Harry and Draco stood in opposite corners of the kitchen.

Rook paced back and forth between them. He would nudge first Harry's hand, whining when he didn't give him any attention, and then move on to repeat the process with Draco.

Snape was also pacing. In the parlor, back and forth in front of the fireplace. Every time he thought he was calm enough to face his two boys, he remembered the events of the last thirty minutes, and resumed his pacing once again.

Alan and Marie Dubois were thrilled to hear of Evelyn's engagement. However, Marie was less than thrilled to hear about it only hours before meeting her new future brother-in-law. A meeting which started out perfectly fine, and ended in utter disaster.

The dinner portion of the evening had gone smoothly, with adults and children getting along well. It wasn't until the after dinner drinks that things began to go awry.

Snape was listening contently as Evelyn lead the conversation with her family while Harry, Draco, and Brielle disappeared into the parlor. For a while, all was quiet, then suddenly the house burst into sounds of explosion after explosion, all coming from the parlor.

Snape and the others were immediatly on their feet and they raced down the hallway, wands raised as if expecting to find an attack.

Instead, what they found were three teenagers standing in the middle of the room, eyes wide as they looked around at the distruction. Their faces were covered in soot and their hair stood on end.

The room was littered in glass and debris and burn marks covered the walls.

"What happened in here?" Alan exclaimed, eyes scanning the room.

"Are you three alright?"

"Are you hurt?"

Both Evelyn and Marie immediately began inspecting them for injuries, turning their heads to the side and running a quick diagnostic spell on them. Though they assured them they were all fine, the two women wanted to be certain.

"We were playing Exploding Snap," Brielle explained, stepping away from her mother.

"Except Exploding Snap doesn't cause damage like this," Alan said, already waving his wand at the mess and putting everything back in order.

"It does when you play with a prank deck," Snape offered, his dark eyes boring into Harry and Draco, who both remained silent.

This wasn't the first time Snape had seen the effects of a trick deck of cards. One day last year, a few of his 4th year Slytherins had gotten hold of a deck and nearly blown up their dormitory. Every card exploded at once, sending them flying like small missiles in every direction.

Snape had been so angry that after he'd seen to it that all four boys were unharmed, he gave them each detention and confiscated every deck in Slytherin house until he could be sure there weren't any more.

"We didn't know it was a joke deck," Harry defended.

Snape only narrowed his eyes at him.

The evening ended soon after that. The boys made their appologies for the mess, then Snape sent them home through the floo, assuring them that he would be right behind them.

Another five minutes passed and Snape finally walked through the kitchen doorway.

"Alright," he said, crossing his arms over his chest and leaning his hip against the counter. "Turn around and someone explain to me what happened tonight."

Harry and Draco both turned around, but neither gave any explanation, and eventually, Snape's eyes settled on Harry, hoping he would be the easiest to convince to talk.

Harry immediately shook his head. "Don't look at me," he said defensively. "I didn't even know you could get a prank deck of Exploding Snap. The whole game is a prank already."

Snape inclined his head, believing Harry's words, before turning to look at Draco, who huffed and rolled his eyes.

"Well, I didn't know they would do that!" he exclaimed.

Harry glanced, wide-eyed at Draco.

"You knew that I banned them from Slytherin last year. You knew why," Snape was seething. Of all the foolish things to do. They could have gotten hurt!

"I didn't actually see what happened," Draco shot back. "I thought you were being dramatic."

"You thought—" Snape paused before he could work himself up again. He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "Where did you even get them?" he asked after a moment of silence.

When Draco didn't immediatly answer him, choosing instead to look down at the carpet, Snape said, "Draco," drawing out his name as if it alone were a reprimand.

Draco sighed. "From the twins," he admitted, reluctantly.

Snape shook his head. Of course Fred and George had something to do with this, he thought with annoyance. "Do you have any more?" he asked.

"None. I promise."

"I—"

From the parlor, Snape heard the floo roar to life, and a second later, Evelyn's voice called out, "I'm here, and I brought the left over dessert."

Snape watched as Harry's eyes flitted to the doorway, noticibly brightening at the thought of more chocolate pudding, no doubt. Feeling as if he'd gone completely soft, Snape nodded toward the door. "Alright, go on, but this better be the last time you take anything from Fred and George Weasley," he said, sternly. "Either of you."

Both boys gave heartfelt nods before quickly moving past Snape.

