-II-

Severus groaned. "I don't want to see the dental Healer."

"Ah, I see. We were wondering about your sudden change in behavior concerning the dental Healer. So it was all to impress Harry?"

Severus looked down. "He was worried, and I don't want to worry him more. I don't want to look weak."

"I know you were scared before your last appointment with Healer Wright and it wasn't painless, but he was kind and you felt much better afterward. Right?"

"Yes, but-"

"Ah, no, Severus. No 'buts' right now. You felt better afterward. This time, the worst that can happen is that you might have a cavity. Removing it doesn't hurt as much as healing an inflamed tooth. I promise you will hardly notice any pain, Severus. You've had so much more pain than this. You might not even have any cavities. Stop worrying. If you want, one of us will come with you into the examination room."

"I'm old enough, I can do it alone," Severus said, not very convincing.

"We will see tomorrow, but now off to bed."

-II-

"Why can't we stay here?" Severus protested while they sat at breakfast on Saturday. Not only did he have to see the dental Healer today, but Poppy also had to tell him that he and Harry would be staying at the Burrow for the next weekend. All this before he was really awake and had his full cup of hot chocolate. Not to mention that he had only around three hours of sleep last night. All in all, the whole day was crap even though it had just started.

At least Harry was not looking as cheerful as he normally would have at the mention of staying at the Burrow. The ear to ear smile that statement would have normally caused would have increased Severus' headache and bad mood. Now he was worried about Harry, which made him not think about his own problems.

"Alastor and I will be off at conferences; we agreed to attend before we knew we would be responsible for two teenagers. I don't want you to stay alone," Poppy explained, refilling Severus' cup to the rim with hot chocolate.

"But why can't we stay with our godfathers? That's what they are for, to take over when you aren't able to," Severus argued.

"Kingsley is a busy man, and Remus can't take you two for the whole weekend. It's close to the full moon, and he needs rest."

Severus groaned. "I'm all right. Why don't you just send Harry to the Weasleys and let me stay here? I can take care of myself, and Radgarid and Hamid will also be here."

"No, they won't. They will join me at my conference. They got a request to speak as well when the organizer got wind of them staying here with us," Alastor explained and looked seriously over to Severus. It was the first warning, and Severus knew it.

"But the Weasleys are-"

"I would be cautious of what you say now, Severus. Last warning or you can talk with the corner because we would like to enjoy our breakfast and not listen to your complaints about a totally adequate way to spend your next weekend in good care." That was the second and last warning. Severus knew that, but he could not help but mutter his opinion anyway.

"'Adequate way.' Maybe for Harry, but not for me. And I'm no baby."

"Corner! Now!"

"But-"

"Severus, I warned you. There is no more discussion about your stay at the Burrow next weekend and about your punishment."

"But that's for babies," Severus protested, but nevertheless moved to the corner Alastor was pointing at.

"Then don't behave like one. Molly and Arthur know exactly how to take care of teenage boys, and they can handle your physical problems as well as Harry's. Under no circumstances will we leave you here alone."

"Anyone else can stay. It's only because we aren't allowed to sleep in our dorms that we are treated like babies," Severus muttered grumpily.

"We can go in your room to discuss this further if you don't stop that muttering, Severus." That definitely was the last warning before Severus' bum would be very, very sorry, and so he kept his mouth shut. Not even Severus was be stupid enough to go on now.

After five minutes, Poppy looked at her husband. "Alastor we need to leave in forty minutes, and they need to clean their teeth thoroughly before we leave."

"Come over here, Severus, and eat your breakfast," Alastor instructed the boy in the corner.

Severus quickly shuffled over to the table and finished his breakfast without complaining anymore. Not that he would ever mention it openly, but the corner punishment worked wonders on him. He often lost his temper, but time in the corner eased his anger and he started to think about what had brought him there. Most of the time, he realized that he was behaving stupidly or had overreacted. A long talk often followed after time in the corner, but today there was no time for it. Severus, nevertheless, had no doubt that it was being delayed for the time being.

