Sirius muttered some curse into the lid of his hot chocolate before taking a drink. Severus understood his frustration. Even reiterating the events from Halloween made it even clearer how poorly things were being handled. Sirius bit out, "And nothing happened afterwards? Nothing for the parents?" A pause as if it dawned on him. "Nothing for the kids?"

"The few nightmares that were reported were discussed and only two students were prescribed Dreamless Sleep." Severus sighed. "But, no. Nothing more was done."

"Fuckin' hell."

Silence settled between them, filled by the sounds of the world around them. Godric's Hollow was anything but a sleepy little town late that Saturday morning. Severus could hear kids playing somewhere on the street behind them and quite a number of cars had passed since he and Sirius had settled against the fence. There had even been others who had walked through the graveyard and most bid respect to one of the many gravestones. If any had been inclined to encroach on Lily and James's headstone, none had followed through. Severus wasn't sure if that was due to Remus standing over Harry as the boy regaled the ghosts of his parents with tales of the previous year or if it was because of him and Sirius standing at the fence watching the pair and those that passed by.

Or, maybe they had enough respect for the dead to leave the poor boy alone.

Severus sighed and took a long drink of his coffee, appreciating the warmth. The most likely answer was the unfamiliarity of Sirius and Remus - and possibly himself - with Harry. There had been a scattering of photos over the years. The few of Sirius were old photos of a clean shaven, younger version and the few photos of Severus had been of his back from their abbreviated trip to Diagon Alley and while the photos had captured Remus and Snuffles, Harry's face had been buried in Remus's shoulder saving the boy from being immediately recognized.

Both Remus and Sirius were glamoured heavily for today's visit. Sirius had added quite a bit of gray to his black hair, lengthening it and thickening the curls until he had a literal mane of it. The front strands were clipped back barely keeping the mane controlled. The full beard he had added was a bushel of tight curls yet well maintained into an elongated rounded shape. Well dressed in high end muggle attire, Sirius looked nothing like any of the photos that had circulated.

Remus had leaned heavily into the old man look, going for a head of silver hair in curls that were reminiscent of Sirius's but lacked the mane look, all of it neatly tied back at the nape of his neck under a fedora. His own beard of tight curls was closely trimmed to his jaw, though it was rounded to hide his jaw line. Dressed in a similar fashion, Remus's cane looked to be of equally high caliber.

The only thing Severus had done was added a tightly trimmed goatee and exaggerated the curl in his hair to mimic the other two. The intent was to look like four generations spending time together and in Severus's opinion, they had managed that well.

"Harry seems rather unaffected by all of it," Sirius said, balancing a - Severus presumed - empty to-go cup on the backrest of Remus's wheelchair.

"I will not pretend to know how his day to day life has been but he has appeared fine; outside of not sleeping well. He has been sleeping in his room within my quarters at his own request since Halloween. Though he has yet to wake up screaming, I highly doubt it has been restful sleep."

Severus was certain Sirius had seen the flicker of pain he himself had caught crossing Remus's face. Sirius nodded, picking the cup back up. "Hopefully this will help."

"I'm sure it will." He took a step forward as Remus started towards them leaning heavily on his cane. "It would appear Remus has reached his limit. I will give you some time to fill him in."

"Appreciated," chased after him as he walked away.

Remus didn't say anything as they passed, merely offered him a tired smile and a pat on the arm before hobbling on. The fact that the man was even walking was either a miracle or the man's own stubbornness. The full moon on the first had been far from kind to Remus.

The boy grinned up at him for a brief moment before focusing back on the headstone, not once stopping in his retelling of the past year. The bracelet from Tanner was caught between bare fingers and danced about as Harry recounted the event that had landed him on the Quidditch team.

A pang of something close to guilt shot through Severus for the second time that day. He hadn't even realized Harry hadn't been wearing the precious gift until the boy had nearly forgotten it as they were leaving that morning and the fact that young Malfoy's actions had caused such dire effects-

Severus stopped that particular train of thought. Harry hardly seemed bothered by it anymore with the enthusiastic way he was describing his dive but that didn't mean the mark wasn't still there. If the boy left the bracelet in his room once they returned, it would be proof enough. Severus knelt at Harry's side as the boy tucked the bracelet back into place on his left wrist and discreetly reapplied the warming charms to Harry's mittens. To his surprise, Harry let him put them on instead of taking them as Severus had expected.

