3. Father and Son

Notes:

Yes, I'm jumping on the Dadzawa and Son-Shinso headcanon.

The sky overhead was dark and grey with churning, thick clouds, but despite the still, bleak weather, the air was still reverberating with energy. He watched with dull purple eyes as people walked past him without a second glance and buried his hands deep inside the pockets of his grey hoodie. Watching the lives that passed before him, university students on their breaks, businessmen going to work, he exhaled out a breath that curled into a puff of smoke as soon as it met the cold air. Without a moment to lose, his face lowered and nuzzled deep inside the black scarf that was wrapped around his neck.

Shinso Hitoshi leaned back against the wall of a dark building and stared up at the darkening clouds. He thought back to his life at the orphanage and never imagined that his future would end up like this. In the present, he traveled frequently to England, at least once every year, and if not almost five times a year; and a feat like this only happened because Harry Potter ended up being one of his fathers. All of the wants and needs that he was missing as a child was eventually given back in full—a parent's love, a copious amount of food on the table, and embarrassingly enough, all of the Pro-Hero merch that used to something he only saw in the windows of stores were suddenly in his hands.

"Hitoshi!" a voice called out, and he turned his head to see the aforementioned man coming towards him. It was hard to believe sometimes that Harry Potter was twenty-seven years old, with wide eyes and a soft face like his, he could pass for a teenager on some days. Especially when compared to the rough and ragged Aizawa Shouta, his other dad, he almost looked a handful of years younger. Harry quickly crossed the street and adjusted his black long coat along the way before making his way to Hitoshi's side. Not that it was difficult to spot his son in the first place. Even though Hitoshi was almost nearly fourteen, he was shooting up like a beanstalk and was almost about to tower over Harry. Mix that with his shock of purple hair, Hitoshi was almost like a beacon.

"Sorry about that," he said, fixing the cap on the young boy's head so that his messy hair was pressed down further. "Did you wait long?"

"No," was the muffled reply.

"Great." Harry stepped back and held out a hand. "Are you ready to go?" he asked with a cheeky smile. The teenager nodded and placed his hands in his. He was a bit too old for hand-holding with his dads, but Harry already knew that. That's why he was always teasingly reaching for the teen's hand.

Together they walked to the Leaky Cauldron, and Harry pushed aside the creaky door before stepping inside and the interior finally became visible to Hitoshi. Like stepping underneath water, the magical barrier that kept muggles from seeing the outside was stripped away to his eyes. This image became common to him though. He got used to the sight rickety wooden furniture, the strange patrons, and the bar.

His dad was leading him once more to the brick wall. He tapped them once with his wand and Hitoshi was greeted to another familiar sight. The bricks started to pull back, revealing a chilly courtyard that was flanked by lively stores selling strange goods. They walked down the cobblestone streets and got started on their errands for the day.

Usually they'd do it all together as one family, but today was one of those strange days where Hitoshi and Harry went without Teddy and Shouta. In his muggle school, Teddy learned of the art museums in London and begged his parents to go see them, but it escaped Harry's mind that he was running low on potion ingredients and other items from Diagon Alley, and that the evening had to be spent with the Weasleys. In the next day, Harry had Ministry business, and Aizawa had to go to a teaching workshop. The only compromise they could get to was for Harry to go with Hitoshi and for Shouta to go to the modern art museum with Teddy—who was probably, without a doubt copying the abstract patterns and colors with the hair on his head.

Hitoshi lingered in Magical Menagerie, petting all of the cats and kneazles that he came across while Harry drew out money from Gringotts.

"I got the money!" Harry cheerfully said, walking up to his son from behind. Hitoshi was squatting on the ground, moving a small stick around in front of the face of a half-kneazle that followed the movement slowly with their eyes.

"Look, dad." Hitoshi barely glanced back. "Isn't her coloring similar to Pumpkin's?" he asked, thinking of the cat that was currently under Present Mic's care while they were away from home.

"Yeah…." Harry tilted his head and leaned in closer to admire the orange fur. He dropped his voice. "But I think she's a lot uglier than Pumpkin too."

The half-cat hissed at his comment, fur bristling at the ends like a bottle cleaner before walking away. His son huffed and slumped his shoulders before turning to Harry with a flat look.

