"Can you leave the book for just a second?" Ron asked mockingly. The girl snorted at this and closed the book with a loud bang.

"Okay, okay, I was just joking and... Ow!" the boy yelped as Hermione grabbed onto his side.

"I think I can't hear you well," the girl smiled, digging deeper into the Weasley's ribs.

"Not! Haha! Please stop! Harry stops her!" The teenager hated being tickled.

"It's your own fault," Potter replied laconically, ignoring the mock fight between his two best friends. He closed his eyes for a second as if in a friend, someone spoke right in his ear.

"I'm hungry!" The boy turned sharply and saw Kai.

"What are you doing here?" said Harry, he had almost forgotten about him.

"You left me in your jumper pocket, it was so warm and cozy there, but I got bored and came here," Kai explained energetically, wagging the tip of his tail.

"You shouldn't wander around here. Someone could have seen you or crushed you with something heavy," Harry scolded. The snake nodded sadly and crawled onto the boy's chest.

"I'll be careful next time, I promise. But I'm still hungry."

"Wait a bit."

"What did he say?" Hermione interrupted their conversation suddenly. Now the two sat in front of him, listening intently.

"He's hungry. Newt left for me everything that this glutton liked," the sophomore scratched Kai's smooth head, from which he hissed softly, "but I'm so tired that I'm unlikely to move out of bed anytime soon."

"This is true. I didn't even notice how exhausted I was until Snape sent us to bed," Granger agreed, sprawling on her stomach beside her.

"Well, we managed to do so much in these half a day, which is not surprising," Ron sat between them, his legs tucked under him.

"We could..." Harry didn't have time to finish when he was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Enter!"

Harry couldn't help but squeak as Kai slipped under his shirt. The cold scales pressed against the warm skin, creating an unpleasant shiver. Just in time, a second later, Snape was standing in the doorway. In just a black sweater and trousers, he did not create such a formidable impression.

"Bed, quick" one order was enough for the boys to jump out of their seats. There was no trace of the previous reluctance to move "this also applies to you, Miss Granger."

Hermione nodded quickly as she crawled under the covers. As soon as her head touched the pillow, she felt such heaviness that she was dying to sleep.

"I'm taking this out for now, just in case," the man picked up a book lying alone on the edge of the bed. The girls can only nod. To Hermione's surprise, Snape straightens the covers and gently brushes her hair away from her face. "Sleep."

"Thank you Professor." Granger hides his lip twitching behind the blanket.

"Nothing," he whispers, and leaves. The young witch falls asleep almost immediately.

The boys were already half asleep when Severus came to check on them. Kai asked to stay in Ron's bed, none of them objected. The room was a bit of a mess, when the snake crawled out of his pocket, he managed to scatter a few things.

"Well, what kind of children," the man sighed quietly, picking up things and returning them back to the closet.

"And how did I get to this point?"

Severus thought as he walked down the stairs. Lucius sat in the living room by the fireplace with a glass of wine. Narcissa, on the other hand, was drinking chamomile tea.

"She never liked alcohol."

Snape sat down beside him, taking the glass of wine offered by the elf and sighing heavily.

"I never would have thought that you would have children," Malfoy senior smiled mockingly, sipping a bright red drink.

"They are not my children," the younger man frowned, leaning back in his chair, the children exhausted him in order.

"You're always denying the obvious."

"Don't we have other topics to talk about?"

"Speaking of which, Lucius, have you sent a letter yet?" Narcissa set her cup down on the table.

"It does not matter."

"Only she can make him embarrassed." Snape hid his smile behind his glass.

"So he did write," the sly smile of this woman was no worse than that of her husband.

"No, I didn't write anything to him. We haven't spoken at all since we had a fight," said Malfoy senior haughtily, finishing off his wine in one gulp.

"Oh, please remind me, when was that? You've fought so many times before that I've forgotten," Narcissa asked innocently. The tone gave the men goosebumps.

