Harry walked into the kitchen of his new home and found Cole making breakfast.
Cole looked up when he heard footsteps. He smiled at his son. "Hey. Good morning."
"Morning. I didn't know you could cook," Harry said. The few days he'd been there, they either gone out or ordered takeout. There was also one night that Piper brought them food.
"Well, I'm not sure how well it's going to turn out. It's not something I usually do. But I figured I should get used to it. We can't order out all the time. I figured starting with breakfast would be the easiest," Cole said.
"I could help if you want. I know how to cook," Harry said.
"Really? Piper will be happy to hear that. Not many in the family have picked up that particular skill," Cole said as he grabbed two plates from the cabinet and started scooping eggs onto each plate.
"Yeah, she told me just her and her younger son are good at it," Harry said.
"Uh huh. None of her sisters can cook to save their lives. Do you like to cook?" Cole asked.
Harry thought about it for a minute and shrugged. "I never really had the option of liking it."
Cole just looked at him for a minute. That statement told him what he needed to know. Cooking had been forced on his son. Not only had those bastards beat his son, they'd turned him into their slave. "Well, this is almost done if you wanna go sit down."
"Is it just us today?" Harry asked. Every day he'd been there, Phoebe had come over. She usually picked up breakfast or they went out. Obviously, that wasn't happening today.
"Yeah. Phoebe called this morning. She's gonna come for lunch instead of breakfast," Cole said.
Harry nodded. "What's her husband like?" he suddenly asked after a minute.
Cole looked like a deer caught in the headlights for a minute, but he quickly recovered. "Uh, you should ask her that."
"But he's her husband. She loves him. She'll tell me good things about him," Harry said. It wasn't that he thought Phoebe would lie to him. He just believed that her opinion might be completely factual. People tended to only see the good in those they loved.
"And you're looking for an unbiased opinion. In that case, I might not be the best person to ask either," Cole said. He couldn't even begin to claim to be unbiased. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he resented Coop for being married to Phoebe. Plus, he overall couldn't stand the Cupid for his attitude during this whole ordeal. Though, admittedly, Cole should probably admit he was in a difficult position.
"Because you don't like him?" Harry asked.
"Well, I don't know him very well. I only met him when we found out about you. But in that time, we haven't really gotten along. No, I don't really like him, but that shouldn't affect how you see him. Overall, he's a good person. His job involves helping people, and he loves your mother and sisters very much. You should get to know him and form your own opinion of him," Cole said. Whatever his opinion on Coop might be, it wouldn't be fair for him to force it on his son, especially when the two would have to have some sort of relationship.
Harry nodded after a minute. The answer didn't really tell him exactly what he wanted to know, but it was a truthful, and mostly unbiased one. Unfortunately, it did nothing to calm his nerves about meeting the man. Harry knew he could stall a bit longer, but he was going to have to meet his stepfather eventually, and he worried about what the man might think of him. Would he like him, or would he hate him for not being his?
"Okay, it's all done," Cole said before serving the bacon and sausage onto the two plates. He then grabbed two glasses and filled them with orange juice.
Harry took a plate and a glass of juice over to the table. He tried not to cringe when he looked at the bacon. There was quite a lot of black on it.
Cole came over with his own plate and sat across from his son. "You know, if you're worried about meeting Coop, you don't have to be. Phoebe will wait until you're ready. Plus, I don't think you'll have any problems. Coop and I might not get along, but that doesn't mean he won't like you. I don't see how he couldn't. You're a great kid."
"Thanks," Harry said before taking a bite of his eggs. They weren't terrible, but they were quite dry.
Cole, meanwhile, took a bit of his bacon. He immediately cringed. "Okay, I'm clearly never gonna be a chef. I might even be worse than Phoebe."
Harry laughed. "It's okay. It's not that bad."
"Don't try to make me feel better. This is terrible," Cole said with a grin.
"Well, I can help from now on," Harry said.
"I'm gonna pour us both some cereal," Cole said before taking both plates away. He grabbed a box of cereal from one of the cupboards and poured it into two bowls before adding milk. He then them over to the table. "Sorry. I've never had to cook before. I guess that came with being a demon and not needing the skill. Then I lived with Phoebe, and Piper did all the cooking. When I had to fend for myself, I mostly ordered out."
"Can you do what I do? I mean your powers. I know you can make that thing appear in your hands like I did once," Harry said.
"Conjure an energy ball," Cole said.
"Yeah. Can you do everything else I can, like disappear in fire?" Harry asked.
"No, I can't flame. I can shimmer, which is another form of teleportation, but I can't flame. You have that power because when Phoebe got pregnant, I was being possessed by someone who had the power," Cole explained.
Harry frowned a bit. "Does that mean you're not really my father?"
"No! I am your father, I promise. It was still my body. And I want you to know, I was really happy when I found out about you," Cole said.
Harry nodded. "I was possessed a few months ago. Voldemort took over my body."
Cole looked at his son in horror. Possession was one of the worst things he'd ever experienced. He had never wanted his own son to go through that. "I'm so sorry. You shouldn't have had to go through that."
"It felt terrible. I don't know how I was able to get him out of me. It was so hard, and I was scared he was going to do something to someone while he was inside me. But I got him out," Harry said. It had truly been a horrible experience. He never wanted to go through that again. "There are other things I think I can do. Before you took me from the Dursley's, I had a dream. I saw you come for me. I saw you and Phoebe confront the Dursley's. She was helping me, and you attacked my un… Vernon. I saw something that actually happened. Am I a seer?"
"Sort of. You had a vision. Phoebe has them a lot. She can see things either from the past or the future. It happens when she touches something. She has visions that are significant to the object. It seems that your power might be linked through dreams instead, and you don't have to be touching anything," Cole explained.
"I've had dreams come true before. They're mostly about Voldemort. My headmaster says it's because I'm linked to him through my scar. Do you think he's wrong? Do you think it's just something I inherited?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. It might be," Cole said. What his son said about the link in his scar stayed with him though. He remembered Paige saying that there was a darkness coming from his scar that made it hard for him to heal her. He wondered if this supposed link was the answer. He'd have to mention it to the sisters soon.
"Do you think there are other things I can do?" Harry asked a bit nervously. The powers he already developed scared him, especially since he knew some of them were supposed to be evil. He was afraid of more showing up.
"Yeah, you can probably do a lot of other things, but you don't need to be afraid of them. You'll be taught how to control them as they come, and one day, you'll be able to use them for good," Cole assured him.
Harry nodded a bit skeptically and then started eating his breakfast.