Chapter 5

"And then Mrs Foster made everyone sit down with our hands on our heads because she'd had enough of us," Josh said, spooning a forkful of peas into his mouth.

"I'm not sure that's anything to be proud of," Harry said, raising a disapproving eyebrow at his son.

"I didn't do anything wrong!" Josh protested with an entirely too-innocent air. "It's not my fault Mrs Foster can't control a classroom."

Severus snorted into his glass of wine and received a glare from Harry. There was no doubt that Josh was his son; comments like that could have come from no one but him.

It was the middle of November and Severus had spent the last three Saturdays having dinner at Harry's house. He wasn't sure exactly when 'Potter' had become 'Harry' in his mind, but it seemed faintly ridiculous to refer to the father of his child by his surname.

"I was the only one who knew all of my lines anyway," Josh said, as though that absolved him of any duty to be well-behaved.

"How's the play coming along?" Severus asked. Every Saturday he'd been given a new update about the school play Josh was taking part in. They were performing 'Oliver' and Josh had been given the part of the Artful Dodger.

"It's ok, but Bobby Jenkins – he's playing Bill Sykes – never knows when to come on the stage. Mrs Foster always has to push him in from the wings."

Josh attended the local primary school, which, on reflection, Severus understood. Harry could have sent the boy to the magical primary school in Hogsmeade but he supposed the man wanted his son to experience a taste of normality.

When Josh got to Hogwarts he would be Harry Potter's son and there was no way of escaping that label. Harry and those around him would be able to educate him about the magical world and to prepare him for what lay ahead but it was important that Josh could enjoy as much of his childhood as possible.

"And what about the girl playing Nancy?" Severus asked, watching as Josh's eyes darted quickly to his plate. There had been much talk about Ellie Williams and Severus was certain that Josh had something of a crush on the girl.

"She's good," Josh said with a shrug. "Needs to work on her accent though."

It was Harry's turn to laugh and Severus looked up to meet the man's eyes as he shook his head in amusement at their son's antics. There was a moment, a very fleeting one, where it was as though they were in accord, that they were sharing the experience. It was gone quickly though and Harry looked away, his cheeks flushed.

"Are you going to come and see it?" Josh asked, looking at Severus as he began to build a small fort from his mashed potatoes.

"I…" Severus began, unsure how to answer. Dinner once a week was all that had been agreed upon and he didn't want to overstep his boundaries.

"I'm sure the professor will come if he isn't busy," Harry said quietly, not meeting Severus' eyes. It was a greater concession than Severus deserved and he would have to find some way to show his gratitude.

"I'd be very pleased to, Josh," Severus said, inordinately pleased when the boy grinned at him.

"Uncle Drake and Uncle Bill are coming too. You'll all have to give me the biggest cheer when I come onstage so people think I have a fan-club."

"Would you like us to make placards too?" Harry asked with a gentle quirk of his lip.

"You're not funny, Dad," Josh said, rolling his eyes. God help them when the boy became a teenager, he was entirely too adult as it was.

Dinner was soon finished and Harry and Josh had the usual argument over whether or not Josh had eaten enough to be excused. Severus could sympathise; he himself was more of a grazer and preferred to eat little and often throughout the day. It seemed his son had inherited something from him if only something so small.

They retreated to the living room where Josh decided it was time for Severus to become on first-name terms with the fish in the impressive aquarium. Josh took great pains to introduce each fish and to point out their distinguishing features, none of which Severus was likely to remember.

Apparently Josh and Harry were locked in an eternal battle over getting a dog. Josh was determined to succeed but if Severus was any judge on the matter it would be several years before Harry relented.

"You should see the way he bothers the fish," Harry murmured. "The dog would leave home after a week."

The childish side of Severus' nature that was obsessed with one-upmanship whispered to him that he should buy the boy a puppy. What better way to curry favour? The more rational side of himself argued that there was also no better way to see himself turned out on his ear and told never to darken the doorstep again.

The evening wore on, Josh regaling them with further tales from school and plans for what he was going to do the next time he went to stay with Molly and Arthur. Severus learnt that a couple of the other Weasley children had produced progeny whom Josh referred to as cousins. It was clear that these cousins were held in high esteem and that Josh enjoyed his time spent with them.

