Weekends came quickly. Nothing much happened on Friday. Severus had started trying to create a potion to help strengthen Harry's bladder. And Harry spent his day reading, drawing, and following Severus around like a lost puppy because it made him feel safe, except when the man came into his lab. Severus had allowed Draco to come in during his visit, but he had never allowed Harry in. While Severus was busy in the lab, Harry played all kinds of games with Toppy. The house elf absolutely adored Harry.
On Saturday morning, Harry was playing with blocks with Toppy on the floor when the floo flared and an old man with a long white beard stepped out.
"Professor Dumbledore!?" - Harry exclaimed, beaming as he stood up and walked to the man to greet him. Toppy bowed so low that his nose was inches from the floor.
The old man smiled softly at him.
"Harry. Toppy. Where is Severus?"
"He's in his lab, sir." - Harry answered as he looked at the older wizard curiously, trying to figure out why his headmaster was there.
Albus was about to go find Severus when the said man walked into the sitting room
"Albus"
"Severus. I was about to come to find you"
"No need. My wards alerted me. So, you have done all your work?"
"Yes, I am now free to come to visit my son and his s..."
"Ahem" - Severus cleared his throat.
"...our student" - Albus corrected himself.
Harry looked up at the men, puzzled and not quite noticing Dumbledore's slip. Then, he casually sat down on the floor and continue playing.
"Harry, Professor Dumbledore is going to stay here with us for... however long it is, ok?" - Severus said as he sat down on the couch.
"'kay, sirs" - the boy said as he continue building something.
"I'll go and put away my things" - Albus said and went upstairs to do just that.
Meanwhile, Severus walked into his lab and finished the potion he had been working on before Albus came.
5 minutes later, Albus came down and sat on the floor near Harry, who was still playing, building something with his blocks.
"How have you been Harry?"
"I'm great, professor. How about you?" - the boy looked up briefly to ask before turning his attention to his blocks again.
"I'm good, too. How have things been with Severus?"
"Oh, good I guess" - then he looked up and beamed - "He took me to a park the other day. And he said he was friends with my mom. Did you know that?" - the boy chirped happily.
"Oh, he did, didn't he? I do know. After all, they had been close friends and I adopted Severus when he was just a couple of years older than you" - Albus said, smiling softly, but inwardly, he was displaying a wide grin.
"Enough chitchatting, both of you" - a voice sounded from the doorway.
Severus was bringing a vial of potion back to Harry when he heard them talking about him, about that particularly sentimental conversation between Harry and himself. He should have known Harry didn't get any hint whatsoever that Severus would like to keep that moment between them.
"Oh, but it's nice to know you have been spending some time together" - there in the old man's eyes were bright twinkle, so bright that Severus wanted to throw a bucket of cold water at him
Severus walked to the couch.
"Harry, come here. Drink this potion"
"What is that?" - Albus asked as the younger man tipped the vial into the boy's mouth.
"Muscles strengthening potion. I'm doing some research to create a potion to help his bladder. Right now, he could just use some muscles strengthening potions" - Severus answered.
Harry made a face and pouted at the taste. Severus just summoned a glass of water as if it happened daily and gave the child. Harry then sat back down and continued playing.
"What are you building, child?" - Albus asked as he looked at Harry's creation.
"It's a castle"
"Who's going to live there?"
"Uhm...someone good, and kind, and doesn't hurt others"
Even though he had a book in his hands, Severus followed the conversation.
"Okay. And what is this area?" - Albus asked, pointing at a square area created by placing 4 blocks together.
"It's the owner's room"
"And this is the door right?"
A nod
"Why is there another wall in front of the door?"
"So that he would be protected better. It's a magic wall. Only those people who don't hurt him can get through the wall"
The conversation went on like that until lunch. Everyone in the room but the boy knew that those questions helped them get a grasp on the child's mentality.
