Severus stirred in his sleep as he felt a hand gently touch his shoulder. He blinked his eyes open to see Harry hovering over his bed. Groaning, he glanced at the clock on his nightstand. It was a quarter to six in the morning, what on earth was the child doing up?

               “You said to let you know when I’m up and ask you if I can make breakfast.” Harry said.

               Severus groaned again and sat up on his bed and rubbed his face. He had said those words, hadn’t he? He should have known how that would have backfired on him. He would really have to watch how he worded his rules around Harry.

               “It’s Saturday,” Severus said. “Why are you up so early?”

               “I have to get up early to make a full breakfast,” Harry said.

               “For who?”

               “Uncle Vernon likes a full breakfast on the weekends. So I have to get up early in order to make everything so its ready when he wakes up. Can you come help me?”

               “Your uncle isn’t here,” Severus reminded.

               “Oh yeah,” Harry said thoughtfully. “I can make it for you.”

               “I haven’t eaten a full breakfast in years. I don’t even think I could. Could you?”

               “No. Aunt Petunia says a bite of scrambled eggs, a half a tomato, and a full glass of milk will keep me going all day.”

               “Of course, she did.” Severus yawned and leaned back against his pillows. He closed his eyes. “Why don’t you try going back to bed for a bit longer, hmm?”

               “I can’t,” Harry said, grabbing Severus’s arm and pulling in a weak attempt to get Severus out of the bed. “It’s morning. I have to make breakfast now. Do you have beans, sausage, mushrooms, black pudding . . .?”

               “I don’t even like black pudding,” Severus admitted. He pulled his arm free of Harry’s grasp, then picked up the child and settled him on the bed at his side, wrapping an arm him and covering them both with his blanket. Harry frowned, then looked up at Severus.

               “What do you like?” he asked.

               “Now you ask me?” Severus smirked. He ran a hand through Harry’s hair as he hummed in thought. “I like to sleep in on my days off. I like freshly brewed coffee first thing in the morning. I like for my kids to get enough sleep.”

               “I slept enough,” Harry said as he yawned.

               “That will be the last time you go to bed early,” Severus decided. He gently pushed Harry’s head down against his shoulder, encouraging him to lie down. “Why don’t we try relaxing for another hour or two?”

               “What about breakfast?”

               “We can make something later. I highly doubt you’re starving right now. Are you?”

               Harry shook his head.

               “Good. Then it can wait. Besides, I prefer something much lighter in the mornings. What about a yogurt parfait instead of a heavy meal, with lots of fruits and nuts added? Maybe some whipped cream on top?”

               “I’ve never had a yogurt parfait. How do I make it?”

               “I’ll show you. After a little more sleep.” Severus removed Harry’s glasses and set them on his stand. He patted Harry’s back. “And new rule: wait for me to come get you to help with breakfast, okay? If you wake up first, stay in your bed.”

               “Okay,” Harry said. He snuggled against Severus’s side, staring off at the side wall for a moment while he fiddled with a loose thread on the blanket. “Aunt Petunia does this with Dudley sometimes.”

               “Does she?”

               “Yeah,” Harry confirmed. He yawned again and rubbed his eyes. “I like it.”

               Severus couldn’t help the smile that broke across his face. That had to count as some points in favor over “Aunt Petunia.” He genuinely hoped that Harry slowly came to understand that the way Petunia treated her son was how she should have treated Harry all along. After a few minutes, Severus felt Harry become deadweight against his side and he opened his eyes and glanced down. It had not taken Harry long to fall asleep. Severus wondered how long Harry’s internal clock would continue going off. He could not do these early mornings seven days a week.

               Severus rubbed Harry’s back as he closed his eyes again.

               After managing to get in a couple more hours of sleep, Severus helped Harry and Iris make their own yogurt parfaits, which ended up in a bigger mess than he would have liked, but at least his kids were laughing and having fun so early in the morning. The whipped cream all over his kitchen was cleaned with a swish of his wand.

               Later that morning, Severus’s lawyer stopped by to see Harry and discuss the case. Warner Wallace, a middle-aged dark-haired man, had helped Severus during Iris’s custody battle, and he trusted the man with all matters pertaining to muggle law. Wallace arrived in a casual suit carrying a briefcase. Severus invited him to his living room and offered tea while Wallace pulled out several files.

               “How is Harry doing?” Wallace asked.

