Chapter Seven

The house really wasn’t going to clean itself, at least that was the assumption Harry came to as he threw another dead Cornish pixie away. However every time they got close to what he thought was finished another room would appear out of nowhere and be covered under about three to four feet of bloody dust and grime! This house had no end to its filth and Harry could not see ever being able to live in such a dark, disgusting, place. But it wasn’t so bad, he could use magic now and that was a plus…also Sevvy liked watching him clean…he thought it was funny when he would make a ratty piece of cloth zoom away into the waste basket. Or when he would charm bubbles to appear on the table so it could be cleaned. Severus was also a big help, just like Harry he was not shy to house work. It was sad really, but at times like these it came in handy.

“Harry?” Severus called from across the hall. “What’s this thing here?”

Harry dropped his bottle of disinfectant and left the room he had been assigned by Remus to clean. Severus really hadn’t been given a room, but the little one wanted to help and Harry didn’t see the harm in letting the little guy walk around with a feather duster for a while. Going into the room he looked to where Severus was pointing and cocked his eyebrow. It looked like a normal wardrobe…he didn’t see the problem…had Severus’s father been that awful that he wouldn’t even give his son a place to put his clothes?!

“It’s a wardrobe, Sevvy…where people keep cloth-

-I know that Harry, I’m not completely thick…” he said snidely. “No…I mean…it had moved while you were in the other room.”

Harry felt his cheeks flush for a moment and could have sworn that was more Snape then Sevvy then he had heard in a long time. Then again…Sevvy wasn’t a normal child. He was very smart and well-read which did not surprise Harry at all. Snape always seemed to know things that could baffle the normal mind.

“It moved?” he repeated. “Maybe there’s an animal trapped inside.”

“Oh no!” Severus gasped. “Harry! You have to let it out! You have to!”

Harry nodded and went over to the wardrobe. Grasping the cold metal doorknob he began to wiggle and turn it back and forth…but nothing happened. It was locked down and needed a key. Maybe Sirius had the key, they would have to go find him if they wanted to know for sure what kind of creature was inside. And now that he thought about it, setting a mysterious creature loose with a four year old in the room might not have been the brightest thing he could have done.

“Okay,” he said, his hand gently resting on top of Severus’s head. “All we need to do is get Sirius and he’ll open the cabinet. Okay?”

Severus nodded; if there was an animal in there it needed to be freed. Unless it was a rat, Severus detested rats. Disgusting little creatures that did nothing other than plague the world with wretched disease and filth. He had found one in his room once and it had bit his toe when he had tried to be nice and give it food, well needless to say he ended that friendship and fast.

“I’ll wait here and watch it Harry…” Severus said with a small smile.

Harry nodded and with one final look at the wardrobe, raced off to find his Godfather.

Severus watched the wardrobe, wondering what could have gotten locked inside or if anything had gotten locked inside at all. Maybe it was cursed with dark magic and that’s what caused it to wiggle. That would be dangerous, but oh so cool to see what it does. Severus thought all types of magic were interesting, light or dark it really was just magic. The only thing light or dark was the wizard that chose to use or abuse it. The wardrobe wiggled again, this time making the floor shake a little bit. He wished it would open; he wanted to see what was inside! However he knew better then to do something so dangerous and even if he wanted to he had no wand to unlock it anyway.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity on Sevvy’s part, Sirius and Harry returned. He watched curiously as Sirius walked around the wardrobe, poking and prodding it with his wand and fingers. But nothing happened and the thing didn’t even twitch or shudder. Was it trying to make him out to be a liar? He glanced up at Sirius who came back to the center of the room with them.

“Well I suppose we need to open it to truly see what’s inside.”

He took a few steps back, and Sevvy watched as his wand pointed to the door and he flicked it. There was a distinct click and the nob turned slowly. But what came out was not a furry animal crying for help…no…no what he saw was something far worse and more frightening.

“F-Father?” he whimpered.

The man had long dark hair and black as night eyes. He wore long black, billowing, robes and had an expression of cold fury behind his face. Falling to his knees in front of the man his entire body began to shake. How could father be in that wardrobe…what kind of magic was this? Tears filled his eyes and hiding his face in his hands he began to sob.

“No-no-no! Father…I…I…I’m not a freak! Please…please…”

He could hear the cold voice inside his head telling him that he wasn’t worth the space he occupied on the floor. That his existence had no meaning and that the world would eat him the moment he stepped outside of the protection of his home…all bitter, evil, truths that Severus had grown up with.

“Father! Father! Please!” he begged. “Please!”

Severus felt sick, he couldn’t see anything behind the mess of tears that continued to fill and dribble from his eyes. And his head was swimming with the words his father spilled in through his ears. He was going to drown soon, he just knew it. Soon it would all end…it would all end.

Sirius had backed away before the boggart could throw his greatest fear back in his face, but when he looked to see if the creature had retreated he saw that Snape had not been so fortunate as to get out of the way. His eyes moved up to the figure that stood in front of the little boy and for a moment could not understand… and then it hit him like a bludger in the middle of a Quidditch match. Snape’s greatest fear was himself…only as a boy he did not recognize who he would turn into as the years of his life continued on.

Moving in front of Severus he closed his eyes and yelled, “Riddikulus!”

