Harry Potter's Real Dad

One by one burners were turned off, and everyone stepped back and waited patiently while Severus swept the classroom, critically eyeing each one. Satisfied, he stopped in front of his desk, smiling, and winking at a nervous looking Harry, who relaxed and smiled back at him. Turning around, Severus gave his students a mild glare.

"Vial up your potion, label it appropriately, and leave it on the back table. You will see your grade next class period. Dismissed."

The students rushed to vial their potions, labeled the vials, then collected their belonging and set the vials on the table on their way out, wishing the headmaster a good day as they did so. Albus slowly moved his way to Severus's desk as the students left, his smile never fading. When the last student left, Severus looked down at Harry, who had lined up his dinosaurs once more.

"Preparing to teach the next class?" Severus asked.

"I was just showing them my parasaurolophus," Harry said, holding up one of the dinosaurs. "They wanted to know more."

"I'm sure," Severus said. He took the dinosaur and studied it. "Where did you learn so much about dinosaurs?"

"Sometimes, Dudley would leave the tv on when he would go play a video game or go outside, and there was a dinosaur show that would come on and teach me all about them. I wasn't supposed to watch tv." Harry's face suddenly fell, and he looked down at his hands. "Aunt Petunia will be mad. I shouldn't know anything."

Severus threw Albus a pointed look, and the elder wizard's face saddened.

"It's hard not to watch something that was already left on," Severus said. "That's not your fault."

"I should have turned it off," Harry said.

"Were you allowed to touch the tv?" Severus asked with a knowing look.

"No."

"Then how could you turn it off?"

Harry shrugged, but he seemed less upset. Severus breathed a sigh of relief that Harry hadn't shed any tears this time.

"This is the headmaster of the school, Albus Dumbledore," Severus said, gesturing to the wizard at his side.

"Hello Harry," Albus greeted, reaching out a hand to shake."

"Hi," Harry said, shaking Albus's hand. "You have a funny name."

"Harry," Severus scolded gently. He set the plastic dinosaur down on his desk in line with the others.

"No, it's all right, Severus," Albus said warmly. "You're not the first to think so. It is a bit of a funny name, isn't it?"

"Daddy has a funny name, too," Harry said.

Severus rolled his eyes while Albus chuckled. Albus winked at Harry, ruffling his hair.

"I agree with you there," Albus said. "Your father's name is by far stranger than mine."

Harry looked up at Severus, and only when Severus smiled at him did Harry feel comfortable enough to laugh.

The rest of the day went by pleasantly, with Harry playing with his dinosaurs and surprising Severus by solving a couple of sudokus during one class period. He ate a mid-morning snack of carrots and apples with a caramel dip, which meant he ate less of his lunch when Severus sat down with him at his desk, sitting Harry on his lap and working on grading and eating at the same time. He tried to stay on top of grading, so he had less to bring home at the end of the week and more time to spend with his kids.

Harry showed interest in the essays he was grading, and Severus read a paper to him softly while commenting on where certain errors had been made. Harry leaned back against Severus's chest, and Severus rested his head against Harry's. He was enjoying the one-on-one time with his son, a chance to just focus on him and get to know him a little better. Harry was such a smart kid, and he had so much potential, yet the Dursleys had allowed him to fall behind in so many areas of life—socially and emotionally, especially. While they sat, Harry showed off his favorite dinosaurs in the group he had, including the pachy, the t-rex, the mosasaur, and the stegosaurus.

Severus had learned more about dinosaurs in that morning than he ever thought he cared to know. But seeing Harry's face as he taught his father something new made up for the endless chatter about what stegosaurus ate and did in his day. It was another ten minutes before the lunch hour ended. Severus still had to set up trays of ingredients for his first year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. But he didn't want to move Harry or interrupt his story. They were halfway through the school year; the first years should know how to get their own ingredients by now.

"Daddy," Harry asked, "are you listening?"

"Of course," Severus said. "You were saying something about Maiasaurus."

"Maiasaura," Harry corrected.

"Right."

"They were good parents. Like you."

"Why, thank you, Harry," Severus said, pride swelling in his chest.

"And Aunt Petunia."

The sense of pride deflated at the thought of being compared on the same level as Petunia weighed on him. He was sure Harry meant no harm by it, and he was still quite pleased by Harry's compliment, but Petunia's hold on his son bugged him, and he wanted to end it sooner rather than later. He secretly hoped the visit with her went exactly as planned.

And he secretly wished he didn't have to go at all.

....

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