This is a freestanding oneshot from an alternate reality from It's Mutual II: Instead of hiding who Harry's true father was when he was born, Lily told Severus the baby was his. Lily and Severus marry and instead of Harry, they named the child Braidon. For this story, Harry/Braidon is 13. Severus worked for a private company researching potions and Lily worked charming protections on housing and objects and neither are around a lot. Braidon goes to Hogwarts still, and this story starts at the beginning of Christmas holiday. Because it's a oneshot, Harry/Braidon will be called Harry to make things less confusing.

It's not necessary to read any of IM for this oneshot.

Harry sat on his trunk waiting for someone to pick him up. It was typical, them being late, but it was usually his father who remembered to pick him up. His mother was probably out of the country.

Part of him was glad Christmas was coming up. No classes for one. And he'd have an entire manor to himself for most the holiday, unless his mother decided he needed another babysitter, but there probably wasn't much chance of that. Last time, he had gotten Draco to send him pranks. She quit after a week.

It actually wasn't that long before he saw his father on the platform.

"Hello, Harry. How was the term?"

"Like everyone other term," he answer. "Sit in class, get assignments, take exams." Harry shrugged.

"Did you do well?"

"Probably," he answered standing up. "Where's mom?"

"She'll be home next week."

"Right," Harry said as they started walking toward the car. "What's for dinner?"

"Oh, yes, well, I really must stop by work for a couple of hours after I drop you off. There's meat and cheese in the icebox for a sandwich," Severus said as they arrived at the car, and his dad opened the trunk of the car so Harry could put the trunk in.

"Work? It's Saturday night!"

"We'll do something later, alright, Harry?"

"Right," Harry said again as he got into the car. Severus got in shortly after. As they drove, Harry looked out the window, not really looking forward to being alone in the house as he thought he would be.

Later that evening, his dad still wasn't home and Harry found himself bored. He honestly didn't know what he was going to do all month if he didn't find anything to do.

It hit in a few minutes later. His dad wasn't home yet. And knowing him, he wouldn't be home until early morning. A few hours was always more like 10 in Severus Snape's book. That meant he could watch the telly. Sure they didn't have any channels except when the news was on – what spell his dad used to do that, Harry still hadn't figured out – but they had a bunch of movies from their occasional "Family Night". They haven't had one of those in a long while. But there were also a few films that had been gifts, so there should be something to watch.

Downstairs, he turned on the telly. News. He barely listened to it as he looked over the movies they had. Nothing he was really in the mood to watch. Just as he was about pick a movie the thought was a comedy, he heard the front door open. Harry turned the telly off and ran into Severus on the way out of the living room.

"Was the television on?"

"No," Harry answered.

"Harry," Severus warned, "I heard something."

"Alright, it was just on the news," he answered, knowing he'd get into trouble if he didn't tell the truth. "I just wanted to watch something. You said we could do something tonight."

"Harry," his dad said again. "It's almost 10. You need to be getting to bed."

"It's not like I have class tomorrow," Harry argued. "It's the holiday. Why can't I stay up?"

"You're thirteen. Get ready for bed, Harry."

He knew it was pointless to argue, so he stormed passed his dad and nearly stomped up the stairs. Part of him saw that he was being childish, but once he got to his room, he slammed the door closed and locked it. And took the key out of the keyhole, not that doing that would help anything. If his dad wanted in, a simple alohomora would work.

His dad didn't come, though. He could have guessed that. Harry had gone to his room, and that's all that Severus cared about. Refusing to go to bed just in spite, Harry pulled out a few of the building kits of small, interlocking blocks he had and started to put together a space ship. Something muggle, just to bother his father even more.

He must have fallen asleep, because he woke on the floor, a weird crick in his neck, the spaceship half built. He debated finishing it in half-sleep state, but decided he was hungry. Unfortunately, it took him ten minutes to find the key because he had thrown it last night, and when he got downstairs, he wasn't surprised to find his dad not in the kitchen. It didn't matter. It was almost 11 anyway, so he made himself a few chicken sandwiches and went back to his room.

Over the next several days, Harry only saw his dad maybe twice a day; once during the day, and once at night just in time to tell him to go to bed. The rest of the time was either at work or in his own personal lab. The only way to tell the difference was whether or not there was a phone number on the message board next to the phone. He never checked up on Harry to see if he really was in bed, though, so almost every night, Harry fell asleep on the floor with some game or building thing.

Harry told himself he was fine with that. He could do whatever he wanted.

He could walk to town, he realized suddenly. It wasn't as if his father ever checked on him. Which would be perfect because he hadn't finished buying Draco's present yet. It was nearly impossible to buy anything for that boy.

He found his shoes and his muggle coat before grabbing the pouch he kept his saved allowance in. It wouldn't be more than a 20 minute walk into the town from the edge of their property, he decided, and maybe half an hour in the shop he had his mind on. They didn't have anything magical in the stores, but Draco pretty much had everything magical he wanted anyway.

