Harry's summer

Severus watched impatiently as the students boarded the train back home for the summer. It was just his luck to be stuck with this job today of all days. He took out the pocket watch his mother had given him on his seventeenth birthday; there was still time.

"Have a good summer, Professor," a voice came brightly from his right. Severus whirled around quickly and narrowed his eyes at the smiling face of Nymphadora Tonks. Her hair was a ridiculous lime green today. She probably did that just to annoy him.

"Five points from – " he began, preparing to take points for the ridiculous color.

"You can't take points now, Professor," she interrupted quickly, "The term is over." She had the audacity to grin cheekily at him.

He scowled but was slightly amused. She definitely came here on purpose. "I'll have to remember to take points next year then," he grumbled.

"You do that, Professor," she said brightly, "Well, I should go now. Bye!"

"Goodbye, Nymphadora," he smirked as she scowled before walking toward the train. She was the last one in. He called all his students by their last names except Nymphadora. Maybe it was because she hated it so much. Well he had to amuse himself somehow, he thought shrugging.

He cursed as he checked his watch again. There wouldn't be time to floo to Arabella Figg's house. He'd have to apparate from Hogsmeade.

"Where are you off to in such a hurry, Severus?"

Severus sighed. "I have to meet someone right now, Minerva. I'm already late." Hint hint.

"I see. What about the Head of Houses meeting we're supposed to have right now?" Minerva said folding her arms sternly.

He groaned. Was there really a Head of House meeting now? "I'd completely forgotten, Minerva. I won't be able to make it."

"Oh very well, Severus. Go on." He looked at her suspiciously. Had she been teasing him? Why was everyone torturing him today of all days!

He growled as he began walking to a safe apparation point. "Have fun, Severus!" Minerva called out, a cat-who-ate-the-canary smile on her face.

Harry grinned happily as he skipped beside Severus. His day had finally taken a turn for the better. Summer holidays had begun yesterday and the Dursleys were going on a vacation to Majorca with Aunt Marge. Needless to say, they didn't want to take Harry and Harry would have rather eaten a pound of doxy eggs (which Sev told him some "imbecilic dunderhead" had done at Hogwarts for a bet) than go with them. He had quickly written to Sev in Aunt Petunia's journal and begged Sev to pick him up early so that he wouldn't have to stay at Mrs. Figg's house for the next week.

Sev had been late coming so Harry had been forced to endure Uncle Vernon's ramblings about how "his lot" was highly irresponsible and should all be hanged. His tone changed the moment Severus rang the doorbell and he slapped Harry on the back, jovially saying, "Well, Boy, goodbye then."

"Stop dawdling, Harry," Severus chided as they reached Mrs. Figg's house from where they would floo to Prince Manor, but he too had a self-satisfied smirk on his face.

The minute they reached the manor, Harry rushed up to his room and jumped on his large, soft bed. He hadn't been here in a while since Sev had to be at Hogwarts during the examination period. His room here was way better than the small bedroom the Dursleys had grudgingly given him. He didn't even bother maintaining that one and Aunt Petunia never came in to clean so it was always a mess.

This room, however, was a perfect size. It had a bed, a desk, a cupboard and a bookshelf where Harry kept all his favorite books from the library. Posters of Quidditch teams and players adorned the walls along with a few moving photographs of Harry and some drawings Harry had made himself. The pictured featured Harry riding a bicycle and Harry riding a broom, Harry opening presents at Christmas and Harry eating pancakes. Professor Dumbledore had taken all the pictures and in some of them, Sev stood skulking in the background. There was a lone photograph featuring a man with messy black hair and a woman with dark red hair dancing in the snow; the picture of his parents Sev had given him last year at Christmas.

"Harry!" Sev called from downstairs.

"Coming!" Harry called back, hurrying downstairs to the kitchen.

"Hi Tinky!" Harry smiled at the elf

"Good day, Master Harry. It is so good to be having you and Master Severus back," Tinky said, her large elf ears bobbing, "Would Master Harry be wanting something to eat?"

"Yes please, Tinky," Harry said gratefully. He hadn't eaten properly in ages.

Severus raised his eyebrows and sighed. "I suppose you'll need nutrient potions as well?"