He followed them out to find Evelyn already shooing them upstairs to get cleaned up. Snape deflated a bit. He should have thought to tell them to do that straight away.

Rook nudged his hand and Snape looked down with a raised eyebrow before grudgingly reaching out to give the dog a quick scratch behind the ears.

He was definitely going soft. Honestly, much more of this and "Hogwarts most feared Potions Professor" would be replaced with "Hogwarts most cuddly."

"What are you thinking about?" Evelyn asked, pulling him back to the present.

"Them," he answered. "Always them."

"I'm sure they feel very lucky to have you always looking after them," Evelyn said seriously, from where she sat in the other armchair.

Snape shook his head and moved across the room to take his seat. "I'm the one who's lucky," he said. "To have all three of you."

He tapped the end table with his knuckles and the tea set appeared as it always did, then another tap and bowls and spoons for pudding appeared as well.

Evelyn let her elbow rest on the chair and dropped her chin into her hand as she smiled at him. "Did you notice Marie?" she asked. "She really liked you."

Snape raised an eyebrow at her. "I find that highly doubtful. Nobody likes me."

"Are we nobody, then?" Harry asked from the doorway, his face and hands freshly scrubbed of the soot.

Draco moved around Harry and reached for the bowl of pudding Evelyn held out to him.

"That's not what I meant," Snape said quietly when Harry didn't cross the threshold of the room. He caught Harry's eye and nodded his head to the couch. "Now, I believe we're here to have a family meeting."

Harry smiled and took his own bowl of pudding before claiming his corner of the couch.

Draco took the other, and Rook settled down on the floor between them.

"I hear the two of you have questions," Evelyn said as she poured herself a cup of tea.

Draco nodded. "When are you getting married?"

Snape shook his head. Leave it to Draco to get straight to the point.

"I already told you," he said, "Likely next summer."

"So nearly a year?"

Evelyn smiled. "Well, naturally. It takes time to plan a wedding, you know?"

"Where will we live?" Harry asked. He pulled his feet up beneath him and ran his spoon through his pudding, though he had yet to take a bite.

"Here," Snape answered.

When Harry looked to Evelyn as if to confirm, she agreed. "It makes the most sense. The two of you already have bedrooms here, and my house is hardly big enough for all of us."

"And you have less stuff," Draco said, repeating his words from before.

"Oh, I don't know about that," Evelyn said with a wink. "I have quite a bit."

Snape tried to imagine what it would be like; to have her things next to his. Evelyn probably had plenty of things which served no purpose other than to look soft and pretty. He wondered how they would look beside the dark and ugly things he owned.

"When would you move in? Soon? Will it be while we're at Hogwarts?"

Harry's questions brought him back to the conversation at hand. He shook his head. "I doubt it," he said, bringing his focus back to his son. "Hogwarts has rules about who is allowed to live there. Unless there are special circumstances, you have to be married or a child of a professor."

"It's a school," Draco deadpanned. "It's full of children."

Snape sent him a mild glare. "Obviously, I mean a child who is too young to attend. But that brings up another thing."

When both boys and Evelyn look at him, Snape cleared his throat. "It's about our rooms at Hogwarts. I only have two bedrooms…" He trailed off and waited for that to sink in for the two teens. It only took a few seconds.

"So that means…" Harry started.

Draco frowned. "You want us to share a room?"

"My room?" Harry supplied.

Snape sighed. "I know that it's not ideal, but we don't have much of a choice. I can make your room larger with an expansion spell, but I can't add a third bedroom."

Harry and Draco exchanged a look that told Snape exactly what they thought of that idea. Snape couldn't blame them. He and Remus had also had to share the extra room in Albus and Minerva's quarters occasionally, and while it had never been fun, they'd made do.

It was different for Harry though. He knew it was. The bedroom in Snape's quarters was Harry's first real room. It wasn't the cupboard under the stairs, and it wasn't Dudley's second bedroom. It was all his, and Snape felt bad for even bringing it up.

"Harry?" he asked softly.

Harry's bright green eyes flitted up to meet his own before he gave a resigned sigh. "Okay, but you can make it really big, right?"

Snape nodded. "I can. And I will even promise that as often as we can, on weekends where you both want to stay, we can come back here. You already know that Remus and I went home occasionally. I don't see why we couldn't."

Draco nodded. "And really, what are the chances that we both want to stay on the same night?"

"What sort of special circumstance?" Harry asked suddenly, turning back to Snape and changing the subject.

