Harry had always overworked at his job but things had gotten even worse since Easter. The MACUSA had scheduled to visit near the end of April and while Harry, as well as any previous Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, had rarely participated in diplomatic duties in receiving visitors, he had to make an exception this time as the the MACUSA's Head Auror would be coming as well, which would be a first in over fifteen years. While the discovery of Voldemort's daughter had not exactly turned the Ministry into a laughing stock to the MACUSA as well as other Wizarding governments around the world, the reputation of the Ministry, and specifically Hermione's, had taken quite a hit.

Although Hermione had insisted that Harry could not be held responsible for the incidents simply because he had driven Albus away, he would always feel responsible to an extent and feel obliged to help Hermione as much as he could. For months he had been working hard in processing Delphi's case, which was unfortunately still on-going, making amends to the public by addressing the security breach and reassuring other Wizarding governments, especially the MACUSA, that they were capable in containing Delphi and that they had indeed destroyed all Time Turners this time (sorry, Draco) and anything like this incident would never be repeated in the future, all on top of his regular, never-ending tasks. Of course there were many who believed this to be the perfect time to petition for the reinstatement of Dementors in Azkaban and the use of the Dementor's Kiss to murderers like Delphi, which had been making the legal proceedings even more complicated and their jobs especially difficult. In short, he had no hope of taking a real break from work in at least another year.

To compensate for the leave he would be taking on Monday to spend with Albus after the gathering, Harry had been working extra hard for the remaining days before the long-awaited weekend that he barely had time to go to the toilet, let alone eating and sleeping. There had been a time when Ginny would at least attempt to wait up for him but that had been long gone unless she was actively working on her column on a night. Still, having someone waiting for him when he returned to his living room should not have been that much of a surprise, unless that someone happened to be his fourteen-year-old son. Albus was sitting up on the sofa covered in his favourite blanket while holding a book when he looked straight at him and greeted him, "Welcome home, dad."

"What're you doing up at…" Harry instinctively raised his watch to look at the time but its face was all black with soot. He turned towards the clock hanging in the living room to see that it was almost three o'clock. "T-three, Al? Albus, I mean. Shouldn't your mum have gotten you to bed by midnight?"

Albus closed his book, Harry wondered if it was just a prop or if his son was actually reading the book before.

"Yes, she had but I just had a few chapters left that I really wanted to finish tonight. Since I was planning to stay up anyway I thought I might as well sneak out to see when you'll return."

If you say so, thought Harry but he was able to resist himself from saying that out loud.

"So… have you finished your book?" He took a glance and saw that it was a book about the First Wizarding War, something Harry had never bothered to read about in detail even though he probably should have.

"I've a couple of pages left, I'll go back to my room after I'm done."

"And go straight to bed?"

"Sure… what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Are you going straight to bed, dad?"

Harry felt a bit uneasy under his son's penetrating glance, it was irrational but he almost felt like Albus could see through just how little he had been taking care of himself recently, or more accurately, always, when his job was concerned that he almost felt like their roles had been reversed within a split second. What right did he have to feel worried about his son not sleeping when he was so obviously not sleeping himself.

"I need to eat something and your mum hates it when I get the bed stinky so I should probably take a shower first."

"Then straight to bed?"

"Sure, sure… you know you're starting to sound like your mum, Al. Albus."

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to… I just feel bad that you never seem to get any rest."

Harry had meant it as a joke but he immediately felt bad for making his son feel bad that he rushed to his side, soot and all, he mentally noted to clean the carpet up before leaving for work the next day or he would be in big trouble.

"It's okay, Albus. I was just joking, sorry that it wasn't funny… I'm grateful that you would worry about me and I wouldn't trade that away for anything."

"Um… o-okay. Would you like me to heat something up for you?"

"Thank you but I can get that done in a second so it's fine, you can finish your book and go back to your room to sleep."

"I will." Albus picked up his book then turned to the last few pages. "And dad?"

"Yes?"

"I know I got mad at you about it before but I don't mind too much now when you slip and call me 'Al'."

"That's good… Thanks, Al. Albus… Sorry this will probably take some getting used to."

Albus gave him a smile before he went back to his reading while Harry moved towards the kitchen to make something to eat. His son said goodbye to him before leaving the room just when he started to eat.

