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

ThePhoenixandtheDragon: Yes, sadly. But all will be well again ;)

mizzrazz72: Doesn't he always? ;) At least the letters from Gringotts...

barbaravitoriatp: Eu entendo o que você quer dizer. Os austríacos são sempre vistos como xingando e dançando nas montanhas. Os americanos só conhecem o filme o som da música. Meu pensamento era simplesmente que o Rio tinha uma estação internacional de floo e é por isso que Severus está indo lá. Eu nunca disse onde a conferência seria realmente. Eu nunca estive no Brasil, mas eu adoraria ir um dia. Meu namorado e sua família ficaram parados e adoraram lá.

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 19: Daddy to the rescue!

Words: 3965

Severus hated staff meetings. They were totally useless and utterly boring to him. The only bright side were the coffee and cookies the elves brought them, As usual his colleagues were talking for hours about things that could be said in minutes.

Severus made it a point to have his statements done in as little time as possible. His record was seven minutes for all seven years of students including his duties as head of Slytherin. Sadly he had to stay and could not leave after he was done.

Albus was sitting at the head of the table, sucking on a lemon drop as usual while presiding over the meeting with that darn twinkle in his eyes. Severus dreaded to find out what the old man had thought up yet again.

When the headmaster opened his mouth to speak Severus decided to tune back into the conversation so he wouldn't miss anything that may be important.

'Well it looks like we will be looking after the castle alone this summer, Severus.'

'I don't think so headmaster.' answered the Potions Master in an even tone. When he saw the dumbstruck look on his face he had a hard time hiding his amusement and when he caught Minerva's gaze he couldn't keep a little smirk from his face.

'What? Why won't you be here, my boy? I need your expertise for a little project of mine.'

'Firstly, headmaster, I am not your boy. I am the youngest Potions Master in history and it happened that I was invited to South America to speak at a conference.'

Now all teachers had to hide their smiles behind their hands so Albus wouldn't see their amusement. He was fuming on the inside and wasn't able to hide it completely. How dare Severus leave the country in this time of need without consulting him first?!

'You can't leave! The castle needs at least two people here all the time!' he tried again. He really needed Severus to stay so they could work on something to better control Harry. The little idiot was getting harder and harder to control for Albus' taste.

'Since I haven't left the castle for holidays for the last 14 years I think I earned it. And as far as I know the castle has enough magic on her own to not require anyone to stay here all the time.'

Before Dumbledore could come up with a good reason for Severus to stay at Hogwarts Pomona Sprout of all people decided to come and aid Severus.

'I think it is wonderful that something was finally interesting enough to lure Severus out of the dungeons for the holidays! If you really need somebody to stay I am more than willing to cut my own travels short and return early enough so that Minerva can visit her family as planned.'

'I could come back early as well.' Filius also offered.

With - by the looks of it - more than half of the teachers against him Albus saw no way out of the situation other than backing off. For now at least.

'Oh no, Pomona and Filius! There is no need for that. I will be fine on my own for a few weeks. I hope you will enjoy your stay in South America, Severus. Maybe you can help me once you get back.'

Severus only nodded while hiding his glee behind a mask of collected coolness.

'Is there anything else we need to address?' Minerva tried to get the meeting back on track. She had a date with a bottle of scottish finest Whiskey and her favorite armchair in front of the fire to keep.

'No I believe that will be all for now.' Albus said. 'We will meet again tomorrow at nine to discuss the budget for the next school year.'

Severus nearly jumped up and ran out of the room at the dismissal but managed to simply walk out at a brisk pace. He went directly back to his potions lab to check on his last potions. He had finished them before the meeting and had left them to cool down before bottling. Now he filled them into the glass vials he had spelled unbreakable before storing them away.

Inventory was all he had left to do before he could start his well earned holidays. With a look at his watch Severus noticed that it was only shortly after six so he may still make it in time for dinner with his husband and son.

The Potions Master quickly showered and changed out of his brewing robes into a more casual set before moving to the fireplace in his living room. After making sure that his rooms were warded he stepped into the fire and threw down the floo powder.

'Slytherin castle!' He called out clearly and was whisked away in the green flames.

Thankfully Yaxley had sent him a message earlier that the castle had already had a connection to the floo network while they had not managed to connect the manor just yet.

Marvolo would never admit it but he was worried and nervous. Two emotions he was not used to feeling. All emotions still felt a bit weird to him after his stint in insanity. He didn't know when he had started caring for Harry but he found that he did in fact care.

Marvolo could admit to himself that the green eyed boy had managed to worm his way into the Dark Lord's cold heard without even trying. Just as Severus had done all those years ago and the wizard knew that he would do anything to protect Harry now. He was under the protection of the Dark now. His husband was the reason he was pacing in front of the fireplace right now.

