Silver Ichor (Drarry)

Chapter 5

It had felt good, at the time, to cry. Now, though, as he finally stopped sniffling, he could feel the embarrassment set in.

Mum must have somehow noticed, because she pulled back to look him in the eye, "Harry, you don't need to feel embarrassed about crying. I'm glad I was there to comfort you. I'm your mum, Harry, I'll always be there for you. Even when you're old and wrinkly." She teased.

Harry laughed, and a warm feeling made itself known in his chest. It took a little bit to interpret, but Harry finally realised that it was joy. Pure, unfiltered joy.

Mum took out her wand and waved it at his face, muttering something under her breath. To Harry's surprise, he didn't even flinch, only raised a questioning eyebrow.

"Freshening charm, removes redness and puffiness from eyes and removes traces of tears." She explained.

Harry grinned, "I think I might have to learn that charm quite early on. It'll come in handy, with all the stress I'm envisioning in the future."

Mum only smiled, "I'm sure you'll be helping out the girls in your year soon enough using it. It isn't well known because I created it – I was very emotional while pregnant with you, you see – but the documents for publishing it were destroyed before I could send them."

Harry winced, but Mum didn't seem affected by talking about her death.

"Anyway, this is the drawing room. My favourite place in the whole house. I always like having long conversations with James in here." Harry looked around again. The room was quite homely, definitely somewhere he could imagine his mum curled up and reading, or painting and relaxing.

He knew that this would soon become a sanctuary for him as well and opened his mouth to tell Mum that, but before he could say anything, a voice interrupted, "Harry! I thought I heard voices coming from here." It was Dad.

He quickly hugged Harry and then placed a kiss on his wife's cheek.

They sat down on the sofa, Harry in between them, as they all talked. He learnt many things about his parents, like the fact that he shared his wits and love for books with Mum and his sarcasm and humour from Dad. He learnt all about their likes and dislikes.

They told him all about Hogwarts, the magic school, and retold stories about their time there. He learnt that Mum's old friend, Severus Snape taught potions at the school. She told him that they had argued and never spoken to each other again, but that she had forgiven him a long time ago. Dad shamefully admitted that he hadn't been the best to Severus Snape and that he had, in fact, bullied him quite relentlessly. He had assured Harry, though, that he regretted it and would never do such a thing again.

Dad had then changed the subject by reminiscing about things that he and his friends had done during their Hogwarts days, like pranking students and turning into Animagi to help their werewolf friend out. Harry had been awed when Dad stood up and changed into a Stag, and that awe quickly turned to elation when Dad promised to teach him when he was old enough.

They talked the night away, his Mum and Dad asking many questions about Harry and what he likes to do. When he yawned for the third time, Mum announced that it was time to sleep. She apologetically told him that the spare room wasn't furnished properly yet and asked him if it was okay if he slept with them.

Harry saw right through that, of course. His mum only wanted the simple joy of holding her son as he slept. But Harry wasn't going to complain. He had missed out on ten years' worth of affectionate gestures from parents and it was time to make up for it.

His last thought before he fell asleep was that he felt he knew his parents now.

When Harry woke up, the sun – or whatever its equivalent was in the Underworld – was beaming down at him from the window. He groaned, wanting to stay comfortable, but decided to get up when the smell of bacon reached him.