You, Me, Daddy, and Perry! by Hopeless Wanderer

Harry Potter was a curious child.

Always had been, ever since he found out that he could watch people out of the filters in his cupboard, or he could catch snippets out of Dudley's favourite TV show, or ever since he found out Dudley's secret stash of animal books, illustrated with beautiful animal pictures for where he had been obsessed with animals. All thrown away in his 'second bedroom ' that Harry was inclined to clean every week.

Alas, he couldn't always show his excitement of learning something new, he couldn't show Mrs. Parren how smart he really was, and explain that he had to study less than Dudley so the boy would get higher marks. Not that it was a hard thing of course. Dudley never studied.

And Uncle Vernon never scolded him anyways, always saying; studying is for sassy boys, son!

That was until Daddy showed up. Clad in his cool batman outfit, billowing all around him as he rounded uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia like they were naughty children, Harry snickered quietly.

Daddy was the best daddy in the whole wide world, he brought him home. He gave him a big room with lots and lots of Windows, he gave him delicious food and made sure Harry was growing up good.

Harry smiled widely, pushing down the blue pencil harder on the parchment.
And Daddy always read him stories, he even threw him a birthday party! One even bigger than Dudley’s, with Ron, and Draco and Ginny and Fred and George and his favourite stuffed toys!
And today was Daddy's birthday.
Of course, daddy didn't tell Harry that, he just made him breakfast, kissed him on the forehead and told him to be a good boy for auntie Charity until he got back from his 'big and important and super pro...professnal... Meeting with other potion masters '

Harry understood that. It meant Daddy would be away for a 'whole ' day. At first, he was sad, he fussed like Dudley and cried and cried lots in Auntie Charity's arms, but when she frantically told him that today was Daddy's birthday and sons don't cry on their Daddy's birthdays, Harry had brightened up like a candle.

He just had to get a present for Daddy, because no one else would. Harry sighed sadly, he knew that Daddy was a lot like him at the Dursleys, that he didn't have lots of friends like Harry had now. Daddy just has auntie Minny, Grandpa Albus and Auntie Hooch and Auntie Charity and Auntie Poppy. And that wasn't a lot at all.

That wasn't lots of presents like Harry's had been. So he set to work.

He made Auntie Charity trudge down to the dungeons to bring back his favourite set of parchment and his favourite, best-kept pencils; the one with green strings attached to it like a snake.

Auntie Charity sighed and mumbled under her lips but went down and got his colouring book and his pencils anyway, she even brought him pastels so he could draw pr....pro....professonally.

Harry tapped his chin, what should he draw for Daddy? He had drawn everything already, they were all pinned on Daddy's fridge and his study room. He had drawn a big family, he had drawn a car, he had drawn a cat, a dog, and a butterfly being chased by a bat, which was Daddy's favourite. And of course, he had drawn Auntie Charity for Daddy because he knew daddy liked her. A lot.

He giggled.

Daddy liked odd things, he always loved seeing Harry drawing odd pictures or reading odd fairytale books, he told Harry that it will increase his... Ima... Ima..imagination. And his magical abilities.

So Harry decided to draw daddy the oddest thing he had ever seen.

"Harry dear, are you hungry?" Auntie Charity asked, a plate of her special cookies in one hand and a glass of milk in the other. Harry was in fact hungry. ‘But this is more important,’ he thought. He would eat Daddy's birthday cake with...

"Does Daddy have a birthday cake? " he asked instead, his eyes set and his baby teeth chewing the end of his orange pencil.

Auntie Charity blanched at the question, her eyebrows rising in surprise.

" I don't think he has honey," she said slowly, putting the plate on the table and drinking the milk herself. Harry giggled, grown-ups were so funny sometimes!

" No silly of course he doesn't! I meaned are we getting him a birthday cake? "

"Meant, Harry," she corrected automatically, draining the glass with trembling hands.

