Severus's day started with a light but somewhat inconsiderate patting on his face. As he scrunched up his face in mild irritation, he opened his eyes, squinting at the bright light coming in from the window. Once his eyes focused to the light, a little bit away from him lay a small boy that was doing a really bad job of hiding from his papa in the blankets.

Severus felt himself smiling uncontrollably at the sight. "Hey Harry, you know I can hear you giggling right?" The boy merely giggled harder, at which Severus picked him up from under the blankets and brought him close for a hug.

As Severus hugged his child, a realization passed through his mind that made the grin fall off his face.

"Oh no, it's Monday isn't it" he sighed, remembering what was going to happen that day. The next big hurdle: taking Harry to his classes for the first time. A bunch of teenagers experimenting with dangerous spells and hazardous materials. Surely nothing could go wrong.

After all the events from the previous Saturday- the memories of which Severus is attempting to not remember, thank you very much- Severus spent the next day huddled up in his room with Harry, having the house-elves bring them their meals. It was nice not having to see anyone else that day, except for Lily of course, who spent several hours with Severus in an attempt at a study session that was interrupted quite frequently by an adorable nuisance.

Sadly Severus can't escape the imbecilic Gryffindors any longer. Especially today.

"Papa, potty!" Harry called, hands outstretched. Severus responded by swiftly ferrying them both off to the bathroom, and made the wise decision to get the both of them ready at the same time. So after brushing their teeth and having a nice bath, both were dressed and ready for the day.

At least on the outside in Severus's case.

Severus dragged on when putting his school materials in his bag. He didn't want to have to go outside. He wanted to stay in his little bubble with Harry and occasionally Lily. But, he reasoned, doing well in academics was his thing.

And as he turned back and looked at his child, who was attempting to carry at least five stuffed toys with him and not making any progress because he kept dropping one and dropping another when trying to pick up the first, he resolved that he couldn't change that aspect of himself. He knew he needed to have that for himself at least.

Smiling, Severus placed the bag strap on his shoulder and turned to the boy. "Harry, you won't need those toys."

"But papa! I need!" And he widened his eyes and pushed his lips out in an exaggerated pout, knowing from experience that his papa would give in. And while this action should have given Severus a huge dopey grin (and absolutely giving in to the spoiled child), the love he felt was dampened by a pool of fear and rage. Because he had seen that same pout on the face of a certain pompous Gryffindor during his many inconsiderate interactions with Lily.

One more thing that ignorant Potter has ruined for me, he thought bitterly. But as he looked back at his child, he could see that the boy was shocked and disappointed that the raven didn't respond as he expected. Now his eyes were wide with worry and his lips were getting legitimately pouty and were starting to shake.

Severus felt himself panic, and before it became too much, he strolled over, picked up the child, and found himself saying, "Fine. Bring one toy." He reached his hand over and plucked out a certain familiar plushie that was only hanging on by a wing in Harry's arms. "I'm assuming you want Hawky?"

Harry nodded simply, not wanting to be put down yet, and started sucking his fingers while grinning widely at his papa. Severus gave the toy back to the boy, and taking a deep breath in and out, he opened the door and exited his safe zone.

His transfiguration class was no issue truthfully. He shared this class with the Ravenclaws, and they mainly kept to their own in order to do well, as sixth year really ramped up the difficulty in the class. When he entered, Professor McGonagall actually smiled at the young boy, before bringing Severus's attention to a small chair located next to his desk. That period was spent with the students doing a safe transformation of cauldron cakes to cabbages, which he suspects was done to prevent any possible injuries to the boy. The professor paused to check in with Severus about the whole situation, but he suspected that there was a separate reason for the interaction based on the sticky dark brown crumbs around Harry's mouth after.

Really. Harry even managed to melt the heart of the deputy headmistress.

After that was his charms class, which was a bit more eventful in that he happened to share it with Hufflepuffs, and they were quite eager to spend time with and chat with Harry. After attempting to rally his class together for a bit, Professor Flitwick gave up, shrugging and smiling as he sat at his desk, before inevitably joining the Hufflepuffs. Although his questions for the boy had more to do with his time traveling than the boy himself.

