July 1992

Harry had already been living with him for about a month and Severus was surprised at how quickly they'd fallen into a routine together. It now felt completely natural to be walking upstairs to check on Harry before he turned in for the night.

The renovations to his childhood home took up most of their first couple of weeks since Harry was adamant that if he was living here he wanted to help. With magic taking care of the most demanding parts and a bit of sweat equity on the rest, they had a respectable, if still small, home and managed to do a little bonding in the process. Severus learned that Harry liked the color blue, closely followed by green - but not Slytherin green - and that he genuinely liked to read. Harry learned that Severus naturally loved to cook because of how much it's like potions and he hated the taste of coconut. Against all odds, in those first few weeks Harry had started to trust and depend on Severus.

One night after dinner when the last of the painting had finally been completed, it felt natural to tell Harry about his friendship with Lily. He told Harry about when he first met Lily at the playground, not far from their current home, when they were nine and about how he introduced her to magic. Harry had told him that he wished someone would have done that when he had started doing accidental magic. Instead his first introduction to magic was the Dursley's severe punishments for it; for something that was normal and beyond any young wizard's control. Severus resisted the urge to comment on the young boy's statement, choosing to squeeze his hand into a tight fist hidden from view.

He told Harry all about his mother; how kind hearted she was, about her infectious laugh, and how intelligent she was. Harry asked about her favorite color - it was purple; what her favorite class was- definitely charms; and her favorite hobby - art; she had been an amazing artist. It was then that Harry told Severus he used to draw in primary school; that he was pretty good at it and he really enjoyed it. On the one hand, Harry was so much like Lily, it saddened the man to think about how he almost missed it, but at the same time he's got his own completely unique personality. If things had gone differently, he could have continued to see the carbon copy of James and would have missed the chance to get to know Harry - both as Lily's son and on his own. There were so many ways this could have ended differently.

It was about ten to midnight on the 30th of July and tomorrow was Harry's 12th birthday; the first one he'd be spending as Harry's guardian. Severus knew he likely never had a true birthday celebration based on what he'd learned about the Dursley's, but had no idea that the Dursley's never even acknowledged the day. Not sure about what Harry would want to do on his birthday, he'd planned a small gathering with the Weasley's and Hermione Granger for the afternoon.

Tonight though, he had just checked the wards after doing some reading and was now heading up to bed. Every night he checked in on Harry and he expected tonight to be no different, but when he reached the top of the stairs he saw the light still coming through the bottom of Harry's door.

"Harry?" He asked quietly while cracking the door open. Harry's room was small and still needed some of Harry's personalization, but the light blue walls were inviting, the bed was clean and comfortable, and the bookcase was full of books Harry picked out from the sitting room downstairs.

The small boy jumped in surprise. He was wearing a set of blue pyjamas Severus had gotten for him the first week they'd been back home. It had been an awkward shopping trip, but eventually he'd managed to get Harry clothes that not only fit him, but weren't falling apart with holes.

Harry was sitting up in his bed reading through one of his textbooks, "I'm sorry sir, did I keep you up?"

"Not at all," the professor said sitting down at the end of the bed, "I was just coming up and noticed you were still awake. Is everything ok?"

"Oh..." Harry's face flushed and when he looked over to his clock, Severus could guess what he was waiting for.

"Do you normally wait up for your birthday?"

Harry rewarded the Potions Master with a smile, "It's kind of my birthday tradition. The only one I have really. But if you need me to go to bed..."

Severus let out a small, uncharacteristic chuckle, "Staying up late one night over the summer hols is not going to kill you."

The clock from downstairs rang midnight and Harry looked out his window as if he were making a birthday wish.

"Happy birthday Harry," Severus said and waved his wand summoning in a small box wrapped in green - but not Slytherin green - paper.

"You didn't need to get me anything sir," Harry said as Severus placed the package on his bed.

"Why would you think I wouldn't get you something?" Harry gave him a questioning look as if this were the strangest encounter they'd had yet. "And as I've said, you can call me Severus... at least when we're outside of school. Go ahead, open it."

Harry carefully tore off the wrapping paper to reveal a box. The Gryffindor smiled when he opened it and saw a notebook with "Harry J. Potter" in the upper right hand corner and a set of art supplies.

"I love it," he called out, "Thank you Severus!"

"You are very welcome Harry," he said. "I have a feeling you have a hidden talent."