Takes place at the end of Chapter 21, after Harry's Floo chat with Severus

Interlude: A Late-Night Chat

Severus recoiled at the sudden unexpected whoosh of the fireplace to his right. It was late, and he could only imagine who would be calling on him at this hour.

"Snape."

Severus instinctively relaxed a bit, though not entirely. The mutt was only marginally better than one of his Death Eater compatriots. "Black." He did not bother putting down his reading, or even turning toward the fireplace for that matter.

"I want to talk to you."

Severus sneered down at the secondhand muggle text splayed on his knee. "Talk, then. If you're waiting for an invitation—"

"Face to face. About my godson."

Severus snapped his book shut contemptuously and rose in one fluid motion, wishing he had robes to settle around him instead of the slacks and button-down that he currently wore. "The answer is no. You have made your appeals to the headmaster and been denied. You have spoken to the boy at length, and if I do not miss my mark, at no point during your chat did he weep to you about his misery here and plead for you to rescue him. I have made concessions—though I will not force him to endure your company, and I will remain firm on that point—"

"Merlin, Snape, I know. Can I just come through?"

Much as Severus wanted to snap out a "no" and simply douse the flames and seal off the grate, he was far more curious about the strained note of civility that had miraculously emerged in Black's tone. "You have ten minutes. After that, I will let my wards deal with you."

The green flames of the Floo roared and flashed brighter, and the next moment Black was stepping through, dusting ash off of a rather worn velvet frock coat, dark plum and outdated by several decades. He had been looking less emaciated of late, but even so the color and weight eroded over his years in Azkaban had him looking more ghoulish than human.

Surprisingly, he didn't simply sprawl out on Severus' sofa just as if he owned the place. Instead, he leaned back against the mantle, hands clasped loosely at his waist, looking, if Severus didn't know better, extremely uncertain, maybe even nervous.

"Well?" Severus demanded, tucking his book under his arm. "I presume you have a reason to disturb me at this hour? You've already spoken to the boy, and he's been in bed for an hour, so whatever you might like to say to him will have to wait until tomorrow—"

"Harry said you made him talk to me."

Severus felt his nostrils flare wide as he drew in a sharp breath. "Believe me, I did not do so out of any love for you. Were you not named his godfather, I would not have given you the time of day."

Black tilted his head toward the ceiling. "Yeah, gathered that. Look, Harry… he seems all right here."

"Your approval warms my heart. Now, if that was all you had to say—"

"No, damn it, it wasn't. I don't like you and I don't trust you, but… but Harry thinks you care about him. And it seems like you actually do." Black shifted his arms, folding them defensively over his chest. "You know about his relatives."

A statement, not a question. Severus nodded once tersely to confirm.

"Harry said you did something to them."

"Nothing you can prove, trust me."

Black snorted. "Of course." Black's eyes wandered to the corner of the room for a moment. "Did he tell you anything about them? Details?"

Severus curled his hand more tightly over the spine of his book as he fought back the familiar white-hot spike of rage. "Some. Not willingly, I admit—before he tells you himself. But if I hadn't gotten the truth out of him, I never would have had the evidence to approach Albus, and he would likely be on his way back to those vile creatures already. I did what I thought I had to, and not for the pleasure of tormenting your precious godson, as I'm sure you assume—"

"You did what you had to."

Severus nearly choked on his words.

"And Harry… seems like he's forgiven you for it. Look, I knew from the first something was off, but I didn't think it would be so bad… I should have said something, but I thought…. Did you know he wanted to live with me? Third year, after all that business in the Shack. I mean, I was an idiot, I was just babbling—I'd forgotten he was even staying with anyone, you know. That was the only reason I offered. But he jumped at it, said yes right then and there, like he was homeless and had been waiting forever for someone to offer. I didn't think much of it then, but now…."

Severus drew a deep, calming breath. "Is there a point to this rambling?"

"Don't be a prick." At last Black returned his gaze squarely to Severus. "Look, I'm his godfather. I deserve to know what those rat bastards did to him."

"Harry can tell you himself, if he chooses, and when he's ready. I will not violate his confidence to sate your curiosity."

Black opened his mouth, then snapped it shut. "Fine. But if he's… you know, not doing okay, I expect to know."

