Addie sat across from Harry and picked up the cards resting on the table and shuffled them. She smiled at Harry as she said, “I hope you’ve been practicing.”

               Harry nodded.

               “Good.” Addie held up the first card, which had the letter B. “What letter is this?”

               “B.” Harry said. “Buh.”

               “Yes!” Addie set that card aside and showed Harry the next one. “What’s this one”

               “R. Rrr.”

               “Good. And this one?”

               “G. Guh.”

               “Very good, Harry,” Addie praised. “You’re doing so well. That’s three gold stars for you so far.”

               Severus watched from his place at the end of the dining table where he had been making light conversation with Tori’s husband, Samuel Brown. Addie’s technique to teach Harry how to read started at with the very basics of phonics. She informed him that having Harry know the sounds each letter made would make sounding out words later that much easier. Once Harry managed to get through the entire deck without mistakes, Addie said Severus could start with short three letter words with similar phonic elements. It would be a slow progress, but Harry was already grasping the idea well, and Severus was surprised by his progress in just a couple days. It was Sunday now, and they were at Tori’s place for the gender reveal to the kids and her husband. The rest of Tori’s family would hear it during Joshua’s birthday, which was just a few weeks away.

               “He’s catching on fast,” Samuel said, leaning back in his seat and watching Harry as he successfully completed half the deck. “Boy enunciates better than I do, he’ll be reading in no time.”  

               “I hope so,” Severus said. “He’s so far behind where he should be.”

Samuel was a black wizard with a lean build and an anchor beard gracing his face. He had pureblood roots, but a blended upbringing between the wizarding world and muggle world as his family had been very accepting of both. He had followed in his parents’ footsteps and became a lawyer for all witches and wizards who found themselves in muggle trouble, and his clientele was huge, with a good mix of paying purebloods, half-bloods, and muggleborns. Tori was his partner, though she had taken time off once again to get through her pregnancy stress free and spend more time with her kids.

As for the kids, they were all currently sitting on the couch, Joshua at one end, Ruth and Esther in the middle, and Iris at the other end. The Brown’s family dog, Enid, an English Springer Spaniel, laid at their feet while the kids stared up at Tori with hopeful expressions, Joshua clasping his hands together and muttering a repetitive prayer under his breath as he waited for the verdict. Tori was sitting in the chair across from the kids.

“Samuel, get over here!” Tori snapped. “I can’t do this without you.”

“I’m coming, baby,” Samuel said, strutting over to his wife playfully and sitting on the arm of the chair. “I wouldn’t miss the reveal of our baby’s gender.”

Samuel leaned down and kissed Tori’s slight baby bump, then kissed his wife, much to the kids’ disgust.

“Mum, Dad, do that in your room,” Ruth complained while Iris laughed. 

“We don’t have time for that,” Joshua complained. “I need to know if I’m finally getting a brother.”

Samuel playfully held up a finger to his children to signal them another minute while he deepened his kiss. Tori laughed and pushed him away, forcing his to readjust on the arm of the chair.

“Okay, dear, let’s not keep them waiting much longer.” Tori said. “They’re not enjoying the show.”

Severus leaned against the wall nearby to listen in, and Addie paused with Harry and looked out to the living room.

               “So,” Tori began slowly, signing as well for Esther, “your new sibling . . . is . . .”

               Joshua resumed his prayer hands while the girls held hands.

               “A girl.”

               “Ooh!” Samuel cheered, doing a short lap around the chair before kissing his wife again, then touching her stomach and cooing to the baby inside. “Hello there, little princess. I’m your daddy. Yes, I am.”

               The girls cheered, throwing silent jazz hands up in the air with Esther while Joshua’s mouth dropped.

               “Aww, Mum!” he complained. “Not another sister.”

               “I’m sorry, Joshy,” Tori said, “I know how much you really wanted a brother, but you’ll love her all the same, you know that.”

               Joshua groaned and fell back into the couch while the girls ran over to Tori, surrounding her in the chair.

               “What are you naming her?” Iris asked.

