A/N: It is with only a little sadness that I inform you that this chapter is, in actual fact, the end of Light in the Darkness. I've done all I wanted to do and I could not be happier with how it went! This is possibly the best received fiction I've written to date and I absolutely LOVE that you all love it! There are no plans for a sequel; I think that it's nice just to leave this one where it is. From now on we'll be concentrating on Mothers, Sons and Lovers and Wilful Perversion and the new HG/MM one the name of which is not ready to be revealed yet! I've tried to keep everything up to date with my website, except now it won't let me edit anything at all, so you'll have to forgive me there, keep checking though. I'll eventually find a way!

To all my wonderful viewers, thank you. You have been a wonderful audience and I can't wait to hear what you have to say about this chapter, even if you hate me for finishing it! And to my wonderful Beta, may you always be there to pick up my mistakes and make me laugh with your comments about my atrocious grammar!

P.S. Spin said to warn you to have a hankie nearby. Even she had a bit of a tear up near to the end! Well done me! Lol
Thought for today: "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." ― Dr. Seuss

-0-

Harry was so happy he was almost skipping as he was led down the long hallways of Hogwarts Castle on his way to see Seb. Minerva was smiling widely at his excitement, wondering what on earth Severus was going to do when Harry finally made it to his side.

"Muma?" Harry said looking up at her. She could see he was a little frustrated with how slow he was going.

"I know baby, but you're getting stronger every day. Pretty soon you'll be running circles around all of us." she placated gently, stroking his hair.

"Carry." he said demanded, stopping dead in his tracks and raising his arms. Minerva sighed and knelt down in front of him, chuckling when he wrapped himself around her, clinging like a monkey.

"I was only coming down here to tell you that I wasn't going to carry you." she explained, but knew the battle was lost. Harry gripped her tighter, tucking his face into her neck. "You're a big boy now and you need to get your strength back in these legs."

Harry didn't move, figuring that if he stayed still perhaps his Muma wouldn't notice that he was there. Shaking her head at herself, Minerva rose from the floor and wrapped her arms around him, just as tightly.

"If the students could see me now they would think something was very wrong with me, my boy." she said with another chuckle as she walked towards the Great Hall for breakfast, her long strides eating up more distance than Harry's faltering ones had.

-0-

"Minerva!" Rolanda Hooch called suddenly, making Filius knock over his goblet.

"Rolanda, honestly." Minerva sighed, shaking her head. She felt Harry grin into her neck and smiled, knowing he was truly becoming more at ease with the people in the castle. "Say good morning Harry." she poked him gently. His grip tightened slightly but he peeked around his arms, taking in the glows of all the people at the table, but frowned when he didn't see the one he was looking for.

"Seb?" he asked, momentarily forgetting his fears. Minerva looked up, frowning as well when she realised that Severus was indeed not at the table.

"Where is out esteemed Potions master this morning?" she asked her colleagues, soothing Harry's rapidly decreasing eagerness to be in the Hall. Filius chuckled and waved his wand, magically pulling the seat out for her as she sat.

"He'll be here, not to worry." he said with a smile at the young boy that was still cuddled into Minerva's arms. "How are you this morning Harry?" he asked gently.

Harry looked at the shape of the strange little man currently addressing him. He had a bright purple glow, and it shined as brightly as his Muma's did.

"Say good morning to Filius, baby." Minerva whispered. Harry smiled a little and wiggled his fingers in the direction of the small wizard next to him, smiling just a little brighter when the man's glow pulsed softly.

"Hiya Harry!" Rolanda called down the table, making Minerva and Filius chuckle. The flying mistress was not to be put off, so she scooted back from her place and ambled over, crouching down next to Minerva's chair, and ignoring the amused glare she was receiving from her friend. "You know, your Daddy used to be one of my best flyers." she said more gently than either Filius or Minerva had ever heard before. "So, after breakfast maybe you and I can go for a little fly?"

Harry felt his Muma stiffen as the crazy lady with the golden glow spoke to him. He wasn't sure if people flew like they did back when he was living in the dark cupboard because he'd always thought they did that in aeroplanes, but he was excited nonetheless. He'd never been in an aeroplane before.

"Rolanda, I don't think -"

"Harry fly?" Harry said looking up at his Muma. It was the first time he'd properly asked for something other than food and Minerva sighed as she gave in before she had even thought about the consequences.

"Only if Muma can come with you." she said while giving him an Eskimo kiss. Rolanda whooped loudly, causing Filius to knock over his goblet again, much to Harry's amusement and making him giggle loudly. The whole table smiled as the little boy relaxed in his Muma's arms and turned in her lap to eat something. It was still a novel thing to have food whenever he wanted it and a small part of him still wanted to eat quickly, so that if it was taken away from him he wouldn't go hungry.

