Disclaimer: See initial chapter.

A/N: Mentions of past domestic abuse. This is from Severus Snape's point of view and he refers to everyone by their surnames. Hopefully this does not throw anyone off too much in this story, but it did start out as a story over on Potions and Snitches which features Snape and Harry in stories. I started writing this awhile ago and finally finished it today. I am including this in my word count for September's fan fiction challenge for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry's forum.

"Do you love him?" Severus asked, keeping his voice as nonchalant as possible as he pressed a washcloth to Williams' bleeding nose.

The man was going to have a black eye, maybe two. Severus could use magic to heal the detective, but didn't know how the Muggle would respond to the use of magic, healing or otherwise. His own experience with Muggles had taught him that magic was seen as something dirty or perverted. A cheat on Mother Nature, and blasphemous as well. With his luck, Williams would see it as one of those and kick both him and Harry out of the house.

Maybe he could convince Williams to use a healing balm to help with the inevitable bruising and swelling that would take place within the next few hours. Even his father had allowed his wife and son that small benefit of magic. Of course, it was to cover up his actions, and protect him from the authorities. Maybe Williams would want to use it for the same reason - to protect his spouse.

Williams narrowed his eyes, wincing when Severus pressed the cloth to his face, and pinched the bridge of his nose to help stop the bleeding. Severus knew well how to handle a bloody nose and bruises. He'd grown up an expert in it; though, for both his mother and himself, magic had come in handy.

"Who?" Williams asked.

Severus pursed his lips and shook his head, kept the cloth pressed against Williams' still bleeding nose. He understood the penchant that the abused had for being obtuse, even though it irked him. His mother had been the same way. For that matter, so had he.

"Your partner," Severus said, tossing the words out like sharpened knives.

Williams' eyes went wide, and he shook his head. "Of course I - wait, timeout." Williams moved away from Severus' hands, and a myriad of emotions crossed his face, before it finally landed on understanding, and Severus felt his heart speed up as Williams covered the hand holding the bloody cloth with his own hand.

"I love Steve, yes," Williams said. "He didn't give me this." Williams gestured at his bloodied face. "This was -"

"Let me guess," Severus spat the words out, "an accident?"

Williams shook his head. "No. This," he gestured at his bleeding nose, "was not an accident, but I didn't get it from Steve. He's not like that. I'm not like that. Harry's not going to be harmed by either of us."

"Then how'd you get that bloody nose?" Severus asked, not convinced. His mother had lied to him all of the time, had made pitiful excuses for his father's behavior.

Williams chuckled and shook his head. "This, I got from a surfboard. Tricky little bastard jumped right out at me when I least expected it."

Severus raised an eyebrow in skepticism and crossed his arms over his chest, bloody washcloth forgotten. "A surfboard?"

"Swear to god," Williams said, gesturing with the hand not currently pinching the bridge of his nose. "Steve and I have only come to blows once, and it was me who hit him." Williams held his hand up when Severus opened his mouth. "Before you say anything, it was justified. He got me shot, and it was on the job. We've never come to blows at home. I wouldn't stay with him if things came to that."

"That's what my mother used to say. That if things got worse, she'd leave my father. She never did," Severus said, clenching his jaw in self-recrimination. He hadn't meant to say that. Hadn't meant to let his guard down with a man he barely knew.

Williams' hand found Severus' clenched one, and, in spite of himself, Severus opened his hand and welcomed the unasked for comfort, squeezing Williams' hand back. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry," Williams said.

"Not your fault," Severus said, clearing his throat. He pressed the washcloth back to Williams' nose after quickly muttering a cleaning spell. Williams didn't bat an eye at his use of magic and some of the tension knotting Severus' stomach loosened.

"Danny?" McGarrett's voice, filled with concern, floated into the kitchen from the direction of the lanai. "You alright?"

"'M fine," Williams said around the washcloth. "Your stupid surfboard bit me in the face."

McGarrett popped his head around the corner of the kitchen, a sardonic smile on his face until he saw Williams. "Why didn't you say anything?" he asked, crouching beside Williams, taking the cloth from Severus and gently, yet intensely examining Williams' nose.

For his part, Williams batted at McGarrett's hands, though it was a vain gesture, and Severus felt like he was witnessing something far more intimate than it was. He let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding and caught Potter peeking in through the kitchen doorway. Apparently the boy had been just as worried as Severus had.

"Is it broken?" McGarrett asked.

"Stop pawing at me, you Neanderthal," Williams said, pushing away from his husband's hands. "No, it's not broken. It's just a stupid bloody nose."

