A Different Kind of Story

Meeting Pernell

"Happy birthday, my love. We have a special guest today, he helped me make breakfast." Picking Harry up, and setting him down on the bed, Nicholas sat behind him and guided the tray down. "Pernell, this is Harry. Harry, this is my beautiful wife Pernell." Harry held out his hand for her to shake.

"It's nice to meet you ma'am, and I really hope you like your breakfast and happy birthday." He ended, leaning over and giving her a big hug.

" Oh, thank you sweet boy! If a boy is as sweet as you, and made this breakfast, I'm sure I'll love it." Pernell smiled at the young boy, causing Harry to give a huge smile back.

"Alright Harry, I'll hand you a plate and it's your job to present it to Pernell, okay?" 

"Yes sir!" Harry said, smiling widely and trying not to bounce this time. He very carefully, and very slowly, handed the plate to Pernell, followed by the glass of orange juice. He made sure not to spill anything.

"Thank you Harry, this looks wonderful! You got all my favorites!" Harry beamed at that, happy to have picked things she liked. "I must know, how did you know what I liked?"

"I just guessed ma'am, mister Nicholas told me to taste everything, and I just picked what tasted good." Nicholas smiled at the answer, but seeing Pernell's look, he knew they needed to talk. As they were having breakfast, Nicholas had to remind Harry to eat the sweeter things, so then he could have his cinnamon roll. Asking easy questions, they found that Harry loved dark colors, had never had sugary or greasy food, and he loved playing with his twin sister in the gardens. They had also learned that he was raised by a house elf, and that only his sister Bella would talk to him anymore.

When they were all done, Harry started grabbing the dishes and stacking them back on the tray. When that was done he grabbed the tray and rushed from the room. Pernell, deeply worried the boy would hurt himself, grabbed Nicholas Arm and dragged him along as she followed Harry. 

"Nick, not that I'm complaining, but why is Harry in our home?" Pernell asked as she watched Harry bring a stool to the sink to start washing dishes. "And why is he doing the dishes?"

"Well dear, to answer your first question, he's here because Albus dropped him off this morning. To answer the second, you'll have to ask Harry, as I don't know."

"Alright, another question, why did Albus leave a small child here?"

"Now that I can't fully answer, but if you read this you'll know as much as I do." He handed the letter from Albus to his wife, and walked over to help Harry with the dishes. 

Pernell was speechless, how could any parent do that to a child? Her mind was made up like her husband, she would not let that boy go to his remaining family. No child deserved that, but she dearly wished to know who his family was. Already planning out a howler in her mind, making sure to exclude Bella of course. Yes, Harry would be their child, in every way if she had her way, which she would.

"No no Harry, we use a cloth on the cups, otherwise we get scratches on the glass and can't see what's inside." Nick said, handing Harry a soft cloth.

"Mister Nicholas, where are the pans? Don't they need to be cleaned too?" Harry asked, a blob of soap bubbles on his forehead, from pushing his glasses up.

"They have been, the pans are charmed to clean themselves, just to make sure we don't burn ourselves. And yes the extra has been put away too, nothing goes to waste in this house." 

"Except for time, of course" Pernell said with a smile. "Nick here doesn't know how to keep a schedule, he'd gladly stay in his lab until he passed out. Good thing he has me to keep him on track."

"I would be nothing without you, my dear." Nick said giving his wife a quick kiss, causing Harry to make a face. This had all three chuckling.

"Alright, enough laughing at me," he said scooping up bubbles in one hand and wiping them on Harry's cheek. Harry blinked, then scooped up his own handful, and blew them in Nick's face.it turned into an all out bubble war, ending with all three covered in bubbles.

Pernell and Nick smiled at each other, this boy would definitely become their son.