Harry chuckled. "Aren't you worried that if you include us, we'll know how to break the ward on your liquor cabinet?"
Snape's answering glance proved he was amused, too. "Worried? No."
That made sense. No doubt Snape was much better at magic as an adult, than when he had been a student. There were probably several layers of wards on the liquor cabinet, with lock-down spells woven through the mix. Harry still figured he could probably blast through it all with a wanded spell or two, but he decided it wouldn't be very polite to say as much. "I'll go get Draco," he murmured, getting up to do it. "Um, when I pack should I take some Eyesight Elixir? I'm sure Ron could put it in, you know, waiting until nobody else is in the room?"
"I'd prefer to finish researching why it might have hurt you before we proceed with the treatment."
Harry nodded, and turned away towards his bedroom.
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The day passed quickly. Too quickly.
Before Harry knew it, dinner was over and he was standing at the front door of Snape's quarters, a battered old trunk inscribed with SS levitating behind him. Draco was leaning indolently against the opposite wall, a strange smile curling his lips. "Don't forget," he said, his gaze flicking to the crest on Harry's robes. "You're both."
"I'm not going to forget."
"When are you going to start visiting Slytherin, though?"
Harry reflexively smoothed his fringe down over his scar. "I wouldn't think you'd be as concerned about that, now, with people in Slytherin trying so hard to get you imprisoned or expelled."
"Some of them would still make good allies against the Dark Lord." Draco's voice dropped and he looked down at the floor. "Pansy would have. I know it. But even if you don't believe that, well you have that saving-people thing, don't you? Some of them are worth saving, Potter. And you didn't answer me. When are you--"
"Tonight is for Gryffindor," Snape interrupted, his hair swaying as he shook his head at his other son. "As for the other, Harry and I will have to judge the mood of Slytherin and decide. He is going nowhere near the common room until I take him there to introduce him as my son."
Draco pushed off from the wall. "They already know about that."
"No matter. The protocols will be observed. And too, Draco, you might consider that for the moment, Harry is to keep either Miss Granger or Mr. Weasley, preferably both, close to him whenever he leaves the Tower."
"That'll make visiting Slytherin a tad difficult."
"Unless I myself am with him," Snape added.
"Hmm. Well, small steps, I suppose. They don't all hate you, Severus. Well, I'm sure you know that."
"Harry, shall we?"
The Gryffindor boy nodded. "I feel sort of funny leaving you here," he said to Draco. "I mean, I feel like we've been in this together up until now."
Draco raised an eyebrow. "I'm not helpless, Harry. I was down here alone at first, you realize." His arrogance fading a bit, the Slytherin boy admitted, "I just hope I get to stay. I... I'm pretty worried I'm going to get expelled. After all, the headmaster doesn't have Order members on the Board. I think I'm sunk."
Snape's voice was brisk. "We have a number of schemes underway to keep you afloat."
"Thanks, Severus." Draco drew in a huge breath. "Well, I guess this is good-bye, then."
"This is see-you-later," Harry corrected with a smile. He sort of wanted to hug Draco, since it seemed the other boy was in need of a little affection, but didn't really dare. "I'll visit soon, promise. So, see you later."
Snape opened the door with a wave of his wand and ushered Harry's borrowed trunk out, but after stepping into the hall with Harry, he glanced back at his other son. "We'll talk when I return, Draco."
The last thing Harry saw as he walked away was the door closing, Draco's face behind it looking wan and forlorn.
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"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, jumping up from where she was studying to run across the room and enfold him in a big hug. "Oh, we're so glad to see you! McGonagall said you'd be coming back tonight. For good, right? And we wanted to throw you a welcome-back party, but it's a bit awkward." She lowered her voice. "Because the funeral is on Wednesday. Pansy wasn't my favourite person but it still seems wrong to be celebrating."
"That's all right, I didn't need a party--" Harry started to say, only to be blinded by the flash of a camera. "Stop it, Colin!"
"Nice to see you as well, Professor Snape," Hermione said politely, looking over Harry's shoulder. She stepped back then, into the crowd of Gryffindors who had heard her shout and come down from their dormitories.
Snape merely inclined his head in reply, which disappointed Harry a bit. It seemed to him that Hermione was going out of her way to make up for her awful gaffe in contacting Wizard Family Services. Snape obviously hadn't really gotten over that. Well, he did know how to hold a grudge. Harry was just glad he wasn't holding one against James... against his father, any longer.
"Finite Incantatem," the Potions Master said to the floating trunk, which promptly settled to the floor. "I will leave you to your friends, then."
"All right." Everybody was staring at him. He didn't like that at all, but it wasn't going to stop him from doing what he needed to do. Stepping closer to Snape, Harry looked up into his eyes. "Thank you. For everything, Dad."
