"No, no, no, Albus!" Severus screamed. "I said to you before, and I say to you again that I will not let myself be de-aged to a four-year-old boy." He was furious. How could Albus even suggest it? Wasn't my first childhood bad enough? They had discussed this several times before, and they all knew that he wanted to choose Azkaban. He had already arranged everything and was waiting for the Ministry officials to take him away when Albus had asked him to come to his office. I thought he wanted to say goodbye and not that he wanted to convince me again to choose childhood over Azkaban.

"Severus, calm down. That's the only choice the Ministry gives you besides a life-long sentence in Azkaban. We both know that you have committed murder in your service for the Dark Lord before your time as a spy. I had hoped they would have laid down all the cases against you because of your important role in the war, but they didn't. That just leaves us this choice, because we will not let you go to Azkaban."

We. That reminded Severus of the two other people in the room. He looked at Alastor and noticed that he was hovering near the door. That made him suspicious. "What's going on here?"

"Severus, we have only thirty minutes left before the Ministry officials will come to check if you are de-aged, and I will not wait until the last minute."

"What do you mean you won't wait?" Severus already was backing away from Albus in the direction of the door. But it was not the wooden surface he grabbed while he blindly fumbled behind him. It was Alastor's robe. He turned abruptly to see Alastor blocking the door completely.

"Severus, listen to Albus. You will not leave this office as your adult self," Alastor stated sternly, but nevertheless tried to stay friendly.

He again turned frantically to Albus and saw that he already had a goblet with the de-aging potion in his hands. Panic overcame him, and he looked at the last person in the room for help. "Minerva, you can't let them force me into this. I hated being a child. I would prefer to die than to go through my damn childhood again," he pleaded with her.

Tears were running down her cheeks. "I'm sorry, Severus. I had hoped you would take it freely, but I am not willing to let you go to Azkaban. I know you had an awful childhood, but this time everything will be different. You will live with Albus and I, Severus. And Alastor will become your guardian. I promise, you will have a good childhood this time. Please, Severus, don't fight them," Minerva pleaded while her heart almost broke to see the frightened look on Severus' face. What must he have gone through to choose rotting in Azkaban over becoming a child again, she thought sadly.

Don't fight them? What is she speaking about? Severus thought desperately.

But his question was answered when Albus spoke again. "Severus, you will take this potion one way or the other. It's your choice if we have to force you or if you take it freely."

"You cannot force me. That's against the law!" Severus shouted while he desperately looked for an escape route. Albus was coming nearer and nearer. Soon they will have cornered me. They can't be serious.

"Nobody except the three of us will know that we had to force you to take it, Severus. And we prefer to live with that guilt than with the constant fear for you in Azkaban." With that he had reached Severus.

On instinct Severus drew his wand. "No, Albus, please!" When he tried to step back, he collided with someone.

And this someone said, "You don't want to hex us, Severus. So, just put this away." With that Alastor grabbed Severus' wand from behind and put it in his cloak.

He was right; he didn't wanted to hex them, but he also didn't want to become a vulnerable child again. He wished that it could be possible for Albus and Minerva take him in and he could have a better childhood than his first, but who knew what would happen? Maybe they won't like me as a child or I'll do something so stupid that they will abandon me? How can I be sure that it will really be a better childhood? He felt paralyzed by Albus' gaze, and when he sensed Alastor encircling him from behind to hold him in place, he didn't resist. Oh Merlin, what shall I do? I still can knock it out of his hand, but maybe I should let them give me the potion. I'm scared of Azkaban. How long will I survive? Will it be a slow and painful death? His mind was racing. He was torn between giving in and fighting, but when he felt the goblet being pressed at his lips and Albus' hand on his neck, he decided not to fight. I have trusted them before, and I hope I can trust them now as well. Liquid was in his mouth, and he swallowed.

"It's okay, Severus, we will take care of you." Severus could hear Albus' gentle voice faintly through his potion-fogged mind.

The potion burned in his throat, and he realized that the world around him started to swim. The last thing he heard was Minerva's sobs, and then everything went black.

Chapter 2 - A New Life

When Severus woke up, he was confused. Where am I? he thought. He could only remember that his father had beaten him for not paying attention to what he had said. Then his father had locked him in the big cupboard in the guest room. Severus hated the cupboard because it smelled like moth balls and was so dark. He often feared that his father would never let him out again, or would just forget him. Only his father had the key to the cupboard; his mother wasn't allowed to let him out.

This time Severus had really feared his father had forgotten him. The blood on his face had already dried, and his whole body had ached from the beating. It had been the belt again. He had even taken one blow in his face and a bad kick in his ribs. Sometimes he wished he would just sleep and never wake up again, but that had never happened. His father would normally let him out of the cupboard, slap him around a bit more, and then throw him in his room, always with some nasty words to show Severus how much he detested him. "Good for nothing, you damn bastard!" or "Next time I will skin you alive, you damn brat!" were only two of the things his father had often said to him.

Then his father always locked him in his room for some more time so that he could think about what a useless bastard or annoying burden he was. The room had been better than the cupboard, but Severus hated it nevertheless. It had always been cold because there wasn't a fireplace, and it only had a small window and was therefore very dark.

There also hadn't been much to distract a little child. No toys could be found, only a quill, ink and parchment, because his father had wanted him to learn to write as early as possible. Severus hated it. The words made no sense to him, so he only tried to copy the crazy letters as they appeared in his father's handwriting. He could have done it perfectly, and his father would have found fault.

