alisanne

Title: Bad Influence
Author:

alisanne
Rating: PG
Pairing(s)/Character(s): Severus Snape/Harry Potter, James SIrius Potter.
Word Count: 655
Warnings: None.
Summary: Harry hears something disturbing.
A/N: Written for

adventdrabbles/

adventdrabbles' prompt # 15: Christmas Mittens. This is part 14 of my How Harry Claimed Severus series (LJ/IJ/DW).
Beta(s):

torino10154.
Disclaimer: The characters contained herein are not mine. No money is being made from this fiction, which is presented for entertainment purposes only.

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Bad Influence

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“So, did you two have fun today with Scorpius?” Harry asks Albus and Lily over dinner. “You looked like you were enjoying yourselves. And put away your Christmas mittens, please, Lily.”

Removing her favourite mittens from her hands and tucking them into her pocket, Lily nods vigiourously. “We had a great time! Did you know Braxy does tricks, Daddy? Scorpius showed us charms to make him move his arms and roar!”

“Charms?” Harry raises an eyebrow. “Please be careful. Remember you can’t do unsupervised magic outside of school.”

“Scorpius says no one worries about that in magical families.” Albus shrugs. “Maybe it’s just a rule for Mudbloods?”

James gasps and Harry goes still, his fork falling from his suddenly nerveless hand. “Albus Severus!” he cries. “Where did you hear that awful word?”

Wincing, Albus looks down at his plate. “Dunno.”

Exhaling, Harry modulates his voice. “I didn’t mean to yell, but that is a terrible word that you should never use to refer to anyone, do you understand?”

“Yes. Sorry, Dad.”

“Why is it a bad word, Daddy?” asks Lily. “Scorpius uses it.”

“Does he now?” Harry clears his throat. “Well, I can’t control what Scorpius says, but in this house, we never use it. It’s a horrible word used to categorise Muggle-born witches and wizards as inferior. Do you think your Aunt Hermione is inferior to anyone?”

“No way!” Albus shakes his head. “She’s brilliant!”

“Exactly. When you use that word, you’re disrespecting her and you’re showing yourself to be a bigoted wizard. Now, please promise me you will never use that word to refer to anyone ever.”

“I promise,” says Albus, looking remorseful.

“Me, too, Daddy,” says Lily. “I’ll be good.”

“I know, sweetheart.” Harry exhales. “Right, is everyone finished? If so, we can have pudding and then stuff stockings.”

“What’s for pudding?” asks Lily, her face lighting up.

Biting back a grin, Harry says, “Treacle tart. If you’d rather skip it—”

“I love treacle tart!” exclaims Lily. “It’s my favorite!”

Harry laughs, ruffling her hair. “I know it is. You definitely take after me in that respect. You love sweets almost as much as I did when I was a kid.”

After pudding, they retire to the living room. “All right, I’m setting up the Concealment Charms,” says Harry. “Put your small gifts into the stockings while they’re up so no one knows who gave what. Ready?”

Everyone nods and Harry waves his wand.

As his children stuff each other’s stockings, he sits back and sighs, his mind whirling.

Stockings stuffed, Harry tucks Lily in before going into Albus’ room. Sitting on the side of his bed, he says, “I hope you know I’m not angry with you, I’m just disappointed.”

“I know, Dad.” Albus, looking younger than his actual age while under his blankets, blinks up at him. “It’s just…Scorpius says that a lot and—”

“Just because Scorpius says it is not a good reason for you to say it, too!” Albus’ lower lip quivers and Harry sighs, smoothing his hand over Albus’ messy hair. “Sorry, Al. I’m just sad that people still think that way. I’ll have a word with Scorpius’…fathers about it.” Leaning down, he kisses Al’s forehead. “Sleep well.”

After saying goodnight to James, Harry locks up the house and sets the lightest wards. When Severus appears in his bedroom an hour later, Harry is waiting.

Severus smiles. “You’re here.” He subjects Harry to a slow once-over that leaves him tingling. “I’d hoped you’d be wearing less clothing, but I’m happy to unwrap you.”

Harry smiles faintly. “I can’t wait,” he says. He holds up a hand, forestalling Severus from moving towards him. “But before we do…anything, we really need to talk about somthing.”

Severus’ eyes narrow. “That sounds ominous. What’s wrong?”

Sitting down on the side of his bed, Harry patted the spot beside him. “Have a seat.”

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Continued in The M Word (LJ/IJ/DW).