Never, ever, ever again, Severus Snape swore. No way, no how and never. In that order! The seven year old was finally asleep, but Severus was now going to have to endure an uncomfortable night of sharing his bed with the aforementioned seven year old.

Severus disliked Halloween as it was, there were way too many painful memories at this time of the year for him. But this little episode had at least served to prove that Harry wasn't ready to hear the full story of what had happened on All Hallows' Eve six years ago. Severus would have to simply be content with Harry having the explanation that Severus was a friend of his mother’s from school and that he wouldn't have to go back to the Dursley's house again.

It was a flimsy excuse that Professor Dumbledore had used to get Severus to bring Harry to Hogwarts the weekend before Halloween and Severus knew the Headmaster was checking up on him. Professor Dumbledore had been instrumental in getting Severus custody of Harry back in May but Severus still got the idea that the Headmaster didn't fully have confidence in his ability to raise a seven year old. Especially when Severus has refused the option of taking the Potions Professor job and raising Harry at Hogwarts. But Severus knew that Lily would want Harry to have a normal upbringing as much as was possible and that would not include living at Hogwarts until he attended school there. Severus would contemplate taking on a teaching job when Harry himself started at Hogwarts as a student and not before then. Instead Severus and Harry were living in a nice muggle town and Harry was attending the local primary school. The boy had been hesitant to go at first but as the term was getting under way he was beginning to flourish and to make some friends.

So the Saturday afternoon exactly one week before Halloween, Severus and Harry had arrived at Hogwarts and while Severus spoke to the Headmaster in his office, Harry had been placed in the care of some of the older students. And somehow he had heard some scary Halloween stories. And when bedtime had rolled around he had been terrified. It took Severus a while to get the full story out of Harry and even longer to get him calmed down. Now the boy was finally asleep, but he had a death grip on Severus and had refused point blank to go to bed in his own room. Severus knew that letting Harry sleep with him tonight was not going to help things in the long run but it didn’t seem like he had much of an option tonight. At least it was Sunday tomorrow and they didn’t have to be up early in the morning.

Harry seemed fine all of Sunday, right up until bedtime. And then Severus had a fight on his hands. Due to his time spent living at the Dursley’s, Severus often found Harry to be a little too obedient for a seven year old child, if such a thing were possible. And it spoke of the depths of his terror that he was acting out so much. But it was a school night, and despite the tears, Severus insisted that Harry sleep in his own bed. Severus had left Harry’s light on, left Harry’s bedroom door open, his own bedroom door open and sat with Harry on his bed until he fell asleep.

Harry was grumpy when they arrived hand-in-hand at the school playground on Monday morning and he wasn’t particularly keen to let Severus from his sight. Severus eventually managed to convince him to go and play with his friends with a promise that he would stay and watch until they went into the classroom. Severus found himself standing with the mother of one of Harry’s friends, a girl in his class called Lollie, who had sparkly brown eyes and dark brown almost black hair pulled back into two plaits. Many of the parents in Harry’s class knew that his living arrangements had not been ideal before coming into Severus’s care and they were all respectful of that fact and encouraging to Severus, who now found himself as a single parent, with no experience of children whatsoever. Severus found himself confiding that Harry had been scared by some Halloween stories and not knowing what to do about it. The woman suggested possibly making a point of doing some fun, non-scary Halloween activities with Harry or maybe even having a Halloween party. Harry needed some positive memories to accompany Halloween. The last thing Severus wanted to do at Halloween was throw a party for children, it was the anniversary of Lily’s death after all, but doing some fun Halloween related activities with Harry should be manageable. Severus got to thinking about it as he walked home that morning.

Severus always made sure he was in the playground on time for when Harry finished school but he was extra careful that afternoon. Harry seemed fine when Severus spotted him though, as he crossed the playground with a small group of friends, Lollie included. Severus and Harry walked back home hand-in-hand and Severus wondered how to broach the subject of Halloween. Harry seemed fine and Severus was reluctant to bring the matter up if Harry had now seemed to have forgot the matter. But he had spent the day of thinking of fun Halloween activities they could do together as he had brewed. Severus made money from selling specialist potions via owl mail but Harry knew to tell his friends that his guardian was a private medical researcher, which was the closest muggle equivalent Severus could think of. Tea passed without incident and Harry ate most of his fish fingers and garden peas without complaint. But as bath time and bed time drew near Harry began to get quieter than he normally was and Severus knew the issue of scary Halloween stories had not been forgotten.

