When Lee and Michael, who was trying his best to hang on to a wailing and struggling Thomas, has dusted themselves down they found themselves in front of a strange man with twinkling blue eyes and a long grey beard.

They were in an even stranger office. Lee could only gawp around in wonder at the various objects; the moving, muttering pictures of what seemed, from their long robes and pointed hats, to be wizards observing them from the walls; the proud, magnificent, red bird standing and smiling at him from a shining silver perch above a mound of ashes; the deep star-studded bowls of coloured boiled sweets; ones which also glittered and steamed, giving off such a pleasant mix of aromas that it made Lee’s stomach roar with hunger. Finally, the four shining shields on the wall decorated with different coloured metals and jewels with an animal on each; a snake, a lion, some kind of bird and a badger.

‘It’s not much but its mine,’ Dumbledore said to Lee with a smile, nodding first to Alastor and then Tonks who were standing on each side of the boys.

‘Its … Its …magic!’ Lee said as one of the paintings pointed at him and his brother, whispering furiously to the lady next to him.

‘Quite,’ Dumbledore said. ‘And much more pleasant I suppose than the quarters you have till now been occupying in Lucius’ dungeons. I see that the rescue went to plan.’

‘Just about,’ Alastor nodded. ‘The girl here lost a finger.’

‘A worthy sacrifice, Nymphadora,’ Dumbledore said; ‘and one that will be easy to cover up in due course.’ Nymphadora flushed with pleasure – her hair turning a bright shade of pink.

‘Lucius?’ Michael said, his eyes narrowing, as he tried to calm a still-shrieking Thomas. ‘Is that the geezer what took us?’

Dumbledore looked confused only for a moment. ‘Oh you mean your kidnapper?’

Michael nodded.

‘Yes that was him.’

‘He could do tricks,’ Lee said. ‘He had a wand. He made me whole body hurt just by pointing it at me and he …’

‘Shush,’ Michael said sharply, stopping his brother’s rambling. He looked at Dumbledore suspiciously. ‘Who are you?’ he said. ‘Where have you got us now?’ He fingered the wand that the fairy had given him. ‘We want to go home.’

Dumbledore sat back in his chair and looked at Michael for a few moments. He could see from the way he was with his brothers that he was a kind and sensible boy. He was obviously suspicious that they had been taken from one prison to another and no-one could blame him for that – it must have been a horrendous experience. Even worse, as Dumbledore had expected, Lucius had already carried out some kind of experiment on the youngest child. Dumbledore’s eyes clouded slightly as he looked at the distraught toddler. He stroked his beard thoughtfully.

‘Have a lemon drop,’ he said at last. Lee went to reach for a sweet but Michael grabbed his arm to stop him – which was very difficult with Thomas still wriggling around.

‘Don’t trust him,’ he said. Lee pulled his hand back as though he had been burned.

‘Nymphadora, why don’t you take the little one to the hospital wing whilst I have a talk to Michael and Lee?’ Dumbledore said.

‘Of course,’ Nymphadora said, holding her arms out for the toddler.

Michael hugged his brother closely to him. ‘You aren’t taking my brother anywhere. You hear me? You aren’t having him.’ As he spoke he drew his wand with his free arm, though unlike the last time no words came easily into his mind.

‘Don’t be stupid, boy,’ Alastor said. ‘We’re trying to help you. It was Lucius that was trying to hurt you.’

Dumbledore held his hand up. ‘It’s okay Alastor. Michael has every right to be suspicious.’

‘How do you know my name?’ Michael demanded, still pointing his wand in the headmaster’s direction.

‘I know many things about both you and your brothers,’ Dumbledore said. ‘I know that you were taken by Lucius exactly two weeks, three days and seven hours ago when you were playing truant from school. I know that in those weeks you have all suffered greatly at the hands of your captor. I know that you must be very frightened and that you are – quite rightly – wary of trusting us.’

‘I’m not scared of you!’ Michael said, stepping in front of Lee.

‘Michael,’ Dumbledore said kindly, ‘I give you my word that me and my friends,’ he gestured to Alastor and Tonks, ‘will not harm you. In fact the opposite is true; we mean to reunite you with your mother and father and your family as soon as possible.’

