"Really, they would have realised it as soon as they asked you to do magic. Your plan wasn't very well thought out, you know. Especially for a Slytherin," Hermione pointed out to Harry and their friends as they sat outside by the lake.

"Well, next time I miraculously become human after being changed into a dragon by a mispronounced Atlantian spell, I'll try to factor in these sorts of details more carefully," Was Harry's retort.

Teddy and Millicent both rolled their eyes while Neville smothered his laughter in a conveniently placed handkerchief.

"Hmph," Hermione answered. "I'm glad you're back though. We missed you."

"I missed you. All of you," Harry replied, his face serious. "Teddy was my first friend, but the rest of you were all close seconds. I'm going to miss you this summer."

"Are you staying with the Professor this summer? Or Moody?"

"Or both," Harry snickered, surprising his friends with such easy laughter. "They get into epic fights. I cannot wait to see them away from the school! Or," He giggled, not noticing his friends' stunned reactions. "Or in public. Especially if they have to be nice to each other!"

"Public, Mr. Potter?" Severus asked both in his mind and aloud, dropping a shadow over their group.

"Yes sir. We're going to be out in public with Moody some this summer, right? Don't you think that would be a prime opportunity for pranking?" Harry leaned back and looked at his father upside down, a wicked grin on his face.

"I suspect that I won't want you to give me any details prior," Severus warned. "Are you all finished packing?"

"More or less," and "Yes, sir," were the groups' answers.

"Then I shall not keep you any longer," Severus answered, twisting his robes around with a flare.

"Dad?"

"Son?"

"Can my friends come and visit sometime this summer?"

Severus turned back and eyed each of the up and coming second years. Certainly it wouldn't be difficult to have Bulstrode or Nott over, but Granger and Longbottom were part and parcel with his son. Mentally he sighed.

"If they get their guardians' permissions, I suppose it would be acceptable to have them visit. For a bit," He added, raising an eyebrow.

"Thanks, dad," His son's smile was brilliant.

He knew there was a reason he let his son talk him into these situations. Severus basked in the sight of that happy smile before turning and leaving. Perhaps he could convince Moody to chaperone the Gryffindors.

That made him smirk. Perhaps this summer would be interesting after all.

. . .

In a dark, dank hole in the ground, Dumbledore sat and plotted. The shrieks of the insane echoed off the walls around him, and he smiled at the idea of adding a few more voices to their chorus.

He wondered how Sirius would react to finding out that his godson was in the care of "Snivellous." He looked forward to telling him. It would be a scream.

A/n - This here story be done. Thanks for the ride. I've left it open for a sequel, but have no current plans to write one at the moment. Maybe a few one-shots?