Disclaimer: Harry Potter is not mine, I make no money from any of this.

Back from the holidays

Chris had enjoyed his vacation and had come back with all the usual souvenirs; it was lucky they were wizards and shrinking spells and feather-light charms existed otherwise they would never have got everything home; To further Chris' experience Severus had been able to book first class tickets to fly there and back again, courtesy of his mother.

The best attraction for Chris had been the Grand Canyon. Under the cover of his invisibility cloak he had flown through the canyon on his broomstick. He had also taken a head-first dive off of Mount Rushmore on his broom, and his father had almost killed him for that one. When he had shared it with Draco, the blonde had laughed and said his father had been the same when he had flown off of the roof of Malfoy Manor when he had been ten.

On the days that they weren't exploring the states Chris occupied his time partaking in various activities around the park; He spent time fishing, relaxing on the beach, took a bike ride around the park and even had a go at playing golf. His father meanwhile would use those days to trek around the woods looking for unusual plant life he could use in potions.

While enjoying the visits to the two Disney parks it was not something he would probably want to do again. He had seen some Disney films during his childhood, mostly at school such as Peter Pan and The Jungle Book, but with others he had caught glimpses of what Dudley was watching on TV. However, being not really knowledgeable about modern popular culture, some of the attractions just went over his head.

It was not just muggle areas that they visited; they spent some time visiting many of the wizarding districts the states had, each one was different to the rest and so unlike Diagon Alley. If Chris had thought that quidditch had been popular back home; that was nothing to how the American wizards followed it. There were shops just dedicated to the local teams in each of the wizarding districts and he could not help picking up a few things that would help the Gryffindor team, much to his father's consternation. "Again Slytherin will not have the quidditch cup this year," Severus had mused.

The week he had spent with his grandmother had not been as bad as he thought it would have been. His grandfather, Tobias Snape, had worked in the mines and the poor working conditions had been the demise of his health; then the strikes had forced him out of work and he had drunk himself to death.

There had not been much money growing up, but Eileen had done her best for her son. It had been his friendship with Lily and the support she had given him that had got Severus through his youth.

She had imparted what advice she could in Chris and he had left her home in The Lake District with a box of trinkets and heirlooms.

When he arrived at Malfoy Manor everything he would need for the coming school year was laid out on his bed along with a surprise. There lain inside a large brown box, curled up fast asleep was a small ginger kitten.

"Do you like your present?" Lucius asked coming up behind Chris and slipping his arms around his waist. "It's a welcome home present. I know you have Hedwig, but since you sent her to Remus while you are at school this is something I thought Chris could have as opposed to Harry. He can always stay in my rooms if you do not want him in Gryffindor Tower."

"You mean to say he's our cat? And I can use him as an excuse to visit you."

"I think of it as a reason for you to come and visit. With you all the way up in Gryffindor tower, you may forget about me."

"I would never do that." Chris leaned his head against Lucius' chest.

Lucius used this opportunity to nuzzle Chris' neck and place little bites on it. "I've missed you so much, next year I'll have to take you away somewhere myself."

"Just the two of us?" Chris asked.

"Well if you want I can bring Draco and your father along too," Lucius teased as Chris nudged him in the ribs. "But as much as I enjoy their company, this should be something for just the two of us. We never properly seem to get much time alone together, for one reason or another."

Chris slipped out of Lucius' arms and removed everything that was on his bed before laying down on it. "We are alone now, and Draco knows better than to disturb us."

Being unable to resist the delight that was below him Lucius surrendered to his pleasure.

Later that evening the three of them were sat around the dining room table discussing their preparations for the next day. "I will be dropping the two of you off at the station in the morning where you will catch the Express, Severus and I will then see the two of you at school. As this is your last year at Hogwarts, it is only fair that you get to have your last ride to school with your friends."

Chris and Draco nodded as they went upstairs to pack their bags. "It's going to be strange having father at school this year as a teacher, I won't be able to get away with half the things I usually do."

"It's not that bad really, except for lessons and the Great Hall. You don't really see much of them unless you choose to. Just act as you normally would do, it makes no difference if they catch you doing things you shouldn't be doing. They catch you as your parent and punish you, or another teacher catches you and tells them and you still get punished. If you're going to do something you plan it in a way where the suspicion does not lie on you."

Draco rolled his eyes, "Since when have you planned anything last year that would get you into trouble, and what difference did it make for you, Severus always had an eye out for you before he even knew you were his son."

Chris laughed, "Well back then he actually believed I was a trouble maker like my father, he knows better though now." The two split to enter their separate rooms, but it did not take long for them to finish and soon Draco was back knocking on Chris' door.

"So what are you going to name this little one?" Draco asked as he stroked the ginger kitten who was purring contently on his lap.

"I don't know, I chose Hedwig out of a book I was reading, but I was new to the wizarding world then. Now, I know so many historical figures I don't know if I should pick one or have something simple."

"Just as long as you don't call him Leo or something like that."

Chris leaned over to stroke the cat, "I think I'll call him Shinx in honour of the Sphinx I faced in the triwizard tournament. I also knew a girl at school who went by that name and it's very unusual."

"Shinx?" Draco stroked the cat again and it perked it's head up at that. "Well I guess that's a keeper, he seems to like it."

Sometime during the night the two boys fell asleep there on Chris' bed and were not to be disturbed until the morning.

A/N Merry Christmas everyone, here's my present to you all. The sequel to How Our Choices Define Us. Updates will be slow as I am back at work, but I am going to continue writing and then once I go on my vacation I will be able to do more.