Severus had started to play with the spiders he found in his room. He had given them names and spoken to them, but one time his father had caught him and had forced him to kill the spiders. Severus had cried because it had felt so bad to kill the only friends he had, and with that he had broken one of the most important rules in the Snape household, ‘No crying.' That had earned him another bad beating.

Severus felt his face and could just feel a soft scar where only minutes before had been an open wound. Nothing hurt any longer. Maybe I'm really going crazy like father said, Severus thought fearfully. At home my wounds never heal that fast.

So how did I get from the cupboard into this strange room? Maybe father finally gave me to the bad people he told me about, who eat little boys like me. He timidly looked around the room, but it was empty.

Suddenly the fireplace opposite his bed flared green.

Meanwhile in the headmaster's office, Minerva McGonagall was pacing. "Merlin, I knew his childhood was bad, but this is worse, Albus. He must have beaten the poor child straight in the face with his belt. And then all the other wounds." Minerva shook her head in despair. "No wonder, he wanted to go to Azkaban instead of becoming a child again."

"I know, Minerva. I, too, wasn't aware of the amount of abuse Severus experienced, but we have to gain his trust and give him a better childhood. He is four, Minerva. That means we can give him many good years from now on. It won't be easy, but I still think we made the right decision," Albus said, but not really convincingly.

"It's useless to agonize about whether our decision was right," Alastor said while looking from Minerva to Albus and back. "Stop pacing, Minerva, you're making me feel dizzy."

Minerva let herself fall in her chair with a heavy sigh. "I'm scared, and I already miss my friend Severus.""Minerva, stop this," Poppy said in a no-nonsense tone. "You would have missed him, even if we let him go to Azkaban. You know how quickly he would have lost all his will to live there. Merlin, he hardly had one while living here. We did the right thing. He will have a chance for a long and happy life now. I, for one, don't even acknowledge that it could have been the wrong decision."

"You are right, Poppy," Albus said, now more convinced. He laid a calming hand on his wife's shoulder. "Minerva, all the papers are signed. Severus, the former Death Eater, doesn't exist any longer. Just Severus, the four-year-old boy, is living now, and we will make sure that his life will be much better from now on."

"What do you plan to tell him, Albus?" Alastor asked worriedly. "You cannot tell a four-year-old who he was before he was de-aged."

"I will not lie to him, Alastor. In three weeks the new school year will begin, and we can not prevent the students telling him something about his past. Tomorrow the Daily Prophet will make the whole story public. Everyone in the wizarding world will know that Severus, the former Death Eater, spy for the light and Potions master had been de-aged by order of the Ministry. We will try to avoid his being alone with the students as much as possible, but we can not avoid it totally. During school time he will spend class time at the Weasleys so that we can concentrate on our work. Molly will care for Bill and Fleur's twins during the day as well, so Severus will have some playmates of his own age. I won't tell him in detail why he had been de-aged, but he shall know that he has been an adult wizard. He also must know that he doesn't have to fear his parents any longer because they are dead."

"And what about the fact that we forced him to drink the potion?" Alastor asked.

"I will not tell him before he reaches fourteen, or even later. But, yes, I will tell him. If you want, I will take all the blame and say that I did it alone," Albus offered.

"I stand behind my decision. I was there, and I want to be there when you tell him about it," Alastor said soulfully.

"Of course you can be part of that conversation. To be honest I'll be glad to have you at my side."

A buzzing sound made them all jump and look in Poppy's direction.

"What? That can't be," she said, surprised, while she pulled out her vibrating wand. She studied it quickly and then looked with a slightly shocked expression to the others. "He has already woken up. That's odd; he should have been asleep for at least one more hour."

In one fluid motion she jumped up and went over to the fireplace. The others followed her shortly after.

The fireplace flared green, and the three professors and the nurse came out of it.

Poppy's glance fell on Severus' bed; it was empty. "Where is he?" she said, looking around frantically. "Severus, where are you?" When she couldn't see him, she began to panic. "He shouldn't be out of bed! We must find him!"

"Calm down, Poppy," Albus said and put his wand on his palm. He spoke a locating spell, and the wand moved in the direction of one of the corners.

Severus, meanwhile, was pressing himself so far into the little gap between the big cupboard and the wall that it was almost painful. Please don't let them find me. They are already mad at me for getting out of bed. Now they will beat me and then eat me alive. Big tears were running down his cheeks, and he couldn't stop himself from starting to sob in fear.

Poppy was already heading into the direction Albus' wand pointed in. The other three followed her.

When she was only a few steps away from the cupboard in which she stored the bed clothes, she could hear soft sobs from the small gap between the cupboard and the wall. He can't be there, Poppy thought, shocked. It's too small. But when she reached the wall she saw that he could be there. "Merlin, I hope he isn't stuck."

"Severus, what are you doing there?" Poppy asked gently, to not frighten the child more than he already was.

Big fearful eyes stared at her, but he didn't say anything.

"Severus, you don't have to be scared. Please come out; you will catch a cold."

Severus looked at his bare feet. He really was cold, and the wall was icy, but he was so scared that the people would eat him like his father had said.

"Severus, please tell me what's wrong. Why don't you want to come out?" Poppy tried again.

The woman seems to be kind, but maybe that is just a trick, he thought suspiciously, but it was so very cold now that it hurt. "Mad at me?" he asked fearfully.

"Why should I be mad at you, Severus? I'm only worried that you will freeze there. Please come out so that we can talk."

"Won't eat me?" Severus whispered so quietly that Poppy had problems hearing it.

"Eat you? Severus, please! Of course we won't eat you. We'll just bring you back to bed and speak with you, okay?"

