Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: Enjoy!

Remus looked up from his desk when he heard his classroom door open. He stood up when he saw who it was. "Severus, I was about to…hey!" He cried out as he was suddenly thrown against the wall. Hard. He automatically went for his wand.

"Expelliarmus!"

Severus caught Lupin's wand and for a second considered breaking it. Instead he simply gripped it tightly in his hand.

"Severus what is the meaning of this?" Remus rubbed the back of his head.

"How dare you talk to my son the way you did!" Severus hissed, his eyes darker than ever. "No one hurts my son in any way. No one!"

"I don't know what he told you but he has a parchment that is actually a-"

"Map of Hogwarts, I know." Severus waved the map in front of Remus. "He told me. He was already going to tell me. He was not going to sneak out. In case you have forgotten he is not James Potter son." Severus said harshly. "He does not do or act the same way James or the rest of the Marauders did!"

Remus paled slightly.

Severus rolled his eyes. "What, you think I wouldn't remember what you four called yourselves? You're the one who knew about this map and didn't say anything!" He accused.

"No I-I thought the map was lost. I don't know how he could have gotten it." Remus said weakly. "But I do know how tempting that map can be especially for a thirteen year old boy. So I thought-"

"You thought wrong." Severus interrupted. "He had just received it, was looking at it, and then planned to show it to me. How dare you accuse him of using it to sneak out?"

"I was worried for him when I saw the map." Remus sighed. "If it got into Sirius's hands, he would know exactly where Harry is at all times!"

Severus gritted his teeth. "Again, that is why he was bringing it to me. He had already deduced that. When he told you he wasn't going to misuse it, you should have believed him!" The wolf at least had the decency to look ashamed. Severus stepped closer, his wand pointed directly between Remus's eyes. "Do not ever make him feel guilty for Lily and James's deaths. Ever!"

Remus paled. "I didn't mean to imply- I was just trying to-"

"Frankly I don't care." Severus said icily. "You hurt him wolf. You accused him of something he was not planning to do and then made him feel guilty for his own Mother's death. What a wonderful addition to the staff you are." He said sarcastically.

"No, I didn't mean it like that." Remus said sadly, wanting to kick himself for losing his temper. "Albus told me about some of the trouble Harry has gotten into in the past and I just want to help keep him safe. I didn't mean it the way it must have sounded. I just know Lily and James would want him to take his safety seriously."

"I, as his father, have been teaching him that." Severus replied, stepping back but still glaring at Remus. "It is my job to guide him, reign him in when need be, and teach him to make the right choices. He is a great kid, he's learning responsibility, and he does not need you crushing him with your careless words!"

Remus winced. "I'm sorry. So sorry. I never meant to hurt him. I want to protect him. I overreacted and I will apologize to Harry." Remus looked slightly defeated. "I care about him Severus. I was worried and ended up being too harsh."

Severus regarded him for a moment and then nodded. Oh, he would hex Lupin into next week if the wolf ever hurt his son like that again but for now, Lupin seemed sincere. "So this map is the work of you and your friends? What's with the funny names?"

Remus cleared his throat and absently shuffled some papers on his desk. "When they found out I was a werewolf they nicknamed me Moony. For fun they gave themselves nicknames so we could talk in secret." He gave an awkward shrug. "Kids, you know."

"Yes I know."Severus muttered. He briefly wondered why Lupin was avoiding looking at him but dismissed it, figuring that the wolf felt ashamed for how he had treated Harry. Speaking of Harry, Severus was anxious to get back to his son. "Here," He casually tossed Lupin's wand at him. "I expect you to apologize to Harry when you see him next." He turned and stalked out of the classroom, not seeing the conflicted look on Remus's face.

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Even after a game of chess Harry was quiet and withdrawn. Severus regarded him thoughtfully when Harry plopped down on the sofa. "Would you like to hear a story?" He asked suddenly.

Harry looked at his Dad curiously. "What kind of story?"

"The story of when I proposed to your Mum." Severus answered with a smile.

Harry's eyes lit up. "Okay!"

Severus sat down next to him. "I was a nervous wreck. I wanted the proposal to be perfect." He began, getting lost in the memory of one of the happiest days of his life.

"What are we doing here Sev?" Lily asked as she looked around.

"You remember this place?" Severus asked as he watched her beautiful eyes light up.

"Of course I do!" Lily exclaimed. She pointed to a tall tree and then gestured to all the flowers that were blooming. "This is where we first met. I was upset because my sister was making fun of me for doing strange things." Lily locked eyes with Severus. "And then you came out from behind that tree and showed me you could do strange things as well. You taught me that it was magic and told me all about Hogwarts. From then on, I knew I wasn't alone and that I wasn't a freak like Petunia had told me I was."

Severus gently grabbed her hand. "From then on, I felt complete. We may have been young but I knew that my life had changed for the better. You have enriched my life in a way I never thought possible."

