Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. If I did, I probably wouldn't post here. ;)

Beta-read by Nita

Harry Snape

Harry sat in the headmasters office the next day after being released from the hospital wing by Madam Pomfrey. She had, of course, insisted on checking him over completely before releasing him, much to his distaste. All he wanted was to leave the hospital wing and get back to something normal.

He sat between his parents as they waited for Dumbledore to arrive; he was uncharacterisically late. Severus, who had little patience for waiting, kept shifting in his seat.

Harry's mother reached over and tucked a lock of his long hair out of his face and he resisted the urge to pull away. He hated it. Ever since he'd come back to Hogwarts, he didn't want to be touched...even by his family. He wished he didn't feel like that. He knew his parents had noticed because he'd caught them passing the look. It was the look only parents seemed to get, like they were talking to one another without using words. They never said anything about his almost flinches and winces, other then asking if he was okay, but he knew they were worried.

The thought of being touched right now just seemed wrong. There were no words he could put to it. The only reasoning he could think of for his behavior was what he'd been put through after he'd been taken. There was no denying that he'd been treated unkindly.

He'd even overheard his Dad use the word torture to explain how he'd been treated by Cage. Even now, when he thought of putting that word to his treatment, it made him shudder. Torture just seemed the wrong word to use.

The door to the headmasters office opened and Dumbledore walked through, deep blue robes lightly touching the ground. He smiled kindly at them and took his seat across from them.

"I apologize for my tardiness. There were some second years who thought it would be fun to let a Weasley stink bomb explode in the girl's bathroom."

Harry bit back a grin at hearing this. Everyone knew the Weasley twin's products were more powerful then the standard stuff. Their's also tended to be more creative, and for these reasons, were banned from Hogwarts School grounds. But someone always snuck pranks into the school.

"Well," Dumbledore continued, "needless to say, the smell will take a few days to get rid of."

"Do you know who the students were, Albus?" Lily asked curiously, her emerald eyes bright with humor.

"Yes, we discovered the culprets. Their punishments have also been delt with and we will send letters home. Anyway, on to our reason for being here." Dumbledore changed the topic. "As previously discussed," he nodded to Severus, "you would like to go home for an early break."

Harry looked over at his Dad. He hadn't heard any of this before.

"I've arranged for a substitute for Defense until your ready to return."

"Who?" Severus asked curiously.

"Remus, as you know, has previously taught Defense and he has agreed to teach the class until you are ready to return."

"And who will teach the position during the full moon?" Severus asked. Harry realized at that moment that the full moon was indeed coming up soon; about a week away in fact.

"Sirius Black. You know he's capable of teaching the class, Severus. I know you don't like the man but..."

"That's acceptable," Severus said calmly. If Dumbledore was surprised by his response, he didn't show it. Everyone knew Sirius was capable of teaching the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, as he used to be an Auror.

"Will Evan and Sydney be going home with you?" Dumbledore inquired.

"It's probably best they come home when it's time for Christmas break to begin. It's almost two weeks away and there's no sense in them getting behind in their school work," Lily spoke up.

Harry idly wondered why it was so acceptable for him to get behind, but he also knew that after what had happened there would be some leniencies, and he would be given some make up work to do at home.

Dumbledore nodded. "That is fine. Are you all packed and ready to go?"

"Yes, we have everything packed and we've already explained our early departure home to Sydney and Even."

Harry looked up at his Dad as he finished answering Dumbledore. He was relieved in a way that he would be going home, but he was also a little angry he hadn't been told all of this the night before. He quashed those feelings for later.

"Are you ready to go home?" Lily asked her son, breaking him from his thoughts. She resisted the urge to reach out and touch him again. She knew he was sensitive to being touched right now; it was difficult because all she wanted to do was hug him and never let go now that she had her son back again, safe, but she also wanted him as comfortable as possible, and he was so obviously uncomfortable with touch.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

Dumbledore spoke to Harry, eyes twinkling a little. "Have a good holiday, Harry. And take care."

"Thank you, sir," Harry answered him with a polite smile. As he stood from the over stuffed chair he slung his book bag over his shoulder, careful not to use his still injured hands.

They went to the fire place and Severus grabbed a pinch of floo powder and threw it into the red-orange flames, turning them green. Harry called his home's name before stepping in. He knew his Dad would be handling his trunk.

Ignoring the spinning sensation, he concentrated on keeping his balance as he was pushed out of the fire place. He breathed a sigh of relief that he'd managed to stay on his feet.

Looking around the room, he noted that things didn't look much different from when he had last been there. He'd half expected his youngest brother to come barreling out at him but remembered his parents telling him Dale was staying with their Dad's parents for a few more days.

The fire turned green once more, and Lily stepped out and smiled at him. "Happy to be home?" she asked, brushing a lock of hair from her face.

Harry gave her a real grin, something he hadn't done much of in recent months. He was definitely glad to be home. "Absolutely," came his response. She was about to say something more when the fire flashed green for a third time, and Severus stepped gracefully out and set the trunk down beside him.

"Are either of you hungry?" Lily asked. Severus shook his head no and she turned to Harry.

"No, thanks. I just wanna go to my room."

"I can bring something up to you," she asked further.

"Thanks, but I'm not really hungry right now." He really wasn't hungry. He felt bad that he wasn't as he saw a disappointed look flicker across her face before she quickly covered it with a small smile.

"That's fine. If you need anything just come get me, okay?"

Harry nodded and agreed before climbing the stairs and entering in his room.