               “As well as he can after everything he’s been through,” Severus responded as he finished pouring a tea and handed it to Wallace, who thanked him and set it on the stand next to the chair he was sitting in. “I am trying to get his untreated asthma under control as well as keep him in my sight. He’s still struggling with the idea of his relatives in prison and that I am now his primary guardian.”

               “Did you tell him you were his father?” Wallace asked. He pulled out a paper and reviewed it. “I see the DNA results came back. You can take that to court anytime to change his birth certificate by the way. Strange how quickly they came in.”

               Severus nodded, though he knew there was never any DNA test performed. He had brewed a potion and used a strand of his and Harry’s hair in it to prove their relationship, then turned the results into a muggle replica. That was why they were in so quickly as he wanted to move along the change in custody as quickly and smoothly as possible.

               “I have told him,” Severus said. “Although I’m not sure the impact of doing so as settled in with him yet.”

               “Does he talk about what happened at his relatives?”

               “Occasionally, but never in a bad light to be honest.”

               “May I see him?” Wallace asked, glancing around.

               Severus stood from his chair and moved to the staircase. Last he knew the two kids were getting dressed for the day, but he wasn’t sure what they were getting up to now.

               “Harry,” he called. “Come down here for a moment.”

               Harry appeared at the top stair, and Severus motioned him down. Severus directed him to the living room.

               “Harry,” Severus said as he sat back in his chair, standing Harry in front of him, “this is Mister Wallace. He’s going to ask you some questions. I would like you to answer honestly, okay?”

               “Hi, Mister Wallace,” Harry said.

               “Please.” Wallace waved off the formal greeting. “My name is Warner. And you must be Harry. How are you, today, Harry?”

               “I’m good,” Harry answered, leaning back against Severus’s knees.

               “Brilliant. Do you mind telling me about what living at your relatives was like?”

               “It was okay.”

               “Was it? Where did you sleep at night?”

               “In my cupboard.”

               “Your cupboard? Was that also your bedroom?”

               “Yeah,” Harry nodded. He smiled as he said, “I even wrote my name on the wall.”

               Wallace flipped through his papers before pulling out a picture.

               “That’s your name, isn’t it? You wrote that?’

               Harry took the picture and nodded. Severus looked over Harry’s shoulder at the police photograph of the cupboard where Harry allegedly slept. It was the first time he was seeing it, and it was a small area where food or cleaning supplies would preferably be stored. Instead, there was a small, thin mattress shoved inside, a light blue blanket disheveled on top. Scribbled on the wall above the mattress was “Harry’s Room.” On a shelf were five little army men and a small teddy bear that Severus recognized Lily giving to Harry when he was a baby. It sickened Severus to see how small it was and how crappy the mattress was that Harry slept on. He held his tongue while Harry spoke about it.

               “Aunt Petunia wasn’t happy I wrote on the wall. But she didn’t make me clean it off.” Harry pointed at the shelf. “That’s where I get to keep some of Dudley’s old toys he doesn’t want anymore. There’s my teddy bear! Aunt Petunia said my mum gave it to me. It’s still there, right?”

               “It is.” Wallace said. “I’ll make sure to grab it for you the next time I’m there. Did you have any toys of your own or were they all Dudley’s old toys.”

               “Only good boys get toys.”

               “You weren’t a good boy?”

               “No. I make freaky things happen. So I only get old toys.”

               “Freaky things?”

               “Or magic things?” Harry looked back at Severus for confirmation. “That’s what you said right? And muggles don’t understand it.”

               “Right,” Severus agreed as he discreetly cast a gentle obliviate charm on Wallace, erasing the memory of the last question asked. He softly muttered in Harry’s ear, “Let’s leave out the magic part, okay? Mister Wallace is a muggle, so he’s not going to understand it either.”

               “Oh,” Harry said, staring back at Wallace, who was blinking and frowning at his papers. “Sorry.”

               “It’s not your fault,” Severus said. He scolded himself internally for not preparing Harry for this meeting. He didn’t mean to confuse Harry now, but they were already into the questions that would be brought back up at the trial. “We’ll talk about it later.”

               “I’m sorry,” Wallace said, shaking his head. “Where were we?”

               “Discussing Harry’s cupboard,” Severus answered. “Were you punished in that cupboard?”

               “Sometimes,” Harry said. He looked back and forth at Severus and Wallace, now unsure about what he was supposed to say.

               “For how long?”

               “I don’t know. Sometimes a couple days. Maybe longer.”