"Gently baby." Minerva whispered, as she guided his hand towards the plate in front of him. "Do you want some toast and bacon?" she asked. They had found out quite soon that Harry loved bacon. It was one of his favourite things, and she smiled as she caught sight of the small plate of it in front of them. The house elves were exceptionally good at their jobs and could pre-empt the staff's every need.

"The house elves have made you a special plate Harry, all for you." she said, one arm securing him to her chest, the other re-arranging the table in front of her so she could better manage. She took his hand and led it towards his own plate, smiling as his face lit up when he realised what it was. "Slowly," she cautioned, making him stop for a moment before shoving an entire strip in his mouth and chewing happily.

Pomona Sprout chuckled with Filius as they watched the small boy that had transformed their Deputy Headmistress so much. Harry stilled at the new voice and leaned forward, nearly knocking over Filius' goblet for a third time in his quest to find the new person, only for it to be saved by Minerva's quick reflexes.

"Hello Harry." she said cheerily. "I'm Pomona."

Harry watched her carefully. She had a sort of earthy-brown glow, like the soil he used to dig in when he was hiding from his cousin under the rose bushes. Her glow was different to everyone else's though; there were what looked like vines weaving their way through it as if they were growing. Harry frowned as he watched the little tendrils twitching slightly as if they were still developing. Harry wriggled from his Muma's grip and nearly fell off the chair in an effort to get closer to her.

"Whoa baby, let's go slow hmm?" Minerva said, setting him down on the floor gently. Harry gripped onto his Muma's hands and pulled, wanting to walk a little closer to Pomona, but Minerva merely smiled. "You can go on your own sweetheart." she said, using her hand against his bottom to gently propel him to walk. She shook her head when he got down on his knees and shuffled closer, unaware that the whole table was watching him.

"Minerva?" Pomona asked quizzically. Minerva just placed a finger on her lips and motioned for her to watch Harry as he shuffled nearer to her.

Harry knelt on the floor and looked up at Pomona who had twisted her chair around to watch the small child. His mouth was open, as if he was seeing something amazing, but he didn't seem to be looking at her somehow. He opened his hand and reached out for something, but Pomona was still, not sure what to make of it. In the corner of her eye Minerva spied Severus walking through the empty Hall and also motioned for quiet from him as he watched with his trademark frown.

Harry was amazed by what he was seeing. It was like her magic was growing something within it. He reached out to touch the root-like things clinging to her magical glow and giggled as they wrapped around his hands soothingly. He played with the little green shoots for a while before he realised he'd gotten so caught up in them that he'd forgotten to check that his Muma was still around. He froze and glanced around him, trying to make himself as small as possible.

"Muma?" he whispered. He was about to curl up in a ball when another voice broke through his fear.

"Your," Severus paused as if tasting the word he wanted to say, "Muma, is fine Harry, as are you."

Harry's farce erupted into a huge smile as he spun around, finding a very tall Severus-y glow standing over him. He shrunk back a little before remembering that Severus would never hurt him and he lifted his arms up for the man to pick him up.

"Seb." he said hugging him tightly.

"Hello." he replied a little gruffly, ignoring the incredulous stares from around the table.

The entire staff watched on in utter amazement as Severus Snape picked Harry up as if he was the most precious jewel in the entire world, before letting the boy hug him tightly and whispering something into his ear, making the boy shake his head sullenly. Severus clicked his tongue and muttered something else, making the boy shrug with a sigh and eliciting a small smile from Minerva as she watched her boy – boys – interact.

It didn't matter how snarky the Potions Master was, how downright rude he could be; he would always hold a special place in her heart. But she pushed those feelings of remorse for the times she had failed him down as she watched the Snape kneel down, placing Harry on the floor gently and whispering to him again. She watched tenderly as Harry placed his hand on Severus' face and the man smiled, shocking most of the resident Professors in the process, but he didn't notice. He only had eyes for Harry, who nodded once and turned around to face his Muma with his little tongue poking through his lips. Minerva turned her chair like Pomona had done, recognising that something incredible was about to happen.

And it did. Standing once more, Severus had his hands around Harry's ribs, steadying the boy, and Harry's arms were in front of him, making sure there was nothing to crash in to. When Harry stepped forward, Severus released his hold on him carefully, leaving Harry standing, wobbly, but on his own.

"Oh baby." Minerva breathed as she watched her new son take some shaky steps, frowning a little as his muscles worked overtime. "Come on little one, you can do it." Hearing his Muma's voice gave him strength and Harry walked methodically towards her, his arms open for a cuddle when he finally got there.

"Muma!" he cried as she stood to catch him and swing him into the air, making him laugh and giggle like he'd never done before. Severus made his way to his place quietly and without fanfare, only to be stopped by Minerva's hand on his forearm. She was too near the dark tattoo for his liking, but the look of gratitude on her face made him bite back any comment he had.

