Snape took Harry through to the kitchen and sat him up on the counter top. The toddler was sobbing away, his hands covering his face, seemingly knowing that he had done something wrong, or - more likely Snape thought - scared of what his punishment would be.

Snape, however, had more pressing matters than reprimanding or punishing Harry. He produced a green silk handkerchief from the inside pocket of his robes and held it out.

‘Stop your blubbering,’ Snape commanded, ‘and blow your nose.’

He waited for a few seconds until the crying had subsided slightly and Harry peeped out from around his hands. Taking his chance, he held the hanky to Harry’s nose.

‘Blow.’

Obediently, Harry blew into the handkerchief, gripping it tightly in his fist. When he was finished he looked up at Snape expectantly.

‘Nape 'mack?’ he said.

‘We’ll see, shall we,’ Snape said. ‘What you did was despicable.’

Harry looked blankly back at him.

‘I mean, it was naughty,’ Snape said through gritted teeth. ‘Very naughty, and very dangerous. But what I want you to do now is tell me the truth.’

‘Harry bad,’ Harry said. ‘Harry sworry.’

‘Sorry that you were caught,’ Snape corrected, ‘not sorry for what you did. If you had felt the slightest remorse then you would have helped us find Thomas a lot sooner. In this case, Potter, sorry doesn’t make everything better.’

Harry began to snivel again. He couldn’t bring himself to look into the Batman’s eyes. His belly felt like it had jumpy-things in it. He knew that he had done something very, very bad which made him want to cry.

‘Don’t start again, Potter,’ Snape said irritably. He took his wand out of his robes. ‘What’s this?’

‘Magit stick,’ Harry said automatically. He was curious as to why Snape wasn’t shouting him. Unless he was going to turn him into a toad he thought with sudden horror – just like the witch in the book of fairy-stories that Hermione had given him.

‘No toad,’ Harry said closing his eyes and cowering, waiting for the spell to hit him.

Snape didn’t have the slightest idea what Harry was babbling about so he ignored it.

‘What does it do?’ Snape asked, showing Harry the wand again.

Harry opened his eyes. ‘Magit,’ he said.

‘Magic,’ Snape corrected. He pulled another wand out. This time it was Harry’s. Snape had been keeping it for Harry since he had been transformed. It had been no easy task as the wand had the tendency to shoot sparks or squeal whenever it caught sight of its master. Snape had almost got a very nasty burn one day, and after that he had put it back in the knapsack Harry had had with him the day Draco had cursed him into a baby. It had been hanging on a hook in sitting room ever since, protected by the wards that surrounded Snape’s chamber. Snape had had no reason to think that it would have been taken by anyone until he had found it under Harry’s pillow half-an-hour ago.

The wand seemed to quiver now and Harry, in spite of himself, beamed.

‘Show me,’ Snape said carefully, holding the wand out to the toddler.

Harry took the wand. Actually it seemed to take him – jumping into the outstretched hand and nestling into his fingers, just as it had done the night before. Harry suddenly forgot that he was in trouble and grinned.

‘Misst you,’ he said to the wand.

‘Come on then Potter, I’m waiting,’ Snape said. He was watching the young boy very carefully.

‘Silencio!’ Harry said.

Harry said the words with a slight lisp, but evidently it was clear enough because sparks flew out of the wand and Snape found himself unable to speak.

Harry giggled. It was just like the spell he had performed on Thomas to stop them finding him.

Snape pointed his own wand at his throat and immediately he could speak again. He studied Harry very carefully, looking for the stubborn green eyes that he knew so well – but they didn’t seem to be there. The toddler Harry was a mix of mischievousness, fear and adoration - the teenage Harry would have only had stubbornness and scorn. The fact that his magic ability had been restored, or at least partly restored, didn’t seem to have aged his mind.

‘What about the cloak, Potter,’ Snape said, ‘where did you get the cloak?’

Snape drew the glittering sheer material out of his pocket. It was almost impossible to see anything and it appeared as though the long, bony fingers were wrapped around nothingness, the fingertips invisible under the cloak’s blanket.

‘Cloaky!’ Harry said with delight and grabbed for it. Snape pulled it out of his reach.

‘I don’t think so, Potter,’ he said. ‘I think you’ve done quite enough damage for one day.

‘Tommee diss-pear,’ Harry said suddenly.

Harry had dreamt about the magit cloaky. He had dreamed that he was a big boy and had used the cloaky to hide from the batman in a room full of bookies. He had then had another dream that the cloaky was in the naps-spack that Nape kept on a hook in the living room with the magit stick. When he had gone to investigate he had found them both there and had suddenly known exactly what to do to get rid of Tommy.

He had unfastened the side of the cot like he had seen the Batman do, and then helped Tommy toddle into the broom cupboard. He had then given him some of the Bobba to help him sleep and wrapped him up in the cloaky so that he disappeared. When Harry had realised that he could still make baby noises he had used the magit stick to make him shut-up. It was the perfect plan … almost.

Harry hadn’t bargained on Tommy’s wriggling half out of the blanket. It had been quite a shock for Molly Weasley to see a floating head in the cupboard when she went back to check in the places they had already looked once. In fact it had taken three stiff fire whiskeys to pull her round.

Snape had worked out almost at once what had happened. It had surprised him that Harry had been able to carry out such a complex plan in his current state and had felt grudgingly impressed, and even slightly jealous. It was the mark of a good wizard to be so in control of one’s magic at such an early age – Snape had never managed it. Still it could just be one of the effects of the curse he reasoned to himself.