Marvolo knew he had said something to upset Harry but he couldn't fathom what so he was unsure of Sev's reaction to his son's disappearance. Actually he dreaded telling the Potions Master that his son had run off into the castle and not yet returned.

If anything had happened to the boy Severus would use him as Potions ingredients. He was sure of that. When Severus had first told him about his son he had been surprised by the amount of protectiveness his husband already displayed.

Before Marvolo could come up with a good explanation the lames in front of him flared green and his beloved stepped into the library.

'Good evening, Marv.' Severus greeted him and stepped forward for a kiss which Marvolo happily gave before holding him close in a hug.

'Hello, Sev. How was your day?'

'The usual. Albus tried to have me stay but the others stepped up for me.'

'Oh? That was nice of them.'

'Where is Harry?' Severus asked when he couldn't find his son anywhere in the room. 'How do you like it here?'

'I love it! It is perfect! Thank you for choosing it, love!' Marvolo leaned down to give Severus another kiss.

'And Harry?'

'Harry… he was angry.'

'Where is he then?' Severus asked again, getting impatient with his husband's stalling. 'Marv?'

'He… He ran off.' Marvolo finally admitted while letting his head hang in shame. He couldn't even look after a teenager for a few hours without scaring him off.

'WHAT!? And you didn't follow him?! What if something happened?! What-...'

'He's inside the castle, Sev.' Marvolo interrupted his beloved before he could get any more agitated or angry. 'I may have been a tad bit excited andthe he started shouting and before I knew it he ran off. By the time I made it inside he was gone from view. I just wanted to give him time to cool down so I didn't go and search for him.'

'Are you sure he didn't leave any other way?'

'Yes. To reveal and open all other exits one must use magic and he knows he is not allowed to use it here.'

'Alright. That gives you a little bit of time to explain to me what happened that made him shout at you before we go looking for him. Start at the beginning and this better be good or you are sleeping on the couch tonight.'

The Dark Lord gulped audible and pulled his lover over to the sofa so they could sit down before he began explaining everything that had happened since he had met the teen at King's Cross. Only when he got to their leave from the train station did Severus interrupt him.

'Wait! That was not what Yaxley should have told you! Did he really tell you this word for word or did you rephrase it to Harry?'

'Erm… To be honest I don't remember. I was in the midst of something when Trevor came by. Why was it so important?' Marvolo explained.

'It was important because it probably would have prevented all this from happening at all.' Severus said angrily. 'This castle is just our temporary home.'

At this explanation Marvolo's face visibly fell and Severus had to hurry through the rest of his explanation before the Dark Lord's temper made an appearance. 'We are still keeping the castle, Marv. It's yours.'

'What do you mean? All of this doesn't make any sense!'

'Let me explain then. I knew you wanted the castle but Harry and I both live in Hogwarts most of the year and frankly I like something warmer to relax. So I had Yaxley purchase the manor as our family home.' Severus started to lay out his reasoning. 'The castle was to be your anniversary present. I know you love it and I thought it would be the perfect base for the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters.'

Before Severus could say anything else his lover was snogging the life out of him. When they had to come up for air again he thanked his husband.

'Thank you, love. This is the best present ever!'

'You are very welcome. I also thought you could finally rid yourself completely of your muggle father's memory by burning down Riddle manor.'

'That is an excellent idea, my dear.' Marvolo said while a smile made an appearance on his face. 'You still didn't tell my how we ended up here in the first place.'

'The previous owner of the manor hurt herself and is still in Mungos. Thus she has not yet moved everything. Coming here was our best option.'

'Oh. That means all of Harry's worries are for nothing anyway?'

'Probably. First we need to find him though. It would be better for you if nothing has happened to him.' Severus threatened his husband.

'Then let's go!'

The two wizards moved out of the library and into the hallway before using the locating spell.

'Point me, Harry Potter.' Severus intoned while placing his wand in the palm of his hand. When the wand pointed down the left corridor Severus took Marvolo's hand and pulled him down the hallway at a brisk pace. He would never admit to actually running. Severus Snape and the Dark Lord did not run.

After walking for what felt like ages while regularly checking the direction Severus could understand how his son got lost. Everything looked the same.

'Hopefully he didn't take his cloak with him.' The Potions Master finally broke the silence.

'What cloak? He was wearing dreadfully big clothes. Are they his?'

'He got James invisibility cloak and likes to sneak around Hogwarts with it. No. They are his fat cousins cast offs. We will have to go shopping as soon as possible.'

'An invisibility cloak you say? Very interesting.'

'What's interesting?' Severus asked although he wasn't very interested at the moment. He just needed to distract himself from his worries while searching for Harry.

'I'll have to check something before I can explain it to you.'