"I can stop the bleeding, and bring down the swelling if you'd like," Severus offered.

"With magic?" Williams asked.

Severus nodded, and carefully watched the lingering Potter. Severus knew that Williams' reaction was tantamount to gaining the teen's trust and hoped that Williams wouldn't prove to be like the Muggles that Severus had grown up hating, that Potter had grown up fearing.

Williams caught sight of Potter hovering in the doorway, and, though he gave Severus a look filled with skepticism, he nodded his acquiescence. "Okay, fine. Do it."

"You sure, D?" McGarrett asked, voice filled with concern, eyes locked on the stubborn set of Williams' jaw.

"Yeah, hit me with your healing mojo," Williams said, and Severus' lips twitched at Williams' choice in words and the almost defiant way in which he delivered them. It was endearing, and judging by the fond look on McGarrett's face, it was no doubt one of the reasons McGarrett loved the other man - the way he braced himself when facing something new, and the defiant tilt of his chin which masked his fear.

It wasn't lost on any of them that Williams reached for McGarrett's hand and leaned as far back from Severus as he could when Severus brandished his wand. "It shouldn't hurt," Severus said.

"It'll feel a little tingly," Potter added in a quiet voice. He scratched the back of his neck and blushed when everyone turned to look at him. "At least that's how it feels when Madame Pomfrey, the mediwitch at our school, does this spell on me. It doesn't hurt at all."

Williams gestured toward Potter with the hand that McGarrett wasn't holding. "Come here, kid," Williams said, voice thick with emotion.

To Severus' surprise, Potter crossed the room and grasped Williams' other hand and didn't protest (though he did blush) when Williams pulled him down to sit on his lap. "You can be my moral support."

"Danny," McGarrett chided.

Williams stuck his tongue out at the other man and Potter giggled. Severus blinked at the domestic display and mentally scolded himself for assuming the worst when Williams had returned to the house with a bloody nose, cursing up a storm.

"Stay still," Severus said in a voice far gentler than he was accustomed to using.

"I'm not sure that it's possible for Danny to stay still," McGarrett said, and Danny gave the man's chest a playful slap.

"I can stay still," he said, sounding as petulant as a child claiming not to be tired when it was past their bedtime.

McGarrett had a smug look on his face. "Sure you can, Danno." He shared a slight head shake with Potter, making the teen laugh and Williams turn red.

"Just hocus pocus me already," Williams said, rolling his eyes and doing his best to sit as still as he could, which Severus was learning wasn't all that still.

Williams stiffened a little when Severus pointed his wand at the man's nose and he swallowed and went a little cross-eyed as he looked at the tip of it when Severus uttered the healing spell and another spell he'd used many times to help ease the swelling that a hit to the face often caused. His mouth twitched, and Severus could see that Williams was practically vibrating with the intensity of his concentration on sitting as still as possible. It was admirable and Severus felt a fondness for the other man. It was mildly disconcerting because he honestly didn't like Muggles, and for good reason. Somehow Williams had wormed his way under his skin and Severus wasn't sure how to feel about it. If he didn't know better, he'd blame this growing fondness for Williams and McGarrett on Dumbledore.

"That's it?" Williams asked when Severus put his wand away. He frowned and wrinkled his nose in a way that reminded Severus of a rabbit.

Potter nodded and laughed at the look on Williams' face. "Told you it doesn't hurt," he said, moving to stand, but leaning back when Williams didn't release his hand.

"Is all magic like that?" Williams asked.

"No," Severus said carefully. "Not all magic is aimed at healing."

"That's what I was afraid of," Williams said, scowling.

"But all the best magic is," Potter was quick to assure his cousin's husband, and in spite of himself, Severus nodded in agreement. The best magics did always feel good, he'd just lost sight of that and had forgotten what it had been like to heal someone.

"You alright?" McGarrett asked.

Williams nodded and offered his husband, and Severus, a smile. "I'm better than alright," he said.

"You ready to go back out and actually surf?" McGarrett asked.

Williams narrowed his eyes at McGarrett and pursed his lips.

"That is, if you aren't afraid that the surfboard's going to 'bite' you again," McGarrett added, eyes crinkling at the corners.

Potter laughed and Severus allowed a small smile to grace his lips. Williams glared at each of them in turn and tickled Potter until the teen squirmed out of his lap. Severus no longer had any doubts about Potter's new family, though he did have doubts about his own sanity when he realized that he'd miss McGarrett and Williams when he returned to Hogwarts in a few weeks.