Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. All characters belong to J.K. Rowling.

A/N: This is the third story in my Always series…hope you enjoy!

Harry Snape flew up towards the sky as high as the wards would let him. He then began doing swirls towards the earth, pulling up before he could hit the ground. It was almost the end of summer and Harry had recently had his thirteenth birthday. His friends had still been on vacation with their families so they had written that they would give him their gifts when they all went for school supplies. Harry had spent his birthday with his Dad by spending the day at the beach. Harry had never been to the beach before and had had a fantastic time. His father had taught him how to swim which Harry had always wanted to learn. Besides the beach, his Dad had taken him on various trips to get potions ingredients throughout the summer. It had been fun traveling to different parts of the world but Harry had noticed a change in his Dad. He seemed tenser and quite overprotective. He was already protective but even more so now. Harry could only guess that his Dad was acting this way because of the Chamber of Secrets incident.

Either way, Harry had been having a great summer. In between the traveling, they had been staying at their cottage. Harry loved their home. His mother had lived here before Voldemort had killed her and he felt a connection to her here. Of course, his Dad's stories about her helped as well. Harry could never tire of hearing about her.

Taking a glance to see if his Dad was outside, Harry grinned mischievously when he didn't see him and carefully stood on his broom. His Dad didn't approve of this move but it was fun! Harry spread out his arms for balance and then lifted one foot.

"Harry Severus James Snape!"

Harry gave a yelp as what felt like an invisible tug had him and his broom flying towards his father. He landed on his feet, his father's hands on his shoulders as he steadied him. The hands tightened slightly and Harry found himself looking into furious black eyes.

"Hey Dad, I didn't see you." Harry squeaked, aware that there would be no talking his way out of this.

"What have I told you about doing moves like that young man?" Severus glared at his son.

"Not to." Harry answered, biting his lip. "I know I'm not supposed to but it was brilliant right? I mean, flying while standing on one foot?"

"No it was most certainly not brilliant!" Severus snapped. He was worried enough about his son's safety without Harry pulling reckless stunts like this. He hadn't told Harry yet about Sirius Black being after him. He had wanted Harry to have a relaxing summer though he was sure his son wondered why he barely let him out of his sight. Harry had seen the Prophet and knew that Sirius Black was an escaped murderer from Azkaban but that was all. "You are aware of my rules Harry, whether you think I am watching you or not!"

"I'm sorry." Harry said softly. "I just thought it would be cool."

"It won't be cool when I have to scrap your skull up from the ground." Severus glowered.

"But Dad, I have to practice! What if I decide to be a professional Quidditch player someday? I would have to do all sorts of dangerous stunts." Harry pointed out.

"No you wouldn't. Because I would be in the stands making sure you didn't do anything foolish!" Severus snapped.

Harry sucked in his breath at the thought. "Merlin, that would be embarrassing!"

Severus couldn't help but grin a little at the horrified look on Harry's face. He had a sudden vision of himself casting an Accio on his adult son to safety during a professional Quidditch match whenever Harry did a risky move. He quickly rearranged his face into a stern look. "And don't think I won't do it during Quidditch matches at school as well!"

Harry's eyes widened as he imagined the taunting he would receive for the rest of his school days. He nodded frantically. "Okay, okay. I understand Dad. No more foolish stunts. Please, just promise you won't do anything like that!"

"Sorry Harry. No promises." Severus grabbed his son's broom and turned and went into the cottage, his son following behind him. It wouldn't hurt for Harry to believe he would do exactly what he had threatened he would do. The truth was, Severus would do anything to protect his son whether it embarrassed Harry or not. Of course, he wouldn't intentionally humiliate his son either but Harry didn't need to know that. "You're done flying for the day, by the way."

Harry sighed but nodded and followed his Dad into their home. He saw Hedwig perched on the kitchen chair with a letter tied to her. She hooted to alert him and daintily held out her leg. "It's my book list!" Harry said as he read the letter from Hogwarts. He gently petted Hedwig on the back. "Thanks Hedwig!"

Severus didn't bother reading the letter. He already knew what books his son would need. He was just glad that he had managed to convince Harry not to take Divination. Harry had admitted that he had thought of taking it because he and Ron thought it would be easy. Severus had immediately lectured that his education was not to be wasted and that Care of Magical Creatures was already an easy course. He had informed his son that Divination was useless and that true seers were very rare. Honestly, the last thing Severus wanted was Harry around Professor Trelawney. She was known for predicting deaths every year and he had no doubt that she target Harry if she had him in her class. Harry had grudgingly decided to take Ancient Runes although he couldn't convince Ron to join him.

Obviously thinking along the same line as his father, Harry looked up from the book list with a frown. "Are you sure I'll like Ancient Runes?"

"Yes. It is challenging but very interesting. I enjoyed it when I was in school." Severus answered as he made tea and took out a box of biscuits.

"Yeah, but that was a long time ago. Maybe you don't remember it right." Harry teased, ducking when his Dad pretended to swat the back of his head.

"Becomes a teenager and is even cheekier." Severus grumbled.

