-II-

Severus looked into those blue eyes. "So you think I won't go Dark?"

"Yes, I think so. Poppy and Alastor love you and you will be raised with love this time, Severus. What reason could you have to turn Dark again?"

Severus shrugged but already felt much better. "What does that have to do with my rash?"

"Your rash is caused by emotional stress, Severus. It will last for a few more weeks I fear, but then you will get better. Use the salve whenever you feel the itchiness."

"Will I get this whenever I have stress?" Severus asked, worried.

"No, you won't. Nobody can tell why someone gets it. The only thing that is clear is that it is caused by great emotional stress. Some people are more prone to it than others. Maybe you will never get it again. There is nothing you can do about it besides talking about what bothers you before it is eats you up from inside. Now dress or you will catch a cold as well."

-II-

He would die. Oh, yes, he would. Right here with thick, disgusting mucus in his throat and lungs. Thomas had no pity and did not stop whatever he was doing to make Harry cough up all the mucus that the potion had loosened in his lungs. The potion had tasted like peppermint. A few second after Harry had taken it, he felt like his lungs were filling with water. Thomas had placed a hand on his forehead and another on his chest, and now Harry was hanging over a bucket, coughing his lungs out.

Poppy sat in front of Harry and spoke soothing words to him, but they had no effect on the panicking boy. Harry had no idea how Thomas was doing it, but he was sure the man had two different kind of magic flowing into his body. The hand on his chest made his lungs contract and spasm so all the mucus came up. The hand on Harry's forehead, meanwhile, was applying calming magic.

Calming? That was open to interpretation, but maybe that calming magic was the only reason Harry still could think over his panic. No wonder Poppy had not assured him that it would be painless. Severus would hear from Harry if he survived this torture. His own brother had not warned him about the horrible feeling he had right now. Not painful my arse, Harry thought and already was thinking about which hex he should use on Severus.

Finally, Harry could breathe better and after a few more coughs and spits, he was pulled backwards against Thomas' chest. Harry was totally exhausted, but he needed to tell them what was on his mind. "I hate you," he coughed weakly.

"I know, but you will see why we did it in a few hours. Taking the potion all the time isn't good. The pain will soon ebb and you will feel much better. A few hours' sleep and you will feel ready to take on anything," Thomas said calmly as he let pain-relieving magic flow into the almost limp body of his patient.

Harry had never felt as ill as he did right now. He was looking forward to falling asleep and not feeling any longer. He did not care that they were in Poppy's and Alastor's bedroom, he just wanted to sleep. He sighed, relieved, when Thomas finally placed a hand on his forehead and the world became black.

X-X

Severus spat snow out and tried to wipe the rest of the handful of snow Harry had pushed in his face away with his sleeve. "Hey, that's not fair. I can't defend myself." Severus lifted his bandaged hands for Harry to see.

"I also couldn't defend myself when Thomas tortured me. Painless? Very funny, Severus. It was bloody painful, and you lied to me!" Harry yelled at Severus.

"What did you expect me to tell you? You would have made yourself even sicker if I had told you the truth." Severus looked confused.

"I would have preferred to know what to expect, Sev. You are my brother, and yet you are behaving like one of them. It's you who always insists upon us sticking together against the adults. I didn't give you away when I got wind of your rash, did I?"

"I wanted to help you. You would have been afraid."

Harry looked angry at Severus but could not find words for his anger, so he turned around and left Severus alone by the door. Should his brother wait for the adults alone as he wanted so badly to belong to them and behave like them.

Storming down the small path, not knowing where he was heading to, Harry let the fresh winter air run through his lungs by taking deep breathes. Yes, he felt much better. Thomas had been right, but he would have preferred to still have the cough and potion than to have undergone that torture. The most ironic part was that he still had to take a potion, which tasted worse than the old one. At the moment Harry hated them all, including Severus.

X-X

"What's going on?" Alastor asked when he stepped out of the house with Janus, Thomas, and Dexter. They all were clothed in warm winter coats.

"He's mad at me," Severus muttered unhappily.

"What for?"

"Thomas tortured him, and now he's mad at me. That's exactly why I didn't want to come here," Severus said grumpily, still trying to rid himself of the melting snow on his face.

Janus grabbed his arm and then waved his wand over Severus' face. "Better?"

Severus glared at him but nodded.

"Good. Harry will calm down. I hardly believe he is mad at you because of Thomas. Try to think about it and then go talk with him. Get it out of the way. You need to learn to talk and not just look grumpy and think about how unfair the world is." Janus raised his eyebrow at Severus, who sighed and turned in Harry's direction.

"Go and talk to him. We'll go and get the sleds and then come find you," Alastor said.

With a heavy feeling in his stomach, Severus went after Harry and found him sitting on a bench and angrily throwing snowballs at something that looked like a scarecrow, but it was hard to tell because it was covered with snow.

