They were late of course, and though Loxie's magic meant the food wouldn't spoil, Morgana's deliberate disrespect infuriated him, particularly since she had had the audacity to pretend they had agreed upon a later time. He really couldn't abide people lying to him, and though Harry had rather diplomatically suggested it might be better if he were to give her the benefit of the doubt, he knew that there was nothing he could have said that might have genuinely led her to believe that the dinner was to have been later than usual and particularly not by two whole hours! She of all people knew how much he believed in the importance of keeping children in a routine. It wasn't good for them to be eating that late, it would nearly be bedtime before they finished now and besides dinner was always served at exactly the same time every evening, even if she hadn't once been his nanny, she had lived in the manor herself for long enough to realise that if nothing else. What had vexed him most of all however was the anxiety that bubbled up inside him with every moment that went by. What if something was wrong? What if Black had gone after them as a way to get to Harry? What if she had decided to just take the children and disappear? Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock, the sound of the grandfather clock in the hall punctuated his thoughts of doom, an echoy reminder of the passing seconds that seemed to be getting louder and louder until unable to take it any longer he decided to go and find out what was going on.

Conscious of the fact that if this were a trap he was walking right into it he sent the older children into the dining room to have their dinner, then without their knowing it, cast a spell on the door, safely sealing them inside. He then turned to a surprised Cobb and asked him to keep guard, and to send for Dumbledore if he wasn't back within half an hour before apparating to Morgana's.

Taking a deep breath he crossed the threshold onto the property. It was a typical country cottage, made almost invisible by the thicket of brambles surrounding it and would have been considered quaint and cosy were it not for its crumbling stonework and mouldering thatch.

His heart pounded in his chest. The front door was open but there was no sign of either Morgana or the children in the overgrown garden making him fear for the worst. He drew his wand and crept inside, silently searching for a clue as to what might have happened to his family. How was it that he had managed to come in unchecked, surely Morgana would have cast some sort of protection on the house? He edged into the first room, bracing himself for a scene similar to the one he had come upon in Godric's Hollow almost twelve years before.

The open door had flooded the entryway with light but the room he had entered seemed unnaturally cold and dark and it took his eyes a few minutes to adjust. A Study, empty, and undisturbed for years by the look of things, the windows were covered in a thick layer of grime and the cobwebs looked large enough to support a family of acromantulas. Perhaps this was the wrong house, he thought to himself hopefully but then he heard laughter coming from the next room.

Sneaking forward he peered round the door and was infuriated to find Morgana sitting comfortably by the fire, glass in hand with Brendan by her side listening with amusement to whatever story she was telling.

Severus pushed back the door loudly, deftly dodging a hex as he demanded to know what she was doing.

"What am I doing? What are you doing Severus? Creeping about in the shadows your lucky I didn't curse you.

"You're lucky I don't curse you! You were supposed to be at the Manor nearly two hours ago.

"No, you said dinner was later this evening." she replied defensively, feigning confusion as she glanced across at the clock. "We had planned to leave in about ten minutes."

"I said no such thing."

"Of course you did Severus" she said dismissively as though he were a child before pointing out that he hadn't answered her earlier question as to what he was doing creeping about their house.

"I came to make sure you were alright." He replied shot back defensively before criticising her lack of security.

"But I do have wards." She argued back, before demonstrating that they were both present and active with a simple flick of her wand then watched infuriated as a sickening smirk crossed her husband's face – though it certainly hadn't been her intention, the magic clearly believed that Snape had a right to access simply because he was her husband and the father of her children. Feeling embarrassed and somewhat put out she turned away, busying herself with gathering up their things while muttering crossly about how he hadn't even said hello to his son.

"Now it was Severus's turn to look embarrassed and he turned to greet the boy, apologising for his brusqueness while also trying to explain to him why their lateness had worried him.

He didn't seem to care though, in fact if anything he thought it was funny. Severus sighed and sent the boy off to fetch his sister, before asking Morgana if she was aware that Black's escape was a specific threat to their family.

A flicker of fear crossed her face as her eyes darted automatically to the door her son had just walked through. "Seriously?" she asked.

He nodded gravely.

She sighed and called for the children to hurry up before asking him what he had done to invoke Blacks wrath but before he could explain the children came running back in. "I'll tell you later" he whispered before lifting Aurelia up into his arms.

"Hello Princess, how are you today?" he asked brightly.

"M'okay sir, how are you?"

