“Harry?”

“Hmmm?”

“Is Severus ill?”

The teenager’s head shot up from his mountain of papers and his eyes locked with his girlfriend’s. “Why?!” He asked, instantly alert.

“He’s feeling a bit warm to me.” Ginny replied, moving her hand from Sev’s forehead to his neck. “More than a bit warm, actually!”

Harry was out of his seat and by their side in an instant. He kneeled by the armchair where Ginny was sat, nursing a drowsy Severus, and touched the back of his hand to his little neck. “He does feel a bit warm!” Harry’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Sev, honey?” Ginny stroked his forehead, but the infant merely shrugged her off and kept on drinking. His eyes remained firmly shut.

“You okay, cub?” Harry cupped the back of the child’s head and proceeded to run all the medical diagnostics he knew how to perform. It didn’t take long for him to recognize the culprit. “I think he has the flu, love.”

“The flu?!” Ginny’s eyes widened in alarm.

“Calm down, Gin. It’s not terribly horrible.” Harry shifted a bit and laid a hand on Sev’s little tummy. He quietly ran another diagnostic. “Fever, slight headache, muscle aches—”

“He’s shivering.”

“—chills, he’s tired, has a bit of a runny nose, and I think his stomach is a bit unsettled.”

“Should I keep nursing him then?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Harry nodded, pushing himself off the floor and onto the coffee table. “Definitely. He…I think he’s getting medicine just by feeding right now.”

“So that’s why he’s been feeding more often than usual.”

“Has he?” Harry raised an eyebrow.

“This is the fifth time he’s nursed today and it’s only…” she looked around for the clock, “…eleven o’clock. He normally doesn’t nurse this often.”

“Well I think he’s going to be nursing for the rest of the day. I don’t think he’s going to have the strength to eat solid foods for the next three days at least.”

“Oh, love…” Ginny sighed and stroked Sev’s head with her thumb. The infant sighed in contentment and cooed as he drank. “Should we call Madam Pomfrey?”

“Yeah.” Harry nodded. “Go on to the bedroom. Lie down with him. I’ll floo-call her.” He helped her stand and walked with them to their king-sized bed, pulling the comforter over the both of them as soon as they were settled. Then he went to floo-call the school matron.

“Harry!” The teenager paused at the threshold and glanced back inquisitively. “He might need a fever-reducer. He’s getting awfully warm.”

The teen nodded and dashed to the bathroom to get some from the medicine cabinets. As he passed by Ginny to hand it over, he also dropped a quick kiss on top of Sev’s forehead. “Hang in there, cub. You can beat this. Okay?” Though Sev’s eyes had yet to open, he smiled around Ginny’s breast and cooed contentedly, making Harry smile. The teenager gave his girlfriend a quick peck on the lips as well before sprinting out of the room and towards the fireplace.

After tossing some floo powder into the hearth, he called out for the infirmary and stuck his head in the flames. A hazy view of the hospital wing greeted him. “Madam Pomfrey?” He called. There was a bit of commotion coming from the right and Harry immediately turned his head in that direction. Sure enough, the school matron came marching from that direction at a quick pace.

“Yes? What can I do for you, Professor Potter?”

Harry still blushed at being addressed as such. “First of all, Madame, would you please call me by my first name?”

“Harry?” The healer replied, raising an eyebrow at the teenager. Despite the familiarity, her tone remained no-nonsense.

“Sev’s sick, Madam Pomfrey.” Harry answered. “My medical diagnostics say it’s the flu, but I’d appreciate if you could take a look at him as well.”

The matron nodded and wiped her hands on her apron. “Very well.” She then made some shooing motions. “Step aside, Harry. I’m coming through.”

No sooner had Harry’s head cleared the flames that the fire flared green and out stepped the school healer, wand in hand. “Thank you, Madame.”

“Where is he, Mr. Potter?”

“This way.” And Harry began steering her towards the master bedroom.

To say Severus felt horrible would be the understatement of the century. His stomach felt funny, he thought his head was about to explode, his throat was itchy, he felt both hot and cold at the same time, whenever he coughed his throat hurt, and he refused to open his eyes because the light just made his head hurt even more.

“Mmmm!” He whined. “Mmmm!” Sev began signing ‘no’ and ‘light’ over and over again with his hands.

“We turned down the light, sweetheart.” Ginny’s soothing voice said next to his ear. “You can open your eyes now.”

It took a few minutes for Sev to settle down and find the courage to do so. Sure enough, the lights were dimmed to a very dull glow which had no effect on his head whatsoever. Looking around for the first time, Sev found himself nestled between the sheets on the big bed, Harry and Ginny stretched out on either side of him. Their positions reminded him very much on Godric’s Hollow. Ginny lay on his left. She was in her nightgown, her back propped up by pillows, and a book entitled Professional Seeking Strategies lay open against her chest. She smiled down at him as he peered up at her, and Sev felt her smooth fingers running through his soft baby hair.

“How do you feel, sweet?”

Sev bit his lip and began shaking his head. “Mmmm!” He whined, signing ‘no’ and finger-spelling ‘G-O-O-D’.

Ginny’s smile transformed to one of amusement. “Oh, we know that, love. Madam Pomfrey’s already been here and gone.”