Michael watched Dumbledore very carefully as he spoke in his calm, gentle tone. There was something in his voce and his pale eyes that inspired confidence; something that gave Michael a feeling deep down inside that he could trust him.

‘You can get us back to our Muvver?’ he said slowly.

Dumbledore nodded. ‘I give you my word – and my word is something I have never gone back on in the one-hundred and fifty years, four months and seventeen days I have been alive. Lee giggled in spite of himself. ‘We have brought you here, to Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry, simply as a stop gap between our world and yours.’

‘School?’ Lee said, his eyes wide. ‘What you mean kids come here to learn how to use magic?’

‘But of course,’ Dumbledore said. ‘Just as you go to school to learn about muggle things.’

‘Muggle?’ Lee said confused.

‘Non-magic,’ Dumbledore explained. ‘But there will be plenty of time for explanations later; I am sure you have many questions to ask. What is important first is to have you checked over in our hospital wing. The state of Thomas, of course, does complicate things a bit.’

Michael looked down at his brother. ‘We wondered at first if it was really him. The evil …,’ he searched for a less offensive word from the one he intended, ‘…man, just dumped him down without a dicky-bird. But see I was nearly four when he was born. I think I knew it was him all along really – I couldn’t mistake that screeching anywhere. He’s always been a noisy baby. Me Mum reckons he takes after me Grandad.’ He looked up at Dumbledore. ‘Can’t you change him back? Using magic I mean.’

‘I’m afraid it’s not that simple,’ Dumbledore said. ‘The dark magic used on your brother is very powerful. In fact we have another child – a student from this school – in the same predicament as we speak. Lucius belongs to a group of Dark Wizards called Death Eaters – you know what dark means?’

‘Bad,’ Lee said.

‘Yes I suppose that is one way of describing it.’

‘Damn evil monsters would be another,’ Alastor muttered.

‘In any case,’ Dumbledore interrupted, ‘they are working with a very powerful wizard who must have some use for a spell that will turn an older person back to an infant. I believe that Lucius was testing this spell on young Thomas.’

‘But does that mean … does that mean Tommy’s going to be like that for ever?’ Lee said aghast.

‘Lets hope not,’ Dumbledore smiled. ‘The magic is certainly powerful, but I still have a few “tricks” up my sleeve.’

Michael could believe it. The fire in the wizard’s eyes when he spoke about these Death Eaters told him that he would definitely not be a man to cross.

‘Tommy, Tommy,’ Thomas yelled, stopping crying for a moment. He pulled at a handful of Michael’s hair. All this talking was upsetting him. He was hungry and tired and wanted to run around a bit. He had just learned to walk. He bucked against Michael. ‘Down, down!!!’

‘I think a hot meal is also in order,’ Dumbledore said, ‘and perhaps a spot of exercise for young Thomas. Now if you don’t want to leave your brother with Nymphadora, then perhaps you could all go down together to the hospital wing. Madame Pomfrey will see you all have a warm bed for the night – I don’t think it wise to do any more till the morning. You are safe here in the castle for now.’

‘I suppose,’ Michael said as Lee yawned. He really did want to trust the people who seemed to have rescued them, and, being wise, he realised that he really had no other choice. Besides which the thought of real food and an actual bed and not wet stone floor to sleep on was too tempting. He put Tommy on his feet. ‘Come on then, you. I’m not lugging you about all day. Let’s see if you can put those chubby legs to good use.’

In response, Tommy kicked out at his brother and then raced off through the office towards the gargoyle that guarded Dumbledore’s end of the spiral staircase. Michael and Lee followed him, led by Tonks.

Dumbledore beckoned Alastor towards him.

‘Make sure Nymphadora stays with the children, Alastor. And then would you please return to headquarters? If Severus has been unsuccessful then we need to be prepared.

‘No word then yet, is there?’ Alastor said.

Dumbledore pressed his fingertips together. ‘No.’

