Deceiver: This is kind of bad…but I refuse to give into an angst potential prompt!

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Lies

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Iris Rosalene-Watts was a big girl.

She was big enough to go to the potty by herself, and she could now use a spoon to feed herself without making any mess. She could buckle her shoes with ease, and could also count to twenty without any problem.

And that also meant she was too big for nap time.

Waking up to some sound of movements, Iris woke up with a pout as she realised her mummy and daddy had put her to sleep again. She could feel her daddy's hand resting on her tummy, which as comforting as it was, she didn't want to sleep anymore.

"No nap…" Iris pushed her daddy's hand away, rolling over to see his sleepy face. Luke was up as well, and he was now crawling all over their dad's face to pat it. "Ah! Luke!"

Her little brother didn't pay any attention to her though, as he preferred to try and grab the glasses that was still on daddy's face. Iris knew Luke was being naughty (like always), so she quickly sat up to try and pull him off their dad. "Bad Luke! No!"

"Ah!" Grabbing the glasses at the last second, Luke wiggled his little arms in protest as he tried to desperately cling to his dad. Reaching out to the grown man's face, Luke patted at the side of his daddy's face, squishing the cheek and brushing his hair aside in the process.

"No, Luke! No!" Iris tried to pull him off again. "Don't wake…huh?" She had to stop for a second there, as she saw something that caught her attention. Luke was still playing with his daddy's hair, brushing it to the side as he patted on the strange thin line etched into his skin.

Before Iris could wonder out loud what it was, their dad began to stir from all the commotion his children were making. "Urgh…" he blinked, now awake and looking around until he saw the two naughty kids on top of him.

Neil Rosalene-Watts stared at them for a moment. "What are you two doing?"

"Daddy!"

"Dada!"

At once, Neil's children tackled him into a hug, laughing and giggling as they squished him under their weight. "Orgf! Okay okay! Get off!" He sat up, holding his babies still as they continued their gleeful laughter. Squinting his eyes, Neil saw Luke holding onto his glasses, and was already slurping at the long hinges until Neil plucked it out of his mouth.

"They're mine, mister," he deadpanned as he wiped away the baby slobber onto his shirt. As Luke cried out and tried to grab for the glasses again, Iris stared at the thing she saw earlier underneath her dad's hair, a small frown on her lips.

"Daddy…?" she tugged at his shirt, demanding his attention. "Daddy? Daddy!"

"Yes yes. What is it, pumpkin?" Neil answered at last when he finally held Luke away so he could put his glasses back on properly. Once it was on, he put on his signature lopsided smile for Iris as she pointed at where she saw the thing.

"What's that funny line on your head?"

At that, Neil's smile faltered, and Iris didn't notice. Instead she just looked up at him with her innocently big round eyes. Luke was still struggling against his dad's hold, getting fussy as he didn't like being held like this. When the small boy gave a whimper, Neil finally decided to hold him properly by placing him on his lap.

"What…" he began, his eyes darting around the room for a second. "What's what on my head again, pumpkin?"

"That!" Iris pointed again. "That weird looking line thingy on your head!" she got closer, wanting to pinpoint where it was, but Neil moved away at once. "What is that? It looks funny looking and all bumpy!"

Neil juggled between holding an upset Luke close, while keeping a really eager Iris away. He was trying to think, eyes darting around again as he tried to think of something to tell his daughter. Anything. Just something to at least stop her questioning about his…

"That's…um…" he got it, putting on his biggest grin as he declared "That's my secret scar! Like the one from Harry Potter!"

Iris blinked at his words; her head titled to the side as the words sank in. Slowly, her mouth turned into a big 'O', before she began squeal and bounce on the bed in delight. "Like Harry Potter?"

"Like Harry Potter!"

"With the cool scar and the glasses!?"

"Yep! With the wand and everything too!" Neil laughed as he pushed his glasses up. Iris gave a cheer, jumping around on the bed as she cheerfully declared that her daddy was Harry Potter. Luke watched her go, getting interested in all the jumping before deciding to do the same too.

"But you know, Iris," Neil watched her jump around as he talked. "Daddy was trying to hide that scar so no one else will know I can do magic. So now that you saw, you must keep it a secret from everyone else, okay?"