"You are a good man Severus Snape, and don't let anyone ever tell you differently." she said genuinely, shifting harry onto her other hip, and leaning forward to leave a light kiss on his cheek. "Thank you." she whispered as she pulled away, a little happy to see that he was speechless, but he finally responded with a nod before he went to his breakfast, ignoring the stares he was still getting from his colleagues.

"Well I never." Filius breathed as Minerva sat down again, Harry returning to his breakfast happily.

"Severus is quite the dark horse." Poppy said from Minerva's right, making her turn and greet her dearest friend.

"He has been very good to Harry, and myself." Minerva amended at the last minute. "Despite his early misgivings, Harry has become rather attached to him." she said quietly, knowing that the Potions Master would not be pleased to think they were gossiping about him.

Harry had since finished and was leaning back against him Muma, thoroughly stuffed with bacon and toast but happily accepting a spoonful of porridge to eat, and another small one to squish in his hands when Minerva noticed he was fidgeting. The staff slowly departed to enjoy what time they had left of the empty castle before the students returned the next day. Minerva was left at the table with Rolanda (who was currently twitching with excitement at the thought of getting Harry to fly) Filius, Pomona, Poppy (who was glaring daggers at Rolanda in return) and a sullen looking Severus.

-0-

"I really don't think this is a good idea." Poppy said, stroking Harry's hand after he allowed her to hold it for a moment. "If he falls he could hurt himself."

Harry watched Poppy's glow pulse as if it was worried and Harry shifted to kneel up on Minerva's knee, ignoring the groan as he knelt on her muscles.

"Pop?" he said reaching out to her, searching for her face. Having found it he took it in both hands and said simply, "Harry fly."

Rolanda took it as a sign and moved forward, startling Harry slightly. Minerva grabbed him around his middle before he toppled over the arm of her chair again, throwing a glare at Rolanda who looked suitably chastised.

"Firstly I want him to change, he's not going outside wearing nothing but the clothes he has on now." Minerva said firmly, making Rolanda pout.

"But you're the Master of Transfiguration." Rolanda cried, throwing up her arms. "Transfigure him a coat for goodness sake! I want to see what he can do."

"Rolanda!" Pomona said shaking her head. Once the Flying Mistress got an idea into her head, it was hard to dislodge it.

"Fine, the quicker we get this over with, the quicker we can go back to my rooms." she said giving Harry another Eskimo kiss, making him screw up his face and smile.

"While I believe Poppy to be an excellent medical practitioner, I do believe I will come and watch, should anything," Snape glared at Rolanda, who's excitement seemed to drop a couple of notches, "untoward happen."

Minerva couldn't help the twitch in her lips as Severus barely winked at her as they walked from the Hall. It had been a long time since she had interacted with her colleagues so freely. Lily's death had taken such a toll on her, and, she realised, on Severus too. They had effectively withdrawn from society, barely socialising with the people around them. Harry wriggled from her grasp and he stood shakily on his feet next to her legs, looking up at Severus.

"Seb?" he asked, holding up his hands.

"I will make you a deal." Severus said to the small boy watching him with such a similar look to his mother. "You walk here to me, and I will carry you down to the pitch." he offered, once again ignoring his flabbergasted colleagues.

Harry gripped Minerva's robes tightly, glancing up at her before looking back at Severus. Nodding once he started to walk shakily towards Severus, noticing that the man's glow seemed to be a little more green than black at the moment and the cracks that Harry had seen the first time weren't quite so red. He finally made it to Severus and he fell against the man's legs, breathing heavily, but smiling happily. Minerva could not be more proud as Severus knelt in front of him and straightened his coat.

"Well done child." he said softly, picking Harry up and walking on without ceremony. Minerva chuckled at the faces of her colleagues again.

"It seems that Harry brings the best out in all of us." she said happily following her son and his new best friend.

They finally made it to the Quidditch pitch where Rolanda was waiting for them, bouncing on the balls of her feet, holding a small broom that looked brand new.

"Rolanda, did you buy that for him?" Minerva asked, taken aback. Rolanda simply shrugged looking sheepish. Laughing, Minerva hugged her friend.

"Thank you." she said genuinely, smiling as Rolanda moved forward excitedly and showed Harry just what a broom was. The Flying teacher tried to allay some of the fears he seemed to have about getting on a sweeping brush that supposedly flew in the air.

Getting nowhere with her own approach, Rolanda appealed to Minerva, who rolled her eyes and moved to where Harry was clutching the bottom of Severus' coat, not convinced that it would fly.

"Harry?" she said gently, drawing him into her arms. "I promise I won't let you fall sweetheart." she whispered into his ear, letting him run his little fingers through her braided hair. He nodded a little and let Minerva arrange him on the broom before she gently coaxed him into kicking off the floor. He hovered expertly as the Professors watched on, most of their mouths hanging open, with the exception of Rolanda and Minerva who had both seen the boy's father on his first broom.

