"Daddy, he's gonna be 'ere soon!!" Harry exclaimed. "Stop da tickles!! PAPPY!!"
"Oh, alright." Severus stopped tickling the child. "The tickle monster will just have to come back later then."
"I was summoned?" Remus asked, standing in the doorway.
"Pappy! Daddy was the tickle monster 'gain!!"
Remus chuckled and lifted Harry to rest him on his hip. "He was!? Well, maybe the little tickle monster should get him!"
Harry was about to tickle Severus when they all heard the Floo go.
"DRACO!!" Harry squealed. "Pappy, Daddy, Draco's here!!!"
Harry let Remus set him down before running to the sitting room, and sure enough, there was Draco and Lucius.
"Lucy, Draco!!"
"Harry!"
"Hello, Harry."
Lucius and Draco greeted Harry at the same time.
"Hello, Lucius, Draco," Severus said, walking with Remus. "Harry, Draco, why don't the two of you go play in Harry's room so we can talk for a bit?"
"'Kay Daddy! Draco, I gots new stuff!"
The two ran to Harry's bedroom, leaving the adults alone.
"How is he?" Lucius asked, taking a seat.
"He's doing good. Doesn't have nightmares very often, but he still prefers to sleep with us," Severus replied. "He's not terrified of talking to new people, which is good."
"He's still terrified we'll give him away or he'll be punished for doing something wrong," Remus spoke.
"That's... that's awful," Lucius mumbled. "Is there any way I or Cissa could help?"
Both men shrugged. "Not sure."
"Have you consider taking him to therapy?"
"Maybe when he's older, but... not now. I know, it helps, but I don't think it would for him. He hates talking to people about that... that place. That stupid, bloody, fu-"
"Severus, they're just in the other room," Lucius warned. "Maybe try and stick with age-appropriate language?"
"Yeah, sure. Anyway, Draco's been wondering if Harry could come over to our Manor. I told him I'd talk to you about it."
When Severus didn't answer, Remus decided to. "Maybe, we'd have to talk to Harry about it. See how he feels. But... I'm not sure if he'd be comfortable with being away from us for that long. And I doubt Sev would like it much, either."
"Severus?"
"I wouldn't like it," he grumbled. "But if he's alright with it and wanted to go, I guess I could think about it."
"Aw, Sevy, has he turned you soft and clingy?"
"Yes, he has, Lucius," Remus replied. "A huge softy-"
"Both of you are going to ruin my reputation," Severus groaned. "Aren't you late for a meeting or something?"
"Oh, I'd miss all my meetings for a chance to tease you-"
"Lucius!" Severus hissed. The blond laughed. "Okay, you can go now, we'll talk later, goodbye!" he exclaimed.
"Right, yes. Draco!"
The two boys came running into the room, giggling.
"Already getting into mischief, are we?" Lucius asked.
"Nuh-uh, Daddy!"
"Well, Dragon, I'm going to go. It's your first sleepover, so if you want to come home later, just tell Uncle Sev, okay?"
"Even if 'e's sleepin'?"
"Even if he's sleeping. Or, if he's using the loo, I bet you could ask Remus as well."
"Okay, Daddy!" Draco said. "Hug?" He lifted his arms up.
Lucius chuckled as he took Draco in his arms. "Of course, my dragon." Draco giggled when his father kissed his forehead. "Promise you'll behave?"
"I promises, Daddy!"
"Good, kiddo. Right, I'm going to get going. Please have him in bed before nine, otherwise he'll sleep until noon. Trust me."
"Harry's bedtime is eight, so maybe eight-thirty tonight," Severus replied.
"And nothing to drink a half hour before bed. He sometimes has nightmares, so it's just a precaution."
"I've watched him plenty of times, Luc. I know the drill," Severus said. "We'll be fine, won't we, boys?" Both nodded their heads enthusiastically. "See?"
Lucius groaned but nodded. "Alright, I'm going. Goodbye, Draco, I'll pick you up tomorrow. Bye, Harry, it was nice to see you again." With that, Lucius left through the Floo, and the sleepover had officially started.
"Okay, boys, what should we do first?" Severus asked. "Want to go to the lake? It's warm enough today."
"Swimming!?" Draco asked excitedly.
