A/N:

This is part of a one-shot series.

This is part 10

CAN BE READ AS A STAND ALONE.

Harry always liked going on small adventures through the castle. He and Severus most often walked around on the same floors, but the castle was big and always had something fun and new in store.

He also loved seeing all the people in the corridors. From professors to students. When he and Severus walked through the corridors Harry always liked to stop and say hi to whoever they met. Severus always seemed to want to go as quickly as possible, which always confused Harry somewhat. Harry was more of a wanderer himself.

Most of the time he bumped into Slytherins—as he'd learned they were called. They wore green-rimmed cloaks, he'd also learned. He liked green. Still, some of them were rather scary. Their smiles made Harry feel uncertain and he didn't like being around them. But some were really kind to him and always liked to talk to him for a bit.

So he stopped when a few kind students wearing Slytherin robes waved at him, and one boy even gave him a high five before they continued. Severus followed shortly behind without saying much anything. From what Harry understood Severus didn't like talking to people if he didn't have to. So Harry thought he could talk for both of them.

He skipped up the small stairs that led to the entrance hall. Severus only a step behind him. He knew where they were going. Despite the many corridors, he could find his way from home to the Great Hall all by himself—something he was rather proud of actually. They were going outside, which he found extra exciting, and he found the way there too.

Severus had explained that he needed to go… somewhere. Harry actually wasn't sure, but it'd be boring for him to come with Severus. So Hagrid was going to look after him until Severus came back. He didn't know Hagrid very well, but he took care of many animals which Harry found to be interesting. And he had a dog, which was really friendly, so Harry had been very excited and only like… a little bit anxious about being without Severus. Well, he'd promised Harry that he'd come back as soon as he could, so Harry would try to not be too upset.

Instead, he tried to focus on the good things and skipped along as Severus made his way across the school grounds. They found Hagrid a bit away from his cabin, carrying a big twig of some sort over his shoulder. It almost looked more like a small tree in size.

"Professor Snape. Harry," he greeted when Severus and Harry approached. "How're you?"

Hagrid took one hand off the big twig to wave at Harry. He was always so amazed by how big Hagrid was. Standing beside him, he reached just a foot above Hagrid's knee. Harry thought he himself had grown a lot lately, so that meant Hagrid was really tall.

Harry waved back. Severus answered before Harry could think up something to say.

First, he got a bit nervous because this meant that Severus would leave soon… which now, he'd prefer if Severus stayed so they could say hi to Fang together.

But, after what felt like forever (but was only a couple of minutes) Severus and Hagrid were still talking. Harry had already tuned out on what they were talking about. Adults could be rather boring at times. He sighed and looked around. Perhaps Fang was somewhere around here? He wandered a little bit away from where Hagrid and Severus stood. Not too long, just looking around the nearby area.

Then he saw something fluttering a bit away. It was a bright yellow butterfly. The first he'd seen that year. The last few weeks had been warm as spring had fully come to England. Harry only had a long-sleeved t-shirt on, no sweater necessary anymore. He was excited to see butterflies had started to wake up. Deciding to try and get a closer look at it, he approached it. Only when he did, the butterfly flew further away.

He tried to creep up on it slower since it had landed on a flower, but once he was only a little bit away the butterfly flew away again. He pouted but followed it and saw it disappear over a few bushes. There was a hole in the bush. It wasn't big, but big enough for him to be able to pass through it.

Harry crouched down and crawled inside the bush. The ground was dirty, but not hard or cold. The sunshine dampened by the leaves above, he looked around inside the bush. It was like a green hut inside.

He giggled to himself. Then he heard people talking close by and decided to make his way further inside the bush, closer to the sound.

He peered out through a hole in the foliage seeing a few students on a grass patch down the hill, talking and laughing. Then he noticed one of them looking up and shouting something. He looked up too, seeing another student in the air soaring around on a broom.

He stared in awe for a bit as the student flew up and down in the air. Harry fought his way out of the bush. His shirt caught on a twig, but managed to get it loose again. Only, he lost balance from doing so and slipped down the hill. He didn't get hurt, but it wasn't exactly what he'd planned either.

He stood up, brushing off his knees before approaching the students, excited to see brooms up close.

"Hi!" Harry said, gaining the attention of the students on the ground.

"Hi, Harry," the guy said. "Do you like brooms?" he asked, looking at Harry who was busy staring up at the girl hovering a bit above them.

Harry nodded eagerly.

The flying girl noticed the newcomer and flew down to land next to the little group. She waved at him, catching her breath from the flight. Her hair was tied back and face flushed from the wind.

He noticed all the students were wearing Slytherin robes. When he thought about it, he even recognized one of them. The girl who hadn't been up in the air yet. Her name was Meredith. The others introduced themselves as Aaron and Stephanie.

Harry reached out to gently touch the wood of the boy's broom, feeling the well-sandpapered and polished handle under his fingertips.

A playful glint appeared in the boy's eye before he asked, "Would you like to give it a try, Harry?"

Harry stared up at him amazed.

"Yes! Can I?" he answered.

"Sure!" the boy said, with equal excitement.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea… We should at least ask Professor Snape first" Meredith cut in. "Harry, do you know where the Professor is? Did you lose him?"

Harry thought about it for a moment. Looking around he couldn't spot Severus anywhere. He wasn't sure where he was, but he could see the castle in the distance at least.

"I'm not sure… I was with him before," he said.

"C'mon Meredith. I'll hold him the whole time. I'm sure it won't hurt," Aaron said. "We can look after Professor Snape afterwards."

Meredith still didn't look too sure, but after Stephanie chimed in that it wouldn't hurt she reluctantly let them continue.

So Aaron straddled his broom and helped Harry onto it, holding an arm around his waist while instructing Harry to hold on tight.