‘Well that doesn’t mean anything,’ Alastor said, slightly uncomfortable at the look of sadness on his old friend’s face. ‘You know Snape – he’s as slippery as a two-headed bog eel. If anyone can pull it off, he can.’

‘I have every faith in Severus,’ Dumbledore said. ‘However, I think that perhaps Lucius will not be one to forget easily what he will no doubt see as a serious defeat to his pride. There may be troubling times to come – and if the Order are divided …’ He trailed off, apparently finishing the sentence in his mind.

‘Divided?’ Alastor said. ‘I don’t understand.’

Dumbledore smiled. ‘Ignore me, I am perhaps becoming brooding in my old age. The Order will no doubt stand together as it has always done. Now there is work to be done.’

Alastor knew he was being dismissed. He also felt that Dumbledore wasn’t being strictly truthful. As he was preparing to apparate, this feeling was confounded as the elder wizard said calmly, ‘Watch out for Severus for me,’ before Alastor disappeared into the fire in a cloud of green smoke.

Later that evening there was another apparation – this time to Grimmauld Place. Snape had decided that it would not be wise to head straight from Spinners End to Hogwarts because he didn’t know exactly what Lucius’ true intentions were. Though he had made the unbreakable vow not to relate the nights’ events to the Dark Lord, Snape would not put it beyond him to try some other means to get his revenge. Though he did not relish the thought of hiding away in Grimmauld Place, he felt it the safest option for the time being. He did not want to put any of the staff or students at Hogwarts in unnecessary danger.

The other problem was of course Draco. Lucius had not yet seemed to put two and two together, or if he did he had hidden it well. There would most likely come a time, however, when he would perhaps question whether the children’s detection started with his own son, and what Draco had seen in his mind. Snape made up his mind to request that Dumbledore put as much magical protection around Draco as there was around Potter. He would also create his own wards to guard the Slytherin dormitories first thing in the morning.

Snape decided to make himself another fire-whiskey before he flooed Dumbledore for news about the children. He had got the taste for it now and he found that it was helping the slight shake that remained in his bones. As he drained the glass, however, the door to the kitchen clattered open behind him.

‘Well, well, well,’ Sirius said, ‘turning to drink now are we? What’s the matter, Snape, the meeting with your dearest friend not go to plan?’

Snape placed the glass down heavily on the counter and turned round. Sirius stood opposite him in a jet black dressing gown; his hair wild and his dark eyes flashing. His cheeks were flushed and there was an ever-so-slight slur to his tone. Snape realised that he had probably been after the fire-whiskey himself.

‘Answer me,’ Sirius said. ‘You’re not dead so you must have been successful – or unsuccessful depending on what view-point you take.’

‘I haven’t got time for this Black,’ Snape said curtly. ‘I have a report to make to Dumbledore. Some of us do have duties to attend to …’

‘What are you doing in my house then?’ Sirius said. ‘I don’t remember inviting you, nor do I remember offering you my fire-whiskey.’

‘This house is the Order’s headquarters now, Black. I don’t need your permission to be in it.’

Sirius took a step forward. ‘It’s still my house.’

‘Well of course I understand your need to feel like you’re contributing something,’ Snape said in a bored tone. ‘However, I think you’ll find that if you try and eject me from it then some of the more senior members of the Order won’t be impressed. You don’t want the Headmaster to think you’ve been disobedient again now do you? From what I’ve heard he’s quite at the end of his tether with you already.’

Snape sneered as he spoke, and Sirius started. His adversary had hit a nerve just as he had intended. Sirius was always on edge recently around the other Order members – even Remus. He was well aware that since his expedition to the park, the others had been keeping a close eye on him. They saw him as a rogue bludger on the Quidditch pitch. The problem was that the more they saw him like that, the worse he became. He had been snapping at everyone and anyone recently. His confinement to the house was making him regress to the Azkaban temperament that he had managed to shake off on the run with Buckbeak. He was beginning to need fire whiskey just to get through the day; it seemed to help him escape the claustrophobic feeling of the four walls for a few hours. But of course, even his drinking was making the others more wary and concerned. There was always people passing in and out of headquarters and he could never get any privacy.