Not once did Harry's narrative drop, not even when Severus went as far as to make sure Harry's hat was still covering the boy's ears and Harry's scarf was still tucked high around the boy's neck.

No, the only time Harry's story faltered was when Harry got to Halloween.

Harry fell silent, unfocused gaze lingering in the space before the headstone. Severus put a hand on Harry's back. "Harry?" he asked gently.

Harry shook his head. "I'm ok." The boy's gaze focused on the names of his parents as a soft smile tugged at his lips. "You two would be so mad. A troll got into the school and Hermione had been in the bathroom. My friends and I had gone to get her but the troll had the same idea somehow and we ended up having to take on a mountain troll to keep all of us safe for the teachers to get to us." A breathy laugh escaped Harry as he said, "Ron finally got Wingardium Leviosa to work. Dropped the troll's club right on its head." That pride and amusement flickered and faded and Harry's gaze fell onto that in between space again. "I'm glad no one got hurt but I don't…" Harry rubbed the back of a mitten against his cheek. Severus couldn't quite decipher the look it hid. "I want to go back to IPPA. I want to go home. We never had to deal with trolls back home."

Severus slipped his arm around Harry and pulled the boy into a tight hug. Mittened hands clung to the back of his coat as best they could as Harry pushed his face into Severus's scarf. Knowing that the glasses were going to be of no use anymore, Severus managed to get Harry to pull back enough for him to steal them. Severus tucked them into a pocket as Harry tried to bury himself into Severus's embrace. The breakdown he had been expecting from Harry finally reached the boy and Severus sat on that cold, hard ground for what felt like hours yet seconds all at once as he held Harry tight to his chest listening to the boy wail against him. He didn't say anything as he waited for the emotions to run their course and for Harry to naturally calm down.

"I want to go home," Harry muttered as the breakdown came to an end, arms now lax and tucked between them.

Severus rested his chin on Harry's head. An individual was standing at the other end of the graveyard, a bouquet of flowers hanging nearly limp in their hand as they stared at a headstone. Even from where he sat, he could make out the far off look on their face that Remus and Sirius had worn that first year after Lily and James's death. Idly, he wondered how long ago their loss had been. "I know you do," Severus said. "You will for the holidays."

"Can't we go home now?"

Severus raised an eyebrow at that and let his gaze fall to what of Harry he could see without moving his head. "I was under the impression that the plan for today was to grab lunch before gift shopping for your friends. Are you no longer interested in that plan?"

Harry sat up at that and met his gaze as well as the boy could without his glasses. "No; I still want to go shopping."

A fond smile tugged the corner of his lips up and he reached out, fixing Harry's hat. "I know you want to go home, Harry, and after Halloween, nothing would please me more than to send you home. However, you and I both know that doing so would solve nothing." Harry's gaze fell but the boy nodded. Severus took out his glasses and offered them. "If by the winter holiday you still don't want to be at Hogwarts, we'll look into a transfer. Until then, there is the Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin next week and the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw match two weeks after, of which your friends are more than eager to drag you to."

Harry made a face though his glasses did little to hide the amusement that now danced in those brilliantly green eyes. "Cedric has been bouncing off the walls in excitement over next week's match; you would think he was playing in it."

Severus wasn't surprised by that. He got to his feet. "Most Quidditch enthusiasts get like that. I distinctly remember seeing your father nearly combust from excitement before every game long before that man became Seeker."

Harry grinned at that, scrambling to his feet. "Aren't you so glad I'm not like my dad?" Harry teased, taking Severus's hand.

Severus chuckled. "In that aspect, yes. I would have long since expired had I been forced to suffer through Quidditch season if you had become as much of a fanatic as your father had been." Severus's gaze landed on Sirius as they got within the man's hearing range. "It would have only fed Sirius into greater bouts of mischief and we both know how well that goes over."

