Harry had always been that kid.

You know. The one who was always left out of projects for the holidays because he didn’t have any parents to make Christmas presents for, he didn’t have a mother to invite to the Mother’s Day tea party, he didn’t have a father to make a Father’s Day card for.

The teachers were always so ill at ease with the parentless students. They knew that you couldn’t do the project like everyone else yet they’d still try to get you to participate. “You don’t have to make it for your parents, Harry. How about your grandparents? Oh… Well, you live with your aunt and uncle, don’t you? Make it for them!”

It was a nice effort, and Harry had tried it once. Aunt Petunia had thrown his Mother’s Day card in the trash after hanging Dudley’s on the fridge, and Harry decided then not to bother with trying to make Uncle Vernon something for Father’s Day.

He decided to stop reminding the teachers that he didn’t have any parents to make presents for, too. Instead, he did the projects as he was told, writing Happy Christmas, Happy Mother’s Day, Happy Father’s Day, and signing empty “I love you’s” to people who did not exist for him. He decided not to throw them away like Aunt Petunia had done with his either, and instead saved them like she had with Dudley’s presents. He kept them under the mattress on the cot in his cupboard like he did with all other things that were precious to him, which really didn’t amount to much.

Harry often wondered what it would be like to have a parent who treasured his handmade gifts like Aunt Petunia did with Dudley, a parent who didn’t see his presence as a nuisance. Maybe that’s why he kept these things, for the hope that someday, maybe, he’d have someone he could give them to. Someone who would treat them as a keepsake, someone who would treat him like something of value.

Maybe someday.

***

Severus Snape had adopted Harry the summer after his first year, but Harry hadn’t felt comfortable sharing his personal treasures with him until the next summer. Even then, he was unsure if it was the right thing to do or if his new guardian would think it was stupid and pathetic to have kept such things and to give them to him now. Professor Snape had obviously only adopted Harry because he felt sorry for him and wanted to take him away from the Dursleys, so he might not even appreciate being given a Father’s Day present at all. He likely wouldn’t care one bit for the cheap paper crafts Harry had kept from his primary school days.

Still, Harry couldn’t bring himself to simply let the day pass by without acknowledging it, and he didn’t know any other way to approach it other than the way he had been fantasizing about for the majority of his life.

Harry was too shy to give the remnants of his lonely childhood directly to Severus, so he had snuck downstairs after bedtime and left it on the kitchen counter by the coffee pot where he knew Severus was sure to see it first thing in the morning.

Harry watched him through the stair rails, though his back was turned so he couldn’t see his facial expression. Severus picked up the bundle and flicked through it, absently turning on the coffee pot before going to sit down at the table with the stack of papers.

It was more than just Father’s Day cards. It was Christmas presents, report cards and unsigned permission slips. Basically, anything the teachers had told the class to give to their parents, Harry had kept hoping to one day have someone to give it to.

Severus stayed at the table looking through his projects for a long time, long after the coffee pot had beeped signaling that it was ready. Harry grew even more nervous watching him, and wondered what his reaction would be.

At long last, Severus got up from the table and started to come upstairs and Harry scrambled up from the stairs and stood tensely, unsure if he should bolt to his room or stay put and act as though he was going downstairs. The choice was soon taken away from him as Severus made his way up the stairs, pausing when he saw the bashful boy at the top.

“Good morning, Harry. What’s all this?” Severus asked softly, gesturing toward the papers in his hands.

Harry flushed, looking down at his hands. “It’s um, cards and stuff I made in primary school for you. I mean, not necessarily for you, but…” he trailed off before finding some brevity inside himself and looked directly at Severus. “I kept them because I hoped that one day I might have a parent I could actually give them to, and now because of you I do, so… thank you.”

Severus’ eyes softened and he motioned for Harry to come toward him and pulled him into a hug. It was honestly one of the saddest things he’d seen from the boy so far, and Harry had a lot of skeletons in the closet so that was saying a lot. The childish cards he had made were quite heartbreaking to read, knowing that he hadn’t been actually writing to anyone in particular, but rather to the idea of love and affection. But knowing that Harry had finally come to receive the love and care he deserved made it easier to bear, and Severus was honored that Harry had trusted him enough to show him this very personal part of himself.

“I love you,” Harry mumbled into his chest, and his heart swelled as this was the first time he’d actually heard the boy say it to him.

“I love you, too,” Severus murmured, squeezing him tightly. “I’m so thankful that you’ve become my son. I wish I could have been there for you in the past.”

“It’s okay,” Harry said softly. He finally had what he’d always wanted. “You’re here now. Happy Father’s Day.”