Parenting 101

It was a Saturday morning when Andrew flooed over to the Snape residence to help start on the baby nursery. 

“Alright,” Andrew started, “What’s the plan?”

“Honestly,” Severus replied, “I have no idea. What do normal parents even do?”

“First of all, you are a real parent, except that,” Andrew started, “Second, it’s usually what the parents like, just in cute form. Baby animals are popular with a lot of parents or their house from Hogwarts, for the die-hard.”

Severus could imagine Potter opting for a baby Gryffindor theme. Plus, Narcissa’s baby blushing Slytherin Snakes.

“Yeah, I can think of a few people who have done that,” Severus replied.

“Well, why don’t we start with rearranging the nursery and maybe something will come to you,” Andrew offered.

Severus let out a sigh he was holding in, “That sounds like a good idea.”

The two men made their way up to the nursery where Harry was sleeping, “We’ll need to be quiet, I just got him down for a nap,” Severus replied with pleading eyes.

“Alright,” Andrew nodded.

The two men got to work, Andrew helping Severus move the large pieces of furniture and Severus changing his mind on the placement every time they put it down. 

~SS~

Three hours had passed and they were still one the rocking chair, Severus still wasn’t sure if he wanted on the left side of the window or the right side of the window… or even get crazy and smack dab right in front of the window.

 “Oh, Severus!” Narcissa’s sing-song voice flowed through the house.

Severus and Andrew froze as they heard Narcissa’s voice carry across the house. They never heard the floo or the footsteps coming up the stairs. It wasn’t until Narcissa was already at the doorframe of the nursery did they dared to slowly turn their heads to see her. Narcissa’s eyes widened in shock as she looked around the bare nursery room.

Fuck.

“Severus!” She gasped in absolute shock and horror, “Please tell me this isn’t Harry’s nursery?”

“Ok,” Severus replied and nothing more.

“Severus!”

“You told me not to tell you!” 

Narcissa pursed her lips, “Alright, looks like I have some work to do.”

“Sissy, you really don’t need to worry-”

“If you finish that sentence, I’m hexing you.”

Severus shut his mouth with a snap.

“Alright, I will be back. I’m going to floo home to get my baby catalogs I saved. I expect the both of you to be downstairs waiting when I return,” and with that, she was gone in a flourish of robes back down the stairs and through the floo.

Severus and Andrew looked at each other before both letting out the breath they were holding.

“Severus, your friend is scary,” Andrew replied.

“I know,” Severus answered.

Andrew looked over at Harry who was still asleep, “I’m surprised he’s still asleep, even through all that.”

“Actually, I am too,” Severus replied.

Both men peered over the crib to look at the baby and began to worry when they didn’t see any movement. Finally, after what felt like forever, but was more like fifteen seconds, Harry took in a deeper breath causing his chest to visibly rise more. Both men startled, let out the breath they were holding, again.

“Thank Merlin,” Andrew replied.

“You’re telling me,” Severus answered, clutching his chest.

Andrew waved his wand over the baby and a diagnosis sheet flew out.

“Hmmm,” Andrew replied.

“What?” Severus asked.

“He has a slight fever. This is common, but I would still give him some fever-reducing potion. For his size, what you would normally give an adult, cut that to about 1/10th the dose.”

“Alright,” Severus responded, “What about the sleeping?”

“Let him sleep, his body is fighting whatever. His little body is worn out from it.”

Severus nodded and both men headed downstairs. Just as they reached the bottom, the floo flared to life and out stepped Narcissa with bags of catalogs.

“I told you to be waiting.”

“We were checking on Harry,” Severus replied.

“Is he alright?” Narcissa asked, worry in her voice.

“He’s alright,” Andrew replied, “Just a baby fever. I’ve already told Severus how to deal with it, and actually, I may just go and give him his first dose of fever reducer while you and Severus look through the magazines.”

Severus shot Andrew a wide-eyed look that read, “You’re leaving me with her alone?”

Andrew smirked before excusing himself. Severus watched the man fly up the stairs before snapping his head back to Narcissa, fear in his eyes.

“Come, come, Severus, we have a nursery to design,” Narcissa patted the spot next to her on the couch as she already had some of the magazines and catalogs opened on the coffee table.

Severus slowly made his way over to her before sinking into the seat next to her, stiff as a board. 

Narcissa, pretending to not notice with a smirk on her face, started flipping through the pages, “So, Sev, what are we thinking?”

~SS~

It had been Merlin knows how many hours, five(?), seven(?), have passed. Andrew had never come back from checking on Harry, pretty sure he slipped out at some point under Narcissa’s watchful eye. Miracles. The man was blessed with miracles. 

The only breaks Severus had was to eat and check on Harry, that’s how he found out Andrew was gone. Lucky Bastard. Harry woke up for short periods of time to eat and be changed, but for the most part, he slept for most of the day. Severus wasn’t going to complain, at least he was being quiet.

Severus had looked at so many themes for baby nurseries, from the night sky to baby forest animals to Quidditch. Stacks upon stacks of these books were piling up on his floor, his coffee table, HIS FAVORITE ARMCHAIR! He was exhausted. He was becoming delusional. Did he always have two fireplaces?

Narcissa was in her glory enjoying going over all these baby themes again. If she could, and if Lucius had allowed it (Stupid, Lucius), she would have one room dedicated to each theme.

“Severus, what do you think about this theme?” Narcissa leaned over with the current catalog she had wanting to show the potion master the ocean theme with the magical merpeople swimming around.

When she didn’t get a response, she glanced over to see the man asleep. Head tilted back, legs stretched out infront of him crossed at the ankles, one arm draped over the back of the couch, the other over the arm. His eyes were closed and the worry lines faded from his face. Narcissa softened at the sight and then glanced over at the window to see it was in fact dark.

“Shit,” She cursed under her breath; she didn’t realize it was really that late.

The floo flared to life and out stepped her husband. He took one look at the scene in front of him and knew exactly how his wife spent her day.

“Sissy,” He replied softly, shaking his head at her.

“It’s not my fault. He doesn’t have a nursery for Harry,” Narcissa tried to protest.

“I am sure he does,” Lucius replied walking over to Severus and instead of waking the man to send him to bed, picked the smaller man up in his arms and carried him up the stairs. Severus was always small and light, making it easy for Lucius to continue to carry him, even into adulthood.

“No, really, Luce, he doesn’t. Wait until you see it when we go to check on Harry.”

“Mhm, alright,” Lucius replied, traveling down the hall and kicking the master bedroom door open with his foot.

He laid the potion master down on the bed before covering him with a blanket and brushing away some of the fallen hair. Narcissa came up behind him and placed her hands on his shoulder and arm to look down at the sleeping man.

“I’m worried about him, Luce.”

“I know, I am too, but he’s not alone, he has us,” Lucius replied, turning his head to look at his wife.

The two made their way down the hall to Harry’s room. Lucius finally saw what Narcissa was talking about. The furniture was plain, basic white and beige, and the walls were all white. The room felt more like a storage closet than it did a nursery.

“Ok, I see what you mean,” Lucius replied looking around the room while Narcissa went to check on Harry who was sleeping peacefully and his fever seemed to be lessening. 

“We have some work to do,” Narcissa replied.