Harry was feeling exhausted but satisfied that he had been able to get all the most urgent work done before the weekend and his day off as he entered the Floo at two in the morning on Saturday but that immediately transformed into a frustrated sigh as he once again saw Albus on the sofa when he arrived home. This time, instead of a book, he had a mug.

"Hi dad, I had trouble falling asleep, so I came down here to get some warm milk."

Albus explained smoothly before he even had the time to utter a sound. To his son's credit, there was still half a cup left and there was indeed steam rising from the milk so unless he had drunk a jug full of milk or had reheated the same mug of milk many times, he should not have been staying in the sitting room for long.

Harry did not like asking Albus if he would go back to his room to sleep every time he saw his son but he did not want to accuse his son of monitoring his work schedule either so he simply answered, "I see." before proceeding to clean himself up, he could feel Albus staring at him the whole time he was doing that.

"I'm going to make something to eat, would you like to eat something too, Albus?"

"That depends on what you're making."

As much as he wanted to please his son by making his favourite food, Harry had been harbouring a headache for the whole afternoon and was absolutely exhausted and starving at this point that he would have just grabbed whatever was available and eat as was if Albus was not watching his every move, cooking that required anything more than reheating felt impossible at the moment.

"Perhaps just some toast."

"Sounds good, I'd like two slices, please."

With how hungry Harry actually was, he could easily gulp down a full dinner in three minutes but he did not want Al to see just how bad he had neglected his basic needs to the point of starving that he just made himself two slices of toast and grabbed a bottle of butterbeer.

"Would you like to have yours with a banana, Albus?" Harry preferred simple buttered toast while his son loved to have his with peanut butter and banana.

"Of course."

Albus sat across from him as both of them started devouring the food because Harry was indeed starving while it was just the way Al ate all the time. Harry always believed that Albus might have a magical stomach, or just a Weasley stomach, that no matter how much he ate, he always looked skinny, short and two years younger than his actual age. This was the first time Harry got to eat with Al again after the breakfast at Malfoy's Manor and the first time for just the two of them to share a meal for a long time. It did feel nice to see his son eating without a care in the world, if only he could ignore the fact that it was past two in the morning. Albus loved eating bananas with peanut butter but for some reason, he always preferred to hold a banana in one hand, toast in another hand and took alternate bites instead of slicing the banana to cover the toast. He wondered if Al had eaten the same thing the same way at Hogwarts or at the Malfoys' and if that had reflected poorly on his parenting. For his part, he enjoyed seeing unique habits or quirks of his children, which showed that they could feel comfortable being themselves without conforming to the norms.

Albus offered to wash the dishes, Harry had been grateful that his son had grown to become more considerate and responsible but of course he declined stating that he could easily take care of it with magic. His son was about to leave when Harry called out, "Albus?"

"Yes?"

"It's okay if you haven't decided yet but I'm wondering if you have thought about where you would like to spend time with me on Monday? And…" Harry could literally hear his own heartbeats when he braced himself to continue, "if you would like to visit Godric's Hollows with me?"

"Oh that… I did think about it. I do want to go to G-Godric's Hollows with you, dad… And there's also this other place I'd like to go."

"That's good, where would you like to go?" Harry thought it would be best to go somewhere they could enjoy and have fun after visiting his parents' graves at Godric's Hollows. Perhaps the two of them could go flying together.

"Hmm… would you mind if I keep that a secret for now, dad? I'd like to go there before going to Godric's Hollows though and I'll definitely let you know by Sunday night after the gathering."

Harry noticed that Albus was gripping the back of the chair very hard that Harry was burning with curiosity about where Albus had picked to visit to possibly make him look uncomfortable and nervous. Unfortunately, he did ask Albus to take his time to decide that he had no choice but to consent to his request.

They went their separate ways as Harry could not stop wondering where Albus would possibly want to go, but he was so bone-tired to the point that he basically fell unconscious the moment he finally laid on his bed and woke up to find Ginny playing with his hair the next moment.

"Good morning, you're quite a sight to behold." Ginny sweetly greeted him as she casually twirled a lock of his hair around her finger.

"Good morning, dear." He took a look at his trusty golden snitch clock, which was gifted to him by Ron, to find that he had slept for almost seven hours.