"No, not swimming yet. But you can build sand castles and try and find some frogs."
"Froggies?" Harry grinned. "Pet froggie!"
Severus shook his head. "No. But, you know what?"
"What!?"
"We forgot to get you your pet fish! Maybe we could go to Diagon Alley later. Draco, would you like to go to the pet store?"
"YEAH!!" Draco yelled excitedly. "Can we look at the rats and snakies and mice!?"
"Of course, Dragon. But let's go down to the lake for a little bit. Draco, I still have a pair of your shorts and some rain boots. You can change in my room. Harry, can you go put on a pair of shorts you can get dirty?"
"Yeah, Daddy!"
Both boys ran to the rooms, quickly changing into their play clothes.
"I done!" Draco exclaimed. "Piggyback?"
Severus sighed. "Okay, Draco. Come on." He kneeled down so Draco could climb on his back. "No hair pulling this time, or you'll go in the time out corner for five minutes, okay?"
"I promises I won't pull you'e hair."
"Pappy, can I has a piggyback ride too?" Harry asked, walking out of his room. Remus, of course, nodded, and let Harry climb on his back.
"Okay, boys. Let's go down to the lake. Make sure your boots don't fall off." They walked to the portrait, and said goodbye to Salazar before walking to the lake. Some students waved, others ran out of the way, making Severus realize just how much work he still had to do.
"Pappy, can I have a froggy? I'll feed it I promise!"
"Hare, you're getting a fishy, don't you think that'll be enough?"
"Hmm... I guess so." Harry turned to Draco. "D'you think if I kiss a froggy it'll be a prince!?"
"We are not kissing frogs," Severus said. "They have germs and can make you sick. And, you could make it sick."
"I don't wanna make it sick!" Harry cried.
"So we aren't going to kiss frogs, are we?"
"No!!"
"Good." Both boys were set on the ground. "Before you go play, there are a few rules we have to go over first, okay?"
"Okay, uncle Sev."
"Okay Daddy."
Severus sat on a log after spelling it clean. "Neither of you go deeper than your knees in the water, got it? Neither of you know how to swim very well. Both of you, stay where we can see you. You don't want to get lost, right?" They both shook their heads. "Okay, last rule, you both need sunscreen."
Draco groaned. "But it's slimy!!"
"Draco, if you don't wear sunscreen, your skin gets all red and it hurts. Remember last year?" Draco's lips formed a pout, but he nodded anyway, and let Severus cover him in sunscreen. "Okay, you're done. You can go play. Harry, come here, please."
Harry did not squirm half as much as Draco, so he was done in less than a minute. He turned to Severus. "Watch Lily please? Don' want her to get lost."
"Of course I will. Now go play with Draco. If you go in the water, take your boots off, okay? And your socks."
"Okay, Daddy-"
"Harry, Harry, I found a snake!!"
"Don't touch it, Draco!!"
They all turned to look at Draco, who was proudly holding the snake. "It crawled on me!!"
"Oh, Merlin. Draco, put it down, it might bite you."
Harry shook his head. "It won' bite him."
"How do you know?"
"He said it!" Harry leaned down so he was closer to the snake's face, and made a horrible hissing sound. The snake hissed something. "Dray, can you put him down? He don't like it."
Remus and Severus stared at Harry, then at each other, then at Harry again, and finally at the snake that was slithering back into the tall grass.
"What the hell?" Remus muttered.
"Harry, how long have you been doing that?"
"I dunno."
"Have you always been able to do that?"
"I dunno." Harry looked at the ground. "'S it bad? Do you not-"
"No, honey, it isn't bad," Severus said. "It means you have a special magic. A magic that lets you talk to snakes, that's all. You're special."
"Really?"
"Really. You're just special is all."
Draco gave Harry a toothy grin. "You can talk to snakes!!? Why didn' you tell me!? I can get a snakey and you can tell me what their saying!!! And what they wanna eat!! Harry can talk to snakes uncle Sev. SNAKES!!"
Harry smiled. "It's not weird?"
"NO! It's wicked!! HARRY CAN TALK TO SNAKES! MY FRIEND CAN TALK TO SNAKES!!!"
