Tom turned to Harry and pulled him close. “It’s all right, Harry. They were a bit stupid because they didn’t know who you are, my boy. Now, let’s tell them, right?”

“What do you think you are doing?” Tom hissed at his Death Eaters. “Don’t you dare frighten Harry like this!” he shouted, enraged. “He is Harry Snape, Severus’ son and my Godson! Will you please behave like Death Eaters and not like people of the old man’s crew – look how you have frightened the child.”

The Death Eaters hurriedly put away their wands and bowed deeply in the direction of Tom and Harry. Then Tom brought the frightened child out of the room and handed him over to Draco, who was waiting at the exit. Harry was still very upset but Draco managed to coax him into his room in order to play together with Draco’s friends. However, when the two boys reached Draco’s room, Harry was so tired that he curled up on Draco’s lap and fell asleep.

-----

When Harry woke up in the morning, he was back in his own bed at Hogwarts. He was still very confused and a little frightened about what had happened at the Death Eaters’ meeting. Deciding that he had to ask his Daddy about it, Harry climbed out of bed and went to look for his father, whom he found sitting on the sofa reading the newspaper.

While Harry approached the breakfast table, however, he remembered his new puzzle. “Daddy, can you pway de puzzle fwom Uncle Tom wif me after bweakfast?” he asked eagerly, completely forgetting about what he had wanted to ask originally.

“Yes, my son, I shall help you with your puzzle. If we do it once or twice, you’ll probably be able to do it on your own.”

“Yes,” Harry said happily. “I want learn to wead books quickly. I lof books.”

During the night, Severus had thought about how to explain what had occurred to his son, and he had decided that he had to tell him the truth. However, he wanted to wait for a few days or, if possible, weeks. Otherwise, everything would be too much for the little tyke.

During the next days of the winter holidays, Severus spent a lot of time with Harry. One day, Severus took his son to Hogsmeade in order to buy proper clothes for the child, another day they travelled to the zoo in London, and one day, Tom had organized a belated birthday party for Harry at Riddle Manor. He had invited the few four or five year old children he knew of, which only were five children: Evelyn Bulstrode, Marc and Angela Zabini, and Enid and Frank Bones.

Severus had taken Harry over to Riddle Manor immediately after lunch, and the other children arrived shortly afterwards. While Harry was very unsure about how to interact with other children, the twins were not frightened at all. They approached Harry without being told anything by her older sister Susan, who accompanied them, and said, “Hello, we are Frank and Enid. Happy Birtday to you.”

Harry hesitantly extended a hand. “Hello. I’m Hawwy. Tanks fow coming to play wif me.”

An hour later, the boy seemed to have fully assimilated. Harry was running all over the Manor together with the other children and as noisily as the other children. As much as the noise and the mere existence of so many children annoyed Severus, he was glad that Harry had found so nice friends that were about the same age as him and would likely be attending Hogwarts together with him in the future.

When they returned to Hogwarts just in time for dinner, Harry was dead on his feet and in no condition to attend dinner – fortunately! During dinner on this evening, Albus received an official letter from Gringotts stating that a huge amount of money had been taken from his vault and been returned to one Mr. Harry Snape’s vault.

According to Minerva and Poppy, who secretly visited Severus late in the evening, Albus had thrown a temper tantrum at the Head table. However, as it had been Harry’s – or as his guardian Severus’ – full right to request the money, there was nothing the Headmaster could do about it.

-----

Dumbledore even had to pay the Weasleys a visit to confess about the money, which was especially unpleasant as Mr. Weasley and Ron had been the only ones who had known about the agreement. The rest of the family hadn’t known anything about it. “I’m very sorry, Molly, but even Ron’s school fees have been paid by this money. If there isn’t another way to get an adequate amount of money, I’m sorry to let you know that Ron cannot attend Hogwarts anymore. Or do you still have the money you received personally, Ron?”

“Wait!” Mrs. Weasley shouted. “What does that mean?”

“Don’t get so upset, Molly,” Mr. Weasley tried to calm his wife. “Ron received a certain amount of money for befriending Harry Potter and to see to it that Harry remained on Professor Dumbledore’s side.”

“Oh, Ron…”

“…you are…”

“…disgusting!” the twins finished their sentence together.

“But as you’re family…”

“…you can work for us…”

“…at our joke shop…”

“…to occupy yourself,” they kindly offered to their brother.

Ron gave them a confirming nod. “Thank you, Fred and George.”

Immediately after Dumbledore had left, Molly began to shout. “Ron Weasley! What did you think you were doing? Taking money for befriending Harry! I can’t believe it. The poor boy! I’m going to Floo to Hogwarts to apologize to Harry. As far as I’ve heard he has been staying with Severus over the holidays because he had been de-aged to a baby. However, he should be about back to normal now, and I will go and apologize for my horrible son and his too stupid father. Excuse me!”

