Severus Snape had a secret.

Actually, he probably had at least a hundred of them, but there was one no one ever knew...no, not even Lily. When he had been younger, the realization had been confusing and then later amusing, exciting even, until he became older and began to think it embarrassing. Reaching adulthood, Severus deeply feared it...unless very slowly over the years he began to accept it.

Because the truth was...he had always wanted to be a father.

His own childhood had not inspired this, obviously, but rather of what it could have been. Throughout his life, Severus had secretly filled his head with silly fantasies involving him teaching a little boy how to read or delighting a small girl with an act of magic, such as the floating bubbles in which Lily had been so fond of. A son or daughter in which to bestow his wisdom, protect and who would always love him so fondly; he wasn't picky. Yet the moment he'd had that awful Dark Mark branded to his skin and then as gradual consequence, dealt with the painful loss of Lily that fateful night she had been killed...his little dream had vanished to the depths of his mind.

In his eyes, the mother of such a child in whom he could adore, raise, and teach...it was always Lily. And with her gone, so went his last shred of hope at a normal life; normal for him, anyway.

And then one dreadfully cold night, four years after her death, Severus was startled from his misery by a loud yet unmistakably magical sound outside his front door. This was strange, seeing as he lived in an entirely muggle area, having turned down Dumbledore's offer to work at Hogwarts. Voldemort was truly dead; he had no other ambitions other than to simply survive, although without Lily he could hardly call it that.

Rising cautiously from his armchair by the dying fire, Severus withdrew his wand from habit and approached the door, hearing only the wind and rain on the other side. Then there was a small sound that somehow, amidst the weather and everyday noises outside, Severus could have sworn he'd heard the smallest hint of sobbing. He reached and pulled open the door so quickly that it startled the small boy that shivered, cried, and huddled on his doorstep.

Turning to stare at the man towering over him with alarm, the child stumbled backwards and shook with fear as well as cold.

Severus glanced around the street and wondered where the boy had come from. The child was quite small, skinny, and dressed in the most horrid rag-like clothes he had ever seen, and given his own poor background...that was really saying something. His curiosity was burned away by his intense anger, having seen a glimpse of a large hand print-like bruise on the child's cheek as well as a mark on the small wrist.

'You will catch your death out here, boy.' Severus tried not to let his bitter tone be heard, although there was little he could do to prevent it. Years of misery did that to a person. The boy looked past him to the warmer, drier interiors of the house but did not budge, clearly frightened and yet unsure.

'Get inside!' Severus frowned as he too was getting wet now from the winds blowing the raining water into his face.

The boy jerked at the louder tone and scurried inside, allowing just enough room for the door to slam shut behind him. Severus did not at all condone any child to so willing enter the house of any stranger, however he ignored that as he focused only on the situation at hand.

Extracting his wand while the boy was busy staring around at the darkened living room, Severus cast drying and warming charms on the child. He moved to return to his armchair and sighed heavily as he pondered on what to do now.

'What's your name?' Severus asked.

'I-I dunno know, sir.' The child gulped fearfully. 'How did I get here?'

'You showed up on my doorstep, you tell me.' Severus wondered how the child who was clearly old enough to speak and use the bathroom himself could possibly not know his own name.

'I dun't rem'ber.' The boy stared at the floor sadly.

'Stand near the fire.' Severus instructed as the child still shivered lightly although he now doubted it was from the cold.

The boy did so, and it was then that his young face emerged fully into view and Severus could not contain his gasp. The child had black hair and the most stunning yet familiar pair of emerald green eyes that Severus had only ever seen on one other person. Swallowing nervously and afraid to get his hopes up, he carefully reached out and ignored the boy's flinch as he moved to brush a few strands of hair from the boy's forehead.

Yes, it was there...the tell-tale scar.

'Harry.' He whispered.

'Is that m-my name?' The boy gulped, not sure what to think of this man that was just as strange to him as everything else.

'It is.' Severus leaned back as though he couldn't be near the boy any more.

