Later that day, once they had eaten lunch, Tobias decided that they should go for a walk through town. Harry and Severus donned their coats without voicing any complaints, still uncomfortable in each other’s presence. 

Sensing that the adults wanted to talk without him there, Harry ran ahead to play in the snow.

“So,” Tobias began, “why the mood?”

“What mood?”

“That mood, right there. You are sour and look like you want to hit something. And with “something” I mean Harry.”

Though Tobias tone was light there was also something serious beneath it. Severus did not reply and they walked in silence for a few minutes.

“Are you going to tell me what this is all about?” Tobias finally asked.

“It’s nothing.”

“Don’t try to hide things from me, Severus. I know you.”

Their relationship had always been tense. Tobias was a simple but honest man, who worked long hours in the mill and came home tired in the evenings. Eileen had been the complete opposite, a woman of magic and academics who had gone through a phase in which she was drawn to muggles. Severus was like her in many ways and had always preferred a book to playing with his father, the few times Tobias had had the energy to do so.

Of course, when Eileen left when Severus was fourteen the relationship between father and son had gone downhill too. The marriage had been failing for years which combined with the loss of his job had driven Tobias to drinking. Full of rebellious hatred Severus had steered onto a dangerous path, one he had not managed to get out of until many years later.

Now Tobias was sober, had been for many years, and their relationship had improved. It still consisted mostly of a few letters a year though. They rarely met in person. Which was why Severus found it so hard to confide in his father. Truth remained though that Tobias knew how to read his sons moods.

“When I got your letter,” Tobias continued, “I got the impression that you were looking forward to seeing the boy. What changed?”

“It’s not … what I had expected,” Severus admitted.

“Harry isn’t? How would you know? You’ve barely spoken to him at all.”

For a few minutes Severus did not reply. Tobias waited patiently and was finally rewarded when Severus spoke again.

“You remember Lily?” he wondered.

“Evans? You two used to play all the time when you were little.”

“That’s the one,”

“You were quite fond of her, weren’t you?”

“I was. We had a falling out and eventually she married someone I could not stand.”

“A rival?”

“Something like that.”

Now they were nearing the park where Lily and Severus had used to play as children. Harry had reached the climbing frame and was quickly climbing it as the adults watched.

“What does that have with Harry to do?” Tobias asked.

“Lily’s dead,” Severus told him. “Her husband too.”

“Yeah, I remember you telling me that.”

“Did I mention that their son survived? Or that he looks just like his father?”

Harry swung down from the top of the climbing frame, landing safely in the soft snow.  

“You mean Harry is Lily’s boy?”

“And Potter’s.”

“Huh. What do you know? I wouldn’t have guessed.”

Their walk continued. They met a few people, chatted politely and then moved on. Harry stayed nearby, close enough for them to be able to keep an eye on him but also far away to give them some privacy.

“He’s not them though,” Tobias commented. “He’s Harry. Just himself.”

“And with that you mean that I should get to know him first?”

“I do. He’s a nice kid once you get to know him.”

Severus made a face, clearly not believing his father’s words.

“I’ll try to give him a chance,” he finally promised.

“Do that. He’s been looking forward to see you quite a lot actually, and I imagine he’s a bit disappointed that you two haven’t hit it off yet.”

Considering that they walked in silence for another while, turning back towards Spinners End by following another road and then turning into a side street. Then suddenly they realized that Harry seemed to have disappeared.

“Harry?” Tobias called.

No answer came.

“Harry?”

This time Tobias’ voice was a bit louder. Both Tobias and Severus looked around worriedly. Had something happened to the boy?

Tobias had just enough time to dodge the snowball coming flying his way. Severus was not so lucky and it hit him square in the face. For a moment he stood frozen in place, shocked and frankly unsure of how to react.

Meanwhile Tobias had taken cover behind a trashcan and formed a couple of his own snowballs, which he threw in the general direction the attack had come from. Harry ducked behind the corner, narrowly avoiding the snowballs, before he leaned out for long enough to throw another snowball at his father.

Wiping the snow away from his face Severus fought a brief battle between anger and something akin to a laugh. His father was laughing, playing in the snow like a little child. He could not remember the last time he had seen his father like that. When Severus was younger his father had more often than not been more of a stern disciplinarian than someone to play with. Instead it was his mother, Eileen, who had chosen to occasionally spend time with her son, awakening his interest in the subject of potions making.

The anger lost and Severus felt a smile tug at his lips. This wasn’t Hogwarts, he thought. He wasn’t supposed to be an authority figure here. Potter and his father wanted a snowball fight? They could have their snowball fight. Severus was quite sure he still remembered a few tricks from his childhood.

