Harry Potter's Real Dad

Severus watched Harry chew the small bite he had taken. He knew it would be a long time before Harry would ever be able to eat a normal sized meal, but he wanted the child to at least start trying. That evening, he planned to brew the nutrient potion the doctor had written up for him, and he wanted Harry to start it first thing in the morning. He was sure it would go down very well with Harry.

By the time Harry had managed to eat six small bites and a quarter of the sandwich, he handed it back to Severus and fearfully stepped away. Severus wrapped the sandwich up and set it in the fridge.

"If you get hungry later," Severus said, "you may have more of that as a snack."

Harry wanted to protest that he wouldn't be here to have it as a snack and that Severus had to take him home, but Severus had already moved out of the kitchen. Iris was finishing her juice, so Harry followed Severus, catching up to the man as he sat behind the desk.

"I want to go home," Harry said, leaning against the desk.

"So you've said." Severus gathered a pile of essays in front of him and picked up his red-inked quill. "Unless you'd like to work on your room now, I have work I could do."

"I'm not leaving till you take me home." Harry plopped down on the floor at Severus's feet.

"Then you can sit there until bedtime," Severus said. His eyes scanned the parchment for a few seconds before he began scribbling on it.

Harry pouted, glaring up at Severus.

"I'll scream," Harry threatened.

"I wouldn't if I were you," Severus said. He pointed up. "You'll scare the owl."

Harry looked up and gasped.

On the bird stand that stretched for the desk, was a large eagle owl. It adjusted itself on the stand as it checked out the newcomer to the family with piercing orange eyes. Harry stood up and backed away from the desk.

"He won't hurt you," Severus said. "But he won't like it if you scream."

"I won't scream," Harry said.

"Wise decision." Severus set his quill down and steepled his fingers, giving Harry his full attention. "You had a busy morning, why don't you rest a bit for the afternoon?"

Harry wanted to protest it, but he looked at the owl and then back at Severus. He lowered his head and shuffled out of the study quickly. It wasn't fair. He was trapped in a stranger's house, even if the stranger was his father that he never knew about. What was he supposed to do now? All the doors and windows were locked and he couldn't seem to make them unlock no matter which way he turned the latches. Maybe Iris knew of a way out of the house.

Harry walked back out to the dining room, but Iris wasn't there. He moved through the living room, wondering if he'd find her in her room. Halfway through the room, he stopped and eyed the fireplace.

He stared for a long moment, then glanced around the room. He listened for any noise from the study or the stairs. Everything was quiet. Harry moved closer to the fireplace, ducking to stand inside of it as he looked up. The throat looked narrow, but he was sure he could crawl through it. He reached up but his fingers grazed where he needed to grab on to. He ducked out of the fireplace and looked around.

Remembering the step stool in the kitchen, he quietly tiptoed there and grabbed the step stool, dragging it into the fireplace. Kicking off his shoes and socks, he climbed to the top step and grabbed the ledge, pulling himself up and over the throat and onto the smoke shelf.