Poppy had cast a Cleaning Spell on their teeth before the brushing, but they were not very effective on teeth. So Poppy instructed them to brush their teeth thoroughly. She had not meant for the boys to scrub their gums off in an attempt to get rid of whatever could cause the dental Healer to do more than just a check-up. When they did not come out of the bathroom for more than fifteen minutes, Poppy came to get them. Seeing them still with their toothbrushes in their mouth and the bloody spit in the sink made her groan. "If I had known you two would try to get rid of your teeth by scrubbing them away, I wouldn't have left you alone." She grabbed the toothbrushes out of their hands and waved her wand to clean their gums. "Rinse you mouths and let me see the damage."

"What's going on? We need to leave." Alastor poked his head into the bathroom.

"It seems they've brushed their teeth-or should I say their gums-for over fifteen minutes. Now Healer Wright will definitely have something to work on."

"What?" Harry asked, shocked. "I thought we needed to brush that long because Severus was doing it." He looked confused from Severus to Poppy and Alastor.

Severus blushed and looked down.

"Come over here and let me see." Poppy waved both boys closer and lit her wand. She shook her head after inspecting their mouths. "I will leave it for Healer Wright to decide what to do."

X-X

Alastor never lifted his hand from Severus' neck. What did he think his charge would do? Run? Maybe. At least Severus had it in his mind a few times. Due to Alastor's precaution, they arrived at Healer Wright's practice without any incident. Unfortunately, Harry had gone from pale to white and was close to crying.

Severus did not feel any better and pushed himself closer to Alastor. The hand on his neck slid around him and hugged him. "Stop worrying, Severus. We talked about this last night."

Poppy was busy drying Harry's tears. His face was white with red splotches of embarrassment. At least they were alone in the waiting area until a friendly nurse came into the room. She stopped after taking a look at both boys and quickly made a step back into the room she had just emerged from. One half of her body was still outside. No sound was to be heard, so there must have been a Silencing Charm on the room. When the nurse came over to them, she smiled. "How are you? You look a bit worried." She could not decide which to turn to. She finally chose Harry as he was turning even paler; she feared he would faint any minute. He was hyperventilating, and Poppy was asking him to use his applicator, but Harry's hands did not move out of his pockets.

"Hello," a man with a slight butterbeer belly said when he emerged from the examination room the nurse had come from.

Severus threw one look at the doctor and survival mode kicked in. He quickly ducked under Alastor's arm and made for the door. He could hear Alastor curse behind him, and then he was pulled backwards by an invisible force until he was back in Alastor's strong grip. "Calm down, Severus!"

"I'm all right. My teeth are okay," Severus said, desperate as he tried to wriggle out of Alastor's arms. He could hear Healer Wright address Alastor and send him into another examination room with the friendly nurse. When the door was shut, all sounds from outside were gone. Severus was panicking now. The horrible pain from his infected tooth came back to his mind. That was not one of the memories that Radgarid had locked, so all the emotions and the feelings were attached to the memory.

"Severus? Come on, calm down and look at me," the nurse said while Alastor tried to hold Severus still. Severus' panicking glance fell on the nurse who smiled at him. "Nothing is happening now, Severus. You can calm down, and we can talk about what you are afraid of."

Severus shook his head and tried to turn to look at Alastor. "Please, I swear I will brush my teeth five times a day. Just let us go. Poppy can check my teeth or James or Maria."

"Or Healer Wright, as he is the expert, Severus," Alastor said, destroying any hope Severus had of getting Alastor to cancel the appointment.

"Severus, come over here. Tell me what's so scary?" the nurse asked.

Knowing that Alastor would not let him leave, Severus went over to the woman, defeated. He told her about his last appointment with Healer Wright, and she assured him just like Alastor that it would very unlikely that he would have an infected tooth now, and so it would not hurt like that again. Severus was not convinced, and so he paled again after twenty minutes when Healer Wright came into the room.

