Chapter 18 - A happy Boy

-II-

Harry stood up and looked over to where Severus and Ivy were sitting on one of the couches.

"Come sit between us, Harry." Ivy patted the couch beside her.

Harry sat down and looked nervously around. In the two armchairs, facing each other, sat James and Healer Wright. They were totally calm as always. On the couch, opposite to Harry and his parents, sat Poppy and Alastor, both looking uncomfortable. "So what's wrong, Poppy? Alastor was behaving weirdly earlier."

"What's the difference to his normal behavior?" Severus muttered, and Ivy shot him a warning glare.

Harry looked, in amusement, at that display. They were starting to behave normal again.

-II-

"Harry, we wanted to talk with you about how much you think you will need of our time," Poppy asked.

"I don't understand. Do you plan to go away or something? I don't want you to go away. I need you."

Poppy sighed. "No, we won't be going away, Harry, but we plan to do something that could keep us very occupied. That could mean we won't always be there if you need us, and you will need to share us with someone."

"Share you? I already share you with hundreds of students and with Eathan and Lysander. You are all acting strangely today. What's going on?"

"We take our responsibility as godparents very serious, Harry. We will always try to be there for you and the twins whenever you need us. Still, we think we could give even more to someone else that could use a family. Our quarters have been very quiet lately."

"I still don't get it, Poppy."

"We would like to ask Victor if he wants us to adopt him, Harry."

Harry's jaw dropped open. How could he not have seen this coming. First, the father and son afternoon, then the relaxing therapy, and lastly, Alastor asking him if it was okay with him if he was spending time with Victor. "That's great! He will be so happy." Harry was excited and couldn't understand the long faces of the adults.

"So, it would be no problem to share us with someone, Harry. You seemed to be showing off quite a lot with us being your godparents, and we had the feeling you really needed us," Alastor asked.

"Of course, I need you, but you are not going away. I'm still allowed to come over whenever I like, right?"

"Of course, Harry. Our quarters are always open for you. That will never change," Poppy assured him.

"Then what's the problem? I will still have you and get something like a big brother in addition."

"Harry, it's still possible that you sometimes might have to accept that we have to care for Victor before giving our time to you."

"You make it sound as if I'm a greedy teenager, who will pout when you play with someone else. I always step in the background if the twins need you, and I can manage it for Victor as well."

"And that's exactly the problem we see in this, Harry," Alastor said seriously.

Harry looked puzzled. Why do adults always have to speak in riddles? Harry thought.

"We don't want you to step in the background. You are our godson, and we are happy about it. You need a lot of attention, and there is so much to make amends for, like your horrible childhood. We fear you will withdraw from us for Victor's sake. That's not what we want, Harry. We are sure we can handle being godparents and parents, but we need to know for sure that you will not withdraw. Sometimes, we may not have time immediately for you, but we we will be there for you later."

"I know that. You are damn important to me. I must say you always seem to be the first and best choice to go to when I'm in some kind of trouble or need someone to talk, but I still know I can go to other people as well. If it doesn't include the family, I can go to Albus and Minerva, and if I have a problem with them, I can count on Thadeus and Elli. And if I don't feel like speaking with any of them, I can still go to Remus, Hagrid, or my friends. There are also James, Henry, and now Healer Wright. I don't think many people can say they have so many people they could go to, right? So stop looking at me as if I would break or become a loner if you adopt Victor. Merlin, he will be so happy. He was speaking of the father and son day the whole night, and he couldn't stop grinning during nap time about the relaxing session with you, Poppy. He will be in heaven when you tell him. I'm sure we will not sleep at all tonight."

"And I'm sure your healers will stop you from doing that, young man," Ivy said sternly and glared him down.

Harry gulped. He had been a bit too hyper to not let that bit of information slip off of him.

"Which reminds me, why don't we go into the park to play that frisky thing?" Severus asked and placed his hand to Harry's neck.

Harry wasn't so sure about him liking his parents' behavior going back to normal again. "Ehm, it's called Frisbee, and I thought we were discussing Victor."