"You know, I always wonder if I cut all of your hair except your bangs now like your aunt once did, would it grow all back again overnight? Sorry but I'd happily spend so much to be able to get a glimpse of that look. It must have been something."

"I can guarantee you that you'd immediately rethink your choice for a husband if you could see that." Just the memory of that look made Harry cringed.

"What?" She faked incredulity as she shoved him "You think I married you for your look?"

"Of course, what else could you have seen in me? Could it be my heroism for saving your life?"

"You wish!" She teased as she settled closer to him leaning on his chest.

"Hey, Gin?"

"Mhmm…"

"Did you make Albus go to bed the last two nights?"

"You know I always check in on them before their bedtime. He was reading the other night and was writing a letter to Scorpius yesterday night. He told me both nights that he would go to sleep soon. I could probably do more but you know at their ages there's only so much I could do to enforce a bedtime. Why are you asking? Did Albus have nightmares again?"

"He was waiting for me both nights when I returned… Of course he claimed that he wanted to finish reading his book one night and had trouble sleeping last night so I can't really prove that he was waiting for me on purpose."

"Is that what you believe? That Albus was purposely waiting for you?"

"... I-I just find that a bit suspicious… He could be doing it on purpose… but then it was equally plausible that he was there both times by coincidence. If he really did stay up especially to wait for me… I don't really see much of a motivation for him to do that. I mean, he's away in Hogwarts for months of the year and is basically used to living away so the time I return home should not matter much to him either way.

"Just because he won't see it most of the time, dear, doesn't mean it won't bother him when he does see it." said Ginny like she was explaining something simple to a child while shaking her head.

"I can see your point… I guess I'm just worried that he is not able to sleep well every night because of his nightmares and I'm hoping that he wasn't using 'waiting up for me' as a cover for him to not go to sleep when he should."

"As someone who had been plagued with nightmares for years, what would you prefer? For Albus to be taking sleeping draught every night? Going to sleep or at least trying to go to sleep every night but waking up from nightmares? Or for him to be so afraid to sleep that he would actively avoid going to sleep? Or for him to be really just reading or waiting for you?"

Harry sighed, back then he had always picked the second route, he hated sleeping draughts with a passion because he always felt heavy after taking it and would need time to recover that he honestly preferred suffering the nightmares to taking them every day. He had hated being woken up by nightmares but with his schoolwork and Quidditch practice at Hogwarts, then his job, he had always been so busy and would be so exhausted by the time he went to bed that he would never think twice about going to sleep that he honestly could not imagine dreading his nightmares to the point that he would avoid going to sleep. Thinking about this made him wish that his son was indeed just too concerned about himself that he would wait up instead of using him as a means to delay going to sleep.

"When you put it this way, I guess I want him to be just reading or waiting up for me."

"Do you remember the night we returned from Godric's Hollows?"

"Of cour…" Harry instinctively began to answer but he realised that he would be lying because his best friends had seen how terribly affected he had been that Ron had offered to accompany them back, which turned out to be a good thing as he could barely stand when he had gotten out of their fireplace that night. Harry tried really hard to recall what had transpired after they had arrived home but it was extremely blurry, he did remember screaming, crying, and chocolate, he had been forced to lie down by force, his sheet had been absolutely soaked by the time he woke up the next day and he was pretty sure that Albus had stubbornly stayed by his side for hours that he might have said anything to him at some point. The more he tried to recall the details, the more he doubted whether what he had considered to be his memory of the night might have been just his imagination of what had happened.

"Actually… not really. Everything seemed so faint that I honestly can't remember any detail. Was I… drugged at one point?"

"Yes… Ron and I decided to put Sleeping Draught in your chocolate the moment you were willing to have one. I was tempted to stun you to sleep before but he convinced me otherwise. It's honestly a miracle you were able to keep it together before the Malfoys and not completely broken down before returning home. You were… for lack of a better word, inconsolable for at least an hour, it might have been two to three hours… but it felt like a full night before you finally passed out. You weren't registering your surroundings and you seemed to think that you were back at some major scenes of death, Cedric's, Sirius', Dumbledore's and Dobby's. You were trying to hurt yourself and I wouldn't have been able to control and comfort you without Ron's help. Thanks Marlin he was there because if that hadn't been the case, your traumatised and sleep-deprived son who happened to be covered in soot and mud would not even have consented to a quick shower, some soup and chocolate."