X-X

A heavy hand was lying on Harry's shoulder when the world came into focus again. "You had a panic attack. Why don't you tell me what caused it? I'm Healer Wright," said the man to which the hand on his shoulder belonged.

Whatever the man had given him made Harry relaxed and his tongue lose. He told the Healer about his last memory of a dentist.

Poppy gasped, shocked, beside him, but the Healer quickly drew Harry's attention back to him when he assured him that the same thing would not happen here and that he would explain every single step of the examination to Harry in advance. He also promised that Poppy would stay at his side to hold his hand in support. Harry was still scared, but he let the Healer guide him over to a big chair with a big light ball floating over it.

First, the Healer examined his jaw by running his hand and then his wand over it. Then he asked Harry to open his mouth. "Your teeth are a bit uneven. We need to check regularly if they will be changing. If your back teeth move further to the front your eye tooth will be shoved out further. That could cause pressure pain. For now, I will just wait and watch. If necessary, we can apply a Pressure Spell in the right direction later. He still has plenty of time until his jaw stops growing. If you feel pressure or pain in your jaw or have a lot of headaches, let me or your guardians know. Relax your jaw."

Harry was happy that he was allowed to relax and close his mouth again. The Healer explained that he would scan each tooth with his wand for any cavities or infection. Until now he had not mentioned Harry's burning gums. Maybe it wasn't so bad.

Harry was terribly nervous through the whole process of the scanning. Poppy's hand must have been one big bruise by the time the Healer was finally finished, but she did not complain.

"No cavities, Harry. Your teeth are healthy. There was no reason to worry so much or brush your gums so hard. I will apply an antiseptic healing salve to them that will taste very bitter, but it will reduce the sting. It should cool and soothe your gums."

The Healer was right about the salve, and Harry screwed his face. The bitter taste was horrible.

"You need to rinse your mouth with that potion for the next two days after each meal or snack. It will prevent your gums from getting infected." Harry took the vial, but Poppy snatched it out of his hand and placed it in her pocket. After that, a lecture on the proper cleaning of teeth followed. Brushing being much more effective than Cleaning Spells and the necessity of regular check-ups twice a year was included. With a Mediwitch as your mother, the lecture was not really necessary, but it seemed to be standard. Harry nodded in understanding but also stated that he knew all this from Poppy. "Better to hear it once too much than not, Harry. We are finished now. You can wait outside for your brother."

Harry nodded and was happy to be outside, even though the Healer had been very kind and nothing had hurt. Poppy had thought about bringing a deck of cards, and they played until a pale Severus stepped out of the examination room.

X-X

"Hello, Severus," Healer Wright said when he stepped into the room. "How are you? Did you calm down a bit?"

Severus had paled even more and the nurse, Claudia, took his hand.

"Unfortunately, we weren't successful in convincing Severus that you won't continue the torture he recalled from his last meeting with you."

"Ah, I feared you would remember that, Severus." Healer Wright sat down on a stool with wheels and rolled closer to Severus. "Do you have any toothaches at the moment?"

Severus frantically shook his head. Would the Healer not examine him now? That would be too good to be true.

"I thought so. Do you remember how you felt the last time you came here?"

Severus paled again. The little color that had come back to his face at the hope of being released without an examination was gone again. "It hurt a lot, and you made it hurt even more."

"But afterwards it was getting better, right? Your infection was gone. Right now, you are not in pain, so it is very unlikely that you have an infected tooth. I won't hurt you like last time. No pain killer works as effectively as to soothe the pain of an infected tooth. Otherwise you wouldn't have come here the last time."

"But what if you find one?"

"Then we need to heal it, and Mr. Moody here will hold your hand. It will be all right, Severus. Why don't we check if there is even something to worry about before we talk about how to go on? I promise to not do anything without telling you beforehand. And in case Harry told you his horrible story of his last dentist meeting, I won't restrain you to the chair nor will your guardian."