Opening his door, he flicked the light switch on and winced as he applied pressure in the wrong area of his still healing hands. He'd been told by Maddam Pomfrey that as long as he was careful and applied the salve she supplied him with and changed his bandages nightly they would be okay in the week. The salve was to heal any damage done by his hands freezing in the snow. Madam Pomfrey had actually been surpised there wasn't any more damage to them.

He shrugged his book bag off his shoulder and let it fall to the floor. Shrugging off his coat and laying it on the dresser, he plopped down on his bed gratefully. He was exhausted, even though he'd only just woken up about four hours earlier. Madam Pomfrey had also told them Harry would probably be tired more often because he was still healing. Closing his eyes he let his mind drift.

He felt better being at home and back in his bedroom. He could relax better here. Before he knew it, he was asleep and the next thing he consciously knew, there was a thud which pulled him from his dreamless, relaxed state to a wide awake - jumpy state.

Looking around he saw his Dad standing at the foot of his bed.

"Harry?" Severus asked quietly. "Are you okay? I didn't mean to startle you."

"That's okay." Harry rubbed the sleepiness from his eyes with his wrist. He looked for the source of the thud he'd heard and saw that his trunk was sitting at the foot of his bed. "Thanks," he said, motioning to the trunk.

Severus nodded. "Are you hungry? It's almost supper time." He looked hopeful.

"I could eat." Harry slid off the bed and followed his Dad down the hallway and down the stairs towards the dining room. He was hungry, now that he'd slept some.

Food was already on the table, three place settings ready. Lily entered the dining room from the kitchen with a pitcher of juice for them to drink during dinner.

Sitting down, they all began eating, and small talk was passed between the three. Harry listened half-heartedly as his parents began talking. Half way through supper he was brought out of his musings by his mother calling his name.

"Sorry?" A confused Harry responded.

"Is that all you're going to eat?" She motioned to his half-eaten plate. He also looked down at his plate. He'd actually finished eating a while ago and had since been shuffling his food around with his fork; it didn't much resemble food anymore.

"I'm not really hungry anymore. May I just go back to bed?" Harry asked hopefully. His Dad was the first to respond with a light nod of his head.

"Good night, Harry."

"'Night, Dad." He stood from his seat and began picking up his plate, his hands stinging slightly with the weight of the plate on them, but it was tolerable; hands covered his and pushed the plate back down. Taking the hint he put his plate back down

. "Good night, Mum," and with that, he left the room and went back to his bedroom, falling asleep soon after.

"Do you think he's really okay?"

Harry shifted, still too deeply asleep to really place the voice, and too comfortable to be worried about it. A deeper voice followed after a long sigh.

"I don't know, hon."

"He just seem's so tired all the time, and he's not eating properly." As the voices continued to talk, they began pulling him farther from his comfortable sleep. He wished they would stop talking, he was now aware enough to know they were talking about him.

"Pomfrey said--" the deeper voice stopped as Harry groaned in annoyance. He was awake now. He knew they were talking about him and he didn't really want to make his wakeful state known. He just hoped they'd stop soon so he could go back to sleep. A moment later the deep voice started again. It was his Dad.

"Pomfrey said that it's normal, considering the state he was in when we got him back, and he's still healing."

Lily spoke again, her voice laced with worry. "I know, but he's just so withdrawn. Even worse now then he was before he was taken, I think."

"After what he's been through, being kidnaped and going through that abuse, it's expected. It could have been much worse. I think we just need to give him time to adjust."

"Maybe..."The voice paused for a moment. Harry could almost feel his mother's eyes staring into his back

. "It's just, he took the revelation of his adoption hard. Harder then I thought he would, and with being kidnaped by that monster..." There was another pause,like she was trying to quell her anger. "I'm just worried; what if it's too much for him to handle?"

There was another long pause. His eyes half open, back to his parents, Harry could see their shadows on his wall. He saw as his mother leaned into his Dad, he assumed Severus had his arm around her.

"I won't deny that that is definitely a possibility. If that is the case - we'll be there for him."

Harry swallowed hard as he heard this. He was so confused about things. He didn't think he was to a breaking point; but he definitely wasn't in a good place as far as his feelings and thoughts went. He was too jumpy. Things were too fresh to be okay, or anything close to normal.

The shadows shifting brought his attention back to where his parents were standing, the shadows disappeared as his bedroom door closed. He feel asleep shortly after that, his mind still swirling with thoughts of what had happened, of his thoughts of what had happened, of what he was feeling about everything and about the near future.

Would things be okay? He certainly hoped so.

Would he be able to accept Severus as his Dad again - like he was before Harry knew of the adoption? As hurt and angered as Harry was by this revelation, all he wanted now was his Dad; to have things like they used to be between them.

Would he ever feel normal again? It didn't feel like it now. But he hoped that one day, he would feel normal, that things would be okay. At least to what was normal for him, before this year, before he learned he was adopted and before Cage entered his life. His previous normal might not have been normal for most, but he wished he had it back.

End of Chapter

Thank you again, Nita, for betareading the chapter!

September 4,2006

A/N: Well, here's the latest chapter to Harry Snape. I was worried it would seem a little peiced together because I've just gotten a 6 week old puppy and have written when I've had the time (which has been usually paragraph - by - paragraph). Infact, as I write this he's walking around the room looking for what trouble he can get in. But I love him!

Also, some sad news today. I learned Steve Irwin, the Crocodile Hunter passed away today. I, like many, grew up watching him on TV. I was shocked learning he'd passed away like he did. I'm a SCUBA diver myself, and one thing we really have never had to worry about is sting rays. A friend made a site, you need to sign up to post, but its free and only takes a moment. The link is on my homepage.