They have some sandwiches and soup for lunch. Albus noticed that Harry's portion got slightly bigger than the last time he had eaten with the boy, but it was still nowhere as much as the other children's.
After lunch, as usual, Harry took a nap while Albus wrote a letter to Minerva to update the boy's progress. She was understandably worried about him. Then he went into town for some fresh air. Meanwhile, Severus was reading some papers on the process of getting a minor's guardianship and its requirements. Albus had so kindly brought it to him because he 'found a spare copy in his office drawers' and thought Severus would like to read it in advance.
Severus woke Harry up an hour and a half later and helped him get out of his pull-up, which was dry.
"But it's dry" - the boy said proudly - "I don't have to change"
"How about this? You have just consumed a muscles strengthening potion this morning. We'll let you wear underwear this evening, then we'll put a pull-up on before bed. I want to observe how the potion takes effect and you can train yourself again. However, it's still ok if you have accidents. Is that alright?"
Harry hesitated but nodded.
"Thank you, let's go downstairs, shall we? Toppy has prepared something to fatten you up"
They walked down the stairs and Harry didn't feel very confident. He had been using protection for a few days now and had had several accidents. He felt like he would have another any second now.
Harry played with his blocks and cars for a while, then settled on the couch with Albus and read one of Harry's storybooks. The man had, to Severus' annoyance, decided he wanted to read aloud to Harry. Luckily Harry didn't mention their story time before bed. They were halfway through one of the tales when Harry felt a teeny tiny twinge in his bladder. He froze and tried to feel it.
"Professor! Toilet!" - he announced loudly as he wiggled away from Albus' side and slid off the couch.
Severus seemed confused for a second, then he recovered and moved over to Harry to help the boy to the toilet. Harry nearly ran into the downstairs bathroom. He stood in front of the potty attached to the wall and tried to undo his buckle.
"Help!" - he whimpered as he felt the urge get more intense as the minutes passed by.
Severus quickly walked in and undid Harry's trousers for him. The boy made it just in time.
Severus sighed and closed the door as he walked out, not before hearing a 'thank you sir' though. He walked into the sitting room and saw Albus with a silly smile on his face.
"The joy of potty-training children" - the old man said with twinkles in his eye - "pity I wasn't able to experience it because you were too old for it"
Severus sneered.
"You better not say that undignified word in front of the boy. Or you'll be left to deal with the consequences"
Harry walked in a couple of minutes later, smiling.
"I made it!" - he chirped happily.
"Yes, you did. Well done, Harry" - Severus said and they got back to their activities.
However, as they prepared for dinner, Harry had an accident. He was walking back to a cupboard to get another dish when it just came out of it without his permission, he didn't even feel the urge. The boy stood there frozen while the two older wizards noticed the moving little head suddenly halted. It didn't take them long to figure out what was going on though.
"Harry" - Severus said sympathetically as he moved over to Harry.
The boy started sniffling and was full-on crying in seconds. This was the first time he had an accident in front of the headmaster. Having an accident was bad enough, and having his headmaster witness it made it ten times worse. Albus also didn't know what to do.
"Harry, it's ok" - Severus reassured him as he waved his wand and cleaned the puddle on the floor, and cast a light drying charm on Harry. Harry was taking the muscles strengthening potion along with other multiple ones and he shouldn't cast too many spells on him since the magic might interfere.
"Let's get you cleaned up" - the man said, picking up the boy from under his armpits and carrying him to the bathroom, leaving the old man by himself in the kitchen.
"Feel free to eat, Albus!" - Severus called back from the bathroom.
Inside the bathroom, Severus was undressing Harry as the bath was being filled. The boy was going to take a bath after dinner anyway, why not take it now, but he was going to have to put some kind of cover on Harry when he ate. When the bath was full enough, Severus lifted in the in and put some bath toys in as well for him to play with.
15 minutes later, Severus carried a squeaky clean little boy back into the kitchen and saw that Albus had put a stasis charm on the food to keep it fresh and warm instead of eating. Harry was still embarrassed at his accident in front of the headmaster and buried his face in Severus' shoulder.