"And you wonder why some of them are so hostile towards you."

"I'm just being honest," Harry said, grinning. "Crookshanks likes me. And Pumpkin looks like a handsome lion in comparison."

"You Gryffindors…" Hitoshi muttered lowly, and Harry's smile grew. The teen propped his cheek on a hand that was covered in a black fingerless glove and looked up at his dad. "Pumpkin's face just looks...more natural because he's only a quarter-kneazle. The other kneazles and half-kneazles can't help but look like..." He gestured lazily to the cats that roamed the store. "That."

Harry scoffed and rolled his eyes playfully, "'More natural', right."

Hitoshi's mouth opened to get another sassy remark pass through his lips when he was interrupted.

"Harry…? Harry Potter?"

Hitoshi's lips fell shut as he slowly turned to the new person. He wasn't a stranger to his dad's fame, and by extension, his own fame as the Boy-Who-Lived/Boy-Who-Conquered's muggle adoptive son. People flanked to his dad in droves when he was seen in the Wizarding World, and practically kissed the ground that he walked on. Someone calling his name out on the street wasn't an uncommon occurrence.

Only this time, Harry's eyes widened slightly before his mouth fell open. He slowly raised to his full height as he stared at the newcomer.

"Cho…?" he finally asked, voice filled with surprise. Hitoshi's eyebrows knit before he turned from his dad to the stranger.

The person before them was a pretty, demure woman that was only slightly taller than Hitoshi at this age and was of obvious Asian descent. She was dressed delicately in a light pink frock that matched the mittens on her hands and dark pants that was tucked into brown boots. Long, sleek black hair cascaded down her shoulders and framed her pale, delicate face. Her cheeks colored when Harry uttered her name.

"I...I thought that it was you…! Your voice hasn't changed in all these years…." she said, putting her hands together and walking closer to them.

"Ah…" Harry rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Yeah. You haven't changed much either."

Hitoshi held back the urge to facepalm at his dad's awkwardness.

"Oh!" Harry placed a hand on Hitoshi's shoulders. "This is my son, Hitoshi." With the attention suddenly on him, the teen blinked for a second before pulling away from his dad and bowing politely.

"It's nice to meet you," Hitoshi said. "My name is Hitoshi Shinso." Cho's surprised face melted into a polite smile.

"It's nice to meet you too," Cho said softly, briefly matching his bow before extending a hand for him to shake. His hand met hers in a firm shake. "What year of Hogwarts are you in?" she asked gently.

"I'm a muggle," he stated plainly and right as her eyes flew up in surprise again he quickly changed the subject. Some were quick to look at Harry as if his dad had made a mistake in adopting him, others gave him pity, and others looked down on the both of them when they heard the news. "How do you know Dad?" he quickly asked. He didn't want to go through another passing face of disappointment.

"I'm Harry's frie…" She stopped herself, glancing up at Harry almost as if he would give her confirmation, but his expression was flat like Shouta's. "We uh...we dated for a while back in the day."

It was Hitoshi's turn to be the surprised one, and as he looked up at the adults he could definitely see the traces of affection, even if it was in an awkward place. Harry might have attempted to be calm and collected, but he recognized his dad's bumbling nerves that met with Cho's shyness.

"How's life treating you, Cho?" Harry asked, finally speaking up and stepping in front of his son.

"Oh!" Cho looked up at him with a soft smile. "I'm doing perfectly fine. After the war, I worked at Flourish and Blotts for a while, and now I have a job in the Ministry as a Floo Network Regulator."

"Like Marietta Edgecombe's parents," Harry stated. Hitoshi has never heard his dad's voice be so flat.

"Yes! Just like Marie...tta…" Her voice fell short of her sentence, and suddenly the air between them was thick enough that Hitoshi wanted to use his Quirk to get out of there, or made both of them never remember this conversation again. She shyly looked down at her boots before she stuttered and looked up at Harry once more. "I-I'm here on my break because my owl has gotten older and needs some certain medication...I should...get on that…." she finished lamely.

Harry nodded.

