'Is it really that cold outside?' Toby raised an eyebrow as he tugged at his emerald sweater.

'Yes!' Hermione sounded exasperated as she placed a silver and blue beanie over his head. She had knitted it herself as well as the black gloves and deep maroon scarf.

'You're all set.' Hermione grinned at his completed outfit.

'She really missed him, didn't she?' Ron sighed as he and Harry observed the pair from a safe distance.

'Yeah.' Harry agreed. 'She's asked him to re-tell he tooth story three times now.'

'It's getting a bit annoying, really.' Ron was however, pleased that his two best friends had reconciled after such long time.

Although it had been quite a shock to wake up and find the pair laughing together as though nothing had happened. After they explained how Harry had bumped into Hermione in the common room than gone to the Room of Requirement together and made up, Ron joined in with a grin of his own.

'We'd better get going.' Harry realized as he placed his winter cloak around his shoulders. The plan was that the Gryffindor trio would leave the castle with the rest of their schoolmates as though nothing had changed, whereas secretly Toby would be waiting for Dobby to retrieve him and take him to their assigned meeting spot in Hogsmeade.

'Oh, alright!' Hermione sighed heavily. 'We'll see you soon, Toby.' She waved to the child as she turned and followed her friends out of the dormitory.

Toby stood there for a moment and watched them leave before he looked back into the mirror. He sneaked a glance at the doorway and pulled out his treasured golden coin with a smile, briefly wondering what he was going to buy with it as he waited for Dobby to appear and take him to the villiage.

--

As the trio reached the oak front doors of Hogwarts, they saw Filch checking off the names of the people who had permission and than searching them with his secrecy sensor.

While Ron complained bitterly about this to Hermione, Harry's gaze wandered towards his left where Professor McGonagall was in a deep conversation about something with Professor Sprout. Not far from those pair was Professor Snape. Harry had seen several of his teachers going to the village during their trips, but to his knowledge, Snape had never made one of those appearances.

As emerald eyes met obsidian, Harry instantly looked away and rushed after his friends.

The harsh winds that hurled at the students when they began to walk towards the village, gradually faded until it was merely chilly and infrequently breezy. The trio had arranged to meet Dobby just inside of Honeydukes but weren't sure if they should proceed when Neville unpredictably joined them.

'Hi, guys.' He greeted them with a gloved hand.

'Hi, Neville.' They answered and at least tried to be friendly. It quickly became apparent that Neville wanted to hang around them for most part of the day.

With a well-phrased excuse, Harry split from his friends and headed for Honeydukes.

Pushing open the door to the magical sweet store, Harry instantly spotted Toby over by the fudge section where the little boy clutched tightly to his precious coin. Perhaps this particular store had not been the best meeting place when a child of Toby's age was involved.

'Can I buy something here?' Toby turned his excitement-lit eyes towards Harry the moment the teen had reached him.

Dobby spotted Harry instantly (he had concealed himself very closely to Toby to avoid being noticed or leaving the boy unprotected), and popped away as planned.

'I've never had any of these things before and they look so good, please?'

'Yeah, sure.' Harry nodded as he couldn't see any reason as to why the boy shouldn't be allowed to spend his own money. Besides, that particular look the boy had cast his way made it terribly difficult to deny the request that accompanied it.

The door swung open a moment later and Ron rushed to Harry's side as casually as he could without drawing unwanted attention to themselves.

'He knows.' Ron whispered urgently.

'What?' Harry swallowed a lump of air as nervousness gushed through him; he had instantly thought of Snape.

'Neville. He knows about...' Ron glanced over a Toby, who was busy telling the lady at the counter exactly what he wanted.

'How?' Harry returned although he couldn't help but feel a little relieved. A fellow Gryffindor DA member having the knowledge of Toby's existence was nowhere near as bad as Snape finding out.

'Apparently Hermione's spells don't work on Trevor.' Ron frowned about the toad. 'Neville followed him under your bed a few days ago and saw Toby sleeping there. Hermione's talking to him now.'

'I'm done.' Toby rejoined Harry and glanced up at the two Gryffindor teenagers. 'What's wrong?' He anxiously clung to his purchases when he saw their serious expressions.

'Nothing.' Harry dismissed as he didn't want to ruin or dampen Toby's day in Hogsmeade by worrying him.

Harry, Ron, and Toby stepped out of the warm, sugary-scented store and winced against the coldness of the outdoors. Spotting Hermione and Neville near the boarded-up Zonko's store, the boys instantly began to approach them.

