Harry stirred, rolling fitfully in his bed. He pushed uncomfortably at Hector who was lying against his boy's back. The dog whined briefly, then slid off the bed and slumped down on the floor upon his dogbed. Harry tossed and turned a few more times before throwing off the covers. He sat up blearily, rubbed his eyes, and then removed his pyjama shirt. The cool air made him shiver, but he didn't seem to be aware of it. This night seemed hotter than usual.

As he padded softly out of his bedroom, there was no soft alarm in Severus room to warn him of nightmares or midnight wandering; after spending several hours after their walk in the moonlight, Severus had gone straight to bed. He had forgotten to place the spell.

Harry tip-toed down the short hallway, into the semi-dark living room, and went to stand for a moment in front of the fireplace staring at the dying, glowing embers.

Wizard fireplaces are a neat thing. Who knew you could have a fire going in the middle of summer when the weather was warm and not be burning up? Daddy told me that a wizard fire could be charmed to not give off heat, but just light. Is that neat, or what?

Harry swayed slightly and the daze he'd fallen into as he stared at the embers of the fire was broken. He looked around himself wondering why he was out in the living room. All of a sudden the room felt VERY big and he felt REALLY small. It was kind of creepy. Shivering again, he turned away from the fireplace and trotted directly for his father's room. Using both hands on the doorknob, he turned it, pushed open the door and walked into the dark room.

He didn't make a sound as he walked softly towards the big, four-poster bed. He could hear his father's breathing coming from the bed and he sighed softly. Very carefully, and perfectly quietly, he climbed up on the bed, slipped under the covers, and curled up against his father's bony back. Very soon he was sleeping deeply.

Not long after Harry had slipped into his bed, Severus awoke feeling unseasonably warm. He turned and nearly rolled over right onto his son. Getting his wand from beneath his pillow, he murmured, "Lumos," and looked down at the sleeping child curled in a nearly round ball beneath the covers.

Harry's pyjama top was missing and he was shivering slightly. This was odd since the little boy was radiating heat. Just as Severus moved to sit up straighter, his wand's light lit Harry's back. He let out a short gasp. Muttering a second Lumos spell to increase the light, he examined his child's back.

The little boy's back was sprinkled with small, emerald green-tinged bumps. The bumps spread over his shoulders, down his arms, onto his chest and tummy. There was also a very light green tinge to Harry's skin. Harry had Dragon Pox.

"Harry? Harry." He shook the child gently. The little boy stirred slightly, but didn't wake.

Severus quickly moved out of bed. He tucked the covers in close around Harry and then got himself dressed. Checking once on his son, he saw he was still sleeping. He then left his bedroom and went to knock on Echo's door. He only had to wait a few seconds before she sleepily opened the door.

"Severus? Is everything all right?" she asked.

"Harry has Dragon Pox. I need to get him to St. Mungo's, but I need you to watch over Albus. I am fairly certain he's had Dragon Pox, so he should be all right, but since he's ill, I don't want to take any chances."

Echo was fully awake. She grabbed her robe, belted it about herself, and stepped out of her bedroom. She grasped Severus' forearm. "You go, Severus. I'll look in on Albus and make sure he's all right. If there's any problem, I'll get him to St. Mungo's right away."

"Thank you, Echo." He kissed her cheek and then returned to his bedroom.

He waved his wand at the fireplace and with an Incendio Spell the flames were roaring. Wrapping his son into a blanket, he then scooped the child to his chest with one arm, threw Floo Powder onto the flames with the other hand, and declared, "St. Mungo's, Children's Ward, Emergency."

The bright light and the white walls of St. Mungo's was broken by gaily painted murals in the Children's Ward. Although still an assault on his night sensitised retinas, it wasn't as bad as the main hospital which was plain, overly bright, white.

Severus was met at the Emergency Floo by two nurses. One nurse took Harry from his arms while the other quickly asked questions of the Potions Master.

"Has your son wakened at all since you discovered the pox?" asked the nurse taking the child's history.

"No," said Severus as he followed the other nurse to an exam room. "At some time, he came and crawled into my bed. I woke up when I felt the heat from his body."

The nurse finished with her history and patted Severus' arm. "You needn't worry, Mr. Snape. Dragon Pox isn't fatal in children as it is in adults. Nurse Eddly will get Harry started on a few potions and then Healer Answyth will be in to check him over."

Severus curtly nodded his thanks and then turned his attention fully to his son.