               “Were you locked in the cupboard?” Wallace asked as he started writing on his paper again, quickly falling back into routine.

               “Only when I was being punished.”

               And the questions went on. Wallace moved off the subject of Harry’s cupboard and on to what his daily activities included, and Severus was amazed at how much Petunia taught Harry to do, even if in spite. Harry talked about gardening, cooking, and all the things he could clean, his untreated asthma was briefly brought up, then the chimney sweeping. They lingered on the chimney topic for a while, and Harry explained in detail how he got up into the floo. Severus made a point of asking about bathing afterward, and Harry explained he was only allowed ten minutes or less to clean up.

               “I think we’ve covered the majority of what we need,” Wallace finally said, collecting back his evidence and papers that Severus had been looking at. Wallace gave Severus a critical look. “And you found no evidence of physical abuse.”

               “None,” Severus said. “But that doesn’t mean it didn’t exist.”

               “Yes, but from the boy’s mouth thus far, it sounds like there was more emotional abuse and abandonment rather than physical abuse. I’d like to narrow down what cross examination can cover so there’s no surprises on stand. It might do you some good to practice a little with him so he’s ready for that. And in case he brings up anything else.”

               “Of course. And by abandonment, do you mean . . .”

               “Neglect and placing a child in imminent danger both fall under abandonment, specifically when there is no intervention on the latter.”

               “What are all these questions for?” Harry asked.

               “They are to help us understand what happened at your relatives,” Wallace said. “We need to know everything so we can punish your relatives appropriately.”

               “I don’t want them punished because of me,” Harry said. “When do I get to see Aunt Petunia.”

               Wallace shared a look with Severus.

               “Well,” Wallace said, watching Severus’s reaction closely, “I spoke with her lawyer and I think Wednesday afternoon would work best. Is that agreeable with you, Severus?”

               “I have no classes that afternoon, so I should be able to take him. Harry, why don’t you go play in your room for a minute?”

               Severus gave Harry an encouraging push toward the stairs and Harry slowly shuffled away.

               “Poor kid.” Wallace shook his head and took a sip of his tea. “He really has no clue, does he?”

               “Not at all. I’m trying to help him understand the seriousness of this, but I don’t think it’s clicking.”

               “This visit with Petunia Dursley will hopefully make a breakthrough for you.”

               “That’s what I’m afraid of. He’ll be so crushed.”

               “But you’ll be there for him. That’s what counts. And there’s always counseling if you feel he needs it.”

               “Thank you for what you are doing. Do you believe there is a chance Petunia might put on an act?”

               “She’s looking at up to twenty-five years, but fifteen regardless of the outcome of the trial. Sending a child up a chimney even once is incriminating. And Harry confessed to doing so several times and we have a picture of him covered in soot and Dudley’s words as well. The child was quite intimidated by the officers when they questioned him away from his parents.” Wallace packed everything away in his suitcase and stood up. Severus followed his lead. “She has no reason to keep up the act. I have high hopes that she will be . . . brutally honest when she sees Harry.”

               Severus felt a heavy weight on his chest at that, but he knew Petunia’s visit was crucial before the trial. Harry needed to realize he was wanted elsewhere. Severus walked Wallace out, shaking hands with him and bidding farewell. He sent the tea dishes to the sink to self-wash while he retreated to his study to finish the grading that was interrupted by Harry’s chimney escape yesterday.

               He had just sat down behind his desk when Harry appeared in the study doorway.

               “What is it, Harry?” Severus asked.

               Harry glanced at the owl that was sleeping in its cage, then stared at Severus from the door frame.

               ‘You may come in,” Severus encouraged.

               Harry shuffled into the room. He leaned against Severus’s desk.

               “What am I supposed to do?” Harry asked. “I’m bored.”

               “I’d say homework if you’re that bored, but unfortunately, you’re not in school yet. What do you want to do?”

               “I could clean,” Harry said.

               “That doesn’t sound like something you want to do.”

               “But I’m good at it.”

               “I’m sure you are.”

               “What would you like me to clean?”

               “Your room if you need to.” Severus answered easily.

               Harry shook his head and Severus shrugged.

               “Then I guess there’s nothing for you to clean right now.”

               Harry watched Severus mark up an essay in red ink for a few silent seconds before asking, “Can I go outside?”

               Severus paused in his work as he eyed Harry.

“I really do not want you outside without me, and right now, I need to finish grading these essays. Why don’t you go see what Iris is up to, hmm? Maybe she’ll let you play some games with her.”

