Harry wasn't sure how to answer the question as his father spoke directly to him. His father. Everything inside of him seemed to fizzle and crackle, threatening to split him apart at the seams. He had gone almost his entire life without his father and now they were standing across from one another, face-to-face. Some part of him wished Ginny had stayed. That her hand was fitted in his as the tremble crashed down his spine and made his knees feel as sturdy as jelly.
"How would you like me to answer that?" was the somewhat breathless response.
Harry was eleven, seated on the cold, dusty floor, staring at his reflection. His mother on his left, his father on his right. They were smiling. Sometimes they hugged him. Sometimes his mother played with his hair in his reflection. He could almost imagine her fingertips gently playing through the unruly mop that matched his father's with such exactitude. He watched and wished and lived a life of love in those brief moments where he saw himself as the child of people whom had wanted him. Rather than the nephew of two people who desperately hated him.
He was at the close, with Lupin and Sirius and his mother and his father with the validation that he had been so brave. He had been so tired. And now here he was, facing the man who should have been able to raise him. The man who had fought to protect him. Who had protected him. Who had given him so much more than it was thought possible.
Harry felt a rather cool feeling wash from his toes to his shoulders and while he had known they were going to meet him, James, he was altogether unprepared as he swayed a little on his feet. He took a few unsteady steps toward the nearest stall and leaned, reaching one hand out to pet a reindeer, something solid, that helped to bring him back to earth.
"It's not every day you get to meet your deceased father," Harry finally exhaled, his smile a bit grim. "They say grief lessens with time and I suppose it's true to some extent. But--" He waved a hand as he felt a rush of heat toward his cheeks. "Well."