It didn't take long for Harry to become more comfortable with flying and soon he was flying back and forth between Rolanda and Minerva, barely a few feet from the ground. Minerva had never seen his eyes shine quite so brightly, despite the cloudiness of them and soon found herself watching happily with a very silent Severus standing next to her.

"I, um," Severus started, making Minerva jump a little, but seeing that he was feeling quite uncomfortable she let him figure it out in silence. "I like your hair like that." he said quietly, feeling rather young as he said it. Minerva looked at him in confusion; this was very unlike Severus Snape and he continued to struggle to put into words what he meant.

"My, my mother used to wear her hair like that." he said sadly and awkwardly as if he couldn't believe he as saying these things out loud. Minerva smiled gently and looped her arm through his.

"Thank you Severus." she said simply, going back to watching Harry closely, looking out for any tiny wobble or deviation from his flight path.

"I, if it would be alright, I," Severus cleared his throat and pulled back into himself, adopting his more familiar demeanour. "I will take care of Harry this afternoon. You should finish the paperwork you no doubt have to do and set your lesson plans. I have finished mine and was only intending to brew some potions, which, of course, I will not do while he is in my care." he declared evenly.

Minerva couldn't help but smile and she squeezed his arm in response, turning her full attention back to Harry, having seen that his concentration and awareness was waning.

"Rolanda I think that is enough." she said, drawing things to a close as the rest of Harry's audience clapped and cheered for him as he glided to the ground.

"Muma, 'gain?" he asked, his little face looking up at her hopefully. She chuckled and knelt in front of him, handing the broom back to Rolanda who was jabbering madly about Seekers and Chasers and international superstars.

"Maybe later my sweet." she said gently, picking him up. Harry leant against her shoulder, his thumb making its way into his mouth as he yawned widely. Minerva didn't correct it, knowing he would be asleep before they knew it. "Severus said he would look after you for a time while I finish my paperwork, would you like that" she explained gently, soothing his fears when he woke up a little and wrapped his arms and legs around her tightly as if she was going to disappear right then. "Come now, Severus is going to take you, and I bet if you ask him nicely he'll carry you all the way to his quarters."

Harry looked around at Severus, who was waiting patiently to take him from Minerva. Draco had been the same when Narcissa had first left him alone with him, and it had taken him a while to learn how to deal with it.

"Seb carry?" Harry said, not sitting up, but looking at the man expectantly.

"For now I will, indeed." he said taking Harry from Minerva quickly, and settling him against his shoulder. Harry panicked for a moment, before feeling Severus' arm wrap around him, the other holding him tightly so he didn't fall.

"I will see you a little later my boy." Minerva said, kissing his hair before moving back to the castle, almost dreading the gigantic pile of paperwork she knew she had not yet dealt with.

She had only been back in her office for ten minutes when she was interrupted by Filius, Pomona and Poppy all trudging through her door.

"You left without us." Filius said disapprovingly.

"My apologies Filius, I just knew how much paperwork I had to do in my one and only afternoon without Harry." Filius nodded and waved his wand, creating three similar, if a lot smaller, desks around Minerva's.

"That is why we were going to come with you." he said simply, sitting himself on his own chair and waiting for Pomona and Poppy to do the same. "We are here to help." he said distributing Minerva's papers equally between them before she could protest. Recognising the need for help, she simply nodded and smiled at them all in turn.

"Thank you my friends." she said.

-0-

Severus and Harry's afternoon passed rather pleasantly, although the Potions Master would probably only ever admit it under Veritiserum. Harry had fallen asleep on his shoulder as they had walked down to the dungeons, and Severus had spent a few moments watching him after he had placed him in his own bed, trying to see past the uncanny resemblance he had to James.

"You are not your father." Severus said decisively as he stood to move away.

That was something that was clearly evident. Harry had next to no mischief in him at all, something which was concerning, and yet comforting to the Professor. Draco loved to play tricks on people, innocent ones mostly and he would giggle about it for hours. Harry seemed to take things much slower, most likely on account of the abuse he had suffered, but he found pleasure in the most simple of things. He thought back to the moment he had entered the Hall, when Harry was interacting with what could only have been Pomona's aura. He decided he would have a gentle poke around the boy's memories when Harry awoke, if only to have a copy around so that he, Minerva and Albus had a better understanding of how the boy saw things.

He had to wait for quite a long time as Harry was obviously exhausted, so Severus passed the time by reading all the past issues of Potions Monthly that he had missed out on. He found himself wanting to spend time with the boy and a part of him suddenly wished that Minerva would take all day doing the paperwork just so he could have some extended time to himself with Harry.

"Muma?" he heard Harry call and he rushed back into his bedroom, knowing that Harry would need assurance about where he was.

"Harry, you are in my quarters. Everything is fine." he said, smoothing the hair on the boy's head away from his skin.

"Seb?" he asked, reaching his arms forward when he finally registered that Severus was in front of him.