"That woman always scared me. But it's true. Even then, when we first met."

It happened at the beginning of autumn, when he had just arrived at Hogwarts. Severus was sitting on the shore of the lake in splendid isolation, studying a book on potions, when suddenly he heard screams.

"You bastard, you cheat again and I'll rip out your blond hair!"

"Shut up, red macaque, it's not my fault that you are such a break!"

The freshman became interested and he went to the noise. Two tall guys were sitting next to him. The Gryffindor was bright red, and for a second Snape thought someone had lit a fire on his head. Another Slytherin, looked like an aristocrat. Long platinum hair and cold gray eyes. They were playing chess on the edge of the shore.

"Go ahead, we don't have much time. If anyone finds out we're skipping classes, we're done for." The red-haired boy made his move.

"Beans notice nothing but his dusty books. I still doubt he knows he's dead. Even a monkey like you should answer all his questions correctly," the blond snorted, crossing his arms over his chest, "Besides, no one is here at this time."

"Yes, but I'm hungry. And because of your stupid idea, I didn't have time to have a proper breakfast."

"You're always hungry," the blond shook his head, taking out a paper bag from his bag, "Here. Even macaques should be enough."

"Thanks!" the redhead squeaked enthusiastically, grabbing the package. There were several fresh buns inside; Severus could smell them even from where he stood.

"I don't need your thanks. Chew faster and let's play, monkey."

"You're a terrible brute," the Gryffindor replied, stuffing him with buns.

"And you are a stupid monkey. I told you to chew, jerk."

"Are you sure you don't want to?" the boy divided the croissant with raspberries into two parts.

"I don't need ..." The Slytherin didn't have time to finish when a piece of croissant was shoved into his mouth.

"Maybe that will shut you up for a second. I'm already tired of listening to your aristocratic nonsense," the redhead smiled. The blond already turned purple with anger "and don't make such a face, you look like boiled beets."

"Brainless monkey!" the Slytherin shouted and pounced on the Gryffindor.

"Blond bastard!" the chessboard turned over with a crash and all the pieces scattered along the shore. Two boys rolled on the grass, insulting each other with the most incredible nicknames. Until finally the redhead took over. He pressed the blond to the ground, sitting on his chest and held the magic wand right at his throat.

"Checkmate, Goldilocks."

"I hate you, brainless gorilla," the Slytherin sighed, raising his hands up, "I give up."

"Excellent. Who is the king now?"

"You, gorilla, king of the monkeys. Now get off me. It looks like we have a spectator." The two finally spotted Severus hiding behind a tree.

"What are you doing here, boy? Are you walking?" The redhead helped raise the blond to his feet.

"No," Snape shook his head, "classes start later, so I decided to take a walk."

"Do you know that a monster lives in this lake? He eats freshmen who come to the lake and..."

"Don't scare him," the Gryffindor kicked the blond, who could not resist and flopped into the water, "Ha ha. Well, what an idiot?"

"He is alright?"

"Do not worry. My name is Arthur and his is Lucius. Although he is a bastard, do not hesitate to contact him."

"Red monkey! Well wait, I'll get to you!"

"Oh, it seems I have to go," Arthur quickly gathered the scattered chess pieces, "Swim a little more, you should cool off a little," when Lucius tried to get out he was pushed into the water again.

"See you later, boy," grabbing his bag, the red-haired boy smiled brightly in parting and rushed towards the castle with all his might. Snape couldn't help but chuckle then.

"Well, wait, the monkey is peeling off; I haven't finished with you yet!"

"Catch it first, Goldilocks!"

The memory made Severus smile. So much time has passed since then.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Yes, I just remembered something very funny."

"Come on, Ron, get up," Harry pulled the blanket off his friend, but there was no reaction. Only Kai hissed angrily. He curled up into a donut, pressing his whole body against the Weasley's back.

"Get off me," Ron muttered irritably, burying himself in the pillow.