She is really kind, but she always says we, Severus thought. So there are more people here? And what if they are the bad people? He tried to see the others, but the cupboard blocked his view. His teeth were chattering, and his back and the side that touched the wall were cold as ice now. The idea of lying in a warm bed now was really tempting. He scooted a little bit forward and again tried to look around the cupboard to see the others. At that moment another head appeared over the nice woman's. It also was a woman, and she looked the same age as the first one.

"Severus, please, come out of there! We are very worried. You must be freezing down there," Minerva said as calmly and gently as possible.

She also sounds kind, he thought. But why do they all know my name? Has Father said it to them? Is he here, too? He started to panic and tried to look around the corner of the cupboard. "Father?"

When Severus was trying to look around the cupboard, Poppy used her chance to grab him. Many years' experience with reluctant patients allowed her to catch Severus in her arms in one fluid motion. He didn't even have much time to realize what happened. "He is not here, child. You don't have to worry."

Chapter 3 - Getting Ready to Leave

When he realized that Poppy had pulled him out of his hiding place, and that he now was in her arms, Severus looked fearfully around. When his gaze fell on the old man with the long beard and the scary looking one with a crazy eye, he started to sob again. He hid his face in the crook of Poppy's neck and hugged her.

"Please, don't let them eat me," he begged. The sobbing started again, and Poppy tried to calm Severus while she carried him to the bed.

"You don't have to worry, Severus. They don't want to eat you. They are all just worried that you are getting ill from being out of bed for that long."

"Mad..." (sob) "at..." (sob) "me?" the lump in Poppy's arm stuttered.

"No, they are not mad at you, Severus. Nobody is mad at you." That brought some reaction from the child. He carefully lifted his head to look at Poppy. "Father mad?"

"Your father is not here, Severus, and you don't have to see him ever again," Poppy said and received a confused look from the child.

She tried to sit Severus on the bed again and said, "Come on, Sev, just sit down so that I can give you a quick check-up."

But Severus had other plans. He clung to Poppy as if his life would depend on it. "No! No! No!" he cried frantically while hugging Poppy almost painfully.

"Severus, you are cold, and I really have to check you," Poppy tried to convince Severus to let go, but with no effect.

Minerva had got the blanket from Severus' bed and laid it over the lad's small frame. He is so small and fragile. No four year old should look like this, she thought sadly. She grabbed Severus from behind and gently said, "Come on, Severus, let go of Poppy. I will sit with you while she has a look at you, okay?"

With Poppy's help she managed to place Severus on her lap while she sat down on the edge of the bed.

Severus squirmed when he was pulled out of the grasp of the nice lady, but leaned back into Minerva's chest when he felt her embrace him from behind.

"Shh, Severus, everything is okay. We are all here to help you." Minerva held Severus in place with one hand and tenderly stroked his hair with the other.

Relieved that Minerva seemed to have a calming effect on the child, she pulled out her wand. "I'm a nurse, Severus. Do you know what a nurse is?" she asked in a friendly voice.

Severus shook his head.

"That's a person, who can find out if someone is ill or hurt and who can heal many illnesses and bruises."

"No hurts. All gone," Severus said and pointed first at his face and then at his tummy.

"Yes, I know, Severus. I healed them when you came here, but I want to check if you have hurt yourself when you were out of bed and if you have rested enough to release you from the hospital wing. That's where we are right now."

Will Father get me then? But they said that I won't see him again, Severus was confused. The nice lady had already started to wave her wand in front of him and was muttering. Severus carefully looked around. His gaze fell on the man with the long beard. He once had seen a book in his father's library with a man on its cover, who looked a lot like this man. Mum said it was Merlin, and that he has been dead for a long time.

He turned his head to look up to Minerva. "Am I dead?"

"Of course not. Why do you think you are dead?" Minerva asked kindly.

"Merlin is dead," Severus stated as if that would explain everything.

"Yes, Merlin is dead, but why should you be dead as well?" Minerva had no idea what the child was speaking about.

Severus shyly eyed Albus again without answering Minerva's question.

"Oh no, my boy," Albus said, chuckling. "I'm not Merlin, and I'm not dead. Neither are you, little one." Albus came closer to the bed and stopped when he was only two steps away from Severus.

Severus had leaned a little closer into Minerva's embrace and eyed the old man sceptically. He also seems to be nice, but why are they all nice. And why won't I see Father again?

Again he looked around, and his gaze fell on Alastor. He looks really scary. Maybe he is the one who will eat me. So if all the others play the nice ones, maybe he will tell me the truth. "Where is my Father, sir?" It's always good to address scary persons very politely. Maybe he won't eat me alive if I'm nice.

Alastor was a little taken aback that the child addressed him. He had stayed in the background on purpose not to scare the little tyke with his face and leg. "He is not here, and he won't come here, kid. This is Hogwarts, a school for witches and wizards. Do you know that you are a wizard?"

"Father says I will become a useless squib, and I will never get a wand, because I'm not worth one," Severus explained and spoke the words as if he repeated them one by another exactly like his father had said them.

Alastor limped a little closer, but still held a good distance between himself and Severus. "That's not true. You will get a wand when you are eleven and start learning here at Hogwarts, kid."

"I'm not eleven. Will you send me back now?" he asked the nice lady, who had stopped her wand waving.

"No, we won't send you back. You will live here at Hogwarts from now on. Albus and Minerva..." Poppy pointed at the two, "will take you in. I hope you will visit Alastor and me from time to time as well." She smiled at him. "I'm Poppy, and this is Alastor, my husband. You don't have to be scared, he just looks a little frightening, but he is also very kind. He is very good at playing memory, do you like to play it as well?"

