Severus debated long and hard about taking Harry to the local firework display on the Fifth of November. It was on a school night and he was usually pretty strict about the boy’s schedule. Harry was only seven and was still pretty timid and shy, despite living with Severus since May that year. If Severus could get away with harming the Dursley’s he would have done it a long time ago! But for now he had Harry’s welfare to look out for.
He didn’t know how Harry would react to the large crowd guaranteed to be at the local firework display and the loud noises but at the same time he didn’t want Harry to be one of the few children in his class who hadn’t been to the display. Although still shy, Harry had really started to settle in well to his muggle primary school in the town they were currently living in. Severus had even hosted a Halloween party for some of Harry’s friends the previous weekend and Harry had really enjoyed himself after initially being a little hesitant. And Severus really wanted to help build upon that.
In the end he decided that they would go to the Firework display. It was an annual display on the day that muggles in Britain envisioned what it would have looked like if Guy Fawkes had succeeding in blowing up the Houses of Parliament on the Fifth of November 1605. He had told Harry the day before that they would be going and he had seemed equal parts excited and nervous. But Severus had put the strict guideline on that Harry would be going straight to bed when they got in. Severus was in the playground on time for when Harry finished school, and he was stood on the outskirts of a group of parents. Harry quickly made his way towards him when he spotted him as he crossed the playground with a group of his friends.
They walked home hand in hand as the sun began to set and twilight descended. The temperature had dropped as well and Severus was going to have to make sure that Harry was wrapped up warmly tonight. But now that he had made his mind up that they were going, he was determined to go through with the plan. Once home, he sent Harry upstairs to get changed, he’d put out a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a jumper for the boy earlier. He was a little surprised when Harry appeared downstairs in the grey jumper with bats on that he had gave the boy as a Halloween present instead of the jumper he had laid out, but he didn’t say anything.
Severus dished out their tea and decided it would probably be easier to sit at the kitchen worktop than in the dining room tonight since they were going to be going out soon. Harry ate most of his chicken nuggets, French fries and sweetcorn without complaint and Severus had got in an apple and blackberry pie for dessert.
Soon enough Harry was wrapped up in his winter coat, with his scarf, hat and gloves on and they were ready to head to the firework display. Like on Halloween, Harry was nervous about heading out in the dark in a large group of people. And this time he didn’t have his friend Lollie’s hand to hold. But he seemed excited as well as nervous, although he kept a tight grip upon his guardian’s hand.
Harry got more and more nervous the closer to the time the firework display was due to start got and Severus was debating calling the whole thing off and taking Harry home. But Harry had been nervous before his Halloween party the weekend before and about trick or treating and he had eventually enjoyed both immensely. And the only way Severus could think of to undo the damage caused by the Dursley’s was to share nights such as this with Harry and to show him what it was like to grow up in a normal, loving household. Just like the night of Harry’s Halloween party though, Severus would be glad when the night was over. Raising a seven year old was hard!
But Harry enjoyed the display and on the walk home had played with Tasha, a girl in his class who he had gone trick or treating with the other night, and her brother Oliver. Severus insisted that Harry go straight to bed when he got in and he didn’t get any complaints from Harry. The Dursley’s had pretty much conditioned him to be obedient but it was clear to see that the boy was getting tired as well. And tomorrow was a school day.
Severus was thankful the next morning that Harry wasn’t too tired when he got the boy up for school. It took a little longer than normal to get the school uniform on correctly, get breakfast, wash face and brush teeth and find book bag, but they were in the playground, hand in hand, with plenty of time to spare. Severus always stayed in the playground now until the children went inside to start classes and Harry saw a couple of his friends and ran off to play. Severus found himself stood with a group of parents, including the mother of one of Harry’s closest friends, Lollie. She asked if he and Harry had gone to the firework display last night and Severus immediately knew that he had made the right decision to take Harry, it would have made the child feel singled out if they hadn’t gone. And he was finally starting to settle in at school and integrate well.
Severus found himself with the same group of parents when he arrived back in the school playground that afternoon to pick Harry up. Lollie’s mother sought him out and invited both Harry and himself round to her and her husband’s house for a little get together on Saturday evening. They were having a couple of friends round and Lollie was inviting some people as well and they were just going to have supper and set off some fireworks in the back garden. Severus accepted the invitation, knowing that it was vital to do so to get Harry fully integrated into his primary school and that it would do Harry some good to see some of his friends in a different social setting.
Harry was getting a lot more talkative on their walks home from school and he was starting to tell Severus about his day on their journeys home. Today it was all about the fireworks and Severus told him that they were going to Lollie’s house on Saturday night for more fireworks since Firework Night hadn’t been on a weekend this year. But he made sure that Harry knew he had two more days of school to get through first.