Harry laughed as he sat down at the kitchen table and took a bite of his chocolate biscuit. "I can't believe summer is almost over. It's the first time I ever went anywhere for summer vacation!"

"You enjoyed yourself did you?" Severus asked with a satisfied look. He knew the Weasley's had won a trip to Egypt and the Grangers had gone to France so he had decided to that taking Harry with him when gathering potion ingredients would give him an opportunity to travel and see more of the world as well as keep him away from wherever Sirius Black may be. Severus was still frustrated that Black had not been caught yet. With Black out there somewhere after his son and Remus Lupin teaching at Hogwarts, Severus knew he was in for a very stressful year.

Not wanting Harry to know that Sirius Black was after him, he had kept Harry from Hogwarts as much as possible. He knew Lupin was already basically living there and had so far managed to avoid having Harry meet him. Today however, there was a staff meeting to discuss new security measures for the start of the year and he would be taking Harry with him. Hagrid had offered to miss the meeting and watch him as he wanted to surprise Harry with the knowledge that he was now the professor of Care of Magical Creatures on the first day of school. Severus couldn't help but feel reluctant to leave Harry with anyone but himself. He would have argued in the past that Hogwarts was the safest place but after the events of last year, he wasn't sure he could exactly claim that anymore. As it was, he was struggling not to insist that Harry stay in their quarters until Black was caught. Some people might think Severus was overreacting but he knew that if something happened to his son, he would not be able to bear it.

HPHPHPHP

"Arry!" Hagrid beamed when he saw Harry and Severus walk to his hut. "Professor Snape! How is summer treatin' ya?"

"Great!" Harry grinned. "I learned to swim!"

"That's wonderful Arry!" Hagrid tousled his hair affectionately. "Yer can tell me all 'bout it while yer Dad is at his meetin'."

Severus nodded to Hagrid. "Thank you again for watching him." He said after Harry had already gone into the hut to greet Fang. "He doesn't know the truth about Sirius Black yet."

"I won't say anthin'." Hagrid assured him. "An' I won't let him out of my sight! Though Hogwarts is safe as can be!"

"Hmm." Severus thought about the Sorcerer's Stone and Chamber of Secrets and decided not to comment. "The meeting shouldn't be more than an hour. I'll meet you two here."

"Yer excited fer third year?" Hagrid asked after Severus had left.

"I can't wait! Ron told me that third years get to go to Hogsmeade on certain Saturdays!" Harry said excitedly. He had been to Hogsmeade before but getting to go with just his friends sounded really fun.

"Yer growing up so fast." Hagrid said, offering him a piece of homemade fudge. "I still remember yer as a baby."

Harry didn't answer and simply took a bite of fudge. He knew Hagrid had picked him up from Godric's Hollow and taken him to the Dursley's but he didn't want to think about them. He still occasionally had dreams that he was living back there and would wake up in a panic. He had decided not to tell his Dad about them as he didn't want him to worry or anything.

"Thank you for the book you sent me for my birthday." Harry said as he polished off the fudge. "It was…interesting." And it really was. Harry had been very interested when the book had tried to eat him. His Dad had contained it and shown him how to calm it by rubbing the spine. Of course, he had been laughing at Harry the whole time he had shown him the trick.

"Yer need it fer Care of Magical Creatures. I hear it's goin' ter be a very good class this year." Hagrid said mysteriously.

"I'm excited about it." Harry nodded, briefly wondering what Hagrid meant. "So what have you been doing this summer?"

"Been doing various jobs fer the Headmaster. Oh, I got a letter from Charlie Weasley about Norbert!" Hagrid happily began talking about his favorite dragon.

HPHPHPHP

"Minister Fudge has decided to have Dementors guard Hogwarts while Sirius Black is on the loose." Dumbledore informed his staff.

"Dementors? Those horrid creatures around the children?" Minerva asked in alarm.

"They will not be coming near the students." Dumbledore said firmly. "They will be instructed to stay off of school property. Believe me; I am not happy about it myself." He sighed. "If it will help protect the students and keep Sirius Black away then it will be worth it."

"Perhaps I can cover Dementors in my class so that students know they are not something to be trifled with." Remus offered.

Dumbledore nodded. "A fine idea Remus." He smiled warmly at his former student. "And may I once again formally welcome you back to Hogwarts."

Severus rolled his eyes as his colleagues clapped, ignoring Minerva's look of disapproval at him when he didn't clap as well. It was bad enough that the man who had betrayed his Lily was out there and after his son, now he also had to put up with the wolf as well. And not only that, he also had to make the wolf's blasted Wolfsbane Potion.

"Severus, has Harry been told about Sirius Black?" Dumbledore asked.

"He knows only what he has seen in the Prophet. He asked me a couple of questions regarding Azkaban and that was it." Severus answered. "I plan to tell him that Black is a follower of Voldemort and may be after him so that precautions on his safety will be taken."

"Will you be telling him that Sirius is his godfather?" Remus asked curiously.

Severus stiffened. "That blasted man is not my son's godfather! Before we knew we had to cast the memory charm, Lily had wanted to name the Longbottoms as godparents." He thought sadly of the fate that had been bestowed on them.