"Sev," Lily said softly, a smile gracing her pretty face.

Severus took a deep breath and got down on one knee, holding out an open black box which held a diamond ring. "Will you do me the extraordinary honor of becoming my wife?"

Severus had just finished the words when Lily threw herself at him as she shouted yes and they both fell over and tumbled down the hill, laughing like little children. When they stopped, Severus was on top of Lily and brushing her hair from her face. "You are amazing." He murmured.

"No, you are amazing Sev." Lily said as she cupped his cheek with one hand and looked into his dark eyes. "You are the best thing that ever happened to me and I can't wait to marry you and one day have children with you."

"Children, huh?" Severus mused as they lay side by side, holding hands and looking up into the sky just as they had when they were kids.

Lily snuggled into his side and he put his arm around her. "Of course. Wouldn't you like to have a child someday?" Her emerald green eyes sparkled.

"What if I am not a good father?" Severus asked quietly, thinking of his own experiences with his father.

Lily propped herself up and stared at him seriously. "I have no doubt that you will be an amazing father Sev. No doubt at all." She held out her hand and he slipped the ring on. It was a perfect fit.

"I suppose a son would be nice." Severus said thoughtfully.

Lily laughed and laid her head on his shoulder. "Sounds good to me. I love you Sev."

"I love you Lily."

"The wedding was small but wonderful." Severus continued as Harry's eyes began to droop. "Lily gave me a lot of amazing gifts…her love, her compassion, marrying me and making my life so full yet the greatest gift she ever gave me was you." He gazed fondly at his son.

"She was right Dad." Harry mumbled as he struggled to keep his eyes open. "You are an amazing father."

"Ah Harry." Severus dropped a kiss on top of his son's head. "I love you."

"Love you too."

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"The Ministry is working on the cell for Voldemort." Dumbledore told Severus. After Harry had fallen asleep Severus had called a Hogwarts house-elf to stay in their quarters in case Harry woke up and wondered where he had gone. "They are keeping it quiet though. It took a lot of convincing for Fudge to agree as he chooses to believe that Voldemort is dead."

"Fudge always was an idiot." Severus commented. "I am close to perfecting the potion to weaken Voldemort." He added.

"Very good," Dumbledore nodded. "How is Harry? I understand he missed the Hogsmeade trip today."

"Yes." Severus crossed one leg over the other, shaking his head when the Headmaster offered him a lemon drop. "It was a consequence from before Christmas, although perhaps I should have let him go after all as he would have been better off." He said darkly.

"What do you mean?" Dumbledore asked.

"Lupin!" Severus scowled. "He caught Harry with a map of Hogwarts and accused him of trying to sneak out. The wolf even went as far as to make Harry feel guilty for Lily and James's death!"

Dumbledore frowned. "I have a hard time believing Remus would be so cruel."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Of course you do." He snorted. "Lupin can do no wrong right?"

"Severus." Dumbledore slightly admonished. "I just mean I doubt he would deliberately hurt Harry."

"I do not think Lupin intended to hurt Harry." Severus grudgingly admitted. "Intentions aside, he did cause anguish to my son with his words and if he does it again, next time I will not show such restraint when I confront him."

Dumbledore nodded. "Of course Severus, I wouldn't expect anything else." His eyes were twinkling as he looked at his former student.

"Any ideas on where Black is or what can be done to find him?" Severus asked.

"No." Dumbledore frowned. "It is most disturbing. What he wants apparently is Harry." Dumbledore looked thoughtful. "If we used Harry as bait-"

"You can disregard that thought right now!" Severus yelled as he stood up. "I am not putting Harry in harm's way, especially as I have been trying to teach him that chasing after danger is not the way to go."

"It was just a thought Severus, please do calm down." Dumbledore said quietly. "You are right; putting Harry in a path of potential danger is not the answer. I was merely thinking out loud."

Severus sighed and sat back down. "I could always Polyjuice as Harry and wait for Black to try and attack me." He mused.

"That might be a good idea." Dumbledore agreed. "It is something to think about anyway."

"The map that Harry had, it shows everyone who is at Hogwarts and where they are." Severus spoke up. "Apparently it is something the Marauders cooked up. I will be keeping an eye on it in case Black's name appears."

Dumbledore looked surprised. "Interesting. You will have to show me this map some time."

Severus nodded and stood up. "I need to get back to Harry. He was so upset he fell asleep without eating lunch."

"Perhaps you could take him some lemon drops as he missed out on Hogsmeade." Dumbledore gestured to his bowl of treats.

Severus snorted. "His friends will most likely be bringing him back an abundance of sweets but thank you anyway." He turned and swept out of the Headmaster's office.

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After dinner Ron and Hermione went to Harry's quarters with him to give him a bag overflowing with candy and Zonko's joke products. "I thought we would never make it to Zonko's." Ron complained as they spread out the contents of the bag on the coffee table. "Hermione wanted to spend the entire time in the book store."