Severus grit his teeth. "Let me use smaller words. Ask your godson yourself. I will not offer you information that he himself has not offered. I will not make secret reports on his state of mind to you. And I most certainly will not tell him to confide in you when he is still hurt by your betrayal—"

"I didn't betray him!"

"You most certainly did!" Severus rebutted, stalking over to his bookshelf and stuffing the muggle volume on top of his other tomes. He needed something else to focus on, he knew, or he was liable to start something with the mutt, and cause a commotion, and that would wake Harry…. He drew a deep breath and focused on calming his thoughts as he pretended to straighten out his books. "I admit I despised the boy prior to this summer, and was predisposed to think the worst of him. You, however… you realize that boy spared the man who betrayed his parents? That he holds no grudge against you for running off half-cocked and abandoning him to their care?"

Black flushed a little at those words, but not entirely, Severus sensed, with anger. "Yes, I know. He's a good kid."

"So he is. And you knew this. Yet you didn't rise to his defense."

"Moony and I thought he might—you know, do something like that for a lark. I can't imagine being stuck in a muggle neighborhood like that one all summer and not losing his mind. And Moony thought it might have been a way of coping with the grief or something—"

"You didn't even talk to him, you imbecile. Neither of you. And you had good reason to." Severus ran a finger down the spine of a worn defense volume, one he'd bought secondhand during his last years at Hogwarts. "His neighbor said that he helps her with her groceries every week. He's kind, for all he's been through."

Severus watched from the corner of his eye as Black seemed to contemplate his own feet for a time.

"I just… I want to help him. And I don't like you, and I don't trust you—"

"Flattery will get you everywhere. I'll forgive the redundancy, as I know Azkaban has taken most of what little mind you ever possessed—"

"Shut up." Black ran a hand through his messy hair, then began nervously rubbing at the scruffy beard on his chin. "Dumbledore trusts you." This he seemed to be murmuring more to himself than anything, as if arguing with himself. He jerked his gaze up abruptly, his eyes almost wild again. "Why did you make Harry talk to me? He said you did. He said that he didn't even want to."

"Because for him reliable adults seem to be of short supply. Instead he'll have to make do with you." Severus turned back fully toward the man, folding his arms over his chest, and he glared. "So you'd best be reliable, Black, or you will answer to me."

Black met Severus' gaze steadily. "I will be. I want to be. I just…." He made another nervous pass through his hair, front to back, fingers tangling in the strands. "It's like this. I can't be there for him like I want to be. He can't live with me. I can't be his guardian. Moony either. And Molly and Arthur would have him in a heartbeat, but… hell, Harry doesn't even want to go to them, does he? Molly said he ate with you the other day, all on his own. And the way he talks about you…."

Severus tried to pretend that his stomach hadn't just done a little flip. How did Harry talk about him these days? He imagined it wasn't too harshly, for all their colorful past. The boy had defended him to his little friends, he'd gathered, since none of the Weasleys had either assaulted or interrogated him. And surely Granger would have felt entitled to a full explanation if Harry had even hinted that he was unhappy with their current arrangements.

"I need to know what this is to you. Because if you're really just a sick son of a bitch looking to get one over on James still by getting close to his son, then dropping him when he needs you most—"

"Get out," Severus snarled, a hot sweep of temper boiling through him. "Get out before I hex you. I would not dare… you think this is some game to me? That I would, what, spend weeks attempting to give him stability and shelter here, just to rip it all away and laugh at his trauma? The boy I can understand believing me to be so cruel. I have been…." Severus ground his teeth together. No. He did not owe Black an explanation or apology. Harry, yes, but not this slavering mutt who would have treated his enemy's son no better.

"But you," he continued relentlessly, his hand sliding down carefully to his wand. "Just because you find a broken childhood to be fodder for torment—"

"My childhood wasn't exactly a field of daisies, Snape," Black cut in, his hands balling into fists. "And that's not what I'm saying. I mean that you've gotten Harry and James pretty muddled in the past. I know you hate me, and I know you hate James, and you know Harry means the world to us—"

"I am not going to use him as a pawn to exact vengeance, you addle-brained twat! I don't want to see him hurt any more than you, and for you to imply that even now, after he has been living with me for weeks, after I have arranged for him to see a Mind Healer to begin to process the unrelenting hell that has been his life—"

"So you really do care about him." Just as suddenly as it had come, the ferocity was gone from Black's voice. It was soft, wondering.

