Enjoy! Sorry that it is a short one, but I think that the next one may make up for it :)

Snape looked up from the papers he had been grading as he heard the parlor door open. The teenager looked excited and the man couldn't help but wonder what had caused it. "Harry."

The boy's eyes moved to the stack of papers on the man's lap. They lingered there for a moment before slowly moving to Snape's face. "You're busy."

It was not a question, but a statement.

"I am." Snape nodded as he moved the papers from his lap to the table beside him. He placed his quill down on top of the small stack. "However, I can certainly take a small break."

The man's eyes moved to the clock on the mantel before he gave a small hum of approval. There was still an hour until the Order meeting, allowing for plenty of time for a break from his work and a conversation with his son. "What is on your mind?"

Harry took in a breath as he moved across the room and sat down on the couch. "Where's Remus?"

He didn't think that Snape would overreact, nor did he think that he was in danger of being scolded, however, he also knew his guardian well enough to know that it was certainly possible and the last thing he wanted was an audience if it was to occur.

"He left for Grimmauld Place. He wanted to visit with your godfather for a bit prior to the meeting this evening."

The teenager's face brightened at the words, he had somehow forgotten that there was a meeting and now he was looking forward to it. "You know Luna Lovegood, right?"

Snape raised an eyebrow at the question. "This may surprise you, Harry but I do make a habit of learning my students' names."

"Do you know her father?"

Snape gave a slight nod as he sat up a bit straighter. "I know of him and have met him a time or two. Why do you ask?"

Harry took in a breath at the question. There was no use beating around the bush. "He wants to interview me for his magazine, the Quibbler." The teenager held his breath as he studied his guardian's face.

"Interview you in regards to what exactly?"

Snape, of course, knew exactly what the interview would entail. Still, he wanted to give his child the benefit of the doubt. He also wanted to be sure that he understood fully before denying Harry the opportunity.

"Well…the graveyard. I mean…what happened in the graveyard."

Snape opened his mouth to respond but before he could get a word out, Harry spoke once more.

"You know that the Prophet keeps saying that I'm lying and people really believe that I am. This would be a chance to tell my side and what really happened." The teenager's voice rose just slightly and Snape couldn't help but notice how hopeful it sounded.

"And how do you imagine the Ministry would respond to such an interview?"

The man watched as his child's shoulders deflated slightly. Harry shrugged in response. "I don't care."

Snape hummed softly. "That may be true, however, drawing more attention to you is the last thing that I want."

"All of their attention is already on me though." A slight whine crept into the boy's voice. "Snaape…"

Snape shook his head firmly. "Perhaps in the future when things are calmer, but you will not be doing any interviews at the present moment."

Harry made an annoyed face at the words as he threw a hand up. "How is that even fair? I should be allowed to talk about something that happened to me!"

"Life is not always fair," Snape replied, forcing his tone to remain neutral. He eyed his child carefully, hopeful that his words would not cause the boy to lash out. "As your guardian it is my job to protect you which means that whether or not you will be doing an interview for the Quibbler or anyone else is my decision and I have decided that you will not be."

"But you didn't even think about it," Harry muttered in an annoyed tone as he absentmindedly picked at the seam on the pillow beside him. He was trying his hardest to keep his temper under control, the last thing he wanted was to be in any trouble with his guardian. He knew the tone that the man was using all too well and Harry hardly wanted his bum attacked or his freedom to be taken away with a restriction.

"I do not have to think about it," Snape replied firmly. "I know that you're doing so will be an issue with the Ministry. Use your brain, Harry. The Ministry is here at Hogwarts, that is not a coincidence. An interview about what happened that evening could be detrimental. I will not allow it."

Harry very nearly rolled his eyes at the words, yet refrained from doing so. "It's not like it's an interview in the Prophet, no one even really reads the Quibbler."

"Plenty of people read the Quibbler." Snape's voice rose despite his attempts to keep it at a normal volume. "And if your face is plastered on the cover, plenty more will! The answer is no, Harry and that is final. Are we clear?"

Harry was silent for a long moment as he forced the words he wanted to say back down. "Yes Sir," he finally replied with as much attitude as he dared.

Snape's eyes remained on his child for a long moment before he cleared his throat softly. He was sure that changing the subject completely would be best, despite his wanting nothing more than to lecture his child for his attitude alone. "Do you have much homework this evening?"

Harry shook his head but otherwise remained silent.

"You do not have any homework at all?" Snape raised an eyebrow. He was sure that was not the case. The school year had only just begun. Aside from that he had heard Professor Sprout mention homework that she was assigning to her students.