"I did not." Hermione rolled her eyes. "We were in there only twenty minutes."

"I had to drag her out." Ron confided with a wink to Harry.

Harry chuckled as he opened a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans. He held the bag out and Ron eagerly took a handful. Hermione gave the red-headed boy an exasperated look as she knew Ron had his own bag in the Tower.

"So what did you do today? You were quiet at dinner." Hermione said to Harry. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Harry said to his ever observant friend.

"Harry was probably still upset about missing Hogsmeade." Ron said as he looked through the joke book he had gotten Harry.

"Actually, something else happened." Harry sighed. "The twins gave me this brilliant map of Hogwarts for me to sneak out with. I wasn't going to," Harry quickly assured his friends when he saw Hermione's frown. "I was going to give it to my Dad but I was looking at it first and Professor Lupin saw me with it. He accused me of trying to sneak out to Hogsmeade and said some stuff about mocking my parents sacrifice." He shrugged as he tried not to let on how much the Professor's words had bothered him.

"Professor Lupin shouldn't have said that." Hermione said shaking her head. She looked at Harry sympathetically. "He was wrong. You know that right?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I know." He said softly.

"I can't believe those gits had a map of the school and never showed me!" Ron exclaimed. "I'm their brother so why didn't they give it to me?"

"That's not important right now Ronald." Hermione snapped. She looked at Harry. "So what happened after that?"

"I told my Dad what happened. I think he may have gone to talk with Professor Lupin but I'm not sure. We talked and played some chess and then he told me the story of how he proposed to my Mum." Harry smiled.

Hermione's eyes lit up. "Aww, was it romantic?" She asked eagerly.

"Who cares?" Ron huffed. "Where is the map? Can we see it?"

"My Dad has it." Harry glanced towards his Dad's office. His knew his Dad was in his lab so he went into the office and immediately spotted the map on the desk. He returned to his friends and spread it out on the table. Pointing his wand at it he said, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."

"Brilliant!" Ron breathed.

Hermione's eyes were bright with fascination. "This is amazing! Imagine all the work and detail that went into making this." She said admirably.

"The twins are in the common room." Ron grumbled to himself as he studied the map. "I'm going to confront them about this."

Harry was also studying the map and saw a name that stood out to him.

"Ron, honestly." Hermione shook her head.

"I'm their brother, not Harry!" Ron snapped, jealousy clear in his voice.

Harry looked up and frowned, distracted from the name he had seen. He looked back down and the name was gone. Had he just imagined it? I had to have, he thought. Peter Pettigrew was dead.

Ron stood up and made to grab the map but Harry quickly swiped it up. "I'm putting it back in my Dad's office." He said.

Ron crossed his arms. "It should be mine." He said petulantly.

"Fred and George didn't give it to you." Hermione pointed out. "It's not yours. Where did they get it anyway?" She asked Harry.

"Filch's office their first year." Harry grinned though he noticed that Ron was still scowling at him. "Ron, don't be mad." He sighed.

Ron just shrugged. "I'm going to the Tower." He mumbled as he turned to leave.

"He's jealous." Hermione told Harry softly.

"Mischief managed." Harry looked up after he cleared the map. "Why would he be jealous? He wants the map that badly?'

Hermione looked thoughtful. "I don't believe it's actually the map. I believe it's the fact that the twins gave it to you instead of him. I think," She hesitated. "I think he believes that they wish you were their brother instead of him. He comes from a large family and feels insecure about his place there."

"He shouldn't." Harry said bluntly. "He has both his parents and is surrounded by siblings. He is the lucky one."

"Don't worry, Ron will get over it." Hermione assured him as she stood up. "I'm going to go and do a little more studying. Goodnight Harry."

"Goodnight." Harry turned and headed into his Dad's office to put the map back. His Dad walked in just as he was placing it back.

"Harry?" Severus observed his movements and frowned slightly. "What are you doing? Where are your friends?"

"They went back to the Tower." Harry answered. "I, uh, showed them the map. I was telling them about what happened today and they wanted to see it." He sighed. "Ron got jealous that I had the map."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Why would he be jealous?" Now he had a good idea about who had given Harry that map. He was surprised the Weasley twins had given it up.

"Um, he just…well." Harry hedged, not wanting to get the twins in trouble.

Severus thought for a minute. "Ah, is Ron upset that Fred and George didn't give the map to him?"

Harry nodded reluctantly. At least his dad didn't appear mad at Fred and George. "Hermione says Ron thinks they wish I was there brother instead. But that's crazy." He shook his head.

"Jealousy can make no sense." Severus agreed. He patted Harry on the shoulder. "Don't worry. You did nothing wrong. It is getting late, why don't you go get ready for bed?"

Harry nodded and with his thoughts on Ron, he completely forgot about seeing the name Pettigrew on the map.

TBC: Please review if you get a chance!