There were just some things in life that seemed too outlandish, too ridiculous to be true, and the story that this Headmaster Albus has just sprouted had to be one of those kind of stories. Although Severus was young, even he could tell the difference between reality and a poorly constructed lie, and the Headmaster had definitely been telling a lie a moment ago. What, did everyone think that he was stupid? His father had always reminded Severus that he was stupid, but the boy did not think that he was. In fact, he was beginning to learn to use people’s misconceptions against them…

But honestly! Dumbledore’s little story was not fun or enchanting in the least. In fact, Severus was actually insulted that the older wizard would even try to tell him that this story was even remotely true. Please! There was no way that Severus had been an adult ever! And there was no way that he would simply forget almost thirty years of his life like that, even if he had turned back into a child. There was just no way!

The old wizard seemed to pick up on Severus’s disbelief though, and he sighed. “What I’m saying is true, Severus,” he said tiredly.

The little boy sat still, looking at the old man with suspicious eyes. There were few things that Severus could ever depend upon in life, but one thing was facts. There were no facts to support the Headmaster’s claim at all. There were no distinctive clues, no witnesses, no nothing. The idea of losing your memory was all fine and good, Severus had heard about people having something called “amnesia” before, but none of those people had ever suddenly just turned into children. That was absurd! There was just no possible way for this to happen!

Next to the little boy, Dumbledore began to rethink everything that he had just said. And here he had been relying on childlike faith to get his story across. So much for that! It seemed Severus Snape had never been able to trust so easily, not even as a six-year-old child. It was sad really, but it was just another fact to add on to the man that had been Severus Snape…though he still was Severus Snape.

“Would you like me to prove to you that my story is true?” Albus asked gently.

Severus hesitated. Was the Headmaster angry with him for not automatically believing him? Would Dumbledore be mean to him now that they were alone? The little black-eyed boy began wishing that Harry was back. It had been a rather nasty shock to wake up and discover that the older boy had disappeared. But thus far the Headmaster had been kind, and Severus could not really complain about the treatment he had received, so he gathered up his waning courage and nodded.

Even though Severus was scared and he did not know this Headmaster all that well— or anyone else here for that matter!—there was something telling him that he could trust Dumbledore. It was like there was a little voice inside him, telling him that the Headmaster would not harm him, that Harry would never hurt him, that he could trust Madam Pomfrey… The little Snape did not know where this voice had come from, but it was comforting. It spoke to him almost like it knew these strange people…

With a kind smile, Dumbledore summoned a large stone looking bowl. Severus watched with fascination as the object came floating in towards him. Even though his mother had abused him with her magic, Severus was always still fascinated whenever he saw magic being used. There was just something so whimsically wonderful about it that made the little boy’s heart ease.

The large stone basin stopped before it got too uncomfortably close to the little boy, and Dumbledore stood up. “Do you know what this is, Severus?” he asked gently.

For just a moment, Severus thought that he did know what that thing was, that he had used it before, but just as quickly as the thought had come, it was gone again, and he was left with frustration, knowing that at one point in time he had known, but just could not remember anymore. How that was possible, the little boy did not know as he was certain he had never seen such a thing before. His mother did not have one, and he did not usually leave the house or the neighborhood. If he had ever seen such a thing, it would have had to have been only the briefest glimpse of it in someone else’s house.

So, to answer the Headmaster, Severus shook his tiny little head and looked back down at his hands. He heard the old man chuckle, but as to what the wizard found funny, the little boy was certain he would never know. “This, my dear boy, is what is called a Pensieve,” Dumbledore explained. “One puts his or her memories in a vial, and when they want to review memories, they pour a certain one into the Pensive and look inside it and watch the memory play out and maybe gain some insight on the situation that might otherwise be lost.”

The idea of the willingly going back into a memory sounded just terrible to Severus. Why would anyone want to relive something in the past? How then could a person forget about what’s happened if they kept going back into this Pensieve thing to review it over and over again? Memories, as far as Severus was concerned, were things to be forgotten and pushed back into the darkest recesses of the mind. It was unfortunate, however, that he possessed a very keen mind and could not forget as well as he thought he should be able to.

But at the same time, there was a small part of the boy that was excited about the prospect of looking into the Pensieve. Was it the same part that had known what the Pensieve was? But all the same, something told Severus that this was a good thing, that even though most of his own memories were bad, this thing that made someone remember was good.

