That night, after he had exhausted himself playing “catch the snitch”, Harry allowed the Headmaster and Deputy Headmistress to get him ready for bed. He was already closing his eyes when Albus tucked him in and kissed him goodnight.

Severus lay fast asleep in the other bed. Minerva felt his forehead and noted that his temperature had gone down quite a lot. The medicine was obviously taking effect. Satisfied, the two adults left the room quietly.

In the small hours of the morning, little Harry awoke to cries from the other bed. The nightlight was on, and he got out of bed and walked over to where the other toddler lay.

Severus was having a nightmare and thrashing around in the bed. Harry reached out and shook him a little. Severus jumped and his eyes flew open. He whimpered.

“It’s all wight, ’ittle teasure,” Harry patted Severus on the head and then stroked his hair, just as Albus and Minerva did for them when they were upset.

Amazingly, Severus seemed to calm down and he quieted.

“I get you some med’cine, ok?” Harry said and jumped off the bed. He went into Dumbledore’s living room where a bright fire was glowing. He walked through to the bathroom and soon spotted what he wanted, the potions cabinet. Albus, of course, kept this locked with spells but this did not deter Harry.

He thought for a minute. The cabinet was very high up. Suddenly an idea came to him.

“Kidditch!” He ran back into the living room and retrieved his small broom from their toy box. He climbed onto it and was soon flying into the air. He directed it towards the bathroom and up to the door he needed to open.

This proved the most difficult part. He tugged and tugged at it but it would not budge.

“I want you to open!” he said crossly and at these words, he felt a small surge of energy run through him. To his amazement, the door swung open, revealing several bottles of potions.

Harry looked for a blue one. The medicine Jeffrey gave Severus was blue. It was not long before he found a small bottle of blue liquid. He grabbed it; almost knocking over the others, and quickly closed the door.

Landing the broom with a bottle in his hand proved to be a challenge. Luckily, when he tumbled off he was only inches from the ground. He made his way back to the bedroom, where he found Severus almost asleep.

“Don’t go ‘sleep yet, Seberus,” he admonished, “You have to take your poshun.”

Severus opened his heavy eyes and watched as Harry uncorked the bottle and poured it into the little cup beside the bed. He only spilled a little bit.

“There you go,” said Harry brightly and Severus obediently took the cup and drank it’s contents.

“Good boy,” said Harry, patting him on the head again, “I tuck you in now.”

He left the potion bottle on their little bedside table and pulled the blankets around the now sleeping Severus.

All was quiet for another hour or so until a large thump woke the headmaster. He opened his eyes groggily and looked around. When he realised that the noise had come from the next room he got up and ran in.

He found a terrified looking Severus lying on the floor beside his bed and a rather sleepy looking Harry rubbing his eyes and trying to sit up.

“Severus!” he breathed and quickly made his way over to the shaking child.

Gathering him tightly in his arms, he realised two things. The first was that although Severus was bright red in the face and appeared to be screaming at the top of his lungs, there was no sound whatsoever. The second thing, he noticed just a little too late. Severus turned slightly green and vomited over the shocked Headmaster.

Albus quickly turned him over and conjured a small basin, where Severus was sick several more times. Still, there was no sound.

“It’s all right, darling. It’s all right. Yes, I know, you are not very well. Let’s get you cleaned up, shall we? Good, Severus. Such a good boy.” He used some cleaning spells and a cool, damp cloth to wipe the boy’s sweaty face.

“Tummy hurts,” Severus tried to say, but to Albus, he was just mouthing the words.

The Headmaster was very worried and he had a difficult time keeping it from his face. He didn’t want to frighten the dark-eyed toddler. Had Severus lost his voice? Surely not! If anything, it had seemed to get better that day.

“Seberus mustn’t have wiked his poshun,” Harry’s quiet voice penetrated the old wizard’s frantic thoughts.

“You mean the medicine Jeffrey gave him, Harry? It is to make him better.”

“Yeah,” said Harry, “An I gave him med’cine to make him better,” Harry showed Albus the bottle.

“Harry! Where did you get this?” Albus exclaimed, perhaps a little too loudly because it caused more silent tears from Severus and a shaking Harry.

“S Seberus was c cwying so I g got it from your poshun cupboard,” Harry stammered.

Albus said nothing. He merely stared at the bottle in horror. It was a silencio potion. It was used only as a healing potion in cases where the person was in danger of losing their voice, and was never given (as far as he knew) to children.

He sprang into action. Conjuring a small bell, he summoned Dobby.

“Please go to Hogsmeade and get one of the Healers’ Barnes. Tell them it is urgent.”

