The Harry Potter Parent Alternative

Chapter 5 - part 3

Severus, formulating a plan in his mind almost immediately, practically ran back into his kitchen, removing Harry and Dudley quickly from their highchairs and placing them both in their playpen, casting charms around them so that he would be instantly alerted if either of them were to get injured within the few brief minutes he would be out of the room.

He sprinted down to his potions lab, returning with all the ingredients he would need to make veritaserum, polyjuice potion, and several painkilling potions. 

War was rapidly approaching, and he was determined to get the upper hand.

He brewed as though his life depended on it, which it maybe did. His plan would be dangerous, and was full of risks, but with a small amount of room for minor error and setbacks. His backup plans were developing their own emergency procedures and just-in-case actions, and he was mentally preparing.

Between potions, he took Harry and Dudley outside with their walkers, determined that even if something drastic happened to him during the upcoming war, they were going to have the best start to life possible. They were going to be, if anything, overprepared for the lives that lay ahead of them, Harry's in the wizarding world, and Dudley's in the muggle world. He debated transferring even more money into both of their Gringotts accounts over the next month or so, or just rewriting his will so everything would go to them. He felt glad that he'd been able to convince the goblins at Gringotts to give Dudley an account, on the premise that he did technically have some wizarding blood inside of him, and of course he wouldn't be able to prove it, given that he's only a year old. He'd lied and said he'd performed accidental magic before, summoning a toy to him when he was desperate for it, and they'd believed him, although they did still seem highly suspicious. He still got his way, though, and that was that.

They were able to take a few more steps outside, so when they came back in, Severus rewarded them by putting the tv on for them, magically switching the channel to a wizarding documentary about how different herbs could be used in different potions and what their different properties were. Severus had enjoyed watching this himself when he was younger, finding it both informative and enjoyable. He put it on in the hopes that both boys might enjoy it, and who knows - maybe Harry could even retain some of that knowledge and use it when he was older for something useful. Either way, it most certainly wouldn't hurt them. It kept both of them entertained, and to him, that was the most important thing right now.

What he wasn't expecting was for Dudley to throw a toy at the television just moments later, and to shout his very first word.

"BORED!"

Severus whipped his head around, unsure of what to make of the whole situation. His tv was broken, and he quickly cast 'reparo' upon it as he pondered what to do next. Should he tell Dudley off for throwing things, or praise him for reaching this new milestone?

He decided to do a bit of both.

"Well done, Dudley!" he praised, picking up the toy he'd just thrown. He placed it to one side, before giving the young boy a brief hug. "Since you threw that toy, it's going to stay over there for a few minutes until you've calmed down, but well done!"

He went to change the channel on the tv, however he paused when he noticed how enthralled Harry seemed to be. He realised that Dudley could still play with all of his toys, except from the one he'd just confiscated, and that to switch the tv off just because one boy didn't enjoy it would be unfair to Harry.

"Dudley, why don't you play with your truck?" Severus suggested, handing it to him. Dudley was immediately distracted, and so Severus went back to his brewing, placing a quick kiss upon Harry's head on his way past him, causing Harry to chuckle and to grin at him.

"Dada" Harry said, watching him walk away. "Dada".

He then turned his attention back to the tv, and Severus returned to his brewing.

Many hours later, the only things left to finish brewing were the many cauldrons filled with polyjuice potion, which would take an entire month to become complete. Feeling satisfied with his wok so far, he switched the tv off, took his cauldrons back downstairs to his potions lab, and he played with Harry and Dudley.

He rolled a red foam ball and raced cars with Harry.

He pretended to be a truck driver with Dudley.

And at the end of the day, when he tucked them both into bed and kissed them goodnight, he felt as though he was a lot more prepared to tackle what was yet to come.