Sirius puffed up at that, feigning offense even as his curiosity was prominent in his expression. "I will have you know my bouts of mischief are for the sake of everyone's livelihood. If I wasn't around, the house would be like a library between you and Remus."

Severus rolled his eyes as Remus commented, "Sounds like heaven to me."

"Hey!" Sirius cried as Harry laughed. Playing the wounded card, Sirius knelt at Remus's side and held onto Remus's arm. "Would you truly kick me to the doghouse, Remus?"

Remus, amused, patted Sirius's hands. "Only for the Quidditch season."

"But Quidditch!"

Harry's laughter didn't die down until after lunch. Though the 'woe is me' acting had started it, Sirius had been quick to move on to jokes - predominantly puns - and funny memories to keep the jovial mood high. Severus didn't need confirmation to know why Sirius was putting in the effort and Harry either didn't notice or appreciated it without commenting on it.

They did more window shopping than actual shopping. Severus didn't recognize the memo book Harry had but he knew the boy had something of a list in it on what to get each of his friends. Just a glimpse over the page showed a few names still held blanks while others had whole pages dedicated to them as he worked on narrowing down his ideas. By the end of the day, Harry had an idea for each of his friends though only a few were purchased. If anything, he thought Sirius's purchase was the most outlandish thing to happen during their outing.

Harry did too when it turned out to be a gift for him.

"Can't we go with an older model?" Harry asked, hands tucked as deep into his pockets as the boy could manage, his gaze flicking between the Nimbus Two Thousand on display and Sirius who had a fond expression on his face.

"You're not going to let me spoil you?" Sirius asked, though it was clearly rhetorical as he rubbed Harry's hat against the top of the boy's head. Harry immediately batted away Sirius's hand to pull the hat off and fix how it sat on his head. "Alright, alright. I'll put an order in for the latest Cleansweep, then."

He did not, in fact, purchase the Cleansweep and Severus glowered at the man when Sirius handed him the order form for one Nimbus Two Thousand to notate where it should be sent. Sirius had the audacity to actually be embarrassed. "I would have bought it for the holiday but he's gonna need his own broom for Quidditch. Really, I had already planned on making this purchase. I even know where the racing courses are that Harry can go fly at during school breaks."

Severus smacked Sirius with the end of the quill. "Regardless of the fact that he is the reserve, if he doesn't use it, you cannot get upset with him."

Sirius grinned. "Wouldn't dream of it. It's his to do with what he wants, even if all that is is to leave it in his trunk until he gets home."

The broom arrived the following Wednesday, which had been sooner than Severus had expected.

He let Harry unwrap it on Saturday, catching the boy just before the Gryffindor/Slytherin match. Harry had been hesitant about the gift for a whole two seconds before the boy let go of his worries and accepted the gift for what it was. He made Harry leave it on the couch, though; there was no need to draw attention to the expensive broom quiet yet.

No, that would come when Harry took to the field for the Hufflepuff/Ravenclaw match.

Not that anyone had been expecting Harry to play. Severus had gone to bed the night before the second match of the year expecting to wake up, eat breakfast, and discretely read a book as he sat in those cold stands. Instead, he woke up and had managed to be dressed enough to be presentable before the painted young man entered the landscape painting that hung on the wall opposite the bedroom door.

"Severus." He drew back from the dresser enough to meet the painting's gaze. "Pomona Sprout is at the door."

Concern surged forward, eager to sink its teeth in him, but he ignored it as he closed the dresser. "Is Harry with her?"

"No. She also offered that it wasn't anything dire."

He raised an eyebrow at the painted figure as they walked into the painting in the living room. It would seem he was not alone in his disbelief of that statement. "Thank you," he offered in lieu of some response before unlocking and opening the door.

Sure enough, Pomona was standing just beyond the reach of the painting looking as if she had just come to visit. Despite having schooled his expression, his eyebrow rose again. "Good morning. Something I can help you with, Pomona?"