And no sooner than a second later, the body of his god-son dying was turned into one of him riding a small broom stick he had as a small boy. Not the funniest image in the world, but it did the job when he was faced with that fear over and over again. Sealing the boggart back into its prison he glanced back at the small, crying, ball that was at his feet. Before today he had no idea how much Snape detested himself and the life he led. He had always thought his rival to be too smug and happy to be under Dumbledore and Voldemort’s thumb. But it was clear…if not a little blinding…that Snape was miserable, or he had been before this recent potions accident.  Sirius stooped down so that he was sitting on the floor, and very gently he coaxed Sna-Severus onto his lap.

“Shh…” he hushed. “He wasn’t real…just a nightmare, Severus.”

The poor boy hiccupped and looked up at him with swollen eyes. He could not believe how wrong he had been, it was almost embarrassing to him…but he would never be able to admit to adult Snape that he was wrong. The young one, yes, the older one…there just was no way. Snape never did take apologies well and Sirius was too impatient to make him try.

“F-F-Father…” he cried softly, his little face finding its way to his chest. “W-Why….why….”

Sirius hushed the little boy once more and pulled him up into his arms. This room wasn’t a good room for children, none of them were. Excluding the rooms Remus had repainted and cleaned for Harry and Severus. Those were the only ones that were fit for human inhabitation. They would go to the kitchen and Sirius would give him a calming draught to help him relax. Sirius had much experience with traumatic events and knew that sometimes magical remedies were the only thing that helped.

Severus couldn’t stop crying, he just couldn’t get the voices to leave his head. He felt so sick with grief that he didn’t know what to do with himself. He almost wished his Father was there to smack him around a bit. The pain usually distracted his emotions enough for him to calm down. But right now all he could focus on Father and the words that were spinning around his brain. Turning to Harry who was following close behind, he weakly reached out his hand.

Harry’s eyes were trained on the floor….he was trying to keep his own emotions in check so he would not cry. Sirius’s greatest fear was him dying? Was he really loved that much by his God-father? And Sevvy…he was scared of who he would grow into? How awful was it to be scared of the inevitable? Harry saw Dementors when it came to boggarts, even with the spell Remus had taught him he was still terrified of them. When he dared to look back up he smiled somewhat sadly at Severus and took the little hand that was held out to him.

“Hey, Sevvy,” he said softly. “It’ll be okay…I promise there is nothing to be afraid of. That man will never hurt you again…I swear.”

Squeezing the little hand he watched as more tears slide down onto Sirius’s shoulder. He wasn’t sure how much more of the crying he could take before he began breaking down as well. Harry usually was very good when it came to his emotions and not letting people see them, but it seemed that Severus could access his heart the way no one else could.

“Alright Severus,” Sirius said, setting the crying boy down on the kitchen table. “I have some medicine for you to take to calm you down and help you nap.”

“No-o…” he sobbed. “No nap…I…he…he…will…co-come…ba-ack…”

Sirius frowned, and turned to the cabinet behind him. Remus and him had everything stocked for the worst case scenario. And Calming Draughts were definitely something they both used often when things around Grimmauld Place became too stressful. The vial held a teal liquid and the dose was so powerful that it would no doubt knock Severus out until the next morning. And somehow Sirius could not help but think he needed that. He wasn’t an expert when it came to children, but he knew that four year olds were not supposed to have dark circles under their eyes.

“Severus,” he said a bit sternly. “You need to take this before you cry yourself sick.”

Severus took a large gulp of air to try and prove that he could calm down on his own. Only whenever he got close to calming himself the tears just kept flooding back with Father’s voice.

“Alright kid, you’ve been out voted.”

Removing the cork from the vial he gently brought the vial to Severus’s quivering lips and helped him swallow the dose in a couple of short gulps. And instantly he felt a little body sag against him and a sort of peacefulness took over.

“I feel so awful about letting him stay in there…” Harry whispered. “I should have made him wait outside for us.”

Sirius shook his head.

“Harry, none of us knew what was in there, and you are not the parent. I should have made you both stand in the hall while I took care of it. Merlin, if Remus hears about this he is going to skin me alive and use the hide as a carpet in the living room.”

Harry nodded and reaching over, pulled Severus into his arms.

“He keeps calling himself Father…” the green eyed teen sighed.

“I know…” Sirius said back. “I know he does.”

And then there was silence on both their parts, because they really didn’t know what to do. They could never explain to little Severus that the man he feared as his father was really what he would turn into in thirty or so years…and if Severus changed back with no memory of this ever happening where did that leave them. Harry wasn’t sure he could go back to just hating Snape, not after seeing into his heart and mind…but if Snape went back to hating him…he wasn’t sure if he would be able to handle it.

“I’m sorry Harry…”

Harry’s head shot up when he heard his God-father break the silence that had consumed him. Was he apologizing for what he thought and hoped he was? He would never know what that meant to him, now if only he could do it while Severus was conscious.

“I…should not have judged Severus as I did Snape...” he said, not looking up. “You were right…it was cruel and I am ashamed that I had.”

A smile spread across Harry’s face and still holding Severus he wrapped his one arm around his God-father as well.

“I knew you would come around Sirius,” he grinned. “It just took the proper kick in the right direction.”

“Yes well,” Sirius smirked, ruffling his God-son’s hair. “I make no promises for when Severus turns back, understand?”

“Yessir.” Harry smiled.

“Good boy, now take the tyke up to bed…he’s looking worse for wear as it were.”

Nodding Harry adjusted his little brother in his arms and made his way upstairs. Despite the trauma it put Sevvy through; he could not help be happy that it had happened. It had been just the thing to make Sirius see how different Sevvy was. He could only hope that it had no lasting effects on the little boy in his arms, he was so damaged already…Harry couldn’t imagine adding any more pain to the little boy before he just shattered into pieces before them all.