Severus was completely uncomfortable under all the attention and ended up shrinking back and letting Harry take the stage. And he was a natural, spoiled with attention from his parents and loving the other students paying attention to him. Yet another thing that didn't come from me, Severus thought bitterly, though he did acknowledge that it would be better for Harry to be good with people than to be like him, standoffish and unsociable.

After a pretty grueling experience for Severus, though a very fun one for Harry, came the one class Severus was dreading: Potions. Which would normally be fine, as Severus was quite fond of potions, but he shared this class with the Gryffindors. Because of course he did. And he was quite used to things happening in that class that would affect him in some way, usually ruining his robes or sending him to the hospital wing.

Hopefully that won't happen this time. Hopefully.

Severus entered with very little time before the class started, as he may have been dragging his feet a bit. Once he entered, he avoided eye contact and rushed to his desk. At least, he attempted it.

"Ah, Mr. Snape!" a jovial voice came from behind him. Severus felt more bitterness well up inside him. Besides Lily, there wasn't really any person at this school that he had good experiences with. This person, Severus felt, was especially bad.

Professor Slughorn. Head of Slytherin. He was supposed to help his Slytherins and care for all his students, but the old man only cared about image and acquainted himself with people he deemed worthy. He fawned over Lily's potion abilities often, despite the fact that Severus was usually right next to her having done more to advance their potion. He was ignored outright, and the professor didn't do anything when Black or Potter picked on him except for occasionally lightly scolding them verbally.

The professor waved him over, and began to speak apologetically when Severus strode over. "I'm sorry my boy, but the young lad will have to sit here during the class. Today we are creating the Draught of Living Death, which as I'm sure you know would be way too dangerous for a tot to be close to." While talking, he brought Severus's attention to a small chair next to the professor's desk.

Severus pursed his lips, but ultimately agreed with the Professor. The Draught of Living Death was easy to mess up and was difficult to counter if inflicted. And while he trusted (let's be honest, hoped) that Harry was more intelligent than to put himself in harm's way, the Slytherin had to acknowledge that the child was only three years old and would not know any better. Also the fact that he unfortunately happened to have some... reckless blood in him.

He placed Harry down in the chair, who tried to hold onto his papa when he straightened up. "Papa," he said, eyes wide, clearly wanting to voice his concern. Severus gave him an understanding half-smile.

"I'm sorry Harry, but it's only for this class, okay? You'll have Hawky during it as well." Harry puffed out his cheeks and pouted, cuddling his plushy in his crossed arms. He didn't answer his papa verbally, but he gave a small nod in order to convey that he understood. He pouted even harder to convey that he wasn't going to be happy about it though.

Severus couldn't help but smile lovingly at that, patting Harry on the head before he turned to return to his desk, his smile disappearing. Looking up, he saw that, thankfully, Lily had taken the spot next to him. Relieved, he sat next to his best friend, who started excitedly talking to him, and they were able to relax and it was almost like it used to be.

Except, if Severus had been a little more attentive, he would have seen the two individuals a desk to the right and back from the duo, who were both watching them. James's gaze wandered from the duo and landed on Harry, who noticed and waved vigorously, nearly falling out of his chair. James smiled at his antics, not noticing that his lab partner's gaze had wavered and landed on the seeker, a perplexed expression on his face with his eyes narrowed. It was clear that Sirius did not understand what was going through his best friend's head.

He had to do something about this.

The class started, and Professor Slughorn boisterously announced the potion for the day, instructing the students to begin with the potion before sitting at his desk and quietly engaging Harry.

Severus managed to take his mind off his child and was one of the first people to get all the ingredients and return to his desk. This was potions, where he thrived. This was his moment to shine.

Lily knew how to work with Severus. Let him take the lead and have everything ready for him. Much like a head chef and a sous chef in the muggle world, as she had described it to him several times before. He had the mind to know how to better their potions, even beyond what the textbook said. Lily had seen him write new instructions in his potions books that worked better than the official ones.