Harry often played a lot with Lollie, but they’d come across the playground together on both Thursday and Friday afternoons. Severus knew that Harry was looking forward to going to Lollie’s house for a party, but also that the young boy was nervous. Thanks to the Dursley’s the only person’s house he had ever been to was their neighbour Mrs Figg’s. So this was definitely a new experience for the child. Even though Firework night was technically over, they had still been going off all week and Friday evening found Harry kneeling on his bed looking out of his window at the fireworks going off in the night sky. Severus joined him on the bed and Harry snuggled in to him, still entranced by the fireworks though. Eventually Severus got him cuddled up in bed, with the promise of reading some more of his current book, Matilda, which had been another Halloween present and with the reminder that there would be more fireworks tomorrow when they went round Lollie’s house.
Saturday came around and it was beginning to look like it was going to be a long day. Harry was both excited and scared to be going to his friend’s house that evening and Severus quickly figured out that he was going to need to distract the boy for most of the day. However, he needed to work this morning. He sold Potions via owl order for a living, having refused Professor Dumbledore’s offer of the Potions Professor role at Hogwarts for the time being, and he currently had a potion which was at a delicate stage. Harry had accompanied him to his Potions lab on several occasions before, which was kept well warded in the basement that Severus had added to the house when they moved in, and he was thankful to get the boy settled with some paper and some coloured wax crayons near his work station. Severus had promised that they would play afterwards.
He was finished not long before lunch and Harry helped him make some tuna sandwiches which they had with carrot sticks and a couple of crisps. They ate in the dining room and afterwards they played with Harry’s train set, which had been one of his favourite toys since he had played with it with his friends after his Halloween party. This time however Severus used his magic to make the trains go around the track, much to Harry’s delight. Severus was seriously debating expanding the train set as part of Harry’s Christmas gift this year. Harry especially loved the model of the Hogwarts Express. It was the middle of the afternoon before Harry showed signs of becoming tired of the train set and Severus managed to convince him to come and have a cuddle on one of the sofas in the living room and to read some more of Matilda. He thought having some quiet time would be good so Harry wouldn’t be too tired for this evening. They had almost finished Matilda and Severus was going to have to look into getting some more reading material for Harry.
Harry had gone very quiet as the finished the book and Severus knew that he was nervous about this evening. Severus had to hide from the child how nervous he was himself. He didn’t know if he’d know anyone else going tonight and Severus would admit that he knew he wasn’t the most sociable person. But he had to make an effort for Harry’s sake. Lollie’s mother had said that it was a supper party, but Severus decided to make a snack for Harry and himself before they started to get ready to go. Harry sat at the kitchen counter and picked at the apple slices and peanut butter chocolate chip cookies Severus placed out.
As it was a Fireworks supper party, Severus was assuming that the children would be spending some of the time out of doors. So Harry was going to need some warm clothing on. He already had a decent pair of jeans on, so Severus had him put on a forest green coloured hooded top on over the t-shirt he was currently wearing. Severus hoped that no one else would be dressed up. He himself was in a pair of dark grey jeans, light grey shirt and black jumper. Lollie’s house wasn’t far, so Severus decided that they would walk. If Harry was tried on the way home, he could always make sure that they were out of sight and then apparate. At the moment he was using the excuse with the other parents that he didn’t have a car, but he was working on getting a permit from the Ministry so that he could have a charmed car, so he didn’t actually need to learn to drive the thing. He wrapped Harry up in his hat, scarf and gloves, all of which were blue and grey stripes.
Harry held Severus’s hand tightly on the walk to his friend’s house. He had barely said a word, but Severus didn’t push him. He knew the boy was feeling scared and nervous and shy and he hated that he had to put Harry through what were very trying situations for the seven year old, just to give him normal childhood experiences.
It was Lollie's mother who answered the door when Severus knocked and she greeted the pair warmly as she invited them in, even leaning down to give Harry a small hug. She allowed Severus to help Harry out of his coat, hat, scarf and gloves before calling to Lollie to let her daughter know that her friend had arrived. Lollie appeared in the hallway, dressed casually in a pair of black jeans with a purple fluffy jumper with silver glitter, Severus noted relieved, with another girl who Severus didn't know. He didn't recognise her from Harry's school either but he could have been wrong. Lollie immediately took Harry's hand and led him further into the house, introducing the girl as her cousin, Mackenzie. Severus was being introduced to a couple of adults in the kitchen, Lollie and Mackenzie had took Harry through to the conservatory to play, all of whom seem to be relatives of Lollie's. Severus rather selfishly hoped there'd be some other children who Harry knew coming tonight.