"Well my love, time you were in bed I think," Harry said, as Josh came to the end of his story about the time Draco and Bill had taken him to the zoo. "You go on up and I'll come and read to you."

Josh hesitated, looking between Severus and Harry with a thoughtful expression. "Could Severus read to me?" he asked eventually, and Severus felt his eyes widen in surprise.

Harry would say no, surely. No doubt he wouldn't be pleased at being supplanted in such a way and Severus could hardly say he blamed him.

"As long as he doesn't mind, I don't see why not," Harry said gently and Severus looked at him in surprise. The man only glanced up at him briefly then busied himself clearing away their coffee cups.

"Brilliant," Josh said with a smile. "I'm going to get into my pyjamas and brush my teeth. Come up in five minutes, ok?" he said, and Severus nodded dumbly.

He watched the boy skip out of the room, thundering up the stairs as usual. For such a slight child he could make the noise of a herd of hippos when he wanted to.

Severus turned to Harry, who was pointedly not looking his way, pretending to be very interested in brushing up the crumbs Josh had left from munching on biscuits. "Thank you," he said, unsurprised when Harry still didn't look up.

Harry shrugged a shoulder, too nonchalant to be believed. "It's just a story. Saves me from having to do it."

"Still, I appreciate it."

Severus waited as he had been told, then made his way up the stairs and into Josh's bedroom. Josh was sitting up in bed, his bedside light casting a gentle glow over the room. He grinned when Severus entered and gestured for him to take a seat on the end of the bed.

"Here," Josh said, handing him the book from his bedside table. "Where the bookmark is."

Severus looked at the book in hands. The Faraway Tree. He could remember reading it in his childhood and he smiled at the memory. He had been taken with its world of enchantment, knowing that he himself belonged to such a world. It had been an escape from an unhappy childhood and he was thankful that Josh would never know such a thing.

He picked up where the bookmark marked the next chapter, feeling a little foolish at first, especially when Josh insisted that he did the different voices, 'just like Dad does'. He found his stride eventually though, remembering the characters and how the story had made him feel when had had read it for the first time.

He enjoyed himself so much that he carried on to the next chapter and it was only when he heard a very gentle snore that he realised Josh had fallen asleep. Smiling, he returned the book to the bedside table and let his eyes drift over the peacefully sleeping form of his son.

His son. It was still a difficult concept to get his head around. Originally he had thought that Josh was a carbon copy of Harry, but as he got to know him he realised that the boy held several of his own characteristics.

He had never felt a connection to another person the way he did to Josh. It was as though something deep within him recognised him as his own. He knew he didn't deserve it but he truly was grateful to Harry for granting him the chance to get to know the boy.

"Goodnight Josh," he whispered as he reached over to turn the lamp off. Before he could stop himself he reached out and brushed the dark messy hair off the boy's forehead. He pulled the covers up and made sure the boy was tucked in before retreating from the room and back down the stairs.

"He's fast asleep," he told Harry as he entered the living room.

"Good. He didn't badger you for a second chapter, did he?"

"I confess I needed very little badgering. I was keen to see how the Land of Goodies would play out."

Severus was sure he saw the smallest quirk of Harry's lip and he felt gratified for reasons he couldn't quite pinpoint.

"I'll be on my way. Thank you again for tonight."

He turned and was about to make his way to the front door when he heard Harry get up from the sofa and say, "Would you like a drink before you leave?"

It was the first time such an offer had been made and if Severus had had a meeting planned with the queen he would have forgone it to accept the overture. "Yes, that would be lovely. Thank you," he said, re-entering the living room.

"Is brandy ok?" Harry asked, moving to the drinks cabinet in the corner of the room. Severus nodded and watched as Harry poured them both a healthy measure and added a couple of cubes of ice to Severus' with just the smallest splash of soda.

He remembers how you have it, that irritating voice whispered. Only this time it wasn't quite so irritating.

He accepted the drink with thanks and they both took a seat on the large, comfortable sofa. There was silence for a moment, Severus rolling the taste of the brandy on his tongue and finding it to be one of the finer ones he had tasted.

Eventually Harry cleared his throat and said, "How's your search for a house going?"