"It was nice seeing you again," Harry finally said, and at the very least that was genuine enough. Hitoshi was quick on his dad's heels like a duckling as Harry's head inclined slightly toward Cho's before they left and continued with their errands.

The father and son were quiet as Harry swiftly picked out the potion ingredients and bought them just as fast. As it was approaching the afternoon, Harry asked Hitoshi what he wanted to eat, and the teen shyly asked if they could just get ice cream instead for lunch, even if the weather was getting colder. Harry's smile appeared on his face and he nodded with a joking, "Just don't tell your other dad or Teddy—he'd get jealous."

Hitoshi nodded with a small smile. "Don't worry, Dad. It's our secret."

Harry led Hitoshi to a newly renovated Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour before they took their orders and seated themselves on one of the small tables inside. Hitoshi ordered several butterbeer-flavored scoops and Harry had a large bowl of chocolate and raspberry flavored with chopped nuts. They were eating in silence before the teenager decided to speak up.

"She was pretty," Hitoshi stated plainly.

"Cho?" Harry asked, several seconds later. "Yeah." He prodded at his ice cream with his spoon. "She's really pretty. She's really smart too. She was in Ravenclaw in the year above mine."

"Does Dad know?" Hitoshi finally asked, placing a big scoop of ice cream into his mouth.

"Shouta?" Harry echoed before shaking his head. "Your dad knows that I've dated other people before him but not by name, no." He turned to his son and grinned. "Why? Are you going to snitch on me?"

"I will if you don't get me a bowl of the pumpkin pasties-flavored ice cream," Hitoshi remarked.

Harry laughed before reaching over and ruffling his son's hair. "You really are George's nephew. We can go visit him now, if you like—"

"No, I don't want another noogie." The teen pouted before shaking his head. "I was just asking because...you two…" He looked at his dad. Messy, black hair, mirth-filled eyes, and big, baggy clothes. "I just never thought that you would…. I just never imagined that you would date someone like that."

"Really?" Harry asked. "Why? You know that I'm bisexual."

"That's not what I meant."

The wizard hummed softly turned to the counter of ice cream and tried to ignore the thought of Florean Fortescue, the sweet man who gave him complimentary ice cream in the summer of his third year and helped him out with his homework on his break, being hauled away by Death Eaters and promptly killed. The parlor was only renovated several years ago after a nephew's of Fortescue decided to bring the place back to its former glory.

"You seem kinda mean towards her too." Hitoshi brought the spoon to his lips again. "She seemed pretty friendly to me. I've never seen you act like that before."

Harry's eyes finally drifted back to his son and suddenly Hitoshi wished that he had kept his mouth shut.

Even though they were, without a doubt, father and son, even through their adopted status, there wasn't a single shred of hesitancy in Hitoshi's mind when he wondered whether or no Harry truly loved him. Yet, there was always an unspoken rule in the house that the Harry that they see now, even if he was molded by the same Harry that ate his relative's leftovers and lived in a cupboard, were separate.

"Your dad...Harry...has had a hard life…" Hitoshi remembered Shouta remarking once. "It would be best not to dig too far into it unless he tells us willingly."

Harry's voice was distant. "I thought she was incredibly pretty when I first met her in my third year at Hogwarts and I remember thinking at the time that she made my stomach feel weird." He turned to his son and his voice was more collected. "She was the seeker for the Ravenclaw team and she was incredibly friendly to me before our game together.

"I had a crush on her well into my fourth year, but she was dating Cedric at the time."

Hitoshi nearly dropped his spoon. "Cedric—"

"Yeah…" Harry replied softly. Harry's son knew fully well who Cedric was. "I tried to ask her out to the Yule Ball, but she had to reject me because of her relationship with him. I ended up thinking about the both of them a lot that year. A little after he died and I made Dumbledore's Army in my fifth year, we ended up dating, but it didn't work out in the end.

"Hermione made a curse that would inflict on anyone who attempted to rat out the club, and Marietta Edgecombe, Cho's best friend, ended up telling Umbridge to protect her parents' job in the Ministry. Cho defended her while I got angry at her and our relationship fell apart quickly. Even during the Battle she was pretty friendly toward me, and I was pretty rude toward her earlier, but I guess it's just because I never forgave Marietta for doing something like that."