Outside, he saw the sun was beginning to set and it was slightly colder than he had anticipated, but it wasn't very windy, so the cold wasn't unbearable. Eagerly, he started for town.

Twenty minutes later, the sun was even lower and the town still looked to be very far away. And it was getting really, really cold. Even though his hands were in his sleeves, they felt as if they were numb and his ears felt like they were going to freeze off. He had no idea why he didn't remember to bring a hat, gloves, and a scarf. He remembered them every day at school.

But he was getting colder now, especially since there was nothing around but some trees to block the wind that seemed to have come out of nowhere. He debated turning around, but the town looked closer than the manor, so he kept on going.

Five more minutes later, it was that much darker and colder, his legs started to feel as if they were freezing off. He could barely feel them anymore. Harry felt stupid, trying to walk to town in the winter without the proper clothes.

Harry made it to the park that was outside the town. It was really more of a dog park, since there were only a few benches, a few trees and a building with a loo. He decided the bathroom would have to be warmer than out here, so he stumbled to the building. Both doors were locked. Too cold to go much further, Harry settled for clearing an area on the side of the building that had the least amount of the bitting wind blowing and sat down to rub his legs. His feet were kind of wet, too. And frozen.

In the coldness, he felt himself getting tired and he closed his eyes to rest them. It felt as if he was there forever before he heard his name being called.

"Harry! Merlin, Harry, there you are."

Harry felt a warmness settle over him and he held on his he felt his dad pick him up. A squeezing feeling and then bouncing. He opened his eyes a little and saw that his dad was running with him.

Strange.

Inside, upstairs in his room, he let his dad get him out of his wet clothes. He realized it must have started snowing when he was sitting from how wet his clothes were. It didn't matter to Harry as his dad wrapped him in a heavy blanket that had a heating charm on it. The warm felt wonderful.

"What were you thinking, leaving the yard, when you know you are not allowed to, in the winter without proper clothes on?" Severus asked. Harry could tell he was angry. "Answer me, Harry."

Harry shrugged. "I wanted to finish shopping for presents."

"You were going to town? When the wards let me know you left the yard, I thought it was to go to the pond. I was looking in the opposite direction. With it so dark out, you're lucky I found you at all. Half an hour longer, you could have frozen to death!"

"Wards?" Harry asked.

"What, you think I would leave you in a house alone without some indication that you were safe?" Severus asked, his irritated showing clear. "You will stay in . . ." Harry's dad trailed off, a strange look on his face. Then the man sniffed him. "Have you bathed at all since you've been home?" Severus looked over at the clothes he had taken off Harry. "Have you even changed clothes? Harry, it's been almost a week."

"I've showered," Harry answered, even though it wasn't true. Truth be told, he hadn't even thought of changing clothes or taking a bath.

"Right," Severus said and Harry could tell his father didn't believe him. "After you warm up, take a bath and eat dinner, we're having a talk. You should know enough to take care of every day things on your own, Harry. Especially wearing a hat outside."

Harry just looked down as he played with his toes under the blanket. He didn't even think of the possibility that his dad had other ways to keep an eye on him. Harry just thought his dad didn't care.

"It looks like I'm going to have to watch you more closely from now on," his father said as he was leaving the room. "You're not to leave that bed."

The next few days before his mom came home, Severus made sure Harry was in bed by 9:30 and woke him up at 8 in the morning. He also made him take a shower before he ate breakfast and brush his teeth after. He actually stood in the bathroom and watched!

Harry hated being treated like a baby. He could brush his teeth by himself! It wasn't like he was going to eat the toothpaste or something. Although the reason was probably because he pretended to brush his teeth that first night instead of actually brushing them. How was he supposed to know his father would smell his breath? It wasn't as if his breath smelled bad, anyway.

The rest of the day was the same, though. His dad disappeared to work somewhere, leaving Harry to spend the day in his room, the bathroom, or the kitchen. The rest of the house was off limits until his dad said so, and Harry wasn't about to test his limits in case more wards were put up. The last thing he needed was for his games and toys to be taken away.

The supervision only lasted until Harry's mom came home, though. When she was home, he only came home when he absolutely needed to. Usually only at night. Harry was actually surprised they still slept in the same room. He knew they didn't really like each other.

It wasn't until his mom came home that Harry realized he wanted his dad around. He made him do stuff he didn't want to do, but at least he talked with Harry and they even played a few games before he went to bed. Harry's mom, on the other hand, tended to ignore Harry more, even though she spent more time in the house during the day. She preferred her seat in the library where she would read and any conversation Harry would start with her would end with, "Don't you have something to do, Harry?"

Nearing Christmas, his mom didn't leave again and he had only seen his dad a handful of times. One of those times, Harry even asked his dad if he could go to his work with him, but Severus had said that the experimental potions being worked on at the time were too dangerous, but he promised to take him after Christmas.

Harry didn't really believe him. His dad often made promises, but it was only a rare few that he kept.

Christmas eve started like every other day. Harry slept in, but took a shower when he got up in case his dad actually was home, and then ate before spending the rest of the day in his room. Because he woke up so late, he skipped lunch.