"All the better for seeing you my dear," He replied cheeseily causing Morgana to roll her eyes at him, "Here." she said thrusting a bag at him, "Why don't you make yourself useful.

Shifting his daughter to one side he took the proffered bag and checked to make sure she didn't want him to take anything else before moving towards the Floo.

Despite this rocky start however, it turned out to be quite a good weekend all in all. He had originally been planning to surprise them with a trip to the zoo but with Black now on the loose and baying for his son's blood he had had second thoughts. It wouldn't have been prudent to leave the safety of the manors wards under the circumstances, and besides Harry had been badgering him all week about giving the twins a cookery lesson so on Saturday morning with him, Morgana, Brendan and Aurelia playing happy families outside in the garden Harry and the twins took over the kitchen producing a banquet equaling that of even the most fanciest of establishments.

Part of him was really proud, but another was forced to remember that Harry had only developed this skill because he so called aunt had effectively used him as slave labour. He was also a little uneasy with the delight Morgana seemed to take in his older children being put to work but still they all seemed to have enjoyed the experience and that was all that mattered really.

Then before they even knew it was Sunday, and Morgana took Brendan and Aurelia back home again leaving them to spend the rest of the afternoon packing. Harry and the twins would be spending the next couple of days at the Burrow with the Weasley's, allowing Severus to return to Hogwarts and finish the necessary preparations for the new school year before the students arrived.

Harry had been really looking forward to it, he missed his friends, and he loved life at Ron's. The burrow was the first place, other than Hogwarts, which was a school so it was slightly different, that he had ever felt welcome and he was very excited for the twins to experience the closeness of life there, not to mention his excitement in getting to properly hear all about Egypt but somehow it didn't quite live up to his expectations.

To his surprise however, he had actually found himself rather sad when his father bade farewell to them after dinner, leaving them there alone. In fact, though he would never admit it to anyone, he actually missed him and while he certainly enjoyed catching up with his friends he couldn't ignore the niggling feeling he had that something wasn't quite right.

Poor Mrs Weasley had had to come up to Ron's room three times the first night to tell them to go to bed. Initially because they had all stayed up long past bedtime listening to stories of the Weasley fantastic adventures abroad where even Percy, who was going to be head boy this year, had manged to relax enough to get in on the fun for once. Second after Fred and George had snuck back in to ask Harry what they thought of their ideas for a back to school prank and finally an hour later when Ron had laughed a little too loudly at Harry's impersonation of Draco Malfoy.

At first Harry had thought that maybe that was why things seemed a little off the next day, she had been quite cross the third time she had had to come in after all and though they did call an end to their late night whispering before she had had to come in a fourth time, Harry knew that at the Manor, there would have been severe reprisals if his father had to ask him for something even a second time.

Drawn from his slumber by the glorious smell of bacon frying the next morning, Harry had bounded down the stairs after his friend in his pyjamas to find Lily and Evan in the kitchen helping a similarly clad Mrs Weasley set the table. The twins looked uncomfortably out of place in their usual semi-formal clothes in such a relaxed environment and he greeted them apologetically; he probably should have warned them that life in most houses was far less structured than at the Manor, but being her usual kind and loving self, Mrs Weasley had quickly put them at ease and Ginny too had gotten washed and dressed though so at least they weren't the only ones. At that point it had seemed like their misbehaviour the previous evening was completely forgotten but then as the day went on it became evident that Mrs Weasley's was behaving far less carefree than she had on his previous visit.

Fred and George had promised to take them all off for the day, to explore the surrounding countryside and to introduce them to all their secret hideouts and the lookout spots including one which overlooked the back garden of a Hufflepuff boy Harry vaguely knew from playing Quidditch. Mr Weasley was at work and it was expected that their mother would be busy assuring herself for the hundredth time that they had everything they needed for the return to school and that all the necessary repairs and adjustments had been made to their robes but she wouldn't let them out of her sight. They were barely able to play outside in the garden without her calling one or other of them back for something or other every ten minutes let alone make it off down the road away from the house.

This however had had quite the opposite effect than intended as it only added to the sense of adventure, making it just like being back at school, sneaking about, avoiding being caught by filch or his father but it grew tiresome rather quickly, particularly once her excuses became more and more obviously contrived.

"Has it been like this all summer?" Harry whispered to Ron after Ginny was summoned in for the sixth time for something particularly ridiculous, "Since Ginny and the whole chamber thing?"