Very funny, Alastor thought while inwardly grinning about the inside joke about his ability to look through the cards with his magical eye. But Severus' next words made him feel another wave of anger at Severus' damn parents. Remember they are already dead, he told himself.

"I'm not allowed to play. Only draw letters and cleaning," Severus said. When he saw the shocked faces of the adults he leaned a little forward, so that they could hear him well and whispered, "But Mum sometimes played ‘I see something that you don't see' with me when father wasn't around. And once we played with buttons. But now she is very ill and can't play any longer."

Poppy sadly patted his head and turned to open the night table. She pulled some clothes out, which they had bought for Severus. When she went back to Severus, she said, "Here, we will play a lot of games with you, Severus. Now we'll get you dressed, and then we will show you your room."

"My room?" Severus asked, surprised. He was so engrossed in the flow of images he had, imagining how the room could look, that he didn't realize that Minerva had lifted him from her lap and had sat him on the bed alone.

"Please let me do it," Minerva asked Poppy and took the socks out of her hand.

"Of course, Min," Poppy said, smiling.

Albus sat down on the bed and addressed Severus. "Yes, your room, Severus. We have already bought some nice toys for you."

"For me?" Severus' eyes were shining unbelievingly. "Does it have a fireplace?"

"Of course it has, my boy." A child proof one, Albus added in his mind.

"And toys?" he asked Albus while Minerva stood him up on the bed. He had to support himself on Minerva's shoulder to regain his balance while she removed his pajamas and pulled up his new trousers.

"Yes, toys. A train, some puzzles, some picture books, and much more," Albus explained to the awed child.

Minerva had sat him down again, and now he was looking at her. "Toys," he said with big eyes.

"Yes, toys, Sev. Come on, arms up!" she ordered, and Severus did as he was told.

Minerva pulled the undershirt over the little arms and then the sweat shirt. Again she stood him on the bed and tucked the shirt in the waistband of his briefs and closed the zip and button of the trousers.

Severus had to support himself on Minerva's shoulder again, and this time was leaning with his chest on it because Minerva had to reach the backside of his trousers to tuck the shirt in. That let him look at Alastor again. "Memory?"

Alastor had to chuckle. "I'm sure there is a memory game as well. We will find out when we are there, won't we?"

Minerva had dressed him completely, except for his shoes. "The house shoes are in our quarters, so we will carry you, okay?"

It's crazy that they carry me around. Father and Mum never did that, but it feels nice. So Severus nodded.

"Have you ever travelled through a fireplace, my boy?" Albus asked him.

"No," Severus said while he looked fearfully at the hot flames.

"You don't have to worry. It won't hurt, and we will get very quickly to your new room with all the toys," he said calmly to Severus. "Will you let me carry you?"

Severus looked a little scared again, and it was obvious that his little mind was working hard. He was very nice the whole time, and when he carries me I can not get burned or he will also be burned. That made his decision, and he nodded shyly at Albus.

"Thank you very much for trusting me, my boy. Now say goodbye to Poppy and Alastor. They will come by later." He scooped Severus into his arms, turned him so that he could wave at them.

"Bye!" he said softly.

Chapter 4 - Severus' New Room

When they stepped out of the fireplace Severus looked around. They were standing in a cozy living room, which was painted in dark red and beige tones. It's beautiful, Severus thought, awed, and it is so warm here. At home it was always cold, and our walls were gray.

At one side of the room stood a wooden coffee table and around it, two large couches and two armchairs. Wow, how many people are living here? Severus was confused. On the other side of the room stood a big dining table with six chairs. "How many people live here?" Severus asked.

Albus followed Severus' gaze and smiled. "Only we three, Severus, but we often have many guests."

Soon after Albus had stepped out of the fireplace with Severus in his arms, Minerva had followed. "I will go and get the house shoes for Severus."

Albus walked over to the couch and sat Severus down. "We will show you your room now, but I'm sorry that you can't start to play, yet. Poppy said you have to eat regularly and need a lot of sleep."

Severus' bottom lip started to tremble when he heard that he wasn't allowed to play. "Not tired. Don't want to sleep."

"You don't have to sleep, Sev," Minerva said when she heard Severus' comment while returning with the house shoes. We can not show him all the toys and then refuse to let him to try them out, she thought.

She sat down bedside Severus and put the slippers on his feet. "We have to make them smaller," she said. After a wave of her wand and another check to see if they fitted properly, Minerva was satisfied. "Albus meant that you have to eat and sleep regularly from now on. He didn't mean that you have to sleep right now."

Severus was looking at her with big eyes. "No play?"

Minerva smiled at him and ruffled his hair. "I'm sure we can try out one or two of your toys before we have our afternoon snack."

That conjured a smile on Severus' face.

He has a breathtaking smile. I wish the adult Severus had smiled like this. Oh Severus, I miss you so much, thought Minerva. Concentrating on the cute child in front of her, she couldn't resist a sad smile. I have to let go of the adult Severus to give little Sev the life he needs. He is such a darling child.

"Toys?" Severus asked when he realized that the nice lady didn't seem to do anything except look dreamily at him.

That brought Minerva out of her thoughts, and she smiled warmly at him. "Of course, Sev. Let's go to your room now." She stood up and held out her hand for Severus to take.

Severus jumped from the couch and took the offered hand. It's crazy. At home nobody wants me to touch them. Not even Mum.

Minerva led Severus into the lounge.

Albus, who had followed closely, said, "Look, Severus, this is the main door. It leads directly into the lounge in front of my office. From there a moving spiral staircase leads to the halls of Hogwarts. But don't leave these rooms without us, Severus, okay?"