"But Sirius is named his godfather. Under the memory charm, James had papers drawn up." Remus pointed out.

Severus's dark eyes appeared to get even darker. "James Potter was not Harry's biological father nor was he married to Lily. Any papers he drew up are now in void. The only thing I allowed was the trust he left to Harry which Harry will receive after he graduates Hogwarts. I am only doing that because I believe James would truly want Harry to have it."

"He would have." Remus said with a nod.

"I never asked you Severus, who will Harry's godparents be now?" Dumbledore asked curiously as he popped a lemon drop into his mouth.

Severus paused. He had not given it much thought but he knew exactly who he would pick. "The Weasley's. If anything happened to me I trust they would love and care for Harry as they do their own children." Hmm, he would have to ask Molly and Arthur about it first but he was sure they wouldn't have any objections.

Dumbledore nodded with a smile. "A wise choice. Now before we adjourn I need one more volunteer to ride the train with the students on September first."

"I will. I need to go to my home for a few days and can catch a ride back here with the students." Remus spoke up.

Severus mentally huffed and briefly thought about having Harry skip the train ride although he knew his son would kick up a fuss about it.

"Thank you Remus. I'll let you all go now, I'm sure you want to finish preparing for your classes." Dumbledore smiled as he dismissed his staff. He gestured for Severus and Remus to stay. "I know you and Harry made potions for the infirmary again but I wondered how the Wolfsbane Potion is coming along?" He asked.

"It will be ready when Lupin needs it." Severus said curtly.

"Thank you Severus." Remus spoke up. He glanced at Dumbledore and then cleared his throat. "May I meet Harry?"

Dumbledore looked expectantly at Severus.

Knowing there was no good reason to put it off, Severus nodded. "He is with Hagrid. Come with me, I will introduce you."

"I must say, I am surprised you still care to meet Harry knowing he is not a Potter." Severus couldn't help remarking as they headed out of the castle. He was curious as to why Remus did want to meet Harry as Harry didn't even look like James anymore.

"I still remember holding him as a baby. I even babysat a couple of times." Remus said softly. "I was good friends with Lily as well."

"I know." Severus grudgingly admitted. Lily had always been fond of Remus in school. Hearing the sound of his son's laughter made Severus's face grow soft as he and Remus stopped and watched with amusement as Harry and Hagrid chased Fang who had papers in his mouth.

"Drop em' Fang, I need those!" Hagrid said pleadingly as he tried to grab his dog. Fang wagged his tail in response and sprinted away from Harry who almost had caught him.

"Fang! Sit!" Severus called in his strict Professor voice that made students quiver with fear.

Fang looked at him and immediately sat down, his ears flattened like he knew he was in trouble. Hagrid tugged the papers loose and made a face. "Ah, dog drool all over my lesson-I mean, papers."

Harry was still laughing and trying to catch his breath so he didn't notice the slight slip up that came out of Hagrid's mouth. He thought it was hilarious that Fang had stopped when his Dad had told him to. Even the dog knew better than to disobey his Dad!

"Harry, I would like to introduce you to someone." Severus motioned for his son to stand next to him. "This is Professor Lupin; he will be the new Defense against the Dark Arts teacher."

"It's nice to meet you." Harry said. The man looked a little familiar and Harry remembered seeing him right before school had let out for the summer.

"Hi Harry." Remus said kindly. "We've met before, actually."

"We have?" Harry asked curiously.

Remus cast a quick glance at Severus and then nodded. "I knew you as a baby. I was friends with your mother and James."

"You were?" Harry asked with interest.

"James was one of my best friends." Remus smiled sadly. "Lily was a good friend as well. I was over at their house a lot when you were a baby."

"When everyone was under the memory charm." Harry said with a glance at his Dad.

"Yes." Remus replied. "You look quite different now."

"I was wearing a glamour." Harry pointed out with a smile.

Remus chuckled. "Very true but I also meant that you are so grown up now!"

"Oh." Harry laughed.

"If you would like, perhaps sometime during the year I could share my memories of your Mum. And James as well, if you would like." Remus offered.

"I'd love that, thanks." Harry said happily. He love to hear anything about his Mum and enjoyed hearing about James too. Even though James Potter was not his father, he still died protecting Harry and his Mum.

"We should go." Severus put his hand on Harry's shoulder.

"See you in a few days when school starts." Remus smiled and walked over to Hagrid where they began talking.

Since they were close to the gates, Severus led Harry out of the grounds of Hogwarts so that they could Apparate.

"Professor Lupin seems nice." Harry commented as his Dad pulled him close to help cushion the worst of Apparition. "He'll be better than Lockhart right?"

"Yes, I believe he will be." Severus said resignedly. He may not like the wolf but he was sure he would be a decent professor.

"Good. I don't want to have to worry about another Defense teacher." Harry chuckled.

As long as Lupin took his potion regularly, then that would not be a problem. Severus would be making sure that the former marauder did not skip a dose as that could put everyone in Hogwarts in danger.

As father and son apparated away, neither one noticed the stray black dog that had been watching them. The dog gave a deep growl and then turned and ran.

TBC: Please review if you get the chance! =)