October 1993

Severus was not looking forward to this meal whatsoever. He had done a lot of horrific things in his life and yet telling Harry he had revoked his permission slip to go to Hogsmeade was proving to be just as awful as any of them.

It was the Wednesday before what should have been Harry's very first Hogsmeade weekend at Hogwarts, however with Sirius Black still on the loose, he didn't feel it would be safe for his 13-year old son to be off of the school grounds essentially unsupervised. To break the news, he had invited Harry for dinner in their quarters in hopes of lessening the expected explosive response.

"Harry," he started carefully once they'd made it halfway through dinner and a handful of other innocuous topics, "there's something we need to discuss."

Picking up on the ominous atmosphere that spread throughout the room, Harry audibly swallowed his food and asked, "What's going on Severus?"

"I've informed Professor McGonagall that I need to rescind my permission for you to go to Hogsmeade until further notice."

There was a split second where he knew Harry hadn't fully understood what he had said or the implications of it, but once that moment passed the Gryffindor was furious.

"You can't do that!" Harry yelled expectantly.

Severus tried to remain calm. While there were many times he and Harry did not see eye-to-eye on certain issues - such as his choice of electives for this year - they very rarely had explosive arguments.

"Actually, I absolutely can do exactly that. It's my responsibility to look out for your best interest and safety," the professor calmly explained.

"What do you think is realistically going to happen?!" Harry tried arguing from a different angle, "It's not like no one will notice an escaped convict roaming around Hogsmeade! He won't be able to get to me!"

"I can think of probably at least a half dozen different ways someone could easily get you undetected from Hogsmeade."

Harry didn't know that Severus was hesitant to sign the permission slip in the first place exactly for those specific reasons. In the end, he had decided Harry could not live his life in constant fear, so he had signed it. Now through, Black was getting too close and while Severus didn't think the man was smart enough to have considered even a fraction of the ways Severus thought to get to Harry, the fact was he had been smart enough to escape Azkaban in the first place so he couldn't be completely dismissed. There was also the Lupin connection to consider and though he couldn't prove it, it seemed too coincidental that the year the werewolf was hired as a defense teacher is the same year Black was out looking for Harry. Severus did not believe in consequences.

"That's not fair!" Harry yelled while standing up from the kitchen table and starting to pace; a habit he had clearly picked up from Severus in the past year and a half.

"I happen to consider your life a bit more important than a trip to Hogsmeade," Severus rationalized to the irate teenager. "Plus, you've been to Hogsmeade plenty of times with me previously."

Each year before school commenced - specifically from the Christmas and Easter holidays - Severus had taken a quick trip to Hogsmeade to visit the local apothecary and restock his potions inventory. Last year, Harry accompanied him on both occasions. Unlike his classmates, this would not be Harry's first time visiting the village, but his first time on the school sanctioned trip.

"It's not just about getting to go to Hogsmeade and you know it," Harry accused, still angry with Severus.

"Of course I know that. Which is why I didn't even try to compromise by offering to attend as your chaperone."

The professor almost laughed at Harry's horrified face. No matter how comfortable they had become with each other, Harry's friend's - specifically Neville Longbottom for good reasons - were still skittish around the professor.

"Whatever," Harry said, the one word that irked Severus more than anything else, while sitting back down to finish his dinner, face still scowling. The rest of dinner was eaten in complete silence.

By Saturday afternoon - and the day of the Hogsmeade trip - Harry still had not spoken a single word to Severus, except to grudgingly answer questions in Potions class. Even the detention the Gryffindor earned earlier in the week was served on Friday night in complete silence. While Severus enjoyed how clean his cauldrons had gotten from Harry's angry cleaning, he would have preferred to have his son speaking to him. It was the longest they'd gone angry with each other.

Severus was in the sitting room marking papers when he heard the door to their quarters open.

"Everything alright?" He called out not even lifting his head, knowing it had to be Harry; he'd likely followed the professor after seeing each other when he stopped by Lupin's office to deliver the Wolfsbane potion. Not only that, outside of Harry, Albus and Poppy were the only other people who had access to enter his quarters, but neither would enter unannounced unless there was an emergency.

Harry walked sullenly into the room and flopped onto the sofa. He was dressed casually in a pair of jeans and his red Gryffindor jumper.

"I'm sorry Severus," the teen said quietly.

Lifting his head, the professor met Harry's emerald eyes and could see the sincerity within them, but stayed silent.

"I know you are trying to keep me safe. Ron, Fred, and George all said Mrs. Weasley almost did the same thing for them this year. I guess it's what parents do." Harry paused then added, "I shouldn't have acted the way I did.

"Apology accepted," Severus placed the essay on Polyjuice Potion he was marking onto the table in front of him. He leaned over with his arms resting on his knees facing his son, "And Harry... Even when you can't see it or understand it, I am trying to keep you safe... Always."