I raced into my room and slammed the door so hard I think I knocked a picture of Mummy off the wall. Least I thought I heard something fall after I'd shut the door. But I was crying so much I could barely see straight and I just didn't care about anything except that Dad never seemed to have time for just me anymore. Now it was always "I'm going out with Alaina, or let's go to the park with Lexy and Hermione" and every Friday we had those classes and while I liked them, it was one more time when Dad was busy with everyone else but me. I wanted it back the way it was before, when it had been just the two of us, and he was always there whenever I wanted to read a story or make a potion or go to the cinema. Now I had to share him with Alaina and Lexy and all the rest of them and I didn't like it, not one little bit! He was my dad, not theirs!

I threw myself on my bed and cried into my pillow, I was mad and scared and afraid Dad was going to punish me good for acting like a brat and worse, I'd told him I hated him. I didn't, not really, he was the best dad and I loved him, but right then, when he'd said maybe we should take Lexy and Alaina to the zoo instead of a Quidditch game, that Lexy would like to pet all the baby animals (she loved animals), I had hated him. Because he thought about Lexy first and not me. I was his kid, not her! What about me? Didn't he love me any more?

He'd been spending an awful lot of time with Alaina, who I really liked, except today I hated her too, and Lexy, what if he liked them better than me? I knew that when grown-ups like each other a lot, they got married and had a wedding, which was like a big party with all your friends and a white cake and stuff, and then they lived together and had kids. What if Dad wanted Alaina to marry him and come to live with us? Dad had always said I was his special boy, ‘cause I was adopted, but what if Alaina had a baby and he liked the baby more than me?

I didn't want that, all I wanted was my dad like he was before the stupid seminars and before he started dating. The way it was before. Why couldn't things stay the same?

I cried harder, angry and afraid that now Dad hated me, and I started to kick and punch my bed. I knew only spoiled brats and babies did that, and I was a big boy, but right then I didn't care. I kicked and hit the mattress and bawled just like the two-year-old in Trimelda's Toys in Diagon Alley I'd seen last week, who had a tantrum because his mum wouldn't buy him a big broom like his brother's. I had already acted like an awful naughty brat, telling Dad I hated him, and I was sure he was gonna spank me after he calmed down, so it wouldn't matter if acted like a baby on top of it. I was already in trouble.

But after five minutes I stopped, because I was tired and my nose was stuffed up and I needed a tissue but couldn't find one and then I heard Dad knocking on my door.

"Harry? May I come in?"

He was asking permission? That was a new one. Usually he just came in.

I coughed and called, "Yes." Then I sat up and wondered how mad he was and whether my saying I hated him was bad enough to get a week-long time-out and a spanking. Was that as bad as leaving the yard without permission? I felt really sorry that I'd said that, I knew it must have made him feel very sad and upset and I wished I'd never said anything. Ron's mum always said if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. I wished I hadn't said anything at all rather than said that.

Dad came in and he looked more tired and upset than mad, so maybe I'd only get a twenty-five minute time out and one swat. I didn't care how he punished me then, as long as he forgave me.

"I think we need to have a little talk, Harry," was all he said and then he came and sat down next to me.

Suddenly I couldn't stand it any more, the way he was looking at me, like I'd punched him or something, and I said, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it, please don't be mad, I don't want you to love Lexy and Alaina more than me!" That all came out in a rush and then I just started bawling all over.

Next thing I knew he was holding me and I buried my face in his shirt, he smelled like spice and herbs and lemon cleaner, he must've been washing the dishes the Muggle way, and I cried just like a little baby, even though I was seven. "Harry, Harry, it's okay, I know you didn't mean it." I heard him say and then I felt him rubbing my back, up and down, over and over and saying, "Shhh. . .son. I'm not mad at you."

He wasn't? I wasn't in trouble? I stopped crying and asked, "Then you're not gonna put me in time-out? Or spank me for being a spoiled brat?"

"No, son. Not this time. We need to talk about why you behaved that way. Why are you so upset about going to Paws For Thought? You love it there and just yesterday you were telling me you thought Lexy would love it too." That was true, I had said that. "Now, tell me what's got you so upset that you think I never have time for you any more and you hate me."

"I didn't mean it! I love you!" I said, sniffling. Two huge tears fell down my cheeks. Dad handed me a tissue and I wiped my face and blew my nose. He handed me another one and told me to take a deep breath and blow my nose again.

I did and I felt better.

He sat me up on his knee so I was facing him and said, "I love you too, now talk to me, Harry. Why are you so upset?"

"You never have time for me anymore, Dad," I began, half-whining. I couldn't help it. "You're always busy with work now, and then you have the dumb seminars every Friday and then you have to go out with Alaina and Lexy's here all the time and I want it to be like it was before."

