Severus fussed with the last button of his shirt, repeatedly taking the button out and in. Something about the top just didn’t feel right, it feels a size smaller than he’s used to. Do they have a different measuring system in the muggle world? No that wasn’t it…had it been due to him gaining weight perhaps?

The long haired man turned to the side and observed himself. No doubt, his stomach looked bigger than usual. It wasn’t hanging out or anything, but usually his belly looked more sunken in.

Despite avoiding meals at his home his stomach has gotten thicker, probably for the first time in his life he’s achieved an “average” weight stature. How though?...Well, he has been having meals at the Potters more often so…but it’s not like Lily cooks especially fattening dishes or anything, yet his figure has changed this much ever since attending their meals? At most he eats with them twice a week.

…Yet, he can’t ignore the fact that he had been snacking on their bread quite often.

A murmur escaped his mouth, he wasn’t sure whether or not to be happy about this change. It’s healthier to look more like this, but still he never liked changes about his body. 

When his first chin hair appeared he shaved it every single morning and would check in the bathrooms between classes, getting rid of any tiny fuzz that sprouted out. Of course, that only led to his adult face now growing hairs faster than ever. During the cold seasons it was a little convenient but he hated the meticulous grooming that a proper beard required, his lower face itches like crazy whenever he forgets his morning trim.

He could start getting a hair growth reducing treatment, but it’s said that if you mess up the brew even slightly it could lead to your entire body’s hair falling off.

Severus shrugged, that was no problem for him as an potions expert. 

The only real issue would be gathering the ingredients…he could’ve picked up everything had he foraged in spring, but alas. He’ll have to either wait until next year or spend his funds on the overpriced, gardenhouse grown stuff in stores…he just can’t afford it right now.

Severus took a look at the time, he still had a solid half hour before he needed to leave but it’s better to be early than late.

He took out his bag and checked one last time, he had everything he needed. A cloak that was easy to put on and off, a small piece of paper that held all the emergency numbers Lily told him about and in the case Harry hurts himself through accidental magic, he’ll bring a leftover healing potion from a former customer that tried to scam him with a sob story.

That should be all…Oh! One last thing.

Rummaging through his shelves for a while, Severus eventually found an old book that seemed almost untouched. An old, illustrated encyclopedia about animals of the muggle realm, he has no idea how this book got here. It must be a book from his childhood that had been left sitting around, but he can’t recall his father ever buying him anything that wasn’t “necessary” and his mother had no money outside of the small amount his father would give for groceries.

Snape had found the book again just recently and wasn’t sure what to do with it. He was never all too interested in creatures, magical or not. He could show the book to the boy and if he likes it, even just a little bit, Harry may keep it from now on. The young one did seem to like whenever insects and other creatures showed up in their yard so there’s a good chance he’ll get more out of it than Severus would.

He packed everything up and headed towards the train station…

“Don’t give him sweets just before bed, it'll give him a tummy ache. If anyone knocks, ignore it. We gave him a bath just before you came so no need to wash him. If you call but Lily and I don’t pick up then-”

“Then try again in five minutes, I got it.” Severus interrupted James. “You’ve repeated this endlessly. Calm down, Potter.” He hung up his coat, something he wasn’t able to do before because James jumped him the moment he stepped inside and began this speech AGAIN. He’s been doing it practically everyday leading up to this evening.

“Well did you memorize it all?”

“Yes.”

“Repeat it all back for me then.”

“No.”

James crossed his arms and glared at Severus, who wasn’t intimidated by his looks. He just stared back with an even deeper glare. That caused James’ brows to become sterner, which then caused Severus’ frown to sink deeper and this went on and on until Lily shoved the two away from one another.

“Come on, dear. Any more of this and we’re gonna miss out on the pre-show.” Lily said to her husband.

“There’s gonna be a pre-show?” James asked in return.

Lily shrugged her shoulders. “There might be!”

