The Harry Potter Parent Alternative

Chapter 1 - Part 5

After their baths, Severus dressed Dudley in a white t-shirt with green short sleeves, and a little piggy in the bottom center of the front that said 'oink' in a speech bubble above it. It also had a little pigs tail on the back, so Severus had to suppress the urge to burst out laughing as he dressed him. He was also adorned in a stretchy pair of plain white cotton shorts.

Harry, however, was dressed in a light blue t-shirt, with an owl on the front, which appeared to be smiling and waving jovially. He was also dressed in jean shorts of a slightly darker shade, that had a small, dark green serpent embroidered on each of the front pockets. Harry, Severus grudgingly admitted, looked rather cute, and Dudley, rather hysterically, looked pretty accurate.

Severus placed a deep blue bib on each of them, before delicately seating each of them in a highchair at his very small dining table, before heading over to the bag of food Albus had provided him with. A bag of sliced carrots, some mushy peas, and some smash stood out to him as being perfect for their evening meal. And, at the bottom of the bag, was a pizza with a post-it note on that said: "For Severus. Enjoy. Your friend, Albus". Severus sighed, pulling it out of the bag. Ham and pineapple. Perhaps Albus knew him a bit better than he thought.

Reading the instructions on the packagings of each, he placed his pizza in the oven before turning on the stove for Dudley and Harry's meal. Sitting down at the table to wait, only one thought went round in his head - what a way to start the summer. Alone in a house with his enemy's child and his bully. Half the reason Lily died. The other half being the betrayal of Sirius Black. Another of his enemies, of which he was most certainly not short of. Albus only trusted him because he'd agreed to be his spy when you-know-who returned, and he'd sworn to protect Harry. And now Dudley too, it seemed.

A ping from the oven shook him from his stupor and alerted him to the fact that dinner was done. He'd used a small bit of magic to get it all done at the same time, and now, Dudley was banging on his tray for food. Severus got the feeling he was about to be extremely disappointed. He and Harry were to get the same portion size, and something told him that was going to be a lot less than what Dudley was used to, and a whole lot more than Harry had seen since he had been entrusted into the Dursley's care.