Eileen sorted through several t-shirts at the small open air market. She kept an eye on Sev and Harry and checked every so often to make sure they hadn’t wandered off, but they seemed content to linger nearby. She wasn’t sure how long Sev and Harry would be staying, nor how much longer Harry would be six. Sev thought a cure would be along shortly, in which case, having some new clothes would probably be very nice for Harry.



She secretly felt quite proud to be able to afford a few new clothes for Harry, given what Sev had grown up in. It was lovely having Sev near her again as well, given their history, to say nothing of him having brought Harry along.



She twisted to check on them again and smiled. The two were currently caught up with watching a baker rolling out the dough for cinnamon rolls for his stall.



Harry was speaking too quietly for Eileen to hear as he craned his neck to look at Sev.



Throughout their time shopping, Harry had seemed confident enough to explore the market, though only from within Sev’s reach. He never looked at any one thing for more than a few seconds and each time he turned and found something new, he’d quickly check to see if Sev was still close enough for comfort.



Eileen worried over if Petunia had ever forgotten Harry at a store before. Sev had never mentioned any specific crimes Petunia had committed, but Eileen could guess.



“I don’t speak German, but I’d guess it’s a breakfast pastry.” She heard Sev say softly to Harry.



Harry rocked on his heels and squinted at the painted sign. “Franz—” He paused and seemed to silently try and sound the word out before attempting to speak again. “Franzbr-broo—chin?”



“Your son is visiting?” Asked Jan, an elderly stallholder with deep smile lines who Eileen had often spoken with.



“Oh, yes.” Eileen nodded and smiled again. “They’re staying for a while too,” She added. “I’m quite excited.”



“I didn’t know you had a grandchild.” Jan said as he pillowed his chin on his fist. “I’d have given you more child friendly recommendations when you first arrived.”



Eileen waved him off. “I asked you for locations of elderly friendly pubs and you delivered.”



“But you also asked for places to take family.” Jan gave her a firm look. “Here I was thinking you’d be drinking with your son and enjoying a quieter place to sit. I should’ve recommended more restaurants.” He clicked his tongue. “Children like chicken strips, don’t they? I have a friend—”



“Jan,” Eileen began slowly. “You did as well as you could have with what I asked about. I’ll write a lovely review for your information board though as an apology.”



A surprised noise had them both pausing to watch as Harry inched closer to the bakery stall.



Eileen found herself wishing for what felt like the millionth time that she’d taken Sev away from Tobias earlier. If she had, Sev might’ve been able to feel comfortable enough to show his own surprise at small markets and stalls like Harry.



She tried to remind herself that having Harry around had already done wonders for Sev.



Harry skirted a few pigeons and tossed a nervous look over his shoulder, ensuring once more that Sev was in reach before he pushed himself onto his tiptoes in order to watch the cinnamon rolls come out of the small oven.



“Is it his first time in Germany?” Jan asked.



“In a manner of speaking.” Eileen answered quietly.



Sev stepped closer to Harry and gently pulled him up into his arms in order for him to watch the baker more closely.



“He’s really only been to my house.”



Jan nodded. “The woods and general area then, I know a few good parks.”



“Actually,” Eileen said as she carefully turned back to Jan. “He doesn’t have much in the way of outdoor toys.” She wanted to turn and watch for longer, but Sev could always tell when her eyes lingered for just a little too long. “Or indoor ones.”



Harry hadn’t had any toys at all. If he’d been truly fifteen, she’d understand, but he wasn’t.



“Oh!” Jan said as he perked up. “Margot, from down the street has a lot of children’s toys, she’ll be pleased to have the business. She’s recently started selling new teddy bears. She’ll sew commemorative ribbons on them if you ask.”



Eileen pursed her lips as she debated whether or not Harry would balk at a teddy bear.



She knew Harry thought he was keeping his thoughts to himself, but much like Lily, he couldn’t hide what he truly disliked. He might like a soft toy. Sev had said Harry hadn’t had much in the way of toys when he’d initially been six, but that his cousin who’d been similarly affected by the potion had been playing with them when Harry last saw him.



“Well, there’s no harm in asking, is there?” Eileen said eventually. “He might like to look.”



Jan nodded and began to wrap up the top Eileen had found before he pointed in the direction of Margot’s stall.



Eileen waved a quick goodbye and made sure to idly eye the shawls and blouses on the rack to her left as she stepped closer to Sev and Harry. If Sev caught her stalling for him, he might feel stifled or as if he were being handled too gently. He’d parented himself enough when he was too young and she knew he disliked it when he thought Eileen was trying to step into that role now.