Severus tilted his body a little to be able to face Harry better and said, "Not as well as I would have hoped. I find myself…pickier than I thought I'd be and nothing seems to quite suit. I'll have to find somewhere soon though; I need a proper potions lab and my apartment in Diagon Alley simply can't accommodate it. I'm fulfilling orders out of the bathroom half the time."

Harry gave a soft little laugh and said, "That does sound awkward." There was a short pause while he busied himself looking down into his glass before he said, "You could…share my workroom…if the need arose."

Severus raised a questioning eyebrow and Harry continued, "Beneath the house there's an old cellar. I use it to make my wands but it's huge. There'd be plenty of room if you found yourself desperate."

Tread carefully¸ the voice whispered. An offer like this won't be given again.

Severus wasn't sure why the offer had been made in the first place but he wasn't going to look a gift-horse in the mouth.

"That's very generous. Would you mind…could I perhaps see the space?"

Harry nodded. "Of course. Come with me."

Severus followed Harry out of the living room and into the corridor. Behind the stairs was a small door that opened to reveal a narrow stone staircase. Severus followed Harry down it to find himself in a huge underground cellar.

The air crackled with magic and Severus found himself entranced as he looked around the space. There was a large workbench littered with tools and there was shelving on the far wall crammed with an array of goods. Despite being below ground it was warm and bright and Severus could understand how Harry could spend so much of his time down here.

"There's room for another workbench and there's a sink over in the corner," Harry said, watching as Severus looked around.

"Wouldn't I be getting in your way?" Severus asked and Harry shrugged.

"I kind of go into my own little space when I'm working. I can't imagine there's much you could do that would bother me."

Well there's a loaded statement¸ Severus' inner voice snarked. He decided not to take the bait.

"It's an impressive space," he said as he moved to Harry's workbench. There was a kind of ordered chaos to it and while it looked like a mess to him he was sure Harry knew where everything he needed was.

"When I first bought the place I was sure I'd never use it," Harry said, glancing around with a smile. "At best I thought I might start a wine collection but then I started learning about wands and I used this place to practise."

At Severus' questioning look he elaborated, "Wand magic can be incredibly unpredictable, especially when you're first learning how to use it. The stone walls came in very handy when it came to ricocheting spells. Don't worry though – I'm a lot better at containing things these days, you shouldn't have any spells bouncing off your head."

Harry grinned and something flipped in Severus' stomach. Harry hadn't smiled at him in years, certainly never with such playfulness either. It shouldn't have affected him so much, but it did.

Realising he needed to find his voice before Harry thought he was having a stroke, he said, "Well that's certainly comforting to know."

He moved to the workbench and gently ran his fingers over the array of tools there. Most he was unfamiliar with and he pondered at the strange skill Harry had made his life's work. He himself knew very little about wand lore and he was intrigued to see how Harry worked.

"How long does it take to create a wand?" he asked, and Harry tilted his head to the side to consider the question.

That's adorable.

What? Severus thought, taken aback by his intrusive inner voice. No it isn't.

Yes it is. Admit it.

I've never used the word 'adorable', I'm not going to start now.

"I do ten or so a month for the shop's stock but a commission can take anywhere from three months to six, depending on the complexity of the order. I must confess I do prefer the commissions. They allow me to explore more in-depth magic and hone my skills. I can just lose myself in it completely."

Severus smiled. It was the same way he felt about potions and it was good that Harry had found something that could help to define him outside of 'The Boy Who Lived'.

"So…will this space do?"

"If you'd be generous enough to share it with me I'd be very grateful to accept the offer," Severus said and tried not to laugh at the look of surprise on Harry's face.

Maybe if you'd been a bit more civil to him over the course of your association he wouldn't have cause to look so surprised.

Maybe there was a potion to silence inner voices. The idea had merit.

The workshop was a godsend. Severus hadn't realised how bloody awkward making potions out of an ill-equipped rental apartment had been until he was granted the space of the cellar.

He practically had half of the large room to himself and he had erected a few shelves for his ingredients and his beloved potions tomes. Apart from a few basic orders for things like cold remedies and household potions, the majority of his work was now done from Harry's house.

He would admit it to no one but he relished the time he spent with Harry working side by side in the cellar. He had begun to appreciate Harry's company after the time spent coming to dinner but Harry had always been very guarded and had offered little in the way of conversation.