               “Okay,” Harry said. Glad to have something to do, he walked out of the study and headed for Iris’s bedroom. There, he found Iris braiding the hair on one of her dolls. Her own red hair was braided to the side and she was wearing a sparkly pink dress over her jeans and had a tiara on her head.

               “What are you doing?” Harry asked.

               “We’re going to have a tea party,” Iris said, gesturing to her many toys sitting in chairs around a little table. “Why?”

               “I’m supposed to come play with you.”

               “You’re supposed to?” Iris raised a brow at that in a similar manner Severus would. “Or do you want to?”

               Harry shrugged.

               “Do you want to join my tea party?” Iris asked excitedly. “I could make you a prince.”

               It didn’t sound so bad. Harry had never been to a tea party. And a prince sounded cool. He nodded, and Iris’s smile grew as she jumped over to a desk with a large mirror centerpiece.

               “Okay, sit here.” Iris pointed at the chair in front of a vanity desk. Harry sat down and waited patiently. Iris grabbed a crown from her closet and plopped it on Harry’s head. Then she grabbed something off her desk and uncapped it.

               “Is that lipstick?” Harry asked, pulling his head back when she reached for him.

               “No, it’s chapstick,” Iris corrected.

               “It’s pink.”

               “Just a little bit.”

               Harry sighed but relented as Iris applied the chapstick to his lips. It was just a slight pink that remained on his lips. That was tolerable. He watched Iris closely as she grabbed some kind of powder and a brush this time.

               “What’s that?”

               “It’s just to make you look tanner. You’re paler than dad.”

               “No, I’m not,” Harry protested, but Iris was already applying the bronzer in as good as a job as a six-year-old could do.

               “All princes wear a little make-up. It’s formal. Hold still, I’m almost done.”

               “I’m not a real prince,” Harry said. “Why do I have to wear it?”

               “To make it more believable. You know, Dad doesn’t argue this much.”

               Iris picked up a different powder this time. She dabbed a new brush in it and began rubbing it over Harry’s cheek. He gasped at himself in the mirror at what she was doing. His cheek was turning pink. He yanked his head away.

               “Stop it!” Harry said.

               “Princes have rosy cheeks.”

               “No, they don’t! I don’t want rosy cheeks,” Harry said, pushing away in the chair and jumping out of the seat. He stomped out of the room, throwing the crown off his head.

               “Harry!” Iris called after him.

               Harry tried rubbing the horrible stuff off his face as he rushed down the stairs and back to Severus’s study. He pouted as he walked up to Severus’s desk, frowning up at the man. Severus glanced up at him. A smile threatened his face and he choked and coughed into his hands to cover up the laughter that tried to escape.

               “It’s not funny,” Harry glared.

               “I know, I know,” Severus said. He summoned a washcloth and used his wand to spray it down with a cleanser. “Come here, I’ll clean it off. I guess I should have seen that coming.”

               Harry allowed Severus to wipe the make-up off his face. Iris ran in a second later and pointed an accusatory finger at Harry.

               “Dad, he won’t be my prince,” she said.

               “I don’t want to wear this stuff,” Harry complained before closing his mouth as Severus wiped the chapstick away.

               “Iris,” Severus said, “can’t he be a prince without the make over?”

               “No, he has to look like a prince.”

               “How about a knight?”

               “I don’t want a knight at my tea party.”

               Severus tossed the washcloth on his desk and gently grasped Harry’s chin and tilted his head this way and that to look him over once more. He summoned a handheld mirror for Harry, who was relieved to see his face back to normal. Severus looked over at his sulking daughter, then at the stack of unfinished essays. He sighed. At this rate he’d be working until midnight.

               “You know what?” Severus said, smiling at both kids. “I think I know what Harry might like to dress as.”

               “What?” Iris and Harry asked.

               With a little magic and imagination, Severus managed to transfigure a green blanket into a dragon costume for Harry. And like that, Iris and Harry were chasing each other around the house, Iris screaming playfully as she tried to escape the evil dragon. Severus returned to his desk to finish his grading, casting a muffling charm around his study to help him focus on his work. He managed to finish a few more essays before Iris and Harry ran into his study, laughing, roaring, and running around his desk as Iris tried to avoid Harry.

               “Hey, not the place, you two,” Severus scolded after canceling the muffling charm.

               The owl hooted in alarm, ruffling his feathers as he stepped out of his cage and on to the bird stand, hopping along it toward Severus.

