Child's Play by libertineangel
Past Featured StorySummary: When Draco accidently uses a black curse on Harry and turns him into a baby, Dumbledore appoints Snape as his carer. Follow Harry's slow, strange journey back to fifteen - accompanied by Snape ...
Categories: Parental Snape > Guardian Snape Main Characters: .Snape and Harry (required), Draco, Dumbledore, Hermione, Lucius, McGonagall, Arthur, Molly, Remus, Ron, Sirius, Tonks, Voldemort
Snape Flavour: None
Genres: Angst, Drama, General, Hurt/Comfort
Media Type: None
Tags: Baby fic, Child fic, Deaging
Takes Place: 6th summer
Warnings: Alcohol Use
Challenges: None
Series: None
Chapters: 29 Completed: No Word count: 98036 Read: 169328 Published: 08 Aug 2006 Updated: 02 Sep 2008
The Fairy's Twin by libertineangel

Snape stood back in horror as he regarded the body on the floor. His curse hadn’t meant to kill, only shock, which was how he knew Lucius had murdered his ally – the relatively new Death Eater that Lucius had recruited on one of his recent drives. It was a man called Eric Stiffbroom. He had been only a first year when Snape had been in his last year of Hogwarts; Snape’s sharp memory now reluctantly recalled the freckle-faced midget he had been to mind.

‘Now you know I’m serious,’ Lucius said smiling. He went to the dusty glass cabinet and retrieved the bottle of fire-whiskey that had stood untouched for many years, serving as an item of display if anything. Instead of wiping the thick layer of dust from its stem, he took his wand and cleaned the glass so that it gleamed like new.

Lucius poured two glasses and Snape took his without a word, downing the hot liquid until warmth spread through his body. He realised that he had needed the drink to steady himself, if not outwardly – his mask never slipped – but somewhere within. It had been a long time since he had heard the killing curse rolled off the tongue so maliciously. His adversary, however, watched him amused, as though Snape had shown some weakness that could be used to Lucius' advantage.

‘I thought I should take some precaution,’ Lucius smiled. ‘It seems that I was correct.’

Snape looked at the lifeless form on the floor. The eyes were bulbous and unblinking, the whites marred by cobwebs of red broken veins and an expression of pure shock frozen in the pupils forever. The dark mark stared back at them from the thick pale wrist. Snape realised that had Lucius not killed the man, he himself would have been lying in his stead. He could feel no gratitude, however. There was a price to be paid and for the moment Snape could only wonder at what it would be.

‘You wanted me out of my Manor, Severus,’ Lucius said after a few moments of silence. 'And you knew that Narcissa was not there - being with our relatives that live in the alps.' He had removed his paper-thin leather gloves and placed them on the crooked coffee table. He inspected the upholstery of the green velvet armchair, finding it lacking, before, grudgingly, sitting down on it, his sheer-black cloak like a shroud around him. ‘This fool,’ he pointed with the toe of his silver-capped boot, ‘came to help me find out why. Now we are co-conspirators in the murder of one of the Dark Lord’s newest recruits, perhaps you would like to tell me yourself.’ He paused, an unnatural gleam appearing in the pale irises - ‘Before I finish what he started.’


‘Legilimency isn’t enough,’ Tonks said after several moments of concentration. ‘The children’s minds aren’t open to it.’

Nymphadora Tonks and Alastor Moody had wound their way closer to Lucius’ Manor. The sacrifice Tonks had made seemed to allow them an ocular advantage that neither had expected. The cloak of invisibility that guarded the Manor from less than pure bloods’ eyes – which made it appear simply as a country house - had been lifted and the dense shadows of the building now appeared bold and many in the dusky light. Both Aurors had been mesmerised briefly by the vast towers, turrets and battlements that made up Lucius’ ancestral home; the moat that surrounded it running with oozing green liquid that harboured Bogdugs and Kappas and other swamp dwelling creatures; the drawbridge and portcullis, guarded by creatures of stone – dragons, fairies and Cyclops – that had an air of realness about them that made one think that they had once lived and could do so again. It was purely breath-taking. Even the protective stone walls had decorative carvings shorn into each brick, some engraved with solid silver.