An annoyed sigh escaped the teenager. "I have to read for Herbology and do a paper for History of Magic."

Snape's eyes moved to the clock on the mantel once more before giving a slight nod. "I would suggest that you begin working on that as the meeting is in less than an hour and will likely run late."

"I can do it when we get back." The child refrained once more from rolling his eyes. The man was really irritating the very last of his patience.

Snape shook his head as he took in a breath. He could only imagine that with the child's already poor attitude, his words were not going to go over well. "You cannot, as we discussed your attending the meeting and if my memory serves me correctly, your privilege to do so requires your schoolwork to be complete prior to attending."

"Severus!" Harry nearly shrieked. "That's not fair! I am never going to be done in less than an hour." The paper alone would take him at least an hour if not longer.

"Watch your tone," Snape warned sternly. He took a deep breath, willing his temper to remain under control. The final class of the day had ended hours ago. Supper had ended nearly forty minutes prior. The child had plenty of time to complete his homework and Snape was sure that he had just been too busy playing with his friends to do so. "We had an agreement, Harry. Your schoolwork comes first, that is final."

"You said that, I never agreed," Harry muttered angrily.

"Harry," Snape warned as he watched the teenager shift uncomfortably at the tone. He paused for a moment, taking a deep breath before continuing. "If you would start your homework now, rather than complaining, you may be able to finish in time to attend the meeting."

"Forget it." Harry stood and moved towards the door. "I'm going up to my dormitory. I'm sorry that I came down here in the first place."

"You knew the terms of you attending the meetings. School always comes first, Harry."

"Yeah, whatever." The teenager moved towards the parlor door. "Have fun at the meeting. I'll see you in class tomorrow."

Snape opened his mouth to reply, however, before he could do so his child walked out, allowing the door to close loudly behind him.

The man nearly stood and followed the boy, yet quickly thought better of it. He was in no mood to fight with the child. Still, he was sure that if this was what raising a teenager entailed – he would not survive it.

Harry walked across the school grounds, Ron and Hermione by his side. His frustration with Snape and the way the school year was going had been building for days.

He was still annoyed with Snape about the evening prior. He had missed the meeting and the man had been impossible about the interview.

However, he was sure that going to Hagrid's class would cheer him up. It was one of the few classes that truly brought him joy. Now that Remus was no longer teaching Defense, that list was short.

As the trio made their way down the hill, Harry felt his joy become replaced with confusion. Professor McGonagall was standing in front of Hagrid's hut and appeared to be turning away students as they approached her.

"I wonder what is going on?' Hermione mused as her steps quickened, Harry and Ron following suit.

Professor McGonagall frowned as the trio approached her. "Potter. Weasley. Granger. Care of Magical Creatures has been cancelled for this week. It should resume next week when an appropriate substitute has been found."

"Substitute?" Ron questioned.

"Professor, where is Hagrid? Is he alright?" Harry could hardly help but worry about his large friend.

"Hagrid is fine." Professor McGonagall gave a firm nod. "He is, however, gone for the moment and we are unsure as to when he will return."

Harry frowned at these words.

"I am advising that you three use this time as a study period." She waved a hand towards the castle.

"Where is Hagrid?" Harry closed the parlor door behind him.

"Good afternoon to you as well, Harry." Snape looked over to the teenager from where he stood by his desk arranging a stack of papers. "Hagrid is currently doing some work for Albus, he will return in a few weeks' time."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry questioned in a demanding tone. "How could you know and not tell me?"

"I apologize. With everything going on it slipped my mind." The man refrained from mentioning that had his homework been completed he would have learned the information the previous evening at the meeting.

"Slipped your mind?" The words came out of the teenager, the attitude dripping from his tone. "That's bullshit and you know it!"

Snape stood up straight, looking over to his child with a stern glare. "Language."

"Oh shut…just be quiet," the teenager quickly thought better of his words. He would have liked to tell his guardian to shut the hell up but it was just barely one in the afternoon and he had no desire to stand in the corner like a sodding toddler for the better part of the next hour while nursing a smarting bum.

Snape raised an eyebrow at the near unacceptable offense. "Take a deep breath," he instructed. "Try and remember that a lot has been happening recently and that it is perfectly reasonable that Hagrid's leaving could have slipped my mind." The man took a deep breath of his own in an attempt to encourage his obviously stressed child to do so. "I did not keep it from you maliciously."

The teenager heard the words, however, they hardly registered. It may not have been malicious but it was stupid and annoying all the same. "He is my friend! You knew he was gone and you just forgot to tell me? That's stupid and you know it!"

"I beg your pardon?" The man felt his annoyance and displeasure rising at the situation.