Severus thought he could have qualified that statement. Yes, I wish to see him prosper. I want to see him overcome the hand that has been dealt to him. I wish to support him however I can. But those qualifications would have only confirmed the obvious truth rather than concealed it. So instead he admitted, just as softly, "Yes."

Black dipped his head just once. "Thought so." He tipped his head back a bit to stare at the ceiling. "I still don't like you."

"Again, the feeling is mutual. Now out. Your ten minutes have long since expired."

"Have you told him about your Death Eater days?" A pause, and then insistently, "Have you told him how it ended with Lily?"

"No," Severus growled firmly. "Nor do I intend to. I know you despise me, Black, but your godson needs a stable home and an adult he can turn to. You have already earned his ire—you and the rest of the motley band of fools he has made do with thus far. I will not make him feel as though he cannot rely on me either, regardless of whatever moral ground you believe you hold—"

"God damn it, Snape, that's not what I meant! I just—fuck, you can't see how much worse it will be if he learns it from someone else? No, not me—damn it, don't give me that look. I wouldn't. But I don't know what his classmates might have heard from their parents, or what they might take it into their heads to say, and don't you think Harry's trust in you would be shattered if he heard it from them instead?"

The words slid like a serrated steel edge into Severus' heart, stopping the breath in his lungs. If Harry learned it from someone else just what he'd said to Lily, or if Albus—damn him thrice over—decided to explain how he'd thrown a certain potions master out of the Hog's Head when it came time to discuss his birth prophecy….

Merlin, Harry would never turn to him again, much less want to remain in his care for any amount of time.

Severus swallowed hard as he tried to break the paralysis that seemed to have overtaken his lungs. "Fine. I'll discuss it with him." And he'll never wish to speak to me again anyway, he thought bitterly. Just when he felt they had reached an understanding. He'd gotten Harry to agree to see the Mind Healer with less fuss than he had expected, and the boy was finally eating enough that Severus didn't feel the absolute need to heap extra onto his plate at every meal. And Harry had cast a spell, at long last. Definitely, he was feeling more settled.

And now all of that might be undone with one unnecessary tale about Severus' foolishness in his youth.

"Was there anything else, Black? Perhaps you'd like me to detail all of my dark deeds whilst serving the Dark Lord as well? Or recount the horrible ways in which I retaliated against you and your ilk during our school days?"

"Is there any way you could be less of a prick?" Black asked casually, like he was asking for a trivial favor.

Severus drew his wand, deciding he'd tolerated this long enough.

Black's was out in a flash, too, and suddenly it was like the years since their Hogwarts days had evaporated, and they were back in the corridors after hours, circling one another, Black grinning and Severus snarling, ready to throw as many hexes as they could before they were caught.

Black wasn't smiling this time, though. His eyes were serious, steady—and his stance was surprisingly relaxed. "I'm really trying to help you," he insisted. "Well, Harry, actually—but that means helping you. Just… be honest with the kid. I know he'll forgive you." Black closed his eyes for a moment, a flash of pain twisting his features. "After all… he forgave me."

Severus did not know what was going on, or who had Polyjuiced into Black this evening. It sounded like Lupin. It likely wasn't one of the Weasley boys who'd heard too much from a few indiscriminate adults at Headquarters. (If it was, he would skin the culprit alive).

As it was, he just wanted whoever, or whatever, this impostor was out of his home so he could get his much-needed sleep.

"Just leave," Severus muttered, too weary for words. He sheathed his wand.

"Talk again soon, then?"

Severus whipped out a Stinging Hex, but Black was too fast, and the spell scorched harmlessly against the curling wallpaper.

"Have to do this again sometime." And with that he Apparated.

Severus muttered a non-magical curse and sheathed his wand again, likely with more force than was warranted. He scrubbed a weary hand over his face, and then he made his way up the stairs to check on Harry. The wards hadn't gone off, but still….

