Most of his packing would be done by the Hogwarts house elves. For now he would only grab the things that he needed to get through the next couple of days. That said, he still needed to be able to pack with some relative peace so that he could think and not be distracted.

In short, he needed a babysitter. Because, although in time throwing some clothes together and watching Evan at the same time might not be a big deal, at the moment he wasn’t exactly sure how to do that. He had never been left in charge of small children when he was in his teenage years and he was still adjusting to the idea of toting a four year old around with him, and that morning’s incident was still fresh on his mind. He didn’t want a repeat.

The obvious choice for a babysitter would be Dumbledore, but Severus wasn’t sure that he liked that. Dumbledore’d had a huge influence on Harry’s life, and although Severus knew that he would play a part in Evan’s life, for now he wanted to be able to think that Evan could get by without the old man’s influences. Besides, the wound of Harry’s death was still fresh to Dumbledore. Severus was afraid that he might expect too much from Evan, might expect him to be too similar to Harry.

Perhaps he was being a mother hen about the situation. He could handle that. It wouldn’t do great things for his reputation, but he could handle that.

In any case, he had to come up with someone to watch his child. His mind fell to the possibility of house elves. Would they be too scary for Evan? It was hard to say. If he could get Evan to like house elves, though, he might hire one to stay with him and to watch Evan when Snape needed to make potions or do other things that he didn’t want Evan to be too close for.

“Evan, I need to get some things together so that we can head to our house. If I call a friend in to stay with you, will you be a good boy and listen to him?”

Evan nodded.

“My friend is a little funny looking,” Severus warned. “But he’s very nice.”

When Evan simply nodded again, Severus called for Deputy. Deputy was an older house elf. He had been nice to Snape when Snape was in school, often curing him when Snape had been hurt by the marauders. He used to tell Snape that he could shine a little light on everything around him. Snape could only hope that such protection and good advice would be extended to his son.

“You’se is calling Deputy?”

“Yes, Deputy,” Severus said, smiling a little at the house elf who was toppling over with hats and scarves. “I was wondering if I might ask a favor of you?”

“Anything for Master Snape!”

“Yes, well,” Snape swallowed. “This is my son, Evan. I was wondering if you might watch him while I go get some things from my chambers.”

“Oh, yes, Master Snape, sir!”

“Evan,” Snape said, kneeling next to his son again. Evan’s eyes were wide and suspicious again, a look that Snape wasn’t particularly fond of. The boy was still staring at Deputy, which made Severus a little bit nervous. He tapped the boy on the knee to get his attention. “Are you okay if I leave you with Deputy.”

Evan pulled nervously on a strand of red hair and bit his lower lip. “C’n I go with you, Papa? I’ll be good.”

Severus frowned. He had hoped that this would be a good solution to his problem, but it was clear that Evan was nervous about Deputy. He didn’t want to leave the boy feeling unsettled. Maybe someday he’d put an end to all this doubt, but for now he felt like he had to consider Evan’s feelings.

Deputy stepped forward, smiling at the boy. “Master Snape is being back soon, and Deputy is being a very good playmate. Deputy is knowing how to build block towers very high so that Young Master Snape can knock them down.”

“Really?” Evan was grinning a little. “C’n you play horsie?”

“Evan—“

“Oh, yes, Young Master Snape, Deputy is a very good horsie!”

Severus watched as his son seemed to warm to the idea. “Do you think that you can stay here with Deputy, then?”

“Yes, Papa,” Evan smiled at him. “I’ll be good.”

“Good boy,” Snape pressed a kiss to Evan’s forehead. “I’ll be back in just a little bit. Don’t get into any trouble.”

He waited until Evan’s back was turned before mouthing a silent thank you to Deputy. Deputy just smiled back at him and began conjuring blocks for him and Evan to play with. Severus stepped silently from the room before Evan had a chance to change his mind. He was amazed that Deputy was able to find a way to make everything better.

An hour later, Severus returned to the infirmary to see Deputy and Evan coloring. Having not been spotted yet, Severus stood in the doorway, arms crossed over his chest, and watched. He wasn’t sure where Deputy had gotten the coloring supplies, but Evan seemed to be enjoying it. A pale pink tongue was sticking out the corner of his mouth, and every once in a while he would raise a hand up to rub at his eyebrow. Severus wasn’t exactly sure where that habit came from, but he found it endearing.

After a minute, he let out a small cough, announcing his presence. Evan looked up and waved.

“Hi, Papa! Deputy ‘n me were coloring.”

“Deputy and I. Did you have fun?”

“Uh-huh!”