Standing before him with the obvious appearance of neglect and vulnerability was Lily's son. The very boy who had in one way or another had been what Severus envied most about James Potter. It was that Gryffindor git that achieved the dream Severus had so desperately wanted...to be the father of Lily's child.

But this boy was an orphan...and somehow he had found Severus through his magic and no doubt during such a moment of trauma, erased his own memories in order to protect himself further. The man could not help it...everything was far too convenient. This little boy had the chance to either retrieve his memories and return to a place where he is clearly unloved, or be given a new life with a man who was lacking a family just as much as he was.

'Who are you?' Harry frowned although he still had that timid and scared nature about him, in everything but his curious eyes.

'A-are you my daddy?'

Severus stared wide-eyed at the child that had just asked him such a question. The boy was a fool! He could easily lie to him and no doubt the child would believe it! What was he thinking, entering a stranger's house and asking such things? And yet...a darker and more selfish part of Severus awoke with such a question.

Did the boy have anywhere else to go? No, unless he was adopted by another family. And would they be able to tell him of his parents if he asked when he was older? Not unless they were a magical family. Would a magical family treat him as anything other than the famous Potter boy? No, he would become a spoiled brat! Could you love him as your own, provide him with anything he may need, and in doing so release your grudge against James Potter, the boy's biological father?

For Lily and her son...anything.

'Yes.' Severus answered slowly, half expecting the boy to know it was lie and reject him as such. He felt terribly guilty at first for making such a false claim, and yet if he were to become the boy's father, and in most aspects it could be considered as truth.

'Y-you are?' Harry instantly calmed until anger filled his face. 'Why was I ou'side?' He looked around the room. 'Do I live here too? Where's mum?' Suddenly he paused and terror filled his eyes as he clasped a hand over his mouth.

'I-I'm sorry, I'm not s'posed to ask quest'ons!'

Severus remained silent for a moment and decided that the less lies he had to keep track of, the better. Besides, he was done spying and putting up a front for the sake of someone else, he would much rather be honest.

'You lived with your aunt and uncle.' Severus recalled. 'I do not know what happened, however it appears as though they are in competent guardians and in being so, mistreated you in ways no child should endure.' He scowled. 'Through your accidental magic, you have brought yourself here.' Severus sighed although he still could not fathom as to why the boy would choose this place of all locations.

'Had I known you were so terribly unhappy and uncared for, I promise you, Harry...I would never have let you live with those muggles.'

'Wha's a muggle?' Harry frowned. 'An akidentel...what?'

'It is irrelevant right now.' Severus brushed it off as a discussion for another day. 'You are here now.'

'Why dun't I rem'ber?'

Severus cringed at the boy's vocabulary and vowed to fix it as soon as possible. 'It is likely a result of your magic trying to protect you.' He answered and was glad that the boy had lost his fear of asking questions, although they were beginning to rather annoy him.

'Something I also believe would have consumed a great deal of your energy, nothing a full night's sleep can't fix, however.' Severus changed the topic and glanced over at a nearby armchair, raising his wand to transfigure it into a small sofa. Harry gasped loudly and jumped away from it, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open with shock.

'As I said...magic.' Severus smirked as he rose from his chair.

'Come.' He nudged the boy towards the stairs and quickly withdrew his hand when he realized how fragile the child felt.

Reaching down, he lifted the boy into his arms and rested him against his hip. His nerves began to fade as Severus felt how natural it felt to be holding the boy as though they had been father and son for years. Feeling Harry grasp his robes, Severus turned and climbed the stairs to enter the bathroom and placed the boy back on the floor.

--

After ten minutes, Severus stared at the little boy who sat in the warm bath water covered with foamy bubbles. He never realized that something as seemingly simple as a bath could be such a hassle. Water temperature, quantity, bubble calculations, did he have any toys still lying around somewhere...is all gave him a headache. And finally, the small boy was sitting in the water and staring back at him.

The child wasn't shivering, burning red, screaming protests, nor drowning. Mission accomplished.