“You’re sick, cub.” Harry interjected from his right.

Severus turned his head towards him and found the teen settled on top of the sheets. Like Ginny, his back was propped up by pillows, but he still wore his regular daytime clothes as opposed to his nightwear, although Sev noticed he was unusually barefoot. He seemed to be doing some paperwork, if the amount of parchment scattered on and around their bed was anything to go by, but as soon as Severus’ gaze had settled on him, he looked up from his papers and greeted the child with a warm smile. “It’s the muggle flu.” He said. “It’s not terribly horrible. You’ll still experience the same symptoms as regular muggle victims, but your magic should help you fight it.” Sev heard Ginny clear her throat behind him. Harry shot an amused glance in her direction. “That, and the antibodies you’re receiving whenever you nurse from Ginny, that is.” A smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “So whenever you feel hungry, you be sure to let us know. That’s your body’s way of telling us that it needs more foot soldiers for its war against the invaders in your body.”

Sev frowned. That didn’t sound very pleasant. He had an invader in his body? Did he mean sort of like a curse? Sev had a curse in his body?! The infant’s eyes widened in alarm before his face quickly transformed into a scowl. Who put it there?

“You had a bit of a fever a while ago, love, so we gave you some children’s fever reducer to help bring it down.” Ginny added.

“Madam Pomfrey was over about an hour ago.” Harry continued. “She confirmed it was the flu. Gave us a few potions that may help you fight it as well.” He turned to switch the papers in his hand for the papers on the bedside table. “You should be in the clear after three days or so.”

“Do you want anything, Sev?” Ginny asked. The baby turned his head towards her. Sev stared up at her for a second, his thoughts uncharacteristically blank; then all of a sudden he was able to process what she said and recalled that he was actually a bit thirsty. He signed ‘thirsty’ against his mouth. “Do you want milk or water, sweet?”

“Wawa.” Severus replied verbally but soon regretted it from the way his throat ached after he talked.

“Harry—”

“I’ll get it.” The teen replied. Harry jumped off the bed and padded barefoot into the living room, reading the top parchment on his pile of papers as he crossed towards the kitchen. Halfway through the den, Harry’s fire flared green and the flames leapt incredibly high. The teenager didn’t even flinch, though. He had cast a spell on his floo enabling it to recognize intruders and kick them out accordingly. Now only those he knew and approved could be let in. Thus, when his godfather stepped onto his hearth unannounced, Harry didn’t even blink.

“Good afternoon, Sirius.” He mumbled towards the paper he was reading. He hadn’t even paused in his journey to the kitchen.

“Harry, I have good news and bad news.” The animagus announced, dropping onto the nearest easy chair and propping his feet up onto the low coffee table.

Harry shot a curious look towards his godfather before throwing his papers onto the kitchen counter. “Let’s hear the bad news first.” He replied, opening the ice box and sticking his head inside.

“I’m going to be joining you in Auror training.” Sirius replied. “Just for a year, that is.”

Harry kicked the ice box door shut on his way to the counter, two of Sev’s bottles in hand. He raised an eyebrow at his godfather. “And…the good news would be?”

“I’m going to be joining you in Auror training.” The animagus repeated, a smirk on his face. “Just for a year, that is.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “Sirius, that’s one piece of news.”

His godfather snorted. “See, it could’ve been good or bad, depending on how you looked at it.”

“I see it as good.” Harry quickly replied, filling one of the bottles with water.

“I see it as bad.” Sirius retorted.

“Sirius, you’ve been out-of-commission for over seventeen years!” Harry argued.

“I don’t see myself as having been out-of-commission.” The animagus scowled, “I have been fighting in the war for the past three to four years, have I not? And I’m still alive, aren’t I? That should say something!”

“Well it obviously doesn’t say anything to Kingsley.” Harry purified the water and warmed it up slightly so that it would soothe Sev’s throat on the way down.

“And that’s right irritating, that is!” Sirius crossed his arms and pouted. “I don’t see why I have to go through training again.”

“You said it was only for a year.”

“Even then!”

“Padfoot, I’m in it for three.” Harry retorted as he began scouring the cabinets in search of the lemon and honey.

“And I don’t see why that is, either!” Sirius continued. “I mean you defeated Voldemort, for Merlin’s sake! If anyone doesn’t need Auror training, it’s you.”

“I don’t agree.”

“And why not?!”

“Well you can never be too sure.” His godson replied, pouring some honey onto a teaspoon.

Sirius scoffed and scowled at the fire burning in the hearth. “That’s what Kingsley said as well.”

“Oh come on, Padfoot. What’s so terrible about taking a year to brush up on your skills?”

“My skills are already brushed up on!” Sirius argued. “I don’t need to be stuck in some ridiculous room for a year, being run ragged through these outrageous scenarios and simulations by people half my age, and to be looked down on and rebuked like a rookie by said people half my age!”

“First of all,” Harry started, spooning some lemon into Sev’s water, “I’m half your age. I highly doubt the training instructors are going to be people my age. More than likely, they’ll be people Moody’s age.”

“That just makes them more even more likely to look down on me and criticize even more harshly.”

“So this is your nervousness talking.” Harry raised an eyebrow at his godfather as he shook both bottles to mix them evenly.