Curiosity won over shyness in the end, and Severus found himself leaning forward, trying to look into the stone basin that seemed so mysterious to him. Even though a part of him screamed that this thing was good, there were still doubts playing in the young mind of Severus, doubts shrouded in suspicion that could not easily be dismissed. But if there was something nice about all this…

“These,” the Headmaster startled the boy from his enthrallment, “are some of your memories that you’ve stored. I found them in your old quarters here in the dungeons.”

Dungeons? He had his own quarters in the dungeon? If this was all some sort of trick, then Albus was certainly going the whole nine yards. Severus knew that dungeons were cold, dark, grim places and he never wanted to live anywhere that remotely reminded him of the emptiness inside him. Dungeons were just too closely related to his own home on Spinner’s End. To the childish part of Severus’s mind, he believed that everyone should realize that he did not like anything that gave off a despondent air. He was not evil like his parents! What the Headmaster was telling him was just too absurd! Everything the old man said seemed so utterly improbable; and yet there was a small chance that it was, indeed, possible…

“I’d like to show you some of these memories, if I could,” the old wizard went on. “It won’t harm you. I promise that.”

This was a strange place, Hogwarts. Until he had come here, Severus had never really been spoken to nicely, nor had anyone asked him if something was okay with him or not. No one had ever cared about him before, and to suddenly be thrown into a place where everyone seemed to want to care about you was a bit overwhelming to Severus. Unlike the nurses he had had at St. Mungo’s, the nurse here actually seemed concerned about him, and did not just coldly look over the injuries. Albus seemed desperately to want Severus to trust him, and Harry seemed to understand him better than anyone else in the world! Even that stern witch and the small little wizard Severus had seen the night before seemed concerned over him.

Although experience from the past that he remembered told him no, Severus found himself nodding to the old wizard. That voice within the boy seemed to think that this was the right thing to do, that whatever the Headmaster was wanting to show him would not harm him. That voice seemed to give Severus the courage he needed to get past the suspicion, the fear, and all the doubts. It was a major leap of faith for him, and yet, he was not all that worried. Something told the boy that things might very work themselves out.

When the old man touched him, Severus flinched terribly. He hated being touched. By anyone. His only references to touch ended badly. The last thing he remembered before coming to Hogwarts was his father beating him senseless and he had had to crawl away in agony. But that voice, that warm, soothing voice within him kept telling him that Albus would not hurt him, that this touch was necessary, that everything would be all right in the end. So, the former Potions Master and the Headmaster peered into the swirling mist together.

Severus had never seen such a thing before. The memories within the Pensieve looked like some sort of sparkling, silver water, but was neither a liquid or a gas. At first, the little boy was almost afraid that the old man holding him was going to drown him, but soon fear fell away into utter fascination and wonder as he dipped his head in and he could not only breathe, but it appeared as though he was standing side by side with Albus.

At first, everything was black, it was as though they were in a black painted room, but soon that all fell away as the mist that they had gone through came rushing down and began swirling into different objects. Soon enough, Severus found himself back in his home on Spinner’s End, in his “bedroom”. And before he could even find the time to be frightened, he was suddenly struck dumb when he saw himself sitting in the corner of his little attic room, playing with a spider.

Shocked, Severus watched as the mirror image of himself was playing with the little black arachnid happily. He remembered this event, it had happened a couple months ago before he had been hurt so badly. How had the headmaster gotten a hold of this memory? Severus certainly did not remember giving anyone permission to take a memory from him! Was that it then? Was that the Headmaster’s angle? Had the old man been stealing his memories while he had been sleeping? But no, that did not make much sense, why would anyone want his memories? None of them were very happy, and as the little boy watched himself in the corner with the spider, he could not help but feel odd, just standing there watching something that had already happened in the past.

But before the little black haired boy could have said anything, everything seemed to swirl and change right before his eyes. Soon enough, Severus found that he was outside his house, standing at the edge of his property, and just as before, he spotted himself sitting on the stoop…Only this mirror boy was not younger, but older than Severus! That could not be! This new boy looked to be about seven or eight, while Severus knew he was six! And yet, there was no mistaking who that mirror boy was, it most certainly was Severus Snape.

The little six-year-old watched with his mouth agape as the older version of himself stood up and wandered towards another yard. There was a moving lorry because a new family was moving in. Severus watched with wonder as the older boy hid himself in the bushes and watched as the new family watched the workers carry everything into the house. “Be careful with that!” a strawberry blonde man called out, his blue eyes flashing. Severus shrank back, frightened, and the older version of himself did too, until they both heard the sound of giggling. Both the memory Severus and the six-year-old Severus turned to see two girls running around the lorry, laughing and chasing one another. One of the girls had brilliant blonde hair, the color of wheat, while the other had fiery red hair.