"And I thought you already made it very clear that you have no problems with Victor becoming part of the family. Now, we have time to discuss you again." Severus applied a bit more pressure on Harry's neck, but not too much for it to become painful.

"Ehm...I pulled a prank yesterday."

"A prank?" Poppy asked in puzzlement.

"Yeah, I..." Merlin, he couldn't get Victor in trouble before Alastor and Poppy had adopted him. Harry wasn't afraid that they would change their mind, but he knew that his godparents could be very stern concerning pranks. That wouldn't be a good start for Victor to have to discuss the prank with them. "I tried something I heard. I blocked one of the doors with my wristband."

"You did what?" Ivy asked.

It seemed that only Severus already knew about it since he wasn't surprised to hear about it. "Ehm, yeah, it was just a joke, Mom. I wanted to annoy the visitors a bit, and then I wanted to leave, but Healer Jacob came, so I couldn't get away."

"You find it funny to hold visitors up from visiting their ill relatives?" Ivy asked.

"No! You make it sound so bad."

"It is bad, Harry."

"It was just a prank, Mom. I just prevented them from seeing their relatives for a few minutes, not the whole day."

The squeeze on his neck and the glare his mother sent his way made it clear that his parents saw it differently. Harry looked over to James for help.

"They have already been punished," James said.

Every person in the room, except of the healers and Harry, exclaimed, "They?"

Harry groaned and duck his head.

"Yes, they were in a pair. Victor and Harry went through two of the forbidden doors, and then blocked one door closed with their wristbands. Healer Jacob recognized them before they could run away."

"Run away? Harry, what were you thinking?" Ivy asked.

"I wasn't thinking. Have you ever seen Healer Jacob? I would under no circumstances let him drag me all the way here. My arm, ear, or whatever he could use to move me would be dead by then."

James lifted his hand. For Harry, it looked like he was bored, but in reality, the healer needed to hide his grin. When he had composed himself again, he said, "They both had an early bedtime yesterday and are forbidden to go into the park for two days."

"Did you know about this, Severus?" Ivy asked with accusation in her tone.

"I just heard about it before you arrived. I had no time to tell you," Severus replied.

Ivy sighed, but seemed to not being mad at him. To Harry's bad luck, her anger was directed at him. "I find it not a least bit amusing that you prevented the visitors from seeing their ill loved ones, Harry. And I'm even more angry that you obviously don't understand what that means. How would you feel if someone stopped us from coming here by blocking the Floo? If I had told you I would be coming over at two but wasn't here by then, wouldn't you worry?"

"Please, Mom, I'm sorry. I already promised, to Healer Jacob and James, that I won't do it again."

"Harry, do you understand why your mother is so angry?" Healer Wright asked.

"Yes, it wasn't okay to rob some patients a few minutes of their visit with their loved ones. I wouldn't want this to happen to me. I'm always so happy when someone comes, and I want every minute of it." Severus' grip lessened, and he started to slowly draw circles on Harry's neck. "I didn't think about this when we did it. I wanted to feel normal again. I like it when I do adventurous things, and it felt like that."

"Can you understand Harry's way of seeing the things, Mrs. Snape?"

Ivy sighed. "Yes, even if it is hard for me. I definitely don't like his adventurous streak. It makes my mother's heart bleed in worry. You don't know what ideas he can come up with, Healer Wright."

"I can imagine, Mrs. Snape. That prank was one of the harmless ones, and he has already been punished. Do we agree?"

"Yes," Ivy said in defeat.

"So, why don't you and your husband spend the last thirty minutes until curfew with your son. When you see Victor, please send him here to us."

Severus and Ivy stood up, while Harry threw one last glance over to his godparents. "You still will adopt him, right?"

"If he wants us to, we will do it," Alastor confirmed.

"It would not be good to start scolding him and-" A hand on his neck made him stop.

"I think we will let Alastor and Poppy decide about that." With that said, Severus led Harry out of the room.