"Let's eat" - Severus said as he placed the boy on his seat and Albus came over. - "Wait a minute, Harry"
The man opened a cupboard and took out a big plastic bag, then he cut the bottom open and walked back to Harry.
"Put this on please, unless you want another bath?"
The boy shook his head and raise his arms to allow his professor to put it on him through the opening he had cut.
"All done, eat now"
Harry started eating slowly while sniffling.
"Harry" - Albus started, trying to comfort the boy - "accident happens. Everyone has it once in a while"
The boy looked at him with a look as if to ask if it was true.
"Yes, we all have accidents sometimes, so don't worry. Severus...."
"Albus!" - Severus interrupted and glared at the old man.
Albus grinned inwardly but decided to spare his son the embarrassment.
"Just know that it's not a big deal ok? I'm sure after a while of taking potions, you'll get better"
Harry nodded. He did feel a bit better.
Late that night, when Harry had gone to bed after their story time, about which Albus had commented "I see you two have settled in a lovely routine", and the two men were sitting in the sitting room reading, Severus decided to broach the topic of Harry being bored.
"The boy has been bored lately. There isn't much to do in the house apart from reading and playing with his toys" - Severus said as he brought some tea into the room.
"Why don't you take him into your lab and brew something together? After all, it is a good activity for...bonding" - Albus suggested as he pour himself some tea.
Severus sneered, but without the usual venom.
"I... don't know. What if something goes wrong and an accident happens? There are dangerous substances in the lab"
"How about a vacation?" - Albus said, his eyes twinkling.
The last time Albus suggested this Severus had used the excuse 'Albus would require another trip when he's done with his work' to wait until Harry became his ward officially (if he agreed to of course) so they could celebrate it with Harry's first vacation, but now Albus had already done his work and was able to enjoy the summer with them.
"Not now. Maybe a few more weeks."
"Oh? Why?" - Albus asked not-so-innocently.
Severus didn't answer.
"How about letting him play with children from the neighborhood."
It didn't sound very appealing to Severus. His Manor was not in town. It was in a remote area outside of the town (since his mother's family was magical and the town belonged to Muggles). The town was a 20-minute walk away, and Severus didn't feel very comfortable letting Harry go far for hours without supervision. What if there happened to be someone, muggle or wizard, especially one with bad intentions, who recognized Harry? He also doubted Harry's friends would want him lingering around them though, and even if he could use the notice-me-not charm, he didn't have that much free time.
Albus could sense his son's worries.
"We can use magic to conceal his scar. You could even put a glamour on him, but I would advise against it because then Harry might not feel himself, he might feel like the kids are only friends to the boy who you glamour him into and not him. It can affect his self-confidence. Then we can put a monitoring charm on him to tell when he's in danger." It was a difficult spell and can only maintain for a few hours.
Severus was still quite skeptical about this plan.
"I walked around town one Sunday morning and saw a big group of scouts in a big park. They have a small group for each age from kindergarteners to high-schoolers. Maybe you can apply for him for the summer. He would get to play with other children and gain some knowledge and survival skills at the same time. And we at least know there are some muggles looking out for him instead of letting him wander around without adults."
Severus thought about it. It did sound ok.
"Ok, but he would be Harry Prince, and nearly 8 years old" - he decided. It wouldn't be hard since Harry was very small for his age. Application into these groups normally didn't require birth certificates, and even if it did, he could always make a fake one.
"It's up to you and Harry" - Albus said, smiling.
The subject was over and they had a few small talks before retiring for the night.
I'm sorry I couldn't update sooner. School has started and I'm having classes every day, even extra classes during the weekends. I'll be having 5 or 6 small tests next week. And we're having a big project which lasts until around March 2023. I try to update at least once every 3 weeks. Thanks for reading and waiting. ^^