A/N: I'm happy for every feedback and constructive criticism but I will not respect straight out hate or trolls in the comments.

alice22: You will have to wait and see ;) It will be in the next chapter!

randomplotbunny: Yes I just love to see Lucius out of sorts :D

ThePhoenixandtheDragon: Haha maybe he will have one ;) I love Sirius so he will be in the story :) Haha you'll see ;)

LadyMonochromia: Wow long feedback! Thank you! I believe the deeper explanations will come at some points ;) Harry AND Severus are still missing a big chunk of information about what happened :)

mizzrazz72: He will and I'm working on it ;)

Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling - I just played a bit in her universe.

Thanks to miu-sama95 for prereading, betaing and helping with the storyline ;)

Chapter 17: Last Days of School

Words: 3495

'Morning, Dad.' came the sleepy voice of his son from the entrance to the living room.

Severus had already been up for a little while and had used it to get as much of his end of term paperwork done as possible. That was important so he could leave the school as fast as possible once the students were gone.

'Good morning, Snitch. How did you sleep?'

'Good. Though I have no idea how I ended up in bed.' Harry was still half asleep and shuffled over to the couch where his father was currently seated and plopped down next to him, resting his head on Severus shoulder.

Severus had to smirk at the memory of his son refusing to sit on the couch just yesterday before he put an arm around his shoulders.

'You fell asleep mid sentence so I carried you to bed. Thank Merlin you told Ronald that you might not be back to the tower.'

'Oh. Right.' the teen mumbled and snuggled further into his Dad's embrace to hide his blush. This was nice. He had never cuddled with a parental figure before. Only with Ron and Hermione. 'What's the time? I should go up for breakfast.'

'It's only just after half past seven and we both have to go up to the Great Hall because the foreign schools will be departing right afterwards. The headmaster requires everyone to attend their farewell.'

'I'll have to say bye to Fleur and Viktor.' Harry muttered sadly before brightening up as he remembered the offer his new found friends had made him. 'Oh! By the way: we have an open invitation to visit Fleur in France and Viktor invited me to Bulgaria just yesterday! Can we go?'

'We'll see.' The Potions Master noticed his son deflating at his response so he chose to elaborate. 'Harry we have a lot to get done this summer already and we have no idea what may happen when your parentage comes to light. I'm not saying no, just that we will have to see if we can make time for a trip abroad. Alright?'

The teen pondered over his father's words carefully for a few moments before nodding. 'Alright.'

It was true that they had many important things to get done this summer. First and foremost proving that Severus was in fact Harry's biological father - not that either of them were suspicious - and moving in together with Marvolo.

'Dad?'

'Yes?'

'Will you tell me which house you chose? I can't stand not knowing. Please!'

Severus chuckled at Harry's barely concealed curiosity and begging.

'Sorry, Snitch but that wouldn't be fair to Marvolo. I want it to be a surprise for both of you.'

'You are no fun.' the teen grumbled.

'You will see it on Friday which is only two more days away'

At the mention of the date Harry perked up again. Only two more days of secrets and being under Dumbledore's watchful gaze. For the first time in all his years at Hogwarts Harry was actually looking forward to leaving the school and starting his summer holidays.

'I wanted to talk to you about something anyway.'

'What is it, Dad?' Harry asked and scooted out of his father's embrace to be able to face him properly.

'Well, you leave for King's Cross on Friday morning and will be in London shortly after midday. I may be able to sneak out Friday night for a few hours but all the teachers usually stay in school at least until Sunday night for the end of term meetings and all that.'

Harry didn't like the sound of that and before Severus could explain anything else Harry's breathing got quicker and he curled up on himself.

'Harry?'

'You promised I wouldn't have to go back!' The Potions Master could just make out the words his obviously distraught son was muttering over and over again.

'Oh no, Snitch! You got it all wrong!' Severus exclaimed the moment he made sense of his son's words. He quickly pulled Harry into his lap and hugged him tightly while explaining.

'You were not going back to those muggles, Harry. I promised and I never break my promises. I was merely working my way up to telling you that Marvolo will pick you up at the station.'

