Chapter Eight

Sirius had been right when he said that Remus would not be happy when he heard about what had happened to Sevvy. Harry had never seen the man so upset, but the wrath was quickly evaded when little Sevvy came into the room looking for Sirius. It had shocked Mooney to no end, and soon the thought of Severus being submitted to a boggart faded away. Thankfully it had also faded away for little Severus as well. The Calming Draught Sirius had given him had knocked him out till early the next morning…but none of them complained, the little one seemed less on edge after his extended nap.  However as the day continued Harry, Remus, and Sirius had all come to a rather embarrassing conclusion…Severus only had about two outfits in his entire wardrobe.

“Well,” Sirius sighed, taking his hand through his dark hair. “You and Remus will just have to take him clothes shopping…I’ll give you the key to my vault and you can make a withdrawal.”

“But I don’t know what size Sevvy is…” Harry said, after taking a bite of toast. “And Professor Dumbledore shrunk the outfits Severus has currently…”

“Well then just have him try on a bunch of clothes; I’m sure he won’t mind.”

Harry nodded, “How about toys as well? He doesn’t have anything to play with.”

“I trust you Harry, buy him whatever he needs.”

Harry nodded, he would be sure to buy Severus mostly the bare essentials…but that didn’t mean his little brother didn’t deserve to have some things that he wanted as well. Children’s wants generally equaled their needs. At least that was how Harry looked at it. Children did not know the art of manipulation or selfish tendencies…not children like Sevvy or himself. So if Severus wanted something, basically that meant he needed it as well.

“Okay…should we leave now?”

“Yeah, that would be ideal…I can get lunch around while you are all off doing the shopping…where is Severus, anyway?”

“He’s in my room; he found some of my school books and has had his nose in them all day. Which is why I think we need to get him some toys. He doesn’t know how to act like a kid.”

“He never knew how to act like a kid,” Sirius grumbled. “As a teen he was the same way. His nose buried in a different book each day, I sometimes wondered if he had gone through every book in the library at least once.”

“He was smart.” Harry said, somewhat proudly. “Still is…he was asking me questions that I haven’t even thought about myself.”

“He always was a brainiac, answering questions, doing extra credit…part of the reason him and Lily got on so well. They both could have these intellectual conversations, and no one had a clue what they were talking about.”

Harry stared at his God-father a bit shocked. With the hatred he had expressed to have when it came to Snape harry assumed that he knew absolutely nothing about him, but now that he was hearing Sirius talk about it he could have sworn that they were friends at one time.

“I thought you and Sev hated one another?” he asked, his eyebrow rising slightly.

Sirius smirked and nodded.

“Oh, we did…I think we hated one another more than James and him did. However that didn’t change the fact that I knew he was smart, he just lacked social skills, big time.”

“Did you make fun of him?”

Sirius nodded, his face sort of turning into a frown.

“More than once I took it too far, but I was young then…we both were. And Snape always retaliated… sometimes getting me back better than when I first got him.”

Harry shook his head, that didn’t make it right. He wasn’t saying that Severus was right in attacking back, but Harry detested bullying and it almost made him sick to think that the man in front of him and his father had all been that way. It just seemed so juvenile and immature and it seemed that none of them had done anything to make amends.

“So…you and dad were bullies…”

“Not…really-

-why did you pick on Snape? Or start to, Sirius? I mean…you sound like Malfoy!”

Sirius’s face went cold as he watched Harry stand and shake his head. He never thought that he would have family that actually took pride in being a jerk to those that did not deserve it. He couldn’t see Snape going out of his way to start a war with his father, the man was so closed off…and if what Sirius said was true, he mostly spent his time in books anyway! He was so angry and disgusted that he wasn’t sure he would be able to stay in the same room as Sirius without blowing up.

“Harry-

-I’ve got to go and get Remus…” he hissed. “We’ll be back later.”

Turning on his heel he stormed up the steps as quickly as he could and flopped down on his bed, completely forgetting that Sevvy had already been occupying it. Turning over so that he could look up at the little tyke reading he tried to smile and gently pulled him onto his lap.

“What book are you on, Sevvy?”

“Your Potions Book…” he said with a sigh. “Some of these facts are wrong though…they didn’t do enough research.”

Harry smiled and gently tickled Severus’s sides.

“Well maybe you should write a potions book when you grow up Sevvy…yours would be brilliant.”

Severus turned to Harry with a large smiled and nodded. That’s what he wanted to do when he grew up. He wanted to write books and discover amazing things that would make everyone in the world notice him. He wouldn’t be hiding anymore and have millions of friends that loved and wanted to be around him, just like his Harry did.

“Will you read it Harry?” he asked, closing the book and setting it on the bed.

“Absolutely! I’ll even use it in class to show off how smart my baby brother is!”

Severus’s eyes lit up and he found himself hugging Harry very tight. Harry had called him his brother! He finally had a family member that loved him and wanted something to do with him; someone other than mummy to care for him and keep him safe.

“Well Sevvy,” Harry said gently. “What do you say to us going to the store?”

“I can go too?” Severus asked, his black eyes shimmering with hope.

“Of course…you need some clothes…and I think a couple of books, seeing as you went through all of mine.”