"We could make him one," she said slowly, knowing that she would regret the decision already, she could just imagine Severus acting like a jerk and rejecting her once again because of his 'job'. She frowned darkly. they had been having this on-again, off-again relationship for years. Even before Harry had come into the picture.

Harry jumped, knocking down his chair as he surged at Auntie Charity.

"Really, really, really?!! " he asked, his tiny arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"Sure kiddo, but how about you finish your drawing first and then we go and make a cake? "
‘I should probably order one from the kitchens. Just in case.’ She mused.

"Oh! But I have finished the drawing ages ago! Want to see it, want to see it? " Harry practically bounced to his drawing, not waiting for any answer as he picked up his parchment and ran back to Auntie.

" Here see! See! " he pushed the paper in Charity's face making her see double with bright colors bursting form the parchment. She laughed, hoisting Harry up and setting him on her lap.

She grabbed the drawing slowly and set them down so they both could see it. "Let's see together, shall we, Kiddo? " her smile fell as soon she saw the drawing, her eyes bulging and her mouth agape, making Harry giggle.

"You're so funny, Auntie Charity! " Harry giggled in her arms.

"Harry, what is this? " she asked slowly, her eyes scanning the page over and over again to see if she was seeing wrong, or hallucinating. Harry shook his head, it was quite frustrating to him, having to explain everything to grown-ups. He pointed at the picture.

"That's me. " he pointed at a short stick figure with black messy hair and glasses and a green tie around his neck. He was holding two golden bands in each hand, two in each hand? Charity was puzzled.

"That's Daddy. " he babbled, pointing at a grinning Severus. Which was out of character itself because Severus never smiled. Never. Clad in his batman outfit as Harry next described.

"and that's you," he said, pointing at a sticks man, who was grinning in red, her lips smeared all over the paper as Harry had tried to draw her with red lipstick on. That was not what concerned her, however.

She was dressed in white, all white, white shoes, white gloves and a white tiara on her brown hair. And in a white dress. A wedding dress. She squeaked as she saw the banquet of pink flowers in her hands. Harry had drawn her as a bride. oh, joy.

"And that is Perry!" Harry finished with a proud flourish of his hand, pointing at the strange creature etched right next to Charity. Nude only with a black tie and glasses.

" what the hell....what is that?! " she asked incredulously, her mouth falling open once again. her recent shock replaced with a dumbstruck expression.

Harry rolled his eyes this time, sighing dramatically. "That's Perry. My Duckfish," he said slowly like he was explaining it to a child.

" Your...duck...fish? "

" No! Duckfish. " Harry said, feeling annoyed. "Don't you know what that is, Auntie? You're a grownup! " as if that explained everything. It was a solid argument, in his opinion.

" What? That's not a fish Harry, " she said slowly. Admiring Harry's fertile imagination. It was baffling, how Severus Snape, dark, gloomy, and lugubrious Severus Snape had an adoptive son who exuded imagination the way the sun exuded beams.

"Why not?” Harry asked her, his eyes were round, “If it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck and swims underwater then it must be a fish,"

He waited for effect and then nodded again, "A Duckfish. "

No, Charity had no idea what this creature was, never in her life had she seen so odd and ugly at the same time, but cute all the same. It was a... Duck, but... A fish? She couldn't figure it out, there was a big orange beak on its face but it had a fishtail, his hands were like a human's but his skin was all done in blue and orange. The definition of weirdness.

"Where did you get your...Perry? " she asked slowly, her eyes still on the parchment.

" When I was with the Dursleys, silly! I watched Perry from my cupboard. He was in telly! " he exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air to prove his point, only to smack his Auntie on the chin.

Charity groaned. Children could hit harder than she thought.

"Sorry! " but he didn't sound sorry at all as he jumped down and picked up a pen.

"Will you let me write 'Happy birthday Daddy' for Daddy? " he asked, hopping on her lap once again. She nodded, still bewildered, her hand closing around Harry and the pen as she set it on the parchment.