Harry was now stretched out on the exam table completely naked except for a thin sheet over his waist. The nurse had cast a warming charm so the child wouldn't get cold, but knowing this didn't help Severus from being sympathetic towards how vulnerable his child looked under the harsh light. He lifted one of Harry's little hands in his and with his other hand, he brushed his fingers through the boy's hair.

"You're a Potions Master, aren't you, Mr. Snape?" Nurse Eddly asked.

"I am," Severus acknowledged.

"Perfect. There are a series of potions Harry will need to take for the next two weeks that can only be given by a licensed Potions Master or a Healer. This will be more convenient for you since you won't have to keep coming back to hospital. I'll be back in a few minutes." She smiled. "He'll be fine, sir. You brought him just in time."

Severus did not see the nurse leave. He remained by his son, watching over him as he slept under the ugly disease's influence.

Since he'd adopted Harry, he'd had to deal with a few tantrums, normal scrapes and bruises, quite a few tears, but nothing like this. Dragon Pox wasn't normally fatal in children. The nurses had been sugar-coating the situation, he felt. He'd had enough Healer Training- a requirement since he was a Potions Master in charge of youngsters who regularly tried to re-arrange themselves with explosions- to know that the slumber Harry was in wasn't natural. It was a part of the disease.

He hated that he was all too aware of the statistics of parents mistaking this part of Dragon Pox as simple sleep. If not wakened within a 24 hour period, the child would never wake. Of course he knew he'd gotten Harry to hospital on time. He also knew the first potion they'd administer would bring him gently out of the Pox sleep and into a normal sleep that Harry would waken from naturally.

He knew all of that.

It did not stop the fact that his heart was hurting over the fear of losing this little boy who had dropped unexpectedly into his life and turned it around. He was entirely unaware of the bit of moisture that slipped down his cheek from one eye.

Nurse Eddly saw the tear, but knew better than to say anything. A parent's worry over their child was private. She could sympatise, but only when a parent asked for it. Even so, she hoped the object she held would offer solace to both the father and the son.

"Mr. Snape, this came through the Floo for Harry." Nurse Eddly handed over Harry's plush Opaleye Dragon.

He nodded his thanks and watched as the nurse spelled the first potion into his son. Together they waited in the silence, but for Harry's labored breathing, until the nurse ran a quick diagnostic. She smiled at Severus.

"He's slipped into normal sleep, Mr. Snape."

"Thank you," he whispered as he tucked the dragon next to his son.

He was marginally aware of another nurse that came in with three potions. The nurse didn't make an objection as he examined each potion she administered to Harry. One potion dealt with the bumps, one settled his fever, and the third dealt with the aspect of Dragon Pox that gave a green tinge to the skin. Those who used to suffer from Dragon Pox often went through life with green skin until a potion was created to eliminate that once permanent symptom. Severus wondered, briefly, if the nurse knew that he was the one that had created that particular potion. It was the potion he'd developed that secured his Potions Mastership.

"Good evening, Mr. Snape." The smooth tenor belonged to Healer Answyth, a short, but good looking young Healer with thinning blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. The Healer introduced himself and then began to quickly examine his patient. "It's looking good, Mr. Snape. He's in normal sleep and is responding well to the first round of potions. I'd like to keep him here until noon tomorrow. That way he'll get one more round of potions in him before you can take him home."

"Nurse Eddly mentioned something about potions he'd need to take at home?" asked Severus.

"Ah. Are you a healer?"

"Potions Master," he corrected wearily. Why everyone kept asking was beyond him. He was, unfortunately, as infamous as the Boy-Who-Lived.

"Very good. Yes, once the main symptoms of the pox is dealt with, the remaining potions deal with the nausea and fever which tend to hang on for about two weeks. The pox ought to be almost gone by tomorrow afternoon. We'll send you home with potions to keep down his fever and keep his tummy settled so he can eat properly. I've also added a nutritional supplement. I understand he has a delicate digestive tract that carried over with his recent de-aging?"

Severus nodded grimly. "His relatives withheld meals as a punishment." The Healer shook his head sadly. Severus continued, "I keep sweets to a minimum and also watch the fat in his diet. He eats well enough and enjoys a variety of food. He does tend to go overboard eating 'green trees'."

"Green trees?" asked the Healer, glancing at the affectionate smirk on the dark-haired wizard's face.

"Broccoli. His favorite vegetable."