               Harry stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of the large bird, the hood of his dragon costume falling off. Iris paused on the other side of Severus’s desk, smiling and waiting. Severus noticed Harry’s wide eyes and held his arm out to the owl, who jumped from the perch to Severus’s arm. Harry backed up several steps away from the sharp beak and talons.

               “I’ve told you before.” Severus stroked the bird gently. “He won’t hurt you.”

               “Mr. Cuddlywuddlytums?” Iris asked. She ran around the desk and wrapped her arms around the large bird. She pulled him off her father’s arm and squeezed lovingly, earning several cries of protest. “He wouldn’t hurt a fly. He’s the cutest, cuddliest bird ever!”

               Severus sighed and shook his head as Iris tortured the familiar, who begrudgingly accepted his fate.

               “Unfortunately,” Severus began, turning his attention back to Harry, “this is what happens when you let the kid name the pet.”

               “You said it was a good name,” Iris said, glaring at her father, still clinging to the bird.

               “You were three,” Severus defended himself. “He was as big as you were, and you still strangled him.”

               “I don’t,” Iris said, finally letting the bird go. He flapped up to his perch and shook himself out indignantly. “He loves me.”

               “Mmhmm,” Severus agreed. “I should have brought home a kitten.” Severus held his hand out to Harry. “I call him Tum. You’re more than welcome to do the same.”

               Harry was shocked that Iris had grabbed and hugged the bird as if it were one of her stuffed animals. The noises it made were intimidating but now it was grooming itself on the stand. Harry put his dragon hood back up and accepted Severus’s hand, allowing himself to be pulled closer. With Iris at one side and Severus at his other, Harry reached a hand out to the owl and waited.

               Tum tilted his head at Harry and narrowed his eyes at the boy’s hand. With a huff, Tum lowered his head and pushed his beak into Harry’s hand. Harry’s face lit up as he smiled big and gently stroked the beak. Severus pulled Harry’s hood down and ruffled his hair.

               “See?” Severus smiled. “He won’t hurt you. Now, let’s get you two settled into a quieter game. I still need to finish these essays, you know.”

               “Finish them, tomorrow,” Iris said. She grabbed her father’s arm and jumped up and down. “Come play with us. You can rescue me from the dragon.”

               “Like you need rescuing,” Severus said. “I think we need to have lunch and then some quiet time.”

               Severus brought the kids to the kitchen. They resumed their game—Harry chasing Iris—while Severus pulled out the left-over fish and chips from last evening. He warmed the food up for Harry, and when iris showed interest in eating leftovers, he warmed up more for her. Although Harry only nibbled at the food, Severus wasn’t too concerned since Harry was drinking the nutrition potion with little argument. At least he drank all the orange juice.

               The warm meal made two kids very sleepy, and Severus took advantage of the moment to read them a story. He set up on the couch with Harry and Iris either side of him and he read the tale of Babbitty Rabbitty from The Tales of Beedle the Bard. It did not take long until both kids were asleep at his side. With practiced ease, Severus slithered his way out from between them and carefully lowered their heads down on pillows he summoned from their bedrooms. He draped small blankets over each kid then stepped back to smile at them.

               A huge wave of guilt drowned him as he watched Harry’s chest rise and fall. Seeing his kids together playing and laughing made him think of what could have been if he had simply taken Harry in as his son all those years ago. He was figuring out how to manage with two kids, he could have done the same when they were toddlers. Yes, Iris had had her moments in her terrible twos and terrorizing threes, but there were more great and wonderful days with her than bad. He could have added Harry into the mix of it all. Maybe it would have helped his grief over Lily’s loss that much sooner.

               Instead, he had been so afraid of losing both kids he willingly gave one up at Albus’s advice. And here he was now. He had allowed his child to enter an abusive home, and not once did he think to check up on him or start the visits up again. He had been so sure it would have been easier if Harry never knew of their relationship. And Albus had been so reassuring every time he dropped off a new picture of Harry that Petunia would collect for Albus, as per their deal. He should have done more. He should have done so much more for his son. At the very least, he should have been there.

               There was no changing the past. All he could do now was give Harry the best future he could. Severus turned away from the couch and headed back to his study to finish as much grading as he could before they woke up. He had never seen Iris so happy to have a playmate. Harry was so relaxed around Iris, and she helped him open up more. With time, he was sure Harry would find his spirit again and feel more comfortable to take control of the world around him like Princess Iris did. He smiled softly at the thought.