-II-

"So you want to get in trouble with him?"

"No."

"Then I would suggest you tell me where he wanted you to go."

"It will only be thirty minutes until Kingsley comes back."

"So it will be only thirty minutes you have to stay with-?"

Severus sighed. "Arthur Weasley."

Minos chuckled. "I better take you there myself. I have free time now."

-II-

With his head hanging, Severus let Minos lead him to Arthur's office.

"Hello, Arthur, it seems Alastor gave this young man here instructions to wait with you until Minister Shacklebolt is back to speak with him."

Arthur looked up from his paperwork. "Oh, hello Minos, Severus. Come in." He gestured for the two who still stood in the doorway to enter.

"No, I have to go. I just brought Severus here. Can you bring him up to the Minister in half an hour?"

"I can go alone. Alastor said so."

"I will bring him up. Thanks, Minos."

Why did the adults always ignore him? Severus had thought Alastor and Poppy were treating him like an infant, but those people here were even worse.

"It was nice to see you again, and most importantly not on working terms, Severus," Minos said, chuckling, and patted Severus' shoulder before he left.

"Why such a long face, Severus?" Arthur asked and went over to guide the boy into one of the chairs in front of his desk.

Severus shrugged. "I wanted to spend time with Kingsley. Harry and I hoped he could help us with a gift for Poppy. Now I will hardly have time to speak with him, let alone about a gift."

"There is still some time, Severus. Two weeks, right?"

"Yeah, but it was hard enough to convince Alastor to take me with him today. How shall we get a gift at Hogwarts?"

"You know what? If Kingsley can't help you, we will all look for a nice gift on Saturday in London. I'm certain Molly would love to go shopping again." Now that the twins had their own business, the Weasley family was a little better off.

"Really?" Severus asked, surprised. Maybe staying at the Burrow would not be so bad.

"Sure. Are you okay with spending the weekend with us? Molly and I were a bit worried that you wouldn't take it well that you need to stay with us."

Severus looked down and shrugged his shoulders. He did not want to lie to Arthur. The man knew that Severus always tried to avoid coming to the Burrow. Molly was even more coddling than Poppy.

"I see. I promise I will try to hold Molly back, but I fear you will have to suffer a few hugs. I can't change her nature completely, so just try to remind her that you are not fond of cuddling. Or has that changed already?"

Severus frantically shook his head.

Arthur chuckled. "How is school going, Severus? Did you find some friends?"

"It's...okay. I have a few problems. My magic isn't working right, but I can think straight now that Albus and Radgarid have organized my mind. Radgarid is the Indian professor who is staying with us this year. Did you hear about him?"

Arthur was surprised that Severus was speaking so openly with him, but he tried hard to not show it. Alastor had told him that Severus was more open now, but still grumpy at times, especially in the morning. The Severus in front of him was very different from the adult Severus. He had been on good terms with Severus, but the younger wizard had always avoided meeting Molly as he hated to be touched and asked personal questions. It was a mystery to Arthur why Severus had agreed to live with Poppy and Alastor as an adult. Molly had said it was because he wanted the coddling but was too proud to admit it openly. That was Molly's excuse to fuss over Severus whenever he had to come over to the Burrow.

"Yes, I heard about him. He has a student with him, right?"

"Yes, Hamid. He is...nice." The rest of the time of waiting for Kingsley was spent with Severus telling Arthur about Hamid and the elemental magic training. Anytime Severus tried to distract Arthur from himself by telling him things about Harry, the man saw straight through his tactic and brought the subject back to Severus. In the end, Arthur knew about Severus' friends and his problems with Binns. He had vehemently avoided the questions about eating and the nutrient potion. When the fireplace flared and Kingsley stepped out of it, Severus was hoarse.

"Hey," he greeted Severus and opened his arms for the now familiar hug.

