Chapter One

  Severus was absolutely spent when it came to working on this potion. He was so tired that words would never be able to properly describe it. However if he was successful when it came to brewing this elixir he might be able to slow the aging process by hundreds of years! It would mark a milestone in his career for the rest of his life! He would no longer be known as a past Death Eater, but as a man that aided the world in outliving their children’s children! Alas he was getting way too far ahead of himself. He wouldn’t even know the potion worked until he tested it on something…and unfortunately because he had no other live test subject, which meant that he would have to drink it himself. It was a bit unnerving because if he wasn’t careful Severus was certain, without a shadow of a doubt, that it would kill him if even the most miniscule detail was off.

  Oh well, no one could ever say he didn’t take risks when it came to his career, however he was certain that Albus would not appreciate him risking his neck. Not with how the wizarding world was panning out…but if this potion worked, he might be able to work out a way for his employer to survive through the second wizard war! For some reason Albus was certain that he would not see the end of this one, whereas Severus was certain to make sure that he did. Only an hour or so more and he would be able to test it. It would work, it just had to work…if it didn’t, well then Severus wouldn’t be around to see any more of this world. He would never lose a loved one again; this potion would assure that if it worked. Never again would he feel that pain of a broken heart, this would take care of all of that.

  Severus stirs later, and a sixty minutes of life that had slowly ticked by the potion was done and Severus had moved a small dose into a vial. This would be it, he would take this and hopefully lose at least a couple years off his age. Nothing too dramatic of course, just turning him back to his late twenties or early thirties Taking a seat at his desk, he took a deep breath and swirled the silver liquid around in its vial. He hoped it didn’t taste as bad as it looked…oh well, he supposed it wouldn’t matter soon. Gently bringing the vial to his lips he tilted his head back and downed the dose in one gulp.

“UGH!!”

  Jesus! It burned…Merlin did it burn! Something had to be wrong with the potion, something just had to be wrong! He was going to die; he was going to suffocate to death in his lab. His hands clutched his throat and sputtering loudly he tried to catch a single breath before his death. He wanted something to remember and it that was the scent of his workplace then that was fine with him. The smells of his work books….w-warm…parchment….ink…………p-peppermint? Wait…that wasn’t righ-

  The students had heard the screaming and the fuss clear down in the dungeons…and Albus supposed it was by sheer happenstance that he had been on his way down to the dungeons regardless. However he was extremely worried when he heard the sounds of his Potion’s Master screaming in agony! It took him several minutes to get into the office, but when he did he was shocked to no end. Albus wasn’t even sure what he was looking at. He saw a large bundle of robes and an unconscious little boy among them. He had dark hair like Severus, far too long for his little face…and his body was so small that Albus was certain he could hide the young boy in a Hogwarts Trunk and still have room for all of his books.

  What had Severus done to himself?! Was this Severus…yes, it just had to be. Only Severus could get into his potions lab…and there was no way a small child could make their way onto the grounds without being a child or ward of the staff.  Going to the small child, he gently scooped the little one up into his arms. So small, and light, Albus had known Severus had been mistreated as a child, he never knew to what extent however. Severus was always unbelievably closed off…to the point that Professor Dumbledore was practically begging him to open up a little bit more.

“Oh, Severus,” he whispered, sadly. “My boy…what have you done?”

  Making sure he grabbed at least one portion of Severus’ robes he wrapped his son up so nothing would be revealed to the students that were no doubt crowding the potions room. Needless to say he wasn’t certain if using the Floo network would be safe for the young child, he would have to make his way up to his office the old fashioned way…and hopefully he would find someone that could send Minerva to him. Closing his eyes briefly he wrapped Severus up further, when he felt the little boy shiver against him. He had no doubt that he would, it was frigid down here.

  Leaving the potions classroom he was immediately bombarded with students and mindless questions. He knew that they were curious and for some part might have been concerned, but Albus really didn’t have time for questions or pleasantries…his Potions Master was a small child again, a toddler if he was correct…and he had absolutely no answers or notions to go off of other then the fact that Severus had been brewing a potion. Continuing up the steps he stopped briefly to a student that had yet to be absorbed in the bustle downstairs.

“Excuse me, lad,” he said politely. “Would you kindly send Professor Mcgonagall to my office? Hurry lad, hurry, it is quite urgent.”

  Dumbledore did not have time to see if the boy heeded his plea, and continued to make his way to his office. All the while staring down at the little one in his arms. In fact, more than once Albus had nearly walked into a wall. He was just so shocked, so worried, so…scared. What if this was irreversible, or what if Severus had tried to poison himself and had made an error in his potion. There were so many things running through his mind that the Headmaster could barely focus. Releasing a shuddering breath he did not know he was retaining Albus turned to the opening of his office and began ascending the stairs.

“I promise everything will sort itself out, Severus…I swear I will find a way to fix this for you.”

  Albus, you fool, again you are making promises you cannot keep….you swore to protect his beloved Lily for him and how well did that turn out?

“Oohh…”

  Albus looked down at the little bundle in his arms, and frowned as he tossed and turned a bit in his arms. The poor thing must have been having a nightmare. Albus knew how bad those could get for his friend, and he cursed Voldemort, his parents, and any other undesirables that would hurt his Severus Snape.

“Shh little one, sleep…nothing is going to harm you…you are safe.”