"You heard me," Harry spat back as he turned on his heel, now facing the parlor door. "Just forget it. I'm going back to the Tower."

"You step so much as a toe out of these quarters and I can assure you, Harry, you will regret it." Snape's tone was stern before the man took a deep breath and forced it to relax. "I am growing quite tired of you coming down here and shouting at me before storming out."

Harry spun back around, glaring at the man. "Well, I am growing quite tired of being kept in the damn dark about everything!" If Snape wanted a row, he could certainly give him one.

"I believe I tell you as much as I can. I also believe that I just explained to you that the situation with Hagrid slipped my mind." The man took a deep breath, forcing himself to remain calm.

"You tell me as much as you want and you wouldn't even let me go to the bloody meeting last night!"

Snape found himself slowly and silently counting backwards from ten before he replied, "You were aware of the terms involved with you attending the meetings. School comes first."

"Which is stupid!" Harry shot back. "You think Voldemort cares if I know the about the Goblin Rebellion of 1612? That's the dumbest thing I have ever heard!"

"Harry James!" The man finally hissed causing the teenager to visibly tense. "That is enough." Snape took a step towards the boy as he cleared his throat. "We have been over all of this multiple times in the past. I tell you what you need to know in order to keep you safe as you are still a child, whether you like it or not. My child. I am doing everything in my power to keep you safe. Furthermore, your education is important to me. One day this will all be over and he will be dead. I will not allow you to be an uneducated adult." The man took another large step towards his child, closing the gap between them. "You are fifteen, that is a far cry from being of age. It is also far from too old to go over my knee which you are dangerously close to doing for your attitude alone."

Harry opened his mouth to respond, however, before he could do so the parlor door opened and Remus stepped inside.

"I believe winter will come early this year. It is far too chilly out for September." The man was busy removing his sweater and hanging it on the hook beside the door. The tension of the room hit him a moment later and he paused in his actions, turning his head to see the pair of them. "Have I come at a bad time? I can come back later if need be."

"He is being impossible," Harry muttered, throwing a glare towards his guardian.

"You are one more disrespectful word away from finding yourself in your room for the better part of the day with a tanned backside," Snape hissed. "Mind. Your. Cheek."

Remus took in a breath as he approached the teenager. He placed a gentle hand on the back of Harry's neck, giving him a light squeeze. "Calm down," he instructed softly. "We can talk about whatever it is calmly and rationally."

Harry nearly shrugged Remus off of him, however, he could not bring himself to do so. Remus hadn't done anything wrong and despite his anger with his guardian, he knew that Remus was only trying to help him.

"What is all of this about?" Remus looked over to Snape.

"I forgot to mention that Hagrid has left to do work for Albus, it simply slipped my mind," Snape explained, his tone still stern.

Remus raised a questioning eyebrow at the explanation. Surely it wasn't just something as small as that. "Harry?" He looked to the teenager.

Harry turned his head to look at Remus, feeling most of his anger melt away and be replaced with frustration. "He is being impossible," he practically whined. "And I didn't even want to argue. I tried to leave but he wouldn't let me."

"Do. Not." Snape shook his head firmly. "You tried to shout at me and storm out of here. Do not try to manipulate Remus, young man. I will not allow it."

Remus let out a soft sigh before he led the teenager across the room, gently guiding him to sit on the couch. "Calm down," he instructed. "Calm down before you get yourself in trouble."

"He is angry that Hagrid is gone and accusing me of keeping him in the dark yet again." Snape moved across the room, sitting down in his armchair. "If I ever dared to speak to my father the way that he has been speaking to me…" The man trailed off with an annoyed huff.

"I am sure that it is frustrating and a bit scary to see another staff member is missing, however, I assure you that Umbridge had nothing to do with it. Albus asked Hagrid to go and handle a few things for him," Remus explained in a calm tone.

"And Luna wants me to do an interview for the Quibbler and he wouldn't even listen to reason!" Harry complained loudly. "It was just a flat-out no."

"I believe I explained myself quite thoroughly," Snape's tone was dark once more. "The Ministry is watching closely. Now is not the time to draw more attention regardless of how you feel about the matter or how true your words are."

Remus let out a low sigh as he digested this information. "Harry…I cannot say that I disagree with Severus. The Ministry could cause a world of issues with a published interview."

Harry let out a huff of air at the words. Of course, Remus would take Snape's side. He shook his head slightly before taking in a deep breath, attempting to calm himself further. Completely losing his temper wouldn't help anything, not with Remus constantly siding with Snape. "And I didn't even get to go to the meeting last night," he complained his eyes moving from Remus to glare over towards his guardian.