It took a few seconds until his father's words registered in Harry's mind and broke his inner mantra and a few more until he had calmed down again. Only now did he notice his position on his Dad's lap and blushed in embarrassment. He was too old to sit on his father's lap.

'Better?' Severus asked still concerned. He had thought of many reactions but this hadn't been one of them. He wondered if it may have been more than just the thought of going back to the Dursleys. Maybe Harry had separation anxiety, in a way. He shook his head to clear his thoughts again before continuing. 'Are you okay with Marvolo picking you up?'

'I think I'll be okay as long as he behaves. But how will he do that? Wouldn't it look suspicious?'

'He won't wait at the platform. There is a little cafe at the end of platform 9 and I want you to wait there for him. Marvolo will be a bit late to avoid a run in with anyone who could know either you or him.'

'That sounds doable, Dad. What then?'

'First you'll ask each other security questions to make sure you are you and then you get to take a portkey to our new home.'

'Security question?' Harry asked confused.

'A question only the other person knows the correct answer to. You don't tell me since it has to be one only Marvolo can answer.'

'Alright I'll think of one.' the teen promised and only the he remembered that his father mentioned a portkey. The thought of traveling like that again made his stomach feel queasy.

'Why do we have to use a portkey? Can't we floo or apparate?'

'Portkeys are untraceable if they aren't made by the Ministry and you won't be able to floo because you want to stay unnoticed. Apparition is also out of the question because Marvolo has never been there either so he wouldn't know where to go. You will get to see our new home right at the same moment.'

The teen accepted this explanation and sunk into his mind to recount any encounters he ever had with the Dark Lord to find an original question for Marvolo.

Soon afterwards Severus sent him off to get ready and they left for breakfast early enough to not draw attention.

Harry used his invisibility cloak to leave the dungeons and walked in the direction of the owlery before turning around and taking his cloak off. That way it would look as if he had been to see Hedwig. Since he was usually the first one awake in the dorms and liked to go for a walk no one would ask questions and the other boys would wake Ron.

When he made his way into the Great Hall it was already buzzing with students and all his friends were at the table already. When Ron and Hermione saw him they both moved over a bit so he could squeeze in between them. After giving Ron a quick peck on the cheek and muttering a good morning to everyone Harry immersed himself in his breakfast.

After all the food had vanished from the tables everyone made their way into the grounds. Many students said their farewells to the new friends they had made. Harry and his friends said their own goodbyes to Fleur and Viktor, promising each other to write soon. It took some time until all of Durmstrangs students had boarded their ship but then the ship left and sunk back into the black lake in a matter of minutes. It took the girls from Beauxbatons even longer to say their farewells and when all of them had boarded their flying carriage it took off into the sky.

After even the last speck of the flying carriage had vanished from the sky the students started to disperse. Some went further into the grounds to enjoy the good weather, some went back inside and Harry, Hermione and Ron wandered off in the direction of Hagrid's hut searching for a quiet place to talk.

Harry told them about their plan once they were back in London before they visited Hagrid for the rest of the morning.

The teens wanted to spend as much time as possible together before they would be separated for most of the summer.

Harry and Ron especially were dreading spending time apart. Although they were sure that Molly and Arthur haf no problems with Harry coming over or Ron staying at Harry's they still thought that Harry would be staying at his muggle relatives. That complicated things for the young couple. The afternoon was spent with many small touches, hand holding, kisses and murmured words of affection while they walked the grounds.

Thursday found all of the fourth year Gryffindors in their dorm, trying to pack their trunks. The had wanted to play quidditch but Hermione had given them grief about packing and in the end it was easier to just give in than try to protest. They could still go for a fly after they were finished.

Famous last words.

It took the five boys all day to find and sort through all their things. Their possessions had been strewn all over the room during the school year and now they had to divide what belonged to whom which was quite difficult. Of course the packing and sorting was interrupted by a pillow fight which started after Harry and Ron got a bit carried away in their kissing.