"What do you mean?" Snape asked. He knew this wouldn't be the last conversation they had about the room, but they could come back to that.

"For Evelyn to be able to move into Hogwarts," he answered.

"Oh. Like if my house sells more quickly than we anticipate, and suddenly I'm without a place to live," Evelyn said. "I would think that would count. Though I doubt we would run into that problem."

Harry fidgeted in his seat, staring down into his bowl.

"What is it, Harry?" Snape asked.

Harry looked up at him, his green eyes wary as if he were afraid to voice his question allowed. "Are you going to have more children?" he asked.

Beside him, Snape saw Evelyn soften.

"I suppose there's always a chance that we might. Someday." She stood up and moved to sit between Draco and Harry, putting her arm easily around both of their shoulders. "But for now, Severus and I are both perfectly content for it to remain just the four of us."

A few evenings later, Snape sat at the desk in his lab as he added a few notes to his fifth year lesson plans. Term would start in just over three weeks, so he needed to concentrate, but his mind was filled with so many other things.

Harry and his nightmares. He'd had fewer over the last couple of weeks, but they still weren't gone completely. Harry seemed to be making progress with Remus though, and he was certainly grateful for that.

Draco. He had asked to drop the Malfoy name all together, which was absolutely fine with Snape, but he worried about how the students would treat him. Especially those in his own house. Draco had been insistent, though, and Snape had promised not to interfere unless absolutely necessary. And he would keep his word, but he would be watching him closely all the same.

He asked to change his middle name, too. That was something Snape understood all too well. To be constantly reminded of what you left behind. Snape had never changed his. He remained Severus Tobias, and though he hated it with passion, he'd grown used to it. He'd accepted it and learned to live with it. But had he ever given any thought to change it? Truthfully, he hadn't even considered it might be an option.

But it was for Draco. And if Draco wanted to drop Lucius, well, Snape was going to make it happen. But to what? Snape didn't know, and so far Draco hadn't come up with any ideas either.

Evelyn also weighed heavily on his mind. Snape was still trying to come to terms with the idea that she could love him, much less be willing to marry him. And yet she had agreed.

A dark voice in the back of his mind spoke up. "She wouldn't have agreed if she knew what kind of man you really were. What sort of things you've done."

Those same words had been circling his mind ever since the conversation with Draco the night the Death Eaters had attacked. Draco hadn't asked any more questions, but Snape thought it was only a matter of time before he did. He had to be curious. Snape knew he would have been.

Snape's burning curiosity had gotten him into trouble more than once in his younger days, especially when he couldn't stop himself from eavesdropping on private conversations. It was, admittedly, something he and Harry had in common, though Snape would never tell him that.

He put his quill down and scrubbed his hand across his face. He was going to have to face what he'd done during his time as spy sooner or later. The question was whether or not those he loved would ever look at him the same afterwards.

A soft knock on the door kept Snape's thoughts from spiraling any further, and he glanced at the clock on the wall. A quarter past one in the morning.

"Come in," he answered immediately.

Harry peered around the door. "Dad?"

"Harry, what are you doing up so late? Was it a nightmare?" Snape asked, concern coating his voice.

Harry shook his head as he came into the room and shut the door behind him. "I haven't been to sleep yet," he admitted sheepishly.

Snape sighed. "Then what's keeping you awake?" He gestured to the chair opposite his desk and Harry sat down.

"I wanted to talk to you." Harry kept his gaze lowered to the arm of the chair. He brushed his thumb idly across the smooth wood on the corner. "It's about Draco."

Snape raised his eyebrows. He hadn't been expecting that. "What about him?"

Harry bit his lip before letting out a slow breath. "He lied to you the other night." He glanced up at Severus through his dark fringe of hair before going on. "He knew the cards were a prank deck. I owled Fred and George, and they said they told him exactly what would happen and that he should be careful with them."

Snape narrowed his eyes. It wasn't as if he didn't believe Harry, but he wondered what his motivations were for bringing it to his attention. "Why are you telling me this?" he asked. "I thought you and Draco were passed all this? Passed trying to get each other into trouble?"

Harry's head shot up. "We are!" he said, as if he were offended by the very idea. "At least, I am. I'm not trying to get him into trouble, Dad. I'm trying to get you to help him."

Snape sat up straighter at that. "Help him? What do you mean?"

"Well, because he's testing you." Harry looked at Snape pointedly. "I mean, surely you get that?"