The enraged woman stepped over to the fireplace and Floo-called Severus Snape at Hogwarts. Being allowed to step through, she entered Severus’ living room, astonished to find him drinking tea with Minerva and Poppy.

“Good evening, Minerva, Poppy, Severus,” she said hesitantly. “Severus, I came to apologize to Harry for what I’ve just been told by Albus. I don’t know what my husband and Ron were thinking but…”

“Now, now, Molly, sit down and have a cup of tea first,” Minerva interrupted her firmly. “And then you will tell us what happened.”

Molly complied and told them everything she had learned. Everyone gave her a friendly smile, and Severus told the surprised woman that Molly didn’t have to apologize and couldn’t even apologize to Harry as he was only four years old and couldn’t understand things like that. After Molly had heard the whole story, she was laughing too. “Congratulations, Severus, for having such a fine son. And whenever you need my help, don’t hesitate to call for it.”

“Thank you, Molly,” Severus replied, sipping his tea, while the three women engaged themselves in a conversation concerning the needs of toddlers.

-----

Finally, the students came back. At the Welcoming Feast, Dumbledore announced that unfortunately Ron Weasley had decided not to return to Hogwarts but to start working at his twin brothers’ shop. Ignoring the huge commotion at the Gryffindor table, Minerva walked over to her House table and spoke in a firm voice, “Ms. Granger, Ms. Weasley, and Mr. Longbottom, Professor Snape wishes to see you in his office directly after dinner in order to speak about your detention schedule.”

When Hermione shot her favourite teacher a shocked glance, Minerva returned a rare smile, making her student wonder what this was really about.

After dinner, Hermione ushered a frightened Neville and an excited Ginny down the stairs to the dungeons. “If I tell you it’s all right, he won’t eat us alive, and I don’t even think he’ll give us detention. Just wait and see. I’m also eager to know how Harry is faring, and maybe Professor Snape knows what happened to Ron.”

Neville only let out a deep sigh before Hermione knocked at the door of the professor’s office. They were called in immediately, and Severus took them through a door that was hidden behind a book shelf into his private quarters, where a four-year-old Harry was silently playing with his floor puzzle. The three students couldn’t help staring at the child that was looking so happy and peaceful. Before they could even wonder why he looked a bit different, the teacher spoke up.

“When you think you have stared enough at my son, sit down here please so that we can have a talk.”

Hermione, Ginny, and Neville hurried to comply, and Severus told them everything about Harry being his son, his decision to give his son a second chance for a childhood, about Ron, and finally about Tom and Dumbledore. When he finished his explanation, which fortunately hadn’t been interrupted even once, he added, “Mr. Longbottom, a hundred points to Gryffindor for de-aging Harry.”

Before Neville could react, Hermione cleared her throat and voiced a question. “Sorry, Professor, but could you please explain what Dumbledore’s problem is, and why Tom suddenly isn’t evil anymore after we have been told that he is evil since we entered Hogwarts? Moreover, why is Hogwarts only teaching us Defence Against the Dark Arts and not also the Dark Arts itself? So far, I believed that the ‘light side’ was the good side and the ‘dark side’ the bad side, but that doesn’t seem to make sense, right?”

Severus sighed. ‘Leave it to Ms. Granger to ask so many questions at once. Why did I speak to them at all,’ he thought but then started to answer her questions.

“As I told you, Tom and his Death Eaters use Dark Magic, which is not necessarily evil. Dumbledore uses Light Magic, but he uses the Light Magic to kill people and do many horrible things making the wizarding world believe that Tom did them.” He thought for a moment.

“Dumbledore wants power. Tom is very powerful and has therefore always been Dumbledore’s rival. When Lily was pregnant with Harry, the baby performed very strong magic from inside his mother’s womb, which was a clear sign that the boy would become an extremely powerful wizard. Therefore, Dumbledore became afraid of him and set up the fake prophecy, which stated that Harry had to vanquish Tom in order to give peace to the Wizarding world. He intended to keep the boy close and let him kill Tom. Finally then, Dumbledore would kill or at least somehow weaken Harry, so that Dumbledore would be the most powerful wizard in the world. So far, his plan seemed to work quite well. However, this time, I know that Harry is my son and won’t have him manipulated by the old coot.”

“But why did Tom then fight Harry every year since he has started Hogwarts?” Ginny threw in.

“He hasn’t. That was all organized by the Headmaster and his allies. When Dumbledore killed Harry’s parents, Tom was there in order to warn them, but he was late, unfortunately. However, Tom was hit, when the spell Dumbledore shot at Harry backfired and hit Tom. Tom spent many years hidden in a wizarding hospital in Germany and was just released about two years ago. When Dumbledore found out Tom was released, he prepared his fake return of the Dark Lord after the Triwizard Tournament.”