"I didn't know that you had such an in-depth romantic story, Dad," was all Hitoshi said. Yet the thought of the conflicts that Harry went through were turned over in his mind. Harry was around his age at that time, and yet his relationship still ended turning out for the worse. He wondered if there was anything that Harry had gone through that was just normal.

"Really?" That smile appeared on Harry's face again. "I ended up dating Ginny in my sixth year, but I broke it off with her. Then a year after the Battle I met your dad."

"I already know that story…" the teenager muttered.

"I don't have any malice toward her," Harry said, "if that's what you're worried about. I'll apologize to her the next time I see her."

"Do you regret it?" his son abruptly asked.

"Hm?"

"You said you spent all this time chasing her, but it just ended up backfiring on you. I'm just wondering if you regret your relationship with her."

"Hm…." Harry mulled over his answer. "No," he finally said, "because even after everything she was really kind...and I genuinely liked her." The color on Harry's cheeks suddenly became more vibrant. "And...embarrassingly enough...it was because of her that I realized that I liked guys too."

His spoon clattered on the table with a loud ringing sound.

"Huh?!" Hitoshi's face seemed like it was permanently fixed into shock and confusion.

"Well, I mean...Cedric was really handsome, and he was kind to me too," Harry admitted, thinking back to how the Hufflepuff had leaned in to tell him about the Prefect's bath. He shrugged simply. "Cho and I spent a lot of time together in our fifth year...talking about Cedric...crying over Cedric…. It made me think that he was a pretty great guy...in the kind of a romantic sense too."

It was silent for a while after Harry finished.

"That's gross," was all Hitoshi managed to say.

Harry laughed before ruffling his son's hair once more.

"So." Harry looked up from his book and looked over at his husband. Aizawa Shouta didn't even bother to look back up at him, even after addressing Harry. His dark eyes were fixed on the papers that he was grading. "Cho Chang?" He finally lifted his head to meet with Harry's glance.

Harry exhaled and put his book down. "You and Hitoshi really are father and son," he said accusingly.

"Hm."

"Why?" Harry asked, teasingly. He rolled over on the bed that they shared in the Potter Cottage. "Are you jealous?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Shouta put his papers down and rubbed at his dry eyes. "Jealousy is for teenagers."

"I'd say that 'almost thirty' is pretty much a teenager."

"Maybe for you," Shouta said pointedly, "but everyone else is maturing." He saw Harry's grin and the edges of his lips lifted slightly. "When he was telling me this... I guess Hitoshi is a bit distressed at the thought that his dads have liked other people other than each other."

"You mean I've dated other people," Harry playfully emphasized. "Hizashi said that you've never dated anyone before you met me."

"I've been on dates," the Pro-Hero insisted, "but I didn't have the time, or cared much until…." Shouta's mouth open and closed when he caught his mistake.

"Until you met me?" Harry finished for him, looking more and more prideful by the second. Like a peacock, a certain Malfoy would say, just like when he first met the couple.

Shouta quickly turned off the lamp lights and laid down on his pillows, shutting his eyes. "Whatever."

"I'm happy that you let me in, Sho," Harry said, voice soft and sincere.

"Just go to sleep." Shouta slung an arm around Harry's waist and pulled him down until Harry's face met with his husband's chest.

Harry wound his arms around Shouta's torso.

"It's true that I liked Cho and Ginny for a while," Harry's voice was muffled, and Shouta could feel the vibrations of his voice against his ribs. "But I think you're the only person I really liked...and dated as genuinely myself... With Cho, I had to pretend to be calm and constantly understanding… With Ginny, I had to be the Boy-Who-Lived…and Ron's best mate."

Shouta didn't respond, but he carefully waited until Harry was asleep and was snoring softly before carefully taking off his husband's glasses and placing them on the nightstand and pressing a kiss to the top of Harry's messy head of hair.

Random A/N:

I feel like I haven't written in forever. Shinso's adoption is part of this strange AU and his slightly more relaxed personality is a result of that. Also, as I was writing this I realized that Harry would probably be happiest with someone that he could let loose some of that Marauder side of his, especially after he has grown up. That's why he's so happy and carefree with Aizawa.