"Mr. Snape Harry had an accident and he’s too scared to tell you," Hermione said sleepily, poking my face to wake me.

"He did?" I asked groggily, sitting up.

"Uh huh," she said wearily, taking my hand and leading me to their room.

I was probably quite a sight, considering my hair was everywhere and I was wearing the lime green pyjamas with cauldrons on them that Albus gave me for Christmas last year. I normally avoid wearing them at costs, but seeing as during holidays the house elves were quite busy washing all the bedding from the student dormitories, I didn’t have another pair or my dressing gown. And lucky for me both children would remember this when they were re-aged. Oh joy.

"Thanks for telling me Hermione, you can go back to sleep," I told the girl.

"You’re welcome. He’s under his bed by the way," she said before toddling back to her own bed and burying herself under the covers.

I walked over to Harry’s bed; sure enough there was a wet stain on the sheets. I bent over to look underneath the bed. There I found Harry, lying on his back, crying and hugging Rexy.

"Please come out Harry," I said quietly. "It’s ok, I’m not mad."

"You’re just trying to trick me so I’ll come out and you can lock me in the cupboard," Harry whispered fearfully. Ok Petunia, now you’re in for it.

"Harry, I am not going to lock you in a cupboard. I’m going to help you get cleaned up," I said calmly, begging him to believe me.

"Promise?"

"I promise."

"Cross your heart?"

"Cross my heart," I said, holding out my arms. I held my breath as he slowly inched out from beneath the bed, gripping Rexy with all his might.

"S-sorry!" he squeaked, tears dripping down his nose and onto Rexy.

"It’s ok Harry, accidents happen," I said, grabbing a new pair of pyjamas for him. "Let’s get those wet pyjamas off of you."

I helped him get changed and casted a quick cleaning spell, making bubbles fly all over him.

"It tickles!" he giggled. The bubbles dissipated quickly however, and in no time he was ready for bed again. I sat him on the chair next to his bed while I swapped the sheets for new ones.

I pulled Harry into my arms before tucking him in again.

"Harry, you don’t need to be scared to tell me if you have an accident. I will never be angry with you for an accident," I said, feeling his little hands grip the front of my pyjamas.

"’M sorry Uncle Sev," he whispered into my chest.

"Don’t be, it was an accident Harry. You don’t need to be sorry for something you can’t help."

"I love you Uncle Sev," He whispered as I cradled him in my arms.

"I love you too Harry." I whispered back, meaning every word.

I held him like that a long time, he needed to be. I had a feeling that Lily was the last person that held him the way I did that night: until he fell asleep.

***

When I woke up the next morning I felt positively awful. I was shivery and aching all over and my nose was completely stuffed up. When I went to wake Harry up I found that he was in the same predicament.

"Uncle Sev, I’m cold!" Harry whispered to me, whimpering slightly as I took his temperature.

"Shh Harry, I’ll get you another blanket in a minute," I said, watching the red in the thermometer skyrocket.

"How come Harry gets to call you Uncle Sev?" Hermione croaked feebly from her bed.

"Because he asked to Hermione. You can call me that too if you want," I answered scratchily.

"Okay Uncle Sev," she said, smiling a little.

All three of us took a dose of Pepperup and some fever reducer. And seeing as everyone wasn’t hungry for breakfast we all went back to sleep.

Before I crawled into my bed I dug about in my closet, searching for my hippogriff quilt. Once I had found it I spread the worn blanket over the bed, pausing to admire the faded design that had been so lovingly stitched. My mother had made it for me as a Christmas gift when I was five years old. She hadn’t been able to afford all new material for it, but I liked that because she had used some pieces of her old clothing. Most of those bits I recognized from the many days I spent following her around the house as a youngster. As I crawled into my bed I took a moment to wonder how long she spent making my quilt, it was a fair size after all.

Not long after I had fallen asleep I felt a slight jiggle of the mattress. A little foot pressed up against my side.

"What?" I asked groggily, opening my eyes briefly to see who it was. Hermione had edged her way under the covers and was looking at me with wide eyes.

"I had a bad dream, can I sleep with you?" she whispered, a tear sliding down her cheek as she hugged her blanky.

"Oh alright," I said reluctantly. "Just don’t move around much."

Barely three minutes later I felt someone tugging at the covers on the opposite side as Hermione.

"What do you need Harry?" I guessed without opening an eye.

"Hermione left and I got scared," Harry whimpered into Rexy. "Can I sleep with you too?"

"Yes," I sighed, lifting Harry up onto the bed as well.

"Thanks Uncle Sev," he grinned sleepily before snuggling into my side as well.

***

"Severus wake up …" A voice called through the fog that enveloped my brain. That voice sounded familiar to me, but I could not seem to recall who it belonged to. Confusion seeped through my mind as a cold hand came into contact with my forehead. I shivered and became aware of the fact that I was lying in my bed, my hippogriff quilt over top of me, where was I?

"You need to take a potion, wake up."

That voice again, where had I heard it? My fuzzy mind worked sluggishly toward a conclusion I struggled to escape dream world.

"Mum?" I croaked weakly in my confusion as I became aware of the ache that had settled into my body.

"No Severus, it’s Poppy," said the voice softly.

"Poppy ..." I said to myself, opening my eyes and realising my position for the first time since I had begun to wake up. I was still lying in my bed, Harry and Hermione sleeping on either side if me.

"You’re burning up Severus, you have to take another dose of fever reducer," said Poppy, picking up a bottle and pouring some of the potion into a cup for me.

"What are you doing here?" I questioned, dazed and confused as the light from overhead spun about my eyes dizzily.

"I’m a little ahead of schedule so I’m back from my seminar a few hours earlier than I expected," she explained to me as I downed the potion."Minerva told me you hadn’t shown up to lunch or breakfast so I came down to check on you and the children."

"Oh," I said blankly, sinking back into my pillows.

"Miss Granger is doing quite well," she continued, "whereas Mr. Potter and yourself are both suffering the effects of a high fever. However, this illness seems to be a quick one; Miss Granger is already showing signs of improving. She woke up shortly after lunchtime and had a bowl of soup before going back to sleep."

"That’s … good …" I mumbled groggily before drifting off again. I let myself sink into dreams, not knowing that I had wrapped my arms protectively around the two children beside me, not knowing that a certain matron was smiling as her heart grew warmer.