“Petunia! Lily! Please stop all that running!” Suddenly an anxious looking women came into view. She had bright blonde hair, the same as the older girl’s, only she had brilliant green eyes.

The two little girls came to a stop, and looked up at what Severus supposed were their parents. “Lily said I had big feet!” the blonde girl immediately pouted, her voice was whining. Both Severus’s scowled.

“Well, you do!” the little red head—Lily—giggled.

“That’s enough for now, girls,” the man said, crossing his arms. “Why don’t you two help me and your mum put some things away?”

The older Severus kept on his watch, until a leaf tickled his nose. Without much warning, the memory boy sneezed. Little Severus wondered what was going to happen, and hoped that no one would see him, when the little red haired girl stopped and turned around. Radiant green eyes scanned the area while the older Severus ducked down in the bushes, praying he wouldn’t be seen. But when the little girl decided that it was nothing, she turned back towards her new home and skipped merrily into the house, humming a tune that Severus did not know.

That pleasant and confusing memory faded as well and soon Severus saw an even older version of himself sitting in a Hogwarts school uniform, a Slytherin crest on his chest. This older boy was hunched over a book, furiously scribbling notes down, verifying he was correct from his book before he went back to scribbling some more notes. In the corner of the library the older Severus sat, alone, away from anyone else. He did not look unhappy, but he seemed like he was concentrating pretty hard, trying not to mess up the assignment, writing with a quill.

“Hey, Sev!” someone whispered as they plopped down beside him.

The six-year-old had to do a double take when he saw the red head sitting down next to his older self. The working Slytherin looked up with wide eyes, as thought taken by surprise that someone had actually said something to him before the black eyes mellowed. A gentle smile came over the other boy, and before he could have said anything, the scenery began changing again.

Next, Severus found the next version of himself standing before a large lake, looking as though he was around seventeen or eighteen-years-old. The background was very dark, no stars were shining through the cloud-covered sky, but the moon was fighting to be seen. The wind was blowing, rustling dried leaves, the trees were bare. A shiver ran down Severus’s spine when his older self was revealed and he discovered that he looked strikingly similar to Tobias Snape.

The old Snape seemed to be staring down at something, and it was then that Severus’s attention was gained. The little boy also looked down in the direction his older self was, and gasped. The wizard in black was staring down indifferently at a pair of headstones: Tobias Lawrence Snape 1930—1975 Eileen Elizabeth Snape 1935—1975. That was all that was printed on the pair of matching headstones. There were no other words of comfort or encouragement, there was not a crucifix or print of angels. No flowers were left on the graves, nothing to show that anyone remembered these two people that had once been walking on the earth. Instead, there was ivy growing around the grave, creeping up the headstones, slowly devouring the rock.

The young man peering down his long nose at the graves did not even look the slightest bit troubled with the fact that his parents were dead. His pale face was set in an apathetic mask, with only the faintest scowl of disgust gracing his harsh, angular features, making him look far more callous than perhaps he had meant to look.

The little boy stood transfixed in his place, his eyes wide with wonder and confusion. He was horrified that this man standing before his parents’ grave was actually him when he grew up. Severus had no desire to be reminded of his parents, especially his father, when he grew up, but it became tragically apparent that Severus would never be able to be rid of the memory of his mother and father. He had inherited Tobias’s overall appearance with his mother’s pale skin and magic. But besides looking far too much like his father, Severus was slapped with the mystery of how his parents had died…

But before he could have turned to Dumbledore to ask any questions, the older Snape turned away from his parents’ remains, black cape flipping impressively about him before he stalked away into the night, robes billowing majestically behind him. And that’s when the memories began shifting once again.

Now, the little boy found himself standing in the back of a room. It was crammed with people, students by the looks of them. Everyone was wearing a Hogwarts uniform, some bearing the crest of Slytherin, others Gryffindor. They seemed to have set up cauldrons as if readying to brew, then the doors in the back of the room burst open and a towering black figure stalked to the front of the room. Turning around with a dramatic spin, Severus saw himself again, only this time, as a much older man. If he had to guess, he would have said he was about thirty or so in this memory.

The professor turned suddenly on his students, and with a cold expression, regarded them all for a moment. “You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion making,” he began, whilst little Severus in the back could only stare in wonder. “I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses ... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death —if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.”