"Before I met Alaina, you mean?"

"Yeah. When it was just me n' you and Grandpa. You did things with just me then."

"I should have seen this coming," he sighed, and it sounded like he was talking to himself. "Harry, I still do things with just you, every night when Alaina and Lexy are home at their own house. We read and watch TV and play with Inky and play Quidditch. Just because I spend some time alone with Alaina doesn't mean I'll ever ignore you, son, but I need some time to go out with another grown-up, the way you like playing over at Ron's or Hermione's by yourself. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"Yeah. You wanna be with Alaina by yourself, like I want to go over Ron's by myself."

"Exactly. And Lexy loves being here, and I thought you two were friends. Do you not want her to come here any more, scamp?"

I shook my head, because I really liked playing with Lexy, she liked to do mostly everything I did, including climb trees and fly and stuff, not like Hermione, who mostly liked quiet games, like Let's Pretend, or house, or watching TV. "No. I don't mind when she's over, we have fun. But . . ." There had been one thing that had really bothered me last time she had been over. "Last time when Lexy was over, remember she got hurt climbing down the big oak tree?"

Dad nodded. "Yes, and I told you that tree was not something little kids ought to be climbing."

"I know, but she came to you crying and you fixed her knee with a spell and gave her a chocolate frog."

"Yes, what's wrong with that? I do that to all my patients who are children, you know that, Harry."

"That's not the part I minded about, Dad," I huffed, annoyed. "It was after that. She climbed in your lap and you hugged her. For a long time, like ten minutes. You held her like you do to me. I thought you were only s'posed to do that to your own kid, Dad, not someone else's. Does that mean you like Lexy better than me now?" I felt my bottom lip tremble as I asked that, and I ducked my head. I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"Oh, Harry! Is that what's got you so worked up? That I might like Lexy more than you?" Dad asked gently, putting a finger under my chin and tipping my head up so I was looking at him. "Harry, you're my son, and I will always love you. More than anything. Nothing will ever replace you, don't you know that? Not Lexy, not even Alaina."

"Then why were you holding her, Dad?" I asked jealously.

"Because she's a little girl who needed a hug, that's why. Seems like someone's been bitten by the green-eyed monster."

I looked at him, not understanding what he meant. "Huh? What monster?"

"The one called Jealousy, that's taken a great big bite out of you," Dad answered.

"It hasn't!"

"Oh, I think it has, if you're jealous over me giving one hurt little girl a hug and having her sit with me for a little while. You know that Lexy doesn't have a dad any more, right?"

"Yeah, she tol' me her mum and daddy are divorced ‘cause he was bad and pushed her mum down the stairs. But Lexy saved her with her magic so she didn't get hurt an' have to go to the hospital. Then she told me the police came and took her dad away to jail, ‘cause he hurt Alaina. Then she said she doesn't want to see her dad any more and she's glad they moved here so she doesn't have to live with him no more."

"She told you all of that?"

"Uh huh. We were playing with my figures and Lexy said we didn't need to have a dad and a mum, ‘cause she didn't have a dad any more and she was glad. And I asked her why, and that's what she said. But you're not mean like that, Dad."

"No, I would never hurt a woman the way Alaina's ex-husband Daniel hurt her. He deserves to be in jail for doing that. But Lexy never had a dad who wasn't mean, and that's one reason I was holding her that day, Harry. So she could see that not all men were mean and nasty like her father."

"Oh." When he said that, it made sense, and I felt bad about getting mad at him. He'd only been trying to make Lexy feel better, like a Healer was supposed to. "Then I guess it's okay if you wanna hold her sometimes."

He raised an eyebrow and said, "Thank you for your permission, my lord. I wasn't aware I needed to ask you first."

"You do," I said, sounding all bratty like Thea Blakely who goes to my school and thinks she's better than everybody. "‘ cause you're my dad first."

"Harry, I'll always be your dad, no matter if I hold Lexy or not," he chuckled. "So there is no reason for you to be jealous, young man."

"Okay. But Dad, does you and Alaina spending time together mean you're gonna marry her someday?" I had to know that, it was a Very Important Question.

He was quiet for a long time, maybe five minutes, then he said, "I happen to like Alaina very much, Harry. And Lexy too. Would it be so bad if one day I asked her to marry me? Would you be willing to have Alaina as your stepmum and Lexy as your sister?"