"I'm here Harry." he said standing and taking Harry into the main living area of his quarters. It was sparsely decorated in greens that reminded him of Lily's eyes, Slytherin, and now Harry's eyes. "Harry, do you remember when you were frightened and I came inside your head?" Severus asked gently, letting Harry snuggle into his side in his post nap haze. Harry nodded sleepily, making Severus realise that it would probably be easier to ask forgiveness than permission, and so he shifted Harry onto his knee to face him, gently taking the boy's chin in his hands and looked directly into his cloudy eyes.

"Legilimens!"

-0-

Harry's mind was a lot more sedate than the last time Severus had entered into it. He looked around carefully, noting that everything seemed to be in order.

"Harry?" he called quietly, knowing the boy's inner self would appear almost instantly.

"Hi Seb." the mind-self said with a wave. This entity had grown since the last time Severus had seen it and he knew it was because Harry's mind had become stronger.

"Hello," he said carefully, "I'm here to borrow a memory. I need you to show me what you were looking at this morning, when you were looking at Pomona." he asked kindly.

The mind-self Harry nodded and offered his hand for Severus to take. Following the boy slowly, Severus watched as Harry's memories engulfed them and he watched, completely in awe of what Harry could see.

"This is very impressive Harry." he said genuinely. Mind-self Harry simply smiled and went back to watching himself play with the vine-like attachments of Pomona's magical aura. "She is the Herbology Professor here at Hogwarts and she is by far one of the best I've ever met." Severus explained. "Once you get over the initial surprise of seeing something like that, you realise that it is perhaps not at all shocking."

"You can see you if you like." Mind-Harry said quietly, letting his memories play on until Severus did indeed see himself in front of Harry, smiling and watching his Aura glow. He could see the cracks that had formed in his Aura and he was ashamed of the darkness that marred the deep, but nonetheless bright green glow that Harry was so captivated by.

"Answer me this." Severus asked as the memory came to a close. Mind-Harry shrugged and sat cross-legged waiting for Severus to form his question. "Why is it you can speak properly here, and yet out there, you cannot?"

The question seemed to take the boy by surprise, but to his credit and Severus' disbelief he attempted to answer it.

"When I was in the dark, I, I made noise and it would hurt." Harry explained to the best of his ability. "I, I don't like making noise." he said shakily, hugging his knees to his chest. Severus' heart clenched for the small child and he knelt in front of Harry, very aware that there was a tugging at the back of his mind, meaning they were about to be interrupted.

"You know that no-one here will hurt you." Severus said, looking into the eyes of the being Harry's mind had conjured up to talk with him. "I swear to you, no one will hurt you here." Harry's mind nodded and Severus stood, leaving a light kiss on Harry's hair. "I am very proud of you." he said quietly, before pulling slowly out of Harry's head. He ended up sitting on the sofa in a rather awkward sideways position looking at Harry, who looked a little tired still, but happy.

"Are you alright?" Severus asked. Harry nodded and Severus moved to answer the door, even before the person behind it knocked on the wood.

"Minerva." he said with a small bow, allowing the woman into his rooms. She had never been inside before, having always met with him in the staff room, or in her or Albus' office, but she was impressed. It was tastefully decorated, if a little Spartan in its design, but after a customary sweep of the space all her focus landed on Harry, who was looking up at her with a smile.

"Hi Muma." he said happily, reaching out for a cuddle.

"Hi baby, how was your day?" she asked, knowing she wouldn't get more than two words out of him anyway, but liking the idea of talking to him normally.

"I slept," he said decisively, "then Seb talked to me in my head." He tapped his temple cryptically.

Minerva was gobsmacked.

"Harry, how -"

She looked up at Severus, who was watching on with a smug little smirk. "Severus, how -"

"I merely explained to Harry that nobody here would hurt him for talking, or making too much noise." he expounded, still simpering. "From now on, I imagine you'll have to contend with him talking non-stop, just like Lily used to do."

"I not talk too much Seb, just sometimes." Harry said seriously, making Minerva laugh and her glow pulse happily. "Where's Owl-bus?" he asked, twisting her hair in his hands. He didn't care that Seb wanted him to be a little bit noisier. He wanted to snuggle up to his Muma and feel her glow warm as it did when she was with Albus.

"He's on his way home sweetheart, as we should be also." she explained gently, lifting him from the sofa and placing him carefully on the floor. He stood, only wavering for a moment, before accepting Minerva's hand to steady him.

"Severus, I'm not sure I can ever thank you enough for what you have done, are continuing to do." she said quietly, cupping the wizard's cheek in her hand. "I am so proud of the man you have become. We've had our ups and downs, but this, this is real and it is now." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. "You should be proud of yourself too. Lily would be so happy." she whispered, before leading Harry from the Potion Masters' rooms, closing the door behind her and leaving a stunned Severus carefully touching the cheek Minerva's hand had just touched. Something seemed to dislodge from his chest and he breathed deeply as if for the first time in years.