'Harry, I've still got some money.' Toby held up his change as they were momentarily separated from Ron; the redhead's longer strides had put Ron ahead and the remaining pair had to wait for a large group of third years to pass before they could continue.

'Well, that's good. Keep it.' Harry advised.

Toby nodded and emptied his hands into the pockets of his pants.

The third years had gone in the direction of The Three Broomsticks, yet neither boy made a move to join the others several feet away. Something else had captured their attention; just outside the Hog's Head pub, a small scene was taking place that most didn't notice or else only paid it a passing glance. Harry and Toby couldn't understand why, as the argument that was clearly taking place appeared to escalating rather rapidly.

Curious, Harry and Toby crept closer to observe what was going on, mostly due to the fact that they recognized those who were involved in the heated discussion.

'Don't call me Nymphadora!' Tonks hissed as though she was at least attempting to be discreet.

'It is your given name, is it not?' Severus narrowed his eyes at her.

'So? You answer to “Snivellus”, or so I heard.'

In a blur of motion, each of their wands appeared to materialize into their hands. While Toby gasped with surprise, Harry began to worry how far this would go. And why would two Order members be doing this in public? Harry still found it strange how no one else seemed to be giving the adults even a second of interest.

'You ought to be cautious.' Severus warned venomously. 'There are only so many times in which one can go tattling to Dumbledore.'

'I suppose you would know all about that.' Tonks muttered bravely. She exhaled heavily and thought upon something with a serious expression. However, when she opened her mouth to say it, she paused upon noticing that Severus was no longer looking at her.

Following his hardened gaze, Tonks was alarmed by the sight of Harry and the little boy at his side.

'I thought you had cast those shields yourself?' Tonks frowned at Severus.

The Slytherin said nothing as his eyes narrowed suspiciously towards Harry without even noticing Toby.

'Wotcher, Harry.' Tonks greeted him but even her face was far too lined and her tone hesitant. She sounded distant and tired, if not annoyed by the collected company she had.

'What's going on?' Harry asked as Toby huddled closer to him. The teenager's gaze shifted between the adults but Snape seemed frozen to the spot as he stared at the Gryffindor as though seeing him for the first time.

'I have to go.' Tonks realized as she spotted someone from afar; a thickly cloaked wizard who appeared to be carrying a bottomless cauldron and a tattered old jacket.

In response to her words, Severus raised his wand and moved it across his face with a fluid motion that could almost be considered graceful. Harry could feel the magic in the air around them as the invisible shield vanished.

That would explain why no one else had given the pair their full attention; except that Harry had no trouble seeing or hearing them, which was likely the reason behind the odd look Snape was giving him. It was exactly the same look he saw during the dueling club in second year when Snape had realized that Harry was a parseltongue.

Harry was in the process of either making a quick exit or else formulating an excuse to do so, when Snape's gaze drifted downwards and fixated on Toby.

Nerves clenched at Harry's stomach and he felt incapable of moving or speaking coherently.

Raising an eyebrow at Harry, Snape was clearly demanding to know why he had a small child with him. Toby caught onto the expression's meaning and bravely stepped forwards in a defensive stance.

'We better go.' Harry intervened once he saw this. He turned to leave but the icy cold tone of Snape's made him halt his motions with a demonstrative wince.

'Not. So. Fast. Mr Potter.' Snape glared as he approached the boys and stared down at them in his usual intimidating manner. 'Explain. Who is this boy? He is clearly far too young to attend Hogwarts.'

Harry swallowed nervously as he mentally fought for an answer. 'He's...ah, he's a fan.' He quickly invented.

'Is that so?' Snape clearly didn't believe him.

'Oh, yeah!' Toby inhaled and and forced up a grin. 'He's Harry Potter! He stopped you-know-who when he was younger than me!' The boy exclaimed. 'And...my father let me hang out with him today, cool huh?'

Harry saw the warning signs of Legilimency in the man's dark eyes and reacted by grasping Toby's arm, with the intention of tugging the boy away from his suspecting professor.

'And we better get back to Ron and Hermione.' Harry gasped out to Snape. 'Besides, you've probably got other important things to do, sir.' Harry wasn't sure why he felt he should add that comment but in a few seconds it didn't matter.

Severus watched as the two boys hurried away and wondered why he felt compelled to investigate further. He saw the small boy glance over his shoulder and offer him a small wave wih the absence of the distrust he was used to from every other person. For some reason unknown to the bitter man...that tiny action had highly unsettled Severus.

Something had changed with Potter and he refused to ignore it any longer.