Severus made a point of playing with Harry during bath time that night. He had bought a new rubber duck for bath time tonight while he was out grocery shopping earlier, and this duck was dressed up as a pirate ready for Halloween. He and Harry played for a while and Severus incorporated in how the duck was dressed up because he was excited for Halloween. Harry seemed to go along with it and seemed a little bit happier, he certainly enjoyed playing with the duck and the bubbles.

He got really quiet again as bedtime approached but Severus managed to get him into his pyjamas and tucked up into bed without too many problems. There was the promise of a bedtime story and the lights would be left on again but there weren't many tears for which Severus was grateful.

Back down in the sitting room, although with a monitoring charm on Harry's room, Severus could not get the idea of hosting a small Halloween party out of his mind. The idea had plagued him all day. He had never thought he would love anyone again after Lily had been killed but he hadn't counted on a boy with messy black hair and Lily's eyes. It still amazed Severus how quick Harry had won a place in his heart. It was hard work raising a seven year old at times, but Severus couldn't imagine life without him now. And he was still haunted by thoughts of Lily and he had vowed when he took Harry in that he would raise the boy as Lily would have wanted. And Lily would definitely have wanted Harry to have a Halloween party. Severus could practically see her arranging one on his imagination. He'd have to give it some more thought.

He was still giving it some thought the next morning as he and Harry walked to school. Harry was in a much better mood than he had been yesterday morning and eagerly ran off to play with Lollie and another girl after getting a promise from Severus that he would stay again until they went into the classroom. Severus found himself standing with Lollie’s mother again and they were making small talk as they watched the children play. She had immediately asked how Harry had been last night, and Severus knew she wasn’t being nosy and that she was genuinely concerned about her daughter’s friend. Severus informed her that they had had a better night and that he was thinking about the Halloween Party. But he knew he was short on time and didn’t really know where to start. He was thinking about a tea party but he wanted to keep the numbers small, he didn’t want to overwhelm Harry. Lollie’s mother suggested that he have it on Friday after school, the day before Halloween, because then any children who did want to go out trick or treating could still do so on Saturday night. It was a good idea and Severus immediately invited Lollie there and then. Her mother smiled at him and said they’d both be there on Friday evening. Severus decided that five thirty would probably be a good time. That way they could eat at about six o’clock and then play some games but no one would be too late home. He’d have to ask Harry later who he would like to invite.

The party would require some organisation, but Severus didn’t think it would take too much time. And he wanted to include Harry in the preparations as much as possible. He’d done a lot of soul searching the night Lollie’s mother had suggested the party and he knew that Lily would want Harry to have a Halloween party. But there was more to it than that. He had vowed to raise Lily’s son as he knew Lily would want him raised and that meant being integrated into his school, and that meant that Severus needed to interact with the other parents as well. And for Harry, he was definitely willing to do that. But along with the party he still wanted to do some other Halloween activities with Harry, just the two of them.
He brought up the subject of having a Halloween party with Harry after he had collected the boy from school that afternoon. He wasn’t really giving Harry a choice in having a party, he knew right now that the black haired boy wasn’t keen on the idea, but he wanted Harry to make some of the decisions himself. He seemed to come around to the idea a little more when Severus mentioned that Lollie was definitely coming, the girl seemed to be Harry’s special friend and Severus knew he was going to have to get to know the girl’s parents. Severus really didn’t want any more than ten children at the very most to come, preferably the number would be eight or under. Harry managed to name four other children he would like to come fairly quickly, so with Harry and Lollie included that would be six. Six was a good number. Harry had instantly said he wanted to invite Elise, the girl he and Lollie had been playing with that morning and also another girl who was friends with them, Lara. And also two of the boys from his class, Tommy and Erik. Severus promised to ask all of their parents tomorrow morning if they would be able to come round for a Halloween tea party on Friday evening.

He asked Harry what food he would want served at his party and was quite surprised when Harry almost immediately answered that he wanted beef burgers in buns. But he supposed that it was a good option, one he was sure all the children would like although he would need to check for any special dietary requirements.

Lily would have been brilliant at organising a children's party and Severus felt a pang that she had never really got the chance. But he himself was feeling rather clueless. The beef burgers in buns would be easy enough, but he was definitely going to need to go grocery shopping. He'd have to pick some other things up there as well but he didn't really know what else to get. Hopefully he'd know it when he saw it at the supermarket.