"You agreed to the terms weeks ago," Snape remined his child. "School comes first. If your homework is not completed you will not attend."

"I must say, Harry, I do not disagree with Severus," Remus hummed softly.

"You had several hours from the time your classes ended yesterday until dinner and then another hour from the time dinner ended until you walked into these quarters, did you not?" Snape questioned.

Harry shrugged a shoulder in response before thinking better of it. "Ron wanted to play a game of chess after Herbology and then Neville's gran sent him a package from Honeydukes with some new licorice wands and he was showing them to us."

"All of which is fine," Snape replied, his tone now normal. "However, I would wager that you forgot there was a meeting and therefore squandered your time rather than using it wisely and completing your assignments."

Harry shrugged once more before nodding as Remus' hand brushed up and down his back.

"Now why is it that you can forget something important, however, when I do, I am accused of doing so with malicious intent?" Snape questioned.

The teenager shrugged once more before he felt Remus tap his back gently. "Sorry," he said softly as he looked over towards his guardian.

The man let out a soft sigh as he waved a hand calling his child over to him.

Remus tapped the boy's back gently once more as he felt the teenager tense slightly. "Go on," he hummed.

Letting out a soft sigh, Harry stood and moved over to stand in front of the man.

"You are allowed to feel frustrated with me." Snape leaned forward slightly, putting his own face closer to his child's. "You know that. We have been over this multiple times." The man's hand moved to gently tap against the teenager's hip. "You need to work on how you express that frustration, however, and how you speak to me. I am not the enemy, Harry."

The teenager gave a slight nod. He could feel the shame of being scolded so openly with Remus only a foot away. "I'm sorry," he breathed.

"I know and you are forgiven." The man's fingers tapped once more. "We will not speak of this again and moving forward we will work on these issues. Correct?"

"Mmhm, correct." Harry nodded once more.

Snape gave a nod of approval as his arms moved to hug the teenager tightly. "Mind that cheek of yours," he breathed into the boy's ear.

Harry nodded into Snape's chest before the man released him.

"Now if you would still like to go you may." Snape motioned towards the door. "Otherwise, I think it would be in your best interest to work on some schoolwork while having some tea with Remus and me."

Harry thought over the words before clearing his throat. "Thanks, but I'm gonna go find Ron and Hermione." His frustration with the situation had dwindled but it wasn't gone completely. He couldn't help but feel his annoyance growing at Snape's mention of his cheek once more.

"That is fine." The man nodded.

"Enjoy the time with your friends," Remus gave the boy a soft smile. "Tell them that I said hello."

Harry gave a nod at the words before moving towards the parlor door once more. "See you at dinner," he said to his guardian before stepping out into the hall and closing the parlor door behind him.

He couldn't help the sense of adventure he felt mixed with a bit of nervousness. He didn't care what Snape said. The man was unfair and absolutely impossible. He was tired of listening to every damn thing the man said. He was fifteen, nearly an adult! He could do what he wanted! He didn't need Snape's permission.

The teenager moved down the hall quickly and up the spiral staircase. Finding Ron and Hermione was the furthest thing from his mind, however, finding Luna Lovegood seemed like the perfect plan to him.

Snape walked down the crowded hallway as students moved out of the way for him. He had sent a note to his child earlier in the day, inviting Harry to join him for dinner.

It has been nearly a week since he had seen the boy outside of class or the Great Hall. It was obvious that Harry was still upset with him over Hagrid as well as the last Order meeting. However, Snape was positive that if he could talk with Harry privately, he could help the boy see reason and understand better.

At the very least he could put up with the teenage attitude if it meant sharing a meal and some time together.

The man turned the corner feeling a bit better about the entire situation. Remus was visiting with Sirius and would not be back until late leaving plenty of time alone with his child. Snape was determined that the night would not end without the relationship with his child improving in some way.

His steps slowed as he heard several students discussing his child. He hardly wanted to be involved in the gossip amongst the students, however, if it was something he should know…

His eyes narrowed as he spotted the magazine in the young Hufflepuff's hands.

"Miss. Adams." He could hardly help the stern manner in which he addressed her, despite the fact that his annoyance was not directed at her.

"Pr-Professor?"

"May I?" He took the magazine from her hands before she had a chance to respond.

His anger grew as he saw his child's face flash across the cover, the words "Exclusive Interview with the Boy Who Lived", appearing below his picture.

The man gripped the magazine tightly before tucking it into the inner pocket of his cloak. He turned on his heel, his cloak whipping behind him, before he marched down the hall, leaving the students he had approached in a daze.

TBC...