Harry dangled his legs back and forth as his hand moved slowly on the paper, scribbling a clumsy and slouchy happy birthday on the top of the parchment in green. Daddy's second favourite colour after black.

Charity sighed in relief, at least the creature existed in the magic box, muggles were so odd, she thought, looking back at the... Duckfish.

Hm, she really had to more research on TV shows. It would be a fun project for her class. Perry... Was it even a creature? Perhaps a muggle one? She had no idea, as she let her hand guide Harry unconsciously, Harry wriggled his hand out of hers and jumped off her lap.

"Can we make the cake now?! Please! Please, please! " he pleaded with huge green eyes, his hair sticking out in every direction as he bounced up and down.

She winced and hoped to high heavens that Severus wouldn’t notice the sugar high. ‘I shouldn't have let him eat the chocolate frogs,’ Charity thought to herself, standing up reluctantly.

"Come on! You and daddy are so slow sometimes! " Harry whined, running back and forth to the kitchen as Charity bundled him up on her hip and set him on the table.

" What flavour does your daddy like? " she said, drawing out her wand.

Harry tapped his chin, with narrowed eyes. What flavour did daddy like? Daddy likes bananas but didn't like strawberries, he liked dark chocolate but they were icky. What flavour Harry thought that Daddy would like? Harry smiled mischievously.

"Daddy likes ice cream! " it wasn't exactly a lie, Daddy liked seeing Harry eat ice cream, and Harry was going to eat the cake, so naturally it had to be an ice cream cake, so Daddy and Harry both would be happy.

Charity raised an eyebrow. " Ice cream? " she asked sceptically, putting the flour and sugar next to Harry. Getting Harry’s opinion now didn’t seem as good an idea as she thought. But Charity decided to go with it, if everything went south, Severus wouldn’t blame her and accuse her of overstepping her boundaries. He’ll just see her, being accommodating to his son while babysitting.

Harry hummed, nodding his head enthusiastically as he swung his legs off the table.

"Daddy likes ice cream! " he confirmed, reaching out to touch the eggs, the cold chilly surface tickling his fingers.

"Are you sure? " even if he wasn't, that wouldn't change anything, what Harry wanted Severus wanted, and what Harry wanted, Harry got. It was unbelievable how the sour potion master had changed since Harry had come into his life.
Severus wouldn’t be mad at her.

"Pinky promise. " the short boy stuck out his pinky, wriggling the small finger and smiled widely.

‘Alright then,’ she thought, waving her wand to conjure some bowls. This day couldn't possibly get stranger, she thought to herself. The drawing was vividly pasted to the back of her eyelids. Her in that dress, and the golden rings…maybe she should hide the drawing? Severus would undoubtedly think that Charity motivated Harry to draw such a thing, Charity in a wedding dress and Severus in a wedding robe. Black robes, but still the same... And the golden bands, two in each hand.

" Harry? Why did you draw four rings in your hands ?” four rings instead of two. "In your drawing?" she clarified.

Harry looked on at Charity’s conflicted face, as the sugar and flour measured themselves before being dumped in the bowl, he shrugged as if it was obvious.

" two for each hand," he said casually, intrigued by the mixture.

Of course. Two for each hand, Charity shook her head. Harry was indeed peculiar. Even in his childish logic, the child managed to sound serious, she thought in bewilderment. The thought was ridiculous. Charity, marrying Severus. Two rings for each hand.

"Can we have blue and orange ice cream? " Harry blurted out, after a few moments, startling Charity who was putting the cake in the oven.
Merlin knew what it tasted like. She wasn’t paying attention in the least.

Orange and blue? What was this child doing exactly? Charity brushed the flour smears off her face and smiled.

"Sure, I’ll just call a house elf. "

Explaining that why exactly did you want orange and blue ice cream to a house-elf proved to be more difficult as she originally thought. The elf just insisted to know why they hadn't ordered the cake instead of making it, and it almost got to a point where the elf and Harry were arguing whether or not Charity's cooking was better or the elves’

Charity wanted to climb up the wall and bash her head against the table when the elf finally brought up the ice cream, albeit grudgingly as he snuck in another cake to Charity with a glare.