Bedtime came without too many incidents, although he'd had to sit with Harry again until he fell asleep and he'd had to leave the lights on again. There were no tears though, which Severus was taking as a sign of improvement.

Harry happily skipped off with Lollie and Elise as soon as they got to the playground the next morning. And although he hadn't been asked by Harry to stay until they went into the classroom, Severus didn't dare leave. Instead he went and searched out Lollie's mother, who was as welcoming as always. Thankfully she knew who the parents of Elise, Lara, Erik and Tommy were and quickly pointed him in the right direction and made introductions. Severus was surprised at how relieved he was when all four of Harry's other friends could attend on Friday, he hadn't been looking forward to having to tell Harry that any of his chosen friends hadn't been able to come. Harry had seemed fairly enthusiastic about the party this morning. He spoke to Lollie's mum a little about the plans he was making and she made some useful suggestions which Severus was grateful for.

Severus made a run to the supermarket that afternoon before he went to pick Harry up from school. There were quite a few Halloween sweets to choose between and he got a selection of everything, he got a couple of pumpkins for himself and Harry to carve and he got loads of apples so that the children could take turns apple bobbing and making caramel apples on Friday. He also got the beef burgers in ready and at Lollie's mother’s suggestion he got in a variety of toppings to lay out for people to choose what they wanted, cheese, gherkins, onions, mushrooms, lettuce and a variety of sauces.

Harry was a little uncertain about carving scary faces on the pumpkins when they got in from school but soon became enthusiastic when Severus said that they would make good decorations for his party on Friday and that his friends were sure to like them. Severus had also bought black, orange, purple and green coloured paper so that they could make paper chains to decorate with as well. That was definitely a task Harry enjoyed, just as Severus had thought he would. Bath time and bed time happened without any incidents or tears but Severus was reluctant to ask Harry if the stories no longer scared him because he didn't want to remind the boy of his terror and make it return.

And suddenly it was the day before the party and Severus was feeling completely unprepared. Lollie's mother must have sensed his panic that morning and she offered for both herself and her husband to stay and help Severus during the party. And then Lara's father offered to stay as well and to bring his face painting supplies. Severus gratefully accepted all the help which was offered. And he had come to the conclusion that his days of standing alone in the playground where now over, he was definitely considered to be a part of a group of parents who often stood together. He wasn't entirely comfortable with the situation but knew he didn't have much choice in the matter. If he wanted Harry integrated into school life then he was going to have to play his part as well.

Time totally slipped away from him that day between brewing and party preparations. He'd also had to make sure that the house was safe for muggles to see. His Potions lab had charms on it anyway so that Harry couldn't enter without him and it was easy to modify it so that no one else could see it. He also had to sort through Harry's toys and put away any of the wizarding ones. Harry knew enough not to mention anything to do with magic and the wizarding world while he was at school and Severus didn't anticipate any problems at the party unless someone saw something they shouldn't. Even though time seemed to have passed quicker than was possible that day, he was still in the playground on time to collect Harry. He didn't want to even imagine what the young boy’s reaction would be if he wasn't there on time one afternoon.

Harry seemed a little bit tired that evening and he supposed that the school week could seem like a long time to a seven year old. Severus decided on an early night though, he didn’t want Harry to be tired and grumpy at his party tomorrow. Harry seemed to be looking forward to it more and more the closer it got and was happy to see the preparations that Severus was making.

Harry liked the meringues that Severus had found which had little eyes on them to look like ghosts that would be perfect for dessert. And Harry was even more taken by the gingerbread men iced to look like skeleton, so much so that Severus allowed him to have one once they had finished their evening meal. But he still got Harry into the bath earlier than usual and then tucked up into bedtime. They shared a bedtime story and Harry snuggled into Severus' side. Severus asked if Harry was looking forward to his party tomorrow and although Harry answered in the affirmative Severus could sense that he was a little nervous about it. They spoke about it for a little while and it seemed to Severus that most of Harry's nervousness just stemmed from him being a little shy and the fact that he would be in a new situation. He'd never had a party of his own before, although he'd watched plenty of Dudley's, and he'd never had friends around his house before. He'd never had friends at all.