I thought hard. I could just about remember my own mum. And most of what I did remember of her was a lady with pretty red hair like a sunset and green eyes like mine singing to me and hugging me and reading to me in a soft voice. "I'll always love you, my Harry. Forever and ever, even when you can't see me anymore," she had said once. Would Alaina be like that with me? Would she love me that way, even if I wasn't her real little boy? I liked her a lot, she was fun and she made me laugh, and she knew lots of things just like my dad. And if she married dad she wouldn't have to worry about her old husband hurting her ever again, ‘cause Dad would beat the guy's arse if he tried anything. And if Lexy were my sister . . .I'd be like Ron and Ginny, and always have someone around to play with.

Slowly, I nodded. "I guess that'd be okay. Someday. Then Lexy could have a good dad and not a mean one and Alaina could have a nice husband." Then I asked, "Dad, if you marry Alaina, does that mean you don't love Mum any more? I know she's in heaven, but does that mean you stop loving her?"

"No, Harry. I will always love your mum, Lily was very special to me, that's why I haven't gone out with a lady since your mum died. Because I loved her so much and I missed her. But Alaina is a special person too, and I think I could love her almost as much as I did your mum."

"She makes you happy," I said suddenly. "The way mum used to. You smile a lot when she's here. And so does she. Does she love you too?"

"Well, I think she does, though she hasn't actually said so. And we haven't even begun to discuss anything so big as getting married, scamp, but if we ever do, you'll be the first to know."

"If you did marry her, Dad, that'd make her like my mum, sort of. Would that mean I had to listen to her like I do you? And would she love me the way you do?"

"Yes to both questions, Harry. If Alaina became my wife, that would make her your stepmother, and she would have the same authority as I do over you. So yes, you would have to listen to her, and she could punish you if you misbehaved. As for loving you . . .Harry, she already loves you. She told me the other day that if she could have a son, she would want him to be just like you."

"Really?" I smiled.

"Yes. She would love you just like she loves Lexy. You would be her special boy, scamp, like you are mine."

"And would Lexy be your special girl, Dad?"

"Yes. Does that bother you?"

"A little," I admitted, and I knew I was being selfish, but it was hard for me to share my dad, he was the only one I had.

"Hmmm. I know this may be a difficult thing for you understand, Harry, but I want you to try, all right? Do you remember when I married your mum, and she told you that I was your father now, because James was in heaven?"

"Uh huh. She said that I had two daddies now, one in heaven and one here. And she said that both of them loved me the same, even though one was an angel and one was her new husband."

"Yes, that's right. And I told you that you were my son and I loved you always and forever, even though you weren't born to me. That's the same way that I love Alaina and Lexy. But just because I love them doesn't mean I love you any less, Harry. See, that's the magic of love. When you share it, it grows. And it never stops. You can love many people, son, without loving anyone more than another. Think about it. How many people do you love?"

"Umm . . .I love you, an' Mum, and Grandpa, Padfoot and Moony, and Uncle Al and Aunty Min and all my friends, and Inky." I had never really thought about it before, but I loved a lot of people.

"And if you love me, does that mean you don't love Uncle Sirius?"

"No, of course not. I love you' cause you're my dad and Uncle Sirius ‘cause he's my uncle and he's funny."

"Ah. So then would you say you have enough love in your heart for everyone?"

"Yeah, I guess so. I don't think you can run out of love, Dad."

"Very good, Harry! You can't run out of love, because love grows the more you add to it. There is always love to go around. So I can love you and I can also love Alaina and my love will always be enough."

I felt so much better when he said that, for I could tell he meant it, and wasn't just saying it to make me stop crying or shut me up, like some grown-ups do. I leaned my head against his chest and listened to his heartbeat. It was so very comforting, I loved being held like this, and knowing that my dad would always love me, even if he was dating Alaina and holding Lexy on his lap too.

"Dad?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Will I always be your special boy? Even if you have another baby with Alaina?"

"You will. Because no one could ever be like my Harry. Nothing will ever change that, son. Not a new baby, or a new sister, or even a new mother."

I smiled and snuggled closer, feeling all warm and safe inside. "When did you first know that I was special, Dad?"

"The first minute I laid eyes on you, Harry. The night you were born."

"Tell me again, Dad," I asked, even though I'd heard this story a thousand times. "Tell me again about the night I was born."

"Harry, you've heard this story already. At least a thousand times."

"I know, but I wanna hear it again. Please, Dad? Please?" I gave him my best puppy-dog stare.

He groaned. "Quit looking at me like that, scamp. Very well. I'll tell you the story of the night you were born, even though I'm pretty sure you've memorized it by now." Dad cleared his throat. "Ready? Put your listening ears on, as Alaina says, and pay attention."

I did as he had said, and snuggled against him, eager to hear one of my favorite stories again.

"On the night you were born, Harry James Severus Potter, I was a newly certified Healer, on call at St. Mungos . . ."