The Harry Potter Parent Alternative

Chapter 2 - Part 6

After a while, it was lunchtime. Severus had prepared a picnic for it, and so he laid out a green and sliver picnic blanket on the grass and set the food on top. The blanket had been a joke gift from Lily back when they were children, and she'd given it to him thinking he'd never use it.

"See, Lily" he thought to himself, sorrowfully. "I am capable of change".

He sat Harry and Dudley down on opposite sides of the blanket, a plate of ham and cheese sandwiches, cheese sandwiches and ham sandwiches in front of each of them; Severus had a plate too.

Once they had each finished their sandwiches, Severus poured out a packet of pombears onto Harry and Dudley's plates, and a packet of salt and vinegar onto his own. Then, he gave Harry and Dudley each a strawberry flavoured yoghurt each, before they all left for home.

Since Harry and Dudley were both so small (due to the fact they were both only a year old), Severus decided to put them both into a pair of swim trunks and place them both into the bath together. He dressed them both in blue swim trunks with yellow ducks on, ran the bath, and placed them both in. However, it quickly became more than apparent that this wasn't going to work. Dudley was rampaging about, and therefore, Harry got backed into a corner, despite the fact that it was obvious that he had wanted to play too. Severus sighed. He'd wanted to relax for the rest of the day, however since he was feeling bad for Harry, who looked on the verge of tears and kept seeming more and more like Lily, he decided to take them to the swimming pool. So, reluctantly, he grabbed some arm bands for Harry and Dudley as well as a swim ring for them both and his own, barely used swim shorts, then apparated them all to a wizarding swimming pool.

Harry and Dudley loved it at the swimming pool! They each sat in a rubber ring, and they splashed about, drenching themselves, each other, and even Severus! Severus, although he would never care to admit it, had fun too. He had swam several lengths of the pool, pulling Harry and Dudley along beside him using magic, taking extra care in the deep end to ensure they were both safe. Harry and Dudley enjoyed this very much, laughing and squealing the whole time. Occasionally, Severus would bump their pool rings together and cry 'Bumper cars!', which would cause them both to squeal even louder and splash even harder. Luckily, none of them would need to dry their hair afterwards, as Severus had thoughtfully applied a spell to each of them to keep their hair dry. Severus was extremely grateful for his forethought, as otherwise, they would all have had dripping wet hair.