Severus was grateful when Harry got up on Friday morning that he was still looking forward to the party, he was kind of an excited nervous now. Severus gently reminded him to keep his attention in his work at school and that the party wasn't until school had finished for the week. Harry solemnly promised that he'd be good and Severus knew that he would be due to the Dursley's conditioning. And it was Severus who was mostly worried about the party now, there still seemed to be so much to do. At least he could use magic for most things before everyone else arrived.

Harry and Severus were in the playground before Lollie and her mother had arrived that morning. But Harry quickly ran off to play with Tommy, at least Severus thought it was Tommy, he hoped that he would be able to keep everyone's names straight that evening. Severus didn't feel comfortable enough to join the group of parents without Lollie's mother being there so he stood and watched Harry and Tommy playing and they were soon joined by Lara as well. It's seemed that the children Harry had invited to his party did seem to belong to a particular group of friends. Severus hoped that boded well for tonight and that he wouldn't be dealing with any arguments. He saw Lollie join Harry, Tommy and Lara and turned around to find the little girl’s mother smiling at him. She asked if he was prepared for tonight and Severus admitted that he wasn't entirely sure. He was beginning to remember why he hasn't wanted to host a Halloween party at all. Although he would admit that it had kept him distracted, he had barely had chance to think on the fact that it was the anniversary of Lily's death tomorrow.

Lollie's mother was gently encouraging and Severus couldn't help but to like the woman. She reminded him that it didn't have to be perfect and that it was just a tea party for children and they'd enjoy themselves anyway. It was a reminder that Severus definitely needed. He was as new to this having a child go to a muggle primary school thing as Harry was. But he knew it was the right decision. The brief hiccup of being scared by Halloween stories aside, Harry had really started to settle in at school and he was definitely happier than he had been when he had first come to live with Severus. Not that he had been unhappy to get away from the Dursley household where he had been largely ignored and unloved.

Severus had calmed down a little by the time he picked Harry up from school that afternoon. He had just about everything sorted but had left a couple of things for Harry to help him to set up. Harry raced across the playground towards him with a huge smile on his face and he waved bye to Lollie enthusiastically seeming genuinely very happy that his friend was coming round for tea later. Lollie's mother had promised Severus that they would be there early to help with any last minute preparations. Harry and Severus walked home hand in hand and Harry chatted away a little bit about his day at school and how his friends were looking forward to his party. Severus was happy to hear the boy taking a bit more, when he had first come to live with Severus he had barely spoke a word.

Once home Severus sent Harry up to his room to get changed out of his school uniform. He put out a pair of jeans for the boy to wear and had also bought Harry a lightweight grey jumper with black bats printed on it, which he hoped would be suitable for a Halloween party. Severus had spent the afternoon doing a bit of last minute panic buying. He had muggle proofed the house, using magic to do so, and then come to the startling discovery that the house didn't look very muggle. So he and Harry now owned a TV and a video player and he now had a camera, because of was probably normal for anyone with young children would want to take photos of them growing up. And indeed Severus did take a photo of Harry when he came down in his new jumper. Harry went to explore the dining room, which now had the paper chains they had made across the ceiling. Harry chose which of the pumpkins he and Severus had carved for the centre of the dining room table and then the others were placed around the dining room and kitchen.

Harry then came to help Severus in the kitchen, were he was started the good preparations. It would be so much easier if he could just do everything with magic. He may have cheated a little bit earlier when he sliced the tomatoes, gherkins and onions up. He was now getting ready to put a tray of frozen chips into the oven, he had got two varieties, the French Fry style and the Curly Fry style, and was arranging burgers onto another tray. Harry was stacking coloured plastic plates onto the counter for people to use. Then Harry helped him fill up some serving platters. One held the burger fillings, the tomatoes, gherkins and onions Severus had sliced earlier, as well as some cheese slices and some lettuce. And then a couple of other platters filled with brightly coloured sweets. Severus had also found some Satsuma’s at the supermarket with stickers on to make them look like jack o lanterns and he placed them out as well, wondering if he could tempt any of the children into having any, or if they would just want the sweets.