“Good boy. Come here,” he crouched low, holding a hand out. Evan ran over eagerly, and Severus pulled the boy into his arms. “Can you say thank you to Deputy for staying with you?”

Evan gave Severus an imploring look. Severus felt fairly certain that if Evan had a bit more confidence he might have been whining at this point. He scowled at the boy, his face shifting into the stern look that had once been its easiest expression. Evan’s eyes watered a little. He pulled away from his father.

“Evan,” Severus whispered warningly. He would not give in on this. No matter how upset Evan became, Severus would not allow the boy to grow up spoilt. He would learn some manners if it killed them both.

“Papa,” Evan whispered.

“Evan! What is the problem?”

But Evan was gone. His hands were in his hair, pulling at the roots of them, and his eyes were wet. His pale face was turning red with frustration. He fell limp, Severus’s arms the only thing keeping him from hitting the floor.

Severus wanted nothing more than to shake the child. The worst part was that he couldn’t explain the behavior. Evan hadn’t given him any problems up until now; frankly, he had thought the boy was too cowed to do anything of the sort for quite a while. He supposed that if he were a bit more detached from the situation, he might think that it was good that Evan felt comfortable enough to throw a tantrum in his presence, but as it was he merely found it infuriating. What was so hard about saying thank you?

Severus forced himself to take a deep breath, and then another. He gave Deputy an apologetic look, picked Evan up off the floor, and sat him in a hard wooden chair on the edge of the room. He spun the chair around to face the wall. “You may come out of the corner when you’re ready to behave properly.”

Evan began to scream. He toppled out of the chair, landing on his knees and rolling over. His breath was coming in great hiccupping gasps until Severus was sure the boy would choke. He didn’t allow himself to be moved by the display; at least, not outwardly. But man, the boy had some lungs on him! The scream was piercing, deafening. It had to be the most horrendous sound Severus had ever heard.

It was after a great deal of time that Evan finally calmed down. He sat on the floor, head buried in his knees, breathing heavily. His fingers were still gently pulling on his hair. Severus sighed, counting his losses. This was probably as calm as he could expect Evan to get on his own. He walked across the room, gently pulling the boy’s hands out of his hair and turning Evan around to face him.

“What is going on with you?”

Evan ran a hand across his running nose. “I don’t know.”

Severus’s stern face returned. “Evan, you don’t throw temper tantrums for no reason. You’re a good boy. But I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong.”

“I don’t like those words.”

“What words.”

Evan bit his lip and then leaned closer. In an undertone, whispered with the same reverence that used to be reserved for Voldemort’s title, Evan whispered “thank you.”

Severus frowned. “Why not?”

“They make my tummy hurt.”

Severus had no idea what that meant, but there was a disturbing amount of sincerity in Evan’s face and in his tone. And the boy didn’t throw tantrums for no reason, Severus felt quite certain about that. Why would he have a problem with those particular words, though? And even if he did, it wasn’t like Severus could raise his son not to say thank you.

“Deputy was very nice to stay with you, wasn’t he?”

Evan nodded, although it wasn’t lost on Severus that the boy seemed a bit confused by the change in the conversation.

“And you had fun with him?” Severus continued.

“Yes, Papa. We had lotsa fun.”

“Well, then, shouldn’t you tell him that?” Severus asked. “That’s all that ‘thank you’ means. It means that you had fun and you appreciate him taking the time to play with you.”

Evan shifted. His tiny hand went back up to his brow again. “I don’t like those words.”

“No,” Severus said. “But sometimes we have to deal with not liking things. Deputy deserves a thank you. He should know that you had fun with him. When people are nice to you, you need to say thank you. Even if you don’t like it.” He ran a thumb across the boy’s cheek, wiping tears away. “Go on, Evan. Say thank you so that we can go home and get some dinner.”

Evan swallowed. He felt almost betrayed. He had told his Papa how he felt and his Papa wasn’t doing anything about it! And then he took a shaking breath and forced his tears back. Deputy had been nice to him. His Papa was right about that. And maybe he did deserve a thank you. Evan’s tummy churned as he turned to face the house elf. He didn’t like those words. He didn’t like them at all.

“Deputy?” he whispered.

“Young Master Snape?”

“Th-“ Evan took a deep breath. He couldn’t do it. “I’m glad you came ‘n played with me. I had fun.”

The house elf beamed. “Oh, yes, Young Master Snape. Deputy is having fun, too!”

Evan smiled. He darted a look at his Papa, but the man didn’t seem too mad any more. He didn’t seem happy, but he didn’t seem mad.

“Papa?”

“Maybe someday we’ll figure all this out,” his Papa said.