All in all Harry spent two great days with his friends without any worries hanging over his head anymore. Thus it was a merry group of Gryffindors that made their way down to the Great Hall for the leaving feast.

Meanwhile Severus had spent the last two days running himself into the ground. He was trying to do a week's worth of work in as little days as possible. Usually he would spend at least the first week of the holidays at the school to restock the infirmary and take stock of his own and the student's supply closet.

For the first time since he had started teaching he really wanted to leave the castle as soon as possible. He had been brewing non stop, only catching naps in between. Now at least he only had potions accounting to one day of work left. That would leave him with the weekend to do the stock taking before leaving hopefully on Sunday night after the last teacher meeting. If he didn't fall over in exhaustion before that. He was so damn tired.

No student would ever believe it if they heard it but the Potions Master was actually looking forward to the leaving feast. Not only gave it him a break from the dark potions lab but it also gave him a chance to see his son again.

He hadn't seen Harry since Wednesday and although he would never admit it out loud - not yet anyway - he had missed Harry's company. Or maybe he just missed company altogether since Marvolo also hadn't been over since Tuesday. Funny how fast one could go from hating company to missing it.

Severus took his place just in time before the doors to the Great Hall opened to let the students in for the leaving feast.

The whole room was decked out in blue and silver tones to celebrate Ravenclaw winning the house cup. That had been expected since Gryffindor and Slytherin only had a shot at the house cup if they won the quidditch cup and there was no quidditch this year.

The Potions Master let out a breath he hadn't noticed he'd been holding in when Harry entered the room. He was holding hands with Ron and had his other arm slung over Hermione's shoulders. The Golden Trio had big smiles on their faces and were chatting away with all of their other friends as they made their way to their table.

As always the feast was absolutely amazing and everyone was enjoying themselves while eating as much as they could. Even Severus Snape. He had managed to get a seat between Minerva and Filius - the two teachers he could stand the most and he was deeply immersed in a discussion with the transfiguration professor about the animagus revealing potion.

'But Minerva! It would change the whole outcome of the potion if we even changed one ingredient.'

'I was just giving you an idea for a project, Severus. I used the potions and every student I supervised had the same objections as I had back in my time. It is tedious to get from a vision of an animal to the real animagus transformation. Especially if it is an unusual animagus.'

'Mhmm… I will have to think about that. It would help a lot to get a potion that transforms you for the first time but at the same time it would make it easier and more dangerous for less powerful wizards.'

They were interrupted by Albus' end of term speech and although it was a bit different this year Severus just blended it out. Instead he chose to observe Harry and his friends. They all seemed happy and thankfully nothing seemed amiss.

After the feast was finally over Severus made his way to the Slytherin dorms to give his own farewell speech. He did this every year to congratulate them on their success and afterwards he awarded the students who had gotten the best results in their year. He always got them a little present - nothing special but still something thoughtful and nice. Afterwards he reminded them not to leave the common room after the party started.

There was always a party in the dorms the night before the train left. He just loved the shocked expression on the first years faces. They always thought he didn't know about the parties.

After finishing his speech with congratulations to the graduates Severus left to retire to his own quarters.

Up in Gryffindor tower the party was already in full swing and everyone was having fun. The twins had outdone themselves again and the party was lacking nothing. Harry used it to enjoy the last few hours he had together with Ron. They were dancing to the music and whispering endearments in each others ears.

Hermione thought it was rather cute and so did most of their fellow Gryffs although she saw Ginny giving her brother a deadly glare. She was obviously not happy with their relationship and Hermione made a note to herself to keep an eye on the younger girl. Before long the two boys snuck up to their dorm to spend their last night together.

They weren't ready for physical intimacy yet but that didn't mean there was no touching or snogging at all. They curled up on Ron's bed together, lost in each others eyes. With every touch Ron reassured Harry of his love and Harry basked in the affection he got. Every caress was filled with love and they didn't need any words to convey their feelings for each other. They stayed up long after the party had ended whispering to each other.

Severus spent a few more hours preparing ingredients for his last batch of potions tomorrow before finally retiring to his own bedroom. Just as he wanted to go to the bathroom his mirror started ringing.

