Harry was fast asleep on Severus' lap, his head buried in the man's robes. He snored away softly, leaving Severus to right his letter.

Lucius.

I have recently been made a parental figure. I need your help adopting him. If I do not adopt him soon, Dumbledore will most likely step in. The child is Harry Potter. I know you never want to hear that name again, but I desperately need help. You know I barely ask of help, and now I am.

In case you need to know why I am adopting Harry, come to my quarters as soon as possible. Let's just say his childhood was not at all pretty, and I am not going to write it on paper.

You work with the Ministry, and are close with the Minister himself. Help the adoption get through. Because of his past, he does not trust people easily like most children do, from what I've seen. It will be utter chaos if he is forced back to his relatives, or a busy Wizarding family.

Signed,

Severus Snape.

He read over the letter multiple times, making sure it looked alright. When he deemed it 'okay', he quickly tied the letter to his owl and sent him off.

He looked down at the sleeping boy, figuring he had better get him to bed. He lifted the child and made his way to the guest room, conjuring bars on the sides so Harry would not fall off, a Muggle thing he had seen quite some time ago. With a quick spell, Harry was in silk black pajamas. Severus walked to the bed and tried to lay Harry down.

Tried, because Harry would not let go. Harry shook his head and muttered, "No...", once Severus had tried letting go and laying him down.

"Don't you want to go to bed instead?" Severus questioned the half-asleep Harry. "Stay... you."

"You want to sleep with me? Not by yourself?" Harry nodded into his shoulder. "Okay." Severus made his way to his own room, and, once again, tried to lay Harry down. "No."

"I have to get on my own pajamas, Harry. I'll be right back, I promise." Severus had learned that as long as he never lied to Harry, which he didn't, Harry would become more comfortable. "Promise?"

"Mmm-hmm. Now, let go, and I'll tuck you in. I'll be right here in five, probably less, minutes." With that, Harry slowly let go and allowed himself to be laid on the bed. Severus draped the duvet over him, and quickly changed into his own pajamas. He made his way to the small kitchen, got himself a glass of water, and brought it back to his room.

"See? Here I am." He set the glass on his nightstand and lifted the duvet so he himself could get in bed. Once he did, Harry instantly clung to him. "Sevvie."

"Hmm?" Severus pulled the duvet over them. "I don't have a-a daddy... or a mummy. I'm alone." Harry mumbled, half asleep. It broke Severus heart, which was something that seemed to be happening a lot lately. "I don' have a family."

He didn't know what to say. What he wanted to say, was that he was Harry's family now, but didn't know how Harry would react to that, even though Harry had been living with him for a few weeks, and was more open.

His birthday had gone well, Harry had tried many different sweets, ranging from candies to ice cream, and had loved the movie. For a present, Severus had fixed the tears in Harry's baby blanket, which had made him break out in tears.

"I don'... have a family."

Severus was brought out of his trance by Harry mumbling, and decided he would say it. "I'm your family now, child. You have me."

Harry's eyes opened completely. "You're my family?" Severus nodded as Harry sat criss-cross on the bed, looking at him intently. "Yes." Harry smiled and laid down again, head on Severus' chest, hands gripping Severus' pajamas. "Daddy."

Severus looked at the raven child in shock. Daddy. "Harry..."

But he was already fast asleep.

* * *

"Harry, wake up."

Harry opened his eyes and saw Severus above him. "Morning, kid. Want breakfast?" Severus asked as he lifted Harry out of bed and carried him to the dining room. "Yes please!"

"Pancakes?" Harry nodded. "Sev... Can I call you Daddy?" Harry asked quietly. He trusted Severus. In fact, Severus and the Poppy lady were the only people he did trust/ He did not want to leave him. Sev had said he could live with him.

"Of course."

"Really?! Zat mean I really get to live with you?!" Harry asked excitedly. Severus nodded, and turned to the waiting house elf. "Pancakes and fruit, please." The house elf nodded and disappeared with a crack, making Harry jump.

"Harry, we need to talk," Severus said, setting Harry in his spot at the table. Severus sat across from him. "Now, no matter what, if you want it, and you've already said you do, you can live with me. But, that means I have to adopt you, with permission from your relatives. Thankfully, Petunia is technically your guardian, not her husband, so it shouldn't be a problem getting permission. There is a problem, however. I contacted a friend of mine, asking if our Ministry - Yes, the Wizarding world has a Ministry," Severus said when Harry looked confused. "Asking if our Ministry needs to know why I wish to adopt you, and why your prior guardians are unfit."

