Days had passed with no change in Severus. Oh, he was no longer sick. It had taken him until two days after Christmas to get over the cold that he had had. But, he was sullen and stuck close to his Mummy, but he knew that she was going to have to go back to work after the New Year, and Harry would still be off for several days.

“I want to go to Grammy’s.” Severus told Ginny one night when she was cooking supper. Severus was sitting on the cabinet tearing a head of lettuce up and putting it into a bowl.

Ginny looked over to him from where she was standing.

“Why, Sev?”

“You are going back to work tomorrow. I don’t wanna be here with him.” Severus told her. He continued tearing the leafy vegetable, but stared at Ginny.

“Alby will be here, Sev. He will be sad if you aren’t here to play with him.”

“He can come with me. If I stay here, Black will be mean to me, and if I get even with him, Potter will punish me. That isn’t fair. I want to go to Grammy’s house.”

“Sev, Harry is not going to do that. I know that you are still upset with him, but he is still your daddy, and I know that you are not always going to feel this way. Regardless, you still have to obey him.” Ginny said mid-stir. She said it, but she also knew that if things didn’t get better, Severus would never trust Harry again.

And, while she and Harry did not always agree, they were still the parents of five, nearly six, children and would always need to have a united front. She was actually quite upset that Severus had overheard the conversation between her and Harry a few says before, as was Harry. There were some conversations that their children never needed to hear them have, and this was one of the reasons why.

“He does not like me. He didn’t like me before, and he doesn’t like me now.” Severus stated.

Ginny took the sauce she had been stirring and placed it on a back burner then walked over to Severus.

She took the lettuce and bowl from him and placed it to the side.

“Sev, listen to me. Things are different now. I know that you do not understand it yet, and may not even see that things are slowly but surely changing. In fact, I wouldn’t expect you too. I know that you have your old memories, and I know that right now, that is where you are at. I do not want to change that, Sev, but I want you to understand that in many ways, no matter what, you are going to act the age you are. You can’t help it. It is mine and Harry’s job to help you through life this time. We are going to teach you what it means to be happy. We are going to teach you how to behave when you misbehave. How to love. How to live, Sev.”

Severus stared at her. He was listening.

He just didn’t want to hear.

“Can I please go to Grammy’s? I want to spend the night with her and Grandpa.”  Severus told his mother.

Ginny sighed inwardly.

“I will have to floo call her, but Sev, this is not going to become a habit if she says yes. Do you understand?” Ginny asked. She was not going to start a precedent. She had mixed feelings about allowing him to go tonight…because yes, she knew that her Mum would say yes…but, she also wanted to avoid coming home to a disaster tomorrow and give Sev just a bit longer to calm down.

“Why? Grammy likes it when I come over.”

“Yes, Grammy does like it when you come over, but Grammy has raised her children and will not raise mine. You are mine, and one day, Sev, you will understand.”

“I understand that he doesn’t like me.” Severus snorted.

This time Ginny eyed her young son.

“Severus, that is enough. I know that it is going to take time, but that does not mean that you have to make it difficult, love. Daddy loves you. I love you.”

“I think that you are deluded.” Severus snapped.

“Severus Harrison Snape-Potter! I thought that you wanted me to call Grammy and see if you could stay with her?” Ginny asked him, astounded at his boldness. For the last several days, though, he had been much more Snape than her Sev.

“Yes ma’am.” Severus said, putting his head down. He didn’t want to cry. Not now. Crying was for simple minded little children.

“Sev. Look at me,” Severus slowly looked up, “It is okay to cry. If you cannot cry in front of anyone else, no matter if you are five or if you are thirty-five, it will always be okay for you to cry in front of me. I am your mummy, and you will always be able to talk to me about anything. No matter what it is. If you want to talk to me about your life before, I will listen. If you want to talk about your nightmares, I will be here. If you need to fuss about something you do not agree with, I will always be here for you, just like I will always be here for your brothers. Do you understand?”

Tears finally fell over the edge of Severus’ eyes and he nodded. Ginny leaned into his little body and wrapped her arms around him. It was such a long road, the one her little family was traveling down. She simply wanted all of her children to be happy, and she knew that despite the holes, they were well on their way.

“I love you.” Ginny whispered in his ear.

She was rewarded when Sev wrapped his arms around her neck tightly, and whispered, “I love you, too, Mummy.”

~sdrawkcab~

Severus stood by the fire with his little backpack (filled with two sets of clothes, one set of pajamas, two books, and an extra sweater), his snake in his arms, and wearing his ‘Grammy sweater’ proudly.  (Ginny had not been able to get him to wear anything else since he had received it, and had taken to washing it when he was in the bath every night so that it would be clean before he went to bed. It was not worth the fight, and she honestly didn’t see anything wrong with him wearing if that was what he wanted. Her Mum would be excited, and she doubted it would be long before the child had an arsenal of such sweaters at his demand.)

Harry was sitting on the couch reading the Daily Prophet, with Jamie sitting beside him discussing quidditch stats and an upcoming game that, if the boys behaved, Harry was going to take Teddy, Sirius, and Jamie too. (Neither Severus nor Alby cared anything about quidditch, though they did like to ride the broom every once in a while.)

Sirius and Teddy were on the floor playing game, though Sirius was still on a probation of sorts, and was not allowed to do much. Alby was already asleep, despite it only being 7:30.

Ginny pulled a sweater on and grabbed another bag. Since the day that Sev had had the allergic reaction to the pecans, Ginny made sure to carry the necessary potions with her at all times. No matter where the little boy was, he had a ready supply. They no longer bought anything with pecans in it for fear that even a dusting of the nut would cause Severus to have another reaction. They would take no chances.

“Come on, Sev. Grammy and Grandpa are expecting you.” Ginny said, picking the boy up. She gave him a stomach soother, which he took immediately, and then handed the vial back to Ginny and wrapped his arms around her neck.

“Harry, I will be back in a bit.” Ginny told her husband. Harry smiled and nodded. He was hurt that Sev would no longer talk to him, and despite everything, knew that it was mainly his fault. He wanted to make Sev listen to him, make him respect him, make him trust him. But he knew that that would be the worst thing he could do. Until Severus could let go of his past and let the present and future replace the things that happened to him.

But, was that even possible?

Had Harry ever let go of his past, or had he just ignored it?

“I am glad that he is gone.” Sirius said.

Teddy froze and looked at him.

“Shut up, Sirius.” Teddy told the other boy.

Sirius narrowed his eyes at his brother.

Harry looked at Sirius sharply.

“Sirius, you will stop with this behavior. Severus is your brother.” Harry told him.

“I don’t care. He is a prat. I will never life him!” Sirius stood up and yelled.

Harry sighed and looked around the living room. Jamie was beside him, frozen, his mouth open and his eyes staring at Sirius.

Teddy looked like he was going to hit Sirius soon.

“Sirius. Go to your room. I will be in to talk to you soon.”

“Fine! I know you like him better than me! I saw it at Christmas! I know that you like him more even though he treated you like right shite the whole time you were at school! Well, I thought you were smarter than that, but I guess that I was wrong!” Sirius said and then threw down a game piece and ran out of the room.

“Daddy, I know that you love us all equal.” Teddy said, coming over to his father and giving him a hug.

Out of the mouths of babes.

And suddenly, Harry had an idea that might show Sirius that Severus wasn’t…and would never have been….a bad person.

Harry smiled; albeit a sad smile, for what he had planned was going to be just as painful for him as it would be enlightening, hopefully, for Severus.