The sneer at the end caught the little boy in the back by surprise. The man standing before the classroom was tall, dark, and horribly cold. The man standing before the class had a voice that might have been pleasant had his looks been more comforting, and his manner more gentle. The man standing before this class of first year students reminded Severus an awful lot of Tobias Snape, while his coldness seemed the embodiment of Eileen. In essence, this man standing before the class with his midnight black robes was everything that Severus had never wanted to be, but had grown up to become anyway…

At last, the memories faded back into black and the little boy felt as though he were being lifted up. The darkness swirled around him, and just as suddenly as it had felt like he had been dipped into the Pensieve, he was out again, and found himself back in the hospital wing, with Albus Dumbledore holding on to him, leaning over the stone basin.

Silence reigned over them both for a moment. The little boy in Dumbledore’s arms had gone very stiff and rigid, not quite sure how to feel after everything that he had seen.

On the one hand, Severus felt as though everything he had seen was just some big lie, that someone was trying to fool him into believing that those “memories” were true. Those little snippets that he had seen could have been fabricated, after all. If someone really wanted to, they could have just taken an image of Tobias and turned him pale to make these images. It really wouldn’t be too hard, but it would be time consuming. And yet there was that small, previously unheard of voice in the back of the boy’s mind that was shouting legitimacy. Why anyone would make those images about Severus, of all people, was beyond him, and there was a certain feeling of déjà vu that came with watching those older versions of himself…

“What do you think, Severus?” the Headmaster said quietly, startling the little boy in his arms. “Do you believe my claims now?”

Although young, Severus found that he could not easily dismiss the evidence brought before him. Along with the Headmaster’s claim of truth also came his own mind’s scream of reality. Very slowly, the child nodded his black head. “Yes,” he answered. He was just too shocked to do anything else. “But…” He trailed off.

The old man sitting before him smiled kindly at the child. “But it doesn’t seem possible, does it? But you are still confused. Do not worry about that, my dear boy, that is to be expected. I’ve just placed a heavy load upon you, one that will require a lot of thought on your part. But I do ask you to trust me during this time…like you used to do.”

The blue eyes of the old wizard twinkled brightly, making the little boy wonder whether things would be well or not. There was something strangely familiar about that twinkle, something that even the new voice of confidence in his head did not quite like…but at the same time, it was strangely comforting. Again, the little black head nodded and the Headmaster smiled brightly.

“I am so glad that you are willing to trust me!” Albus exclaimed happily. “But, I am sorry, there is one more matter I would speak with you about…”

~*~

The next morning, the whole school was abuzz, still talking and wondering about the goings on from the day before. Everyone was gossiping either about the sudden disappearance of the Potions Master or the wild discovery that Dumbledore had a grandson. It all seemed so strange, but strange goings on usually came in pairs, so no one had any serious misgivings about where their teacher had gone or where this new grandson of the Headmaster had come from, except, of course, Hermione Granger.

As the Great Hall filled with students and professors for breakfast, Harry, Ron, and Hermione took a seat at their normal spot, wondering just what would become of the day. Harry was rather nervous, worrying about Severus and the Headmaster, while also trying to balance the guilt he felt for lying to his friends. It was so strange, not a full day had gone by and yet Harry felt just about as terrible as a newt in the potions room.

“So, what do you think will happen now?” Hermione asked softly once they had seated. “We won’t have Potions class until we get a new Potions Master, and unless Dumbledore saw this coming at least several months before hand, I’m not sure we’ll have a new professor for a while!”

“No Potions?” Ron’s eyes brightened up at the thought.

“I know! Isn’t it terrible?” Hermione cried. “We’ll all fall behind! We’ll fail our O.W.L’s! Come next year, none of us will pass! We’ll—”

“Calm down, Hermione!” Harry touched his friend’s shoulder. “It won’t be so bad. Dumbledore will figure something out I’m sure. In fact, I’m sure he’s already thought of what to do now.”

“Did he say anything to you yesterday?” Hermione perked up. “What did he say?” she demanded.

“Nothing!” Harry threw up his hands in defense. Ron snickered. “I’m just saying—”

“Well, I hope a new Potions Master can be found quickly,” she went on, as though not really hearing her friend. “Potions Masters are in short supply and…and…oh my!” the bushy haired girl exclaimed, staring up at the head table.

Harry and Ron snapped their heads up towards the front, and suddenly, it seemed every girl in the Great Hall all let out an affectionate “Awww!” There, sitting in the lap of Headmaster Dumbledore, sat a tiny little boy with long dark hair, peering out at the crowd with large scared blue eyes.

“Is that…is that Dumbledore’s grandson?” Ron asked, squinting up at the child he saw place in the Headmaster’s lap.