They stood now a mile or so away from the area of sunken cloisters that Draco had told them held the Pickle children’s dungeon. The night was clammy, and the cloying smell of lillies that Narcissa decorated the gardens with invaded their nostrils, along with the fresher smell of dewy grass. Both of them felt a chill that was unnatural in the mild evening, but neither of them commented upon it.

Alastor concentrated on the vision that Dumbledore had shared with him, siphoned from Draco’s memories that afternoon. His revolving eye searched the grounds, eventually settling on an arch and a fairy that guarded the gardens.

‘There is a stone fairy that guards the children – the Fairy of the Damned.’ He pointed, allowing Tonks time to take out her monocle, which was really a high-powered telescope – standard issue for all aurors. She put it to her eye and focused where Alastor indicated. ‘That is his brother – the Fairy of All Souls. You see his broken wing?’ Tonks nodded. ‘Its twin had the opposite wing broken. It is symbolic – to stop them fleeing their master. Draco’s eyes lingered upon it when he entered his father’s mind. It should serve us now – Dumbledore commented upon it this very afternoon. One is connected to the other and it may be able to aid the children’s escape.’

‘How?’ Tonks said, genuinely surprised at such a deduction. ‘The fairy and its brother are under Lucius’ protection. Surely he wouldn’t use the fairies if they were liable to help their captives.

Alastor grinned and it was such a shock to Tonks that she dropped her monocle.

‘I don’t see what’s so funny …’

‘Your confidence in Lucius,’ he said. ‘His arrogance will always be his downfall. He doesn’t suspect for one moment that the fairies under his watch would ever betray him. He presumes their loyalty like his forefathers. That is if he even deigns to think of them at all. I think you may be surprised by what we find. Besides which,’ he added with a low chuckle, tapping his nose, ‘stone fairies are easily bribed. They are fickle as they come.’

Alastor set off in the direction of the gardens and Tonks followed, astounded that something so simple might be the saving of the children. She took out her wand - they still had certain wards to penetrate and the creatures of the moat to tackle.


‘So,’ Lucius said, animated for the first time after hearing what Snape had to say, ‘Dumbledore and his lapdogs have discovered my connection the children?’ He spat the last word out contemptuously.

Snape smiled sardonically, drinking in the fear in Lucius that now showed in his demeanour.

‘Oh it’s more than that, Lucius; those lapdogs, as you put it, are at this very moment in the process of rescue.’

‘That is impossible!’ Lucius said dismissively. ‘The very fabric of my Manor protects them.’

‘You are mistaken,’ Snape said carefully. ‘Albus Dumbledore would not promise rescue where there was hope of none. You know that.’

Lucius stood up, making use of his full height. ‘Then it is you that have aided them.’

Snape’s eyes gleamed with an amusement that he didn’t feel. ‘I don’t think so,’ he said. ‘I did not know of the plan until the hour in which you received my owl by raven’s quill. As you know, and as the Dark Lord knows, there are many plans that the Order does not make me privy to. They, like he, are concerned as to what I might be forced to confess under deep powers of torture.’

Lucius regarded Snape’s unblinking gaze for a few moments, searching the very light reflected by his pupils for a moment of weakness. He found none - though in truth he had not expected to.

‘What do you want from me?’ he spat at last. ‘If you took this information to our Lord then you could finish me. He would not allow one of his mark to be discovered by those fools so easily.’

Snape relaxed slightly. It had taken much for Lucius to admit this and he decided that it needed proper deference. He knew that his old friend was in recovery mode. He refilled their glasses from the bottle of fire-whiskey, offering Lucius the second.

‘I want nothing,’ he said. ‘I have played my part in league with the Order. You were away from your Manor tonight – though the Death of this unfortunate,’ he gestured to the dead man, ‘was not part of the deal.’

Lucius smiled, as if remembering for the first time the man that lay at their feet. ‘He was my insurance,’ he said. ‘If you had denied all knowledge of our meeting to the Dark Lord then I could give him proof of your deceit. The traces of your disarming spell lay on his skin.’