Uncertain of what to do, Severus just stood there for a moment watching Harry throw another snowball at the snow-covered thing. The snow fell down from its top and revealed a straw head. What should he say to Harry? He was still certain that what he had told Harry was right. He would have been very afraid if he had told him the truth, and Severus knew Poppy's relatives well enough to know that they would not have shown pity on Harry. When they thought something was necessary, they would do it no matter how scared Harry would have been or how much he would have cried and pleaded. Harry would have just been embarrassed after that.

Severus gnawed at his bottom lip and nervously shifted from one foot to the other. Eventually, he made one step in Harry's direction but then stopped again. A snowball hit him in the back as he stared at Harry again. Severus quickly turned and saw Alastor and his uncles standing at a distance. Dexter gestured with his snow-covered gloves as if he was pointing at his watch.

Severus screwed his face and then turned to Harry who now was looking at him, obviously alerted by the snowball that had hit Severus. "What?" Harry asked, still angry.

"Listen, Harry. I'm sorry...no, I'm not sorry. How could I tell you? It wasn't because I wanted to work together with them or because I think I'm older or something. I just knew you would panic and they would force you nevertheless and then you would feel embarrassed. I wanted to make it as easy for you as possible." He let his head hang and only looked up when he could see Harry's boot tips in the snow in front of him.

"Next time, I want you to be honest, okay? I would prefer to know what's coming no matter how hard or bad it is. Please don't be like all the others and only tell me half-truths."

Severus looked up at Harry. "Okay. I still think it was easier for you this way."

"Let me decide what is easier for me, Sev. Believe me; I would have preferred to know. I'm sick of being left in the dark. It hurts even more if it's you."

"Okay, I will try." Severus did the only thing he thought Harry would want now: he held his hand up. "You have to hit it now, if I understand the concept correctly."

Harry laughed and then clapped his hand against Severus'. "Let's go, it seems they are waiting for us." He gestured over to the men.

X-X

Severus squeezed his eyes shut as he pressed his boots deep into the ground and pressed himself against Dexter's chest. The sled was racing down the hill at a speed that could only be achieved by magic. No matter how hard Severus tried to stop, the sled kept going. Harry's excited screams came from far ahead of Severus and Dexter, which meant that Dexter was already slowing the sled down.

"Pick up your feet. I'm already slowing it down." With that, Dexter confirmed Severus' theory.

At least Harry could hold onto the sled. Severus could not because of his bandaged hands. That made him completely reliant on Dexter, who held him tight against his chest while the sled raced down the hill. Janus and Thomas were waiting at the bottom for them.

When Severus and Dexter arrived, Harry jumped excitedly. "Now we can go together, Sev. I can hold you."

"Most definitely not!" Severus said, shocked. Under no circumstances would he leave his life in Harry's hands while he was unable to even lessen his impact in the case of an accident due to his damaged hands.

"Hey, what about us? Two adults can't ride a sled together, so each of us needs one of you to have a go as well. Come on, who will sacrifice himself to ride with me?" Thomas asked.

"Will you speed the sled up like Alastor?" Harry asked, still super hyper.

"I will even make it go faster!"

"Yeah, I'm with you!"

"Fantastic, he's the one who turned your lungs inside out, and you jump into his arms. I had to go on my knees in fr-" A snowball hit him in the chest.

"Stop being grumpy. Let's have a race! You and Janus against Thomas and me. Come on!"

"Definitely not."

"Why? It's fun!"

"Maybe for you."

Harry sighed. "Do you want to go back already?"

"No, I just don't want to break my neck racing. Janus is crazy enough to beat any speed Thomas would dare. Thomas at least has some pity for kids and knows how hard it is to heal many broken bones at once. Janus would be happy to heal any trauma I have from an accident. Mind Healers like riddles, and patients are riddles for them. So-"

"Will you stop talking? What about I take Janus and you take Thomas? We will see who goes faster."

Severus glared at Harry.

Janus chuckled. "I have a better idea. You, Harry, take the snow jump, and I will try the route without it with Severus. Maybe he will want to have a race after another round."

"A jump? Oh, great! Please, Thomas!"

Thomas laughed and then looked at Janus. "Remember what Severus said. You will have to heal the trauma."

"Harry is a tough guy," Janus replied.

"I wasn't talking about him, brother-in-law. I hope you have a lot of free time in your schedule. I'm a horrible patient."

Severus rolled his eyes as Dexter and Alastor laughed, amused. Severus was still occupied when Janus took him by his arm and Apparated him back up the hill.

"Calm down, Severus. I'll apply a Sticking Charm and hold you tight. You like to ride the sled, don't you? I thought I saw a special gleam in your eyes when you arrived at the bottom of the hill. It's just that you don't feel safe because you can't hold on, right?"

"It's forbidden to read people's mind, Janus."

Janus chuckled. "I don't need to read your mind for that. Your body language is much more obvious than it was when you were an adult. Ready to have another ride?"

Severus could hear Harry scream excitedly in the distance and remembered how good it had felt when Dexter slowed down a bit. "Just not too fast, okay?"