"Good morning, Severus," she offered briskly, though not unkindly. "May I come in? It won't be a long discussion."

He would hope not; they were expected in the Great Hall for breakfast in the next half hour. Stepping aside, he bade her enter and asked, "Would you like tea?"

"Yes please."

She sat herself on the couch before the fire but didn't fill the silence as he brewed her some tea and himself a cup of coffee.

The china clattered softly as he set it down, an undertone to her soft, "Thank you," before she picked the cup up and took a long drink. He sat down in one of the armchairs, realizing she looked far more tired than he had first noticed. Her entire demeanor was relaxed, though, so whatever had caused the exhaustion wasn't stress inducing.

She finally broke the silence when she had nearly finished her tea. "Harry will be playing as Seeker today."

Surprise flickered across his face. "Is Mr. Diggory alright?"

"Oh, he's fine now, but Poppy says he needs a day of rest after the night he had. I was woken at four-something this morning by Travis who found Cedric in the bathroom. Poor boy had been dealing with vomiting and diarrhea all night and was a right mess when he was finally found. Poppy initially thought it was a bout of food poisoning but, according to his friends, he hadn't had much of an appetite all day yesterday and had seemed sluggish more than a simple late night should account for. Regardless if it was some flu or otherwise, most of the symptoms have stopped and he's sleeping soundly in the Hospital Wing."

A hard frown pulled across Severus's expression. "Are the dorm restrooms not spelled to alert you of such things?"

She let out a sharp sigh and he got a glimpse of where part of her exhaustion stemmed from. "They are, but they are contingent on the student being willing, unless their life was in danger and, fortunate or not, Cedric hadn't reached that point yet. While it's not necessarily a rare occurrence for students to put up privacy wards, it's enough that the safety measures do not activate unless a life is in danger. Some of the older students are used to eating something bad and knowing a single moment of being sick will fix the problem and don't want to bother me or others, especially in my House, for whatever reasons-" He knew she knew the reasons; they both did, almost too intimately in a few cases- "so I've never felt the need to change it."

"Until today."

What composure she had left faded as she sank fully into the couch, her exhaustion on full display. "Cedric is a good boy but he doesn't want people to fret about him. And you don't think much of it when they're a good kid who's not overdoing it or the like but this…" Her expression tightened. "Hopefully Poppy will be able to tell if this is something I need to be concerned about with him. I get some kids don't like being sick and being fretted about at the same time doesn't help but this should never have to happen. We have a Hospital Wing for such things; why else would we have it?"

Severus put his empty mug down on the coffee table as the sounds of the lit fireplace filled the silence that followed. There was a reason he didn't care much for children and it wasn't because they were bad or obnoxious - not that they couldn't be - or the like. He didn't care for children because they were always so complex. Their minds would come up with rules and reasons that, to an adult, never seemed to make sense and it was always so infuriating when it caused issues like these. His House had its fair few that were like young Cedric, but in a way that was concerning. Nothing he could write to any child protective services about, unfortunately, but enough that he kept a closer eye on them. Those like young Mr. Malfoy - arrogant before they had lived long enough to properly be so, cocky and entitled - they had no problems seeking him out or the other adults when they're not feeling good, some even going as far as to exploit it. But those that hid, did their best to not be a bother…

There was a reason why he had reimplemented those very same safety spells in both the restrooms and the dorms of his own House, willingness of the student be damned.

"Hopefully Mr. Diggory will be amicable to a conversation and this will be the only incident." He met Pomona's gaze and pretended to not understand the emotions she held there. "But it may be beneficial to reiterate to the students that if they are sick, going to the Hospital Wing is best, even if it seems silly or bothersome."

Pomona nodded. "I will." She stood. "Thank you for tea, Severus, but it might be best if I left you to it, as we will both be expected at breakfast."

Severus stood with her. "I'll walk you to the door." It wasn't until he was closing his door that he remembered something. "Pomona." When she paused and met his gaze, he continued, "Did Harry ever tell you about the broom his Godfather gifted him?"

It took a second before a soft smile tugged at her lips. "Not from Harry himself but Sirius was kind enough to send a missive about it. Quite the extravagant gift."