Severus smiled and nodded; the thought of having new books just made him so happy. His mummy only bought him one or two books a year and those were for his Christmas and birthday. If Harry was going to buy him some books of his own, he might be able to get more than just one. He would be polite though, he knew better than to ask. His father said that beggars can’t be choosers and that he should be grateful with what he got…and he was…he was very grateful…but there were just sometimes that he truly wanted a new book…or something other than his spider friends to play with.

“Is Remus going to come with too?” Severus asked, closing Harry’s book and standing from the bed. “Cause he needs some medicine for his boo-boos.”

Harry held his breath for a moment. Remus’s injuries always looked angry, but that was the price paid when it came to having the curse of being a werewolf on one’s head. He really ached for his past teacher and current friend, but he knew that he had to be cautious when it came to discussing this with little Severus…one wrong word or turn of phrase and Remus would be in the very, uncomfortable, position of having to explaining to a four year old why he changes into a doggy at night.

“Well we can buy Remus a present and that should make his boo-boos feel better.”

Scooping the little boy up into his arms he moved the book back to his trunk and moved Severus so that he was straddling his hip. He would never be able to believe how light Sevvy was for his age, however Harry supposed that if someone had held him when he was a child they would have had the same reaction. Harry had always been very skinny and lean, but it was only when he spoke to Hermione did he learn how dangerous that actually was.

They went downstairs and found that Remus was already down there to greet him and he had a shopping bag in his hand. Harry smiled and gently nudged Severus so he could see. Harry knew it was for his little brother, the fact that the bag was winter green with black tissue paper was just a dead giveaway. Severus rested his head on Harry’s shoulder and eyed the bag curiously.

“Harry lookie,” he said gently. “You got a present!”

“Actually Severus,” Remus said warmly. “This present is for you…I hope you like it.”

“I have a present?” Severus gasped, his eyes growing wide. “But…it’s not Christmas…and it’s not my birthday either.”

Remus smiled and shook his head, he never thought that he would see the day Severus Snape had accepted a present. When Christmas had come around while Remus was teaching, he had tried to give Severus a present, just to be friendly and what not…needless to say it was a battle to get the bloody thing into the room! Finally Remus threatened him with Dumbledore and he managed to get Snape to open his gift…which he found his past colleague to actually take great pleasure in…never underestimate the value of a good bottle of muggle scotch.

However, for this present, Remus had to admit that it was fairly easier to go shopping. With Severus being four he knew that it was always safe to buy him toys. And with Severus having horrible nightmares, according to Harry, Remus had settled on something that he would always be able to use as a comfort when Harry could not come to his aid straight away.

“It’s a gift for being such a good little boy,” Remus said smiling. “I hope you like it.”

He handed the bag to Severus and watched as the little boy, gingerly, reached into the bag and felt around. He hoped that Severus didn’t suspect him of foul play; really, Remus did not want to ever hurt this boy. Even as teenagers he regretted not speaking up more when it came to Severus’s abuse.

Severus could feel something soft and plush in the bag…was it a toy? No…that couldn’t be right. Bad boys didn’t get toys…even if Remus said he had been a good boy, he knew that wasn’t true. However, when he pulled the soft, stuffed, animal his eyes widened. It WAS a toy, and it was the most beautiful toy he had ever seen! It was a silver wolf with, beautiful, blue eyes! How had Remus known that he liked wolves? Hugging the toy close he smiled at Remus.

“Do I get to name it too?” he asked, hopefully.

“Of course!” Remus grinned. “He is yours…you may name him whatever you wish.”

Severus had to think of the perfect name for his new, silver, friend. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to name if after a potion ingredient or something in the Latin range. His mother loved Latin, she said it was one of the languages that people took advantage of…but that didn’t help Severus…he could only remember a few words in Latin, and they weren’t very flattering.

“I’m gonna name him…” he paused. “Dittany…that’s mummy’s favorite potion ingredient.”

Harry frowned a bit as he held Severus, he felt so horrible when Severus spoke of his mummy. It wasn’t a jealous feeling, or an angry feeling, it was just a sad feeling. Severus had  clearly loved his mother, he just wished he knew how old he had been when she died, it might explain one of the reasons Snape became so bitter as he grew older.

“That’s a wonderful name Sevvy,” Harry said softly, when he noticed the little boy eyeing him with those black orbs of his. “I’m sure your mummy would love Dittany. Now what do you say to Remus?”

Severus turned to Remus and smiling, hugged his stuffy, and then gave Remus a gently pat on the shoulder as well.

“Thank you Mooney…I love Dittany.”

“You are very welcome, scamp.”

Remus smiled and ruffled the young boy’s hair, he was so happy that the little one loved his toy. Now they could go out shopping and Remus and Harry could splurge on him more. That was the main objective for today, how many stores they can clean out in London before it gets close to dinner time.

Turning to Harry he gently wrapped his arm around him and led them to the door. He did not want to take the Floo to Diagon Alley, especially when most of Severus’s clothes would have to be bought in muggle London. He was sure that Harry would enjoy it regardless, and he had heard that Severus wasn’t very fond of the Floo Network or apparation.

“It’s pretty warm outside, and rainy,” Remus sighed. “But I don’t think we can postpone getting Severus new clothes any longer.”

Harry nodded in agreement and adjusted Severus on his hip, he wasn’t sure he would be able to carry him the entire time they were shopping, but he was sure that Severus would want to explore and look around on his own…and that thought made Harry very nervous…he would never forgive himself if he lost the little boy in his arms. As a matter of fact….Harry wasn’t sure he could imagine his life without Sevvy Snape.