Severus' head throbbed as he prised his eyes open, spotting Lucius sprawled on his sofa with a groan.

"Nyx" he called quietly, desperate not to jolt his head. The elf appeared, looking at him and Lucius in disapproval before disappearing again. She came back with two hangover potions. Severus could have kissed her.

"Thank you, Nyx."

The little elf glared at him muttering about the little Miss needing to come back to keep an eye on her irresponsible father as she disappeared from the room.

Severus moved gingerly, checking the potion had taken effect. Thankful that it had, he remembered that he had Petunia to visit today. Fucking bloody hell. Petunia and a hangover, that had been exceptionally bad planning on his part. He couldn't put it off though. Dragging himself up, he contemplated waking Lucius, before deciding against it. The man was a nightmare when he hadn't had enough sleep. No point in making today any more difficult.

He showered quickly, glancing in slight bafflement at the odd looking khaki bottle that had appeared in his bathroom. A note bearing the words, "I'm fed up hearing you moan about your hair when you think no one's listening" written in his daughter's hand. Cheeky mare. What the fuck had she gotten him? And why the fuck did it look like a petrol can? Sniffing it cautiously, he realised it was muggle. Maxi wash, detox shampoo, the bottle proclaimed. And who the fuck was Kevin Murphy? Sighing he figured it was worth a shot, if nothing else he could tell her he'd tried. He fucking hated his hair, it was bloody awful. Not that standing over a cauldron helped it at all.

Exiting the shower, he dressed carefully, he needed to be able to be somewhat intimidating or Petunia would never agree. He cast a quick drying charm at his head before turning to the mirror to tie his cravat. He blinked twice at the image in the mirror. His hair! Fucking bloody hell, his hair! It looked soft and clean. Fucking hell it looked clean! And shiny, shiny but not greasy for quite possibly the first time since puberty. What fucking magic had his daughter unearthed to create this? He resisted the urge to swish it. That would be ridiculous, he was a thirty three year old man. He couldn't be seen swishing his hair like a teenage girl. Still….. There was no one here to actually see him…

He was interrupted by an amused cough. Lucius appeared to be fighting a laugh as he choked out "Severus, were you flicking your hair?"

"Swishing, I believe is the proper term," he replied with as much dignity as he could muster. Which, he admitted, was probably not a lot. It appeared to be the last straw for Lucius.

"Oh. Oh, bloody fuck." Lucius was hanging off the door frame he was laughing so hard. Really, it wasn't that funny. Severus sighed. He was never going to live this down.

"Yes, alright Lucius." he bit out as the man tried to straighten up, all while his free hand clutched his stomach and tears ran down his face.

"Severus Snape, renowned bastard and dark wizard extraordinaire playing with his hair in the mirror like a schoolgirl. Dear gods, I don't think I've ever seen anything so funny in all my life." Lucius wheezed. Severus glowered until he calmed down. "Apologies old friend," Lucius said, not sounding sorry in the slightest before he frowned, "What have you done to your hair?"

"Hermione left me a new shampoo."

"I want to touch it."

"What? Lucius, no! You're like a bloody niffler!"

"But it looks so soft and shiny, Severus!"

"Are you still drunk?" Severus asked bluntly.

Lucius snorted, "Fine, be like that. Where are you going at this time of day?"

Severus sighed, "To see Petunia in the hopes she'll agree to keep the boy for two more days than agreed."

"You don't think she will?" Lucius frowned.

"I think it will be very difficult to persuade her to"

"I could come with you?"

Severus considered it. "Be as Malfoy as possible. That might just work."

"As Malfoy as possible?" Lucius repeated, sounding confused.

"You know, rich looking, pretentious and snobby."

Lucius glowered, "Why exactly are we friends?"

"Because I'm wonderful," he responded deadpan, mimicking his daughter.

Lucius snorted, "Ah. And here I thought it was because you happened to be occasionally entertaining…..swishing your hair in the mirror like a teenage girl."

"Go and get ready, Arsehole."

Lucius snorted and left the room. Severus couldn't resist a quick swish of his new shiny hair.