"Get up; we've been sleeping for almost three hours. I don't want you to have insomnia at night. So get up," Potter began to shake his friend by the shoulders, preventing him from falling into the world of dreams again.

"How stubborn you are," the sophomore sighed doomedly, turning to face his friend.

"I'm just trying to be a good friend," Harry chuckled as he picked Kai up. The snake wrapped itself around the child's arm, resembling a fancy bracelet.

"I'm hungry."

"I fed you before we went to bed. You are such a glutton," the teenager stroked the white scales. Pulling his things out of the closet, the boy took out a bag of food for Kai from his pocket.

"Thanks!" the snake attacked the food as if it had not been fed for a month.

"Weird, I thought Kai had dumped some of the stuff on the floor," Harry muttered, pulling up his pants.

"Perhaps Snape put them back in place," Ron shrugged, still lying in bed.

"You should also change clothes," the boy threw his friend's clothes, right in the face.

"Ouch!"

"Hee hee, I'm sorry," Potter squeaked, bursting into muffled laughter.

"Not an ounce of regret," Weasley shook his head, pulling on his shirt, still reluctant to get up.

"I'll go to Hermione." She should have been up by now, and you get dressed quickly. Don't even think about falling asleep," Harry warned.

"I got it, I got it."

After making sure that no one was in the hallway, Harry knocked on Hermione's room. About fifteen seconds passed before he heard a sleepy voice:

"Enter!"

"It's me," Harry slipped through the door. Hermione was sitting on the bed, still in her pajamas.

"Hi, how was your sleep?"

"Better than I could have imagined," the teenager plopped down beside her.

"Amazing, right? I would never have thought that I would be here as a guest," the girl smiled strangely, not at all cheerfully. It looked like she was about to cry.

"What happened to you?" Potter asked worriedly, pushing long strands of hair back to get a better view of her face.

"I don't know, but sometimes I have a dream. It's like I'm here on the estate. That a terrible woman is torturing me, I don't see her face, but one look from her frightens me. She used Cruciatus, it hurts so much every time. And they keep you and Ron close and make you watch." Hermione trailed off, trying to hold back her tears. Harry pulled her close to him and whispered softly.

"It's just a dream. Dreams are not real, right?" The boy smiled, wiping a few tears off his friend's cheek.

"True," Granger agreed. They sat like that for a few more minutes, hugging each other. The young witch pulled away first.

"Now, I think I'm fine. I need to change."

"Of course," Harry was about to turn the silver doorknob, but the girl's voice stopped him.

"Thanks."

"Rubbish. Me and Ron, always there if you need to talk. Do not forget about it."

"I will never forget."

Potter left and turned towards the stairs, almost colliding with Snape.

"I see you're already awake, Mist... Harry?" the boy could hardly contain a smile when the man stumbled on his name.

"Yeah, Ron and Hermione too."

"Then tell your friends to get down," the man ordered, turning on his heels and disappearing around the bend.

"How's Hermione?" Ron was sitting on the bed with Kai on his knees. The snake enjoyed being petted after eating. The pajamas were lying where they found them a couple of hours ago.

"It's all right," Harry took Kai and put him in his jumper pocket, "Snape said to go downstairs."

"Okay."

Having met with Hermione, the trio slowly went downstairs. Draco was already in the living room eating pumpkin pie. On the coffee table were four steaming cups of hot tea and plates of cake and a few cakes. As soon as the Gryffindors appeared in his field of vision, he immediately perked up.

"Finally. Hurry up, otherwise there will be nothing left," the boy grinned, putting another piece of pie into his mouth.

The trio looked at each other, but nevertheless sat side by side on the sofa and took a piece of cake for themselves. After the plates were empty, Draco suggested they go for a walk.

"Come on, I'll show you around." There was nothing to do anyway, so they agreed.

"Whiskey!" Another house elf appeared in front of them. "Get everything out of here."

"Very well, young master."

"Excellent. Come quickly."