A collective gasp ripped through the Gryffindors.
Snape looked half-amused, half-exasperated, and half-proud, even though that made three halves. "You are most welcome, son. Well, if you need anything from home you know where I am. And I will see you in class shortly. Be good."
With that, he was stepping through the portrait hole, still open.
Dean frowned at that and waved his wand, but nothing happened. He went over and closed it by hand, muttering something about the Fat Lady never acting that way before.
"Maybe she's scared of Snape," Seamus put in.
Harry felt like he was being pulled in different directions. Or maybe, like he was being tested straight away. Tested on where he really stood. He thought of saying, Listen, Snape's all right, but since there weren't too many Gryffindors who would believe that, it wasn't a very good way to start off.
"Bet you didn't know he can get into the Tower any time he likes," he said with a little laugh. "Turns out the teachers all have special passwords. Good thing, too. I couldn't get in. My old password wasn't working."
"Oh, I'm sorry!" That was Hermione, practically groaning. "We changed it in your honour when we heard you were coming back. But we forgot to tell you, what with everything... anyway, it's Laetissimus. You know, very happy."
Harry didn't know, but he believed Hermione. "Nice," he said to thank her. "Where's Ron?"
"Night Quidditch. I told him he was going to miss you stepping through the portrait hole, but he said you wouldn't come until later. Said Snape would keep you almost until curfew unless he missed his guess." Her eyes sparkled. "I suppose he missed his guess, then."
Well, that explained where Ginny was as well, Harry thought. He frowned, wondering what to do about Seeker. He hadn't played in forever and he really wanted to, but it seemed awful to kick her off the team at this late stage. There were only a couple of Quidditch games left in the season.
"New trunk, Harry?" said Neville as he eyed it. "Well, not new, it looks like it's seen better days but..." Harry knew the exact moment when Neville must have come far enough around the front of the trunk to see the initials. He actually jumped back in alarm.
"Yeah, Severus lent it to me so I could leave my other trunk at home," he said, tossing the sentence out just as casually as he had planned, though he was watching everyone carefully to gauge their reactions.
"I think that's just grand," Hermione said, nodding staunchly. "Right?"
"Yes, it's very... uh, nice." Neville nodded his agreement, though he kept his distance from the trunk.
"Snape, nice!" That was Seamus, guffawing. Then he caught the look on Harry's face. "Sorry. It's just... well, you know. I'm sure you two get on. It's just... Merlin's beard, Snape, nice!"
Harry wasn't going to argue the merits of Snape's personality, especially since the man himself had said not to call him sweet or anything, but neither was he going to pretend the adoption wasn't real. Best to make that clear from the start, he thought. "Listen, everybody," he announced, clearing his throat. "You don't have to like Snape, and you can complain all you like about Potions lessons or points from Gryffindor. But don't insult him, or at least, not to me. Nobody here would like it if I made mean jokes about your parents. Or grandparents," he added, with a glance at Neville.
"Yeah, but Harry--"
He cut Seamus off. "Severus Snape is my father and I love him. Does that settle it for you?"
Harry didn't know if that settled it, but it certainly did shut everyone up. Everyone except Neville, that was. And Hermione.
"Well of course you do," she said, glancing about in challenge. Harry almost laughed. It seemed clear to him that Hermione was really sorry about her earlier behaviour. So very sorry, in fact, that now she was determined to stand by him and Snape. He was proud of her, even if it had taken her an awfully long time to realize she didn't know everything.
"Harry's right," was all Neville said, but Harry really appreciated it all the same.
"I also don't want to hear anybody here accusing Draco Malfoy of murder," Harry continued, staring at several Gryffindors in turn. "He's been cleared by the Ministry, and that's that."
"You don't want much, do you?" asked Ron as he stepped into the room, the Gryffindor Quidditch team close behind. He was smiling, though, so Harry didn't take him too seriously. "Good to see you here, mate!"
"Good to be here." Tired of being the centre of attention, Harry flopped down onto a couch. "Don't mind me. I'm not the resident celebrity, you know. I'm just glad to get back to normal life."
Most of the Gryffindors drifted off, leaving Harry alone in the common room with a few of his closest friends. He lost a chess game to Ron, then looked at Quidditch magazines with Ginny, and watched Hermione valiantly struggle to ignore the books and essays that were clearly calling her. Ron and Hermione managed to draw him aside at one point and ask how he really was; he quickly told them about his eye so they'd know he didn't see well to the left.
Between all the chatter and fun, Harry didn't get to bed until after midnight. He'd forgotten how great it was in the Tower. As he drifted off to sleep, though, Sals in a little heap by his side, his thoughts wandered down into the very bowels of Hogwarts.
He was happy, he was. He really was. But for all that, Harry Potter missed his family already.