               “Well, you know how you’re named after dad’s mum, Ruth,” Tori said, looking from one daughter to the next, “and Esther has my mother’s name for her middle name, we we’re thinking we’d name her after your dad’s grandmother, Jemima.”

               “How pretty,” Iris said.

               Esther copied her mother’s hands and signed the new baby’s name before she smiled and practiced signing it repeatedly.

               “What if it was a boy?” Iris asked.

               “I don’t even want to know,” Joshua complained from the couch. He turned so he was facing the cushions. “I can’t have hopes.”

               “Drama queen,” Samuel said, gesturing to his son. “Get off there and come give your mum and baby sister some love.”

               Joshua sighed, but did as his father said, hugging his mother carefully as he asked, “Are you sure it’s a girl?” 

               Severus chuckled at that. He remembered when Lily and Dahlia had both been excited when they discovered their baby’s gender, even if they had wanted it to be a surprise originally. He had also shared their excitement and may have gone a little overboard on preparing the nursery for Iris’s, much to Dahlia’s amusement. Thinking about Dahlia brought a heavy weight on his heart. In a way, he still very much loved her, but not in the same way he did when they had been expecting Iris. What happened between them was unfortunate, and he wished they could have found the same spark Tori and Samuel shared that kept them inseparable.

               Severus shook those thoughts away and turned to look back at a grinning Addie. She smiled at him as he sat in the chair next to Harry, pulling his tea back toward him.

               “You know,” Addie said, “she will be my thirteenth grandbaby.”

               “Really?” Severus raised a brow at that.

               “Between my five children, it has been such a joy to have so many grandchildren to spoil.”

               “I can’t imagine,” Severus replied honestly. He really couldn’t imagine what it would be like having thirteen grandchildren, let alone five children to start with. He was quite content with Harry and Iris.

               Samuel rejoined Severus, Addie, and Harry at the table with a huge smile on his face still.

               “You here that?” he asked Severus. “Another baby girl.”

               “Yes, congratulations. I can’t imagine having three Irises under one roof.”

               “It’s not so bad—they’re angels.”

               Severus snorted, nearly choking on his tea as he had been sipping it.

               “Alright, man,” Samuel said, shaking his head, “are you ready for this?”

               Severus looked over at Addie, who set her cards aside and nodded at him. Tori was helping Esther into a coat and leading the girls and Joshua, who had Enid on a leash, outside to the car to take them to the playground. Severus sighed and nodded his head. He wasn’t ready for it, but they still had to review with Harry for the courtroom.

               “Okay,” Samuel said. He stepped back and glanced out the living room window, waiting for the car to pull out of the driveway. Then, he waved his wand and turned the living room into a replica of a courtroom, with a judge’s bench, a witness stand, and a jury box in the far end of the living room, while two tables appeared a few feet away in front of the bench and witness stand. A rail appeared behind those tables and several benches appeared behind it. The room dimmed as the window covered itself up and the fireplace smothered itself.

               Samuel pulled out his wand and stared at a picture on a newspaper for a moment before tapping the picture with his wand and tapping the table where the defendant would normally sit. A hologram of Petunia based on the newspaper picture appeared, and she sat stone still in her seat. Samuel did the same again at the judge’s bench, and a hologram image of a random judge appeared as stock still as Petunia. Harry had watched in awe as the room transformed, and his eyes fell on Petunia. He pointed at her and looked up at Severus.

               “Is Aunt Petunia going to be there, too?”

               “Yes,” Samuel answered for Harry. “But you can’t talk to her.”

               “Why?”

               “Because it’s considered rude in court. You don’t want to be rude, do you?”

               Harry shook his head.

               “This is what will happen in ten days,” Samuel said, putting a hand on Harry’s shoulder and walking him through the public benches and past the rail, as he explained what Harry would do. “You’ll be in a nice quiet room hanging out with Addie until you’re called to the stand. When that happens, Addie will walk you up to this rail, and then your father’s lawyer will help you up to the stand here. Petunia will be there but do not say anything to her, okay? Remember, it’s rude to talk to the other side of the room. The bailiff will swear you in before you sit down. Like this.”