Just then they came to another crossing in the labyrinth that was the castle. As usual the next few torches in every direction lit up. Before Severus could check for directions again Marvolo excitedly called out when he saw a lump on the floor to their left.

'Sev! There is something in this corridor!'

Severus nearly knocked his husband to the ground in his hurry to reach his son.

'Harry!' he exclaimed.

Skidding to a stop next to the lump that was definitely their missing teen Severus dropped to his knees and cradled his son in his arms. There were tear tracks on his cheeks and he felt horrible for his son's anguish. After shooting his husband a dark look he started waving his wand over the boy to make sure he was alright.

Harry stirred when something - no someone touched him but he was too tired to open his eyes and it was so cold. When he felt the body heat next to him he couldn't resist snuggling in closer. After getting a whiff of his Dad's unique smell he knew for certain that he was safe now and he let the blackness claim him again. He was safe. Daddy was here.

'The scans show that he is in the first stage of getting hypothermia. He's ice cold, Marv.' Severus told his husband worriedly. 'We have to warm him up before he get's hypothermia for real.'

No matter how angry Severus was with his husband he could always rely on Marvolo's help. The Dark Lord helped him back to his feet before shrugging out of his travelling cloak, that he had never shed and draped it over the teen. Since Severus was carrying his son Marvolo got his wand out and cast a warming charm on the sleeping teen before using it to direct them back the way they came. He also made sure that Severus was okay with carrying Harry that far since it would take them a long time to get back to the library.

Severus meanwhile was appalled at how light the boy in his arms was even after a year of getting enough food at school. He didn't dare to think about how much less he weighed at the beginning of the school year and instead made a mental note to supply Harry with nutrition potions. Stupid muggle relatives he cursed in his head. The thought of his son being denied food made him tighten his hold on the teen a bit more.

Marvolo noticed the storm of emotions on his husbands face so he put his arm around Severus ' waist in comfort.

'It's okay, love. He's here and we'll do everything we can to make up for the time he spent there.'

'Thanks, Marv. I completely forgot in all the chaos before; congratulations on persuading Harry to be your heir. What did he get from you? Or better, how much?'

'Thank you, love. He is a tough negotiation opponent.' Marvolo said with a fond note in his voice. 'I will do my best to get Sirius Black declared innocent and he has on free pass from me.'

'Urg… Why does it have to be the mutt?'

'He is Harry's godfather and he wants him in his life.'

'As long as he behaves I will manage to tolerate him. But only for my son's sake.' Severus conceded. 'You know, Harry will have a ton of titles one day.'

'Yes he will. But maybe one day he can share his titles with a sibling?'

Severus let out a bark of laughter at his husbands timing and not so subtle approach. This was for sure not the Slytherin way but more like the Gryffindor one.

'Maybe one day. For now I want to concentrate on Harry and us. You know we had a lot less time together than the number of actual years that went past since our wedding. We still have time and we can always train.'

Marvolo wore a satisfied grin for the last half hour of their walk.

When they finally made it back to the library Severus was more than ready to deposit his son on the sofa. Carrying another person - no matter how light - for such a long time was tiring.

While Marvolo called for the house elves whose names were on a piece of parchment Yaxley had left on the coffee table, Severus did a second check on Harry. He had basic medical training since it was mandatory for Potions Masters and he always kept it up to date so he could help Poppy in emergencies. It was enough to care for his family as well.

Marvolo stepped over to the sofa after ordering hot drinks and food from an elf called Tibby and transfigured his cloak into a blanket for Harry.

'How is he?' he asked his husband who now sat on the couch with his son's head cradled in his lap. He was carding his fingers though the teen's hair in a rhythmical motion to calm himself.

'Could be better but not so bad all things considered. The symptoms are not severe enough to warrant potions so for now the best is to let him sleep. There is no way yet of telling if he got ill. We'll have to wait and see.'

Marvolo just nodded before sitting down next to his husband. He had turned the fire up so it would be nice and warm for Harry.

With a little pop the elf came back with a tray full of food.

'Tibby brings food for masters. Can Tibby bes doing anything else for masters?'

'Thank you, Tibby. Please put Harry's trunk in the room opposite the master suite and make sure it is warm in there.' Marvolo said and after nodding the elf popped away again.

After Tibby had left the two wizards started eating their dinner and drinking the perfectly tempered tea while talking about their plans for the next few days.

Severus would have to go back to school tomorrow morning and their last staff meeting was scheduled for Sunday afternoon. Since that meeting was about the new teachers they needed it was usually the shortest of the lot and the Potions Master was hoping to be home in time for dinner that night. He was also betting that the old fool Dumbledore would try and hold him back with some stupid excuse.