Severus quickly hugged Kingsley and then said good-bye to Arthur. Unfortunately, Kingsley had no idea what they could give to Poppy beside something handmade or sweets. So they spent their time together talking about Radgarid and practicing spells. Kingsley was a great teacher, but even he could not make the barriers in Severus' mind and magical system vanish. Nobody knew what was casing Severus' channel system to recover and rebuild so slowly. Kingsley, as all the other adults, had been glad to see that Severus accepted the daily magic feeds without protesting. They had all feared more protest from Severus, but it seemed Severus was seeing the benefit of it. He felt much better after a feed and he felt powerful and full of energy for a few hours. That helped his self esteem and that helped him with his problems in school.

So Severus had finally managed one of the defense shields he had to master for Defense Against the Dark Arts with Kingsley's help. Severus was eager to show it to Harry.

X-X

Severus grumpily packed his bag for the weekend at the Burrow. The boys had gotten special pocket money as Arthur and Molly had informed them they were planning to go to London tomorrow. Maybe it was because Alastor and Poppy were feeling guilty for leaving the boys alone.

Harry had hoped that Ron would be allowed to come with them, but Albus had not allowed it. So it was only Severus and Harry at the Burrow with Arthur and Molly, but Charlie had promised to come over on Sunday and bring the boys back in the evening.

Poppy kissed them both soundly and Alastor gave them a hug before they stepped into the fireplace and Flooed to the Burrow. Molly was already waiting for them and after hugging them they were quickly guided over to the big kitchen table where a plate of freshly-baked cookies sat. "Eat, boys. You two need to gain some more weight. You're looking very thin."

Severus had the feeling Molly was very excited to have children back at home. She was all over them until Arthur came back from the Ministry and stopped her cuddling as he had promised Severus. They spent the evening in the living room reading and playing cards. All in all, the first day was not as bad as Severus had feared, but it was only a few hours, and they had still two more days in front of them.

Unfortunately the night was not as good as the day. Severus sometimes had bad pains in his hands, and lucky as he was lately, they started to hurt while he was at the Burrow. The pain was so bad that he could not fight tears. The only possibility he had besides waking Arthur and Molly was to cool his hands. So he sneaked out of the room he shared with Harry and went for the bathroom. He tried to put up a Silencing Spell, but his hands were too painful and so he smashed the mirror in his attempt and then tried to repair it before someone would notice. He was in pain, and the frantic attempt to repair the mirror by magic was not helping.

"Severus, stop," Arthur said and placed his hand over Severus' and gently pried the wand out of it.

"I'm sorry. I'll pay for it. I have money," Severus blurted out in a rush.

"Shh, it's all right, Severus. Don't worry. Why are you awake? What's wrong?"

"Severus, oh Merlin, are you all right?" Molly exclaimed, shocked when she came into the bathroom. She pushed her husband aside and was all over Severus, prodding him until she had found the problem. "Why didn't you wake us, Severus?"

Severus was unable to talk. He was embarrassed and tired and, most important, in pain.

"Come on, Poppy gave me some salve for your hands. Let's see if it helps." A blanket was wrapped around him and he was placed on the couch in the living room. The salve cooled his hands but they still hurt a lot, so Molly gave him a Pain-Relieving Potion. Ten minutes later after a talk about how to behave next time he was in pain, he was in his bed again. To Severus' horror, Molly did not leave. She sat on his bed and gently stroked his hair until he fell asleep.

The next morning, the mirror was in one piece and back in place. Molly was checking Severus' hands before breakfast, which made Harry aware that there had been a problem last night. "Why didn't you wake me?"

Severus glared at Harry. What could he have done?

"It was good he didn't wake you, Harry. You couldn't have done much. Severus knows what to do if he feels bad again tonight, right?" She looked seriously at Severus, who nodded weakly.

To change the topic, Arthur said, "We'll leave for London in an hour. Do you already know what you want to buy for Poppy?"

"No," Harry replied. "But we would like to buy some sweets and look for a flower and plant shop. Poppy likes plants."

