Chapter 26
"Can I call you dad?" Harry whispers.
Severus feels his heart skip a beat. His silence must have made Harry uncomfortable because he sits up and avoids looking at Severus.
Severus notices Harry's discomfort because he puts his hand under Harry's chin and makes Harry look at him.
"If you want Harry. You can call me dad, only if you want to. I don't want you to feel pressured to call me that if you aren't comfortable with it."
The look that Harry has on his face is what gives away Harry's feelings on the matter.
"I would be honored for you to call me dad Harry. Just because you are in every way my son doesn't mean you need to call me as such. I don't want you to be uncomfortable or feel pressured into calling me dad."
"I don't feel pressured into it. I have been calling you that in my head for a while now I just didn't know if you would want me calling you that."
"I would love if you called me dad, I have thought of you as my son far longer than the time of the adoption."
"I love you dad." Harry whispers before lying his head down on Severus's chest.
"Well, now that we have that settled let's celebrate." Albus says joyfully.
Harry lets out a laugh and sits up. Severus laughs and smiles at Harry. "That certainly got Harry's attention."
Harry blushes slightly and leans farther into Severus's shoulder. "Hey! What can I say? I'm 15, of course I like to celebrate."
"I didn't mean it like that child. I just liked how you actually sat up when it was mentioned. For once, you acted like a normal 15 year-old kid which is refreshing to see."
"I'm not a kid!" Harry frowns.
"Then what are you?" Severus asked with a bemused look.
"A teenager." Harry says triumphantly.
"Which is just another classification of a child."
"Nuh uh."
"Yes, Harry." Petunia cuts in. "He is telling the truth."
Harry just pouts. Severus lets out another laugh and pokes at Harry's lip. "Oh stop! You are acting like a little child right now."
Harry can't help but smile at Severus. "That's better. Now, what do you want for dinner?"
"I don't know."
"Well, what do you like?"
"Ummm. Anything really. You know I'm not that picky."
"Okay, when you hear food what is the first thing that comes into your mind?"
"The feast that the house-elves have, mainly the potatoes and treacle tart."
"Why am I not surprised? Well, you need something of substance."
"I like chicken." Harry says.
"Okay, we can do that." Albus says. He knows that is the most that they were going to get out of Harry.
There is a soft, but audible, pop that sounds from the kitchen. "Those house-elves are on top of it as always. Harry, how about you start us off." Minerva comments.
Harry's eyes widen before he turns to Severus. Severus sees Harry's scared look and sighs internally.
"I'll come with you Harry. Don't worry."
Harry's eyes change from scared to relieved. Severus pulls Harry with him as he stands up. Harry can't believe the amount of food there is, Severus smiles slightly and nudges Harry forward.
Harry grabs a plate and looks at all the food. Severus senses that Harry is overwhelmed. "Just take what you want and if you want more you can always come back, don't worry."
Harry just nods at Severus's words. He grabs a small piece of chicken and also puts some caesar salad on his plate. He waits for Severus to be done. When Severus sees Harry's plate he adds another piece of chicken that is about the same size as the one Harry put on his plate. Seeing that Harry is about to argue. "No Harry. Don't argue with me, you need to gain weight and you didn't eat much this morning. Besides," Severus adds with a whisper. "Minerva and Albus would have my head if I let you get away with that little amount of food."
Harry lets out a small laugh. He sees Petunia behind them getting her own food. After her is Remus, Albus and Minerva who are gazing suspiciously at the pair.
Severus and Harry walk back into the living room and with a waving of Severus's wand, there is a table in the center of all the seating.
Severus and Harry take the seats they had previously occupied. They wait until everyone else is sitting with their food. Harry ignores the disapproving look Minerva gives him when she sees the amount of food that is on Harry's plate. Severus, however, defends Harry. "He has had a long day and you know full well how he loses his appetite when he has had a stressful day. Besides, I wouldn't want to ruin the happy mood over something like food."
"I didn't say anything." Minerva says, trying to keep the disapproval out of her voice.
"Maybe not, but you know you don't have the best poker face my dear. Let the boy be." Albus says soothingly.
Minerva just harrumphs and settles back in her seat. Albus starts eating and everyone follows suit. Severus notices that Harry waits until everyone else started eating before starting himself but doesn't comment on it.
Harry easily eats all of the salad and one of the pieces of chicken, but he pushes away his plate with the additional piece that Severus added. Minerva cannot keep quiet at this.
"Harry. You need to finish what is on your plate. You have barely ate anything today."
"I can't… please, I really can't."
