What if

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Severus dreaded the shopping trip and was surprised when he found out how eagerly the staff ladies jumped in to help him. Apparently, he was giving out the hot single dad vibe, making all the female personnel snap to attention whenever they entered a store. Casting the child over to the ladies to dress him made his job significantly easier than he originally expected.

"Here you go, sweetheart, all set. You can run grab your daddy now," Snape heard the shop assistant urging Harry in his direction. The boy bit his lip probably pondering whether he should correct her. In the end, he didn't and just came over to Severus looking increasingly guilty. Snape approached the counter to pay for the clothes ready to correct her himself, not for her sake of course, but for the sake of the child. It wouldn't do to send the boy the wrong message. But just like Harry, in the end, he felt too awkward to address it.

They walked on Diagon Alley hand in hand, Severus carrying several big handbags full of clothes and Harry carrying two small bags with shoes. There was an uncomfortable silence dragging on between them, but neither of them did anything to break it. Finally, Severus noticed the ice cream parlor and remembered the promise he gave the child earlier. Harry's eyes lit up excitedly when he noticed the direction Snape had taken.

"Well, which one do you like?" Severus asked after the boy spent at least 5 minutes staring at the colorful pictures on the menu.

Harry went over the menu once more and then looked at Snape with a sad expression. "I don't know," he muttered dejectedly.

Severus frowned. Where did all the earlier excitement go? "You don't like any?"

"I like all of them... it's just," he trailed off, dropping his eyes to his lap.

"Harry, what is it?" Snape asked, his brows furrowed with concern. Did the boy feel unwell? Did those ladies say something to Harry? Well, apart from the "daddy comment" that Severus was yet to acknowledge.

The boy finally raised his gaze to look at his guardian. "I don't have any money!" he lamented miserably, "And you already bought all these clothes and I don't know how to earn my keep if you don't let me do the chores. And..."

"Earn your keep?! Potter, what the ...," he swallowed a swearword, "are you talking about?!" Snape flew into a temper, he hoped nobody around was listening to their conversation because the boy just painted him as somebody who exploits children through labor.

Harry flinched as if being scolded and Severus immediately regretted his outburst. Whenever Snape got mad, the boy automatically assumed he did something wrong. He forced himself to calm down and amended his tone. "Harry, what do you mean by earning your keep?"

"How else am I gonna pay for the food and clothes and electricity and other... bills?" Harry asked, munching on his bottom lip.

Severus grimaced pulling at his hair, feeling irritated and lost. Where the hell did this come from? Sure the boy wanted to fight the house-elf to wash the plate, but it seemed relatively harmless at the time. Snape didn't pay much attention to it... and clearly, he should have. Apparently, the boy was forced to work to be fed. Those weren't just some chores, it was his job. Snape now regretted not breaking Petunia's bones as he threatened he would. He took a deep breath to avoid further venting his frustration on the child.

"Potter, there are no bills in Hogwarts. Moreover, you are not expected to have money or pay for anything. I hate to break it to you, but you are 6 years old. And it will be quite some time before you are even allowed to be working and earning money. It's against the law. Do you want to go to prison?" he asked the boy with a serious expression. He was bluffing of course, if anyone would be sent to Azkaban for child labor it would be him or Dumbledore.