'Don't move.' Severus instructed the boy firmly, who nodded instantly as though fearful of what would happen if he didn't obey. Severus moved to a small cupboard under the sink and fished out a few toys he had stashed there as a child in efforts to hide them. No one ever used that cupboard and they'd never been discovered, and yet he had refused to get them out again because by the time he was brave enough to risk it, he no longer had any desire for them.

Severus turned and was relieved to notice that the boy hadn't budged an inch. Returning to the tub, he dropped the toys in front of the child and proceeded to find some soap and a washer.

'You can move now.' Severus said with amusement.

Harry exhaled his held breath and lowered his gaze to the toys in front of him. Hesitantly, he reached out and grabbed the squishy octopus and shoved it under the water so it could absorb the warm liquid while he moved to “steer” a little boat through the bubbles. These were muggle toys and therefore the boy had to make the sound effects himself, which for now only consisted of a few hushed swishing and what sounded like cannons firing into the bubbles, which often acted as dangerous barriers to the boat.

Gaining confidence in his game and that Severus wasn't interfering; Harry dramatically lifted the octopus from the water and squeezed it. The boy let out a loud squeal of laughter when water squirted from everywhere, getting him more than the boat.

Stepping away from the line of fire, Severus crossed his arms and decided to let the child play for a while. He had a unsettling feeling that despite being around five-years-old, this was the first time Harry had been able to really enjoy such an innocent game since...being placed with his muggle relatives.

--

After a few more minutes, the toy boat filled with water and sank to the bottom of the tub, with Harry exclaiming this loss loudly while Severus winced at the tone. The boy still had that water-spraying octopus clutched in his hand so Severus kept his distance for now. Moving his hand through the water, Harry lifted a pale rubber duck and had it battle the octopus, making them sound angry and determined as they squirted water and he splashed around amongst the bubbles.

Harry gasped as the duck slipped from his hand and disappeared into the bubbles.

'It seems that octopus won't be defeated.' Severus told him as he cautiously inched closer and went to extract the toy from the boy's grip.

'No!' Harry had become attached to the magenta-coloured object and held it tighter, causing Severus to back away as he received a face of water.

'Sorry!' The child dropped the toy and stared wide-eyed at the disgruntled wizard.

'The fault is mine.' Severus grumbled as he snatched a nearby towel to wipe his face. Really, he should have known that would happen and instead asked for the toy rather than attempt to take it.

'We need to get your clean now.' Severus approached the tub again, thankful that the toy had vanished from the boy's grip.

'Okay.' Harry sighed and watched every movement the man made as he got a washer charmed for softness and began to clean him.

Severus discovered the boy was ticklish and smiled a little at the wide grin the boy showed whenever he tried to squirm away. It had taken until fourth year for Lily to have outgrown it enough to not fall victim to his tickling whenever he had the chance to sneak up on her. It was to his to his horror that he one day discovered that he had a rather tickle-sensitive spot as well, which she had glorified in finding. He wore collared clothes quite often after that day, lest his neck betray him again.

As Severus turned to get the shampoo bottle, Harry took the chance to reach out to the bubbles and gave himself a hat and beard.

'Look, look!' Harry grinned to point it out. Severus couldn't help the short chuckle that escaped his lips at the silly sight.

'Hey!' The boy frowned when Severus removed the bubbles from his head to begin rubbing shampoo into his dark, messy hair. 'You wrecked my hat.' He huffed.

'I had assumed you do not wish to wait until the water becomes cold in order to get clean?' Severus pointed out.

The child's silence was the only answer he needed. As he continued to wash the boy's poorly tended to hair, Harry moved the last toy he'd found, a blue sea serpent, through the water and dissolving bubbles.

When finished, Severus stepped back to let the boy determine who was better between the octopus and the sea serpent. Once the eight-legged toy was finally defeated, he waved his wand and the plug lifted to drain the water. He grabbed a towel (after placing a softness charm on it), and lifted the boy from the tub. Standing on the mat, Harry shivered until the faded orange towel was wrapped around him as Severus dried him.