Dobby disappeared with a crack. No sooner had he gone than Severus began to retch violently again. His body was clearly rejecting the potion. Albus petted and encouraged him through the bout of sickness.

“That’s it, child. I know it is sore but let it all come up. Your tummy doesn’t like it, does it? That’s it. Good boy. You are going to be just fine.”

Minutes later James Barnes was running into the room.

“What happened?” he asked quickly.

“Harry gave Severus a silencio potion,” Albus informed him, “I have no idea how he got it out of my cabinet.”

James nodded and took Severus in his arms. The child was very pale and almost limp. Concentrating hard, the Healer began to scan.

“Looks like most of it is out of his system,” he mused, “The potion takes about an hour to take effect and Severus seems to have rejected it. I’ll give him an antidote for the rest.”

Returning the boy to Albus he selected the potion he needed and carefully fed it to Severus. It took a lot of persuasion on both their parts. Severus was not much enamoured with the idea of taking more potions.

“Good boy,” cooed James, “You have been ever so brave!” He took out a small glittering sticker and gave it to Severus.

“I only give that to my best patients,” he said with a smile to the child, whose colour was returning, “You can wear it on your robes tomorrow.”

“Shiny,” said Severus and although his voice was hoarse, it was audible. Albus kissed his forehead and James saw a tear in the old man’s eye.

“Why don’t you take him and give him a bath. Let me talk to Harry,” he suggested calmly, “You are not in the right frame of mind to do it at the moment. I am sure he only wanted to help.”

Again, Albus said nothing, but he complied and carried the drowsy Severus into the bathroom.

James turned to Harry and smiled at him kindly. The small boy was huddled in his blankets, shivering slightly.

“Come on, little one. It wouldn’t do for you to get the flu as well, would it?” James picked Harry up and wrapped the blankets around him. He sat on the bed holding Harry in his lap,

“Do you want to tell me about the medicine you gave Severus?” he asked gently.

Harry’s lower lip began to tremble, “Abus cwoss with me. I a bad boy,” he whispered.

James hugged him, “No, child. You are not a bad boy. Albus was just worried because Severus was very sick. I think you were trying to help Severus, weren’t you?”

Harry nodded, “I woke up an’ Seberus was scweaming an I thought he had a sowe tummy so I gave him blue poshun like Jeffy’s.”

“You mean like the blue medicine Jeffrey gave to Severus today?” asked James, receiving an affirmative.

“How did you get to the cabinet?” asked James curiously.

“Kiddich,” Harry answered simply and James understood. He was rather impressed. To have such control of a broom at such a young age was incredible. The next question, however, was the one to which he really wanted an answer.

“How did you get the cabinet open? Albus locks it with a spell, you know? Was it open?”

“No,” said Harry, “I wanted it open an’ it opened up an’ it made my arm tingly.”

James now knew that Albus had definitely not left the door unlocked. He was going to have to discuss this new discovery with the headmaster. First, however, he had a more difficult talk to give.

“Harry,” he said softly, “The blue medicine you gave Severus was not the same as the one Jeffrey gave him. It could have made him very sick.”

He watched as tears fell from the green eyes but he had to continue his explanation. He needed Harry to understand.

“Medicines and potions are put up in high cupboards so that only big people like Minerva, Albus, Jeffrey and me can get them. Only big people are allowed to give out medicine because they know which one to give and how much of it to give. Do you understand, Harry?”

A small nod of the head and more tears was the Healer’s answer.

“I know you only wanted to make Severus feel better,” James comforted as he held Harry, “But there are lots of other ways you could help. Why don’t you draw him a nice picture tomorrow or read him a story? Or, you could catch the snitch for him and let him see it so that, when he feels better, he will know how to catch it too.”

Harry smiled a little at this idea but he tensed again as Albus returned, a sleeping Severus in his arms. James quickly ran his hand over the dark-eyed child’s stomach, noting that the antidote was working. He then watched as Albus laid Severus in the bed and pulled the covers up around him, kissing his cheek.

“Harry,” the older healer said calmly, “Why don’t you give Severus a kiss too. I think that would make him feel a lot better.”

Albus looked at James questioningly but Healer Barnes simply mouthed “later.”

Harry cautiously went over to Severus and gave him a small kiss on the nose. He then climbed into bed and allowed James to tuck him in. James smiled at him and stroked his cheek.

“Good boy,” he said gently, “Now go to sleep so that you are all ready to help Severus tomorrow and have lots of fun.”

Harry was soon asleep. James motioned to Albus and they left the room quietly.