Soon enough there was a knock at the door and it was Lollie with her parents. Severus was relieved to see that Lollie was in a simple purple and black checked dress over a pair of leggings, nothing too dressy. He had been panicking about what to dress Harry in earlier. Severus and Harry were quickly introduced to Lollie’s father, whom neither had met before and the children were quickly sent into the dining room to play and the adults stayed in the kitchen. Severus had placed a monitoring charm on the kitchen and dining room earlier, which would be undetectable to the muggles, just in case. He was going to try and keep the party in those two rooms but who knew what was going to happen in the next couple of hours. Harry and Lollie were occupied with Harry’s train set, which was on the floor in one corner of the dining room and back in the kitchen Lollie’s mother handed him a wrapped package. She told him to put it to one side and have Harry open it later, it was a Halloween present for him. Severus half wanted to refuse the gift as he hadn’t even thought about getting Halloween presents, but both of Lollie’s parents insisted that he keep it. They’d gathered from the little Severus had told them about Harry’s early life that it hadn’t been the easiest and they wanted him to have a little something to make up for the years when he hadn’t been able to enjoy Halloween. Severus thanked them and placed the package to one side, wishing he could send it up to Harry’s room with a flick of his wand.

The children were still quiet and while Lollie’s mother kept an eye on the food, transferring the chips to bowls and placing them to one side to keep warm and putting the burgers in the over, Lollie’s father helped Severus set up a tub of water for apple bobbing. They also started to get things ready for the children to make caramel apples later. There was another knock at the door and it was Erik with his father. Severus invited the man to stay but he politely declined, saying he needed to get back to his wife and other children and that he’d be back for Erik at eight o’clock. Harry and Lollie had heard the knock and had come out into the hallway to see who had arrived and all three children made their way back to the dining room, where it appeared that they were still playing with the train set. Severus hoped that he had removed the model of the Hogwarts Express earlier. No sooner were they settled again when Tommy arrived. And not long after Lara’s father brought both Lara and Elise and the promised face painting kit.

Severus’s plan was that they would eat first, then do the apple bobbing, then the face painting and then the caramel apples. And then the children could play about if there was still some time left. Before serving the food, Severus gathered all the children into the kitchen and allowed them to mix up a juice drink for themselves in what looked like, to the muggles at least, a witches cauldron. What muggles imagined magic was like really amused Severus at times, but the drink mixing was a huge hit with the kids. Then Lollie’s parents and Lara’s father helped him serve the burgers and make sure the children got everything they wanted in them and a selection of chips. The children ate around the dining room table, with Harry sat in between Lollie and Lara, and Severus lit the candle inside the pumpkin decorating the centre of the table. He wished he could use a magical flame which he knew would be safe, but all the children promised not to touch it. Severus and the other adults ate in the kitchen, but both doors were open and they could see the children easily. They seemed to eat most of their food, something which Severus often found a struggle with Harry and the adults quickly moved in to begin clearing away when the children started to become restless.

Lollie’s father supervised the apple bobbing while Severus tidied away as much as he could from tea. He insisted that Lollie’s mother and Lara’s father didn’t do much. He’d tidy everything with a couple of spells once everyone had gone home. The apple bobbing brought a lot of giggles and a puddle on the kitchen floor but it was worth it to see Harry smiling and laughing with children of his own age. Lollie’s mother had spotted Severus’s new camera on the worktop and asked if she could take some photos.

Once everyone’s face was dry the face painting began. Lara’s father didn’t push when Harry didn’t want to go first, even though it was his party. Harry seemed a little unsure about the face painting and came and cuddled against Severus’s leg for a little bit. Severus put a light arm around his shoulders and hugged him gently to his side, trying to reassure him for a little. Lollie soon came and joined them and slipped her hand into Harry’s. She seemed a very astute child and seemed to really watch out for Harry. She asked Harry if he wanted to get his face painted the same as hers and suggested that black cats were good for both a boy and a girl to be. Harry seemed to be considering the idea of face painting and although still hesitant he agreed and he and Lollie went off hand in hand to Lara’s father and they soon had cat whiskers painted on their faces.

Severus was surprised at how quickly time had passed, there was less than an hour before Erik and Tommy would be picked up. The children gathered around the kitchen counter again, munching on the meringues, gingerbread skeletons and sweets while the adults laid out the supplies to make caramel apples. Each child was helped to spear an apple on a stick and then to roll the apple in a warm caramel sauce. Lollie’s mother insisted on taking a group photo of them with the apples before they ate them and the adults had six sticky children on their hands by the time they were finished.