Before Harry had returned, Snape had sat down with Dumbledore and Molly. They had pointed out to him what he had known all along really – that the boy had grown very attached to him and disliked having to compete for his attention. It was laughable. The teenage Harry could not stand to be in the same room as him, but the younger Harry it seemed could not bear to be apart.

Worse, was that Snape could feel himself returning the attachment. He still kept the little brat at arms length, but he felt a pang of something strange thinking about how much Harry seemed to care for him, and remembered how terrified he’d been when he had been in danger the day of the Quidditch Tournament.

Now, though, he felt uncomfortable again. He wondered exactly how much of Harry’s memory was returning and at what rate. The fact that he had remembered about his cloak and his wand and spells, even if he didn’t quite understand them, showed that the memories were there somewhere waiting to be unlocked. Snape didn’t like to admit it, but it unsettled him.

At present, however, he still had a toddler to deal with. Molly had suggested that Tommy should go back to the Burrow with her for a day or two to give Snape and Harry some time alone. Snape hadn’t been able to think of any reason to say no and so now he was stuck with him. Dumbledore had even got someone to cover his classes. ‘Perhaps some time in solitude is what you need to fit the pieces together,’ he had said. He, like Snape, had not forgotten that time was running out. Lucius and the Dark Lord’s plan, whatever it was, had to be close to completion. Harry regaining some of his memory might just be the break Snape needed to get to the bottom of it.

‘Wand please,’ Snape said, holding his hand out.

‘My magit,’ Harry said frowning.

‘You’re too young for magic,’ Snape said. ‘Wizards and witches are not permitted to perform magic without permission until they are a lot older.’

‘Big?’ Harry said.

‘Exactly, very big. So what you did was wrong. And,’ Snape took a deep breath, ‘so Thomas will not be staying with us for the time being.’

A grin began on Harry’s face. ‘Tommy bye-bye?’ he said.

‘For the moment, yes.’

Harry clapped his hands. ‘Me cwever!’

Snape lifted Harry up and put him on the floor in front of him and said sternly, ‘No you are not clever, Potter. And if you ever do anything like that again then you are going to be in deep, deep trouble, do you understand?’

‘Nape mack?’ Harry said.

‘That’s right. I don’t want you to touch a wand or this cloak ever again. It’s very dangerous.’ Snape made up his mind this time to lock them out of the way at the first opportunity – a baby Harry was bad enough, but a baby wizard would be a nightmare.

‘Now you can go and apologise to Thomas before he goes, and everyone else who’s been put out by your stupidity.’ With that, Snape took his charge’s hand firmly in his and led him to the floo.

‘Sworry,’ Harry said shyly to Dumbledore and then Molly. He was trying very hard to hide behind Snape’s legs and cloak but Snape kept detangling him and bringing him to the front.

They had already dropped in on Hermione and the Weasley’s – though, to Snape’s irritation, they had seemed to find it all one big joke, and Ron had even clapped Harry on the back – earning himself an instant detention. Only Hermione had taken it seriously, and she had scolded Harry until he began to snivel a bit again.

‘Okay Harry, I accept your apology,’ Molly said. ‘But if you ever, ever, do anything like that again then your bottom is going to get a nasty shock, do you understand me? I have a wooden spoon that I keep especially for naughty boys – well I had to with my Fred and George around you see.’

Molly winked at Dumbledore as she spoke but it seemed to do the trick as Harry nodded furiously, covering his rear end with his hands automatically and babbling about how good he would be from now on.

Molly smiled. ‘Well as long as that’s clear.’ She had used the threat with each of her own children and had never had to carry it through - at least not until the day Fred and George had managed to set fire to the garden shed.

She was cradling Thomas in her arms gently, jiggling him about, and he, for his part, was gurgling contentedly. She had given him a bath and bottle and was delighted that she was going to be putting him to bed in the crib she had used for her own children. It was nice to have youngsters around the place again, even if they were only borrowed for a while.

She lowered Tommy down to Harry’s height. ‘And what do you say to Thomas?’

‘Sworry Tommee,’ Harry said. Now that he knew the baby wasn’t a threat he was quite happy to be his friend. Tommy giggled and blew spit bubbles.

‘Hawwy!’ he squealed.

‘And what have you got to give to Thomas, Potter?’ Snape prompted. He had decided that as punishment for his actions Harry would have to give up his Quidditch book to the younger boy – at least until he was ready to be returned to his mother.

Harry took the book from Snape but hesitated. He loved his Quidditch book and wasn’t thrilled at the prospect of giving up – particularly to someone who was likely to drool all over it.

‘You like booky?’ Harry said dubiously. He was hoping that the baby would turn it down. Unfortunately for Harry, Thomas grabbed the book in his fist, squealing with delight.

‘Ta,’ he said to Harry, and, before Harry could stop him, draped a chubby arm round his neck and pulled him in for a kiss.

‘Yucky!’ Harry said. Tommy giggled even more.

‘That was very nice of you, Harry,’ Molly said, 'and very grown-up. Thomas will love reading it with me tonight and then when we come and visit we can bring it for you to have a turn too.’

Harry nodded rather sadly and then turned to Snape with a yawm. ‘I hungwy,’ he said.

Harry had also had a bath (where Snape seemed to have scrubbed him very hard) and was dressed in his pyjamas. Snape had told him that he was to have tea and then early bed.

‘Very well, Potter,’ Snape said, ‘Supper then bed. And remember what I said …’

‘No stowwyy,’ Harry said sadly.

‘That’s right.’

‘Too-morrow?’ Harry asked hopefully.

‘If you’re good, yes.’

‘Hawwy be good,’ Harry said.

‘We’ll see, shall we?’ Snape said.