The Potion Master's Apprentice

Chapter 21

“Severus, has Vivian had her bath yet today?” The man in question turned the corner, wiping his hands on a towel.

“Now why would I have her bathe before breakfast? You and I both know she’ll insist on a big girl cup and she’ll inevitably get juice all over her front, thereby making her sticky for the rest of the day. I dislike sticky.” Harry flipped the pancakes over and raised an eyebrow over his shoulder at the slender man.

“Oh ha-ha. Very funny. Still,” he turned back to the pancakes. “I suppose if it isn’t juice it’ll be the syrup. You win but right after breakfast she needs a bath so I can set up for her party outside.” Severus’s arms wrapped around his middle, long fingers splaying over his toned stomach and chest. 

“Mmm, very well. But will I be rewarded later?” Harry groaned, desire coursing through his veins. 

“You know you will. Now leave me be so I can finish this up. The sooner this gets done, the sooner you can eat.” 

“Daddy?” Vivian’s quiet voice was rough, indicating she had just woken up. Harry placed the last pancake on a plate and turned towards her.

Her dark curly hair was sticking up in every direction, making her look a little more than slightly insane. Her hazel eyes were half closed, and her pajamas were wrinkled. 

“Good morning my dear. Do you know what day it is?” She slowly shook her head, eyebrows furrowed in concentration. “It’s your birthday, remember?” As if a light had been flipped, she went from half asleep zombie  to instant energy ball. 

“Really?!”

“Yes, now come sit at the table so you can eat breakfast.” Severus’s tone was light, but firm. She practically bounced to her chair and carefully ate her pancakes. Despite her focus on the food, she still managed to make quite a mess. As Severus predicted, she had insisted that since she was eight now, she was completely old enough to use a big girl cup and had only spilled a little here and there. The syrup, however, was a completely different matter. It was all over her front, her face, the table, the floor and her legs. Severus caught a glimpse of her and groaned before rolling his eyes and carrying her for a bath full of bubbles. 

Harry smiled as he cleaned, listening to his daughter squeal in delight as Severus showed off the new bubble formula he had created for her. Every year he would work on making new bath potions to produce differently shaped and behaving bubbles. Last year had been vanilla scented yellow bananas that would lazily float in circles. This year was lilac scented pink hearts that bounced off of surfaces. 

As Harry finished the dishes, Ron came flying out of the floo carrying the infamous Weasley birthday cake. Somehow, Ron was the only Weasley that could make it through a floo without a speck of soot on him-something they discovered shortly after the first time he had babysat Vivian so Harry and Severus could go on a date. 

As usual, the cake was delivered in perfect order. This year's cake was less extravagant than last year's. Molly had gone bonkers with the pink hearts and white lace for the child’s seventh birthday. This year was all about yellow roses and the color lavender.