He knew really that he should be pleased to see Snape - it meant that the mission had probably been successful and the children would have been rescued – but he couldn’t find it in himself. All it served to remind him of was his own redundancy. He felt that he was the one who should be fighting at the front line for the order like the last time Voldemort had waged war on the magical world. Instead it was his arch-enemy who was risking life and limb; the man who he suspected had been the cause of Lily and James’ death – though he had never had this confirmed by Dumbledore.

‘Speechless for a change, Black? My, my how things have changed. What has happened to that die-hard attitude you used to have?’ In his taunting, Snape unwittingly voiced Sirius’ thoughts. ‘You were the one who was going to conquer the Dark Lord – isn’t that what you used to say? It does seem like you’ve rather lost your nerve.’

Sirius hand clenched round his wand. It took every inch of his strength to prevent himself from throwing himself and several unpleasant curses at Snape. In fact the only reason he could prevent himself was because he knew that it was what the other man wanted. He wanted him to blot his copy-book once and for all with Dumbledore.

‘Go on,’ Black,’ Snape said, something inside him seemingly pushing him to go on. ‘Do it. Give me reason. I could finish you like I have finished others.’

Both men appeared shocked at these words. Snape wondered quite at what he was suggesting even as he felt himself mean what he said. He didn’t know whether it was his meeting with Lucius and the taking of the unbreakable vow that had caused it, but he felt something that he hadn’t felt in a long time – the pull of a dark sorcery teasing him closer. His head as clouded with hate and curses formed at his lips. Worse, he didn’t shrink from them. If anything he was filled with excitement – a feeling of power even.

‘What others Snape?’ Sirius said, his own wand now ready for action. ‘Innocent witches and wizards? Muggles?’ It was his turn to taunt as Snape looked uncertainly at him.

‘Look at you – you haven’t changed a bit. You are standing there talking about things that you have supposedly renounced and they excite you. You make me sick. Well go on then, do it – I dare you to do it. For I promise you this, I won’t go down without taking you with me. I owe Lily and James that much.’

Snape forced his wand back down to his side, his breath taken from him as though he had been winded at the mention of Potter’s parents. The sinister feelings left him as quickly as they had come. His breath was now shallow and he noticed the biting cold of the kitchen for the first time; the perspiration that had formed on his skin chilling him.

‘You pushed me too far, Black,’ he said at last.

Sirius pulled back his shoulders, now celebrating a victory. ‘I’ll be keeping my eye on you, Snivellus,’ he said. ‘You’ll trip yourself up again – and when you do I’ll expose you.’

Without another word, he turned on his heel and left. Wearily now, Snape picked up the fire-whiskey and poured himself another glass. Despite finishing the rest of the bottle, however, he could not again still the shake in his hand.

When Harry woke, he was surprised to find that it had been the screaming of a baby that had woke him up. Thomas actually wasn’t really a baby anymore – the spell ageing him sporadically as it had done Harry on several occasions. Madame Pomfrey had put Thomas’ age at twenty months the night before, which made him only just under a year younger than Harry. But he was smaller than Harry, had a bottle nestled under his arm and was in a cot so Harry immediately recognised him as a baby.

Harry had spent the night under Pomfrey’s care in the empty hospital wing, Snape being “away” somewhere and Hermione having to return to her dormitory after tea time. He hadn’t been very pleased about this turn of events. He liked his own bed, and liked the routine of bath-time and story-time with Nape. Pomfrey, however, had managed to keep him distracted enough with a game of exploding snap that he hadn’t really had time to think about it. Grown-up were very tricky sometimes.

Now though, he didn’t like it again. The screaming was getting on his nerves. Only silly babies cried, he thought - conveniently forgetting how he had bawled and carried on the day before when he had lost a game of snap. He sat up in his bed and peered into the cot.

‘Shut-up,’ he said sticking his fingers in his ears. ‘Shut-up, BE QUIET!’