While Severus and Lily were getting started by prepping the ingredients, another duo were collecting theirs. James had delayed them a bit by waving to Harry and holding a small conversation with the boy, so they were one of the last groups in the ingredient store room. The two Gryffindors went around grabbing the ingredients, but while James was finishing up, Sirius hesitated before sneakily grabbed something extra.

Before the two could leave the store room, however, Sirius decided to take action and grabbed James's arm before he exited.

James turned around, eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Padfoot?"

Sirius did not have a specific reason to grab his arm, but as he was trying to word it, rage built up in Sirius's head until he sharply spat out his next words. "I cannot believe you are blindly accepting what Snivellus is saying."

James's expression shifted from confusion to annoyance once he understood what Sirius had stopped him for. He sighed. "Sirius, I got the bloody parental test and the child even f*cking looks like me! What more do you want? I'm hoping that because he recognized you you'll clearly be in his life, which means that you'll eventually come around to him. Please can we drop this? He is clearly my child."

"Fine. Even so, why are you being nicer to slimy Snivellus? You don't need to be nicer to him to have Harry as your child."

James sighed again, suddenly feeling tired and bringing a hand up to his head, before turning to exit the store room. "Let's just go and finish the potion. And don't call him that."

Sirius fumed, but relented, following James as they made their way to their desk. But as Sirius's anger raged, he decided to do what he did best: he acted on his reckless plan. He messed with Snivellus.

As Sirius approached Severus's desk in order to reach his own, the Slytherin had just finished adding the wormwood essence and had just straightened out his cauldron. To Sirius, it seemed like the universe itself approved of his plan, as Severus turned his head to the side to instruct Lily as he passed. Sirius, without looking over, straightened out his hand and dropped some mallowsweet stalks into Severus's cauldron.

Severus immediately knew something was up as he turned back and glared at Black accusingly, who just smirked. Sirius was surprised when James grabbed him, stealthily but harshly.

James had seen Severus glaring at Sirius. "What did you do?" he demanded.

But before Sirius could snarl back, a loud rumble diverted their attention, and to James's horror, it came from the cauldron they had just passed. Severus could see that the potion was rolling and active, which Black should have known because the potion was very vulnerable at this stage, as now it had become unstable.

The class was almost in chaos, with people pausing to watch the disaster build up, tentative with whether they should retreat to the back of the classroom.

"Professor Slughorn!" Lily called urgently. "Please help us!" The professor replied with an affirmation, pushing himself up to stride over.

"Papa?" Severus somehow heard quietly, and he could tell that Harry was very worried about what was happening.

"It's okay, Harry," Severus consoled, not certain if the boy could even hear him or if he was even able to convey the sincerity convincingly. Severus wanted to be sure, but he had no clue what was going to happen.

And suddenly, things took a turn for the worse. The potion, which had been rolling at a smaller level, started bubbling and rising rapidly. It was all happening too quickly. Severus didn't know what Black had put in, so he couldn't try to counter what was happening. The potion was bubbling and rising almost out of the pot.

Severus in a flash knew what would happen. He tried to reach for his wand, but it happened too quickly. Before anyone could do anything, before the professor reached them, before Lily could move out of the way, the potion exploded.

Severus closed his eyes, waiting for the inevitable feeling of the liquid hitting him and drenching his clothes, possibly resulting in burns or hives that would send him to the nurse's office. But nothing happened. Everything was silent after the explosion, other than the loud shrieking of his son. And yet that wasn't what held everyone's attention.

Severus opened his eyes to see a powerful shield charm in front of him and Lily, which was covered by the now dark blue viscous liquid. As he saw it drip onto the floor and burn through the wood, Severus thought Thank Merlin that didn't land on me or Lily.

Severus gasped, taking his attention off the shield charm and landing on Harry. Other students in the front had moved forward cautiously and were trying to calm him down, but to no avail. Harry was wailing at the top of his lungs, choked gasps in between his cries with tears streaming down his face. The raven immediately stood up and hurriedly walked towards Harry, walking around the shield charm. He picked the child, who burrowed his face in his robes, still crying loudly.

