August 1987

Severus had spent the last two weeks getting ready to start the new term at Hogwarts, and finally he was done and in need of some peace and quiet. Severus had found out that yet another of the Weasley children would be attending Hogwarts the upcoming year -- Percy, if he were not mistaken. At least it was not the twins. Severus thought he might want to retire before they enrolled.

Severus had been sitting on the sofa for over an hour, relishing the peace and quiet... 'Wait, peace and quiet? Where is Harry?' Severus got up and walked into the bedroom, but Harry was neither there nor in the loo. Severus' heart began to beat a little faster. He flung open the back door and yelled for his son.

He found Harry playing next to the lake, a strange hunched over seven year old peaked Severus' interest and he found himself venturing out to where Harry was sitting. Once he got there he saw a pot with some sort of black sludge in it and wondered what the boy had gotten in to.

"Harry...what is it you have there?"

"Daddy! Look what I made," he said, pointing at the pot and grinning from ear to ear.

Severus peered closer, but flinched back when the smell hit him. "What is this in the pot, Harry, for it smells like the droppings of one of Hagrid's creatures."

"I put in some things from the kitchen and a couple of dead frogs I found."

Severus wrinkled his nose at the smell, but felt he must ask the next question. "Just exactly what from the house did you put in there?"

Harry placed his finger to his chin in thought, leaving a black smear across it from the sludge. "I put in some vinegar and some of that butter you like so much, three strawberries so it would taste good, and some of the mud from the side of the house, you know, where Lucy throws the grease out."

Severus raised an eyebrow to that one, but Harry jumped to his feet.

"I swear, Daddy, the frogs were already dead; I just pulled their legs off like the ones in your potion jars."

"Be that as it may, Harry, you smell distasteful and in high need of a good bath."

Harry's chin started to tremble. "Aren't you even going to taste it? I made it just for you, Daddy."

Severus shuddered at the black glop in the pot and couldn't bring himself to say yes. "I would have enjoyed it, but Lucy already has dinner ready. If we do not eat it her feelings will be hurt. You wouldn't want that, would you?"

Harry shook his head no, but he still looked on the verge of tears.

"I promise the next time you make me something I will enjoy it, just not before meal time."

This seemed to satisfy Harry. He wrapped his arms around Severus and then took off running inside the house. Severus looked down and saw his robes were now smeared with the concoction Harry had created. With a flick of his wand he cleaned them and then removed the contents of the pot before the smell of it took his breath away.

Dinner was a pleasant smell after the mixture from outside. The pot roast and fresh potatoes had Severus' mouth watering, and the Potions Professor swabbed each piece with enough butter for four. Harry giggled as the butter ran down Severus' face, but his own was full of the same butter.

Dinner was always Severus' favorite time of the day. He and Harry would talk about the things each had done that day and make plans for other days. If there were problems, they usually discussed them over dessert, and by the end of the meal both were smiling. Severus was glad to see Harry's plate clean and gave him two scoops of ice cream for dessert.

"Young Master Harry was making sir a potion today. Did sir enjoy it?' Lucy asked.

Severus choked on his ice cream and changed the subject quickly. "Harry, I have invited Draco over for the day tomorrow. His father and I have a few things to discuss, and I thought you would like to have someone to play with."

Harry was excited, so excited that he even bathed and got into bed without the usual claim of not being tired.

"Goodnight, Daddy," he said, before hugging his father.

"Goodnight, Harry," Severus said and went to leave.

"Daddy, you didn't tell Draweyn goodnight," Harry said, pulling his stuffed dragon from underneath the covers. It was rather worn now, but Harry loved it all the same.

Severus sighed, but before he walked out the door he whispered goodnight to the stuffed animal and prayed no one ever found out.

Severus had gone to bed early the night before, knowing he would need all his patience to deal with Lucius. He had slept wonderfully, not waking even once during the night, and now he was laying in his bed relishing the comfort that came with morning's first light.

He was oblivious to the noise coming from the kitchen, or the small squeak coming from Lucy as she ran to and fro trying to clean up the mess. He didn't even open his eyes until he heard his door creaked open and saw Harry at the foot of his bed, tray in hand. Severus opened his eyes and saw the tray held a daisy, more than likely from the field outside, and a glass of pumpkin juice, but it also held a bowl, which Severus thought must be oatmeal.

Severus' mind had forgotten about the sludge from the day before until the tray was placed across his lap and inside the bowl was something green and gooey. Placing a smile on his face, Severus looked to his son who had taken a seat beside the bed.

"It looks lovely, Harry. Can you tell Daddy what it is in the bowl?"

Harry stood up from the chair and climbed on the bed with Severus. "I put in oatmeal cause you said breakfast had to be healthy, and then I added some of the potatoes from last night. I know you like them, cause you ate three, and then I put in some of your coffee so you could have it without it burning your tongue. Oh yeah, and I put in the rest of the frogs from yesterday, daddy, cause you said never to be wasteful and they were just sitting there with no legs."

Severus' face paled at the thought of what was sitting in the bowl before him.

"Eat up, Daddy," Harry said, jumping up and down on the bed.

"Didn't Lucy make breakfast?" Severus asked, stalling the best he could.

"No, she made me breakfast, but I told her I was making yours, so she went to go do something outside."

Severus could see he was not going to get out of this, so he picked up the pumpkin juice and took a big gulp, savoring the taste, but not touching the bowl yet.

"Aren't you going to eat it, Daddy? You said the next time I made you something you would eat it, and I worked hard on this. Do you know how long it took me to mash up the frog like you do with your potion ingredients?"

Severus wanted to run as fast as he could away from the bowl and his son. His perfect night was now coming to a crashing halt. Slowly he picked up the spoon and placed a small amount of the sludge in it. The smell was not as bad as yesterday, thank goodness, but the bits of frog mixed with the oatmeal was almost more than his stomach could take.

"Hurry up, Daddy, Draco will be here soon."

Severus saw no way out of it and opened his mouth, shoving the spoon in and swallowing fast so he would not taste it. The taste was horrid, the bits sticking to his tongue like peanut butter. Bite after bite he forced down his throat until only one remained. he just couldn't eat it, his stomach was already churning with the urge to throw up. He knew if he ate the last bite, it might push him over the edge.

"Well, go ahead, Daddy, we should be getting ready," Harry said, fiddling with the sheet on the bed, his eyes riveted to the bowl.

Severus prayed to whomever was listening to keep his food down, but as the last bite went down, Severus could feel his stomach gurgling, promising to take revenge for the foul things he had eaten.

"Daddy, why are you sweating?" Harry asked, but his answer was cut off as Severus flung the covers back and took off in a run towards the bathroom.

Over and over he paid for eating the contents of the bowl. Now Severus lay resting his head on the porcelain of the commode, praying his stomach was empty. He usually would have accioed a potion, but realized his wand still lay underneath his pillow and he didn't have the strength to call for it.

Just as he went to stand and clean himself up, the last remnants of what Harry had given him came hurtling from him. Again Severus was laying face first in the commode, and this is how Lucius found him.