Harry just looked down and nodded. He didn't like talking about the Dursleys when he was here. Severus ran a hand through his hair but didn't broach the subject.

"So how were your results, Harry?" he asked instead.

"They were good!" Harry said enthusiastically. "I got As in everything, except I got a C in Geography," he added making a face exaggeratedly.

Severus hid a smile. "Good, Harry. Your mother would have been proud."

Harry beamed happily. Sev had told him that his mother – both his parents actually – had been excellent students and would have wanted him to do his best. Sev himself was such a harsh taskmaster that Harry didn't dare skive off schoolwork, or else.

"You can have the day off today, but from tomorrow you will wake up at a reasonable time and get a head start on your homework. Then you can have the afternoons free for flying," Severus said, proving Harry's point.

Harry groaned but at Severus's sharp look quickly said, "Okay. But can I help you with making Potions later?"

"Yes, you may," Sev said, pleased.

Potions was the only magic Harry could do outside of school and after years of staying with Sev, Sev's passion for the subject had been easily transferred to Harry. As Tinky brought in a large plate of sandwiches, Harry gave a contented sigh. It was good to be home.

Severus smiled to himself as he watched Harry unconsciously chewing on his pencil as he worked out a math problem. Lily used to do the same thing. Although Harry was a copy of James, he sometimes reminded Severus of Lily. His facial expressions, cheeky retorts and fiery temper were all Lily's. Luckily, he had none of James' undesirable qualities, perhaps due to circumstances of his childhood.

Thinking of Harry's childhood troubled Severus; it reminded him too much of his own, not because Harry was physically abused (multiple Crucios would be just an appetizer if the Dursleys even tried), but because of the neglect. Severus had tried to make Harry's childhood as good as possible but there were some circumstances he could not control, like the fact that they didn't feed Harry often and that they would punish him if he got better grades than Dudley. However, after seeing Harry's dismal results one time, the admin had been 'persuaded' to change Harry's section so he was no longer with Dudley.

Harry was a very quiet child. He didn't like to complain or be a burden on Severus and Severus knew that Harry didn't tell him everything that went on at the Dursleys'. When Harry came to stay with him though, he was more happy and hyper than he ever was at the Dursleys'. Severus wished Harry could have more friends his age, but at this point, it was simply not possible for him to meet any wizard children. Harry was friendly with the other children in his class, but he always kept his distance, what with the problem of his accidental magic. Most Muggle-borns like Lily had been, and Muggle raised, barely made friends with other Muggle children; they always knew they were different.

"Harry," Severus started as he approached Harry.

"Yeah?" Harry asked rubbing something out on his paper.

"Yes." Severus corrected. "I'm brewing the Boil Cure Potion right now. Do you want to help?"

Harry immediately put his pencil down. "Yes!" he said excitedly hopping off the chair.

"But then you'll have to finish your homework afterwards," Severus warned.

"Okay," Harry agreed easily as they headed downstairs to the Potions Lab.

"Now, remember to take the cauldron off the fire – "

"Before adding the Porcupine quills," Harry finished as he removed the cauldron.

Severus's lip quirked. "That's right," he said, not quite able to keep a note of pride from his voice.

"I was thinking, Harry, how would you like to go to London tomorrow?" Severus asked casually one evening as Harry sat curled on an armchair, reading a book about basic Charms.

Harry looked up. "Diagon Alley?" he asked hopefully.

Severus sighed. "Harry, you know we can't go there. It's not safe."

"Yeah, I know," Harry said resignedly. "So what are we going to do in London? Not buying more clothes, please!"

"I actually thought we could go sightseeing a bit and watch a movie at the cinema, but if you'd prefer to go clothes shopping…"

"No!" Harry said quickly, but grinned sheepishly when he saw Severus smile, a sure sign that he had been teasing him. "How come you decided we should go to London?" Harry asked curiously.

"It seemed like a good date to go," Severus said seriously. "July 31st," he added at Harry's blank look.

Harry's eyes widened. "It's my birthday!"

Severus smirked. "Finally caught up, have we."

Harry pretended to huff but broke into a smile as he went back to his book.

The next morning, Harry was greeted by the sight of a tall man with jet black hair and a rather long nose when he came down for breakfast.

"Morning, Sev," he muttered sleepily to the man.