Severus glanced at the three students, reading the thoughts that were clearly written in their faces. “Now, why don’t we teach Dark Arts? Because Dumbledore so far has the Ministry behind him, and if Dumbledore tells them Dark Arts are evil, they’ll believe it. However, Tom is working on a peace contract with the Ministry, and we hope to get it through and then start a Dark Arts class in Hogwarts, too. Dark and evil are not necessarily synonymous. Neither are light and good.”

At this instant, Harry came over to his Daddy and said proudly, “Daddy, Hawwy finished de puzzle all on my own.”

“Very good, Harry,” Severus replied, pulling his son onto his lap. “Harry, do you remember Hermione?”

Harry threw an unsure glance at the three students in front of him and slightly shook his head. “All right then, these three students are Hermione, Ginny, and Neville. All three are Gryffindor students, but they want to be good friends with you.”

Harry smiled at the three students before he tiredly leaned back into his father’s robes, a little thumb wandering into his mouth. He was already asleep when Hermione whispered, “Oh, he is so adorable! Professor, on one hand I am very sad because I didn’t only lose Ron today; I also lost Harry. I already miss the sixteen-year-old Harry. On the other hand, I can only admire your decision. I believe it was the best decision you could make and I hope for Harry that he’ll have a very happy childhood. And whenever you need my help, Professor, I’ll be here for Harry.”

“I can only agree to everything Hermione said,” Ginny agreed.

Finally, Neville spoke up hesitantly, “I’ll help too if there’s anything I can do,” before he asked in a small voice, “Sorry, Professor, but who are you and what have you done to Professor Snape?”

“Neville!” Hermione admonished the boy, flabbergasted, but Severus only smirked.

“I believe it’s nearly curfew. I shall see you in your next lesson,” the teacher said with a menacing look on his face. Only the slightly pulled up edges of his mouth told Hermione that he wasn’t angry at all.

Back into the Gryffindor Common room, Ginny said to Hermione, “I have to tell that story to my mother. You know, about Tom and everything. You can’t imagine how upset she is with Dumbledore. I’m sure she will be ready to change sides immediately.”

-----

As Severus didn’t have anyone to look after Harry during the day, he took the child with him into the classroom. He had set up a playing corner for Harry near his desk where Harry could draw, read, or play, and it seemed to work well. Harry got used to the students very quickly, and he often sat at the House tables during meal times. To Severus’ great amazement it wasn’t only Gryffindor or Slytherin he could find his son sitting but also at the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables. Being so cute, intelligent, and friendly to everyone, Harry had many friends in different classes throughout all Houses. The only person who seemed not to be pleased with Harry’s happiness was the Headmaster. However, so far, he kept quiet.

Harry really enjoyed himself. His only problem seemed to be the recurring nightmares. He often received the memories of his previous childhood during his dreams, and he often even woke up with small bruises that had suddenly appeared during the night. Whenever a dream was bad enough for Harry to wake up during the night, he toddled over to his Daddy’s bed, and his Daddy always cuddled him close for the remainder of the night. Severus always asked him in a soft voice what the dream had been about, and Harry learned quickly that it helped to talk to his Daddy.

Every weekend, whenever Severus wasn’t occupied with school duties like Quidditch matches, Severus and Harry spent their free time at Riddle Manor where Severus completed a certain potion. Tom eyed it contentedly and called his House elves to hand the potion over to them. However, even knowing how many lemon drops Dumbledore consumed, they assumed that it would take about a year – two in the worst case – until the potion could begin to work. Severus had made it as strong as he could without giving it a taste or smell.

While Severus had been busy brewing, Tom had either entertained Harry by himself or had invited Harry’s little friends so that they could play together. The Zabini children were often accompanied by their aunt Rolanda Hooch, who was the Flying Instructor at Hogwarts but loved to join the children visiting Riddle Manor as she seemed to have taken a liking to the handsome owner of the manor. Tom didn’t protest either when Rolanda decided to stay and help him entertain the six children.

-----

Too soon, the summer holidays came, and Harry enjoyed immensely spending so much time together with his father. Severus had decided to stay at Hogwarts as it seemed to be the safest place for Harry – in spite of the Headmaster’s presence within the castle. Originally, he had intended to take his son to Riddle Manor, but Tom and Rolanda had recently agreed to spend their holidays together, and Severus didn’t want to disturb the happy couple.

At the beginning of the holidays, Severus took Harry to Diagon Alley and purchased a ‘Child’s first Potions kit’ for his son. Harry was very excited. “Are you going to teach me Poshuns, Daddy?” he asked excitedly.

This was too good. The Dursleys never taught him anything apart from chores. He already knew that he always had to prepare the meals for them. But they didn’t teach him to talk properly, and he hadn’t received even one single book from them. But now, his Uncle Tom had given him the puzzle, which Harry had done so often that he knew the letters of the alphabet and was even able to read easy books by now. And soon he would be able to learn potions. He was very happy.