Severus nodded. I don't want to leave; I want to see my toys. That was the only thing Severus could think about. He had seen in books that his mother had shown him, that other children had toys. Sometimes a friend of his father's came by with his five-year-old girl, and she also had toys. She was very bored when she was visiting because Severus hadn't any toys, and so she brought some of hers afterwards. Severus didn't like the girl. She had always said bad things to him because he wasn't as good at playing as she was, but the fun he had playing with her toys made it worth the insults.

"This is Matilda, Severus," Minerva explained while she pointed at a chubby woman in a portrait. "When you go through the hole that is behind her portrait you will get into my office. When I'm not here and you want to speak to me, you just have to ask her to let you through. She knows if I'm in my office and if you can come through. When I have a visitor, she will let me know that you want to speak with me, and I will tell her if she can let you through or if you have to wait for a while until I can come to you."

"If you want to speak with me, Severus," Albus said, "you can tell Phineas, here." He pointed at another portrait. This one was of a scary looking man.

He looks a little like father, Severus thought fearfully, and hid a little behind Minerva.

"You don't have to be scared, Severus." Minerva said and crouched down beside Severus. "Phineas was once a headmaster here. Now he is watching many places for Albus, and he has a portrait in Albus' office. So you can ask him to see Albus when you need him, okay?"

Severus nodded, still frightened. The fact that Phineas was eying him skeptically didn't help.

"We can speak about all this later. I think this young man is more interested in seeing his new room, right?" Albus said when he saw that Severus was still frightened.

Severus looked hopefully at Albus and was glad when Minerva stood up and started to lead him further into their quarters.

From the lounge they went up a staircase to the second floor of the quarters. Minerva pointed at a door on the left side and said that it was Albus' and her bedroom. Opposite to it was another door to which Minerva led him. "And this is your room, Severus." She opened the room and gently encouraged Severus to enter.

Wow, Severus thought, awed. The room was painted in a warm light orange; it had a big window and was, therefore, very bright and friendly. In the left corner of the room stood a bed with a bedspread , which had little birds and fairies on it. On top of it sat a plushy stork. At the left wall stood a big cupboard and a fireplace. Beside the door were a few small cupboards. But the right side of the room was what Severus liked most. Near the window was standing a small round table with three chairs. On the table were a lot of pens and sheets for drawing. Beside the table was a big carpet on which some toy cars and a little train were standing. At the right wall were several shelves with books and more toys. Severus looked up at the two adults, who were smiling at him. "All for me?"

Minerva and Albus enjoyed to see the child stare open-mouthed at the room. Maybe we have overdone it a little, but it was definitely worth to see this expression on him. "All for you, Sev," Minerva said warmly.

They must have confused me with another child. This can not be for me. Father said I'm not worth toys. That are so many toys that they must belong to many children. But the urge to try the toys out-topped the skeptical thoughts, and so Severus let go of Minerva's hand and ran to the train.

Minerva and Albus conjured two chairs to observe the child while playing. Albus took Minerva's hand in his and kissed her. "It was the right decision."

"Yes, it was." She smiled at her husband and then watched her new charge playing.

Chapter 5 - The Toilet Monster

After half an hour, Minerva and Albus decided to end the first play session.

Severus still was playing with the toy cars on the carpet when Minerva knelt beside him. "Sev, you have to take a little break now, but you can play again after our afternoon snack."

Severus was disappointed, but he didn't want the nice people getting mad at him, so he put the toy cars away.

Albus came over, picked him up in his arms and said, " We'll go wash your hands while Minerva organizes the snack from the house-elves, okay?"

Without waiting for an answer from Severus, he started to head to the washroom. It was beside Albus' and Minerva's bedroom. "Do you want to go to the toilet as well?" Albus asked Severus.

Severus shook his head. He didn't like to go to the toilet. His father said that a monster lived in there, and that it bit you when you didn't do your business fast enough. He was never able to do it fast. He always tried to look between his legs to see if the monster was already there. But it never came and Severus thought that maybe the monster in their toilet was dead. He didn't tell his father about it because he feared that he would buy a new one, which would bite him. But maybe in this toilet the monster isn't dead. I will only go when I can't keep it back any longer so I will be fast enough, so the monster won't be getting angry.

"You haven't been to the toilet for a long time, Severus. Are you really sure you don't need to?" Albus eyed him closely.

"Don't need to." Severus shook his head vehemently.

He looks a little scared but maybe he just isn't used to someone being with him in the bathroom, Albus thought. "Do you want me to leave you alone?" he asked.

Alone with the monster? "NO!" Severus almost screamed. He ran over to Albus again and hugged his legs.

Okay, that definitely is strange, Albus thought. He knelt in front of the child and held Severus a little away from him, so that he could see his face. "What's wrong, Severus?"

"No want be alone," Severus said pleadingly.

"It's said, 'I don't want to be alone', Severus. Why don't you want to be alone? I thought you wanted a little privacy to go to the toilet."

Hearing the word 'toilet', Severus scooted a little more away from it, but Albus was still holding him by his arms, and so he couldn't go far.

Albus followed Severus' fearful glance towards the toilet and realized that the boy was trying to back away from it. "What's wrong with the toilet, Severus?"

Severus looked at Albus as if he was crazy. "Don't you know?" How can he live that long here and not know about the monsters in the toilet? Severus thought. Maybe he is always very fast and so he never saw it.

"Don't I know what, my boy?" Albus asked, still confused.

Severus glanced fearfully at the toilet again and then leant over to Albus to whisper in his ear, "The monster will bite me."