“I am not nervous!” Sirius replied, peering at his godson over the top of the easy chair and looking indignant.

“Oh, you’re not?”

“I’m pissed is what I am! More than pissed, actually.” He resumed his pouting at the fireplace.

Harry sighed as he tested the temperature of the water against his wrist. “Who are you pissed at?”

“Kingsley!”

“Kingsley.” Harry murmured under his breath.

“I don’t understand why I have to go through this!”

“And here we are back at the beginning.” The teen muttered, padding towards the bedroom, bottles in hand.

“I was a perfectly good Auror seventeen years ago,” Sirius started, getting up to follow his godson into the bedroom, “I may have had a twelve-year vacation in hell, but when I got out I was still perfectly good at what I did. He knows all this! Why does he have to make me go through this shite!” 

“Sirius!” Ginny scowled at the animagus.

“Oh, it’s not like you don’t say it either, Gin.” Sirius rolled his eyes. “And it’s not like he’s a real baby either. I’ve heard him say worse things before.” The animagus buried his hands deep in his pockets and scowled at the carpet.

“I think Kingsley does know all this, but I don’t think it’s Kingsley who’s actually making you go through training again.” Harry placed both bottles on the nightstand before picking up a drowsy Severus and nestling him in his arms as he sat back down on the bed. “I think Kingsley’s doing is the fact that you’re only going through it again for a year as opposed to three.”

The thought made the animagus look up and narrow his eyes at his godson. “Are you saying it’s the bureaucracy that’s making me do this?”

“That’s what I think.” Harry nodded. “I think Kingsley went to bat for you as opposed to against you.” Leaving his godfather in that contemplative state, Harry turned to the half-awake infant in his arms. “Hey!” He shook the tiny bundle gently. “Hey, cub!” The small six-month-old let out a big yawn before his eyes fluttered open completely. “You still thirsty? Want a bit of water?”

“Mmmm.” Sev nodded lazily before closing his eyes once again and making himself comfortable against Harry’s robes.

“What’s wrong with the kid?”

“He’s sick, Padfoot.” Ginny answered, making some notes in her book.

“Ah!” Sirius nodded. The animagus threw himself onto the foot of their bed with a sigh before crossing his arms behind his head. “It must’ve been Mundungus Fletcher.” He mused. “You never know what that sorry-excuse-for-a-man has these days. Moony and I are convinced that he’s a carrier of virtually every muggle and wizard disease on record.”

“That’s disgusting.” Ginny replied behind her book, her face screwed up in distaste. “Are you sure he was at the party?”

“Did you notice how quickly your impressive collection of alcohol became a lot less impressive?”

“I was under the impression that was Slughorn.” Harry replied, holding the bottle of water to Sev’s lips. The infant latched on and began drinking hungrily.

“No, Slughorn isn’t as heavy of a drinker as Mundungus is.” Sirius replied, peering at his godson and his ward from his end of the bed.

“I don’t think anyone is as heavy a drinker as Mundungus is.” Ginny grimaced. “The man borders on alcoholic.”

“Oh, he more than borders, I think.” Sirius stood up and quickly transformed into his dog form before hopping back up onto the edge of the bed and settling down.

“Padfoot, you do know we have two other bedrooms in these quarters. You can have one of them for now, if you wish.” Ginny said, eyeing the dog over the edge of her book.

Woof! The dog barked lazily before settling his head back down and closing his eyes.

“Just leave him be, love.” Harry remarked before turning back towards the baby in his arms. Severus was still drinking hungrily from the bottle of water Harry held to his lips.

“Did you warm it up?”

“Yup.”

“Did you add lemon and honey to it?”

“Mm-hmm.” Harry gave her a small smile. “Just like mum used to make.” He turned back towards Sev and stroked his tiny hand. “What do you think, cub? Molly Weasley’s patented cure for a sore throat, this is. It’s guaranteed to be gone by the morning.” The baby cooed contentedly before releasing the bottle and settling against Harry’s chest, his eyes firmly shut. Harry sighed, “Ah…what’s going on in that mind of yours, I wonder.”

I feel like shite! A voice at the back of the baby’s mind cried. Severus couldn’t agree with it more. Everything in his body ached! His arms ached, his legs ached, his chest ached, his eyeballs ached, his bones ached! Possibly the only thing in his body that didn’t ache at the moment was his throat; but that was likely due to whatever miracle water Harry had just fed him. Otherwise, it would’ve ached as well along with the rest of his body. “Mmmm!” Severus groaned and shifted to find a more comfortable position against Harry’s chest. His caretaker’s comforting heartbeat wasn’t being as comforting as it normally was.

“Mmmm!” He whined once more. He was feeling hot! Severus scrunched up his forehead and began wriggling with a vengeance, trying to shake off all the blankets and such that covered him. Why did Harry and Ginny insist on putting so many layers on him?! It wasn’t like he needed them anyway! Get it off, get it off, get it off! He began kicking out roughly, whines and groans accompanying his more powerful kicks.

“Hey, hey! Whoa, cub!”

“Sweetheart?”

“Hooooooop!” He whimpered. “Hop!”

“He’s hot, Gin.” Harry translated, glancing at his girlfriend in concern.