"Ah," the Healer chuckled, then reviewed Harry's chart. "I see here that he has put on some weight. I'd say he's right at the weight he should be for a six year old. He is a bit small, though. This withholding of food, do you know if this was done all the way up until he was 15?"

"I have no doubt it was. His friends told me that Harry often came back to school after the summer having difficulty adjusting to eating regular meals and he often suffered from stomach aches. Like most of the children at Hogwarts he over-indulged too often in sweets. Madame Pomfrey usually had Harry on a comprehensive nutrition supplement she had the elves slip into his food." He frowned as he recalled the many times he'd have to brew new batches of that particular supplement when Harry was an obnoxious teenager. He had never known they were for Potter.

"Smart woman. Well, as you know, de-aging brings with it many of the accumulated health problems one suffered. At the same time, it can also remedy some problems. I notice here that at 15, Harry Potter wore glasses. He doesn't now?"

Severus shook his head. "When he tried on his old glasses, he complained he couldn't see. I took him to an Ocularist and it seems his vision is perfect. Inherited from his mother, quite possibly. I discussed this with Madame Pomfrey and she believes that Harry's initial poor sight came about from a blow to the head. It seems that his Aunt Petunia was fond of hitting him in the head with an iron skillet."

"Odd," muttered the Healer with a puzzled frown on his face. He'd been doing a series of in-depth Diagnostic Spells over the child as he spoke to the boy's father.

"What's odd?" asked Severus, his heart preparing to leap out of his throat and strangle the Healer if he didn't quickly explain.

"There is clear evidence of old injuries from before his de-aging," he caught the unasked question in the Potions Master's eyes. "I've dealt with quite a few temporary de-aged cases and one of the diagnostic spells I use is able to read the magical traces of repairs to bone and soft tissue. There's quite a lot of research going into using temporary de-aging as a way of healing many diseases and injuries we sometimes cannot heal."

Severus was interested in hearing more about this research, but he needed the Healer to get back onto the subject of his son. "You said there was something odd. What did you mean?"

Healer Answyth didn't seem at all perturbed at being brought back to what he was doing. "I cannot say precisely what it was, but when your son was de-aged, it broke a very powerful enchantment he was under. That, in itself isn't odd, for we have learned that de-aging can break and repair the damage from some of the worst causes." He saw the impatience rise in the man's eyes and he held up his hand to forestall an interruption. "What I find odd, Mr. Snape, is that the magical trace of the enchantment appears, at first, to have been the child's own magic. When I tried to confirm the magical trace, I was unable to."

Concern about the unknown enchantment was raising a hundred question in Severus' mind and making it very difficult for him to keep his temper. What sort of enchantment? Had it always been there and no one had seen it? What had it done?

"If you can't confirm the magical trace is Harry's what does it tell you, Healer?"

"Someone close to him put this enchantment on him. He was an only child, wasn't he, Mr. Snape?"

Severus nodded. "Are you saying only someone of his blood could have enchanted him?"

The Healer nodded. "In Harry's case, since he had no siblings, it would have been his mother or father that did it."

Severus felt a chill arc down his spine. Albus had told him once that he was certain Lily must have protected Harry with some sort of powerful enchantment that was woven of her fierce love for her baby. It was this that the old wizard had thought had kept baby Harry from succumbing to the Killing Curse.

"We believe, that on the night Voldemort killed Lily and James and tried to kill Harry, that his mother wove powerful enchantments around him to protect him." If the Healer replied, Severus didn't hear it. He was concentrating solely upon his child. His hand stroked the soft, fever-ridden cheek, and felt a small pang as he thought of Harry no longer having that protective magic of his mother's surrounding him. Harry had never really seemed to be aware of it, but if it truly was gone, then Severus knew it was more important than ever that he be a good and vigilant father and keep Harry safe.

Harry had wakened the next morning in the hospital, very disoriented. He was just about to let out a yell for his father, when Severus stepped into his view and placed a cool hand on his forehead.

"How are you feeling, Harry?"

"Okay. What's going on, Dad?" Harry tried to sit up, but his arms were a little wobbly. Severus plumped up the pillows behind him and helped him to sit up.

"You woke up last night with Dragon Pox. I had to get you to St. Mungo's since you were burning up with fever."

"Am I gonna... going to die?" he asked worriedly.

"Of course not," Severus chuckled indulgently. "You will have a touch of green to your skin for awhile."