‘The Dark Lord need know nothing of the purpose of our meeting,’ Snape said carefully, watching for Lucius’ reaction. ‘Just as he need not know that you have allowed the Order to guess your plans. I presume that you have not given him the details yourself?’

‘What do you know of my plans for the muggle brats?’ Lucius roared. His pale eyes now shone in brilliant anger and his face reddened with an angry flush. Snape noted that the fingers of his hand held his wand tightly – ready for action.

‘Only that it was you and your – minions- that took them from the green in London. That knowledge was imparted through the Order. They have not yet ascertained the cause for the kidnap – nor, I must admit, have I.’

Lucius visibly relaxed. ‘What I held them for is over and done,’ he said rather smugly. ‘The Order have acted too late.’

Snape filed this information away in the layers of his mind for future reference, but outwardly he gave a little nod. ‘Then the Dark Lord, as I have guessed, did not know the details.’

‘No,’ Lucius admitted. ‘He entrusted me with a certain task to complete, but did not care to know the means through which I undertook it.’

‘Then all is well,’ Snape observed. ‘Dumbledore and his fools have achieved their mission without affecting the Dark Lord’s orders.’

‘True,’ Lucius said. ‘But that does not explain why you have taken action in the shadows, and why you did not go to Him when you first heard Dumbledore’s plans.’

Snape took an exaggerated breath. He drained his glass purposefully and allowed Lucius to see him wring his hands.

‘I feel that our Lord tires of me,’ he said. ‘If I had gone to him then I feel that he might have unwittingly jeopardised my position. There will come a day where I will no longer be useful as a double agent, but I do not feel the time is right to relinquish such a privileged situation – if it were so then I would be without protection.’

Lucius glowered. ‘You doubt the Dark Lord’s judgement?’ he asked shortly.

‘No, you misunderstand me,’ Snape said lightly. ‘I have merely picked up on his mood. When I am in his presence now I feel like he has a secret that none of us Death Eaters must know. It is as if there is a knowledge that makes him invincible – and one which makes his need of me less and less.’

Lucius could not keep the smug expression from his face and inwardly Snape celebrated a victory. He knew then that whatever spell Lucius had been working on was the cause for the Dark Lord’s good humour and arrogance. As always the knowledge of his foe’s feelings would eventually give him, and the Order, the advantage.

‘Very well,’ Lucius said more lightly. ‘Then we shall once again keep our own counsel. I will allow the brats to go because they are no longer of use to me, and you will keep the news of their detection from our Lord. Our friend here will have been sacrificed in battle.’

‘Very well,’ Snape said.

‘Of course we must agree to this under the unbreakable vow,’ Lucius added, as though as an afterthought. Snape stiffened momentarily, but made himself relax as he felt his adversary’s eyes drinking him in.

‘Of course.’

They both kneeled in front of each other and Lucius raised his wand, his eyes locked with Snape’s peculiarly, as though they were brothers damned by some abominable truth.

In a few moments it was over, but the unease Snape felt at their pact did not leave him, and he felt it would only vanish entirely on his death.


Tonks looked wearily at the stone fairy with the broken wing that separated them from the Malfoy’s grounds. ‘How will you awaken it?’ she asked. She was tired from fighting the Kappas in the moat, but she would not let Alastor know it. They had both skilfully unpicked the finer wards that surrounded the Manor. It had taken a great deal of time and dusk and the light of day beckoned.

Alastor took a deep breath. ‘In language that it will recognise.’

As he spoke Alastor reached up, hovering in the air, and placed his hand on the stone fairy. To Tonks’ surprise the hand began to glow, passing to the fairy until it came quite alive before her eyes. Even more surprising was when Alastor began to sing, low, in cajoling tones, enticing the hovering fairy as it beat its wings with curiosity.

Living fairy speak to me,

You were a captive, now you’ll see,

Once a nymph out of the sea,

Happy once again you’ll be.

Imprisoned here a thousand years,

You’ve watched over those in tears

With no choice you’ve been held here,

Help us now and hold us dear.

Captive fairy, look around,

Those you keep let roam abound.

They’ve done nothing ill or bad

Help us now and you’ll be glad.