“I’ll go get a cold towel.” Ginny replied, jumping off the bed. “Should we give him another dose of fever reducer?”

“No!” Harry shook his head as he began disentangling Sev from the blanket he had been holding him in. “We just gave him a dose. It’s dangerous if we overdose him.”

“Hop!”

“Yes, I know, cub. I know.” Harry laid the infant down on top of the soft sheets and felt his forehead. It felt a bit too warm for his taste, yet it was clammy at the same time. He could feel Severus shivering beneath his touch. “Hold on, alright? Ginny’s getting a nice cold towel for you.”

“Hooooop!” Sev moaned, wriggling from beneath the hand and rolling towards Harry’s side. “Hoooooop!”

Harry sighed and scooted downward so that he lay on his back next to Severus. The infant was now virtually glued to his left side. Ever so gently, Harry wrapped his left arm around him, cradling him as best he could.

“Hoooooooop!” The infant cried miserably.

“I know.” Harry crooned, infusing his voice with a bit of calming magic. “I know. Shhh…” Harry began patting a steady rhythm against the infant’s back as he started humming a nice, soothing melody that always used to calm him down whenever he felt a bit under the weather. “Mmmmmm Hmmmm Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…” He immediately felt Severus begin to relax next to him. “Mmmmmm Hmmmm Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…” Harry opened his eyes and smiled at the ceiling. “Padfoot, you remember this song?”

“Remember it?” An amused voice replied from the end of the bed. “I sang it to you.”

“Mmmmmm Hmmmm Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…”

“I remember it was your fifth year…”

“Mmmmmm Hmmmm Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…”

“…over the Christmas holiday…”

“Mmmmmm Hmmmm Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…”

“…and you were sick with the muggle flu, just like the cub over there.”

“Mmmmmm Hmmmm Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…”

Sirius chuckled at the ceiling. “And I remember one night…”

“Mmmmmm Hmmmm Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…”

“…your fever was so high, it was keeping you awake…”

“Mmmmmm Hmmmm Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…”

“…and because you were awake, Moony and I were as well.”

“Mmmmmm Hmmmm Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…”

“And I remember you didn’t want to go to sleep…”

“Mmmmmm Hmmmm Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…”

“…so I sang you that song.”

“Mmmmmm Hmmmm Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…”

“And Moony joined in as well after a bit…”

“Mmmmmm Hmmmm Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…”

“…and then it sounded like this.”

And together Sirius and Harry began humming the same song in perfect harmony. Their deep notes blended together and the music flowed around Severus in accordance with the flow of white magic all around him. Every aspect of Sev’ world merged and swirled and wrapped around him like a warm, comforting blanket. It soon got harder and harder for Sev to stay awake.

“Shall we have one more go at it, pup?” He heard Sirius ask at the end of the bed. “I love this song.”

Harry’s soft comforting pats soon became gentle hypnotic massages and Sev heard his caretaker chuckle just before the beautiful, soothing music once again filled the room.

“Mmmmmm Hmmmm Mmmmm Mmmm Mmmm…”

Severus felt a soft, cool towel begin to sponge him gently and within minutes, the combination of the cool towel, the white magic, the music, and the massage had Severus dwelling at the threshold of slumber.  

“Go to sleep, baby boy.” An angelic voice whispered in his ear. Sev smiled and with a final sigh, he let his consciousness silently drift towards the land of nod.

“It doesn’t really take a Wingardium Leviosa, you see. What I found out while I was experimenting with wandless magic was that all manner of magical creatures can do it. It just takes enough hard work and dedication to see it through.”

Harry was sitting cross-legged on the bed, explaining the basics of wandless magic to a nursing Severus while a slew of bedroom objects and toys revolved around his head.

Sev peered up at Ginny curiously and the teenager smiled down at him while she wiped away a lone drop of milk that leaked out of the side of his mouth. “You can try some of that later, sweet, when you’re feeling up to it.”

“Yeah,” Harry nodded, “Some of this stuff takes a lot of energy, especially since you’re just getting started.”

“Excuse me, Sir Henry?” Merlin’s voice boomed from the portrait hole.

“Yes, Sir Merlin?”

“Professors Dumbledore and Slughorn are at the door. Shall I let them in?”

“Of course!” Harry nodded. “Yes, yes. Tell them we’re in the bedroom.” He turned to his girlfriend. “Do you want me to get the nursing shawl?”

Yet before she could answer Severus unlatched and began shaking his head. “Are you done, cub?” The infant nodded. “Are you sure?” Another nod.

“It’s just as well.” Ginny picked him up and placed him back down between them so that she could effectively fix her nightgown.

“Hello?” They heard Slughorn inquire from the doorway.

“We’re in here, Professors!” Harry called.

“Ah! They’re in the bedroom.”

“Mmmm-BA!” Sev cooed, trying to reach for one of the floating toys from his position on the bed. Harry chuckled and bumped one of the revolving toys towards him. Sev squealed and began batting at it with a vengeance.

“You like that, cub?” Harry grinned.

“Ha, ha, ha!” The infant laughed, batting his baby snake’s dangling tail.

“Is that fun?” Sev began chewing on his index finger before turning towards Harry with a smile. He nodded playfully. Harry laughed. “Yeah?” Another nod. “Yeah, huh?”