They apparated to the same place Severus had arrived with Minerva, walking briskly towards the door of number four. Severus knocked smartly, dreading the fight that was sure to come.

Harry Potter answered the door and blinked exaggeratedly as if he were hallucinating. Professor Snape! Mr Malfoy? What's going on?" Terror seemed to overtake his face as he gasped, "His Hermione alright?"

Severus rolled his eyes. "Hermione is fine. I wish to speak with your Aunt."

"Aunt Petunia? Why?"

Impertinent little sod. Why could none of these children do what the fuck they were told?

"Boy!" he heard someone shout, "Who's at the door?"

Harry looked at them curiously before he shrugged, "I suppose you'd better come in. Aunt Petunia is in the kitchen. They're having breakfast."

Severus looked at him shrewdly. "And you?"

"Me, Sir?"

"Are you having breakfast?"

The boy flinched. Fucking Petunia. "Um….maybe later?" he attempted with a small shrug.

"I see."

Vernon Dursley appeared in the doorway, his large frame blocking all natural light. Good Gods the man was so heavy Severus was surprised he could hold himself upright.

"Who are you?" the man demanded, raking his eyes over Severus and then Lucius. He appeared to quell slightly, taking in Lucius' obvious wealth.

"This is Lord Prince and I am Lord Malfoy," Lucius answered, looking down his nose at the man. "We wish to speak with your wife."

"Petunia? Why?" the man demanded.

"Because we've asked to," Lucius replied as if the man was an idiot. To be fair, Severus mused, he was.

"You can't just come in here and demand to speak to my wife!" Vernon shouted.

"Why not, exactly?" Lucius sneered.

The man's mouth moved but no sound came out as Petunia appeared next to him. "Vernon, what's going on?" Her eyes widened as she took in Severus, her face hardening.

"What are you doing here?" she spat.

"We wish to speak with you, Madam. Now." Lucius answered his sneer firmly in place.

"Who are you?"

"Lord Malfoy. Our time is precious Mrs Dursely, I must insist we stop with this nonsense."

Petunia nodded and swallowed, walking into her living room. It was as bad as Severus remembered. Fucking hell. Did no one ever come in here? Or did Petunia really just spend hours disinfecting the place?

"We wish to speak to you in regards to your nephew," Lucius spoke condescendingly. Severus decided to let him lead this. Perhaps he would have better results. Petunia was definitely putting up less of an argument than she had the last time.

"What about him? Sev promised me he'd be gone in two weeks."

"Yes. We require you to keep him for a further two days. We will collect the boy a week today and you will not have to see him until next summer. The family he was meant to be staying with were lucky enough to secure a holiday abroad, meaning we've had to change our plans. He will be joining Severus' daughter on holiday in France this coming Monday. I assume that is reasonable, given that we are taking him far earlier than you had originally expected." Lucius spoke leaving no room for her to disagree, although her eyes narrowed.

"I was told two weeks maximum."

"Madam. It is two days to allow Hermione uninterrupted time with her adoptive parents before she returns to Severus. It is non-negotiable. If Dumbledore had his way, the boy would be here for the entire summer. I can, of course, refer this back to him if you'd prefer?"

Petunia paled. "No. Fine. We'll keep the boy. But I expect you here at seven sharp on Monday morning Severus Snape, am I clear?"

"Crystal."

"Then get out."

"One more thing, Madam. I've cast a delightful curse that will not lift until the boy leaves. What your son can eat will be directly linked to what Mr Potter is given." Lucius smiled at her insincerely. "I assume that won't be an issue, after all, no guardian would refuse to feed their ward."

"You….You can't do that!" Petunia spluttered.

"I believe I just did. Good day, Madam."

"Well they are delightful human beings are they not," Lucius commented as they left.

"Tuney has always been a fucking nightmare," Severus responded with a shrug as they popped out of existence.