Severus gave a small smile and said, "Happy birthday, Harry," before distractedly muttering something to himself.

"Be quick, Harry. I'll be waiting for you in the hall," Severus snapped suddenly before stalking out of the kitchen. Somehow, it didn't have the same effect in this random man's body, Harry mused, snorting. He did not take Sev's behavior to heart; Sev was always testy before they went out in public together.

Severus always took Polyjuice Potion before they went out in case he was seen escorting the Boy-who-live. Sev was very evasive about this part, but Harry hadn't questioned him too much; what Sev didn't want to answer, Sev wouldn't answer, no matter how much Harry prodded.

Harry knew that he was famous in the Wizarding World as the Boy-who-lived which was why he couldn't go out in public in places like Diagon Alley. Sev had explained to him that it was for his own safety not to be seen yet since there were still Death Eaters out there who would love to get to him. Not to mention all the attention he would get from his 'adoring fans'. Harry shuddered at the thought. He'd never thought he was special. He was just Harry; a boy who was famous for the murder of his parents.

They flooed into the Leaky Cauldron, from where Sev quickly ushered him out into Muggle London before they could draw attention.

Sev seemed more relaxed now. "Where do you want to go first?" he asked. Harry's eyes were bright with excitement as he contemplated all that he wanted to fit into this one day.

A trip to the London Eye, a tour of Buckingham Palace and a children's movie (which Sev had managed to endure though with a repulsed look on his face every time the characters had burst into song) later, they were sitting across from each other in the booth of a small restaurant.

"Thank you so much, Sev," Harry said as he looked at Sev over his menu, "This was the best birthday ever!"

"I'm glad you enjoyed it, Harry," Sev said amusedly.

Harry nodded enthusiastically. "And I love my present," he added, holding up the bag that contained the train set Sev had bought him from Hamley's. Sev had promised to enchant it so that it worked on magic, like the Hogwarts Express. "Thank you."

"You don't have to keep thanking me, Harry. It's your birthday. You deserve some fun after the whole year."

Harry sighed, feeling disappointed by Sev's words for some reason.

Severus noticed but before he could enquire, the waitress popped up to take their orders. After Severus ordered the salmon, she turned to Harry, smiling, and asked, "And what about for your son?"

Severus didn't bother to correct her and Harry's eyes widened for a moment before he realized that father and son was the role they were playing.

"I'll have a cheeseburger," he said smiling his cutest smile at the waitress, "And a pina colada, like Dad."

She beamed at him before leaving.

Severus raised his eyebrows but didn't comment. "Professor Dumbledore is visiting tonight. No doubt he would have brought you a yearlong supply of muggle sweets," he said rolling his eyes.

Harry grinned. He liked Professor Dumbledore.

"Can we go now, Sev?" Harry asked after they finished their meal.

"Be patient for a moment, Harry," Severus told him sternly.

Harry swung his legs under the table feeling completely impatient. He wanted to go back and try out his new train set.

Just then there was a loud chorus of "Happy birthday to you!" The waiters were all singing as they approached Harry's table and their waitress soon came out carrying a large chocolate birthday cake with seven candles. Harry looked across the table in shock at Severus who was smiling despite his pained expression. "Happy birthday, Harry," he said.

"Blow out the candles and make a wish now, love," the waitress told him.

Harry grinned. He knew exactly what to wish for.

Later that evening, they both collapsed on the sofa, exhausted. Just then, the fireplace flared and Professor Dumbledore stepped out, a worried expression on his face. He smiled when he saw Harry. "Happy birthday, Harry. May you have many more," he said jovially.

"Thank you, sir," Harry said shyly.

"If you don't mind, Harry, may I have a private word with Severus before I give you your present?"

"Of course, sir," Harry said jumping up and heading out the door.

"What's wrong, Albus?" Severus asked, imagining the worst.

"Nothing's wrong, my boy. I simply have some news which I don't know how you'll react to."

"Well, you'll never know if you don't tell me," Severus said sarcastically.

"Quite right, my boy," Dumbledore said sighing. "Very well. Remus Lupin has returned. And he wishes to meet Harry."

A/N: And now we come closer to the climax...

Thank you once again to everyone who reviewed. They make me want to write faster! Notice- this chapter is twice the length of the others. Hope you enjoyed:)