“Mmmm-BA!” Severus grinned as Harry leaned down and brushed the hair from his fringe before placing a kiss on his forehead.

“That’s always fun, isn’t it?” The teen began rubbing the baby’s tummy just as Dumbledore stuck his head in the door.

“Hello! I hope I’m not interrupting anything?” The bubbly man smiled as he stepped into the room.

“No, no, Professor.” Ginny smiled and shook her head as she retrieved her Quidditch book from the nightstand.

“Sev was feeling a bit under the weather today,” Harry informed them, “so we’re all having a big, long sleep-in until he gets better.”

“Oh!” The headmaster smiled, “That sounds fun.”

“I didn’t know you had a dog, Harry.” Slughorn remarked as he studied the big sleeping dog at the edge of their bed.

“Oh, he’s not ours.” Ginny snorted.

“Professor Lupin’s then?”

Harry grinned and began chuckling as he answered, “That dog’s my godfather, Professor.” He nodded towards Padfoot.

“I beg your pardon?” The big man looked confused.

“Sirius Black is an animagus, Horace.” Dumbledore answered with a smile.

“An animagus?” It took a second, but the light soon dawned in Slughorn’s eyes. “Oh!” Then he paused. “OH!” Everyone soon began laughing softly.

“Mmmm-BA!” Sev cried and began reaching for his floating lion cub. “Mmmm! Mmmm!” He whined. Harry lowered it down towards him with a smile and the infant grinned when his little fist closed around the cub’s tail.

“I’m sorry to hear that you’re ill, Severus.”

“Wait, Sirius Black is your godfather, Harry?” Slughorn raised an eyebrow at him.

Harry snorted softly before turning towards the men, “Begging your pardon, sirs, but was there something one or both of you wanted?”

“Oh.”
“Oh!”
“Oh.”
“Oh, yes.”
“There was something.”
“It’ll just take a minute.”
“Just a small thing really.”

“I need to go over a press release with you.” Dumbledore said.

“And I was wondering if you’d kindly help me brew the inordinate amount of potions needed between the Hogwarts infirmary and St. Mungo’s.” Slughorn added.

Harry nodded and began discussing the issues with both men. Severus stopped paying attention at that point. He was getting too distracted by the pretty toys Harry was levitating above his head. Hugging his little lion cub to his chest with one hand, Sev reached up with the other and started batting at one of the dangling claws of his stuffed raven. “Mmmm! Mmmm! Coo!”

Sev felt the bed shift beside him and looked over to find Ginny placing her book back onto the nightstand before scooting down on the bed until her head lay next to his. “Whatcha doing, love?” She whispered with a smile.

Severus grinned at her and then reached up to bat at the raven’s claws once again.

“Ah, I see. Is that fun, sweet?”

You should try it. A voice echoed at the back of Sev’s mind. The baby’s legs and arms began bobbing up and down in excitement. When his badger toy floated within reach, Sev giggled in delight before batting at one of its little legs.

“You know what’ll make it even more fun?” Ginny whispered. Sev peered up at her curiously. The teen gave him a mysterious smile. Seconds later, the letters from Sev’s alphabet puzzle began joining the floating toys in the air. “Let’s make words, Sev. What do you say?”

Severus giggled and squealed in delight as he reached for the ‘S’ near Harry’s hand.

“Let’s spell ‘Severus’. How’s that?”

“Uh-oh!” The infant bit his lip and peered at Ginny guiltily. “Mo mow.”

“No more?” Ginny raised an eyebrow.

‘S-E-V-E-R-U-S’ The infant finger-spelled his name for her before holding up two fingers and singing ‘S’ and ‘E’.

“Ah, I see!” Ginny nodded. “Well, let’s see how we can fix that.” She reached out and plucked the ‘S’ and the ‘E’ out of the pack before shooing all the other letters away. She then let those two letters float well within Sev’s reach. “Now…I don’t know if Harry’s explained this to you yet, but magic is largely an extension of your will.” She whispered in his ear. “That’s…sort of the definition of magic in its most basic form. Thus, if you do it right…and you put enough effort into it…what you want…” Ginny reached a finger out and poked the ‘S’, causing it to wobble slightly in the air. Sev’s eyes widened when a second ‘S’ soon began floating out from behind the first, “…is largely what you get.”

Sev squealed in delight and began bobbing his arms and legs up and down excitedly. That was so wicked! That was wicked! I want to do it now! “Meh! Meh! Meh!” He croaked, his voice sounding hard and rough.

“Hey, cub, try not to use your voice too much.” Harry interjected, pausing in his conversation with the two professors. “You’re still sick, regardless of whether or not you feel better at the moment. You need to rest.”

“He’s right, baby boy. That smile is all I need to see.” Ginny nuzzled his ear, making the infant grin. Sev stuck his finger in his mouth before turning to smile at her.

“That was an impressive little display of magic, Miss Weasley.” Slughorn complimented.

“Why, thank you, Professor.” Ginny gave him a small smile. “Severus was just about to try it himself, weren’t you, Sev?”

The infant grinned and reached a finger towards the floating ‘E’. I want there to be two of you! He demanded of it in his head. Sev then gave the ‘E’ a tiny poke. The blue letter wobbled slightly in midair, but other than that nothing happened. Severus immediately turned disappointed eyes upon Ginny.