Snape felt like laughing. "Testing me?" he asked. "What on Earth for? Draco doesn't have any reason to test me. He knows precisly what is expected from him. Nothing has changed."

Harry's eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. "You're joking, right?" When Snape didn't do anything except glare at him, Harry shook his head. "Dad, everything has changed. You're not just his godfather anymore. He's not staying here for a week out of the summer and then going home."

Snape let out a sigh. "Harry, I appreciate the concern, but I really don't think—"

"Remember when we snuck out last year to that concert?" Harry interrupted, crossing his arms over his chest and sitting up straighter. "You brought us back, and after the lecture of a lifetime, I got grounded for a whole month. But what did Draco get? A few measely detentions and some chores."

Before Snape could form a response, Harry went on. "If that had happened now, we both would have gotten grounded."

Snape nodded. "You're right about that. But I'm not sure you're right about this. Why would Draco feel the need to test me? I'll admit that things have changed, but I can't imagine Draco is suddenly unsure of where he stands with me."

Harry shook his head. "I think you're wrong. Uncle Remus said it's natural for kids to act out when stuff like this happens. He said he did it a lot with Grandma, and said you turned into a right brat after he came to live with you guys."

Snape narrowed his eyes. He was definitely going to have a talk with Uncle Remus about that. "And you think that Draco lied about the cards to see what I would do?"

"Not just the cards," Harry said, "but yes."

Snape wasn't blind to the possibility, though he still didn't see Draco's reasoning. "What else, then?" he asked.

Harry was ready with his answer as he pushed himself up in his seat and pulled his leg beneath him. "What about when we used magic to do tricks on the skateboard? All you did was take our wands for a day, even though it wasn't the first time you've caught Draco using his wand, and technically part of the reason I'm grounded right now is because I used magic to put up silencing spells." Harry paused for a second to think before adding, "I suppose that one helped us both, but the point still stands. Then there's all the times over the last week alone that Draco has been disrespectful and you haven't done anything more than glare at him. Not even one single, 'Mind your cheek, young man,'" he finished in a rather close imitation of Snape's slow drawl.

Snape could admit that there was some truth there. If he were being honest, he had been letting Draco get away with quite a bit, but it was only because he thought he was having a hard time adjusting to having been abandoned by his parents. And there was still a part of him which believed that, though he couldn't deny that Harry could also be right.

He sighed. "Alright. I will talk to Draco, but in the mean time, I want you to stop worrying about it."

"But—"

Snape shook his head. "No, Harry. Let me be the parent here. I can take care of Draco, and you just worry about yourself."

When Harry looked as if he might argue, Snape raised his hand. "Promise me, Harry. Promise me you'll let me handle this. Trust me, remember?"

Harry gave a defeated nod. "Okay, I promise, but make sure you talk to him soon before he goes and does something to get himself in real trouble."

"I will," Snape assured him. "And thank you for coming to talk to me about it. Do I dare hope that you're actually trying to put more trust in me to handle things?"

Harry shrugged, but Snape thought he saw a hint of a smile.

Snape stood up, ushering Harry up as well. "Alright, to bed with you. It's late."

"It's not that late," Harry teased. "I stay up way later at Hogwarts."

Snape bit back a groan. "We'll be talking about that later."

Harry grinned before leaving Snape's lab and heading to his room.

Snape watched him go with a smile of his own.

The very next morning, Snape was sleeping peacefully until the sound of blasting music woke him.

He sat bolt upright in bed and threw off the covers just as Rook started barking like mad while someone began banging on a door.

Snape barely glanced at the clock on his way out of his room, though the fact that the sun was not yet peeking through the curtains told him all he needed to know.

It was too early for this.

In the hallway, Snape found Harry beating his fist against Draco's door, yelling for him to open it up.

"What in Merlin's name is going on?" Snape shouted.

Harry turned steely eyes towards him. "I told you!"

AN: Okay, a couple of things. This chapter is kind of dialogue heavy, but I'm trying hard to get us past summer and back to Hogwarts lol. Originally this was going to be the last chapter before that happened, but Draco had other ideas apparently.

Idk what Draco's middle name will be. Like I have zero ideas, but I'm open to what you guys think. Leave some suggestions and I'll go from there :)

I'm also done with the original stuff I've been working on. At least for a while, so I'm planning to devote much more of my free time to this! Hopefully that means I can start updating more often!

It's doubtful I'll have another chapter done before the holidays, so Merry Christmas and Happy Everything to everyone who celebrates lol.