But his friend had shaken his head, "Nah mate, not like this." The ginger replied in bewilderment, leaving poor Harry certain that whatever was going on had something to do with him and the twins being there.

Were Fred and George planning some kind of prank on his brother and sister that she was trying to prevent? He loved them with all his heart but even he had to admit they were quite delicate. It wouldn't be something that they would take very well and of course his father would be furious, maybe she was afraid of somehow invoking his wrath? But then he remembered the look she had given his father when he had first taken him home for the summer. Pure Lioness; no Mrs. Weasley wasn't the slightest bit afraid of his father. It was a lot of responsibility though, looking after someone else's kids, especially the innocent little Lord and Lady of Prince Manor, why wouldn't she be overly cautious? Imagine having to tell his father that one of them had gotten injured falling out of a tree or something, he could kind of see where she was coming from and had just resigned himself to the fact that they wouldn't be exploring anywhere beyond the garden wall when Fred and George announced their new plan. The Ghoul in the attic would create a diversion that would allow them to sneak off while their mother was otherwise occupied and it was only then that Harry discovered the real reason for her over protectiveness – not a fear of his father at all but a fear of Sirius Black.

They had been gone less than an hour when a severely disappointed Mr Weasley, not long home after his early morning shift at the Ministry, came to fetch them back.

He wasn't angry, he didn't even shout, he just seemed relieved to have found them and wearily reminded them that their mother had asked them to remain in the garden before escorting them home.

Mrs Weasley on the other hand was very cross and in giving out made it quite obvious that not only did she believe that the escaped convict posed a threat to her own children but that she considered him a specific threat to Harry.

Not wanting to let on that this was news to him Harry quickly brought to mind everything he knew about Black, trying to piece it altogether before he asked any stupid questions which would alert Mr and Mrs Weasley to their mistake.

It wasn't just that Black was a known supporter of Voldemort with reason to blame him for his leaders demise, from the way they were talking Harry could tell Black was a more specific, and more worrying he supposed, more imminent, threat to him than some other random Death Eater. A more personal desire for revenge perhaps, but why? The name did seem rather familiar, but what could he have done to him and why on earth hadn't his father warned him? His father had to have known of course, he had been behaving funny since his escape too, and he was sure he had overheard him whispering about it with Morgana over the weekend.

Nothing else was said about Black that might explain his personal vendetta against him though and noting the distress the subject was causing his Brother and Sister, Harry decided to let it go for now, acknowledging the stupidity of their actions and apologising for the worry they had caused Mrs Weasley by disappearing. He thought perhaps that Ron might be able to tell him anyways; there were often things like this that his friend, coming from a wizarding background, knew about him that he didn't even know himself. Usually he found this sort of annoying, but he had to admit that sometimes it did have its benefits. When he asked him later that evening though he was disappointed to find that Ron was as oblivious to his history with Sirius Black as he was; he did however earn Harry another clue by innocently asking his father if he really though Sirius Black might be lurking around Ottery St Catchpole when he wished him goodnight which prompted Arthur to take them to one side and assure them that they were safe. He admitting that sometimes his wife got a little over anxious but then justified it somewhat by commenting on their track record when it came to finding trouble for themselves and made them promise him that they wouldn't go looking for Black.

This is what had confused Harry most of all, why would he think they would intentionally go looking for someone who wanted to harm him? He had lain awake for quite a while thinking about it, and the fact that his father had kept it a secret before eventually deciding it would be better for him to just forget all about it, it wasn't exactly new for him to have an evil wizard after him after all and he had too many other things going on his life to be worrying about it.

The next day was August 31st, the last day of the summer holiday and Harry was pleased to see Lily and Evan slip shyly down to breakfast in their nightwear – he smiled encouragingly at them, it was good for them to learn to loosen up a bit before they got to school. Their father came back to collect them after lunch and they were probably home less than two minutes when Evan asked him why Sirius Black was after Harry.

Severus cursed himself, he should have warned the Weasley's not to mention Black but brushed it off with a rhetorical question; Why was any dark wizard after Harry?

They had their last lesson with the sword master at four o'clock. The muggle commended them on their progress and was very sorry that he would not be seeing them again until the following summer. He had been trying to convince Snape to continue their lessons at least one weekend a month to keep up their proficiency but their father had obviously had to decline.

Finally they washed up, spent one last dinner together and then spent the rest of the evening making a few final adjustments to their packing before their father took each of them into his study one by one to talk to them about the upcoming year.