She knew he needed to enjoy these small moments for himself just like Harry though, even if he might not realize it.



He needed time just as much as Harry.



“Did you want one, Harry?” Eileen asked as she finally caught up with them.



Harry blinked at her, having apparently been engulfed with watching the baker. He looked at Sev in a silent ask if he could have one.



Eileen bit back against the sudden memory of all the times Sev had asked for small treats and ice creams at Diagon Alley or in Cokeworth. Tobias had said ‘yes’ once after years of denials and when the time arrived to purchase them, he’d conveniently found that he had no cash left to spare.



It’d happened twice more before Sev never asked again. Eileen wished she’d spoken up about it to Tobias, but she’d been too afraid of his retaliation and instead of fighting back, let him continue.



There was still time. She would try to help, even if Sev never fully trusted her. She would still try.



As it stood Sev looked to be heavily debating the treat in question. Eileen had a feeling it had something to do with Harry’s slow eating habits from this morning, but she hadn’t stayed in the kitchen long enough to guess at what the true issue had been. She had a few thoughts as to what had been going on, but there was no point in making real guesses before she had more evidence.



If it was important and she needed to know, Sev would tell her.



“They have chocolate ones.” Harry said as he pointed to the display.



Eileen swallowed a laugh as she circled around the two in order to look at the other bakery items. Sev had repeatedly written about Harry’s staunch and frustrating Gryffindor habits in his previous letters, but recently, that accusation had disappeared and Eileen could now see why.



“I suppose we can have one and pull it apart to share.” Sev said finally.



Harry brightened as Sev stepped up to the counter.



They continued to shop as they picked apart their treat and stopped every so often to search for photo frames or knick-knacks Harry felt his friends might like.



Eileen was particularly pleased to see Harry a fair bit more confident as he poked his nose through the collection at each stall. He still checked to make sure Sev was nearby, though Sev never seemed to be more than an arms distance away himself.



It wasn’t until they came to the toy stand that Harry looked uncomfortable again.



She drifted closer to them as Harry seemed to wobble back and forth between wanting to explore the stall and wanting to stay with Sev. She tilted her head and caught the tail end of something Harry said.



“—and then Ron’s brothers turned his teddy bear into a spider.”



“Ah.” Sev said. “I find that unsurprising, given the multiple other disasters they’ve caused.” He continued as he stepped closer to the toys. “I’m surprised Mr Weasley can even remember that event, given his poor memory elsewhere.”



Harry frowned. “Ron has a great memory and it sounded like he was really scared.”



“Of that, I’ve no doubt.”



Harry sniffed and twisted to look at the vegetable stand to his right.



“Perhaps we’ll get him a replacement?” Sev asked as he plucked a blonde bear from the pile. “One he can hide from his brothers.”



A pinched look creased Harry’s eyebrows as he spun around to watch as Sev picked at bits of fluff on the soft toy.



“I don’t think he’d want one—” Harry started.



“Or a ginger one, perhaps?” Sev said as he pulled a bright red bear from the pile. “Or maybe there’s a cat in this bin with a book stitched to his paw that you can gift to Miss Granger.”



Harry darted forward and tugged the ginger bear from Sev’s hands. He looked it over before dropping it back into the bin and smiling.



“If we do get one, Ron should get one with ruffles around it’s collar, so it matches his dress robes.”



Sev pushed aside a few more in search for what Eileen assumed was a ruffled bear, but instead he tugged out a stuffed grey dog. She thought it might be a wolf, given it’s pointy ears, but she couldn’t quite tell. She moved slowly around a bin piled high with baby dolls before coming around the other side.



She’d passed out of hearing distance, but she could still see the look in Harry’s eyes when he noticed the dog.



A quiet mix of want, fear and worry seemed to radiate out of him.



She remembered quite suddenly that Sirius Black was an animagus and that Harry likely knew that as well. Eileen would never forgive Black for tormenting her son. Sev had made it clear that Harry had some form of relationship with the man though, however vile he may be. She’d rather never hear of him again, given what had happened between the two when they’d still been in Hogwarts.



Harry reached a nervous finger out and poked at the stuffed dog. He didn’t seem inclined to joke about this one like he had with the other stuffed animals.



Eileen twisted to sort through the footballs and roller skates on her right.



If she’d been in charge of buying toys, she worried she might’ve just bought the whole lot and gone into debt. Margot would likely have gone on holiday if she did. Watching Harry with the toys reminded her too much of Sev when he was small.



He’d preferred stuffed cats then, little ones with white stripes along their sides.



“How much to buy the football?” She asked Margot as she looked up and held the ball outward.