“Oh, come now, love, you have to do better than that!” She replied.

“You have to put your will into it, cub.” Harry added. “Otherwise, you won’t get any results.”

“Scream it in your head, Sev.” Ginny encouraged.

Severus sighed and turned back to the offending letter. He narrowed his eyes at it. Damn you! He cursed at the ‘E’. I don’t like you! Sev grit his tooth against his gums and fixed the ‘E’ with a mean look. He, Severus, was going to win this little challenge if it was the last thing he did! He reached out a finger towards the stupid little letter and a voice screamed at the back of his head. I want there to be TWO OF YOU!!! Then the infant jabbed the ‘E’ with as much force as he could muster, sending the ‘E’ flying backwards! Everyone watched as it soared upwards until suddenly it stopped and from within the first ‘E’ flowed out the second.

“Whoa! Hey!” “Yes!” “Outstanding!” “Very well done!” A small cheer moved around the room, waking the black dog from his slumber.

Woof! The animagus barked, his eyes bleary and half-open.

Severus cooed in excitement and his arms and legs began bobbing up and down energetically.

“See? I told you you could do it, love.” Ginny whispered in his ear before giving him a small kiss on his cheek.

“Excellent job, Severus!” Dumbledore praised. “Excellent job!”

“Now how about those potions I need, Harry?” Slughorn interjected, steering them back to their original conversation.

As the men resumed their boring conversation, Ginny lowered the now-complete set of letters down so that she and Severus could effectively spell his name. “Practice your dexterity, Sev. I’ll get a letter, then you get a letter. Right?”

Sev grinned and reached out with his drool-soaked hand towards the ‘S’ floating nearby.

“Careful, love.” Ginny whispered playfully. “Careful. Don’t hit it too hard, else it’ll fly away.”

The infant hesitated slightly and then bit his lip in concentration. Slowly, Sev! Slowly…A voice instructed him from the back of his mind. Slowly…Ever so gently, Severus touched the letter to the palm of his hand, just as he would a pea, and carefully closed his fingers around it.

“That’s my boy,” Ginny gave him a quick peck on the cheek. “Now bring it here next to the ‘E’.” The teenager plucked an ‘E’ out of the group of letters and brought it within Sev’s line of sight. It took a bit of time, but the infant was able to place the floating ‘S’ where it rightfully belonged. “Excellent! Now how ‘bout that ‘V’?”

Ten minutes later, the letters directly above Ginny and Sev’s heads effectively spelled ‘S-E-V-E-U-S’, Harry noted with some amusement.

“Uh-oh!” The teen widened his eyes jokingly. Sev peered at him curiously. “What happened to your ‘R’?” The baby cocked his head in confusion for a moment before glancing back at the floating letters.

“Oh no, sweetheart! We forgot your ‘R’!” Ginny winked at her boyfriend.

“Alright, Harry, we won’t take up any more of your time.” Dumbledore interjected, stuffing a rolled-up parchment back in his pocket.

“Yes, yes, we’re quite sorry for the interruption.” Slughorn added.

“No, no, it’s fine.” Harry waved them off. “Was there anything else you wanted me to help you with?”

“No, I think that was about it.” The headmaster answered after a moment of thought. “The potions and the press release for later this month. Yes, that was it.” He turned to Slughorn for confirmation and the big man nodded. “Excellent! Alright…we’ll show ourselves out. Severus, I hope you feel better soon.”

“Yes, yes, my boy!” Slughorn added, “Get well soon!”

The infant ignored them. He was too busy trying to reach for his ‘R’ so that he may complete his name.

“Sev, you wanna say ‘bye’?” Harry pushed gently.

“Buh-bye.” The child answered absentmindedly.

Rolling his eyes, Harry stood up to walk the professors to the door. When he returned to the bedroom, he stopped in the doorway for a moment to take in the beautiful scene before him. Sev was lying in the very middle of the king-sized bed, all manner of children’s toys and letters floating above his head. Ginny’s head lay next to his as she joined him in play. The candlelight reflected off the joy and laughter in their eyes as they spelled out ‘H-A-R-R-Y’ and ‘G-I-N-N-Y’ in the air. For a moment, Harry felt like he was watching them from behind a glass window; he could see their faces but hear no sound. It was during times like these that Harry was most in touch with his emotions. A gigantic smile spread across Sev’s face and he started laughing joyously. Next to him, Ginny began laughing hysterically as well. The infant’s arms and legs bobbed up and down in excitement, while the woman began kicking her legs in laughter. Then she turned and wrapped her arm around the child’s waist. She nuzzled Sev’s ear with a smile and the baby leaned into the touch. Sev bit his little lip, his single tooth peeking out from behind his upper lip as it pulled up into a smile. Harry watched as he closed his eyes and sighed, the smile only growing bigger as Ginny whispered sweet words into his ear.

Harry could feel the ghost of a pain in his chest. This was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen in his life! He loved this. He loved all of this. He loved every damn moment.

He loved them!

He loved them so much, it hurt.

The ghostly pain became even more real. He had a family now. He didn’t know how it happened, but he had a family now.