And then suddenly, everything began to wind down and Harry’s Halloween party was almost over. The children were in the dining room again playing with the train set, while Severus put the left over sweets into bags for the other children to take home. Tommy and Erik’s parents arrived to pick them up and they stayed for a little while to share a cup of coffee in the kitchen and to allow the children a little bit longer to play together. But then everyone was leaving, the children tired but happy. Lollie and her parents stayed a little bit longer than everyone else, but Severus insisted again that he could handle the clean-up. Lollie’s mum asked if Harry was going trick or treating tomorrow night and Severus had to admit that he didn’t think that Harry would want to. And then they too left.

Severus cleaned up the entire house with a couple of flicks of his wand and then managed to get Harry’s face washed and the boy into his pyjamas and into bed. Severus sat on Harry’s bed with him and handed him the present from Lollie’s parents. It turned out to be a pyjama onesie which was designed to look like a skeleton. Severus himself had bought Harry a Halloween present, something which had caught his eye in the supermarket this week. It was a muggle story book, Matilda by Roald Dahl. Apparently it had a little bit of a theme of magic in it and if he and Harry were going to live among muggles for the next few years then they were going to need to embrace muggle culture. Something Severus had definitely learned this Halloween. The book was probably a little above Harry’s skill level at the moment, but they settled in to read the first little bit together and Severus promised that they would read some each night. Harry was exhausted though and was pretty much asleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. Severus made sure to leave the lights on though, just in case.

Harry talked more than Severus had ever heard him talk before the next day. Mainly about his party and that he had liked having his friends round his house. Severus promised that he could have friends to tea again, although probably not so many at once on most occasions. He knew it was good for Harry to be interacting well with children of his own age.

It was after lunch that the subject of trick or treating came up. Severus received a phone call from Lollie’s mum wanting to know if they both wanted to come trick or treating with her Lollie, Elise and another girl from Harry, Lollie and Elise’s class, Tasha. Severus promised to talk to Harry about it and get back to her. Harry absolutely, positively did not want to go when Severus asked him. Being out on the dark, with people dressed up in costumes, was not something the still timid seven year old wanted to do. And Severus had a task on his hand to convince him, telling him that his friends wanted to spend time with him and that it was all designed to be fun. And that some people found getting scared occasionally was fun and that was what Halloween was about. And that people enjoyed seeing children dressed up in their costumes, attempting to look scary and that even if adults acted scared of them they often weren’t, they were just pretending so the children thought they were.

Eventually, a phone call with Lollie later, Harry agreed to go. But as long as Severus would hold his hand. Severus agreed, even though he really didn’t want to, he’d much rather watch from a safe distance. But if that was what it took for Harry to have his first trick or treating experience, then he was willing to do so. But he had another problem first. Harry now needed a costume. Severus was on the verge of panicking before remembering the onesie Lollie’s parents had got him. That would be perfect and it would be warm as it was large enough that he’d be able to wear jeans and a t-shirt underneath. Severus then transfigured a glass jar into a plastic bucket which looked like a pumpkin for Harry to put the sweets he collected in.

Severus was relieved when they started trick or treating that Harry ended up holding Lollie’s hand. He and Severus were still new to the neighbourhood really, but Lollie, Elise and Tasha had grown up there and many people made a fuss over them and wanted to know all about Harry, particularly the older people whose own children had long grown up. Harry grew in confidence as none of the adults seemed scary and all the other children out trick or treating were fairly well behaved and well supervised. His bucket was almost over flowing with sweets by the time he and Severus got home. He’d had a brilliant time and Severus promised that he could go trick or treating again next year. Even though he was tired, Harry still wanted to read some more of Matilda and Severus had one last Halloween present for him. A stuffed black cat. Just like he and Lollie were at his party yesterday. So Harry hugged his new cat close as Severus read another chapter from his new book.

When Severus eventually left Harry’s room, the boy with messy black hair who had come so close to dying on this day six fateful years ago, had his arms tightly clamped around his stuffed black cat and his book on his beside cabinet. Halloween may have scared Harry slightly this year, but he had no idea of the horrors he had survived on the same day and the only thing that now scared Severus about Halloween was one day having to tell Harry the truth about how his parents died and the fate that was on his shoulders. But Severus was going to protect him from that for as long as was possible and allow him to grow up as his mother would have wanted. And that included spending time with his friends from school and inviting them round for party’s occasionally. Harry might enjoy his time at muggle primary school, but whether Severus would still be in one piece at the end of it may be very debateable. A lot of work had gone into that small party, but as he gazed fondly at his sleeping boy, it had all been worth it.