"Eat about half of it, after that you can be done." Severus says with finality.
Harry sighs but pulls his plate back to him and cuts the chicken in half and starts slowly eating the smaller of the halves.
Severus smiles slightly before returning back to his own plate. A conversation catches his attention.
"So, you said that you weren't happy with your marriage, correct? So why don't you get a divorce?" Minerva asks Petunia.
"Because, I know he never would sign the papers. Besides, I don't want Dudley to hate me for that." Petunia responds heavily.
"That makes sense, but is it worth it if you aren't happy. I don't know about in your government but it is possible for him to be ordered to sign the papers to make the divorce legal."
"I don't know. I would have to think about it."
When the end of that conversation is over he is attracted to Harry's voice.
"You turned their hair red for a whole day?!" Harry's exclaims.
"Yes we did… not only that but if they tried to get rid of it before that time, the colors started flashing between red and gold." Remus says with a light chuckle.
"Can I assume you are talking about the time you turned the entire Slytherin house's hair red in our 3rd year?" Severus drawls.
"Yes. We are, you do have to admit that was a very impressive feat for 3rd years."
"And you have to admit that it was impressive how quickly you became repentful after a chat with Father don't you think?"
Remus gives a slight blush. "Yes, well. I still am proud of that prank. Besides, it was a harmless one."
"Ahh yes… I think it is a great idea to mention all your wrongdoings in front of your nephew."
Remus gives a quick glance at Harry before turning back to Severus. "I think Harry knows better than to do any of that. Besides, now he has a father to keep him in line."
"Hey! Don't give him any ideas!" Harry cuts in.
"Don't worry Harry. I'm sure that he has his own ways of punishing you." Albus says knowingly.
It's Harry's turn to blush now. Severus laughs before taking pity on Harry.
"Oh, let's leave him alone, it's been a good day for him."
"So, what mischief did you get into when you were in school dad?" asks Harry with a smirk that mimics Severus's own.
"Okay brat. I didn't take the attention off of you for you to put it onto me." Severus says, laughing.
"You never talk about your school years. The only thing I know is that you and the marauders had a mutual hatred."
"I wouldn't call it hatred." Severus says. "It was more of a very strong mutual dislike. It wasn't an enjoyable experience for me. I didn't have good friends like you have. What do you want to know?"
Harry thinks for a moment. "What was the thing that you got in trouble for the most?"
"Of course that is what you would ask. Most as in, most often or the single thing I got in the biggest trouble?"
"Both. I want to hear both of them."
"Okay. I guess they are connected and have the same idea. The thing I got in trouble for the most was experimenting without permission. The headmaster hated when I experimented but knew that I wouldn't stop, you know how flying is for you, that is how potions is for me, so he made me show him everything I was going to experiment with and my thought processes with them. Of course, the thing I got in the most trouble for was when I decided to mess around with the Wolfsbane potion."
"Really?" Harry and Remus ask at the same time.
"Yes really. I was in my 7th year and I knew I wanted to become a Potions Master. I knew then about Remus's condition and I wanted to help, not only him, but everyone like him. I knew Albus wouldn't allow me to do what I wanted. I started brewing in the Room of Requirement, it was going well. I was on the last step, I added too much aconite in it and it exploded all over me. I don't know how, but I am assuming that Albus had put an alarm of some sort on the room to alert him."
"Yes I did. I suspected that Severus was going to experiment without permission because he hadn't asked to experiment with a potion in over 2 weeks. I was so mad and scared. Seeing him lying there with the potion all over him was horrible. I honestly thought that I had lost you."
"Yes, well. Ahem." Severus says. Clearly uncomfortable with this talk. "Harry, I think it is time for you to take a nap. It has been a long day for you so far and it will do you much good."
Harry doesn't fight it. "Okay. I guess." He stands up and heads to his room.
"I'll be there in a bit alright? Just relax and focus on clearing your mind."
"Okay."
Severus watches Harry walk into his room. "He was very tired, otherwise he would have put up a fight."
"He was struggling to stay awake." Minerva says with a shake of her head.
"Severus." Petunia says. "I just want to thank you. Thank you so much for taking care of him. I can see how much you care for him and he for you. I wish I could have given him what you have given to him. I hated the way I had to treat him, I wish I could go back in time and change everything."
"Of course. I see him as my own. I never realized how much a child could change me."
"You have no idea." Remus says.
An/ Well, that chapter took forever to write for some reason. I have no idea why. I hope you enjoy that chapter. I will tell you that I wrote a majority of this chapter during class oops. I'm passing all my classes so far anyways.