"Severus, there is no monster in the toilet," Albus explained to the scared child. Seeing that this didn't have an effect on the boy he added, "Come on, we will check it." With that he pulled the slightly reluctant child with him to the toilet and opened the lid. He positioned Severus in front of his legs and felt the boy lean his back on them. It was obvious that Severus wasn't happy to have to face the monster he thought would be in the toilet. "Look, no monster."

This Albus man really has no idea about toilet monsters. "It is sleeping. It will come up when you sit too long on the toilet, if you can't do it quickly enough," Severus explained to the ignorant adult. Severus never dared to look away from the toilet because he was sure at any minute the monster would turn up.

Albus knelt down again and slightly shifted the boy sideways to speak with him.

Severus didn't want to turn his back to the monster and so vehemently resisted Albus' attempts to turn him. He wasn't willing to avert his eyes from the toilet.

"Severus, please look at me." He didn't force Severus to turn his back to the toilet, but he wanted the child to look at him while he spoke to him. He pushed Severus a little further away from the toilet and placed himself between the imagined monster and the boy. Now he had Severus' full attention.

Severus was happy that Albus was now blocking the way of the monster. He bit nervously on his bottom lip.

"Stop that, Severus. Your lips are already bruised enough." It was true, his lips were bruised as if biting his lips was bad a habit of young Severus.

Severus stopped the biting immediately and looked anxiously at Albus, expecting to be beaten for it. But the old man seemed to be satisfied that he stopped and simply started to speak again.

Albus felt Severus tense up after he scolded him for biting his lips. He decided that it would be best just to continue trying to convince Severus that the toilet wasn't scary.

"Severus there is no monster in the toilet," Albus said gently. He felt Severus relax a little, not because he believed him about the monster, but for not scolding him longer about the lip biting. "I have lived here for a long time, and I can promise you that there is no monster in it. You can take as much time on it as you need, Severus." Maybe I should have read more of the child care books Poppy gave us, Albus thought while looking at the scared boy, who seemed not to believe a word he said.

"It's a monster-proof toilet, Severus ..." he felt Severus react now, he seemed to listen much more. Okay, go on like this Albus. "I have checked it for monsters myself. I'm a great wizard, and no monster has a chance against me."

He is very big and old, like Merlin. And Merlin was a great wizard, Severus thought. "No monster?" he asked.

"No monster, Severus. Do you want to try it out together?" he asked while already working on the button of Severus' trousers.

Severus didn't really want to try it out, but he thought, If there is a monster that only bites children and not adults, it will come out and then Albus will kill it.

"Is everything all right in there?" Minerva called anxiously from outside the bathroom. She had arranged the afternoon snack some time ago and wondered what was going on to prevent her two men from coming out of the toilet. "May I come in?"

Albus looked at Severus questioningly.

Severus nodded. The more the better. When the monster comes it will be very scared to see them all here, he thought hopefully.

"You may come in Minerva," Albus said while lowering Severus' trousers and briefs.

When Minerva entered the bathroom, the sight of her husband kneeling in front of Severus, who tried to look, with his trousers pooling at his ankles, over his shoulder into the toilet, made her smile. "So, what's wrong?"

"Severus here was scared that we didn't check our toilet for monsters that bite when you aren't quick enough doing your business," he said, trying to give his wife as much information she needed, in hope that she would play along. "I already told him that I checked it myself and that there isn't one in there, but we thought we would try it out." With that he lifted Severus onto the toilet.

Severus felt his fear return when Albus sat him on the toilet. He immediately spread his legs to be able to look into the toilet so that the monster couldn't sneak up.

Minerva seeing the problem of this position went over to Severus before Albus would feel the consequences of sitting in perfect target line. "Severus, you must push your wee wee down if you want to look into the toilet while peeing."

Severus looked up at Minerva and did what she had said. She doesn't look angry. No, she is smiling, Severus thought, relieved. Then he remembered that he had to observe the toilet for the monster and not the nice woman next to him and so lowered his gaze again.

"Don't forget to pee, Severus." Minerva said, amused, and placed a calming hand on the lad's shoulder. She felt Severus use it immediately to steady himself for leaning further down to have a better look

"I'm trying," Severus said, concentrating. He always had problems with this because he feared the monster so much.

"It's okay, Severus, just relax," Albus said while stroking Severus' hair. "There is no monster, and you have as much time as you need." Albus looked worriedly up to Minerva, but then heard the triumphant 'Yes' from Severus and the splashing sound that made him realize their persuasions had been successful.

"Yes," Severus said proudly when his genetalia did what he wanted them to do. He closely watched the inside of the toilet while holding his wee wee down with one hand and his shirt up and near his body for a better look, with the other hand. Having Minerva's hand on his shoulder made it much easier to look into the toilet without falling over. When he was finished he looked up into the smiling face of Albus, who was still kneeling in front of him.

"You see, there is no monster in our toilet," Albus said.

Again a glance in the toilet, to be sure that it hadn't been attracted by hearing him pee, and finally Severus seem to relax a little. I hope there really is no monster. Or was it only hiding because he knew that the adults were around? His thoughts were interrupted by a groan from Albus.

Albus tried to stand up and felt his bones protest. I'm too old to kneel in front of a toilet for that long. Next time I have to make sure that I put a cushion charm on the tiles. It was obvious that this wouldn't be the last time that they would have to convince Severus that there is no monster. The little tyke wasn't that easy to convince. Looking down at the child he could see big brown eyes looking back at him. He patted Severus' head and said, "Well done, my child."

Severus was confused. Well done, what? Peeing? It took me some time again; so what was so good about it? Maybe they think that it was quick enough. Severus beamed at that. They are easy to make happy.

Albus took Severus under the armpits, shook him a little so that the last drops fell down and then lifted him from the toilet seat.