He nearly rolled his eyes. "Quite. While there are no rules about the brooms that can be used on the field, I take it you have no problem with him using his new broom if he so chooses?"

That soft smile grew into a beaming one. "We both know that the broom does not make the player, Severus. If he should choose to fly with it, then he shall fly with it. And I dare say it wouldn't matter the broom; every team is going to have a challenge facing off against him with how well he flies. If he ever joins the team properly, Hufflepuff will win the Cup for sure."

He had no doubt about that.

Despite the conversation with Pomona, Severus had been tempted to check in on Harry at breakfast but the boy seemed at peace with the whole matter, if not rightfully nervous. At minimum, the boy was eating so Severus let him be.

It did leave him to wonder after how - and when - Harry was told. Had Harry been awake at that hour, or awoken to be told? Or had they waited until he had woken for breakfast to tell him? Had they told him the full story or just that he was filling in as Seeker? It was frivolous fretting to be sure but he couldn't quite be bothered to stop it until he was crossing the grounds to the stadium.

He paused at the changing room the Hufflepuffs were using and asked the bright eyed Keeper that greeted him if he could see Harry for a moment. Harry stepped out, equally bright eyed but a bit more anxious in the Hufflepuff Quidditch uniform. Severus directed the boy around the corner so they had a bit more privacy. "Are you flying on your new broom?" he asked, keeping his voice low despite the privacy allotted them.

Harry nodded, immediately relaxing. He matched Severus's volume as he said, "Sebastian said it was my choice but everyone's been eager to have me play on it since I got it and since I've been practicing on it, it seemed weird to fly on a different broom just because I'm filling in during a game."

"Will your glasses be alright? Do you want me to spell them to keep the weather out?"

The weather in question was a brisk, sunny day with a scattering of clouds on the horizon and nary a breeze stronger than a sigh. The most he would be keeping out would be the wind caused from flying around.

Harry shook his head no. "They've been fine in practice and I haven't been going slow there."

"Ok." Severus dropped his hand onto Harry's head. "Remember: the final score doesn't truly matter and as long as you're having fun, that is all your guardians care about."

Harry beamed at him. "I know, but thank you. I'm actually really excited - well, and also nervous - but mostly excited to be Seeker in a real game. I really do hope Cedric feels better soon but if it was going to be anyone on the team, I'm glad it was him that got sick and not one of the others. Except maybe Vanny. I would have been ok with Keeper but Seeker is easiest."

Severus chuckled and carded his hand through Harry's hair. "Fly well out there and good luck."

Harry grinned. "Thank you, Severus," he said before hurried off to rejoin his team.

When the team kicked off, Harry shot straight up, staying even with his teammates until the quaffle was in play. Severus was unsurprised when the boy settled well above the game and just hovered there, searching. Even if he hadn't been present for trainings, Harry had been more than happy to regale Sirius about the different plans per each position Harry was learning. The Seeker was indeed the easiest position. Harry's place was to be above the action with his only goal to be catching the snitch without getting hit by a bludger. Keeper was a similar goal, though it meant intercepting a quaffle rather than a snitch.

Still, each time Harry started actually circling the field it drew Severus's gaze. When Hufflepuff made its first goal, Harry brought his broom up short so that it was nearly vertical and did a clean three-sixty before leveling back out, not losing any altitude in the quick maneuver. Severus was curious to know if any of the students had been impressed by it or understood the control required for such a move. Both Remus and Sirius had been thoroughly impressed when Harry had managed to execute the maneuver flawlessly on Sirius's old broom after many practiced attempts. Severus had certainly been impressed when he had been shown the maneuver when his schedule had allowed him to visit home shortly thereafter.

The sports commentator giving the play-by-play certainly was impressed as that was all the commentator focused on for a good thirty seconds before Minerva yelled at him to focus back on the game.