Thomas glanced at the boy in the bed next to him for a second, but then, finding that it was another stranger, he began to cry again. He felt hopeless. For the first time in days his stomach felt full and he was clean and dry, but he was on his own – without Mikey and Lee-Lee – and he didn’t like it. He flipped over onto his stomach and beat his fists into the mattress, kicking the soft, warm blanket off. Where was he? First he had been in a dark, coldy place – now here. What had happened to his Mamma? He hadn’t seen her for ages. It was all so very unfair.

Harry held his hands firmly over his ears as the screaming got louder. After what seemed like ages, Pomfrey finally appeared.

‘Dear, dear,’ she said. ‘What’s all that fuss about?’ She bent down and hoisted Thomas up into her arms.

‘He’s bad!’ Harry said, sitting up.

‘No dear,’ Madame Pomfrey said. ‘He’s probably just hungry or missing his brothers.’ She jiggled the small child up and down, patting his back and whispering soothing words until he settled a bit. Harry pouted. He felt like it had been a long time since someone had shown him that much attention. Snape was always telling him that he was just “acting up” when he screamed.

‘There, there,’ she said, handing Thomas the bottle from his cot. ‘We’ll get you dressed and then you can go and see your brothers.’

‘Me?’ Harry said.

‘I’ll be back for you in a jiffy,’ Madame Pomfrey said.

‘Nape,’ Harry said.

‘Later, Harry, later.’

‘Where’s Nape gone?’

‘Don’t bother me with that now dear,’ she said. ‘Just you sit there quietly and look at one of your books until I get back to dress you, there’s a big boy.’ She pointed a wand at the bedside table. ‘Here’s a tumbler of milk and a few grapes to keep you going,’ she said as the food and drink instantly appeared.

Immediately Harry’s face lit up. If she was going then he could go on a little wander of his own. He got out of bed and stood coyly waiting for her to disappear. As Madame Pomfrey walked away, a grizzly Thomas settled on her hip, however, she turned round at the last minute, clapping her forehead with her free hand.

‘I almost forgot.’ She muttered a spell casting a child-proof bubble in a circle round Harry and his toys.

It was a new grown-up trick. Harry realised what it was immediately, because she had done it the day before when she’d been called away on an emergency to a Ravenclaw pillow fight that had turned nasty.

‘No!’ Harry said, running up to the bubble that surrounded him. He punched at it with his hands, but the bubble gently pushed him back.

‘It’s just to keep you out of mischief till I get back,’ Pomfrey said. ‘I won’t be long.’

Alone, Harry sat crossed legged, a frown on his face and his arms folded in a sulk. He didn’t like the fact that there was this new baby that got dressed before he did and made lots of noise and probably wore a nappy in the day and at night and didn’t even have to use the stupid potty.

His mood didn’t get any better when, at breakfast, Pomfrey sat the baby on her knee to feed him, whilst Harry was given a spoon and a bowl of cereal and expected to just get on with it. Nor was he very amused when she set them both down to play and Tom kept pulling his hair and pushing him over.

‘He’s littler than you,’ Pomfrey chided when Harry pushed him back and he fell on his head and started to cry. ‘He doesn’t understand.’

Once she had settled Thomas back down by giving him a biscuit, she took Harry by the wrist and sat him in the corner. ‘Naughty boys don’t get to play,’ she said. ‘You can stay there for a few minutes and think about what you’ve done.’

Harry was very put out and stuck his bottom lip out as far as it would go. Thomas, on the other hand, found it hilarious. He had cheered up since he had been given toys to play with and he clapped and giggled at Harry.

‘Shut-up stupid!’ Harry said.

‘That’s not very nice, Harry,’ Pomfrey said. ‘I can’t think why Severus hasn’t been teaching you better manners. No biscuit for you.’

All in all, it was a very bad morning for Harry. It didn’t get any better when Hermy-onee came to pick him up instead of Nape. Poor Harry began to wonder if perhaps this new baby was going to replace him.

‘Say bye-bye to Harry,’ Pomfrey said to Thomas.

‘Bye-bye Hawwy,’ Thomas managed.

‘Humph!’ Harry said, turning away from the drooling baby in disgust.

As Hermione led Harry from the room he was beginning to wonder whether he was ever going to see the batman again.