The boy was there, tangled in a mess of blankets, snoring just the tiniest bit.

Severus shook his head to himself and, stealing in quietly, moved to nudge Harry from the contorted position on his stomach to his side. The snoring stopped.

And Harry's eyes blinked open for a moment. "Sn… no, Sev'rus," he corrected himself sleepily. "Have to 'member…."

Severus couldn't resist the urge. He told himself it was because Harry's hair was in his eyes, and it would drive him mad if left that way. So he carded a hand gently through the boy's tousled mop, brushing the strands back as he did so. "Don't stress over it. Now, go back to sleep. You were up late enough tonight. I think we might have to enforce a strict midnight bedtime."

Harry's eyes had slipped back shut, but his face wrinkled a touch at Severus' words. "Mm-mm, don't have to…."

"Then go back to sleep."

" 'Kay." And Harry leaned into Severus' hand, which was still on his brow because… well, to keep the hair out of the boy's eyes. So he could fall asleep.

As he gazed down at the sleeping boy, Severus' thoughts strayed back to the worn muggle book that he'd stowed on the shelf downstairs. He would have to buy more like it, he thought, with a vague ripple of distaste. Unfortunately, there was little in the wizarding world to aid him in the subject of how to foster traumatized youth. He needed all the help he could get with this one. Merlin knew there was precious little natural instinct in him that would serve him in this area.

Then again, it might all be for nothing if he followed through with the mutt's suggestion. Harry very well might want nothing to do with him. And rightly so.

Severus' stomach clenched tightly at that thought. No, he would not let it come to that. He would do whatever it took to mend their relationship following that revelation. And he would stick with it for however long it took. No half-hearted efforts as he'd made with Lily, only to implode and sink further into his own despair. This time would be different.

Besides, Harry needed him. Black was right on that count, at least.

Severus hesitated for half a second, then bent down and pressed a chaste kiss to Harry's brow, praying the boy wouldn't wake. It was foolish in the extreme, he knew, but he couldn't resist. And he was not going to examine too closely why that strong instinct had risen up within him.

Resting now like this, Harry looked so much younger, so much less troubled. Severus wished he could find some way to bring this level of peace to his ward during his waking hours.

He would tell the boy. Soon. And he would pray that, for once in his miserable life, Black was right, and Harry did forgive him. Eventually, at least.

Besides, Harry needed him. Black was right on that count, at least.

Severus hesitated for half a second, then bent down and pressed a chaste kiss to Harry's brow, praying the boy wouldn't wake. It was foolish in the extreme, he knew, but he couldn't resist. And he was not going to examine too closely why that strong instinct had risen up within him.

Resting now like this, Harry looked so much younger, so much less troubled. Severus wished he could find some way to bring this level of peace to his ward during his waking hours.

He would tell the boy. Soon. And he would pray that, for once in his miserable life, Black was right, and Harry did forgive him. Eventually, at least.

A/N: Hello lovely, wonderful people. To my fellow Americans, a happy Thanksgiving to you! I hope you are all staying safe and masking and connecting however you can with your loved ones. It's not a new chapter (I really, really hope to have one out before we hit 2021), but I hope you enjoy it anyway.

As an added bonus, for anyone who might be interested, I have been putting together a playlist for my fic :) Lots of American indie folk, some rock mixed in. Do you have any song suggestions? Feel free to post in the comments!

Crime and Punishment Playlist

Renegade, by Styx

The Rooster Moans, by Iron and Wine

Monkeys Uptown, by Iron and Wine

Another Brick in the Wall, Pt. 2, by Pink Floyd

Waitin' for a Superman, by Iron and Wine

Landslide, by Fleetwood Mac

Autumn Leaves, by Ed Sheeran

Emmylou, by First Aid Kit

Upward over the Mountain, by Iron and Wine

Two Sides of Lonely, by The Lone Bellow

Little Lion Man, by Mumford and Sons

Lion's Mane, by Iron and Wine

Everyone's Looking for Home, by Sam Outlaw

***Another note-this story is available on Ao3, under the name melolcatsi. As I am having increasing issues with Fanfiction, I may be eventually transitioning all my works to that site. I will keep you posted and give you plenty of notice if that happens!***