——




Eileen watched as Sev paged through a heavy looking text and worked through the science behind Harry’s cure. Several scribbled over rolls of parchment littered the coffee and end tables and it looked as if Sev would only add more.



“Should I call Harry in? It’s nearly dark.” She asked.



Sev hummed and squinted at his work before looking up. He seemed to have either missed that she’d spoken or forgotten what she’d said in between the millisecond it took for him to look up. He tossed a quick look out the window and they both caught a flash of dark hair as Harry ran after his football before Sev turned back around to speak with her.



“Yes,” He said finally. “Sorry, I was caught up.”



“It’s nothing to worry about, I’m sure Harry appreciates your hard work.”



Sev nodded and rolled his quill between his fingers as he looked back at his work. “He’s frustrated with the effects he experiences. I’d almost rather solve his internal effects before the external, if only to expedite the cure, but I can’t isolate the ingredients and processes he’d need just yet.”



Eileen grimaced. She’s found the small potions kit Sev had grown so attached to as a child, but she always regretted not being more skilled in the art.



“Perhaps you could write Horace?” She asked as the memory of her old potions master came to mind.



“Slughorn?” Sev asked. He shook his head when Eileen nodded. “No, I wouldn’t be able to keep Harry hidden from him, no matter how delicately I handled it. That man has a nose for what he wants and I dread the thought of him discovering I have Harry.”



“Maybe ask about it as a case study? You don’t need to bring up Harry, or anyone involved.”



“Horace would need details to assist though.” Sev said as he pointed to various bullet points on his parchment and slumped into the couch. “He’d need to know which emotional triggers are affected by the potion and how Harry handles them. Even if I never said Harry’s name, Horace might already have some idea about his circumstances. Albus contacted me the first night this began, but he may have contacted Horace as well.” Sev added with a frustrated huff. “Albus has been far too invested in that man lately.”



Eileen hummed a consoling note.



Harry burst into the kitchen then, startling them both as he quickly shut the backdoor.



Eileen leaned back and caught sight of him through the doorway. He stood oddly still on the doormat and looked nervously around the kitchen with his football clutched in his hands. His right knee had a dark green grass stain coated in dirt that looked to be bleeding.



He seemed very unwilling to step off the doormat.



Sev sat up and cocked his head. Eileen paused as well as she waited to watch a new interaction between the two.



She couldn’t decide if she should say something, or if Harry would rather be the one to ask for help.



Harry seemed the type to ask for help when he needed it, though, Sev had mentioned last night that Harry might struggle to tell the difference between when he needed help and when he could handle difficulties independently. Eileen watched as the options seemed to cycle through Harry’s mind. He likely didn’t have any potions on hand to handle a bloody knee, nor could he use magic to clean it up.



He’d only been in Eileen’s house for one day as well, so he wouldn’t know where her wash clothes were.



“Harry?” Sev called after a long moment.



“I erm,” Harry started. “I skinned my knee. Do you have any plasters?” He asked as he twisted and looked at the bathroom door down the hall.



Sev climbed to his feet and circled around Eileen as he pulled a small jar from his pocket.



“I have a cream you can use instead,” Sev said as he knelt and let Harry hand him the ball. “It will take care of it quicker than a plaster.”



Harry clung onto his shoulders as Sev carefully flicked his wand over the small cuts and cleaned away the grass and dirt before going over it with cream. The discomfort Eileen had seen moments ago seemed to vanish as Harry hopped on one foot and smiled upwards once Sev finished.



“You should stay in for the rest of the night I think,” Sev said as he stood. “It’s too dark for me to see you through the window.”



Harry peeked outside and nodded before toeing his trainers off and leaving them on the doormat.



Sev returned to clean the mess in the sitting room and Harry disappeared as well.



Eileen turned to tidy up around the sitting room as she thought. It seemed as though she would just need to be patient and quietly observant if she wanted to see how Sev and Harry truly were. She wanted to string together the small interactions she’d witnessed into something more clear cut and understandable, though without all of the information, she might be misled.



She was aware of several facts, though they lingered on the margins of her thoughts still.



Sev was softer in ways Eileen knew he was always capable of, though he didn’t seem comfortable enough to accept the care he showed Harry for himself.



She worried over what his current interactions with Black and Lupin looked like, but before she could think on it for too long, Harry slipped back down the stairs with the stuffed dog they’d found at the market this afternoon.



He smiled at her before climbing up onto the couch and snuggling into Sev’s side as if to read through his notes with him. Sev tucked him closer still and flipped the page over.



She smiled at the both of them.



If Sev decided to accept himself as worthy of the same care he showed Harry, she had a feeling they’d all be alright.