 Summoning a small sofa from the upstairs level of his office he set Severus down and covered him with his black robes.  The longer Severus slept the better…he could only imagine how the Potions Master was going to react when he awoke, and that was a reaction he did not value seeing just yet. Merlin what was he going to do? Severus played such a big role in the battle against the Dark Lord…how was he supposed to explain that he was a child now? What if Voldemort tried to summon him and wasn’t able to do so? Did this little Severus have his Dark Mark still? Or was this an accident that reverted both the mind and body back to the age of a child?

  Just as his mind was about to further analyze the situation at hand Albus watched as the door to his office flew open and Minerva strode to him. Her face was twisted with worry and Albus had no doubt in his mind that she had heard many stories on her way up to him.

“Where is Severus?” she asked, slightly winded. “I have been hearing-

-I assumed the students would be spreading this story around like wildfire…however, the only way for me to reveal to you what had happened is to show you.”

“Show me what, Albus?”

“Now, it is going to-

-Albus! Show me what?!”

  Sighing softly, the Headmaster left his desk and moved to the small bundle on his sofa. Gently removing the blankets he heard a rapid gasp on Minerva’s part. He was actually happy with that reaction, he had been so worried she would pass out.

“That…is…is that Severus?!” she whispered frantically. “I knew this would happen! Damn that stubborn man and his potion experiments! I told him that he would kill himself brewing…or do something even worse! How old is he Albus? Merlin he looked four…three?! What are we going to do! He’s a member of the Order, Merlin Albus…what the Hell are we going to do?!”

“Minerva!” Albus said, gently gripping her shoulders. “Minerva…please calm down, I am not sure how old he is…and I’m not sure what we are going to do yet. Those answers will come, hopefully soon as possible. But for right now we have to figure out what we are going to do with Severus.”

“It’s the end of term, Albus! And what about Voldemort? If he’s a toddler that mad man will kill him!”

“No, he will not harm Severus…” Albus said sternly. “Because we are going to hide him…we are going to protect him Minerva, until we can find an antidote.”

“And what if there isn’t one, Albus? The one man alive that could brew such an elixir is on your sofa and four years old.”

“Then we let him age as nature intends.”

  Severus didn’t feel well, his head hurt like the blazes and he felt cold and naked. His eyes were so heavy that they wouldn’t open and he felt like he had sweat clear through his blankets into the sofa. What had happened? Had he fallen asleep on the couch? Father would be very angry if he caught Severus out of his room so soon…or was it so late? Oh well, better be safe than sorry…he needed to wake up. However when Severus opened his eyes it was not to find himself in his cold, dank, living room.

  No, this room was bright and had many books lining large wooden bookshelves. It was so beautiful and lovely here, and Severus could swear that he had seen this room before…in his dreams. Was he still dreaming? If that were the case he needed to throw himself against something to wake up. But when he stood and lost the robe that had been wrapped around him, his face blushed scarlett. He was completely naked! What was he going to do?! Crawling back onto the sofa, he wrapped up again and sniffled softly. Where was he, why was he alone? Where was his mummy…his mummy would make things better.

“Mummy?” he called, softly. “Mummy…I need you, mummy!”

  Tears welled in his eyes. Why wasn’t his mummy answering him? Had father hurt her again and she was unable to come to him? Maybe she was sick…mummy got sick quite often, but Severus was always there to take care of her! He really needed to find mummy before it was too later.

“Mummy!” he called, his voice cracking with emotion. “Mummy, where are you?”

   His chin quivered and before he knew it tears were rolling down his flushed cheeks. He wanted his mummy, if he didn’t find her in time she would leave him forever…and if that happened Severus didn’t know what he would do. His mummy was the only one that protected him against father, without her home Severus was sure he would die.

“Mu-

-Severus, my boy,” a warm voice called. “I am so sorry I was not here for you to wake…I had to excuse myself for a moment.”

  Severus sniffled and looked up at the man in the purple pajamas. He had a long white beard and wore strange glasses. He almost looked like the Merlin from his story books, but Severus was certain that it wasn’t him…Merlin was dead, maybe this was his cousin or great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandson…or something like that. He did sound nice though, and his gentle smile reminded him of mummy.

“I want my mummy…” he sniffled. “Do…do you know where my mummy is…?”

  Dumbledore’s face took on a grim expression. This was going to be most difficult, when Eileen Prince had died Severus had been a young boy in school…but as a toddler he was terrified to tell him the truth. It would break his little heart. However Albus knew that this could not be avoided, he needed to tell the little one that his mummy was gone.

“I do, Severus…” he said softly.

“Where is she?” he asked, eagerly. “Is she home? Did she leave me here? Is she coming back? Did father hurt her again?”

  Merlin, this was so hard…he begged for guidance. How was he to tell Severus again that his mother had died when it had been so hard the first time around? As a matter of fact the first time had even been done in this office, on that sofa…and yet Albus yearned for Severus to be a teen again to receive this news. A child’s heart was so easily broken, and Dumbledore wasn’t sure he would be able to mend it back together.

“Severus…your mummy…she’s…she’s gone to heaven, Severus.”

“W-What?” the little boy whispered. “N-No! NO! You are lying!”

  Albus felt his eyes twinkle and burn…he could not cry right now. Not when the little one clearly needed his strength and guidance, he really didn’t want to fail Severus now. He had done so far too many times already, and Dumbledore would make this right….he just had to.

“Severus, please, I am so sorry.” Albus said softly. “I am truly, sorry.”

“My-my…my mummy! She…she can’t be dead! She…she’s mummy! MUMMY, NO!!!”

  Albus frowned, knowing that this had to be so difficult for his friend. But Albus knew that if he had waited to tell him it would have just blown up in his face…although the explosion he was enduring at the present moment didn’t seem much better.