"Let me do this, Albus," Minerva ordered, while already kneeling down to pull Severus' trousers up. "I think your bones have had enough kneeling for today."

When the trousers were fastened and Albus had flushed the toilet, Minerva gently pushed Severus into the direction of the sink. "Come on, young man, we have to wash your hands." She pulled a small footstool from under the sink. "That's your stool, Severus. When you step on it you can reach the sink better."

Severus tried out the stool. Yeah, that's great. When he felt the warm water splash on his hands while Minerva helped him to put soap in his hands and then rinse it off again, he thought, At home I always had to wash my hands at the cold water faucet. This is much nicer. Everything is much nicer here.

Albus passed him a towel, and Severus quickly dried his hands and arms. Then he gave the towel back to Albus because he didn't know were to put it.

"Oh no, young man," Minerva scolded, taking the towel from Albus. "Your hands aren't dry." Minerva started to rub Severus' arms dry.

Severus was a little scared when Minerva scolded him. He didn't like the rough rubbing of the towel on his arms, but he hoped that the nice woman wouldn't be angry with him any longer when she had rubbed his arms dry.

They are very different, he thought. They are happy with things father would never be satisfied with. So maybe she will be satisfied by just rubbing my arms painfully. When Minerva stopped, lifted him down from the foot stool and patted his head, he knew he was right again. She is satisfied with it and isn't angry any longer.

"A warm cup of cocoa is waiting for you, young man. Good thing that I placed a stasis spell on it as a precaution," Minerva said and led them all out of the bathroom.

Chapter 6 - A Visit from Alastor

When they arrived in the living room, Severus could see three streaming cups, a big plate with cookies and a brown cake on the table.

Minerva lifted Severus onto the chair at the head of the table. She and Albus sat down on the chairs beside him.

Severus looked down because it felt a little odd to sit on the chair. When he shifted to see what was under his bottom, he almost fell from the chair because the cushion he was sitting on slipped sideways. Albus quickly grabbed his upper arm and pushed him back on the chair. "Don't fidget, Severus," Albus scolded and pulled his wand from his robes while still holding Severus in place.

When Severus felt himself slip down the chair, he was scared, but not as scared as he was the moment when Albus grabbed him to prevent him from falling. Oh, no. Now he is mad at me, Severus thought fearfully. When Albus pointed his wand at him, he flinched and closed his eyes.

Albus paused, shocked, when he saw Severus's reaction. He didn't let go of Severus' arm in fear the boy would run away or fall off the chair in fear. He sighed and said, "Severus, please look at me."

Slowly Severus opened his eyes, first one and then the other. Fearfully, he looked at Albus. "Sowwy."

"You don't have to apologize. I just don't want you to fall off the chair," Albus explained calmly.

Severus looked from Albus' face to his wand.

Albus waved his wand, and Severus again flinched, but he couldn't fall because Albus was still holding him. After placing a Sticking Charm on the cushion on Severus' chair, he put the wand back into his robe.

When Severus saw Albus put his wand away again, he looked questioningly at Albus. Nothing hurts. What has he done? "Hex?"

"No, Severus, of course I didn't hex you. I would never do something like that." He let go of Severus' arm and said, "Try to shift!"

Severus looked confusedly at Albus, but did what he asked. It wasn't slippery any longer.

"Now that this is fixed we can finally start eating," Minerva said and pushed the mug closer to Severus.

That smells good, Severus thought as he took the mug and tasted the brown liquid. Hmmm that's yummy. Much better than the water at home. After licking his milk moustache away, he smiled at Minerva.

"What do you want to eat, Severus? A cookie or a piece of the chocolate cake?" Minerva asked.

Severus was looking from the cake to the cookies and back to the cake. When he had made his final decision, he pointed at the chocolate cake. "Please."

The cake was even better than the hot chocolate. Severus had never eaten something like this. It tasted so good that he already wanted more, even when he still had over half of his piece on his plate, but he was glad that he had the one he was already eating.

Minerva and Albus were also eating cake and drinking their coffee. They looked delightedly at the happy child, whose face was now covered with chocolate.

"Yummy!" Severus said, rubbing his stomach. His hands were covered in chocolate, and so was his shirt, now. When he realized it, he frantically thought, Maybe they won't see it if I lay my hand on my stomach. He cautiously looked up to Albus.

"No worries, my boy," Albus said cheerfully and waved his wand to vanish the chocolate stains. "But next time you should use the napkin here, and not your shirt, to clean your hands." He took one of the napkins and cleaned Severus' hands as well as possible.

Seeing that Albus had little success with the napkin, Minerva stood up and lifted Severus out of his chair. "Come on, we are going to wash your hands."

"I have to go to my office, Min," Albus said.

"Yes, go ahead. We'll join you later when we have got some of Sev's toys," Minerva said, giving her husband a kiss.

Back in Severus' room, Minerva pulled one of the plastic boxes from under the shelves and asked Severus to put some toys in it. With the box floating in front of them, they headed for Albus' office. There Severus played peacefully on the carpet beside Albus' desk.

Minerva was looking through a lot of papers on the small table near the fireplace while Albus checked the heap of letters he had on his desk.

Severus was playing with small animal figures, which could move a few inches, but couldn't run away. They were making small noises, and Severus was lying on his stomach to listen to them. From time to time, he whispered something to them and poked them with his tiny fingers, so that they would move. He looked up, startled, when a knock was heard.

"Come in, Alastor," Albus said and Moody limped into the room.

How could he know who it was? Severus thought curiously, but his game with the animals was much more interesting, so he focussed on them again.