               Samuel picked up a bible and had Harry place one hand on the bible and raise his other hand.

               “Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? And you say . . .”

               “Yes,” Harry answered.

               “It’s that easy,” Samuel said. “Now, you sit down up here, and answer some questions from your dad’s lawyer and then from Petunia’s lawyer.”

               “Is Daddy going to be there, too?”

               “Daddy is going to sit at this table,” Samuel said, pointing at the opposite table of Petunia’s. “Severus, if you don’t mind.”

               Severus took a seat at the table, looking far too intent for a trial run of the court appearance.

               “He’ll be right in front of you the whole time. So if you’re feeling unsure or nervous, you can look at him, okay?”

               “Okay. What about Addie?”

               “Addie will be behind the rail,” Samuel gestured to Addie to sit anywhere, and she picked a bench right behind the rail.

               “Why not by Daddy?”

               “She’s not allowed up any further. That’s just how it works. She will sit where there might be some other people, and there will also be people in this box over here.” Samuel pointed at the jury box. “They are the ones who need to know what happened at your relatives so they can give her an appropriate time out. Do you understand?”

               Harry nodded.

               “Are you ready to answer some questions?”

               Harry nodded again.

               “You remember that the day you fell through the floo was January fifteenth, correct?” Samuel asked.

               Harry nodded. Severus had informed him of the date numerous times.

               “Good. I’m sure Wallace will probably start with some basics. What is your name?”

               “Harry.”

               “You should answer with your full name. Try again.”

               “Harry James Potter . . . Snape,” Harry added at the end as an afterthought.

               Severus snorted at that.

               “How old are you?”

               “Six.”

               “Where do you go to school?”

               “I don’t know.”

               Samuel laughed at that. Severus smiled at Harry, who looked confused as to why Samuel found that funny.

               “Stallmore Primary School,” Samuel answered for Harry. “That’s where you go, kiddo.”

               “Oh,” Harry said with a frown.

               “It’s okay, you’ve got plenty of time to practice more before the trial. How about . . . who do you live with currently?”

               “Daddy.” Harry said.

               “Do you know his name?”

               “Umm, Sev-vv-ru-us Snape.”

               “Sounds about right to me,” Samuel smirked, and Severus sent the man a mild glare behind his back. “And you also live with your sister, too, right?”

               “Yes. Iris.”

               “Who did you live with before?”

               “Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.”

               “Are either of those people in this room now?”

               “No,” Harry answered honestly.

               Samuel smiled and said, “You’re right, but let’s pretend that the Petunia hologram is in fact Petunia, okay? Can you point her out?”

               Harry pointed at Petunia, and Samuel nodded.

               “That is what you’ll do in court. Don’t say anything to her, just point at her when asked.”

               “Okay.”

               “What happened on the day of June fifteenth around three pm?”

               “I was cleaning the chimney and then I fell through the chimney and . . .” Harry hesitated as he tried to remember how Severus wanted him to phrase it, “I got lost.”

               “You were cleaning a chimney?” Samuel asked.

               “Yeah.”

               “Can you describe how you clean the chimney for those who may not know how it’s done?”

               “Okay, err, I clean out some of the ash in the fireplace, and then I have to climb up the narrow part in the chimney, and then there’s a shelf I can get on, and I take the brush and scrub it really well so all the soot comes off. Then I crawl up the chimney and scrub all the sides with the brush so soot comes off and falls down to the shelf. And when I get to the top, I get my bag, and I fall all the way back down.”

               “You fall?” Samuel asked, genuinely surprised and falling out of character.
               Even Severus and Addie perked up at that.

               “I have to to get back to the shelf and collect all the soot in my bag. I always land on my feet nice and soft. And then I crawl back up the chimney with the bag and I climb down the ladder that Aunt Petunia sets up, and I go back inside and scoop up any soot that fell all the way down.”

               “That sounds like a lot of work for a six-year-old boy to do,” Samuel said. “How often do you do it?”

               “Weekly in the winter, and then only once in a while through the rest of the year. Whenever Aunt Petunia says it needs to be done.”

