Please...

Chapter Twenty Two

"Of course I do."

"Put it on, put it on!!"

Remus was grinning from ear to ear as he watched the Potions master slip on the pink jumper. Severus tried to remain calm and collected, but his cheeks were visibly turning a bright shade of red.

"Aww, Sevvie!" Remus teased.

"Shut it, wolf."

"Daddy, you aren't done yet!" Harry exclaimed.

"There's more?"

Harry nodded. Severus looked through the wrapping, and found a very colorful necklace. He put it on, making Harry smile even more.

Remus and Severus agreed to have Harry go next, and gave him a fairly large box with a red bow on it. Harry glanced at it, questioning what to do.

"F-For Harry?" he asked quietly.

"Of course!" Remus said.

Harry looked at the box, and a tear slipped down his cheek. Soon, he was softly crying.

"Harry? Honey, what's wrong?"

"I-I didn' do nothin' to-to get it!" he exclaimed. "I-I-I don' d'serve it!"

"Oh, bambi..." Severus mumbled. He pulled the child gently into his lap, and stroked his hair. "You deserve it, honey."

"N-No I-I don't!"

"Harry, you do. You really do, you know why?" Harry shrugged as a response. "Because. You are... our son, and we love you, and you are a good boy. That is all it takes to deserve Christmas presents, Harry. You just... you did not get them before, because your uncle is a big meanie. Worse than a meanie."

"Worse than a-a meanie?"

"Yeah... he's an arse. But you deserve this and more, okay?"

Harry's eyes widened when he heard Severus call his uncle an arse. "Daddy! Tha-That's a naughty word!!"

"And he deserves to be called that, honey. I promise, you deserve it, Harry."

"Really?"

"Absolutely."

Harry sniffled a bit before turning around to face the box. He chose to remain in Severus' lap for the time being. "How...?"

"Rip the paper. It's fun, go ahead, this one is from Pappy."

He pulled on the paper a bit, just enough to rip a small whole. He did it again, harsher this time. It made him giggle. Harry continued to rip at the paper, laughing, his sadness forgotten, until it was all off the box, which revealed a-

"TRAIN SET!" Harry exclaimed. "I gots a train! Daddy! Pappy got me a train!!" He turned to Remus with a huge smile on his face, frown long gone. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!!"

"You're welcome, cub. It's the Hogwarts Express, the train students ride on to get to Hogwarts. Neat, isn't it?"

"Hogwarts!?"

"Yeah! Each year, students ride on it from London to get to Hogwarts, and then they ride it back to London to go home," Remus explained. "If you want, when you're eleven, you'll get to ride it, too."

"Really!? I getta ride the train!?!"

"Sure you do!"

Harry laughed and smiled and squealed and he ripped colorful paper and revealed his gifts, hugging his parents many, many times. He almost starting crying he was laughing so hard when he saw the pink hat (complete with cat ears) Remus got Severus.