"Thank you Lily."

-0-

"Min?"

Minerva and Harry both perked up from the story Minerva was reading from Albus' personal copy of 'Tales from Beedle the Bard'. Harry nearly jumped off the sofa in his excitement and Minerva had to wonder what else Severus had said to him.

"Owl-bus!" Harry cried, making Albus stop in the doorway and look at Harry as if he had just turned into a lemon drop.

"Harry?" he said, confusion marking his face as he looked up at Minerva questioningly. Minerva just shrugged and bade him wait there for them as she set Harry on his feet. They had practised a little when they had returned to her rooms and after a little trial and error she had devised a way for him to navigate around the furniture. Conjuring a small paper bird, she let it fly through the air in exactly the path Harry would take, around the coffee table and in between the two chairs. It seemed that Harry could follow its projection and successfully make it to his destination without crashing too spectacularly.

And follow it he did.

Albus watched with tears pricking the corners of his eyes as Harry's little tongue poked out of his mouth and he took little halting steps towards him. He looked up at Minerva, completely shocked by the progress made in one day away from his new family and she just smiled, hugging her stomach as a feeling of warmth encased her. Harry was so excited he almost turned the wrong way, only stopping when his outstretched hands found the sofa. His Muma's glow had extended almost towards him, and Albus' own was stretching out as if it wanted to meet it. Harry knew he needed to get to Albus before the glow did, so he took a deep breath and started moving a little quicker. He giggled as his new parents' magic seemed to race him and finally he launched himself at Albus, laughing loudly as the old man threw him up in the air before catching him, much to the annoyance of his Muma.

"Albus, you'll make him sick." she said moving towards him. Harry giggled a little more as Albus raised him away from his Muma so she couldn't reach him. He held him out to the side of his body carefully, so she could only reach her arms around him.

"You give me back my Harry." she demanded, but Harry could hear the laughter in her voice as he watched them smooch a little, and he had to close his eyes as the glow reached an almost blinding light. That and he didn't really want to watch his Muma and Albus kissing.

"'Your' Harry?" Albus said, thoroughly shocked. Harry couldn't help the next snigger that came out of his mouth as Albus tucked him back into his body tightly. "He's my Harry."

"He's mine." Minerva answered quickly and suddenly Albus was moving, and it was all Harry could do to hold on while he was shrieking with laughter as he watched his Muma chase after them. Pretty soon he watched her form disappearing completely into another shape he remembered the look of and he yelled his excitement as she sprinted ahead of them and transformed back, just in time to get swept of her feet by Albus' powerful spell work and dumped unceremoniously onto the bed along with Harry.

"Now I have you both where I want you." he sang happily, shrugging off his robes and lying next to his two favourite people.

"Muma?" Harry asked as Albus toed off his boots. Minerva rolled over a little to accept Harry into her arms and smiled warmly when he shifted and moved to lie on her stomach, his head resting over her chest listening to her heart beating; a place he had loved to be since she had first brought him to Hogwarts.

"Yes my love?"

"Muma loves Owl-bus?" he asked, peaking at Albus who once again looked shocked at Harry's words.

"Yes my love, Muma loves Owl-ahem, Albus." she said, blood rushing to her cheeks as she nearly repeated Harry's sentence word for word. Albus' chuckling did not help matters.

"Muma loves Harry?" At this, Albus got onto the bed and pulled Minerva towards his chest, allowing her to tip slightly so that Harry was encased in both their arms.

"Yes baby, Muma loves Harry, so so much." she whispered, brushing his hair back. Harry turned his head a little so that he was still resting against his Muma, but looking at Albus.

"Owl-bus loves Muma and Harry?" he asked, gurgling happily when Albus' beard tickled his face.

"More than anything in the world, my boy." he said gently, also pressing a kiss to Harry's forehead.

"Harry loves Muma and Owl-bus." he declared happily, before tucking his head under her chin and missing the tears that were rolling down his Muma's face. However, he didn't miss the happy glow that had grown exponentially brighter now that the two lovers were in each other's arms again. Suddenly sleepy once more, Harry leaned up and interrupted their smooches with a poke to Minerva's cheek. She sighed and let Albus' kiss her nose before turning to face her son.

"Harry, if you would like my attention you will use words please." she said sternly. "I am not a toy." Harry nodded but moved on undeterred.

"Harry be's tired." he announced, before a mighty yawn escaped from his tiny body. Minerva chuckled and let him snuggle in between them, and for some reason felt compelled to kiss his eyes closed.

"Sleep well baby boy." she whispered as he yawned again, tracing a finger down his scrunched up nose as his face stretched.

"Night Muma. Night Owl-bus." he said quietly, before falling unconscious.

Minerva and Albus watched him for a moment before letting their lips brush against each other's, moving from the bed in synchronised simplicity. Minerva walked backwards into the bathroom with Albus following, his eyes twinkling so brightly he could have lit up a dark room. When Minerva stared to unbutton her blouse Albus pounced, needing to feel her against him after the harrowing trial.

