2006 January

By January, Severus was well enough to leave the hospital, and tired of the gawking by nurses at the only HIV positive patient they had ever seen. He was sick of being othered and glad to be going home. Especially now that Harry had secured a new home. It was just outside of town with more room than they needed, but Harry insisted he had a plan for the extra rooms.

Harry was fretting over Severus worse than Molly Weasley with her brood, but it as oddly endearing. The older man was recovering well enough and the blade hadn't hit any of his organs. He suspected they had only kept him as a sideshow oddity, a sort of "come look at this old gay man" energy. Well, he was sick of it and glad to be leaving.

The hospital insisted he leave in a wheelchair like all the other patients, which was annoying, but he had Teddy sat in his lap giving him hugs and rattling on about the third grade.

They got to the truck and Severus gave Harry a peck on the lips in the semi-private environment. Harry cupped his face with one hand and smiled at him with a goofy look.

Severus puffed up like spooked chicken, "Alright show me this new house."

Harry laughed and nodded. "Right away boss."

They drove in silence, Teddy occupied with a book about geysers. That would no doubt be the next trip they took as a family. Severus envied the boy this skill. Everytime he had tried to read while in motion, he got nauseous. He gave in to his sappier feelings and placed a hand over Harry's on the gear shift.

They stayed like that until they reached a tall, two and half story house. Severus ran calculating eyes over the property. It was decently maintained, but still older. Perhaps built in the 1930s. It came with a decent sized yard with a large elm tree. The elm tree had a wide branch that hung low to the ground, maybe 15 feet off the ground. Perhaps they could put in a tire swing for Teddy.

They got out and Harry did a shuffling dance towards the door, no doubt excited to show off his find. They came inside and entered a large living space, Andromeda was curled up with one of the romance novels she preferred. She waved to Severus before tuning out Harry's ramblings about floorboards. Admittedly, they were nice. Made out of oak and left rough hewn, sanded just enough to not give splinters and worn by footsteps to be smooth. Severus left Harry a few steps behind and wandered into the kitchen and dining room. The kitchen was bright with several windows, the walls painted a cheery yellow with a shiny backsplash behind the stove in black tile. The appliances were older but that was alright.

The dining room had a monster of a table he'd rarely seen outside stuffy Pureblood manor homes. The table in front of him could easily seat fourteen.

He turned to Harry, "Do we really need such a large space? How many bedrooms are in this house?"

Harry shuffled his booted foot. "There's five bedrooms plus space in the attic and the basement. But listen to my idea! I was hoping we could take in at risk youth, magical or otherwise. We could live without magic for a while. I mean, before you were hospitalized, when's the last time you needed to use your wand? But we both know what it's like to live in horrible conditions and to feel like that's the only option. But what if we could be the other option?"

Severus thought back on his childhood. How different would his life have been if everyone had ignored his situation? Lily was the first. She had noticed when he came to school with no winter coat and no lunch. The Evans' had been kind but had no ability to remove him from the hellscape that had been home. Lucius was next. Taking pity on a poor, ugly halfblood, Severus had been subjected to elocution lessons after classes and shown how to dress well, on a budget of course. Lucius had sponsored his Mastery. He knew the value of having someone in your corner.

He had to be rational though. "And where would these children come from?"

"I thought we could spread the word through queer societies and social workers. I realize we couldn't be honest about…you and me, to the social workers. At least not the ones we don't trust, but I can't stand the knowledge that some child is suffering out there and we could have helped."

Damn if Harry didn't have tears forming in his brilliant green eyes.

"Alright but we work together on this."