"I have to tell them?!" Harry exclaimed, practically jumping from his seat. "Calm down. I do not know yet, I sent the letter last night. Before I woke you, said friend had sent me an owl, saying he would come over later today. Now, would you like to go with Poppy for the afternoon, or would you like to stay here, with me. You don't have to talk to him at all if you don't want to."

"Stay here. But, I might have to tell them?" Harry's lower lip quivered, as he was now thinking of it all. He felt a comforting hand on his own, which was clenched tightly. "I'm afraid you might. Unless you would be willing to give us your memories? We would take them out, you would still remember, and it wouldn't hurt at all, but then we would see instead of hear, or you telling."

"No." Them seeing, meant they saw 'fun time', which was something no one would get to see, ever. "It'll be okay. Even if you have to, you don't have to say everything. Only what you've told me," Severus said softly. "But I'll still... I can still live with you, even if I don't say everything?"

"Yes." Their food appeared on the table, pancakes, with small bowls of fruit, but Harry was no longer hungry. 'Fun time' was playing in his mind, over and over and over... Tears pricked his eyes, lip quivering.

"Harry? What is wrong?"

"Fun time..." Harry whispered. "Do you want to talk about it? Talking might help you feel better? I'm sorry if it's my fault your thinking of it."

"Uncle made me. I... I had to do it, once a month at least. He touched me..." Harry looked at Severus and saw he was seething. "How did he touch you?"

"Down... Down there," Harry mumbled. "Down there, with... his hands, and his... thing. Sometimes he... umm... he would put it inside me. It hurt. It hurts."

"How often did this happen? Once a month, you said?"

"Usually it was once a month, but when it was my birthday... He'd do it everyday, for a week. Long time every day, it hurt. I hurt but he wouldn't stop, no matter what I did, he smiled and wouldn't stop." Tears fell, dripping down his pale cheeks. "Harry, I'm so sorry... You didn't deserve that. No one does. Did your aunt try and stop him?"

Harry nodded. "The first time, I think I was three or something. It was a few months before my birthday. After he... he did it, she helped me, he went to work and she cleaned me, helped it go away."

"What go away? The hurt?"

"The blood, she gave me a bath. The hurt went away after a long time." Harry saw Severus walk over to him, and was soon wrapped in a warm embrace. He leaned into the touch, but did not return it. "That, will never, ever happen again. I promise, no one will ever do that as long as I'm here. And I will always be here."

After a half hour, the hug finally ended, and Harry was told to eat, which he did. Severus was right, he did feel a tiny bit better now that someone else knew.

When he finished his pancake, he had only been given one, he moved on to the small bowl of fruit. Severus had finished his whole meal, and was starting to talk. "Lucius, my friend, should be here in about an hour. I let you sleep in pretty late, so it's already noon. Why don't you go get dressed?"

Harry finished his fruit and went to get dressed in his 'room', where another one of Severus' shrunken outfits lay on the bed. Quickly, he changed, and also grabbed Lily from the bed before making his way to living room. He climbed into the armchair next to Severus'.

"What's your friend like? Does he have kids? Will he like me? Is he old?" He asked, his mind racing a mile a minute.

"Slow down. Yes, he has one child of his own, who is your age. And of course he'll like you. He's about as old as me, a few years older," Severus said, chuckling. "He is pretty intimidating, he looks kind of scary, but really he's not. Well, he can be, but he won't be when he's around you."

"Why's he scary?"

"Because, he used to work for a very bad person, and when he tried to get out, he was threatened. Being scary, scaring people, helped him when he worked for the bad person, made him feel better. So, he still does it out of habit," Severus explained lightly. Harry thought for a moment. "So he's only mean when he has to be?"

"Yes. His name is Lucius."

"Lucius." Harry attempted to say, but the 's' sounded more like 'th', making him stumble over the word. "Eh, call him Lucy instead. I do it," Severus said. "Lucy."

"Anything else you want to know?"

"Is he as tall as you?" The question was an odd one, but Severus was very tall, and what if Lucy was taller? "He's a few inches taller than me, maybe three?"

"Really?! Why are you guys so tall?!" Harry asked curiously. "Because, we ate healthy meals, and did what we were told. And if you do the same, you'll be as tall as me some day."

"Did he go to school here?"

"Yes, actually. He was in my House, to. Both of us were Slytherins, as was his wife." Severus said. Harry threw Lily in the air and caught her, giggling softly. The fireplace then grew green flames, making Harry jump and lean away from it.

"What's that?!"

"That would be Lucius, he's early. Remember how we Apparated here when I got you? That's Flooing, it's like Apparating with fireplaces."

The fireplace grew, and out walked a tall man with long blond hair, drawn in a ponytail, and a cane.

"Hello, Severus. This must be Harry."