While he worked and concentrated on his wands those guards were lowered. He wasn't as defensive and he didn't look at Severus as though he was a battle opponent. Severus couldn't blame him for that behaviour; he had behaved deplorably and Harry had every right not to trust him but it was gratifying to see those barriers shift, if only a little.

Severus knew that if he were to pursue a relationship with his son that he would have to build a relationship with Harry too. He hoped they might be able to reach an accord, to perhaps even have a friendship, but he had hurt Harry in ways that were unforgivable and he wouldn't blame the man if things never improved between them.

Time spent with Josh was the main thing. Severus knew that the little boy had developed a fondness for him and, if Severus were honest with himself, he had found himself harbouring ever-growing feelings for his son. That Harry had allowed him the chance to get to know Josh was something Severus would forever be grateful for.

"Bugger," he heard Harry murmur from across the room.

He looked over and saw Harry scribbling on a piece of parchment, a frown set between his brows. He liked watching Harry work and had tried to do so as surreptitiously as possible since they had come to work side by side.

The man was meticulous and focused, things he had never been as a student. He immersed himself fully in his work and Severus thought if the house exploded around him Harry probably wouldn't notice.

Harry was working on the equations for the new wand he had been commissioned to make. Severus was still somewhat baffled by the concept of equations with regards to wand-making and a brief glance at Harry's notes hadn't yielded much in the way of an explanation.

It seemed that they all involved ancient runes, most of which Severus had a working understanding of, but the ones Harry used were complicated and impressive. It wasn't uncommon to see him bent over a mountain of books, a scrap of parchment covered in equations by his elbow, his brow furrowed in concentration.

So he looked now. His quill was poised above his notes, his expression focused as he flipped through the pages of the book in front of him. He was in profile, the light from his desk lamp casting his face in a warm glow.

Severus had always considered Harry attractive but now, as he looked at those features etched with concentration, it occurred to him that Harry was beautiful.

Beautiful? My, how our adjectives have changed. Beautiful, is he?

Severus couldn't see how he could describe him as anything but. He had strong features, a well-defined jaw and a slim nose. His skin was naturally pale but it had a warmth to it that made his complexion look healthy. Those features could be so expressive when Harry wasn't guarding himself, when he let his feeling show, and it shamed Severus to think that he was the reason why Harry could be so closed off.

He was so busy watching Harry that he didn't notice when his cauldron boiled over and only noticed when it began hissing and spitting at him.

"Fuck," he cursed, grabbing his wand and extinguishing the flame. The ruined potion was making a happy trail over the workbench and he mopped at it with the sleeve of his robes. Harry was at his elbow in seconds, a damp rag in his hand as he helped to clear the mess away.

"Thank you," Severus said, irritated with himself for being so careless.

"I might put this memory in a pensieve," Harry said with a sly smile as he dabbed at the mess on the front of Severus' robes. Severus frowned at him and Harry laughed, saying, "I never thought I'd see the day you'd screw up a potion."

"It's a particularly difficult one," Severus said gruffly.

Harry's eyes narrowed and he peered into the cauldron then looked back at Severus with a smirk. "It's a fever-reducing potion," he said, his eyes dancing with amusement.

There's no way anyone couldn't call him beautiful.

"I was distracted," Severus growled, telling his inner voice to sod off.

"Mmhmm," Harry said with a condescending nod. "You know, if you need any help you just have to ask."

"The day I ask for your help with potions is the day I know I've lost my mind," he said, immediately cursing himself. He was surprised then when Harry simply grinned and chucked the potion-soaked rag at him.

"You should be so lucky."

AN: Well...I don't know quite what to say. After telling you all about the hostile reviewer who accused me of stealing, I then became the target of very odd behaviour. Someone went to the trouble of leaving a review on every single story (anonymous, of course) with lewd, bizarre and horrible poems. They attacked me as a writer and my stories...I didn't know what to make of it. As you can imagine, it wasn't pleasant but I deleted all comments and decided that this person was obviously a sad little troll. It's not great and, initially, I was quite upset by it but, as I say, it's their problem, not mine.

Thank you all for your kind words of encouragement and support after last week's incident. I'm hoping that this is the last of it and that if people don't like these stories they can just bugger off. Imagine looking up stories of a pairing you hate simply to leave hateful reviews! Mental.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Your feedback is, as ever, greatly appreciated.