He need not have worried, the other children all went to Harry's school. There was Elise, who had come to Harry's Halloween party last week and Tasha and her brother Oliver, both of whom Harry knew. Lollie's parents were clearly experienced party hosts and where soon corralling people into the dining room to help themselves to food. Severus helped Harry get what food he wanted but was happy to see that he went to sit with the other children to eat. Severus was also relieved that Harry wasn't a fussy eater as the food consisted off three large pots of different stews to be served with a choice of pasta or rice. Harry had gone for some of the rice and the lamb stew and Severus was amused to notice that Lollie had quickly gone for the same. Severus, who had gone for the fish stew with rice, found himself sitting with Tasha and Oliver's parents and he took a moment to reflect that Harry was probably more relaxed than he was now. Tasha and Oliver's parents didn't pry but it was clear that they were curious about Harry's background and how he came to be living with Severus. And Severus couldn't really blame them, he'd want to know the background of a child like Harry if his daughter wanted to be friends with them. He told them some brief details and they were gently encouraging of his patenting skills. Severus had become aware that he was slightly younger than most, if not all, of Harry's friends parents. Once everyone had finished eating Lollie's parents announced that there would be a couple of snacks for dessert for now and then that there would be a hot dessert once they'd come in from watching the fireworks. Severus didn't know how they had managed it. He had struggled to put together tea for a couple of children last week for Harry's party and he had had the help of magic!
Harry was stood in between Lollie and Mackenzie, a jam tart in one hand and a chocolate brownie in the other, watching Lollie's father and uncle set up the fireworks through the conservatory window. He had looked around once to check where Severus was but otherwise he seemed perfectly content and focused on eating his treats.
Soon enough Severus was helping the other adults get the children into their coats and they all went outside to watch the fireworks that Lollie’s dad set off. Harry clutched at Severus’s hand tightly during the beginning of the display, but by the end he was holding Lollie’s hand again. Once the fireworks were over, the children had a couple of sparklers which they were allowed and Severus’s desperately wished that he could use a quick charm to make sure that none of the children got burnt. But all the children were careful and well supervised and nothing happened. Sometimes Severus wondered if he was too over protective of Harry with all the protective charms he used, but he couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to the little boy. He had come to love the child so much in such a short space of time, something he would never have believed possible.
And then it was back indoors for dessert. Severus could tell that Harry was starting to get tired as he sat in between Lollie and Mackenzie eating his bowl of jam roly poly with custard, but Severus didn’t want to single Harry out and make him leave first. He’d just keep an eye on things and see how they went. It wasn’t a school night either, so it didn’t matter too much. He was thinking about starting a routine of letting Harry stay up a little bit later on a Friday and Saturday night as well. Only by an hour at the very most, but it would probably be a good thing for Harry to differentiate between what was a school night and what wasn’t. Apart from one off events like Firework Night and Halloween when they fell on a school night.
Before long the party did begin to break up, with Mackenzie and her parents leaving first as they had further to travel. Severus watched with some apprehension, but mostly with amusement, as Mackenzie gave Harry a hug before she left. Severus had been worried that Mackenzie could have been slightly jealous of what was fast appearing to be becoming a close friendship between Harry and Lollie, because at seven years old your best friend was often your cousin. But Mackenzie had simply accepted Harry and hadn’t seemed fazed if Harry was very quiet and needed reassurance from Lollie of himself from time to time.
Severus and Harry left at the same time as Elise and her parents, although they quickly went in opposite directions. Harry was clinging tightly on to Severus’s hand as they headed home, but he stumbled slightly a couple of times, a sign of how tired he was. Eventually Severus picked him up and Harry laid his head on Severus’s shoulder sleepily. The seven year old was really too heavy for Severus to carry all the way home, so after a quick glance around to check no one was about, Severus apparated them to the kitchen. The apparition had woke Harry up slightly but he was very cooperative as Severus got him changed into his pyjamas and into bed. Harry questioned whether there would be anymore fireworks and Severus explained to him that officially there wouldn’t be as firework night was over until next year, but that a couple of people may still set some off. And that there were often fireworks to bring in the New Year and Severus promised Harry that he could stay up until midnight on New Year’s Eve to see them. Severus tucked Harry into bed, the seven year old was practically asleep as soon as his head had touched the pillow, and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead before leaving the room. He had left the bedside light on for the boy and he left the door ajar with the landing light on. And obviously there was a monitoring charm on the boy’s room in case of the unlikely event of anything happening.
He made his way back downstairs and made himself a cup of coffee before settling in one of the arm chairs in the sitting room with a potions journal. Not that he was concentrating on the book very much. To say that he hadn’t been sure how Firework Night would pan out at the beginning of the week he was pleased that Harry had enjoyed the experience of fireworks for almost a week now. Firework Night had been one of Lily’s favourite nights of the year and something she had always missed during her time at Hogwarts and Severus had vowed to raise Harry how Lily would have wanted him raised when he took in the seven year old a few short months ago. And that definitely included enjoying Firework Night.