For Harry, many things made sense. Like how he could always count on Hermione to talk about studying in her letters. Some things did not, but he knew someday they would. Like what really was so great about kissing?

Other things he was sure were mysteries beyond human understanding, and would never be found out. Like why all the girls (and some of the boys) at Hogwarts seemed to fancy Professor Lockhart. Or why his former professor (now dad) seemed to like getting sandwiches from Professor Sprout and talking to Professor Flitwick and arguing with Professor McGonagall.

Equally confusing was all the time his dad spent with Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy. After the incident when they were shopping for school supplies, his dad seemed to spend a lot of time with Ron and Draco's dads. It was weird. According to Ron, Mr. Weasley really hated Mr. Malfoy. Even Draco seemed confused about what happened. The blonde boy seemed curious enough to even stop making fun of him, Ron, and Hermione long enough to have a conversation from time to time. Well, mostly.  

It had started with Dobby showing up. Dad had tricked the house elf into saying he belonged to the Malfoys. He hadn't gotten much more out of Dobby before he vanished, but apparently, it had made his dad extremely suspicious when they met Mr. Malfoy and Draco in Flourish and Blotts. Harry and his dad had gone with the Weasleys and the Grangers to get school things, and his dad saw Mr. Malfoy slip something into Ginny's cauldron.

Looking back, he was fairly sure his dad went crazy at that moment. Completely bonkers.

He didn't hear what his dad said to Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy, but his dad took them both outside the bookstore. He and Ron could see the three of them talking through the window, but couldn't hear anything. Whatever his dad said must have been impactful, according to Hermione. And had something to do with the diary that Mr. Malfoy had tried to give Ginny. Because now the three of them seemed to spend tons of time together.

He was fairly sure Mr. Weasley and Mr. Malfoy still hated each other though. His dad complained about their bickering every time the three of them got back from ‘doing a favor for Dumbledore.' 

The first thing they did together was destroy the diary. Harry didn't know all the details about that. Mr. Malfoy caught him eavesdropping when he and Mr. Weasley had come to Hogwarts to talk with his dad about destroying the diary. He'd gotten into a lot of trouble. But before they'd kicked him out he'd managed to hear that they needed to talk to Hagrid about something called a Basilisk and getting its venom.

It was all very confusing.

Most confusing of all, however, was how his most hated professor had somehow turned into his dad. Not that Harry minded, too much. It was nice knowing he had a parent. He could talk to his dad about things he couldn't talk to his friends about. And - even though he'd never admit it - he rather liked it when his dad checked up on him and made sure he was eating enough and doing his homework.

He could do without talking about his grades so much, though.

He could also do without having to explain to his dad - every time - how he ended up in detention. No one else at Hogwarts had to do that. That was definitely unfair.

Just like how it was unfair when his dad took time off to 'do a favor for Dumbledore,' but he wasn't allowed to take extra time off to visit his grandparents. He'd only just got grandparents! He had a lot of missed time to make up for!

"Harry?" he heard his dad's voice calling him from his bedroom.

"Yeah?" Harry was waiting impatiently in his father's sitting room, his school bag and a backpack filled with clothes were waiting by the door. "Are you ready to go yet?"

His father appeared at the door to his bedroom, "Do you remember when you at least pretended to have some respect for me? Do you think you could try doing that again?"

Harry grinned, "Probably not. Can we go now? Christmas holidays will be over, and we won't even have left!"

"Brat," his dad declared and rolled his eyes before he disappeared back into his bedroom. "Are you sure you packed everything? I'm not coming back here because you forgot something."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Yes!"

"Toothbrush and toothpaste?"

"Yes!"

"Hairbrush?"

"Yes!"

"Plenty of underwear?"

"Yes! Dad! Come on!"

Harry's eyes grew wide, and he waited for his dad to appear in the doorway. Would he be angry? Sure, he'd been calling his dad ‘dad' in his head for a few weeks, but he'd never said it aloud. It wasn't something they'd even talked about. And his dad liked talking about things.

Really, liked talking about things.

And definitely didn't like surprises.

"What about pants and shirts? Did you pack at least one nice outfit in case we go out somewhere?"

Harry forgot how to answer. Hadn't his dad heard what he'd said? How couldn't he? Would he be angry? They hadn't talked about him being called ‘dad.' What if he didn't like it?

A moment later, his dad walked out of the bedroom carrying a large bag of his own and came over to the chair where Harry was waiting.

His dad mussed up his hair. "Well?"

Harry just looked up at him. "What?"

His dad rubbed the bridge of his nose with his thumb and index finger. "I asked if you remembered to pack a nice outfit in case we go out."

"Oh." Harry blinked. "Um, yeah. I did."

His dad nodded. "Alright, son, let's go. If we're late, I'll never hear the end of it from your grandmother."

Harry grinned. "Okay, Dad."