The days were flying by just like they would have at Hogwarts, but Harry stopped to think and appreciate every second he had in the house. He had dubbed it "The Evans Home" and it technically was as well. Severus and Celosia were hesitant on calling it that themselves but Celosia soon accepted that she was still an Evans and the name fit perfectly. Nothing had changed and Harry explored every inch of the home on a daily basis. When he wasn't having lessons with Severus, he was in his mother's old room or his grandparent's bedroom.
Celosia often let him wander and caught him frequently seated on the floor, a picture frame or regular Muggle photos in his hands. He hardly cried, but the look on his face was obvious whenever his eyes were locked on a picture of Lily or James.
Severus often ran around the house, muttering empty threats if he couldn't find Harry to start a lesson. However, the man was never truly angry and once Harry would finally show up they would continue on like always.
Harry felt uncomfortable with the new bond him and Severus were sharing. The whole possibility of him becoming family was turning out to be unsettling. Despite everything, they were both used to the attitude of hating each other. Once Severus seemed to be acting soft, it made Harry feel more than awkward. It wasn't that he didn't want it- a part of Harry actually longed for it, but the feelings he had for Severus were so mixed together it came out into a complicated and confusing mess.
After another successful Transfigurations lesson, Severus leaned back in his chair, Harry shutting his book closed. Celosia walked into the area, smiling down at them with a tray of tea floating beside her. It set itself on the table gently and she pulled up a chair in between the two. "How was it?"
"Same as ever." Harry answered. "Bloody brilliant."
"You wouldn't be saying that if Celosia had taught you." Severus said casually. It was made a habit that a comment about Celosia's teaching skills were thrown around.
"I can teach Muggle things better!" She exclaimed, dropping a couple sugar cubes into her cup of tea. "If you wanted to learn about physics and formulas of motion, or maybe the precise flow of blood in the human body and the chemical compounds that make up that blood."
"How could that ever be relevant to one's future?" Severus raised a brow.
"Believe me, I've been asking for so long." Celosia muttered then turned to Harry. "Petunia went to Muggle school while Lily and I went to Hogwarts. Afterwards I was waiting for your sister and when I wasn't working, I was often reading over Tuney's old notes. She took quite a lot of them. I'm glad that I didn't have to endure Muggle high school however."
"What kind of job would need you to know the chemical compounds of a body?" Harry inquired. "Doctoring, but I can't see what kind."
"It's like how Muggle mathematics such as factoring would come into play. That was a load of bull, I didn't even bother trying to understand it in depth. I can however, teach these things very well."
"Am I supposed to believe that?" Harry asked.
"Yes, I can!" Celosia took a sip of her cup. "If you gave me the area of the walls in this entire room right now I could find out and explain exactly how many 1 Litre cans of blue paint we would need to cover them all."
"You want to paint?" Severus asked.
"No, it's a situation!" She exclaimed. "But I can teach Muggles. I'm surprised I became a tailor, I should have become an instructor."
"I can even calculate how many 1 Litre paint cans we would need to paint this room." Harry rolled his eyes, but then suddenly became intrigued. "What else can you teach, besides anything taught in Muggle school?"
"I could teach you how to cook." She listed, touching a finger to her cheek. "To fix certain things without a wand, and to sew. I can do a few medical wonders here and there but nothing too major, just CPR and whatever you have in a basic First Aid kit. Hm, I guess driving would be another one I'm good at, I did a lot of that even after Hogwarts. I never fancied brooms much."
"So you could teach me how to drive?" Harry asked.
"Yes, I could." She smiled, nodding her head. "And I could do it without the possibility of you dying as well."
"Teach me then!"
Celosia scoffed, leaning back in her seat. "You're kidding me, right? You're one of the best Quidditch players and out of all things you want me to teach you how to operate a Muggle motor vehicle?"
"Even I think the idea is absurd." Severus put in. "Really Potter, you have more important things to focus on, like graduating with marks that will pull you easily into an Auror career. What good would travelling around in a Muggle vehicle do for you? It's a pointless skill."
"Hey, it's not that bad." Celosia defended. "But he's right Harry. I actually had a good reason to learn how to drive, especially when it came to living in the Muggle world for so long. You're going to be an Auror, you'll be in the wizarding world a lot. And you'll be able to Apparate. I couldn't have Apparated to and from work when I was out of school. After all, my family were still all Muggles."
"That's like saying learning a new musical instrument is useless." Harry defended. "Say if I wanted to learn the drums. Sure if I want to be a lawyer when I'm older I won't need the skill but it's still a good extracurricular. Life based on straight education alone is boring as hell. Plus with an extracurricular I can boost up my understanding and stay more interested."
"My, you are a smart one." Celosia nodded, Severus still in denial. He didn't even understand half of what had just came out of Harry's mouth. "I'm surprised you're so attached to the Muggle world. You do make a good point, however. But do you really think driving is an 'extracurricular'?"
"Come on, Aunt Celly, teach me how to drive! It'll give me the entire Muggle experience!" Harry begged. "I've wanted to drive ever since I've watched Dudley play with his toy cars when we were little, please?"
Celosia sighed and Severus saw that she was about to give in. He still found the situation absolutely ridiculous but it was Celosia who would have to deal with him. But if the boy got himself injured Severus would be enraged. He wasn't even sure why he had a sudden strong sense of protection and caring for him; usually it would just be for Lily or Celosia. But this was actually genuinely for Harry this time.
"Do you not find that learning a pointless Muggle skill will also drop your focus in our classes?" Severus spoke up, Harry turning to look at him. The look of longing and begging in his eyes made Severus hesitate for a second. Only a second. "And what if you indeed injure yourself?"
"Seriously, we're talking about me being in danger?" Harry scoffed then broke out in a smile, turning back to Celosia. "I've been through worse. And we're wizards, we have wands, and protective charms that we can put on cars to make sure there's a 100% working airbag in case I do crash into something, which I won't. And it's not like I'm going to be out on the highway right away, I'll just be around the neighbourhood. It's completely safe now."
Celosia sighed once again and Severus rolled his eyes. The boy just didn't give up until he had what he wanted. "I am against the entire idea." The Potions Master spoke up. "You need to focus on our classes."
"And in my spare time, I need to do something fun." Harry said and Celosia nodded, still debating in her head whether or not the idea was good or not.
"I guess it couldn't hurt too much." She muttered at last and Harry grinned. "However this isn't some sort of course. I won't do it regularly. And you cannot use a wand at all, unless it's for protection and precautions. That means no 'Accio' on the keys or anything to make it start up on its own."
"I'm not some reckless teenager anymore."
"Oh, you are." Severus and Celosia said at the same time and Harry rolled his eyes, standing up.
"Let's get started then?" He asked and Celosia put a hand out.
"Woah there, do you even know the first thing about operating a Muggle vehicle?" Celosia smirked and Harry sighed, nodding his head.
"I've done research before during the summers. Red means stop, green means go, don't cross over the solid yellow line because traffic is coming towards you passed that line…"
"Yes, alright you've gathered the basics." She nodded and stood up as well.
"Come on Auntie Cel, teach me something! I can already operate a car."
"Harry, I drive a stick." Celosia turned and winked at him, walking out of the room.
Severus watched in confusion as Harry threw his hands up in the air dramatically. "A stick? Seriously? Out of all cars you could have you have a stick? I hate those!"
His complaining continued echoing across the entire household as Harry followed his aunt outside.