Twice Harry dove into the game but just as Harry would reach top speed, he would pull off his trajectory and the speed would quickly dissipate as he returned to his former position. The Ravenclaw Seeker was holding position under the game and matching Harry pace for pace. Even the false calls on Harry's part had the Ravenclaw Seeker darting after in an attempt to reach whatever they hadn't noticed first. But where Harry's hovering and circling had a calm, controlled air about it, the Ravenclaw Seeker seemed more ill at ease, barely coming to a complete stop for more than a few seconds before circling again.

It quickly became apparent that the game was not going to be a short one as the score came to 40-70, Ravenclaw's lead, as the Hufflepuff Captain made another goal and the snitch still had yet to be seen a half hour in. Severus contemplated pulling out the reading material in an inner pocket but the thought of missing Harry actually seeing the snitch left a bitter tang in his mouth.

It was as the Hufflepuff Keeper successfully blocked an attempt by Ravenclaw that he felt it.

No matter the type of spell - be it 'light' or 'dark' - the innate magic of the world fluctuates in response, especially when the spell is meant to pull on innate magic. Spells that predominantly use core magic will exponentially affect the innate magic in relation to the power of the spell, be it because the innate magic is supplementing what the core magic cannot sustain upon command or simply by the ripples caused by core magic being stirred into action. Severus wasn't as in tune with the fluttering of innate magic as Madam Gold - or even Remus, who was nowhere near her level but still impressively perceptive - but he had learned that close proximity definitely helped.

For half a second, he presumed one of the professors next to him was simply recasting a warming charm or similar minor thing, but then the innate magic rolled from the very precise but constant flow of magic of a spell that either required a lengthy cast, or was meant to link caster and target.

A sudden motion above the game immediately drew his gaze and he watched as Harry's broom jerked this way and that, as if it were trying to buck the boy off.

His mind had no trouble giving him a list of spells that could cause such things, and it even narrowed it down to three knowing how the innate magic was reacting to the spell. The only problem was that he knew only one countercurse that would work against all three and it wasn't very effective, though that may be more due to his lack of skill with it than the spell itself. Still, he didn't hesitate to throw himself into casting it, relegated to muttering the lengthy incantation as he used the other caster's magical link as a point of guidance for his own spell.

The magic around the broom was unrelenting under his own but he was managing to find nooks and crannies he could slip his spell into and take a greater hold. The broom gave a horrible buck sending Harry over the front of the broom. Vaguely Severus could hear a number of people scream. Thankfully, Harry had a solid grip the buck hadn't broken and Severus slipped his magic in around Harry's hands to offer some help as the boy readjusted his grip. Doing so meant sapping magic from his initial intent and as soon as Harry was situated hanging from underneath, Severus shoved his magic back into the fray, trying desperately to get under the foreign magic to keep the broom steady for Harry.

That did not stop the original caster from sending the broom higher and higher any time any of the other players tried to get closer. The game had come to a grinding halt and more than half of the Hufflepuff team was circling under Harry far enough away to keep from encouraging the broom higher. If Harry fell, there was a good chance he would be caught but-

Someone roughly shook his shoulder, breaking his concentration. Their shouting was garbled sounds in his brain before snapping into clarity. Somehow, his robes were on fire. Bewildered and confused, Severus also realized the opportunity afforded him and he quickly stoop, whipping from the bench and slamming into every soul that was within reach as he got the end of his robe underfoot and snuffed.

The disruption in the innate magic dissipated.

He turned his gaze skyward anyway, watching as Harry remounted and slowly joined his teammates. The Hufflepuffs looked like a swarm of bees as they checked Harry over, making sure the smallest of their team was ok before they returned to their places. Madam Hooch's whistle sounded, the game picked right back up, and not even fifteen seconds in, Harry barreled towards one of the Ravenclaw Beaters. The Beater swung at Harry more due to reflex than ill intent, forcing Harry to roll onto his side to miss getting hit. Harry drew his broom up short behind the Ravenclaw, who in turn turned and started yelling at him, only for Harry to spit out the snitch into his hand.

Hufflepuff ends the game as the victors with the final score being 190-70.