'Marvolo!' Severus exclaimed suddenly all exhaustion gone from his voice.

'Good evening, love. You look tired.'

'I am. I spent the last two days and nights brewing non stop so I could leave the castle as fast as possible.' Severus explained.

'That explains why you didn't get my calls yesterday night. I just wanted to check if you are alright. Anything new?'

'I'm fine. I only have one more day's worth of brewing left. No. Albus is stewing quietly at the moment. I'm sure he's planning something but he hasn't acted yet.'

'Good, good. What about Harry? Didn't you tell him about me picking him up?' Marvolo was curious about the teens reaction but tried his best to not give his feelings away.

'He thought I would send him back to the muggles at first but after I explained he was okay with it. I don't know if it was a step towards accepting you or just anything is better than them. We'll have to wait and observe.'

'At least he didn't outright refuse.'

'Yeah. Anyway. What did Lucy say? What do you have to do?' The Potions Master was rather curious what the Slytherin line required of him since the Prince line only asked Severus to have a proper job with a steady income which he fulfilled by being a teacher.

'Erm.. Well. It's not that easy. The rules are rather strict, I suppose.' Marvolo began before accumulating every ounce of bravery he had in himself and blurting out. 'I need Harry as my heir.'

There were several seconds of silence before Severus reacted.

'WHAT!?'

'I. Need. Harry.' The older wizard pressed out a second time as if it pained him to say it. 'Slytherin requests that I have an heir and that said heir as well as myself speak Parseltongue. Harry Potter is the only other living Parseltongue known to the world.'

Marvolo was shocked when his husband broke out into laughter.

'What is so funny about this situation? Or would you rather I come over and we try for a baby right now?'

That sobered Severus right up. He knew exactly what his husband meant by that and he didn't like it.

'Harry? Are you sure there is nobody else?'

'Yes and No. Harry is the only one. Actually he is the official Slytherin heir anyway already since we were married long before he was born, love. You know the Lordship rules as well as I do. I just thought it would be a hell of a lot easier if he was willing.' Marvolo explained and sent Severus into another fit of giggles. It took him a good few minutes to compose himself again.

'Thank you for that. I needed a good laugh, Marv. Have fun asking him and I wish you the best of luck. Harry is more stubborn than anyone I have ever met and you may not believe it but he can be sly as a Slytherin. You should think about offering him something in exchange for his cooperation.'

'Thank you for you confidence in me, love.' Marvolo drawled sarcastically. He knew it would be difficult to get Harry to be his heir but he was working on a plan.

'My poor son will have so many titles his hand will hurt just singing his official name.' Severus commented absentmindedly.

'What do you mean?'

'Well he is a Potter, a Prince and a Slytherin if he accepts and I know he is the Black heir as well. I don't even know how many other names come with the Potter name but I'm sure there are a few.'

'I guess you're right, Sev. If he uses all the names it will be quite a mouthful.'

Before either of the men could say anymore an alarm went off in Severus quarters. Something had obviously happened at the Slytherin party. Cursing under his breath Severus turned off the alarm before turning back to his partner to make his excuses.

'I know you have to go, love.' Marvolo interrupted before Severus got out one word.

'Yeah. I have to check on my snakes.'

'Don't worry. I will pick up Harry at King's Cross and we will see each other tomorrow night.' Marvolo assured his husband.

'Alright. I love you, Marv!'

'I love you too, Sev. Now go scare some students.'

Severus laughed before switching off his mirror and picking up his teaching robes again. No need to look anything but scary if his snakes decided to interrupt his talk with his husband.

With one last glance at the small communications mirror the Potions Master stormed out of his rooms and towards the Slytherin common room.

TBC

Miu and I only have one week of university left before summer holidays!

I will be on holiday all of July, so I may not update on time next month. There will still be a sceduled one next week but afterwards I have no idea how the wifi will be!

We will still do our best to get the chapters up for you as fast as possible!

First posted on: 25. June 2017

Next update planned: 02. July 2017