Severus slept soundly in his new cot until about 6 o'clock the next morning. He awoke and looked around. Where was he? He felt wet and uncomfortable but he knew the cross voices came when he cried. He pulled himself up on the bars of his cot and stared over the top. He saw a large bed beside him and from it there was a funny snoring noise. Then the person in the bed turned over and he saw a long white beard.
Out of nowhere, a memory was triggered in his young mind. An old man was spinning him around and cuddling him, warmth in his blue eyes. Daddy had looked on with a scowl as Severus grabbed a handful of the man's white beard.
"Aby! ABY!" baby Severus could only think that Albus was the man in the bed and he wanted him to hold him, to make him feel better. He suddenly found that he could not stop the tears, cross voices or not.
Dumbledore shot up in the bed and looked around blearily, trying to re-engage with the waking world. He had been dreaming of the time he visited the Snape's. Eileen Prince had invited him to see their new baby, Severus. Sebastian Snape did not seem to like him, or any other wizard much, he recalled. Eileen had become very distant from the Wizarding world after that and Dumbledore did not see Severus again until the boy arrived at Hogwarts. He later learned that this was the only stand Eileen ever took against her violent husband. Her son was a wizard and she wanted him to learn magic.
Looking around the room he suddenly realised what had triggered the dream. The very real baby Severus seemed to be calling his name. He rushed over to the cot thinking the child was hurt.
"Severus, child. What is it?" he carefully lifted him out and was quick to spot the wet nappy.
"Oh dear me," he soothed, "You are a bit wet, aren't you, treasure? Let's get you washed and make you more comfortable. Don't cry, my little darling. It's all right. It's all right."
Severus was taking shuddering breaths, his face wet with tears.
"Dagamamababaaba," he sobbed.
"Oh, goodness me, is that right?" Dumbledore cooed as if the babbling all made perfect sense to him, "Well, we'll just have to make it all better, won't we? Yes, my pet."
He removed the wet nappy and noticed that the child seemed to have a bit of a rash. He gave Severus a quick bath and applied some soothing lotion to the red skin.
"There now, was that what was troubling you, little one?" he left the nappy off while he put the child's top on, giving the lotion time to work in the air. He kept up a constant stream of chatter as he dressed Severus, trying to engage the frightened infant into some little games.
"Where is Severus's hand, hmm?" he said gently as he put it into the sleeve of the blue jumper.
"Oh, there it is!" he smiled when the small fingers became visible at the top of the sleeve. Severus laughed and Dumbledore repeated the game all through the process.
-----------------
Once the baby was ready, Albus set him on his bed with a warm bottle, surrounding him with cushions. A quick spell held them in place, preventing Severus from falling out. This gave the headmaster a few minutes to wash and dress. He noted that the child never took his eyes off him, as if afraid he was going to leave him alone.
"What are we going to do today, little one?" he asked the child with an affectionate smile.
Severus took the bottle out of his mouth and looked solemnly at the old wizard.
"Mamibabaaataaa," he responded.
"Oh yes, child. We'll have to have a go with all those lovely new toys. I think we should go outside too. You need some fresh air, little man."
The baby was patient for a while but he was hungry and wanted something more solid than a bottle.
"Aby," he whimpered. Dumbledore stared at him in surprise.
"Did you just say my name, sweetheart?" Albus asked. He had been convinced he imagined that earlier.
The baby responded by reaching up his arms.
"Aby," he cried again.
Dumbledore beamed with happiness as he picked Severus up.
"My clever boy. You remember my name!" he danced around the room with the child in his arms and cuddled him close, kissing the dark head.
"This is nice but I'm still hungry," Severus thought and began to whimper again.
"Come on, my dearest. Let's get you some porridge and fruit. Would you like that? Yes, we need to fatten you up a bit, don't we?"
Dobby had the breakfast table set up with the new high chair next to the headmaster's. Dumbledore strapped the baby in and tied a bib around his neck.
"Severus ate everything he was given and cried when Albus paused in feeding him for even a second."
"All right, all right," Dumbledore half chuckled as he offered the child another spoonful of porridge, "You have to go easy, little one. You don't want a sore tummy."
When Severus was finished Albus started t open some toysm with Dobby's help. He laid out a soft play mat for Severus and arranged the toys on it. That done, he picked the baby up and set him down in his new corner. Severus stared at the toys, looking a bit at a loss. Albus had anticipated this, however, and planned some intervention.
He built up some of the blocks and then reached out and knocked them all down. The baby laughed sweetly.
"Now, you do it, Severus," he said warmly, building the tower again. With only a little prompting, Severus reached out a clumsy arm and knocked it over. He clapped his hands and laughed, seeing that no one was going to hurt him here or stop him from playing. He picked up two blocks and started to bang them together, shrieking in excitement and babbling happily. He enjoyed how he could make his voice louder and softer.
"That is fun, isn't it child?" Dumbledore stroked the soft baby cheek. He was pleased at how relaxed Severus was.
The headmaster continued to introduce toys to Severus including a flapping snitch and a magical shape sorter, which sent out different coloured smoke signals in the appropriate shape. He smiled indulgently as Severus tried to catch the smoke triangles.
Severus was really enjoying himself but soon became tired. After all, he'd had an early start to the day.
"Aby," he cried as he rubbed his eyes.
"I'm here sweetie," Dumbledore had left him to play alone for a while as he read his post. He now came back and picked up the sleepy Severus.
He checked the child's nappy and then tucked him into his cot, stroking his hair as he fell asleep.
As he returned to his office he heard a knock at the door.
"Come in," he called.
Professor McGonagall entered, looking distracted.
"The Minister is here," she said, "He's demanding to see you about Severus. Someone must have told him what happened."