'Nice save.' Harry added to Toby as they caught up with Ron, Hermione and Neville.

'There you are!' Hermione scowled anxiously. 'Where did you go?'

'Just checking something.' Harry exhaled and noticed that his friends had their wands out. 'What happened?'

'Malfoy.' Ron huffed angrily. His statement needed no further explanation.

After a weird moment of silence, Neville glanced down at the small boy and smiled shyly. 'You must be Toby.' He said.

'Yeah.' Toby inched closer to Harry as the eyed the other Gryffindor warily, even if he recognized him from the dormitory.

'It's okay, Toby.' Harry reassured him. 'It's just Neville, he knows too.'

'Hi.' Toby nodded timidly.

As the wind picked up, the group decided to discuss the issue later and began to walk through the snow to a less-frequented section of the village.

Toby looked down at the snowy ground at his feet and bent to grab a handful of it with his gloved hands. Biting his lip at the temptation, he chose not to fight the urge and hurled the icy substance directly at Harry.

The snow hit the surprised teenager in the back and a snow war immediately began; even Hermione joined in. She teamed up with Toby and dpiste the fact that they were easily losing (and were outnumbered!), each laughed heartily through it all.

From a decent distance away, Severus watched the group tossing snow at each other, and pondered on the two boys of interest; Potter and the little brat he had with him. The Gryffindor had dragged the child away rather quickly, but Severus had still seen it. The fierce protectiveness, the fear and vulnerability, as well as the unwavering determination.

He had seen a similar version of that expression before, in a different set of emerald eyes.

With one final glance at the snow-throwing group, Severus tugged at his cloak and turned away from the sight of their enjoyment. He walked purposefully through the snow in the direction of the Hog's Head; his expression seemed to be almost sad although the black hair that hung about his face carefully concealed it.

For the rest of that day, his thoughts ventured from the little boy whose name he never heard and instead, rather reluctantly, recalled a redheaded girl Severus could never hope to forget.

--

'You missed!' Toby declared triumphantly to Harry, only to receive a face of snow from Ron. 'Hey!' He scowled and used the hem of his sweater to rub it off. Toby huffed and reached down to scoop more snow, while he carefully watched the others; the three older boys had suddenly started taking cover from Hermione's spelled snow that she aimed their way after they'd all attacked her at once.

'That's cheating!' Ron complained as he shook the gradually melting snow from his red hair.

Harry chuckled at his friend's misfortune and raised his arm to throw a handful of snow towards Hermione. He paused when he turned and saw the look that had just formed on Toby's face.

'Stop!' Harry told his friends urgently and everyone glanced around to stare at the small boy.

Toby's face was so pale that it bended in with the whiteness of the snow around them. His eyes were wide, yet calculating, as he stared straight ahead, oblivious to the snowing that was melting away in his hand.

'Toby, what is it?' Harry rushed to the boy's side, all thoughts of the snow game gone. Dropping the defrosted snow, Toby raised his hand to point into the distance. The four teenagers moved closer to see what had caught the little boy's desturbed attention.

It was a witch. She had frizzy, brown hair that was visible under her purple sun hat. She was a slightly short, chubby woman and despite that, her fleeting gaze was firm and her posture dominating. Something about her just wasn't quite right.

'She was at the orphanage the day of the fire!'Toby gasped shakily. And before anyone had the chance to react to his startling realization, Toby had taken off at a sprint towards that witch who was at least an entire street away.

'Toby!' Harry darted forward but hadn't been fast enough to stop the boy. Panicked, he chased after him and was dismayed to discover that Toby was much faster than he was.

'Harry!' His friends called out and hurried after the two boys.

'Toby, come back!' Harry shouted as the wind began to howl and snowflakes filled the darkening sky.

The small boy and the mysterious woman were nowhere to be seen.

As mind-numbing thoughts of kidnap and harm, filled Harry with terror, he charged forward and barely had time to register that he had dumped into someone. Not wanting to waste even a second, Harry moved to continue his frantic search for the small boy. His actions were hindered by the fact that whomever he had bumped into now grasped his shoulders and attempted to gain his attention.

'Whoa, Harry! Remus raised his tone over the wind and teenager's struggling. He tried to level Harry's gaze with his own, but with little success.

'He's gone!' Harry desperately fought against Remus' grip.

'Who?'

'Toby!' Harry turned and stared directly into Remus' eyes, his own filled with pleading and ushered tears.

Remus stared at Harry for a brief moment and nodded. Instead of asking further time-consuming questions, the Marauder turned to survey their surroundings with a searching gaze.