"I was so annoyed," Harry said emphatically, a grin on his face despite the heated tone of his voice. "I would have been fine missing the snitch all together but no. My shout in reaction just had to be perfectly timed to catch the snitch in my mouth." Tanner, already in a fit of giggles from how comedic Harry had made his retelling, promptly fell off the couch. "It was horrifying!" was probably meant to sound offended but Tanner's laughter was apparently catching as the exclamation was peppered with laughter.

"Did he really catch it in his mouth?" Remus asked, looking to Severus.

He nodded, lifting the last of his coffee to his lips. He could still remember the look of disgust that had crossed Harry's face as the boy wiped saliva off the magical ball before raising it high over his head, completely oblivious to the Ravenclaw still yelling at him. The shock and then realization that had quickly crossed the Ravenclaw's face had been rather satisfying. "As unbelievable as it sounds, he did indeed. Much in the same matter as he had shared it."

"I'm assuming the broom bucking wasn't quite as minimal of a thing as he's made it out to be, though."

Severus sighed and moved to the kitchen sink. "No. Someone was actively forcing it to do that."

"Did you ever find out who it was?"

"Not definitively."

Oh, he had tried. Those weeks leading up to winter break had been full of speculation and assumptions but beyond trying to get Quirrell to divulge anything that would give him even a scrap to work with, he had nothing to show for it. Even if he was right and Quirrell had been the one to spell Harry's broom, he couldn't prove it and that was probably the most frustrating thing of all.

Remus's hands slipped the still soap covered mug from his hands and took over washing it. Severus stretched out the tension from his fingers from where he had been gripping the mug far harder than he needed to. "Thank you," he muttered, knowing there would be no use in arguing with the other that he was fine or he could wash it himself.

"You did well protecting him as you could," Remus said, touching on the thoughts Severus hadn't shared.

He scoffed at it. "I could have handled the situation better."

Remus tipped his head to the side in acknowledgment of the statement. "He didn't get seriously hurt so what you did was enough. You've learned from it, I'm sure, so there's nothing to hold over your own head about it. Accept the win and let go of the rest."

Severus snorted. "Alright, Sirius."

Remus flicked water at him, chuckling as well. "If you're going to be snarky about it, go see if those two have buried themselves in packaging and toys and leave me to the dishes."

Severus rolled his eyes in good humor as he walked away. He couldn't deny Remus's words, though. He had indeed learned from the experience - though it was more of remembering after the fact an even better countercurse and seven other ways to deal with the situation as a whole - but more than anything, he had learned that Harry was far more perceptive about magic than any of them had known.

Severus sat down on the couch farthest from the duo now on the floor in front of the loveseat doing something with one of the gifts that had been opened that morning. From the looks of the mess, it was the car track set Tanner had been gifted. Harry's head came up long enough to grin at him.

It had been a brief moment, a thing in passing as bodies were moving about in the chaos immediately following Hufflepuff's win. Severus had found himself near the Hufflepuff changing room with Minerva and Pomona where quite the crowd had amassed. Harry, bracketed by his friends of several Houses and most of the Quidditch team, purposefully squeezed between the professors and managed to not only give Severus a quick hug in the guise of slipping around him but also muttered a quick, "Thank you," before he was swept along with his peers. It had taken a few days before Severus managed to ask Harry about it and gained the simple response of, "You helped to keep me from falling off my broom." In the end, Severus concluded that close proximity had borne familiarity and while a normal person in a similar situation would have probably only felt the magic at most, Harry's seeming ease at being able to discern Severus's magical signature out of said magic was something else entirely.

"You have another letter, Harry," Remus announced, entering the living room with dry hands and the aforementioned letter in hand. Harry popped up and darted through the mess of track the pair had been weaving all over - and in cases like the table, through - the furniture without disturbing a single piece. He took the letter with a quick thank you and opened it without a second thought.

"It's from Hermione! The books arrived while they were getting ready for their trip." Harry started back through the mess to his original spot.

Tanner's head came up at that, as eager to hear the news as Harry was. "Has she started reading them, yet?"