Thus…he had something to lose now.

Something big!

“Hey you!” Ginny’s teasing voice broke into his thoughts.

Harry looked up at her, a bit disoriented. “Huh?”

“What are you doing just standing there?” She raised an eyebrow at him.

Harry forced a fake but convincing half-smile onto his face. “Oh…just contemplating the meaning of life and all of that.” He joked, pushing off the doorframe.

Ginny rolled her eyes, “Leave the philosophizing to the philosophers, love, and come join us. Come on!” She pat the free side of the bed next to Severus.

Harry dropped onto the mattress with a chuckle, his head lining up next to theirs under the cloud of floating letters and children’s toys.

“What should we spell now?” Ginny asked.

“How about Potter?” Harry suggested.

“Excellent! Sev, if you would just replicate the ‘T’, please?” The infant squealed in delight and quickly did as she bid.

“You’re doing such a great job today, cub.” Harry praised him. “Your magic is improving by leaps and bounds.” The infant smiled and basked in the warmth of Harry’s approval.

They had all just finished spelling ‘Potter’ when a low Woof! had them all peering towards the edge of the bed. Padfoot was still lying down, but now his head was up and he was alert and gazing at them curiously. Woof!

Harry snorted. “Good afternoon, Padfoot! Have a good nap?”

Woof! The canine barked gruffly.

“Pa…poo!” Sev babbled between them. “Pa…poo…Pa…poo…Pa…poo…Pa-poo!” The infant grinned at Harry.

The teen chuckled “You want to spell ‘Padfoot’ next?”

“Pa-poo!” Sev immediately began reaching for the ‘P’.

“Guess that’s a ‘yes’.” With a wave of a hand, Harry widened the bed slightly so that there was now an extra space beside him. He pat the sheets invitingly, “Come along, old boy!” The big black dog immediately settled down next to him and rested his head on Harry’s outstretched arm. The teen wrapped the arm around him and scratched him behind the ears. “Now…” he turned back to Severus with a smile, “…where were we?”

“Pa-poo!”

And when Sev drifted to sleep an hour later, the letters above his head spelled ‘Severus’, ‘Harry’, ‘Ginny’, ‘Potter’, ‘Padfoot’, ‘Moony’, ‘Teddy’, ‘Tonks’, ‘Ron’, ‘Hermione’, ‘Molly’, ‘Arthur’, ‘Bill’, ‘Fleur’, ‘Fred’, ‘George’, ‘Percy’, ‘Charlie’, and ‘Nana’.

And the word Sev fell asleep spelling?

F-A-M-I-L-Y

Severus’ annoying cough woke him from his peaceful sleep several hours later. The infant’s chest hurt, his throat hurt, his eyes felt watery, he couldn’t breathe, and on top of that, he was feeling hot again! “Mmmmm!” He whined, immediately regretting even making the sound, as it only irritated his throat some more.

WOOF! WOOF! He heard a dog bark somewhere below him. The harsh noise was quickly followed by approaching footsteps and two familiar voices.

“Of course we’ll take him over the weekend.” The voice that sounded like Harry said. “He’s always welcome with us. You know that, Remus.”

“Yes, yes, I know.” Remus’ softer baritone joined in the mix.

“You do know we’re going to be at Godric’s Hollow, right?” Sev heard Harry’s voice pull up beside him and the infant immediately began kicking at his blankets.

“Hooooooooooooop!”

“I know, cub.” Harry crooned softly as he began untangling the baby from the sheets. “I know.”

“Yes. Actually, Dora and I were counting on that.” Remus answered.

“What’s wrong with Andromeda?” The cool room air met the infant’s sweat-soaked skin as Harry finally freed him from the blankets’ evil clutches and lifted him into his arms.

“She’s been a bit depressed lately over Ted’s death, and that’s why we want her to move in with us.”

“But won’t seeing Teddy help her heal? I mean, the baby’s bound to lift her spirits.” Sev felt himself being carried to what sounded like the bathroom.

“Yeah, but we want to be sure that Dromeda’s…‘okay’ first.” The werewolf answered, “You know…that she hasn’t gotten too depressed or anything of that sort.”

“You want to be sure she isn’t crazy.” Harry summarized candidly.

Severus could practically hear Remus cringe. “Yeah, but don’t let Dora hear you say that.”

“Don’t worry.” A nice warm sponge began massaging his clammy skin. It felt so nice; Sev sighed blissfully and began relaxing into the touch.

“How long as he been sick?” Remus asked hesitantly.

“Don’t worry. The worst part is over.” Harry replied, “He should be back to normal in about a day or two. He was doing fine a while ago, actually. By Saturday he’ll be raring to go play catch-the-snitch with Sirius again. He won’t give Teddy anything.”

“I was worried about him as well, you know.” The werewolf sounded slightly offended.

“I know.” Harry assured him. “I know.”

“So…is it the muggle flu?”

Severus yawned and stopped paying attention at that point. Harry’s sponge bath/massage was making him sleepier and sleepier by the moment. Now all he wanted was some of that miracle water Harry gave him earlier so that his stupid throat would stop bothering him and he could go back to sleep.

