As flu season rolled around, Severus Snape, father of six year old Harry Potter, prepared himself for the inevitable sickness his son would soon come down with.
He didn’t have to wait long as he found his son burning up with a fever one morning not long after.
“Daddy, I feel cold! I want a blankie..” the boy whimpered while Severus checked his temperature.
“Sorry, honey. You’re burning up. Looks like it’s gonna be a fever reducer and a cool bath for you, little one.” Severus informed him.
Harry burst into tears at the idea of this, sobbing so harshly that severus was concerned he would make himself sick.
“Hey it’s okay, shh shh shhh..” His daddy held him tightly, murmuring sweet nothings into his ear while rubbing his back.
He carried the crying child into the bathroom and began filling the tub with cold water, adding just a few splashes of warm.
“N-o-o! Don’t wan’ a bath… please!” Harry whined, looking up at Severus with his best puppy dog eyes.
“Ah-ah, young man. You need to cool down and so you will be having a bath.” Severus gently reprimanded before undressing the squirming child.
Harry sobbed loudly and squirmed in his fathers hold as he was placed in the cold water. It felt so icky on his skin and he just wanted to be held in a warm embrace instead of plopped down in a freezing bath.
He writhed and splashed the water all over Severus as he attempted to stand back up, only to have a hand be placed on his chest and push him back into a lying position.
He whined and screamed through the entire thing, splashing the water all over Severus, the bathroom walls, furniture and the floor for the third time.
“Harry! You will stop this childish behaviour right now!” Severus demanded, his patience slipping.
This just made Harry cry harder. He was so hot and cold at the same time and it was caucusing the water to feel as if it was both burning and freezing his skin. His head was pounding and his stomach felt oddly bubbly.
Harry slumped over, producing heaving sobs that wracked his small body as Severus slowly began to rinse his skin and hair free from the build up of sweat.
When his father had finished and was wrapping him in a towel, Harry was still crying, only now he was doing it silently.
“Hey now.. that’s enough with the tears.”
Harry continued to cry as he buried his face into severus’ chest.
“You’ll be okay.. this won’t last forever.” Severus attempted to calm down his son as he handed him a fever reducer and a glass of cool water.
The boy swallowed it and almost immediately the potion kicked into work. Soon enough, Severus had a sleeping child in his lap.
He stood up, cradling him to his chest as he placed Harry in bed, pulling up the covers and placing a kiss on the now only slightly warm forehead.
For once, the boy finally looked at peace.
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