The Harry Potter Parent Alternative

Chapter 1 - Part 6

Upon Severus serving them all and sitting down to eat, Dudley and Harry's mouths were agape, both for completely different reasons. For Harry, this was the first time in a long time he had seen so much food on his plate, and he felt dubious that this was all for him. For Dudley, he felt outraged that his plate wasn't piled as high as his eyeballs, and that he could still see parts of his plate. And, unfairer still, Severus had cunningly placed him just far away enough from Harry that he couldn't reach over to steal his food. Which was crazy, really. Harry never had that much food! Why did he even get any?!

Seeing that his sneaky plan had succeeded, a small, almost imperceptible grin snuck upon his face. Albus couldn't say he hadn't fed Lily's child now, could he?

Lily's child. He even had Lily's eyes. And, by the looks of things, Lily's laugh, and her kind, caring nature, as shown by Harry having shyly passed Dudley a toy earlier when he couldn't find it and wanted it (he had thrown it at Harry to try and wipe the sweet, innocent, happy smile off of his face). If either of them were more like James, Severus begrudgingly had to admit, it was Dudley.

He finished his pizza, and Harry and Dudley finished their dinners too, Dudley crying since he was still hungry. Severus collected the empty dishes, took them to the sink, and quickly washed them using magic, before cutting a small slice of Victoria's sponge cake for Harry and Dudley, and a slightly larger slice for himself. He was the adult, after all. Upon setting it down in front of Harry, his face lit up with delight, his eyes as round and wide as saucers. Dudley, however, just snatched his portion from Severus, eating it greedily with his hands. So Severus stopped him. Putting his own portion to the side for a minute, he took the cake from Dudley's hands, causing to cry out in rage and disappointment, he cut the cake into smaller pieces before returning it to him and sitting down to enjoy his own. Dudley, thinking he'd just obtained more cake, laughed and stuck his tongue out at Harry. Harry, however, didn't care, and was happily tucking in to his own slice, skilfully using the spoon Severus had put on his plate.

"Well done, Harry" Severus praised, watching him using the spoon. At this, Harry smiled, having not been praised at all at the Dursley's. Dudley also reacted to this, but not in the same way. At first, he'd smiled smugly, however once he'd heard it was Harry being praised and not him, his jaw had dropped open, revealing all the chewed-up cake that was crammed into his mouth. His eyes had nearly bulged out of their sockets, and he'd turned an alarming shade of burgundy.

"Do close your mouth, Dudley, no-one wants to see your half chewed-up food" Severus remarked, dryly.

Too stunned to do anything else, he closed it, and sullenly went back to eating his cake. Harry, however, grinned broadly at Severus for a few moments longer, before turning back to his portion.