for such a small issue, son." Snape took in a sharp breath as he heard what he had said. He observed the boy before him which fidgeted uneasily. The silence was turning awkward when Snape decided to break the silence. "Harry, I'm sorry. It sort of…slipped through my mouth." Harry snapped out of his reverie after hearing Snape's words. "No, no, it's completely fine. It's just…no one had called me 'son' since my father died, and I don't even remember if he called me son. I'm just overwhelmed." Harry flashed a warm smile at Snape. For the first time ever, the smile reached the depths of his eyes.

They finished the breakfast in companionable silence. Both men were adapting to the change in their relationship. Now, they felt more like a family. After all, blood linkage wasn't always necessary for the formation of a family. Instead, care for each other was much more essential. Despite the slight awkwardness, they both cherish this new bond a lot.

After breakfast, Harry piled the cutleries and moved to wash the dishes in the kitchen. However, Snape motioned for him to join him in the living room. They both took a seat next to each other on the couch. Snape poured them a cup of tea each. "Harry, you mentioned a distraction just now. May I know what it was about?" Snape was positive that it had something to do with the pain Harry was suffering just now. But Harry was not physically hurt. That made Snape curious and worried. Harry hesitated. He was not used to sharing his weakness to others. However, Snape was not like others. He was Harry's mentor and he cared for Harry. After an internal debate, Harry opted to come clean with Snape. So, he related the visions he had.

To say that Snape was disturbed was an understatement. He had known what a Horcrux was. It had never occurred to him that Voldemort resorted to Horcrux to maintain his immortality. He needed to tell Dumbledore immediately. However, he didn't want to worry Harry. Thus, he patiently coaxed Harry to take a nap, but Harry wouldn't budge. After an eternity, Harry fell asleep on Snape's lap, having read a dull potion book with Snape for the past hour. Gently, he carried the sleeping Harry to his room and tucked him into bed. He kissed the child and caressed his black mop of hair before leaving the room and head towards the fireplace.