Severus steeled himself to face Petunia again, hopefully, the woman would be more pleasant as he was picking up the nephew she desperately wanted rid of. One could hope anyway, if he focused on that he could at least ignore that he was going to have to be polite to Potter until he could hand him over to the Drs Granger. He was trying to completely ignore the fact that the boy was going to be spending a significant amount of time in his house over the summer. Harry Potter living in his house. He suppressed a shudder. For fucks sake. Only the fact that he missed his daughter like a missing limb could make him do this. It had been the longest fucking week of his life. She'd written, and sent postcards but fuck it all, it was not the same. He wanted her home. Now preferably.

He apparated to the alley near Privet drive and headed for the Dursley's. Petunia answered the door looking at him in confusion.

"What are you doing here?"

Taken aback, he answered without his usual sarcasm "I'm here for the boy."

"He's not here!"

What? What the fuck did the woman mean he wasn't here?

"Do speak sense, Tuney! Where is he?"

"No idea. Ran off. Blew up Marge like a balloon, threatened Vernon with his wand and disappeared!"

For fucking fuck sake! This was a sodding nightmare. Hermione would murder him if something happened to the boy.

"For fucks sake Tuney, why didn't you write to me?"

Petunia shrugged. "Why would I?"

"Because he's a fucking child and he's run away?"

"He's out of my house."

"Do you have any idea where he is?"

The infuriating woman shrugged again. "Some of your lot appeared and fixed poor Marge. One of them with a ridiculous name, Toffee, tablet….something."

"Fudge?" Severus interrupted.

"That's it. Fudge. He said the boy was safe, unfortunately. And forced us to agree to have him again next summer."

Severus turned abruptly and left before he strangled the infuriating woman. Cornelius Fudge knew where Harry Potter was. Which hopefully meant the boy was actually safe. Damn it, he needed Lucius.

Lucius re-appeared an hour later, "The boy is staying at the Leaky."

"For fucks sake," Severus muttered. "On his own?"

"Apparently. I managed to convince Fudge it was much safer for him to stay with you and Hermione. I do not believe anyone has informed the boy, so I suggest you do so now. In fact, I think I shall come. I want to see his face when he realises he's going to be living with you instead of the summer of freedom he was no doubt imagining." Lucius smirked.

Severus rolled his eyes. "Very well, arsehole. Let's go."

Harry Potter's eyes went wide when he noticed Severus standing in front of him. Severus arched a brow at him.

"You make my life difficult, Potter," he stated baldly.

Harry flinched. "Sorry, Sir?" he offered.

Severus snorted. "Pack up your things Mr Potter. Let's go."

"Go?" The boy asked stupidly.

"Yes. Now." he barked as Lucius snickered beside him.

He watched as the boy scrambled to get his things together. What the fuck was he wearing? Why was it all so fucking baggy? It looked like it was meant for a person twice the boy's width.

"Sir?" the boy asked tentatively. "Are you planning on murdering me now? Mr Malfoy appears like exactly the sort of person you'd bring as a witness."

Lucius gave a startled bark of laughter next to him.

"Not today Mr Potter," Severus replied sardonically. "For now I shall content myself with happy daydreams of exactly how I would accomplish such a goal."

Harry blanched. "You actually dream of ways to murder me?"

"Frequently," he replied before he gave into his curiosity. Perhaps the boy's clothing was a conscious fashion choice? Somehow he doubted it but he should probably check. "Potter, what are you wearing?"

He watched as the boy's cheeks pinkened and he looked down. "Ah...clothes?"

Oh for fucks sake. Fucking Petunia.

"Your clothes?" he asked pointedly.

"They are now?" The boy offered.

Severus rolled his eyes. "Lucius, I suggest you bugger off unless you wish to accompany us to muggle London to acquire clothing. Make yourself useful and ask Cissa if she will acquire the boy a wizarding wardrobe. She can give my vault number."

Lucius looked from him to Potter before he laughed. "If ever there was confirmation needed that you love that girl, this would definitely be it."

"Lucius…." he bit out warningly.

Lucius pouted. "You're no fun you know?"

"So I've been told," he replied drily. Potter was looking at them both like he'd never seen them before, clutching the book he'd been reading to his chest.