"Harry, wha-? Harry, it's okay. Why are you crying?" Severus said. He didn't expect an answer, but to his surprise, Harry hiccuped, and started speaking.

"Papa wa' gonna be hur'," he said softly, taking choked gasps between the words, before going back to wailing. Severus just found himself rocking the boy in his arms gently, not knowing what to do to calm him down.

"I didn't cast that shield charm, Sev," the raven heard from behind him, As he turned to face Lily bewildered, he halted at her shocked expression. Holding eye contact, she continued. "I don't think anyone casted that charm, Severus." And the meaning of her words became clear to him when her eyes landed on the sobbing, sniffling child in his arms.

Severus stood, shell-shocked at what she was implying. But this wasn't the time. The class was in chaos, and no matter what he tried, Harry would not stop crying.

Walking back towards his desk, he addressed the professor, who had disabled the shield charm and was fixing the burned through floor.

"Professor, I don't think he is going to calm down right now. Could we leave the class period?"

Professor Slughorn looked up from the floor. "Of course," he said. Simple as that.

Severus left the classroom with Harry in his hands. As he started making his way back to their room, with still absolutely no clue as to what to do here, he heard footsteps approaching him, and before he could turn to address them, they made themselves known.

"Hey," Potter said, breathing a bit heavily as he ran over.

Severus grimaced. "Why are you out of class?"

Potter held eye contact with the raven after that question, as if the Slytherin should know why. "Professor Slughorn allowed me too. Because I'm his father. It's not like I wanted to just skip out on class. I wanted to make sure he's all right." As he said this, the Gryffindor reached his hand over and stroked Harry's head, wiping a tear away from the boy's cheekbone with his thumb.

Severus would never admit it, but his heart clenched a bit when he saw that.

At this point, Harry had stopped bawling, but he was still sniffling and crying quietly. It was clear that he was really scared, and Severus's eyes softened every time he focused on Harry. It was off putting to him; Harry was the bright child that led the way for Severus and lightened his day.

Seeing him like this was wrong. But he didn't know what to do.

"Harry, Aunt Lily and I are okay. You don't need to cry anymore." Despite his reassurances, Harry did not cheer up even a little.

James watched this interaction, brainstorming on his own for how to restore Harry to his bright self. As he watched Harry sniffle once more, an idea popped into his head, and he smiled. He knew this would work.

Darting forward, he grabbed Snape's wrist, who flinched his hand away at once. James's smile faltered a bit, but he pushed that aside and carried on. "I know a place," he cryptically uttered, gesturing for Snape to follow him before turning and walking towards a stairwell.

Severus obviously had reservations, but it was so clear to him that James was starting to take on his role as a father. He wanted to cheer Harry up as much as Severus did. And so, against his better judgement, he trusted him.

Several minutes later, Severus found himself in the hallway leading to the Hufflepuff common room. He was baffled as to where Potter was leading them. Looking down, he shifted his grip, moving Harry to his other side. The boy had quieted down and wasn't crying anymore, but he was clearly still upset.

Severus slowed when he saw that the Gryffindor seeker had stopped. As Potter turned to him, he smirked and started making embellished movements, speaking in a tour guide's voice.

Severus knew that he was doing this to try to cheer up Harry, and he indeed had the boy's attention. However, he had a nagging feeling at the back of his head that it was somehow also for him. But that, of course, clearly made no sense, so Severus tossed that thought out of his mind's hypothetical window.

"And here we have reached our final destination. This intricate painting was made in the 12th century, by an up and coming modern wizard, or at least that's what he was thought to be until it was revealed to be a young maiden under several glamors! What a wonderful rich history this painting has!"

Well, Severus could see a small smirk on Harry's face, so he guessed that the Gryffindor's performance was acceptable. But not for him.

"It's a bunch of fruit," he deadpanned, before turning to Potter. "What are we doing here?" He dryly uttered this, clearly unamused.

"Ah, but you see, dear visitor," Potter exclaimed, still keeping up the theatrics. "Here I will show you, gasp! A magic trick. Oh, you will be so amazed!"