'Thunk you for let'ing me play wif your toys, sir.' The boy whispered just before his head vanished under the towel and Severus began to work on drying the boy's hair.

'They're yours now.' Severus replied as he had no real use for them anymore, not even sentimental value, and Harry had more fun with them in half an hour than he had his entire life.

'Re'lly?' Harry gasped from under the material.

'Yes, really.' Severus rolled his eyes as he lowered the towel and snorted in an undignified manner at the sight that met him. Harry stared up at him with a surprised expression while his hair had taken on a rather fizzy form.

'What?' Harry frowned at the look he was being given.

'Nothing.' Severus shook his head and ran his hands through the mostly dried hair to flatten it. Or the best he could, seeing as the Potter mop refused to obey. Typical.

Severus was glad he'd become pack-rat with his childhood belongings as he had been able to find a few pieces of clothing that could be only slightly modified to fit Harry; such as his faded navy blue pajamas with once-golden stars on them. They fit the boy in all places other than in length, such as the hems at the child's ankles and wrists needed to be adjusted to reveal Harry's pink toes and water-wrinkled fingers.

Severus waved his wand and the toys were as dry as the bath as they hovered to return to the shelves, the towel also dried as it folded itself and returned to where it belonged in the linen closet. He turned to leave but paused at the wide-eyed boy who was completely in awe of what had just happened.

'H-how...?'

'Magic.' Severus said again as he bent to pick the boy up preferring to carry the child as he was making the most of this situation as possible. Harry squirmed and positioned himself so that he could look over Severus' shoulder towards where the magic had taken place, even if the bathroom was now entirely out of sight.

Severus placed the boy on a chair at the small table in the kitchen and moved about to give the too-skinny boy something to eat before he went to bed to rest off the child's use of accidental magic that had brought him there.

'Wher's your fam'ly?' Harry wondered as he focused on the man before him once again.

Severus said nothing as he placed a bowl of silence apple pieces and a glass of milk in front of the child. Harry looked at him for a moment and then reached for some apple with a sad expression.

'I dun't have a fam'ly left eith'a.'

'Than I suppose since we both lack a family, than we can make our own.' Severus said as the boy look up at him. 'I already stated that I am your father now, therefore I have gained a son. Is that not what a family is?'

This boosted Harry's mood tremendously as he nodded his head and grinned. Severus sat across from the boy as he ate and stared at the surface of the table, deep in thought about what he was going to do. How could he raise such an impressionable young boy like Harry when he had no clue how to? The closest he's really come to “family” is when he read it's meaning in the dictionary or watched Lily's parents from afar.

A light-hearted chuckling brought his attention from his thoughts and he looked over at Harry, who had formed a happy face with his slice of apple acting as his grinning mouth.

'I do hope you intent to eat that.' Severus smiled, which was becoming a habit around the boy because he rarely ever felt so...content? Amused? Normal?

He shivered at the last word.

Harry responded by shoving the piece of apple into his mouth and munching it cheekily. Once the last piece was consumed, Severus stood to return to plate to the kitchen while Harry sipped the entire half a glass of milk.

'Thunk-you.' He added.

Severus didn't think a simple snack was much to thank him for as he paused beside the child and reached over to brush the milk mustache from the boy's lip with his thumb. Watching the child look around and let out a yawn, Severus knew it was time for bed.

He hadn't bothered to transfigure the couch into a bed as it was plenty large enough for the small child. Severus wasn't too comfortable about leaving the boy downstairs on his own while he rested upstairs in his bedroom, yet felt confident with the charms in addition to the wards in place. Placing a pillow at one end, Severus waited until the child had climbed onto the lounged and rested his head against it before he spread the light blue blanket over the boy.

'I promise, if you need anything, I'll be just upstairs.' Severus said.

'Pwomis?' Harry stared at him with nervous eyes. '

'Yes.' Severus nodded. 'You needn't fear whilst you are here. This is your home now too.'