“Um… yeah…Yeah, that’s him,” Harry nodded, just about as surprised at everyone else in the room. Even though only two alterations had been done to the child, Severus looked almost like a completely different child. The recognizable black eyes had been changed into a deep, royal blue color, which seemed to soften the child’s face considerably. The black eyes against the pale white skin had always seemed such a harsh combination, but with the blue eyes mediating the white skin and the coal black hair, the boy suddenly looked less stern and a bit more childlike. And even though as a child Snape’s nose had not been as prominent as it had been when he was a professor, the new, straight nose he sported now would throw anyone for a loop had they been looking for Severus Snape. In short terms, the boy now had the perfect disguise without really having to try all that hard.

“He’s adorable!” Hermione openly gushed, smiling affectionately up at the child she saw. “Look at him! He looks just like the Headmaster!” she giggled.

It was true in a way. With the blue eyes that matched well with the Headmaster’s and the nose that looked like it could have been Dumbledore’s before it had been broken enough time to remain crooked, and from a distance, the two did look rather similar. But Harry thought it could also be due to the fact that Severus’s youthful, more rounded face helped smooth out the remaining severe features of the former Potions Master that almost everyone here had known and loathed.

“So that’s Archimedes, eh?”

Harry turned to see Fred and George sitting beside him, also staring up at the new attraction.

“Cute kid.”

“Wonder if he’s spoiled?”

“Bet Dumbledore feeds him lemon drops all day.”

“Bet the kid learns to hate them.”

The two twins snickered at their own antics while everyone else simply rolled their eyes. “I’m sure Professor Dumbledore doesn’t spoil little Archimedes,” Hermione responded tartly. “He’s an old enough wizard to know the proper way to raise a child, including the proper nutrition for him.”

“Please, Granger,” George rolled his eyes right back.

“Haven’t you ever been to a grandparent’s house?” Fred asked.

“Grandparents just love spoiling their grandchildren!”

“Especially when it comes to food!”

“That’s what grandparents are for!”

As Hermione huffed and Ron and several other Gryffindors sitting close by laughed, Harry’s gaze again fell on the little boy of certainly everyone’s discussion. All of a sudden, Harry found that the boy in question was staring back at him. Even though the eyes had changed from black to blue, they were still the eyes of Severus Snape, and they pinned Harry down like a moth in a bug collection. Behind those blue eyes the Gryffindor could tell that the child was pleased to see him, scared about the large crowd that now surrounded him, anxious to get away, and above all just plain confused and in need of a friend. Strange that Snape should be seeking him out for company…

For just a moment, Harry was assaulted with the desire to jump up and run to the front of the Great Hall and sit beside the small child that seemed terrified beyond belief. And who could blame the little boy? To not only wake up to discover that you were no longer at home, but to be told all those confusing things about how he had once been an adult, and that now he had to pretend he was someone else’s grandchild…and the new name! Merlin, Harry wondered how Severus felt about his ridiculously long and ludicrous name! The green eyed boy was certain that the former Potions Master would not have approved. At all!

But as the Gryffindors chatted and kept pointing forward, over at the Slytherin table, the serpents all whispered in hushed tones, more than a bit confused. What was this? What was going on? Why had Professor Snape simply up and left? None of them believed the explanation that the Headmaster had given the night before, nor could they get over the suspicion of this new development with the newest Dumbledore residing within the halls of Hogwarts. They knew something was going on.

Sitting amongst his usual crowd of Slytherin groupies, Draco Malfoy stared thoughtfully up at Dumbledore’s supposed grandson. The child was small, cute, and very Dumbledore like to him…at least on the surface. There were just enough similarities to claim relation while enough differences to deflect the idea that someone may had simply changed the boy’s appearance into a young version of the Headmaster. It really seemed that Dumbledore now did have another relative besides his sour brother in Hogsmeade.

And yet…something told Draco that things were not as they seemed. The appearance of this child came on so suddenly, that it just did not seem likely that this all happened by chance. And with the disappearance of his godfather... Snape’s flight had confused Draco more than anything. The blonde certainly did not believe that Snape had simply been called away to some random potions convention at the last minute, but the only explanation that came to his mind was that his godfather had displeased the Dark Lord in some manner, thus causing the Potions Master to flee. But what could Snape have done to fear the Dark Lord enough to run?

As he studied the little bloke sitting in the Headmaster’s lap, Draco decided that his godfather’s departure and the arrival of this child were connected somehow. He just had to figure out what. So he promised that he would have to keep a close eye on things, keep tabs on the boy. Hopefully answers would come to him later. But for the time being, the young Malfoy decided that he could do nothing at the present except enjoy his breakfast before classes began.