               “I see. How long have you been chimney sweeping?”

               “Since I was four,” Harry answered.

               “And is it true that Aunt Petunia only feeds you a small breakfast each day to keep you small enough to fit up the chimney?”

               “Sometimes I get a little dinner too.”

               “And when you are done with the chimney sweeping,” Samuel continued, trying hard not to be affected by Harry’s blunt attitude toward his relative’s treatment of him. “do you have other chores to do or is that it?”

               “Well, usually I make breakfast for everyone first, then do the less dirty chores, like dusting and mopping, and then I pull weeds and water the garden, then I do the chimney.”

               “And take a bath after, right?”

               “Only on chimney cleaning day. And I only have ten minutes to clean up.”

               “Here would be a good time for Wallace to present that photo of Harry covered in soot,” Samuel said, looking back at Severus briefly. He smiled at Harry as he continued. “Is it true when you got lost after cleaning the chimney at three pm on January fifteenth, you were lost in the neighborhood and your godfather found you, and after recognizing you, took you to his house and cleaned you up?”

               “Yeah.”

               “How did you get lost?”

               “Umm,” Harry frowned, trying to remember how he was supposed to word it. It wasn’t a really hard or long story to tell since Severus kept it pretty close to how it actually happened, emotion wise anyway. “I fell in the fireplace, and I hit my head, and I don’t really remember much but I ended up somewhere else and I was really scared and then I ended up with Daddy.”

               “Told straight from a child’s mouth,” Samuel said, nodding his head. “I like it. It’s emotional, you can’t tear it apart much; kind of indicates a potential concussion and corroborates your story when you go on stand. Good job, Harry. Now a few random questions, just to give everyone a whole picture of your lifestyle with Petunia. Is it true that while living at your relatives, your bedroom was a cupboard?”

               “Yeah.”

               “Had that always been your bedroom?”

               “Yeah.”

               “And now, Wallace could present the picture of that cupboard,” Samuel spoke to Severus again. “A couple more, Harry. Were you ever locked in your bedroom?”

               “Sometimes. But mostly when I was being punished.”

               “What were you punished for?”

               “Not finishing all my chores, being in the way, or making freaky things happen—I mean, not the last one.”

               “Well, you already said it,” Samuel smiled at Harry. “We’re only trying to make this easier on you, okay? And that statement will open up a whole new discussion. No freaky things. Okay?”

               “Okay.”

“A couple more. Is it true that you have asthma?”

               “Yeah.”

               “Try to say “yes,” kiddo, okay? Is it also true that you never had medicine for it until your father took you to the doctor the next day you were in his care?”

               “Yes. I have inhalers I take every day and a nutrient drink too.”

               “Did you attend school everyday while living with your aunt?”

               “No, sometimes I had to stay home to help around the house or chimney sweep.”

               “Is it true that you did not celebrate your birthday while living with your aunt?”

               “Yes.”

               “Is it true you were never given Christmas presents?”

               “Yes. But Aunt Petunia said she couldn’t afford presents for both me and Dudley. I was taking money from her Dudders.”

               “How so?”

               “I don’t know. But I’m not her real kid. I’m just her nephew.”

               “I see. No further questions.” Samuel gave Harry a chocolate frog with a wink and walked back to the table where Severus sat, picking up a paper that had been writing down all the questions and answers during that time.

               “I’m all done?” Harry asked as he started to stand up, clutching his candy.  

               “No, not yet,” Samuel said. “When Wallace is done, Petunia’s lawyer will ask you questions next.”

               “Oh,” Harry said, sitting back down slowly. He set his chocolate down to the side, staring at it longingly. He never had chocolate candy, especially shaped like a frog before. He had been hoping Severus would let him try it, but they weren’t even done with the questions.

               “These ones won’t be as easy, Harry, so work with me here, and try to stay calm and answer honestly, okay?”

               “Okay.”

               Samuel looked at Severus, and they stared at each other for a few seconds before Severus nodded his head, though he didn’t seem like he really wanted to go through with this part.