"Come along Mr Potter. We need to get your things and then I suppose some clothing that actually fits you."

"Ah...where are we going, Sir?"

"You are going to France."

"France, Sir?" he asked, looking utterly confused.

"Yes. Hermione is there with her parents. You will be spending the summer with her."

The boy's face lit up momentarily before he glanced at him warily. "Isn't Hermione living with you for most of her summer?"

Severus smirked at him "Two points to Gryffindor. Come along Mr Potter."

He saw the boy's eyes widen as he moved to collect his trunk.

Shrinking it down, Severus placed it in his pocket. "We'll leave your owl here I think, Mr Potter. I'll collect her once I've dropped you off. However, first, we're going into London to acquire you some suitable clothing."

The boy blushed, "It's fine Sir." he mumbled.

"It most certainly is not. Come along."

He watched as the boy clearly debated whether it was with arguing before he seemed to deflate and followed him out the door of the Leaky Cauldron and into muggle London.

An hour and a few hundred pounds later the boy had a reasonable summer wardrobe. Severus realised with a grimace that he would have to repeat the excursion before the boy went back to school to ensure he had winter clothing as well. Fuck. Perhaps he could convince Jean and Richard they wanted to do it. That sounded ideal. They'd need to shop for Hermione too, surely they wouldn't mind? And Cissa could deal with the wizarding side of things. That sounded like a much better plan.

"Thank you, Sir." The boy said softly, "I'll pay you back."

He rolled his eyes, at least he had offered, he supposed. "You'll do no such thing, Mr Potter. Fitting clothing is a basic that you should have. I expect to be informed if you grow out of it, am I clear? Hermione will expect nothing less."

He saw the boy's mouth twitch in a smile at the mention of his daughter, "Yes, well. You still didn't need to do it."

Severus huffed out a laugh. "Did you not hear me mention Hermione? Believe me, Mr Potter, I absolutely did."

The boy laughed, "Terrifying when she wants to be, isn't she? I think she gets it from you."

That startled a laugh out of him. Good Gods, what was happening?

"Indeed." he drawled.

He activated the portkey to take them to France. No need to warn the boy it wasn't entirely legal, he mused as they landed outside a quaint little cottage.

"Harry!" He watched as the blur that was his only child launched itself at the poor boy who startled but managed to catch her. He had to work to contain the pout that she had essentially ignored him in favour of a Potter. What was it with the women in his life liking bloody Potter men? It wasn't fair and he didn't like it. He was startled out of his mini tantrum by a head of curls colliding with his buttons as Hermione released Potter and threw herself at him.

"I've missed you, Father," she mumbled into his buttons. He felt instantly better. Perhaps he would forgive this girl for her friendship with the boy. Who was he kidding, he was about to host James Potter's spawn for the rest of the summer, he'd forgive her absolutely anything. Bloody annoying, reputation-ruining witch.

"I've missed you too, my girl." He murmured into her curls, pulling her in tightly, not quite ready to let her go. Potter looked slightly startled by this turn of events, from the doorway, he could see conflicted expressions on Jean and Richard's faces. Indulgent smiles laced with fear. He wasn't sure what to do about that. He was just as scared as they were that one day someone would come along and steal her away. Perhaps he should tell them that. Remind them that he was more grateful than words could ever express that they hadn't fought him having a place in her life, remind them that that meant they had his loyalty, that it meant he'd never actively take her from them, that he'd always encourage their relationship. He never wanted to give them cause to second guess their decision because he was all too aware that they had the power to take her away from him, not legally he supposed, but they could be deliberately obstructive if they wanted to be and he didn't imagine she'd take it well if he attempted to take her from them. Sighing, he gave in and released her.

"You're having fun?"

"Yes," she beamed before her face fell slightly. "You're coming back on Wednesday?"

He frowned, "Yes. Do you not wish me to?"

"What? Of course, I do!" she exclaimed, calming his momentary spike of panic, "I just…..it's really strange because it's not really been that long and I just miss you and I don't like it when I don't see you every day and it's been fun but I've still missed you and then I feel guilty because I shouldn't feel sad you're not here, mum and dad are and they're trying and I want to spend time with them but I want you here too and it's all just odd and I don't like it."

