Father Figures and Days of Acclamation

He decided to stop reminding the teachers that he didn’t have any parents to make presents for, too. Instead, he did the projects as he was told, writing Happy Christmas, Happy Mother’s Day, Happy Father’s Day, and signing empty “I love you’s” to people who did not exist for him. He decided not to throw them away like Aunt Petunia had done with his either, and instead saved them like she had with Dudley’s presents. He kept them under the mattress on the cot in his cupboard like he did with all other things that were precious to him, which really didn’t amount to much.

Harry often wondered what it would be like to have a parent who treasured his handmade gifts like Aunt Petunia did with Dudley, a parent who didn’t see his presence as a nuisance. Maybe that’s why he kept these things, for the hope that someday, maybe, he’d have someone he could give them to. Someone who would treat them as a keepsake, someone who would treat him like something of value.

Maybe someday.