Severus merely raised an eyebrow. He could feel Harry silently giggling, but he didn't know that the boy was laughing at his reaction in particular. James did see this, however, and he felt his grin grow wider.

Moving forwards exaggeratingly, he thrusted a hand out and started tickling the pear. After a few tense seconds where Severus was questioning the Gryffindor's sanity, to his surprise the pear turned into a handle, which Potter grabbed and turned.

The painting swished open, and as Severus entered, he realized where they were. "We're in the kitchens?" He asked, surprised.

James smiled proudly, as he actually managed to get a reaction out of the stone-faced Slytherin. "Yes it is! What was it that tipped you off? The many frankly scrumptious aromas that permeate the air? Or was it the many house elves, going through an honest day's work in the Hogwarts kitchens?"

Severus, ignoring his words, turned towards the seeker. "How did you know this was here?"

James (a moment too late, according to Severus) dropped the act, but not the smirk on his face. "I know many of the secrets this old school has. Are you impressed?"

Severus didn't answer, but hated the fact that he was indeed a little impressed with the Gryffindor. But his mood soured once again. Must be one of those many times he was out after curfew without ever getting punished.

James could tell his answer from the raven's former pursed lips, but he decided to keep that information to himself.

"Alright, let's sit down and ask the house elves for some food. What do you want to eat, Harry?"

Harry didn't answer right away, waiting for his papa to place him in a chair, and for his papa and daddy to sit down themselves. Smiling, he answered "Treacle tart!"

Severus's parental instincts instantly went off. "Harry, you haven't had lunch yet. If you're going to eat something, eat something healthy."

"Come on, Snape," James prompted, smiling softly. He sighed, the smile turning into a concerned expression as he looked away. "He just went through something… frankly, traumatizing."

James made eye contact with Severus again, who was a little shocked by how mature he was being. "He thought the person he loved most was going to get hurt. Considering that, maybe he should be allowed to have a sweet?"

Severus pursed his lips, but looking down at Harry, ultimately relented. "Okay Harry," he said softly with a smile, resolving that it was definitely not the child's puppy dog eyes that changed his mind.

James watched the interaction smiling, then waved over a house elf. "Can we have…," directing back towards Severus, "Do you want one?" At the shake of the head, James finished his order. "Can we have two treacle tarts and three pumpkin juices please?"

At Severus's inquisitive look, James just smiled looking at Harry, who was finally excited again. "I guess we know where he got his love of treacle tart from."

"One more thing from you," Severus said quietly.

"Yup! Seems like he'll grow to be a proper Gryffindor! He's excitable and open to new adventures with a bright attitude, and he has the fierce protectiveness that we all stand by!" James stated this with pride, but as he gazed at the Slytherin who had turned away from him, his pride softened as he realized something.

"Actually," the Gryffindor said softly, "I think he got that last trait from you."

Severus turned his head towards him, perturbed, but as Potter raised one eyebrow slightly, his mind went back to two day ago, when he had yelled at the other in the Great Hall. Severus lowered his head. I guess I did get a bit emotional there, the raven thought, biting his lip in slight embarrassment.

Severus glared at the Gryffindor when he heard him snickering, which only made him start laughing outright.

The house elf interrupted, thankfully, with the food for them, setting the glasses down in front of each person and setting the dishes in front of the father and son. Severus had to quickly intervene before Harry dug his hands in it, tucking a napkin into the collar of his top as a makeshift bib before letting the child enjoy it.

Before Severus could take a well deserved sip of his pumpkin juice, another house elf approached their table.

"Misters James Potter, Severus Snape, and the young Harry Potter have been summoned to the headmaster's office as soon as your meal is finished." The house elf walked off before anyone could respond.

Severus just looked back at Potter, who also looked confused. "What is that about? Why are we being summoned?"

James shrugged. "I don't know. But I guess I should start my treacle tart so we can go and find out."

Severus didn't respond to that, opting to take a sip from his glass. He looked over to see that Harry had finished his treat, with crumbs all over his face, the table, and in his plate. Grabbing a napkin, he started gently wiping the boy's face, mind drifting off to the possibilities of what by Merlin Headmaster Dumbledore was calling them for.