"Was it bad?" she breathed as his lips did amazing things to the skin of her neck.

"It was not good," he said cryptically, "but I do not want to think of that when I have you so willingly under my charms." he continued saucily, peeling off another layer of her clothing and pushing her under the warm shower, following her with a chuckle at her put-out look. He should have known that cats didn't really like water.

-0-

They were just feeding each other dessert after spending far too long in the shower. They were both exceedingly lucky that water rationing had never been an issue at Hogwarts, for if it was, they would have been in trouble for certain. Albus was humming around the fork Minerva was holding as she fed him the last mouthful of lemon cheesecake when a scream alerted them to Harry's distress.

Sparing only a micro second to look worried, Minerva leapt from the table and raced into Harry's room to find him struggling and convulsing on the bed, tears running down his clamped shut eyes and his fists pulling at his hair.

"MUMA, MUMA!" he yelled in-between sobs.

Minerva panicked for a moment before yanking him from under the covers and placing him sideways on her knee, cradling him as she would a baby and talking to him gently.

"Muma's here Harry, Muma's here." she said, urgency creeping into her voice as she realised Harry couldn't really hear her. "Harry, Muma's here, tell me what's wrong sweetheart. Does your head hurt?" she asked, running her hand over his forehead to find it quite cool.

She frowned as Harry rocked in her arms, his hands still scrunched up at his forehead and pulling his hair slightly as if it would help the pain. She removed one of his hands to clutch in hers as an anxious looking Poppy flew into the room, followed by an equally worried looking Albus. If she wasn't so scared she would have kissed him. Why hadn't she think of getting Poppy?

Pushing her thoughts aside for now, she shifted slightly to let the medi-witch see what was going on. Harry was still sobbing and it was breaking Minerva's heart to know he was in so much pain and not know what to do about it.

"It's okay baby, it's going to be okay." she kept whispering over and over again. She had almost succeeded in getting Harry to a slightly hysterical hiccupping phase when Poppy went to lift the lids of his eyes. As they opened Minerva got a glimpse of the most amazing thing she had ever seen. Harry's milky eyes were shifting somehow. The clouds of white that had been there previously were moving as if they were actual clouds, rolling around on top of his irises.

"That explains that then." Poppy said with a shrug. "I can't do anything for this Minerva. You just have to stay with him and keep him breathing as normally as possible." she explained to a stricken Minerva.

"Surely you can give him some pain relief?" Minerva said, indignantly. Poppy was supposed to be her friend; she would be Harry's godmother if Minerva had raised him from day one.

"I cannot Minerva, it wouldn't work. This is not ordinary pain. Harry's magic is releasing him, letting him go. He feels safe, protected. Just be there for him." she said placing a kiss on Min's head and squeezing Albus' hand on the way out.

"I'll get the tea." Albus said gently, kissing his lover's hair and running a hand down Harry's head, not stopping the boy's cries.

"Harry, sweetheart I'm going to shift us both back onto the bed." Minerva whispered, lifting him slightly and shuffling back to rest against the headboard. Harry had screamed even louder when she moved, but seemed to settle a little as she stilled, her knees bent up so he could be closer to her body with one hand rubbing his tummy the way he liked and the other clutching his head to her chest.

"Muma." he said finally, going quiet. "Muma, hurts." He murmured, the lessons from earlier momentarily forgotten.

"I know baby, but Muma's here." she said gently, nodding her thanks to Albus and smiling as he magically moved her forward a little to settle in behind her, his arms wrapping around both Harry and herself with his legs outside hers, providing Harry with a little more security.

"Albus is here too, baby." she uttered, kissing Harry's forehead before wincing as he started screaming again. Unable to keep them at bay any longer, she leaned her head against Harry's and let her tears fall. There was truly nothing worse than hearing your baby cry in pain and right now that was exactly what was happening. Albus soothed her gently, with soft touches and softer words.

"It will be alright." he said pulling them both to rest against his chest.

They yawned almost simultaneously and he smiled gently, cradling both of their precious heads with his hands. He felt like an actual father for the first time; he had the love of his life, and, well, their child in his arms and despite Harry's screams, he was perfectly happy. He wasn't Professor Dumbledore, Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot or even the greatest Wizard of the Light, and he suddenly understood what Minerva felt when she held Harry in her arms. She was just Minerva, as he was just Albus, or Owl-bus. He chuckled. He had been called much worse in his life and he couldn't fault Harry one bit at his pronunciation. The small child had finally calmed down and had drifted into a light slumber, with Minerva following not long after, her arms still instinctively cradling Harry to her breast. It would be a long night according to Poppy, and Albus vowed to stay awake for it, if only so he could be there for Minerva as she dealt with their son.

