In your skin

Houses and Homes

Just like Severus had imagined, they travelled by Floo Network. He followed Potter's parents to the closest one in the train station, and in a second, the three of them were standing inside a huge living room. A house elf was already next to the fireplace to pick up his master's bag and take to where he thought was Potter's bedroom, and the three of them got inside the house, while Severus admired all of that.

The place looked like a mansion, but way different from the Malfoy's Manner. It was warmer, cosier. All decorations were yellow and red, just like any Gryffindor's fanatic would want, but it was beautiful nevertheless. Severus was impressed by how big everything was, and it still had a feeling of home in it. The couch in front of the fireplace was red and so fluffy looking that Severus almost jumped on it to sleep. There was a small wood table in front of it, adorned with gold. A few feet away, there was a beautiful piano. Next to it, the dinner table. There were staircases that probably lead to the rooms and a passage way that lead to the kitchen. The place was amazing.

"What is it sweetheart? Missed it all too much?" Mrs. Potter asked, looking down at him, but Severus didn't know exactly what to say. Then, he decided to nod.

"Yeah... Sometimes I forget how great it is to have such a good house" he mumbled, and she seemed to be a bit taken aback with the words, but then gave him the sweetest smile he had ever seen in a woman's face and hugged him tightly. She was so warm. She smelled so good. It really felt like a mother should feel.

"Oh, my boy. Come on. I made your favourite for dinner" she said lightly with a smile, taking Severus with her to the kitchen. Surely he wasn't comfortable, but it wouldn't be so hard to feel a bit better with such attentive parents. Potter was lucky. He had no idea how much. But soon he would.

When they arrived, Lily was still asleep on his arm. James smiled at her adorable she looked when she was asleep, and then gently shook her to wake her up. She yawned and nuzzled on his arm, smiling lightly.

"Sev? Are we there yet?" she asked, and he felt his heart hurting, once again remembering that he wasn't exactly himself. He then nodded, trying not to care so much, and put her hair behind her ear in the most delicate way possible.

"Yes. I have to help your dad get everything" he said, before slowly opening the door of that vehicle. She yawned again and nodded, rubbing her eyes and letting him get out before she got out as well. He walked to where her dad was and grabbed their bags, walking with him to the house and being followed by Lily and her mother. Once they got inside, James saw a girl looking down from the stairs and she frowned at him with disgust.

"Ewww. Lily, you brought that freak with you!" the girl said angrily, making Lily roll her eyes and look at him with an annoyed face.

"Don't mind Tunia. She is annoying like that all the time. You already know. Here. Bring those bags upstairs to put them in your room" she said, smiling and pulling James with her to the rooms. She showed him the room where he would sleep and then pulled her to her own room. It was pink and filled with cute things just like he had imagined. Lily was cute like that.

"What are we going to do today?" he asked quietly, and Lily smirked at him in a way he had never seen her do before. Then, she pulled him to sit on her bed and giggled.

"After dinner, I thought about going to the lake. What do you think?" she asked, and something in her eyes told James that she was being sneaky.

"Will your parents let us go so easy? It's going to be late" he said, trying to find something that Snape would probably say. She laughed even more and shook her head.

"Of course not, silly. So. Are you up for it?" she asked, and he smirked back at her in a way that was so James Potter. But she didn't seem to notice.

"Completely"

Meanwhile Severus sat by the dinner table, looking around as if everything was new. It was, for him at least. Soon, three house elves started to serve them, giving them their plates. Turned out that Potter's favourite dish was pork with some kind of sauce, potato chips and soda. That was so... Muggle. The Potters were weird.

Severus waited for all of them to get their plates and started to eat silently. His father had always taught him that talking while eating was rude. But once again, his father always thought that when he spoke, he should shut up. So maybe his father wasn't the best example. And that was proven right when Mr. Potter looked up at him with a smile.

"So. Sirius is spending the first vacation days over Remus', right? Did you invite them to spend a week over here?" he asked, making Severus almost spit out his food. The last thing he wanted was the marauders there.

"Um... N-not really. They said all of them were going to travel and I just wanted to spend some time alone" he said, trying to come up with a good excuse. Mr. Potter didn't buy it however.

"Oh, come on son. You love when they come over! I even bought Quidditch tickets for you and all your friends. It's USA against France! We have to see it!" he said contently, and Severus knew that was something that Potter would be excited about, so he gave his best smile and nodded quickly.

"I didn't know that was the case! I will call them right away!" he said, and then Mrs. Potter smiled together with her husband. Severus felt his heart sink, staring at them and seeing how much love they had for their child. He almost felt like crying. Potter took his family for granted. "I'll just finish eating first"

The two nodded and smiled at each other, and even Severus smiled lightly, an honest smile this time.

So that's how having a real family felt like.