Marvolo was still receiving all the reports from his inner circle member and it was taking a lot of time to work through them all. He was also looking through the records of the time he had been insane. No matter what people thought the dark sect was actually pretty well organised.

If Harry was willing he would like to tests his power levels. He had been surprised that Harry had not been able to feel the wards this afternoon although he got the feeling that the teen could rival himself in power. He would also strengthen the wards around the castle. That would give Marvolo an opportunity to show Harry how Parselmagic worked and after the wards were finished the teen could actually use magic inside them.

Severus and Marvolo were just finalizing their plans for the Gringotts trip on Monday when their son and heir started to stir.

'Hello Harry.' Severus greeted him when those green eyes finally found his obsidian ones.

'Dad! You found me!' the teen exclaimed and scrambled to envelope his father in a tight hug. Severus laid his arms around his son's back and Marvolo started stroking his back in a soothing motion while Harry cried into his Dad's shoulder. He was safe now and could finally let go of all the emotions he had felt when he was lost.

He knew it was kind of childish to cry after getting lost but he had never been allowed to cry when he was with the Dursleys and his Dad had told him that it was okay to cry.

'Shhhh… It's alright, Snitch. We are here.' Severus mumbled into the teens ear.

Marvolo meanwhile didn't know what to think of this. Here he was, THE Dark Lord, trying to soothe a teenager that was crying because of him. He also didn't know why but he felt it was the right thing to help his husband. He would have to think about these feelings tomorrow when he was alone. It felt alien to him to feel something akin to love or care for any person other than his husband.

It took some time but after Harry had calmed down enough they managed to coax him into eating a little bit and drinking the hot chocolate the elves had made for him. While Harry ate Severus explained the misunderstanding and Marvolo apologized profoundly for his misspoken words. Harry hugged not only him but also Marvolo in his excitement.

'This will be so awesome!'

'Yes it will be. Our very first family home.' Marvolo agreed. 'We can go looking for furnishing when we go to Gringotts on Monday.'

'Awesome.' Harry exclaimed before asking warily. 'Can I… Can I have a piano maybe?'

Marvolo and Severus shared a knowing look that this was obviously a test. Harry had never been allowed to ask for anything so he was testing them with something that seemed impossible to himself.

'We can get one for the library, if you want.' Severus said easily. 'Do you know how to play?'

'No. I was never allowed to learn. There was one at school and I really enjoyed it when Miss Perry played for us.'

'I can teach you, Harry.' Marvolo offered.

'Thank you! That would be great!'

The three wizards stayed cuddled together under the blanket simply watching the flames until Harry's head landed on Severus shoulder and the mug slipped out of his limp fingers. Marvolo was thankfully fast enough to catch it before it fell to the ground.

'I think someone's ready for bed.' Severus decided.

'M not tired.' The older wizards heard the teen mumble. Since he was draped all over Severus with no intention of moving Marvolo got up and picked the sleeping teen up. He had only planned to hold him until Severus was standing but Harry snuggled into his chest and snaked his arms around Marvolo's shoulders, holding on tightly.

With a shrug Severus simply motioned him to come along to the bedrooms. Getting upstairs and to Harry's room was the easier part although they had to try a few doors to find the right one.

It took them some time to pry his fingers loose from Marvolo's shirt so he could set the teen down on his bed. Severus then proceeded to spell Harry's clothes into a pair of pajamas and tucked him in tightly and kissed him goodnight.

Marvolo also felt compelled to kiss the teens forehead before pulling his husband out of the room, leaving the door ajar, and into their own.

'I hope he will not be ill tomorrow.' Severus worried. Hopefully his son would sleep through the night and not be plagued by nightmares or illness. Harry's cheek had felt rather hot when he had kissed it.

'If that were to happen we will deal with it. I'm home all day tomorrow anyway. Don't worry, love.' Marvolo tried to reassure his husband while drawing him into a tight hug.

'Okay. I'll try not to worry too much but I'll still leave some potions here just in case.'

'That's all I ask, love.'

With that Marvolo kissed him as if his life depended on it. When they came up for air Severus was smirking at his husband.

'Don't even think that I am not still angry at you but for now take me to bed, Marv!'

'I love you, Sev!' Marvolo proclaimed before sweeping down for another kiss.

'I love you too, Marv!' Severus managed to say sometime in between their heated kisses before he lost the ability to talk at all.

TBC

Credit where credit is due!

PhoenixGrifyndor gave me with her comment (The castle, more drama for your story, and they can always build Harry a quidditch pitch. I can just see Harry throwing an attitude towards his dad) the idea for them moving into the castle temporarily and Harry getting lost!

Also PiffyEQ and randomplotbunny guessed the plan!

First posted on: 09. July 2017

Next update planned: 16. July 2017