"We'll just use the sled's momentum without magic, and you tell me if I should speed up, okay?"

Severus nodded.

The ride was better than the first. Severus got used to it and asked Janus again and again to speed up. After several more rides with Alastor, Thomas, and Janus, Severus even rode with Harry and then he decided to go on the jump route with Alastor.

When they were close to the jump, Severus' heart dropped. "This was a stupid idea."

"It will be fun. I have you safe!" Alastor said and tightened his grip. Severus' scream was ear-piercing, but his shout of glee after they landed was even louder. Alastor felt fantastic. For the first time, he had the feeling his boys were really happy and enjoying their life as kids. Maybe now everything would become better.

X-X

Poppy almost did not recognize her boys when they came back. They both laughed and could not stop telling her what a great afternoon they had with the men. They were two different people from the gloomy-looking boys that had left the house a few hours ago.

After they had changed their clothes, they all sat together playing cards. Alastor helped Severus as the boy was not able to hold his cards due to his bandaged hands. Severus and Harry had never eaten so many sweets at one time. You would not think a whole family of Healers would spoil their guest with so many sweets, sugar-free or not, but Severus and Harry did not complain.

The next morning, Severus had to undergo another healing session, and Thomas and Janus insisted on checking his rash even though it had not changed from the other day. The healing was not painful this time, and Severus was allowed to brew with Dexter after lunch.

"Will you join us, Harry?" Dexter asked at lunch.

Harry looked apologetically at Severus. "I'm not so found of brewing lately, and I hoped I could go to the hill again." Yes, Harry had not shown as much interest in brewing after their fiasco as he had before. Severus, nevertheless, looked surprised and reminded himself to ask Harry if there was a serious problem behind it. Harry had not told him of any problems in Potions and Charlie had not mentioned it. But would he say anything?

"We can go to the hill, Harry," Alastor offered, seeing Severus worry. Charlie had spoken with Alastor and Poppy about Harry's problems in class. They had asked Harry about it and even James had tried to make him talk about it, but it seemed Harry was not ready to talk about his fear of brewing at the moment.

"If you change your mind, the lab is in the cellar. Just ask and I'm sure someone will show you the way," Dexter said before he vanished with Severus into the hall.

X-X

"Harry you can't run away from brewing forever. Charlie is worried. We already talked about it," Alastor said while he and Harry were on their way to the hill.

"I'm not," Harry replied weakly.

"You know Severus got wind of it after your refusal to brew with them. He will ask questions, Harry. Maybe you can open up to him." Alastor really hoped so. Harry had no problems in any of his other classes. He did not dare to brew and checked each step in the process several times before he dared to throw an ingredient into the cauldron. That made him incredibly slow and he had not been able to finish a potion in class.

"Can we stop talking about it? I thought we wanted to have fun." Harry quickened his pace to reach the hill faster.

Alastor sighed. "It was an accident, Harry."

Harry stopped abruptly and turned to Alastor angrily. "I made Severus' life a living hell because of it. He hates being a kid again, and it is my fault, Alastor. I put the wrong ingredients in, not Severus. If I had taken more care, if I had been more serious, he wouldn't be in this situation."

"You wouldn't be in this situation either, Harry. You always seem to forget yourself. Severus will survive and maybe even enjoy being young again. Maybe you did him a favor. He can regain his magic to almost the same extent as before."

"He will never be able to become a Potions Master, Alastor. Do you have any idea how he took that information?I robbed him of his job, of everything he was ever proud of. I ruined his career as a Potions Master!" Harry was screaming now. He had bottled this guilt up for some time and now it spilled out at once.

"Your applicator, Harry. Where is it?"

Harry dug in his cloak pocket and pulled the applicator out. Still angry, he pushed the release button and let the potion flow into his mouth. When the potion kicked in, Harry's anger slowly faded and he felt embarrassed for shouting at Alastor. "I'm sorry, Alastor. I-"

"It's all right, Harry. I'm glad you finally talked about it. Try to talk with Severus. If he doesn't hold you responsible for the accident, then you shouldn't either. You brewed that potion out of love, and you were both in bad condition at the time. It is useless to blame yourself for it. I wish you could see it as a second chance for you and Severus. Especially Severus. What do you think would have become of him had the accident not happened? You have no idea how worried we were about both of you, Harry. I'm certain that this accident was a gift and not a curse. Severus can become a Potions Master again. He just has to accept help. A magic feed isn't so horrible, Harry, and with people at his side who don't make a big deal about it, it can be a normal routine. Nothing more than a few minutes spent sitting close together on the couch while maybe talking about the day or a good glass of wine."

"Wine?" Harry looked interested.

"When he and you are of age, young man. We were talking about the future. Severus can't become a Potions Master before he has finished school, can he?"

Harry groaned. "Maybe I will join them in the lab when we get back, but now I want to have fun, Alastor."

Alastor chuckled. "All right, all right!"