"Okay, DRaco, calm down. How about you two go play in the lake. Try not to get soaked, alright?"
"Okay!!"
"Okay, Daddy."
The two ran off after taking their boots and socks off, and the two men sat on the log.
"Well that's something..." Remus mumbled. "Harry can talk to snakes. Harry speaks parseltongue. My cub speaks-"
"Remus, you're rambling."
"Oops."
"It doesn't mean anything. We'll think about it more when he's older only if it becomes a problem."
"Yeah. Sure."
"Why are you so worried?"
"I'm not."
"Liar. What's wrong?"
"You know how he just wants to be normal? Yeah. Never going to happen. Boy-Who-Lived, has two dads, one's a werewolf, he has so much trauma, and now he can talk to snakes."
"He'll be okay. Don't focus that far into the future, because that's when this stuff'll matter. Right now, he's five years old, and normal to every other five year old on this planet. And besides. Normal is boring."
"True."
"So don't over think it."
"Right."
"Good."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Daddy, Pappy!! Look at it!! It's pretty!!" Harry exclaimed, bouncing on his heels as he looked at a fish. "Dray!"
"I like this one!" Draco pointed at a turquoise fish. "It's spa'kly!"
"Harry, do you want that one?" Remus asked, kneeling next to him. "You're right, it is very pretty."
"'Hmm... Ooh! Look at this one! Dray, c'mere an' look at this one! It's green and sparkly!"
"Glitte'y!" Draco exclaimed. "You should get that one!!"
"Daddy!! Can I get this one! It's a baby!!"
Severus joined them. "It says his name is Fulbert. He's supposed to live for eight years- Merlin, that's a long time, even for a magical fish."
"I love him!! Fulbert's my friend now!"
"Okay, bambi. How about Pappy carries Fulbert, and we go get some food for him."
"Can we get a little castle too? He needs a house!! And a mini teddy,he needs a friend!"
Severus laughed. "Of course, Harry. Come on, you and Draco can look around."
"Dray, c'mon!" Harry grabbed his hand, and the two ran after Severus. Harry chose a pale yellow castle and a butterfly for Fulbert. Draco chose a little cave.
"Right. Let's go pay."
They set everything on the counter. "Eighteen galleons, five sickles, and two knuts," the cashier said. Severus gave her the money, she bagged everything (after putting a spell on Fulbert's fish bowl so he wouldn't fall out), and they left.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Severus woke up to someone crying. He sat up, and the only person he saw also sitting was Draco.
"Hey, Draco, what's wrong?"
"Had a-a nightma'e!" he cried. "D-Daddy got eated by a r-rat!!"
"Oh, Dragon. Come here." The blond crawled into Severus' lap. "Draco, a rat could never eat your father."
"B-But-"
"No buts. You wanna no why?"
"Why?"
"Because, he'd scare them all off first! Rats are itty bitty compared to your dad, so they're really scared when they see a giant walking towards them."
"'Eally?"
"Yes, really. Wouldn't you be scared if you saw something as big as this castle walking towards you?"
"Uh-huh!"
"Well that's how rats feel when they see people."
"O-Okay."
Severus reached across the floor for Draco's stuffed dragon and handed it to the boy. "Now, get some sleep, okay? I'll be right here, and so is Harry, and so is Remus. and Salazar isn't that far away, either, and you know he wouldn't let anything bad happen to his favorite little blond." He kissed Draco's forehead.
"D'aco?" Harry mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "Draco sad?"
"Nightma'e..." he replied sleepily. "But 'm bette' now."
"Okay. Nigh' nigh', Daddy. Nigh' nigh' Dray." Harry hugged Lily and his bee to his chest, and laid back down.
"Time to go to sleep, Draco. Get in your sleeping bag, please." Draco crawled into his fluffy sleeping bag. Severus laid down again as well, next to Remus. He put his head on his chest, watching the two boys fall asleep.
"I love you all..." he whispered to nobody in particular. But he was positive Remus heard, for the arms around him got tighter.
it's been a long time and I'm so sorry. there's been just a lot of shit happening lately. Well, there was. But then I wanted to update, and my body decided to hate me and gave me a migraine that lasted like two days. again, super sorry, will be updating hopefully every other tuesday, if not every tuesday. Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.