So the battle began for real. Severus took cover behind a low wall, hugging a few snowballs before sending the snowy missiles at Potter. Potter squealed and had to hurriedly find himself a new cover. Tobias then turned his attacks on Severus, Severus returned the fire and then suddenly Potter was attacking him as well.

Two on one, huh? With a wave of his wand he sent a couple of the snowballs to attack Potter from behind. The boy’s excited squeals as he tried to fight off the attackers once again brought a smile to Severus’ face.

More than an hour later Tobias finally admitted defeat. Severus and Harry stood panting above him, snowballs in their hands. They glanced at each other, uncertain whether they should continue the fight just the two of them, but they were both cold and tired.

“Well fought,” Severus said, dropping his ammunition.

“Thanks,” Harry replied with a blush.

Together they helped their father back on his feet and they walked the few blocks back home.

Once home they all went to change into dry clothes. Since Harry and Severus were sharing a bedroom Severus decided to use the bathroom instead, giving both himself and the boy some privacy. When he was done he went to check on how Harry was doing.

“Hello? How is it going?” he asked, knocking the door.

“I’m done! I’m done!”

As Severus pushed the door open he found Potter finishing drying his hair, carelessly throwing the towel to the side in favor of a shirt.

“I’m done,” Potter repeated, turning towards him as he pulled the shirt on.

But Severus, quick as ever at noticing details, had seen something he had not expected.

“What’s that?” he asked.

“What’s what?”

“On your back ..?” said Severus, gesturing vaguely.

“Oh … that. It’s nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Yeah. It’s old stuff anyway.”

Potter bent to pick up the towel, folding it neatly before he hung it over the door of the wardrobe to dry. He very carefully did not meet Severus eyes.

“Would you like to tell me?” Severus asked, feeling awkward.  

With a shrug Potter began to gather his wet clothes.

“There’s not much to tell,” he stated. “Some people just don’t like me. I’m with Tobias now, so it doesn’t matter.”

Suddenly Severus found he understood why the boy had reacted so violently to the mentioning of his relatives. They had mistreated him, his father had explained. Severus had not understood the implications of that.

“I see. What would you like to do for the remainder of the afternoon? We’ve still got some time before dinner …”

The boy looked uncertain, glancing around the room a little and then looking at Severus almost as if he expected him to take his words back.

“D’you want to play cards?” the boy finally asked.

“Cards it is,” Severus agreed. “Do you have a deck?”

Rummaging around in one of the drawers of the desk the boy soon produced a worn deck of cards Severus thought he recognized from his own childhood. Severus took them, mixed them and dealt them out. Then the game began.

Eventually Tobias came and told them that dinner was ready. They put the cards aside and sat down by the table to eat. The conversation was slow at first but soon moved onto magic and Hogwarts. Harry was full of questions and Severus found himself answering most of them.

“The school’s in a castle?! That’s so cool!”

“Indeed.”

“Is it guarded by dragons?”

“Of course not. Having dragons guard the school would be an inconvenience and have serious implications on the activities on the school. Not to mention that there would be no way of ensuring that the dragons would not actually hurt the students or the staff.”

“Are there unicorns?”

“In the Forbidden forest, yes.”

“Forbidden forest? What’s that? Why’s it forbidden? Is it because the dragons live there?”

“The Forbidden forest is a forest on the school grounds that is forbidden because it is considered dangerous for students to go there on their own. And I told you there were no dragons at the school.”

“Why’s it dangerous then if there’s no dragons there? Where do dragons live if they don’t live at Hogwarts? Do people ever go to the forest just to see why it’s forbidden?”

“Calm down with the questions! The Forbidden forest is dangerous because there are other magical creatures living there. Centaurs, for example. And werewolves. Dragons mostly live in reserves these days, but they are not tame creatures, which is why they never live close to humans.”

“There’s werewolves? And are centaurs dangerous?”

“Yes, there are werewolves. And yes, centaurs can be dangerous if angered.”

“Cool. Are there any more creatures living there? Do the werewolves hunt the others? Like the unicorns and all that?”

The flow of questions never seemed to end but Severus forced himself to remain patient, answering most of the question to the best of his ability.

After dinner Severus performed a spell and sent the dishes to wash themselves, much to Harry’s admiration. All three of them then moved on to the living room, seating themselves in front of the TV.

Not much later Harry had fallen asleep right there on the sofa, head on the armrest and feet propped up quite ungracefully against Severus. The adults let him sleep and when it was time for them to turn in Tobias carried Harry to bed.