Severus blinked as he tried to process whatever the fuck that was. Fucking hell had she breathed at all during that sentence? Beside him, Potter smirked.

"So….what I'm getting is that you missed him?" he laughed as she backhanded his arm.

"Be quiet Harry!"

Harry snorted at her. "I'll just go and put my stuff inside," he said finally as Severus handed him the shrunken trunk and bags. "Although, you'll enlarge it before you leave, won't you, Sir?"

Hermione frowned. "You're making him call you Sir?" she asked, glaring at him.

Severus rolled his eyes. For fucks sake did he really have to do this? Taking in the stubborn look on his daughter's face, he realised that yes, yes he did. Bloody infuriating girl.

"Fine." he sighed, "You can call me Severus, although for the love of Merlin if you do it once we are back at school I'll have you scrubbing bedpans in the hospital wing by hand for a month."

Potter wrinkled his nose. "Severus." he tried. "I don't think I like it. It feels odd. How about Sev?" he tried with a grin.

He scowled at the boy. Impertinent little bastard. When had he stopped being threatening?

"How about I make it two months and force you to use your toothbrush?"

Harry smirked. "Severus it is then." he laughed as he walked away.

Severus glanced at the door, the Grangers had obviously followed Potter inside.

"Hermione."

Her head shot up, a guilty look on her face. "It's alright to miss me. I'm not going to lie, I'm pleased that you do. This week has felt intolerably long."

"I feel so guilty that they're trying so hard and I just keep wishing you were here too."

He quirked a smile at her, reaching out to pull her back into him in a hug. "And I will be. On Wednesday. And you'll be wishing I wasn't or laughing because I resemble a bat who's gotten lost on the beach."

She giggled slightly at that. "Don't you own summer clothes, Father?"

He pulled away slightly so he could look at her, "Hermione do I look like I own shorts?"

She grinned up at him. "I'm going to get Mum to take me shopping and go get you some."

"I thought you missed me, my girl? All I'm hearing is that secretly you hate me and wish to see me humiliated."

She snorted, pulling him back in for a hug. "I do miss you. But you're wearing the shorts, Father."

He rolled his eyes above her head acknowledging that unfortunately, she was probably right. He really did need to learn to say no to her. "We'll see."

"How's Crooksie?" she asked, letting him go.

"The Ginger terror is fine. He's going to stay with your Uncle Lucius and Aunt Cissa while I'm here."

She smiled slightly. "He's going to drive Uncle Lucius insane. Did Aunt Cissa tell you we went shopping last Thursday?"

"She did. She tells me it went well."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I have more clothes than I'll ever be able to wear," she whined. "Mum and I did make her buy jeans though. I told her to wait until I could see Uncle Lucius' face before she wore them"

Severus snorted, "I can only imagine how that will go."

"It'll be funny. Although she looks amazing in them. I wish I was as tall as she is. I'm probably always going to be short and dumpy."

He frowned. "You are not dumpy! Don't be absurd. You are perfect, exactly as you are."

"You're my dad, you have to say that." she protested.

"I am the bastard bat of the dungeons Hermione, I never say anything I do not mean."

She laughed at him, "You're funny Father. We both know you're nothing like the man you pretend to be."

"I won't tell if you don't," he smirked. "Now. I had better go and tend to your beast. Go and settle Mr Potter in, give it half an hour before you tell him I've set a time release on the shrinking charms and I will see you on Wednesday."

She laughed before she bit her lip and then threw herself back at him. "Love you, Father."

"I love you too, my girl," he replied, squeezing her tightly. "Now, go and see Mr Potter. He tells me he's never been on holiday."

Severus watched until she was safely back in the house, raising his hand to Jean who was watching from the window before he activated the portkey. Wednesday couldn't come soon enough.

Severus found himself back in France two days later, just as the sun was setting, relieved that the Ginger beast and Potter's bloody owl were Lucius' problem for the rest of the week.