"I think that would be a good idea. If you don't find a plant, you could still buy her a book. Or you can buy some material to make a nice picture frame and we take a picture of you two and put it in. I think she would love that," Molly suggested.

"Yes, that sounds great. What do you think, Sev?" Harry asked, excited. He loved to be at the Burrow.

Severus shrugged. It was early, too early for his taste, and Molly's hot chocolate was not as refreshing as Poppy's. Now that Severus thought about it, he realized that Poppy's hot chocolate was sometimes refreshing. At other times, it made him relaxed and sleepy. He had never wondered about it before, but now he became suspicious.

"Too early for enthusiasm, I fear," Harry commented in Molly's and Arthur's direction.

"I'm in the room," Severus protested, but the two adults smiled at Harry.

X-X

"Oh, look, isn't that cute?" Molly said and pointed at a little teddy bear close to the front of a toy shop. "Let's go in and have a closer look."

"We can't buy Poppy a plushy," Severus stated, puzzled.

"Of course not, but maybe we can find one for you two," Molly said when they were in the shop.

Severus stopped abruptly, but Arthur caught him before he could bolt out. "Just let her buy one and be over with it. She won't stop nagging you otherwise."

Severus had the feeling his head was aflame and he was relieved to see that Harry was equally embarrassed.

"I really don't need a plushy, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said.

"Every child needs a plushy. Come on, I'm sure each of you will find one. Give me the pleasure of buying you one." Getting soft at her pleading look, Harry started to rummage in the pile of plushies. "You too, Severus."

Arthur gave Severus a soft shove, and Severus reluctantly rummaged through the stuffed animals after checking that nobody was watching him beside the Weasleys.

"Hey, I found one that looks like your Animagus form, Harry," Severus said, excited, but still lowered his voice. He showed Harry a gray wolf plushy.

"Yeah, it's cool." Harry took the plushy and looked it over. When he looked up at Severus, he was smiling at him. A really happy smile. "Let's find one for you," Harry said and Severus' smile vanished.

Harry laughed. "Look at that! Alicia would like it." He held up something that looked surprisingly similar to the compost moles they had been watching last month in Care of Magical Creatures.

"It's ugly." Severus sighed when he looked at the pile of plushies, but then his eyes feel on a small cat plushy. It was black and only half as big as Harry's. The eyes were green and it had a small pink nose. "I take this one." He grabbed it and was startled when it started to purr. He almost let it fall in surprise.

"Oh fine, fine, fine," Molly said, clapping her hands in excitement. The stuffed animals were bought and Severus grinned at Harry, who was unable to hide the plushy in his robes because the wolf was too big.

The rest of the day in London was very successful. Severus and Harry bought an unusual plant in a plant shop. It was a flower with a blossom like a daisy but much bigger, and it had a face. The blossom was following all their movements and tilted her head as if she wanted to encourage them to speak with her. It seemed her tactic worked on Molly, and the blossom smiled at Molly when she addressed her in a gentle tone. She dashed her long eyelashes and waved her leaves proudly when Molly praised her beauty.

Severus and Harry knew instantly that this would be the perfect gift for Poppy. She loved to talk with her plants and was sure that doing so made them healthier. Molly offered to keep the plant until Poppy's birthday. Now the burden of getting a good gift was lifted of the boys' chests. The rest of their money was spent in the sweet shop and on some new magazines-Severus, one on gardening, and Harry, one on wizarding sports.

The night was unspectacular because Harry and Severus were so exhausted that they fell asleep the moment they were brought to bed by Molly and Arthur. The next morning, both woke up with their plushies in arm even though they swore that they had not taken them to bed. To be honest, both boys liked their stuffed animals. Severus felt very relaxed by the gentle purring of the small cat, and Harry liked to play with the rough and chaotic fur of his wolf.

Charlie came shortly after breakfast and they spent most of the day with him and one of Arthur's toy cars outside in the garage. They made it fly and flip flop when it came close to a wall. When Poppy and Alastor came to fetch them, both boys were sad to leave. The weekend had been very nice.