James rolled his eyes and went to grab his jacket. Lily approached Severus and handed him a small piece of paper. “Here’s a list of things you could do with Harry while we’re gone. He hadn’t been left alone with someone else for a long time so I worry it’s gonna take a while for him to fall asleep.” She grabbed a knitted cap that hung behind Severus and continued speaking, “It’s ok for him to stay up a bit, but make sure he isn’t forcing himself to stay awake until we’re back.”

Severus nodded and watched as the pair were about to head out. James called Harry’s name just before they opened the door.

Harry came down the stairs wearing footed pajamas that had a strawberry pattern. He looked up at his parents and seemed confused at their clothing. “Daddy’s gonna be back soon, be a good boy…” He squeezed Harry into a hug. “If the greasy old bat does anything bad to you, don’t worry, daddy will make sure he regrets it.” The longer haired man let out an irritated scoff.

When James let go, Lily bent down and gave Harry a hug as well. “If there are any food stalls, I’ll make sure to bring back any candied fruits, mommy knows you love those!” After a few minutes the pair had left, Severus could still see them slowly walking away, James checking back two more times before they went around the corner.

Snape was now left alone with the boy. 

“So, uhm…Are you…hungry?” Harry looked up at Severus and shook his head from side to side. “Would you like to play something?” Harry shook his head again. “Then…wanna watch the…Tellyveeson? This list here says you can watch a bit longer just for today.” Harry seemed to think about it for a while before moving his head again, this time up and down.

Lily and James didn’t use the thing often, but whenever they did Harry seemed glued to the screen. James doesn’t like it when he does that, which is probably the reason they rarely use it. Harry handed Severus a long, dark object with buttons on it and climbed up the couch to sit next to the man.

He pressed the buttons but the screen was still dark. Ok…this one? No. How about this one. Still no.

The young boy pointed at the red circle at the very top. Severus pressed it and suddenly the screen showed two men on some sort of stage talking to each other while an audience was watching. Harry then pointed at buttons with arrow marks on them, when Severus pressed the one at the top the screen had changed to an advertisement about some sort of robot pet toy. This thing was supposed to be for children? It looked more like it wanted to eat children.

Snape continued pressing the upper arrow, as instructed by Harry. Suddenly the boy let out a excited gasp as they’d landed on an animated series where most of the characters had yellow skin. The more they watched Severus began wondering if Harry should be watching this series, on-screen the sister character was seemingly torturing the brother character by comparing his intelligence to that of a hamster. There was also a lot of talk about alcohol…

Harry was strongly focused on the screen however and kicked his legs, so he seemed to enjoy it. A few more episodes began to play as a marathon was going on. Several were filled with rather adult subjects but also mixed in a good amount of humor that can work for all ages.

An advertisement suddenly interrupted the current episode, it was for a gimmick phone line. It began innocently enough…but then the woman on the screen began taking her clothes off and Severus pressed the red button again. “Let’s do something else.”

He headed over to the kitchen and came back to the living room with a tomato and chicken sandwich. “It’s getting late, better to eat now than later or you’ll end up with nightmares.” Harry’s mouth gaped and he looked shocked. “See when your stomach is still busy digesting your mind doesn’t get to fully rest and…Well, just enjoy your meal.”

The boy chewed small pieces bit by bit, Snape meant to grab something small as well but he found himself watching the boy longer and longer until just a teensy tiny piece that fit perfectly between his hands was left. Might be better this way, he doesn’t want his stomach growing again.

Once Harry was finished he rubbed his tummy, indicating his meal was satisfying.

“There are some other things Lily wrote down such as…Oh…actually I’m not sure you want to do the rest.” Harry looked over to look at the small paper…but as he was too young to read he didn’t understand what Severus meant. “Well, would you like to play any of the board games with me?” Harry’s mouth stretched wide, and not in a positive way. “Since you just ate you probably don’t wanna dance either.”

Harry drooped down and let his head rest on his hands, his eyes seemed to have trouble staying open. Snape looked over at his bag and fished the book out from earlier. “If you don’t wanna do anything, how about I do something in your stead?” The boy tilted his tired head and made a question-like noise. “Come on, let’s head to your room.”