Charity glared back and Harry giggled. She set him on the table again.

"Alright Harry, I need you to be careful now alright? The cake is hot, " she warned, rubbing her hands in her cooking gloves and fluffy apron. Which she already had in her kitchen, of course. Merlin forbid Severus having anything of the sort in his house. Harry nodded dutifully to her warning, his mouth covered in green icing.

It was then that she thought maybe she should cut Harry’s sugar intake already. Severus would hex her into oblivion if Harry refused to sleep that night. High on sugar to the brim.

The cake... looked acceptable. Although a bit tasteless. But the ice cream would fix that, at least she hoped. She spun the plate before setting it under a cooling charm.

"What's the time Harry? " she asked taking the ice creams out of the fridge.

Harry stuttered, counting with his fingers, " uh...uh...four...five.... Thirty! " he exclaimed, and she cursed quietly. Severus was bound to arrive soon, he did say that he would pick Harry up at six.

She handed a big spoon to Harry and settled on a chair next to him.

" Alright midget, where do you want the orange ice cream? We can do the filling with that one and then cover the cake with blue ice cream, do you like that? "

Yes, Harry did like it, and they spread the ice cream on the cake as quickly as they could, minutes passed away and Harry grew more excited, imagining Daddy's face when he saw his Duckfish cake and his special drawing.

Finally, the cake was finished and so was the ice cream. Charity hastily put the cake on the coffee table with Harry's drawing; no point in hiding it when Harry was going to babble about it anyway.

After four minutes of anticipation and Harry rambling about his Perry the Duckfish, the floo finally flared. Charity stared as Severus Snape gracefully stepped out of the green flames.

" Daddy! " Harry screeched, latching himself to Severus's middle like glue. Charity resisted the urge to blush.

Severus did look rather handsome. In a dark mysterious way, but still handsome. Domestic bliss looked good on him.

" Charity. " he nodded gratefully before hoisting Harry fully in his arms. she nodded back, flushing.

" Happy birthday, daddy! I maked you a present and helped auntie Charity to make you a Duckfish cake!" Severus arched an eyebrow at Charity and she blushed.

"Made, Harry." they both said at the same time.

"He wouldn't stop fussing, I had to tell him something. " she said after the awkward silence and picked up a disfigured blue cake with green icing clumsily written ' happy birthday daddy ' on it. Harry slid down Severus's lap and raced to get his drawing, he pushed it in Severus's hand.

"Do you like it?! Do you like it?! " he asked, jumping up and down near the cake.

Severus owlishly blinked and scanned the paper, several times with a stoic expression on his face. He smiled slightly and hugged Harry.

"I love it Harry. " the voice was a little shocked and emotional, but Charity decided not to mention it. Harry laughed and broke out of the embrace.

"Can we eat cake now?! " he raced back to Charity, looking at the cake with pleading eyes.

"Ice cream cake? " Severus asked, he looked highly amused as he walked to charity, inspecting the cake closer. he looked at Charity suspiciously. He could read her like an open book, she was sure of it. The fact that she was just rendered speechless in his presence might have aided him in that course, but still.

Harry nodded. "Me and Perry like ice cream, and so should you. "

" just so you know, I think he's already high on sugar, " she confessed because she rather not get murdered by the man she had a crush on, as she self-consciously watched him put the cake down.

"Four rings?" Severus asked, sitting down next to her and Harry in his lap.

" two for each hand," she said bemusedly.

"Of course. " Severus drawled before looking away, moments before they burst out laughing. Harry shook his head wisely.

"Grownups are so weird, " he mumbled, before leaning back to his laughing daddy, smiling as he saw Auntie and Daddy blush.

They would be a perfect family. He thought. Someday.