"Okay!"

With Iris agreeing so easily, Neil let out a sigh in relief. Looking up, he saw a certain someone at the door, watching them as she leaned against the doorframe, with her arms crossed.

When Iris saw who it was, she bounced off the bed at once. "Mummy!" She rushed over towards Eva at once, hugging her legs and grinning at her. Eva simply smiled at her little girl, picking her up before giving her a kiss to the cheek. "Hi, sweetie," she cooed, walking over to where the rest of her family was. "Had a nice nap?"

"I didn't want to nap," she pouted, which made her parents laugh as Eva sat down on the bed with Luke and Neil. At once, her small son crawled towards her, wanting hugs from mummy too.

"Well, good boys and girls need to have their naps," Eva told her, which earned more pouts from Iris. Normally, Eva would reprimand her daughter for misbehaving, but just this once, she would let it slide. "Why don't you go to the bathroom and wash up first, hmm? After that you can go play with your little brother and your toys."

"Yes, mummy." And with a nod, Iris hopped out of Eva's arms before making a run for the bathroom. Her parents watched her go, with Luke clinging to his mummy for more hugs.

After that, Eva let out a sigh. "Harry Potter? Really, Neil?"

He gave her a shrug. "What? It sounds legit, right?" he gave her a grin. "A scar? Glasses? And can make anything happen (with the help of the memory machine)?" he leaned towards Eva mischievously. "I'm a wizard, Dumpling. And you know it."

"Haha, very funny," she gently shoved his face away, trying to not look amused by his stupid humour. Scooting closer to him though, Eva leaned against him as she continued to hold Luke. "I saw you panicking when she asked though."

Silence loomed over them, and quietly Neil decided to just wrap his arms around his wife, bringing her closer as he buried his face against her shoulder. "She just asked me, Eva. I didn't expect that to happen."

"You know you can't lie to her forever," she said as she got comfortable in bed with him, keeping their bodies close (with Luke snuggled up between them). "One day she…and maybe Luke too, will realise you're not a wizard, and that you got the scar from something else."

"I know…" Neil gave a sigh, still refusing to look at her. "But…I don't want them to know yet. I don't want them to know what stupidity their dad did to get this scar." He paused for a second. And Eva waited. "To be honest, I was kind of hoping they would never know."

"Well, Iris now knows about the scar," she reached out, touching where it was before smiling a bit. "And she's now head over heels about Harry Potter all over again thanks to your little lie there, Watts. You better polish up on your knowledge from the books and movies if you want to convince her you're really the famous wizard."

At that, Neil pulled away to give her a frown. "Are you accusing me that I don't know anything about Harry Potter, Rosalene?"

She gave a shrug. "I'm not the one made up spells instead of just casting Wingardium Leviosa on objects, Neil."

"Are you never gonna let that go!?" He whined, making Luke giggle at it. As Neil pouted at her, Eva took this chance to kiss that pout away.

"One day our children will know the truth on what happened to you," she told him. "But for now, Iris, and later Luke, can just believe you're a wizard. Okay?"

He didn't like it. But there was no use arguing over it still. "Fine…" he frowned, grumbling a bit. Eva frowned at that, about to say something but Neil interrupted her with "The babies are gonna think I'm pathetic though. Especially when they hear how you saved me."

Pausing for a moment, Eva just stared at him before smacking him on the shoulder for that. "That's because I saved you from death, you moron!" she huffed. "And we're definitely not leaving that part out, you hear me!?"

Neil gave another whine, really not looking forward to the revelations so he just buried his face against the pillows as his wife and son began to laugh at him again. At that moment, Iris came back into the room, wanting to see why her parents were still in here before pouting angrily at them.

"Hey! I want hugs too!" At once, she rushed towards her family, leaping forward and hugging them as much as her tiny arms could reach and hold. Eva and Luke were still laughing, and Neil ignored them until Iris tugged at him for his hugs too. He didn't want to, but gradually, he gave in as Neil hugged his little girl, just like how Eva was doing the same with Luke.

They were fine like this. Happy like this.

For now, the children didn't need to know what happened to Neil in the past.

And that was fine.