Harry was speechless and absolutely terrified. He remembered being in terrible shape but that was way worse than he remembered, no child should have to witness his own father having a mental breakdown. If Al had been "fortunate" enough that he had not been traumatised through his ordeals in which the fourteen-year-old had to witness a death and his best friend's torture, he definitely would have been traumatised by this. Once again, Harry felt like an utter failure of a father.

"So Al… he was there the whole time?"

Ginny was looking visually uncomfortable. "I wouldn't say he was there the whole time… but a good chunk of it… I definitely should have shielded him from it but he absolutely refused to leave and well… I had my hands full even with Ron's help."

Harry remembered how Molly had questioned his decision to witness his parents' death on Christmas Day and the way he had explained to her then that he had needed that for proper closure. He had felt so sure then that it had been the right choice and even now, his heart felt right to have experienced that but was it really worth it to have put his fourteen-year-old through such horror.

"I'm sorry. It's all my fault."

"That's not why I brought this up now… not for you to blame yourself again. If anything, I was equally responsible for not immediately consoling him. What I wanted to say is, if you could see the way he worried sick for you, you would not have dared questioning for one second whether your son cares about you and loves you. He cares about you so much that it's completely believable to me that he has simply delayed going to sleep these days because he has been worried about you. It's admirable how dedicated you are about your job and the good of the whole Wizarding World and I know you don't really care whenever I ask you to consider quitting or just cutting some hours, but I think you should at least take a moment to think about what kind of life you've been living that you're able to put your fourteen-year-old son under stress from worrying about your health. Of course, witnessing your breakdown might have ignited his protectiveness but I bet he wouldn't have bothered if you've been taking good care of yourself."

Some people might have feel excited being confronted by the opportunity to retire early and never work again, Harry, however, immediately remembered the sense of responsibility and failure he had felt when he had first found out about Delphi's identity and realised that he had let the daughter of Voldemort of all people scheming right under his nose and manipulated his own son. He knew deep down that Ginny was right, that he could not save everyone and could never stop all Dark Wizards and Witches from hurting people and doing terrible deeds but for some reason, the thought of not being in the position to stop any of them scared him and just felt wrong to him. On the other hand, Harry remembered New Year's Eve when Al had come up to bring him tea while he had been working and Al had been the first person to realise that he had not been feeling well during the match between Ginny and James. It made so much more sense now that his son whom he had been extremely worried about for months had indeed been worrying about himself. He had been moved at those instances by how Al would care about him but he now wished that Albus could be carefree and more selfish like any other regular teenager instead of feeling the need to worry about and be protective towards his father. How messed up and pathetic it was that both the father and son were rightfully worrying about each other? He wanted the best for his son and hated to put Albus, who had been under enough stress of his own, in this position but he found himself staring at Ginny for a long time, not being able to give her a satisfying answer.

Ginny sighed, "I know this is hard for you, but could you at least consider trying to get home before midnight each day and to take fifteen minutes for lunch and dinner respectively while you're at work? For Albus's sake?"

He knew it would just be a futile attempt but he replied nonetheless, "I promise."

A/N: I'm finally back to the main fic. I had no idea that my break from the fic would be this long so I'm sorry for any reader of this fic who isn't interested about the short so you have gotten nothing for two years. I've lost some followers so I'm extra grateful for those of you who have patiently stuck around throughout the short and those who chose not to unfollow even though the short hadn't been what you signed up for.

I have a clear vision of how certain important parts of this fic would be but it's the journey that feels impossible which is all my fault. I've tried to go over the rough outline I have for the following plot and honestly it's extremely daunting that I felt even less confident I could ever finish it. I could only take one step at a time then what happened? Of course I ended up adding more improvised plot making the end ever more unreachable. I feel like I could never find the right words for anything and next chapter hasn't been going well but I'll try to make the wait shorter.

As always, your comments kept me going. I've been busy and stressed out but I'll try to reply soon. To the guest who commented, can I call you essay writer? I've been really happy with the last chapter so it meant so much to know that people liked it.