The moment Harry was out of the room, he asked the question that had been burning in his soul for some time. "Ehm, Dad...I was wondering about flying."

"You were wondering about flying?" Severus repeated since he had no clue about what Harry was speaking about.

"Yeah, ehm...Mom said something that indicated that I maybe wouldn't be allowed to fly again."

"So, you ask me and not your mother if you understood her correctly?"

"No, he ask you because he hopes you will tell him something else, Severus," Ivy said from Harry's bed. "Come here, Harry."

Harry sighed. That didn't sound good at all.

"You know that we don't want to torture you, Harry, but we can't let you fly."

"But why not?"

"Because your body isn't strong enough at the moment. You need good reflexes, strength, and concentration for flying."

"I had a test with Henry today, and it showed that I still have good reflexes."

"We know all about the results of Henry's tests, Harry," Severus said as he sat down on a chair that he pulled close to Harry. "Still, like your mother already said, it is too dangerous right now. As soon as you have gained weight and Healer Jacob and James give their okay, you can fly again."

Harry groaned. "Can I fly under supervision?"

"No, Harry, and that is final. Don't you think we should talk about school instead?"

Harry looked shocked at Severus. "Henry and James said they would let me attend school. You won't decide against them, will you?"

Severus sighed and looked at Ivy.

"No, we won't go against their decision, but for the first time, we really were considering other opinions and discussed hard about it," Ivy explained.

"But you will let me attend classes?" Harry needed to hear it.

"We will, but we will watch you closely, Harry," Severus said warningly.

That was all Harry needed. He was relieved. He would prove to them that he was capable of doing it.

/

Severus and Ivy had left when the night nurse came to say it was curfew. That was five minutes ago, and Victor still wasn't back yet. Slowly, Harry became worried.

When Victor finally came into their room, Harry didn't dare ask him how it had been.

"Are you sleeping, Harry?"

"No, how are you?"

"I still can't believe it. I'm no longer alone, Harry," Victor whispered, while he sat down on Harry's bed.

"So, did you agree?"

"What? Of course, I agreed. Who wouldn't, Harry. Your godparents are awesome."

"Your adoptive parents are awesome," Harry said, grinning at Victor.

"I don't dare think like that before it really happens."

"It already happened, Victor. I know my godparents. They would never change their minds."

"Are you sure?" Victor asked a bit fearful.

"Of course. Stop worrying!" Harry petted Victor's shoulder and was shocked when Victor suddenly threw himself at him.

"Thank you, Harry. Thank you, so much, for giving me a family."

"Ehm...it wasn't me, Victor."

"Of course, it was you," Victor said and took Harry by the shoulders. "Without you, I would have never met them, and you allowed them to adopt me!"

"I didn't allow them to adopt you. Damn, Victor. They had this idea anchored in their minds since the father and son day. I was so stupid to not see it. Even if I would have pleaded to them not to adopt you, in the end, they would have done it nevertheless. That's how they are. And I love that you are coming to Hogwarts. We can be like brothers. Our families are very close, and even during the summer, we will spend time at the same place. Our houses are only a short distance apart, and we can see each other almost every day. I can show you my swamp horse and our mansion. It's really cool!"

Victor put a huge smile on his face. "Yeah, that will be great. I always wanted to have a brother, and we will have a hell of a summer, won't we?"

"Absolutely!"

"Boys, bedtime. So lights out!" the night nurse said.

Too many fantastic ideas were running through Harry's head, so he couldn't sleep. Victor was tossing himself from one side of his bed to the other, and in the end, they both started to whisper about what they would do during the summer. Harry told him of the Orkney Islands, where the Dumbledore-Snape Mansion was and about what he had already seen there. He also told Victor all he knew about Alastor and Poppy's house in the woods.

When the door opened, both boys tried to pretend to be asleep. "Nice try, boys, but you can't trick me. It's a calming draught for the both of you tonight."

They both groaned at the same time. So Victor knew about the potion as well. Harry was the first to take it, and quickly, he was asleep after a short bout of dizziness.