He was really, really surprised when his dad knocked on his door and opened it slowly. Without waiting for an answer.

"Can I come in, Harry?" he asked. Harry shrugged from the floor.

"Sure." Harry answered, albeit somewhat reluctantly. It wasn't as if he could say no.

"How are you doing?"

"Alright," Harry mumbled as his father sat on his unmade bed.

"We finished the potion today, so you'll be able to come to work with me when I go back."

"Okay," he answered.

"I took the next few days off," his father said. "I thought we could spend some time together. I won't see you again until summer. Just you and me. How does that sound?"

"What about mom?" Harry asked. His dad got a sheltered look on his face.

"She left for another assignment. She'll be home in a couple of weeks."

"She's gone already? She didn't even say goodbye."

"I had the feeling she was sort of in a hurry," Severus said. Harry could tell his dad was trying to make him not feel as bad.

"Tomorrow's Christmas," Harry said after a few minutes. "She's not really leaving for a job, is she?"

His dad didn't answer right away. He was probably trying to decide whether or not to lie to him.

"Probably not," he sighed. "Harry, she loves you, she's just . . . not happy right now."

"She doesn't love me. She won't even talk to me," Harry pointed out. "All she does is sit in the library and read or she goes to the kitchen to cook. And whenever she's around, you're not and that makes it even worse. And it's been like this for a long time."

"Harry . . ." Severus paused. "We should have made everything better for you. I'm sorry I'm not around more. I . . . it's not easy to pay for everything and my job isn't the best paying."

"I thought mom made plenty of money," Harry said, confused. He hadn't realized money was a problem.

"She does. And she pays for food when she's here and half of your tuition, but . . . Harry, I'm sorry. It's just that when your mother is here to make sure you aren't getting in any trouble, I can spend more time at work and get in a few extra hours. It helps to put a little extra aside for savings."

"Oh." Harry felt horrible.

"You don't need to think about that, though, Harry. You just need to focus on school and learning how to take care of yourself. You have been cleaning yourself properly?"

"Yes, sir," Harry said.

"Good. Now, I have a special Christmas Eve dinner waiting for us downstairs. A bunch of your favorite foods. Think you can managed to eat a lot?"

"Yes, sir," Harry said again, but this time closer to a smile. Christmas with his dad shouldn't be to bad.

Unless, of course, his dad bailed out again.

Feeling a little bit better, Harry let his dad help him up and they walked down to the kitchen. The smell was wicked. Food he hadn't had in a while.

Harry woke up slowly. He felt very . . . warm. He turned onto his back to find it was harder than normal, so he opened his eyes and sat up. Somehow the covers were pulled tight and . . . tucked in.

Strange.

Harry tried to remember last night. After dinner, he and his dad watched a few films. He must have fallen asleep during the last one. His dad must have put him to bed. And tucked him in.

Strange. And a little . . . strange. He was 13! He didn't need to be tucked in. Especially since he never remembered his parents tucking him in before.

He pushed that thought aside, though. Didn't need to be thinking about something like that when it was Christmas. Checking the time, he saw it was nearly noon and he had a sinking feeling. His dad would never let him sleep in this late if he was here. Sighing, he debated staying in bed but decided he was hungry. There were plenty of leftovers from dinner he could eat.

Part of him unable to let go, Harry looked into Severus' bedroom just in case he slept in. He never remembered it happening before, but . . . maybe that was why his dad didn't wake him up.

He wasn't in the bedroom, so Harry sauntered downstairs and checked in the living room. He was surprised – extremely surprised – to find a small tree, maybe four feet tall, decorated sparsely but neatly. Around the tree were a bunch of presents.

Well, that was something. Severus might have gone off to work, but at least he tried to make things nice. It was more than his mother would have done, had she been there. He decided he would look at the presents later as his stomach was growling loudly and he made his way to the kitchen. His heart nearly stopped.

"You're . . ."

"Good morning, Harry. Sleep well?" his father asked and Harry nodded. "What's wrong, Harry?"

"Nothing," Harry answered. "It's just . . . I wasn't expecting you to . . . be here."

"Oh," his dad said after a moment. Thankfully, no more questions were asked on that regard as Severus stood up. "Reheating dinner. It's almost lunch, and there's no reason to waste food. Then you can go open your presents. A few gifts came for you this morning from your friends. I added them to the rest of the presents."

"Rest?" Harry asked as a plateful of food was placed at Harry's favorite spot at the table.

"A couple from your mother. The rest from me."

Harry looked down. His dad was watching him much to closely and it was making him uncomfortable.

"I thought . . . we were having problems with money," Harry said, not knowing what else to say. It was the only thing that came to his mind, honestly.

"I saved up over the year. Now eat. You're most likely dying to open your presents. I'm rather surprised you came to the kitchen first. I would have thought the first place you'd look would be where your presents were."

"Yeah. Right," Harry said guiltily, then sat down with a smile.

Not such a bad Christmas after all.