A few minutes later, as if reading his mind, Harry finished his sponge bath, changed him into some dry clothes, and lifted him into his arms. Sev felt his position being shifted so that he was in the lying-down position, and moments later, the tip of a bottle touched his lips. The infant latched on by instinct and, much to his relief as well as his surprise, it was that miracle water that Harry gave him a while ago! Huh…he’s good. The voice at the back of his mind commented. Sev cooed in agreement and began to drink hungrily. His throat almost immediately began to feel better.

“Sleep, cub.” He heard Harry tell him. The teen began to hum the tune from earlier as he danced around the room. Soon, the combination of the miracle water, Harry’s dancing and humming, Remus’ soft mumbling, and Padfoot’s faint snoring lowered the infant back into the waiting arms of sleep.

When Severus came to once again, he saw a big red blur zipping from one end of the room to the other.

“Ginny! Are the steaming bowls ready yet?!” The big red blur screeched.

Severus immediately recognized that voice. It was the voice that made him cringe.

“Mum! You’re going to wake him up!” The teenager hissed from the doorway, a steaming bowl of something in her hands.

“Too late for that.” Harry mumbled from the rocking chair. Sev glanced over and noted that the teen was once again doing paperwork. Yet the baby could make out a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

“Oh! Severus, darling!” Molly waddled over like mother duck and immediately began to fluff his pillows and tuck in his sheets. “How are you feeling? I heard you were sick! Do you feel feverish? Is your throat achy? Is it itchy? Can you see me well? How many of me do you see? I hope you’re not having blurry vision, poor dear! Is your stomach feeling strange? Are you dizzy?”

If I wasn’t, I am now. A voice drawled at the back of his mind. Sev wanted to scowl at all her fussing, but found he hadn’t the energy to do it. Besides, Ginny’s scowl was enough for the both of them.

“Mother, would you please stop!” She demanded, sounding completely exasperated.

“In a minute, dear.” She snatched the steaming bowl of whatever from Ginny’s hands and laid it on the bedside table. Molly waved her wand at the bowl and the steam immediately began floating in his direction. “Now that should do wonders for your nose.”

Nothing’s wrong with my nose. Severus frowned.

“Did Harry and Ginny make you my special recipe for a sore throat?”

“I already told you we did, mum!” Ginny argued from the other side of the room.

“Good! Now come on, Ginny, I’ll show you a recipe for a nice stomach-soother.” She quickly waddled towards the entrance to the bedroom, Ginny hot on her heels.

“Mum, there’s nothing wrong with his stomach.” The volume dropped as the bickering ladies retreated into the kitchen.

“How do you know that? There might be. It’ll be useful to know this should it come up.”

“Mum…”

“Come on!”

“Honestly!”

Woof!

Severus began kicking at all the sheets Molly wrapped around him until he could move once again. As soon as he could breathe easily, he peered past Padfoot towards the bedroom door and blew raspberries at the silhouettes of the two ladies. Bffffffft!

“Easy there, cub. She’s just being herself.” Harry mumbled from behind a piece of parchment. “You can’t fault her for that.”

Severus huffed and dropped back onto his pillow. I most certainly can and I most certainly will! She’s always been too mother hen-like. It’s quite irritating!

“Have I showed you the recipe for getting his fever down without needing a fever-reducer?”

“Mum, why—”

“Oh, never mind. I’ll show it to you right now.”

Ginny groaned.

“Mo wike!” Sev croaked at Harry.

“Get used to it, cub.” The teen replied, not even looking up from his stack of papers.

Molly’s voice soon began increasing in volume. “There’s this wonderful book written by Gilderoy Lockhart on—”

“Mum, you can’t honestly believe he wrote that book! Not after everything Harry and I told you about him.”

“Of course not, dear.” The Weasley matriarch laid yet another steaming bowl of a different whatever on the other nightstand and with a wave of her wand had the steam floating in his direction once again. “Whoever he stole the information from has a lot of wonderful remedies to all the ailments of the flu. Oh! Have I showed you the recipe—”

Ginny sighed and rolled her eyes, “No, but I bet you’re going to show it to me anyway.”

“It’s this wonderful little alternative to the stomach-soother.” Molly continued without a hitch, zipping out the door once again. “And it’s so simple as well!” Ginny scowled and slowly trailed behind her.

Woof! Sirius barked softly. Woof!

Harry watched as Severus peered at the dog, and the dog peered back. They silently stared at each other for a fraction of a second before Padfoot stood up from the edge of the bed and padded over to Harry’s usual side. The infant kept his eyes on him the entire time. Slowly, Padfoot laid himself down next to the baby and stretched out across Harry’s half of the bed. Severus continued to stare idly. The dog turned to meet the baby’s eye and Harry watched in amusement as both the canine and the infant turned away and let out a big yawn at exactly the same time.

“Ginny! Where are your carrots, dear?” A voice shrilled from the kitchen.

“What do you need carrots for?!”

Severus flopped back down onto his small pillow, and next to him Padfoot silently took over Harry’s. They both shut their eyes simultaneously.

Harry watched as Sev raised his tiny hand and pat Padfoot on the back lightly. “Mipe-Mipe.” He mumbled.

Padfoot whined in agreement.

On his rocking chair, Harry chuckled silently as he turned back to his paperwork. Night-night, boys. Night-night.