At first, they hovered barely a foot above the ground, Harry dangling his feet back and forth as the grass swooshed by under them. He laughed as Aaron continued hovering them around (at slow pace, not far above the ground). He looked back at Meredith and Stephanie smiling proudly. Meredith seemed a bit more relaxed as she watched Harry enjoying the flight.

"Can we go higher?" he asked Aaron, excited to see more.

Aaron hovered slightly higher, though still not as much as Harry would prefer.

"Up!" he shouted enthusiastically, repeating the words when Aaron didn't make them go higher.

"Are you sure? You're not scared?" Aaron asked Harry.

Harry shook his head firmly, "Can we go higher?"

"Okay, hold on tight though," Aaron said a bit less confidently.

Harry gripped the broom handle firmer and felt Aaron's arm around him become a bit tighter as they rose.

Now Harry was about twice his height in the air. He wondered if this is how Severus sees everything all the time. Severus is tall after all, though not as tall as Hagrid. Harry laughed again as he felt the wind catch his hair. They were still not moving fast, but at least they were higher up than a mere foot.

Everything was great—except for Meredith's frown. He looked around. From this height, he could see the lake, and more of the castle and even the roof of Hagrid's cabin! Then he saw a black figure close to the cabin coming their way. Soon he noticed it was Severus approaching quickly.

Harry took one hand off the broom—only losing his balance for a second before Aaron held him closer—to wave at Severus enthusiastically.

"Harry!" Severus shouted.

Severus made his way down the hill. Long strides and a scowl on his face as he approached the students.

Aaron was already on the ground with Harry again, which made some of Severus' anxiety ease, but not his rage.

When he arrived at the grass patch he opened his mouth to ask what the bloody hell they thought they were doing. Only, he couldn't get a word out before Harry ran up to him, hugging his legs and talking quickly.

"Severus! Did you see? I was flying! It was super fun! Did you see?" he's smiling widely. There was some dirt on his face, and his hair was worse than usual, but he seemed very happy.

"I saw," Severus said in a gruff voice.

He raised his eyes to glare at the students—Slytherins all three. Fifth years too. Meredith is even a prefect. They looked back at him with sheepish or terrified expressions. Harry's happiness didn't seem to waver though.

"What is going on here?" he asked the student.

"Well-" Meredith started but was cut off by Aaron.

"Harry wanted to try flying, sir," Aaron said. It looked like he'd rather do anything than explain, but does so anyway. He swallowed heavily before continuing. "I thought it would be fun for him to try. Sorry for not asking for your permission first, Professor."

Severus continued to glare at the boy, enjoying the way it made him fidget. He knows none of his fifth years are easy to intimidate, but evidently, they're not immune to his temper. He could, in a distant part of his mind, admire Aaron for owning up to his mistakes—how very almost Gryffindor like of him. But he also hadn't missed how he'd almost lost his grip on Harry in surprise when he'd seen Snape approaching.

"I see…" Severus said slowly. He wanted to chew their head off, but first, he needed to explain to Harry that what he'd done was not acceptable.

He'd been so scared. He'd been talking to Hagrid about when he'd be back and made sure the man wouldn't show Harry any dangerous animals. He knew Dumbledore trusted Hagrid—and he seemed to really like Harry—but Severus knew he wasn't well known for being careful exactly.

But he was the only one free to look after Harry, and Harry had been chatting his ear off about waiting to visit Hagrid's dog again.

When he realized Harry wasn't anywhere close by, his heart had dropped. First, he'd feared that Harry might have wandered closer to the woods. It only took a short while of searching to hear the happy shouts and laughs from Harry.

When he'd seen him flying though, he'd gotten more worried again. Even if it was only a few feet in the air. He didn't want to repeat his damn near heart attack anytime soon.

He looked back down at Harry, "You shouldn't wander away like that, Harry. You can get hurt. And you're not allowed to try something as dangerous as flying without my supervision. Is that understood?"

Harry seemed surprised for a second before he nodded seriously.

Severus turned back to the students, who looked like they were awaiting their death sentence. Well… Not too far off he couldn't help but think. He gave them each a razor-sharp scolding before handing out detention and taking away points. They took it without a complaint and quickly scurried off when he dismissed them.

Even after handing out more detention for the month and a half left of the school year, he still wished he could punish them more. But he knew it was partly his own fault for not being more observant of Harry.

He looked back at Harry, who waved at the departing students. They did wave back, luckily, before quickening their pace as they caught Severus' glare again. He sighed. Harry's clothes were dirty. His hair had a twig in it, which couldn't be from flying.

"Harry, are you hurt anywhere?" he asked, to which Harry shook his head. Severus crouched down to check him over. There was a small hole in his left sleeve, but seemingly no scratches or bruises. "What on earth have you been up to?"

"I followed a butterfly first. And then I found a really cool secret fort! And when I went through it I saw Meredith. Then I got to fly!" Harry retold him.

"Well, next time at least tell me before you go on any more adventures," Severus said.

Harry nodded. The rest of the way back Harry kept chattering about flying. He even asked if he could have his own broom and asked if he could fly again soon. Severus couldn't help but think that the boy just might be the death of him.

They walked by Hagrid, who'd also been searching for the boy, telling him Harry was alright. Fang had joined him in the search so Harry happily pet the dog a few times. Meanwhile, Severus explained to Hagrid what Harry had been up to.

After Harry is done petting Fang they say goodbye to Hagrid; Severus explaining how he'd do his errands another day. They were (fortunately) not too urgent and Harry seemed to be in dire need of a bath.

At least Severus told himself that's why he postponed his plans at least. Not because he was almost scared to death when he couldn't find Harry. Certainly not because of that...