Living fairy speak to me,

You were captive, dead to plea,

Once a nymph out of the sea,

Let our riches set you free.

Alastor then reached in his pocket and took out several pieces of gold.

The Fairy of All Souls, having listened to the song, grew happy and snatched the gold from the hand, taking a small sack from around his bony neck and placing the warm metal in it, pulled the leather cord tight. It spoke to Alastor in high and excited tones.

‘Me and my brother hate the captives that Lucius has lately given us. These are muggle children that have done nothing and we have welcomed the chance for such liberators. We have watched how our former master treated them. One of the children has changed – maybe forever. We will give them up gladly for your cause and for our freedom and the coffers that line our purse.’

Alastor smiled. ‘How do we find them?’

The fairy blinked the long lashes of his eyes. ‘My brother will awaken them. Nothing can come from beyond. You will have to invoke the clause.’

‘As prisoners of war?’ Tonks said.

The fairy looked at the stump that stood instead of the finger on Tonk's hand. ‘I see you have already made the sacrifice. That will do. You must wait on the hill. My brother will rally the children – he will help them dissaparate. The magic will last only for three-hundred breaths. After that they will be lost forever.’

‘The promise I have made you will be kept,’ Alastor said. He pointed his wand at the fairy and in a flash of blue light restored the broken wing.

‘I think me and my twin are beyond redemption,’ the fairy smiled, stretching the newly-mended wing. ‘But at least we will not be poor, nor stone captives for eternity. This is the first time I have felt the wind through my wings for five-hundred years and for that I am grateful – it revives me. Do not trust us though, Alastor Moody, I and my brother will fold to the highest bidder – it is our nature. Know that I am satisfied now that the children will get away; if I had a conscience then It would twinge for them at least.’ He smiled. ‘Good-bye my friends. Now and forever …’


‘Michael, wake up,’ Lee said. He had heard singing in his sleep, but now he knew he was wide awake. The stone fairy that had stood above them was smiling and batting his wings furiously.

‘Wazzthematter?’ Michael asked sleepily.

Lee shook him, waking Thomas in the process. The baby, who seemed to have grown several months in the past few days, did not cry, though, he simply stretched out his fists and blinked rapidly.

‘Hungwy,’ he said.

‘Not again!’ Michael groaned. He was just about to roll back over and go to sleep when the fairy caught his eye; his crooked and twisted head nodded at him.

Michael grabbed Thomas into his arms and put his arms round Lee’s shoulders.

‘What do you want?’ he demanded. The fairy laughed.

Little human, do not fear,

I come to take you far from here,

This makeshift wand will take you thither,

To our saviours I’ll deliver,

You and all your brothers two,

Make haste for time won’t wait for you.’

As he finished the song the fairy wrenched the stalk from his broken wing, white feathers falling around them like a blanket of snow. He threw it to Michael’s feet and it glowed orange before bursting into flames, to the shock of Lee and Thomas. It then settled itself into a thin, wooden pole.

‘Your wand,’ the fairy said with a smile. ‘Pick it up.’

‘Don’t trust ‘im,’ Lee said. ‘It might be one of the wizard’s tricks.’

Cawww,’ the fairy roared, swooping down to their level; it’s face was twisted with fury. ‘Say the curse!!! Say it now you fools!’

Michael, almost in a dream, picked up the wand.’

‘The clause will work now – but be quick,’ the fairy urged.

As soon as the wand was in his hand, Michael found that he knew exactly what to say.

‘To the hills,’ he shouted, clutching his brothers tightly.

In a ray of sparks and hissing, Michael, Lee and Thomas Pickles felt themselves leave their dungeon. In a sensation that felt like being washed down the plug-hole they were transported to the top of a hill, the fairy’s laughter still ringing in their ears. Alastor and Tonks were waiting to receive them.

‘Let’s away to Hogwarts,’ Alastor said at once, as the children whirled above their heads and then tumbled to the ground – baby Thomas still safe in Michael’s arms. ‘Dumbledore will know how to proceed.’

Without a word of protest Michael and Lee took their arms and the strange sensation began again.

To be continued...
End Notes:
Hope you enjoyed it, let me know what you think. Sorry its been a while since I've updated x


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