"I didn't wanted to disturb you, but I just checked Sev..." he stopped and looked in the direction of the busied child, "our former Potions master's classroom and store. I sealed the private quarters as we decided, so that he can take them over when the time comes, but I need to know when Charlie will arrive to take over the storeroom. We also will need to ask him where he wants to have his private quarters."

"I spoke to him yesterday, and he said he will come by tomorrow to arrange his quarters and check the potions storeroom."

"Okay, then just call me when he arrives," Alastor said and looked at Severus, who was poking a toy snake figure, which immediately started to hiss at him. That caused the child to giggle. "What are you playing, kid?"

Severus looked up when he realized that Alastor was addressing him. "Animals," he said as if that explained everything. Then Severus remembered what the nice nurse lady had said. "Memory?"

"No, no, kid. Not now. I don't have much time." Seeing the sad face, Alastor looked around and added, "But if you like, we can both look at one of your books here." He pointed at the picture books in the box.

Severus was up in a second, grabbed one of the books, offered it to Alastor, slightly tilted his head and smiled at his new playmate.

Alastor laughed about this behaviour. "Already trying to break the hearts of those around you, kid?"

Severus didn't understand what Alastor was saying, but he smiled happily when Alastor started to lead him to the rocking chair near the fireplace. "Come on, let's settle down."

When Severus was arranged on his lap, Alastor opened the book and started to read. From time to time, he pointed at something that was mentioned in the little story or asked Severus to show him something on the pictures. When he touched the pictures, the book often made a sound. The little duckling Severus liked the most always made a ‘quack, quack' noise, and Severus giggled every time he or Alastor touched it.

At first Severus felt awkward sitting on Alastor's lap. At home Mum had sometimes let him sit on her lap, but that was very seldom. His back was leaning against Alastor's chest. The vibration in Alastor's chest, which was caused by his speaking, was very soothing, and Severus had to fight not to fall asleep. The story was very interesting, about a little duckling, and Alastor could read very well. Severus enjoyed it very much. I didn't know that men like children, too. But Uncle Al is very nice, Severus thought.

When the book was finished, Severus asked, "More?"

"No, Severus, it is time for cleaning up. Soon we will eat supper," Minerva explained, coming over to the two on the rocking chair. She lifted Severus from Alastor's lap.

"Will you and Poppy join us for supper?" she asked the DADA teacher.

"It will be our pleasure," he said, standing up and ruffling Severus' hair. Then he left the office.

________________________

Poppy, Alastor and Albus were sitting at the dinner table when Severus came running into the room. "No running!" they could hear Minerva shout from the lounge.

Hearing Minerva's scolding, he abruptly came to a halt and then slowly walked to the table. He climbed on his chair with a little help from Albus. The cushion still was fixed to the chair, so Severus didn't have to fear slipping off of it.

When Minerva sat down, Severus didn't dare to look up, in fear there would be more scolding from her. He became distracted by Poppy asking him how he was feeling.

"Fine. I have eaten brown cake. It was yummy," he told Poppy, smiling.

"That's good, Severus. You really need to eat to gain some weight. And how did you like your room?"

"It's great. Shall I show you?" Severus asked excitedly and tried to climb from the chair. Albus caught him swiftly and sat him on his bottom again.

"You can show Aunt Poppy and Uncle Alastor your room later, Severus. First you have to eat. You just heard what Aunt Poppy said about eating well?"

Severus quickly grabbed his half eaten cheese sandwich to make Albus happy. "Sev, good. Sev, eating," he said soulfully while first looking at Albus and then Minerva. Only the people here were calling him Sev, but he liked it a lot.

The adults started to talk about adult stuff, and Severus ate his supper like a good boy.

When everyone had finished their supper, Minerva addressed Severus, "You can show Aunt Poppy and Uncle Alastor your room, but then it is time for bathing and going to bed."

Just hearing the word bath made Severus panic. "Don't need a bath," he said pleadingly to Albus. He knew he wouldn't stand a chance trying to change Minerva's mind, but maybe Albus could convince her that it wasn't necessary.

"You had a long and exciting day, Severus. You really need a bath," Albus said, destroying Severus' hope of his getting around the hated bath.

Seeing that he had no chance to convince them, Severus started to cry. I don't want a bath. I hate cold water. It always hurts so much. And the soap burns my eyes. Minwa will rub me with the towel like before, and it will hurt much more after everything is already hurting from the cold water. Big tears were running over his cheeks. "No-o bath!" -Sob- "Sev clean," he frantically said, shaking his head violently.

"Severus, that's enough," Minerva said in a strict tone. She placed her napkin on the table and rose from her seat.

That was the final sign. Severus knew that they would force him to bathe now. His mind was racing. He really was scared of the bath. His whole body hurt when he had to bathe in the cold water at home. And even afterwards, his skin burned from the soap. Everything was so nice here, and he hated that now this was all over, and they would make him feel bad like at home. He couldn't think straight and only knew that he didn't want Minerva to bring him into the bathroom. The only possibility he thought he had was to run, and that's what he did. He jumped from his chair and ran to the door, which led to the lounge.

The adults were so shocked by the child's the violent reaction that they weren't able to stop him before he was out of the door.

Severus, meanwhile, was running in panic to the only place he could think about as a hiding place. He ran as fast as his short legs would carry him, opened the door and crawled under his bed. While he squeezed himself under the bed, he hit first his elbow and then his head, which not only caused himself a lot of pain but also made the plush stork fall down from the bed. Severus saw the stork lying on the floor, grabbed it and hugged it closely while hiding as far away from the edge of the bed as possible. Please don't let them find me, Stork. Please. Please. Please.