"Father!" he heard as Hermione flung herself at him. He squeezed her tight. Never again. The last week and a half had been ridiculously long.

"You timed your arrival to get out of the shorts today." she accused, with a grin on her face. He smirked back at her as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, as they walked towards the cottage.

"Would I do such a thing?"

"Yes. It's fine. I wasn't going to insist you wear the coloured ones but now I think I might," she smirked back.

Fucking bloody hell. Coloured clothing? What was she thinking! He wore black. And occasionally a very deep navy blue. Occasionally. Like Christmas. Once. Because Narcissa had insisted and she'd been pregnant and terrifying.

"Hello, Severus. There's a room just over there for you." Jean smiled at him. That slightly strained look was back. Fucking hell he was actually going to have to have that chat with them wasn't he? Did they not know he wasn't good at this nonsense? He admitted that he was better, Hermione had forced him to be. But he still wasn't good at it! For fucks sake. Where was Minerva when you needed her?

"Thank you," he replied blandly as he wandered in to deposit his things coming back into the living room to see Jean and Richard smiling indulgently at Hermione and Potter who appeared to be playing some sort of nonsense game involving body parts and coloured dots. What the fuck was going on?

"Twister." Richard smirked, "I'm far too old but they're not."

"I have no idea what that means," Severus admitted as Jean called out random body parts and corresponding colours making the children twist themselves into impossible shapes.

Richard snorted, "It's just a nonsense game. It's been good to see her loosen up though. She's always too serious. I know you're not fond of the boy, but he seems to be good for her."

Severus sighed, "I will deny it if you ever repeat this but I agree." he paused awkwardly, "Thank you for allowing me to be here."

Richard shrugged. "Hermione wants you here. I'm not denying that it's….odd, and awkward, but I don't imagine you're going anywhere and so I suggest we make the best of it and get along. It'll be much easier."

Severus huffed out a laugh as he sipped the wine he'd been handed, wishing it were whiskey.

"I have no intentions of going anywhere, no. This last week has felt like I've been missing a limb. I have no idea how you do it during the school year."

Richard gave him a wry smile. "We weren't given much choice. We had never intended to send her to boarding school, you know."

Severus inclined his head, "I don't think I appreciated how difficult it must be for parents." he said softly.

Richard looked at him. "You promise that we'll always have a place in her life?"

Severus blinked, startled by the sudden change of topic. "Yes," he replied hesitantly.

"She missed you," Richard stated with a shrug. "She misses us but it's…..different almost. I don't know if it's because she's still building that relationship with you or if it's because she doesn't have to worry about how she words things because you already understand what she's talking about or if it's because she's used to being away from us for months on end. Jean didn't want me to say anything but I see how you are with her. You'd do anything for her and I'm glad. Truly. She deserves that. But I won't deny that I'm scared that you'll take her from us. I don't mean legally, she'd never forgive you for that but slowly, just by being around."

Severus looked at the man thoughtfully. "I will never not be grateful for how understanding you and your wife have been," he said softly, "Many parents would not have wanted to share and you have been more than fair. I promise you I will never knowingly allow her to cut you out. She loves you. I suppose we will just have to figure out that balance."

Richard nodded at him and sighed. "Thank you. I am aware that we could have got some arsehole who demanded we hand Hermione over. We are grateful for you being….well, you."

Severus snorted, "I think you may be the first person to ever voice such a sentiment."

Richard quirked a grin at him. "I get the impression that you are nothing like that mask Hermione tells us you hide behind."

"Not anymore," Severus replied wryly. "She's destroying my reputation."

Richard laughed, "She'll do that. Loves with her whole heart that girl, no half measures."

Severus smiled softly. "Indeed. Now….please tell me we can switch to whisky? This wine is awful'

Richard looked at him and released a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God. Yes, please, I only drank it to appease my wife. Apparently, whiskey is not a civilised drink to have with dinner."

Severus smirked, summoning the bottle he'd brought with him just in case, pouring them both healthy measures as the children lost their balance and fell onto the mat giggling.