'I nev'r had a home b'fore.' Harry smiled sleepily as he was tucked in and his eyes began to close momentarily. It seemed he had some memories but the others were vacant; Severus wasn't sure what to think of that fact. He had, however, expected to be requested for a story but was thankful that the child was too exhausted to remain awake any further.

Sighing, Severus rose and moved to the armchair across from the boy, getting himself comfortable as he proceeded to just watch the bundled, sleeping form of innocence and trust that had somehow accepted him, as the boy's mother had before him.

--

Severus stayed in that chair for at least two hours, just watching over Lily's child with a smile. Soon he became quite tired himself and with a dejected slump of his shoulders, he stood and made his way upstairs to his own bed.

Severus woke early the next morning to having a little boy cuddled against him; her child.

Perhaps it would be okay to look after the boy a little longer than he'd planned. Yes, Lily wouldn't mind since he surely wouldn't be as bad as those muggles. Severus was confident enough that Lily would be okay with him watching over her child, just for a little while...

'An owl, rat, cat or toad.' Harry read aloud from his letter and looked up at his black-cloaked father at his side as they stepped into Diagon Alley. 'Can I have a pet?'

'I cannot see why not.' Severus replied as he scanned the crowd around them for a brief moment. 'I assume you understand the responsibly involved in such?’

‘Yeah.’ Harry nodded as he folded his letter and placed it into the pocket of his pants as he turned to look around at the stores.

His interest was scattered, as though he was used to coming here at least monthly for many years. He spotted a new store where colourful, magic bubbles were erupting from the windows and rushed over to laugh with the other two children there that were also playing with them.

Severus sighed as he watched his son laughing amongst the bubbles and recalled the shy little boy he had once been, who following the first successful month in Severus’ care had taken to cuddling one of his cloaks he had found in the bottom of his wardrobe when the child had slept in his bed following a nightmare. Severus had spelled it into a blanket that the boy still treasured and intended to stash in his trunk, hoping his father and friends wouldn’t know.

And still the adorable picture of the five-year-old child shyly cuddling the clock close while his hair and emerald eyes were all that emerged from behind it, made Severus smile even to this day.

Discreetly, of course.

It had been a long six years and they’d both had plenty to learn. Such as to never trust smiling Dumbledores; when Severus had finally gathered the courage to inform the man of how he’d legally (well, by muggle terms and making sure Petunia sighed the papers), adopted Harry as his son, the man had merely smiled warmly and offered Harry a bag of lemon drops.

The result that night was Harry sick with sugar over-indulgence and Severus with a raging headache that his potions seemed unable to cure.

They’d never had such a testing or tiring night as two years ago when Harry had questions about his returned memories and demanded an explanation. Severus had told him everything about that first night and some more about the boy’s history. The child had proceeded to run to his room, slam the door, cry for an hour, and then run into Severus’ arms and plead him never to sent him back to the Dursleys because he wanted to have him as his father forever.

Severus had been stunned, touched, and more than happy to oblige.

‘Wow, look at it!’ The boy called over to him and Severus looked towards the Quidditch store, thinking that the Potter tendencies were coming through and the boy was examining the new Nimbus 2000 broomstick. He wasn’t there. Than Harry must be at the bookstore, gushing over the new leader-bound storybooks like Lily had.

Or not.

Severus smiled as he saw his son pointing into the window of the Apocathary, grinning over the new and rare stock of coloured beetles from Egypt and Rome.

‘I haven’t got those ones yet.’ Harry said. ‘Weren’t you looking for them too?’

‘I was.’ Severus nodded as he joined the boy’s side and placed a hand on his shoulder; he had found so much more than a few ingredients. Severus had gained the knowledge that he had finally got his wish and achieved the dream he had so bashfully longed for…a son.

He watched Harry scan over his Hogwarts letter again and felt proud of the child who was in no way biologically his, who wore Lily’s eyes and endured Potter tendencies. Yet…Harry was not longer her child, not really. Severus was confident of that as he watched the boy who had bypassed the broomsticks and books to favor his budding interest in creating various delightful or useful potions.

Harry was his child.