"Cool!" Harry examined his arms and hands, noting the slight blush of green to his pale skin. "I like it. Does it hafta go away, Dad?"

"It does. The green means you're still sick even though you feel better. For the next two weeks, you're going to have to get a lot of rest and make sure you don't tire yourself out." Harry pouted out his lower lip, only to have his father push it back into place. "Think of it as time you can spend with your artwork. It's been awhile since you touched your new paint set."

"Will I be able to go outside and walk with Hector?"

"You can still play, child, you just can't tire yourself out. So instead of flying for an hour, you can for a half hour."

"Oh! That's not bad then." He smiled.

There was quiet between father and son as a nurse came in to do a Vitals Spell on Harry. She then gave him his potions and left the room.

"What are you frowning about, child?" Severus asked as he saw his son with a beetled fbrow staring out the window.

"I was just thinking about when I... uhm... knew Hector was hurt. He was so far away in that cave and it was weird. I felt..."

Severus leaned forward and turned Harry's chin so he was looking at him. "What did you feel?"

Harry touched his chest, tapping the center. "It was like a string pulling me. Do you think it was magic, Daddy?"

"It's possible, Harry. It is believed by the wizarding world that children have an affinity for animals. It is one reason a familiar bonds quicker with a child than an adult." Severus tapped his chin in thought and Harry watched him. "I wonder, though. Hector is clearly a Muggle breed of dog, but he is much larger than other dogs of his type I've seen before. I wonder if he might have some Familiar Magic in him."

"How do you find out?" asked Harry.

"Hagrid has that sort of expertise, I should think. Or else he might know of someone who does."

"When I get better, could we ask Hagrid?"

"I think Hagrid would be honored to be asked. Now, I can see your eyelids are fluttering, so time for some sleep, Harry."

"I'm not tired," he pouted and was immediately betrayed by a yawn.

"So you aren't," smirked Severus ruffling his son's hair.

Harry discovered very quickly that even though he wanted to run and play and fly, his body didn't want to so it wasn't difficult to sit quietly and read, or do sketching in his sketchpad.

He was out in the front garden at the moment sitting in the shade under a large, old, and very twisted olive tree. His sketchpad was on his knees and Hector was snoozing a few feet away.

"Hi Harry!"

He turned sideways to see his new friends from America, Charlie and Wendy. Wendy had an impish smile that she flashed at him. Charlie spoke, "Pop says you got Dragon Pox."

Harry grinned. "Yeah. I'm going to be green for two weeks. I kinda wish I could stay that way, but Dad says I can't."

"I had Dragon Pox when I was four. I puked a lot. It was purple," boasted Charlie.

"Brilliant! I didn't get sick like that, though. Dad got me to hospital before that started. Sicking up purple would be interesting, though," he mused. "Will your Dad let you play with me?"

Wendy shook her head. "I haven't had Dragon Pox, yet, so pop says I gotta stay 'way. Sorry, Harry."

Charlie added, "We can visit here, though. Hello, Mr. Snape!"

Harry shifted and saw his father standing in the doorway. Severus greeted the two children, "Mr. Reeves. Miss Reeves. Do give my regards to your father."

"Uhm... okay, sir," replied Charlie politely, even though he wasn't sure what 'regards' were. "We'll visit later, Harry."

"Bye, Harry," waved Wendy.

Harry watched his friends leave and then looked back at his father. "Son, Albus and I are going to the Ministry now. Echo will stay here with you."

"You sure I can't go?" he pleaded.

"It's almost time for your nap, Harry, and besides, you're still considered contagious." Severus walked over towards his son and crouched down. "You'll be good for Echo won't you?"

Harry nodded solemnly. Severus was about to rise when his son stopped him by grabbing the sleeve of his robes.

"What is it, Harry?"

The little boy looked left, then right, and then crooked his finger at his father, beckoning him closer.

"Yes, child?" he asked in curiosity, his voice soft, reflecting his son's quietude.

"If I'm con... conagious..."

"Contagious," Severus corrected.

Harry spoke the word slowly, "If I'm... con-tay-jus... does that mean I can't kiss you g'bye?"

Severus chuckled. "I've had Dragon Pox so that means you can kiss me good bye."

Harry smiled happily, threw his arms around his father's neck, and gave him a sloppy kiss on his cheek. "Okay, Daddy, you can go now. Bye!"

Severus brushed his fingers through his son's hair, and straightened up. "Good bye, Harry. We ought to be home by the time your nap is finished."