'What does he look like?'

'A kid version of Snape.' Harry answered and ignored the alarmed expression on Remus' face.

'Harry!' Hermione and Ron caught up to him. 'Neville found him!'

The didn't need further motivation as each hurried across the village to a spot near the outskirts where the shrieking shack was visible.

'How'd he get all the way out here?' Harry frowned as he approached the stump Toby was sitting on while Neville stood protectively beside the boy with his wand in one hand, just in case he should need it.

The boy's clothes were drenched with melted snow, his cheeks flushed from the harsh winds, and his hair hung about his face like heavy, black curtains. His expression was one of guilt, anxiety, and sadness.

Otherwise, Toby appeared to be unharmed.

'You promised to do what you were told!' Harry was filled with both relief and irritation upon seeing him.

'Please, don't send me away!' Toby jumped up as he unleashed his pleas and didn't care who stood around them to witness it.

'Why did you run away?' Harry demanded to know. 'I won't ever send you away, but you have to answer my question.'

'I...I don't know.' Toby stared at his feet while the others silently watched on. 'I thought she might have done something bad or knew who had.' Toby sighed. 'No one else was doing anything.'

'We were about to.' Harry frowned. 'You can't just run off like that. You need to stay close or someone could find out, or worst. Did you think of what might've happened if she had been someone bad?'

'No.' Toby shook his head as tears filled his eyes. 'I'm sorry!'

Harry exhaled heavily and moved forward to comfort the boy; he felt so relieved to find Toby uninjured and in safe company once again. As the small child wrapped his arms around Harry's waist and buried his face against him, a startling realization washed through Harry.

He was a complete hypocrite.

All the rules, the warnings, and precautions...they were in place to keep Toby safe and the same thing applied to Harry. How many times had he rushed ahead without knowing of the danger, determined to do something when he thought no was else was? He had disobeyed rules and placed himself in constant danger, without hesitation or consideration.

What Toby had just done, Harry had a hundred times over but in far more dire circumstances.

Harry glanced over at Remus and felt immeasurably guilty for his past actions. If he hadn't gone after the Philosopher's Stone than Dumbledore might have caught Voldemort because the stone truly had been safe. If he hadn't forced Lockhart into the Chamber of Secrets rather than tell Dumbledore what he knew, the man wouldn't be in St. Mungo's without his memory. If he hadn't sneaked out and intervened in third year than Remus would still have a job and Peter wouldn't have gotten away. If he'd shot up red sparks when Cedric was tangled in the maze, as he was supposed to or take the cup alone, than the Hufflepuff might have lived. If he'd learned Occlumency as he had been told to and not ignored the warnings Snape gave him...Sirius might have never died.

'Harry?' Remus questioned worriedly when the teenager's eyes seemed to glaze over for a moment.

'Remus, please don't tell anyone about this.' Harry stared pleadingly at him while Toby peeked over at the man. 'Marauder's Honor?'

Remus was about to insist that Dumbledore should know and he had a duty of care, however he hesitated at the mention of the honor. Obviously, Sirius had explained that to the boy. It was originally something James and Sirius had been adamant about as it was the highest promise fueled primarily by trust and loyalty.

Peter was the only one to ever break it.

To see Harry Potter extent it to him now, Remus feared he could not decline and decided to trust in the likely son of James, and godson of Sirius.

With a silent nod, Remus agreed.

An hour later and the four Gryffindors had returned to Hogwarts, still discussing the woman who had rattled Toby so dramatically that it had caused the boy to run off in such a way. The child himself wasn't with them as Harry had called for Dobby to make sure Toby changed out of his wet clothes and was looked after inside the dormitory until they returned.

'We couldn't find Toby at first, but I managed to speak with the mystery woman.' Hermione filled Harry in on the details.

'I pretended I thought I knew her from somewhere and she denied ever being in the muggle world.' Hermione frowned. 'All I got was a name...Mildred Merrengold.'

'Thanks, Hermione.' Harry sighed as they climbed the steps towards the fat lady's portrait and their common room. 'Let me know when you find out more.' He knew she would be spending some free time in the library over the next few days, trying to decipher who the woman was as Hermione was also worried about Toby; they all were.

As the four Gryffindors entered the dormitory, Harry had made an important decision involving his own behaviour and decided to set a better example for Toby. Tomorrow was a new day, but until they found out who Mildred Merrengold was...they had to be even more careful than before.

It was time to once again make some adjustments to the situation.