Chapter – II

He exchanged curse after curse with Riddle, dodging and firing curses and jinxes as quickly as he could. From an outsider's point of view, no one could ever tell what spells were being cast since all they could see would be colourful slashes being constantly swapped between the two of them. But nobody had stopped to watch; they were all busy with their own fights.

He glanced at her and noticed that she was fighting Bellatrix Lestrange, and he could feel his chest tighten with worry and fear.

It was while he was dodging another killing curse that Riddle had thrown at him when he heard her scream. He could feel his heart stop and his blood run cold as he quickly turned to her direction. He felt his whole world crumble down into nothingness as he saw her body hit the ground. Her eyes wide and glassy as a pool, red as roses, gathered around her body.

That was when Albus' eyes snapped open as he rushed to sit up in his bed, cold sweat running down his forehead and sliding down his face. He rubbed his aging hand over his face, trying to convince himself that it was just a nightmare and that if he called her she'd answer him just like every day.

Albus sighed and put on his glasses, knowing that he won't be able to sleep even if he tried.

Just as he was about to get out of bed and go to his office to finish off some work, he heard a soft whimpering sound coming from the crib right next to his bed.

He immediately stood up from his bed and went to the crib only to find Harry, face constructed in pain, fists clenched to his sides and tears streaming down his cheeks, crying silently in distress as he dreamt of what could only be the previous day.

Albus carefully picked Harry up and held him close to his chest, murmuring words of comfort until the baby boy relaxed and opened his emerald green eyes to stare wonder struck into twinkling, sea blue eyes. Harry smiled up at Albus, happy see someone other than the red eyed, snake faced, pale man.

As soon as Albus saw Harry's dazzling smile, he could feel his heart swell with love for the young boy and forgot about his troubles momentarily as he smiled back at the toddler lovingly.

Albus decided that a trip to the kitchens was in order for him and Harry.

"What do you think about some hot chocolate, my boy?"Albus asked the toddler who giggled and nodded his head in ascent.

As they headed out of their quarters, Albus hurriedly whispered, "Lumos," as he raised his wand and set Harry on his feet, taking his small, young hand in his much larger, ancient one.

When they reached the painting of the fruit bowl with the giggling pear, Albus tickled the pear making Harry laugh along with it.

As they stepped into the kitchens, they were quickly assaulted by the restless house elves, all of whom were offering them all types of dishes and drinks.

Albus thanked them for their kindness and requested a cup of hot chocolate for himself and a smaller one for Harry, while said boy was looking around him in amazement.

In a matter of a few seconds, Albus had a large cup of hot chocolate in his hand and Harry had a smaller, toddler one in his. They both sipped their hot chocolate, Albus making a, "Hmmm," sound and Harry giggling in amusement at him.

When he finished his hot chocolate, Harry had a brown, chocolate mustache, which made Albus smile as his chest tightened with care as he wiped the chocolate off Harry's face.

After thanking the elves once again, Albus and Harry headed back to their quarters, where they spent some time with Albus making all kinds of colorful charms and Harry looking on in wonder.

Eventually, Harry went back to his dream world, where he would dream of the kind, blue eyed man, whom he would come to consider his family in the future.

Albus kissed Harry's forehead softly and tucked him into his own bed, sensing that it would be better for both himself and the young child, if they slept next to each other in case they needed comfort in the middle of the night.

Albus slipped under the covers next to Harry, pulling the boy closer to him and placing a fatherly, protective arm over his son, who quickly snuggled into his chest and tangled one of his tiny hands into Albus' soft, white beard, sighing in comfort.

Albus smiled and kissed Harry's forehead once more as he vowed to himself that he was going to make his son's life great, no matter how hard it could be.


A/N: Hello! This is my first ever fanfic, so if it's not good, then *sorry*. Anyway, I would appreciate it if you reviewed the story so I get to know how to improve it.