Lily was first and as he tenderly undid the unsightly braids he presumed Ginevra Weasley had inflicted upon her, he asked her if there was anything she was concerned about. As he expected however she was happy enough to be going away to school, of the three of them she would find this transition the easiest, like her namesake she was pretty, clever and amiable, she wouldn't have any difficulty with classes and was unlikely to have much difficulty making friends, despite her somewhat unfortunate connection to the schools resident potions master. She was slightly concerned about the sorting procedure, as someone, doubtless one of the Weasley twins, seemed to have made out it was a trial of some description, but while he refused to tell her what actually happened he did assure her it was nothing to worry about.

He then reminded her that at school he would be her potions professor not her father and that while she was welcome to come to his office if she ever needed something they were to treat each other in a strictly professional manner while in public, be it in the classroom or the corridors.

Finally he urged her to do her best and to enjoy herself but, crossing his fingers that she wouldn't be joining Harry in Gryffindor, cautioned her against getting involved in any of her brother's hare-brained schemes before dismissing her.

He met with Evan next, and presuming him to have gotten the same misinformation about the sorting as Lily, immediately set about putting his fears to rest. The method of sorting wasn't the boys only worry though, Severus knew he was dreading the possibility of being separated from his sister and though he hoped that introducing him to the Patil's would have alleviated some of fears he knew it was something they needed to talk about again.

He was glad that alphabetically Evan would be sorted first, the boy would have his house and his sister would either join him or she wouldn't. When Severus himself had started at Hogwarts, his Lily had been sorted first and from the moment she was placed in Gryffindor, he had had to suffer the rest of the sorting knowing there was no way he would be joining her. He knew that it some ways it would probably be good if the twins were separated, but remembering this feeling he really felt for his son. It seemed for now at least though, that Evans earlier anxiety had been mostly overtaken by the general excitement to finally be going away to Hogwarts so Severus steered the conversation on to more positive topics, there was nothing that could be done about the sorting other than just waiting so see what would happen.

He then gave Evan the same speech he gave Lily about treating his father and potions professor as two different people, and reminded him to behave before bidding him good luck and asking him to send Harry in.

It was Harry of course that he was most worried about, and not just because of Blacks escape. The twins would settle into school life as best they could and there wasn't really much he could say or do to help them with that, he would treat them the same as any other students in his class but their classmates would know from the very beginning that he was their father. It would be up to them to make of that what they could. Harry on the other hand had started school two years previous, an orphan, severely neglected by his Aunt and cruelly mistreated by the teacher who later turned out to be his biological father.

This time last year he had even lobbied for his own sons expulsion after the whole flying car incident but then Harry had discovered he was his father and slowly it had all come out. They had gotten off to a bad start but they grew closer as the year went on and despite all his past mistakes things were going great between them now but he knew the return to Hogwarts could mean the placing of a wedge between them again.

Since the Ball the entire wizarding world knew that they had now accepted each other as Father and Son, there would be no need for pretense any more but that didn't mean the student body wouldn't be over analysing every single exchange between them. As with the twins Severus expected Harry to treat his father and his professor as two different people. Would the boy be able to make those distinctions or would it be too confusing for him? The twins were used to having a distant father but Harry wasn't, and with everyone around them scrutinising every detail of their relationship he could be easily be prompted into believing that this professional distance was something more personal. Not to mention the fact that there would be many who would deliberately try to mess things up between them in the hopes of provoking more of the soap opera style dramatics that had kept the entire school entertained the previous year.

Harry seemed to understand though so they moved onto the topic of Sirius Black.

Severus had contemplated telling the boy the truth about Black and his involvement in his parents death all afternoon, keeping it secret from him wasn't right and he was bound to find out about it eventually after all but ultimately he had decided against it. Whatever had been said about him at the Weasley's it wasn't that or he knew the boy would have mentioned it by now. He would just have to hope that Black was safely recaptured before Harry did find out, so that he didn't have to worry about him doing something stupid like attempting to hunt the maniac down himself. If he was particularly lucky he might even still be able to tell Harry the real story of Blacks imprisonment himself at that point. In the meantime however the best he could do was remind Harry that he was a very dangerous man and implored him not to do anything that could place himself in harm's way.

And then that was it, there was nothing else left to say, or do so knowing that tomorrow would be a long day, bade them goodnight and sent them to bed. Que Sera Sera!