Author's Notes: For the slythindor100 advent challenge. More or less epilogue-compliant.

Harry had suspected for some months now that Albus was worried about his House sorting, even though it was still nearly a year away.

When he'd seen how James's first letter home from Hogwarts had been filled to the brim with Gryffindor pride and unveiled derision towards 'those slimy Slytherins', Albus had visibly grimaced and slipped quietly away.

Now it seemed that where James, freshly home for Christmas, had purposefully doled his snowman up from the tip of its head to the ground in so much glaring scarlet and gold that the white of the snow could barely be seen through it, and Lily had given her 'snowgirl' purple hair (her favourite colour, at least this month, and therefore her only true affiliation), Albus had chosen to give his two snowmen decidedly neutral black scarfs, placing just hints of red and yellow on one and green and silver on the others. The two snowmen appeared side by side, their long stick-hands brushing against each other.

James had mocked him mercilessly for his efforts, of course. "There's no such thing as House unity, Al," he said. "Not really. You'll see once you get to Hogwarts. So you should really just pick a side, already."

Albus had flushed darkly and automatically glanced at Harry, perhaps hoping to have him rebut James's statement on his younger son's behalf.

"He's a git, saying all that rubbish," Albus announced just as soon as James was off out of earshot.

"Look, I know you're worried about James hating you if–" Harry started, only to be too-quickly cut off.

"It's not what you're thinking," Albus blurted. "I'm not... It's not because I think I'll be Sorted..." He took a deep breath, as if steeling himself, and started again. "It's you I'm worried about, not me."

Harry smiled uncertainly. "Er, all right," he said. Albus could pretend all he liked, but it was clear enough to anyone who knew him even half as well as Harry did that the prospect of possibly becoming a Slytherin was weighing heavily on Albus's mind. Still, if he wasn't ready to talk about his worries, Harry wasn't going to push. It'd come out soon enough. Probably only two minutes before he had to board the Hogwarts Express, knowing Al, but that was all right.

"No really," Albus insisted. "I just wanted you to know it's all right with me. It's good. Better than good. I just wish James would shut up about how Gryffindors and Slytherins should all move to completely separate planets, because it can't be easy for you to have him hate them so much. I bet he wouldn't still say those things all the time if he knew. Well, no, he probably still would, actually. It is James."

Even hearing Albus's words and staring straight at his carefully constructed couple of snowmen, it took Harry a while to suss out what on Earth could have had Albus stammering on like this, if it really wasn't all just hatched from his fears about school.

Because there was only really one other option that made the slightest bit of sense, and surely Albus wasn't talking about that.

"Anyway, I don't care what James reckons about them all being evil," Albus continued. "Or what Uncle Ron says either. I mean, Mr Malfoy seems an all right sort to me. No one who makes you happy could be bad, right?"

Oh. Apparently that was exactly what Albus was getting at.

"How long have you known?" Harry asked quietly.

Albus shrugged. "Only since you took Lily and I to Diagon Alley in September, just after James left. I overheard you talking to him at the back of Flourish and Blotts."

"Does Lily know as well, then?"

Albus snorted. "Yeah right. Lily hasn't even figured out that you and Mum aren't together anymore. She thinks Mum's just off on another Quidditch tour."

Bloody hell. He knew about that, too? Harry hadn't wanted the kids to find out by accident. It seemed, though, that he'd apparently forgotten how Albus seemed to have inherited Harry's knack for sniffing out secrets, even (or perhaps especially) when they were the kind that was probably better left alone.

Well, Harry supposed, on the bright side, at least his son hadn't been quietly suspecting for months on end that Harry had been cheating on Ginny. That was something.

"You're really okay with it?" Harry asked.

" 'Course," Albus said simply, as if it weren't a big deal at all that his father was secretly separated from his mother and now happened to be dating another man instead. Harry wasn't sure he'd ever loved his son more than in that moment. Albus added, "And I'm completely willing to smack James one if he makes trouble for you. Or even if he doesn't, actually."

Harry knew he shouldn't laugh at that, but he couldn't entirely help himself. He ruffled Al's already messy hair affectionately.

"Thanks, Al," Harry said, though he doubted Albus quite understood the whole of what Harry was thanking him for.

Even putting Al's not inconsiderable blessing aside, Harry realised it felt surprisingly good just to have the relationship at least partly out in the open. Between Harry avoiding the kind of media frenzy that was inevitable the moment the press got a whiff of any kind of scandal involving the 'Chosen One' and Draco and Astoria keeping up their own appearances, there had been so much sneaking around involved that it was difficult to feel any kind of permanence. Just having one of the people Harry cared about most know, and understand, did a lot to change that.

Though he sent Albus in from the cold to join his brother and sister, then, Harry remained outside for a while longer, staring thoughtfully at the snow people his children had made. If there had also been a snowman to represent Albus himself, not to mention one for Scorpius, it could easily have been a representation of the strange little patchwork family that Harry had desired since the very first time Draco had cornered him after work and kissed him. Albus, in his own way, had truly given Harry hope that one day it might even be a reality.

And Harry wanted, almost more than anything, for it to all finally feel real.

~FIN~