Harry Potter's Real Dad

"I can garden!" Harry exclaimed, sitting up slightly as Severus gently wiped at his face. "That's fun, but sometimes I get really dirty and have to be hosed off before I go back inside. Oh, and I love making breakfast! I make the best scrambled eggs. And I keep the kitchen real clean too, no mess at all."

"Well, I can't wait to try some of these scrambled eggs of yours." Severus said as he set the washcloth aside and picked up the shampoo bottle. He squirted a generous amount in his hands and rubbed them together before lathering Harry's messy curls up. "What about school? Do you like that?"

"Sometimes. But I'm not supposed to."

"Not supposed to like school?"

"I'm not supposed to be better than Dudley. Besides, school's no fun. Dudley chases me around and won't let anyone be my friend."

"I see." Severus carefully rinsed Harry's hair by scooping water up and brushing it through Harry's hair.

"If you're my daddy, why don't I live with you?"

"I was in a rough place when your parents died," Severus answered honestly, as he scooped up more water to rinse the suds off Harry's body. "I did not think I could handle two little toddlers and my own grief at the same time. And I thought you would be safe with your relatives. Spoiled, even."

"I'm safe."

"Hmm," was Severus's only response.

"Can I come visit?"

"Visit?" Severus frowned.

"Yeah. I like Iris. She's cool. And you're my dad, so I should visit."

"I think you'll do more than visit, but we don't have to talk about that now." Severus wiped his hands on the towel Harry had and stood up. "Enjoy the bath for a few minutes while I go get you some clothes."

Harry nodded and Severus left the bathroom. He walked up the stairs to his daughter's room and grabbed a pair of her pajamas and underwear. Harry looked very similar in size to Iris, and he could always resize them if needed. He turned the pick butterflies into green dinosaurs and walked back down the stairs. Pausing in the kitchen to see what Addie and Iris were up to.

"We're making dinner, Daddy," Iris announced as she helped Addie add more potatoes to the pot, standing on her tiptoes on the step stool. "Are you staying tonight or going back to work?"

"I think Hogwarts can wait," Severus said, placing a hand on top of her daughter's head. She stared up at him with a big grin and Severus gave her forehead a quick kiss. "Lean back away from the stove, sweetie. Addie, a word?"

Severus and Addie stepped just outside the kitchen doorway where they could see Iris but kept their voices down.

"About Harry . . ."

"He's not going back to those awful relatives," Addie interrupted. "A chimney sweep? In all my years, why, I've never . . ."

"I know," Severus said. "He's not going back. I'm going to have to take this to muggle court, however. But how do I say how he ended up here? He fell out of my fireplace?"

"Say he ran away."

"He wants to go back."

"Really?" Addie made a face at that.

"He speaks rather highly of "Aunt Petunia." I think he believes she loves him; despite everything she's done to him."

"Well," Addie peered into the kitchen at Iris. "she's all he's ever known. Just stick with the running away by accident story. Maybe he was chimney sweeping, had an asthma attack and was confused and wandered off and you picked him up off the street during a business trip. That might work. Then he told you how he was treated, and you just couldn't let that go. I would get the police involved sooner rather than later."

"Dammit, I should have taken a picture."

"Do you know how to take a picture from a memory?"

"That's brilliant. You'll have to show me. I need to get back to Harry and you need to make sure we have a little soup with our potatoes."

Addie looked back in the kitchen to see Iris throwing more cut up potatoes in the pot.

"Iris, I said no more," she scolded as she went back to the stove.

Severus smirked, then moved down the hall back to the bathroom. He saw Harry playing with the bubbles in the bath, giving himself a beard and giggling. Severus snorted before entering, startling Harry, who slapped the bubbles away and waited patiently.

"You're more than welcome to play with the bubbles," Severus said. He grabbed a clean towel and held it open for Harry. "I think you've been in there long enough. Out with you."

Harry stood and allowed Severus to wrap him in the towel, then lift him out of the bath and onto the fuzzy bathmat.

"Much better," Severus said, brushing some stray hairs out of Harry's face.

"I've never been this clean before," Harry said, putting his glasses back on and looking down at himself. "No one's every given me a bath before."

"No?"

Harry shook his head.

"Do you think Aunt Petunia will hug me now that I'm really clean? She doesn't like dirt."

Severus sighed at that and decided not to answer. He handed the fresh clothes over to Harry.

"Dry off and get dressed, okay, honey? Then I think dinner will be ready."

"When do I go back?"

"Not now. Remember, it's your rest day."