“Yes, my son, I intend to start teaching you easy Potions. However, you are not allowed to play with your Potions kit alone, you have to wait until we are together. Is that clear?” Severus asked sternly.

“Yes, dat’s clear,” Harry confirmed obediently. However, during the rest of the day he pestered his father asking once an hour, “When will we brew poshuns?”

Severus inwardly groaned. “Tomorrow morning we shall start,” he said firmly, throwing an irritated look at his son, who took the book, which had been inside the package of the Potions kit, with him and retired to his room.

When Severus entered his room in order to give Harry a bath, the boy was sitting at the small desk in his room with the book lying open in front of him, where several pages were marked with small pieces of parchment. “Oh, Daddy,” the child squealed happily. “I have marked several poshuns I’d like to start wif. But where can we get fresh moon fern?”

Severus couldn’t help laughing. If there was a four-and-a-half-year-old sorting out potions to brew, wondering where to get the ingredients, it had to be his son. However, something seemed wrong. Moon fern was exclusively used in Healing potions. “Harry?” Seeing that the boy was looking up to him he asked with a mixture of curiosity and concern, “Why do you need moon fern? Which potion do you want to brew?”

Harry fidgeted a little in his chair before he replied solemnly, “Look, Daddy, dis seem to be a Healing salve. I tink we can brew it for Aunt Poppy to help.”

“Really?” Severus enquired. Something seemed to be wrong, although he couldn’t place it. He threw his son a piercing look, noticing that Harry’s face turned slightly red. “What is wrong?” he inquired.

Finally, Harry sighed and hesitantly told him, “Hawwy’s back is sowe, it’s only a little though.”

“Arms up,” Severus commanded and pulled Harry’s T-shirt over the boy’s head. He let out a loud gasp. “Harry! How did you get this? Who did this to you?”

“Uncle Vernon,” Harry replied anxiously. “But Hawwy’s not allowed to tell.”

Severus sighed. It was slowly time to tell the boy everything about his past, at least partly. “Wait a moment, Harry. I’ll get some salve for your back. You don’t have to brew it yourself.” He fetched some salve and carefully put it onto the child’s back, where his son had obviously been beaten with a belt. Then he coaxed the boy into accompanying him to the living room.

Severus took the boy onto his lap and started to explain. “You know Mione, Draco, and Neville, Harry, right?” Harry’s face lit with the mention of his friends. “Now, until half a year ago, you were of their age. You were a big boy, but then a potions incident happened and you were turned into a baby again. At first, I began to feed you a potion, so that you gained a few years. But when you came to the age of four, I got to know that you’re my son and I decided to let you grow up once more with me because you had so bad experiences when you grew up the first time. Do you understand so far?”

“Yes, umm… a little,” Harry answered around the little thumb in his mouth and leaned back into his Daddy’s robes. “’m tired.”

“All right, Harry. Just let me say, your uncle Vernon and aunt Petunia are the bad people you grew up with the first time, but you won’t have to see them again because this time you’re growing up here with me at Hogwarts.”

During the next weeks, Harry and Severus proceeded to brew one potion each day, and Severus soon noticed that Harry seemed to be far more adept at brewing than the bigger Harry had ever admitted to be. ‘How and why did he hide his obvious talent for Potions so well?’ Severus thought, and a small voice in the depth of his head whispered, ‘because you didn’t give him a chance.’ Shortly before the new school year started, Severus decided to have Harry sit at a table trying to brew easy potions during classes. If there were Slytherin purebloods with the first years, they would probably come to Hogwarts with certain knowledge about Potions, so that he could even let Harry partner with them and brew first year potions.

-----

Finally, it was the day on which the students were supposed to come back. Harry was very excited, looking forward to seeing all his big friends again. As Severus had to do some last minute preparations, the Headmaster had entrusted him with, Minerva suggested that Hagrid could take Harry with him to the station to greet the students and let him ride the boat back to the castle together with the first years.

Harry happily joined Hagrid walking to the station. The huge man’s steps were so large that Harry had to run to keep up with him. Nevertheless, they had to wait a while until the train finally entered the station. While Hagrid called the first years over, Harry was busy greeting his friends. Suddenly, Dumbledore appeared out of nowhere and motioned Harry to board the last boat together with Hagrid. Shocked because of his own obliviousness, Harry ran to the boat and quickly sat next to Hagrid. “Oh, there you a’e, Harry. I couldn’t find you, already thought you’d gone with’e ol’er ones.”

The boats left as soon as Harry had sat down. The view onto the castle was terrific. However, there seemed to be a problem with their boat, and suddenly Harry found himself flying overboard, landing in the dark, cold water. Unfortunately, he couldn’t swim and was soon pulled down by an invisible force, quickly losing consciousness.