Harry nodded. "She's finished Dealing with Dragons and was about halfway through Searching for Dragons when she wrote this. She said she wanted to have something more to say about them than a simple thank you." Harry grinned. "She says she's been loving them and is very happy I sent her the entire series. She absolutely loves Cimerone."

"I'm glad. They're such good books." Tanner sat back tapping a piece of track against the coffee table. "So that's everyone, then? Hermione was the last one you were waiting to hear back from?"

"Yep! She also sends well wishes and says hi."

"Hi Hermione!"

The other letters had held similar jovial tones, much to Harry's delight. Severus had been surprised when one of those letters had come from Draco Malfoy, though he wasn't surprised when it turned out to be nothing more than a formal thank you and well wishes for the holidays. Harry had still been happy about it, stating that the letter didn't matter so much as what young Malfoy had sent in return. It had taken Severus a short minute to realize the beautifully colored peacock in an equally beautiful garden was from one of Harry's coloring books. Severus wondered if Lucius even knew his Heir had such talents; the sketchbook and pencil set certainly made more sense, now.

Which, was on par for a lot of the gifts Harry had given out. Not all of them had been slated to be received during the holiday break. The football they had bought during their trip to Godric's Hollow had apparently been for Hannah Abbott who had been ecstatic to receive it the day they had returned to Hogwarts at the end of that annual trip. Severus had caught sight of the pair kicking the ball around on the grounds and in the courtyard when homework and the weather permitted.

In addition to the sketchbook and pencil that had been intended for young Malfoy, Harry had also gotten a small dotted paper notebook with pen loop and a Rubix cube that same trip, the latter two given to the Weasley twins just before break. Severus had been tempted to confiscate the Rubix cube when the one twin it had been given to started messing with it in his class but someone had been smart and silenced the toy beforehand and Severus could not denounce how effective it was at keeping the one twin calm for the entirety of the period.

The nonmagical variant of succulent that had gone to Neville Longbottom had been gifted to the Gryffindor early December when Severus had gotten the chance to leave the school for a few hours to go purchase it in Harry's stead. The First Year's glee at receiving a plant had Severus mentioning it to Pomona; there was no harm in encouraging a student interested in botany to pursue Herbology.

The Quidditch memorabilia - sent to Ron Weasley - had been ordered to arrive on December 25th when the youngest Weasley boy would be celebrating Christmas.

The snake shed quill case that had been Harry's gift for Blaise Zabini had been made by a craftsman friend of Ribeiro's who used shed from Ribeiro's own snakes. Severus hadn't been sure about such a gift for one of his Slytherins but according to the letter Harry had received yesterday about it, young Zabini had absolutely loved it, going as far as to learn about the different snakes whose sheds had been used. Sirius had told him the previous night that he had received a letter from young Zabini's mother with a bit of coin saying that such a gift was much too expensive for a mere 11-year-old to purchase on an allowance and to pay the artisans behind the craftsmanship (it had all been written in good humor, as it was apparent she knew it had been hand crafted and she wanted to encourage the amazing work done on the case as well as help the beautiful creatures whose sheds had been used).

Even the gift Harry had given Tanner had been enthusiastically received. Where the other gifts had been purchased, the only thing Harry had purchased for Tanner had been the thread Harry had painstakingly weaved and knotted together. The final result was a narrow band roughly five feet long and inch or so wide of reds, yellows, greens, and white. Harry had figured out how to make a floral pattern in the narrow band and had dotted the entire length with yellow flowers and green leaves along a gentle wave of the darker green vine. The red was predominantly used as the border but there was the scattered few red flowers among the yellow. It had been a gift a long time in the making, one that Severus hadn't realized Harry had kept up on throughout the school year until the boy had offered it to Tanner neatly wrapped in paper with a massive bow on it. Even now, the band was being used as a headband, the long strands left over tucked up through their ponytail to hand along the top part of their hair. The tails of the band were longer than their hair but only by a few inches. In a few months, the tails and their hair would be the same length.

Severus wondered if the handmade band had been a response gift to the bracelet wrapped around Harry's wrist, the very bracelet that had indeed remained in Harry's room of Severus's quarters until the end of term.