               Samuel walked back to Harry slowly, reading through what was already discussed.

               “You said that at three pm on January fifteenth, you fell in the fireplace, hit your head, and then ended up somewhere else? Well, how did you get there?”

               “I don’t remember,” Harry said, as he had been told to say if he did not recall something, did not know the answer, or in this case, for the chimney explanation.

               “At this point,” Samuel said, speaking to both Severus and Hary “any speculation as to how Harry left the house is just that, speculation, and can be objected. The judge will take into account that Harry is a child and may have suffered a concussion, which Healer Villin will testify to, so any pushing on what happened between that moment and when you found him should hopefully be swept under the rug without too much pushing. All you have to do Harry, is keep saying you don’t remember.”

               “Okay.”

               “Is it true that you helped your Aunt Petunia clean the chimney together the first few times, and then took it upon yourself to keep it clean?”

               “Yes.”

               “So you were not forced to do the clean the chimney?”

               “No, but she . . .”

               “Is it true that you have always been a light eater?”

               Harry paused, looking between Severus and Samuel. He hadn’t even finished answering the last question. When Samuel repeated the question, Harry shrugged.

               “A verbal answer, please. You don’t eat much at meals do you?”

               “No.”

               “Is it true that Petunia did in fact offer you food and you would refuse to eat?”

               Harry thought about that question. There were days he just wasn’t feeling well and the smell of food only made him feel more nauseous, so he would not eat the usual breakfast Petunia had for him. He figured it was true.

               “Yes.”

               “So Petunia did not starve you, but tried to make sure you were well fed, but like most children, you decide when you want to eat and refuse sometimes, is that true?”

               “Yes.”  

               “Same with school,” Samuel said. “Some days you would refuse to go to school, is that true?”

               Those days were rare, and those were the days Petunia forced him to go anyway, but Harry agreed.

               “So, it is true that Petunia was taking appropriate care of you, maybe even spoiling you and letting you get away with many things, is that true?”

               Harry thought about that really hard for a moment before frowning and saying, “Yeah, but she didn’t spoil me like Dudley. He got everything he wanted.”

               “Yes!” Samuel exclaimed, clapping his hands once. “Beautiful answer. Severus, your kid is going to be fine, he’s an expert!”

               “Really?” Harry asked.

               “Really. I don’t think I could have come up with a better answer for that situation myself.” Samuel helped Harry down from the witness stand and waved his wand to restore everything back to normal.

Severus remained sitting on what turned back into the armchair. He was surprised Harry didn’t simply agree with Samuel and fall into a praise Petunia moment. Harry walked over to him, holding out the chocolate candy questionably to him. Severus took it from him to tear it open for Harry. He paused when Samuel paused at the side of the armchair.

“I’ll keep thinking up counterarguments, but I don’t think we’ll have much problem on the stand with Harry. Keep working with him on answering certain questions, but honestly, he’s up for the trial date.”

“Thank you for your help,” Severus said. “We’ll keep at it.”

His attention was pulled from Samuel when Harry tapped his arm and pointed at the chocolate frog.

“Are you ready to catch?” Severus asked him.

“Catch what? The chocolate?” Harry asked.

“This is a magical candy. It hops.” Severus opened the package and the frog leaped out.

Harry squealed and raised his hands as it leaped right for his face but missed it and the candy fell to the floor, hopping away. Harry chased after it, laughing.

“Five second rule,” Addie said, smiling as she watched Harry.

“I got it!” Harry cried, holding up the frog. He frowned when it suddenly stopped moving. “Is it dead?”

“No,” Severus chuckled. “The spell wore off. You may eat it now.”

Harry stared at it a moment longer before slowly taking a small bite out of its head. He chewed inquisitively then smiled and took another bite.

“I think someone likes it,” Samuel said from behind the armchair Severus sat in. He lightly punched Severus’s shoulder. “Wait till the sugar rush kicks in.”

“I prefer the sugar crash,” Severus said.

With practice for the trial out of the way, Severus felt a little more at ease with the upcoming court date. He only hoped there would be no more surprises in the upcoming days.