The holiday was coming up fast and Severus had been gradually buying presents for Harry for the last month and had them hidden all over his quarters. He had also bought presents for Lily with help from Cissa. Christmas this year would be a great and he was looking forward to it. They would be spending Christmas at his manor house, Witches Moon and he was anxious for Lily to see it.
"Are we still going to see a movie over the holidays?" Harry asked. "Draco keeps asking me. He really wants to see another one."
"As long as we can find one that's age appropriate for you and Draco," Lily said.
"Okay," Harry grabbed his dad's copy of the London Times and began looking at the movie section.
Severus smiled. He did not think it was a bad thing at all that Draco and his family would be exposed to more Muggle culture. The Malfoy's had for such a long time held Muggles in contempt; Luc was the first to see that there was more to them than what his father and grandfather had always preached.
"Here's one, Mum," Harry said. "It's called 'Hook' and it's about 'when Capt. Hook kidnaps his children, an adult Peter Pan must return to Neverland and reclaim his youthful spirit in order to challenge his old enemy,'" Harry read aloud.
"That doesn't sound too bad," Lily said. "What's the rating on it, Harry?"
"It says it's PG, whatever that means."
"Parental Guidance," Lily answered. She had been catching up on things since she'd come back. "I think that one will be alright. What do you think, Sev?"
"It sounds harmless enough," Severus said nodding.
"Great! I'll tell Draco we're going when I see him tomorrow. He gathered up his books and put them into his book bag. "I'd better be getting back to Ravenclaw. I don't want to end up coming in after curfew."
"I'll go with you, Harry. Filius is having me teach the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins tomorrow so I need to get to bed early."
"You'll have Draco, Teddy, and Dean in your class then," Harry said. He made a face. "But you'll also have Ron Weasley and Seamus Finnigan."
"I've heard from Filius that Seamus has trouble with things blowing up a lot," Lily said.
"Yeah, Dean said the feather he was trying to levitate caught on fire and burnt his eyebrows off and then he was attempting to change a goblet of water into rum and that blew up in his face."
"Well, I'll keep an eye on him," Lily promised.
Severus decided to stretch his legs and walked with Lily and Harry up to the fourth floor. Harry gave his dad and mum a hug, wished them a goodnight, and scampered up the spiral staircase that led to the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower.
"Have you seen Potter lately?" Severus asked Lily.
She shook her head. "Strangely enough I haven't seen him since the Quidditch match. He and Sirius probably moved back to Potter Manor and they're too busy getting Potter ready to rejoin the Aurors to bother us."
"Well, if he does start to bother you or Harry, let me know right away and I will have a chat with him."
James stretched out in the library of Potter Manor. He was surprised to find that the manor was intact and all the elves were still there, but he supposed they'd been keeping it for Harry. If Snivellus had adopted Harry and Harry had rejected him that meant he was no longer a Potter and he could disown him if he so chose. Harry would be really shocked when he found out how poor Snivellus was and he'd soon regret the bad choice he made and he'd be begging him to take him back.
Sirius came into the room and flopped down on the couch opposite James. "Merlin, this is like old times, but without Lily always nagging us!"
"Take your feet off the coffee table; watch what you're doing, you're getting food all over the rug. Merlin! Were you raised in a barn?" James said, mimicking Lily.
Yeah, a right harpy she was," Sirius agreed. "And the way she was always on about us making more work for the house elves. I tried to tell her that was the whole point of elves – to make a wizard's life easier, but she practically took my head off!""And she didn't know how to train them properly either, always asking them to do something rather than ordering them to do it and even saying please and thank you to the little blighters."
"Most Muggleborns don't deal well with house elves. A lot of them think its slavery or something like that and it isn't. They get somewhere to live, clothes, and food; in exchange, we don't have to do anything. They're thrilled to wait on us hand and foot and clean up our messes," Sirius said. "Speaking of elves; what's for dinner?"
Harry stopped by his mom's quarters on Friday after class. Severus was there having just finished teaching his NEWT class. He and Lily were seated on the couch sipping glasses of red wine and eating slices of sharp cheddar cheese with it.
"Are you hungry, Harry?" Lily asked. "I have bread and cheese that I've already sliced if you are."
"I'm always hungry, Mum," Harry grinned. "I'm a growing boy." He disappeared into the kitchen and came back out holding a plate containing buttered bread and slices of cheese. He sat down in an armchair by the couch. "I'm glad you're both here because I wanted to run an idea past you both."
"And what idea would that be, Harry?" Severus asked.
"After I meant James I was doing some research in the library and I read about this potion called Familia Sanguis."
"Family Blood," Severus translated. "Yes, it is a blood adoption potion.""Yes …well, I was wondering if we could do it without needing either the Ministry or James' permission. I don't want to look like him anymore; I want to look like you, Dad."
"You are my legally adopted son, Harry so, if Lily agrees, we will do it, but you need to know that it is a very painful process so I will need to put you into a deep sleep after administering the potion."
"It's your decision, Harry and I'll always love you no matter what," Lily assured him.