-0-

Morning came to the castle, much the same way that it did every morning. This time though, there was a pair of eyes the morning had not seen for some time, watching it interestedly from the window. Harry Potter was perched on his Muma's window seat, watching the dawn with awe. It had been so long since he'd seen the sun and he had missed it more than he knew.

"Hello Mr Sun." he said shyly, tracing the sun's rays on the window and watching as the light filtered through his fingers.

"Harry?" came a voice from behind him. He turned suddenly, catching himself on the sill as he stared at the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

"Muma?" he said, rubbing his eyes. He was sure it as an angel. He knew about those. His teacher at school had explained that his real Mummy and Daddy were with the angels, but he hadn't remembered it until that moment. When the beautiful lady nodded, he jumped from the windowsill and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, leaping into his Muma's arms and hugging her tightly.

She laughed her special laugh, the one that she saved only for him as he squeezed her tightly, not wanting to ever let go, even though she was trying to kiss his cheek.

"What are you doing up so early?" She asked gently, rubbing his back. "You had a long night." she said turning back towards the bedroom where Albus was still slumbering.

"Be's watching Mr Sun." Harry said pointing back to the window and when Minerva caught his eyes she thought her heart would burst right out of her chest. Staring back at her were the beautifully crystal clear orbs of Lily Potter herself, and she suddenly felt very afraid that she would never be able to tell this boy no to anything.

"Well," she said shifting him slightly so she could walk. "We'd best go back to doing that then." she said arranging him on her knee as she stretched her long legs across the seat.

He looked around and grabbed her hands, wrapping them around his belly just as he liked her to do and she squeezed gently, letting him know that she wasn't moving them.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked softly, after they had watched the sun climb up from the horizon and over the Black Lake.

"Head hurts." he said scrubbing his eyes. She tsked and turned him around so he was facing her, pulling him gently to her shoulder.

"Your eyes have not worked so hard in a long time Harry." she said slowly, making sure he knew what she was saying. "They will need a rest now and again."

Harry shook his head and pushed away from her chest to look at her. She mirrored his smile as his little hands lifted to her face, running them all over it, like he had done the first time he had been in her arms properly.

"Muma beautiful." he said quietly, tugging her hair a little to get her to lean down. He kissed her quickly and sweetly on the lips like he had seen other little boys do to their Muma's and for a small moment he thought that he had done the wrong thing when Minerva's eyes filled with tears.

"Oh my beautiful, wonderful, brave little boy." she said suddenly, crushing him to her chest. Harry smiled into her neck and cuddled her right back, not moving from that position until Albus came to find them some time later.

"I thought you'd deserted me." he said pouting a little and making Harry giggle. He jumped from Minerva's lap and raced to Albus, screaming with laughter as he was picked up and promptly thrown over the man's shoulder.

"Come on my love." he said happily. "I have a nice sack of potatoes here for our dinner tonight." he said bouncing Harry up and down gently, making him laugh even more.

Minerva simply shook her head and walked towards them, for once not feeling anything other than the absolute love that was humming happily somewhere between her chest and abdomen. Harry stopped laughing and pushed himself back over Albus' shoulder, being caught deftly by the Headmaster as he nearly toppled backwards.

"Muma glowing." he said pointing to the air around him and Minerva smiled even more, knowing that Harry hadn't grown out of the gift he had been granted for the duration of his time without sight. "Owl-bus glowing too." he said, batting the air like a kitten with a ball of string.

They settled back into bed, Harry bundled up tightly between them with his eyes covered gently by Minerva's cool hands.

"Harry, is Muma still glowing now?" Albus asked, bearing the brunt of Minerva's glare as Harry excitedly pushed away from her soothing hands to look at the two adults. He watched as the two lights joined and hummed against each other and he nodded as he watched them, content to see them interact.

"What are they doing?" Albus asked, this time getting a slap from Minerva, who had given up trying to re-cover Harry's eyes for the moment.

"Playing." Harry said with a shrug. It was exactly what it looked like they were doing and he finally yawned widely, letting Minerva replace her hands over his eyes. Albus left the bed for a moment, taking a precious few moments to make sure that everything was arranged for the return of the students that day. He watched as Harry and Minerva whispered back and forth to each other, nodding as a house elf asked him a question.

"Muma?" Harry asked, shuffling back until he was cocooned into her body.

"Yes my love?" she replied, letting her thumbs play with Harry's hair and forehead.

"Love you Muma." he whispered, rubbing his face against her arms. She shifted to bring her arm around him, smiling as Albus re-joined them and wrapping his own arm around them both, joining their fingers which rested on his tummy.

"Oh I love you too baby." she whispered. "And you," she said looking over her shoulder and getting a kiss for her troubles. Closing her eyes to doze for the rest of the morning surrounded by two out of three of her boys, she sent a silent prayer up to Lily.

"Thank you my beautiful angel." she whispered into Harry's hair. "For bringing the light into my darkness."