Severus swallowed. He could feel Alastor's questioning glance but avoided it.

"Come on. Just sit down on the chair, and I will start by examining your jaw."

Sighing in defeat, Severus sat down on the examination chair.

"So was it that bad?" Healer Wright asked after he had declared that everything was all right with Severus' teeth and jaw and had applied the same salve on Severus' gum as he had done on Harry's.

Severus shrugged. "But it could have been worse if you found something."

"You will come in for regular check-ups now, and that will guarantee that you will not develop an infection as you had before. Even if you get a cavity, it will only be in an early stage, and that means you will hardly feel anything when I heal it. There is no need to worry as much as you did today."

Severus nodded. It made sense, but he still wished to be out of the practice as fast as possible.

"Good," Healer Wright said to Severus and then turned to Alastor. "There is nothing to worry about. I will send my report to the Healers Smith and Meyers. Everything is according to their current age. We only need to watch out for Harry's teeth location and act if it gets worse, but even if they move a bit, it's no big deal. I'll see the boys in half a year for their next check-up."

X-X

"Please, Alastor!"

"Severus, we don't know if Kingsley has time, and I will be busy for at least two hours."

"I will be good. I promise!"

Alastor groaned. "What about your homework?"

"I'm already done," Severus lied.

"Severus, what did I tell you about lying? You just came back from your class thirty minutes ago."

Severus groaned. "Sorry. But I promise I will do it as soon as we are back."

"Fine," Alastor gave in. "Get ready. We're leaving in ten minutes."

X-X

"I will go straight to Kingsley, and if he has no time, I will go to Tonks, and if she has no time, I will go to Arthur. I got it, Alastor." Severus rolled his eyes when Alastor looked sternly at him. He sighed, relieved, when Alastor finally left for his meeting.

Severus did not like the Ministry at all, but he had his wand and nobody could boss him around like in the first days of his de-aging. He planned to stay far away from the Department of Magical Accidents and Damages. Kingsley's office was at the top of the building, so Severus headed for one of the elevators. It was crowded, and he could hardly see anything. He was relieved after the door opened for the last time before his stop, he could breathe freely again because he was alone in the elevator now.

"Minister Shacklebolt is not in his office, Mr. Moody. Please come back in forty minutes. I will tell him that you wanted to see him as soon as he is back," Clara, the friendly secretary, said.

"Okay, I will be back then." Stepping into the elevator again cost him quite some willpower. At least he only had to survive three stops. The Auror Department was organized as always. It was completely different from the rest of the Ministry.

"In trouble again, Severus?" Minos, the old Auror who had caught Severus the day he had stolen the Prophet, asked when he met him in the hall.

"No, I wanted to see Kings-Minister Shacklebolt, but he has no time. Alastor told me to go to Tonks if he isn't there. He doesn't want me to run around on my own for too long." Severus pulled a face. As if he was a baby.

"And he is totally right, my boy. Many unkind persons run around her. I'm surprised he let you go alone at all. Unfortunately, I need to tell you that Tonks isn't here as well. She is on duty outside. Did Alastor give you another location to wait in case she isn't available?" He already knew the answer as he had worked long enough with Alastor. The man did not take any chances. He would have given Severus straight instructions, but he wanted to see if the boy had learned his lesson about lying.

Severus looked down. He definitely did not want to spend the next half an hour with Arthur. It was bad enough that he would see him the whole weekend.

"Still with me, boy?" Minos asked.

Severus' head snapped up. "Can't I just wait in front of her office?"

"Was that the instruction Alastor gave you?"

"No," Severus replied grumpily.

"So you want to get in trouble with him?"

"No."

"Then I would suggest you tell me where he wanted you to go."

"It will only be thirty minutes until Kingsley comes back."

"So it will be only thirty minutes you have to stay with-?"

Severus sighed. "Arthur Weasley."

Minos chuckled. "I better take you there myself. I have free time now."