It was not until they were sitting by the fire that Albus let his calm façade drop. He put his head in his hands and sighed deeply. Barnes reached out and laid a comforting arm around his shoulders.

“Nothing causes a parent more distress than a sick child,” he said knowingly.

“How could I have been so careless?” Albus whispered, “I always check that the potion cabinet is locked. I must have forgotten tonight. Severus could have…”

He seemed unable to finish and James fed him some calming energy.

“Severus is fine. You did everything perfectly and I got to him on time. His body was already rejecting the potion. It would not have killed him but it could have made him very ill had it not been for your timely actions.”

“How did Harry get to the medicine cabinet?”

Albus asked at length.

“Kidditch,” James answered causing the old wizard to stare at him in confusion until it dawned on him.

“His broom!” he asked aghast,” He FLEW up to it? He got the medicine and landed with it?”

“Yes,” said James, “Remarkable talent in one so young, unless his Quidditch instincts are part of his teenage memories that are not quite suppressed by the de-ageing potion. I am not sure, but I am sure of one thing. You did not forget to lock your medicine cabinet. Harry opened it, with his first surge of magic.”

Albus’s jaw dropped and he stared at James.

“Harry described wanting the door to open and feeling a tingle in his arm before it did. You may need to put some stronger spells on it.”

Albus nodded, “He is certainly not too young to have a magic surge. I am sure Severus will have one any day now, probably when he feels better.”

“You are probably right,” said James, “But you must remember. Harry does not really know that what happened was magic. You will have to explain it to him. I gather his relatives were not fond of magic and this might cause him some distress.”

“Yes, indeed,” Dumbledore agreed and then he looked down, “I think I let Harry down tonight. He only wanted to help Severus but it was so dangerous! I was just so shocked!”

James nodded, “I explained to Harry about medicines and potions and why only adults should give them out. He understands now. However, you will have to talk to him. He thinks he was bad and that you are angry with him.”

“I was a little,” admitted Albus, “Even though I know it was unreasonable. I think I was more angry at myself for not being there to help when Severus woke the first time.”

“Albus, you need to sleep as well. You can’t hear everything. Just encourage Harry to come to you if Severus is sick.” James fed in a little more energy when he felt the headmaster tense again, “It is understandable that your first reactions were shock and anger, but Harry is not just any child. He is a very hurt child who needs your love and reassurance. It isn’t too late to show him that you know he is good and did not mean Severus any harm.”

“Yes,” Dumbledore relaxed a little, “You are right, as usual, James. Thank you once again for your help.”

“You are very welcome and you will always have it. You and Minerva have been doing a wonderful job and, as Jeffrey says, you are paving the way for further healing in both Harry and Severus.”

“They deserve to have some happiness,” said Albus, “We live in such difficult times and they have both suffered so badly. I want them to face the years ahead knowing that they are loved and valued.”

“They know,” James murmured and he patted Dumbledore’s arm, “Now go and put some strong spells on that medicine cabinet. We will have both of them trying to reach it on a Quidditch broom if we’re not careful,” his brown eyes twinkled in a very Dumbledore-like fashion and for the first time that night, Albus smiled.

When the Healer had left and Dumbledore had put some of his strongest wards on the offending cupboard, he tiptoed into the boys’ bedroom to check on them. Severus was sleeping peacefully and looking much better but Harry was whimpering a little.

Albus went to him and sat beside his bed, stroking his hair. Harry turned and opened tear-filled eyes.

The thought that he had caused the child such anxiety was too much for Albus. He reached out and pulled Harry into a warm embrace.

“My poor boy,” he murmured, “Did you have a bad dream?”

“I bad. You not want me now?” Harry’s voice was barely a whisper.

“Of course I want you, Harry,” Albus exclaimed as he tightened his hug, “You are a good boy and I love you very much.”

“James said I not ‘lowed to give Seberus poshuns any more,” Harry sad, feeling more relaxed.

“He is absolutely right,” Albus said gently, “Who gives out potions?”

“Big people,” Harry answered.

“Clever child,” Albus smiled, “Now back into bed with you, my boy. I think we are all going to be very tired in the morning. Minerva might see a lot of grumpy faces.”

Harry giggled, “’Nerva not like grumpy faces, Abus. She will tell you to stop the nontence.”

“I have no doubt of that,” Dumbledore chuckled quietly as he laid Harry down and tucked him in.

“Sweet dreams,” he whispered as he kissed his forehead.

Returning to his bedroom, Albus was almost asleep before his head touched the pillow. Tomorrow was going to be a long day but it would have to wait.