Little Harry clutched Snape's jacket in his small fists and let out a whimper as he felt his insides turned out. Luckily the feeling only lasted a moment and the man rubbed his back to soothe away the nausea.

"Better?" Snape asked. Harry nodded. A slight smile graced the side of Snape's mouth briefly as he pointed over to Harry's right. "Take a look."

Harry twisted his body until he beheld the wondrous sight of a huge castle rising up into the sky. He clapped his hands together delightedly. "Do you live there? Are you the king?"

"There is no king, Harry," said Snape as he walked through the gates and towards the castle. "This is a school of witchcraft and wizardry. I am a teacher here."

"Will I go to school here?" he asked hopefully.

"Most certainly. You are a wizard, child." Harry's green eyes sparkled brightly and for the first time, Snape didn't see James Potter, but Lily Evans. Her green eyes had sparkled in the same manner when he'd told her she was a witch. Examining the boy's face further he was able to see more of Lily in Harry's face. He wondered how much more of Lily he might wind up seeing in the boy.

With his long legs, the walk to the castle entrance was a swift one. Once in he put Harry down and conjured a pair of slippers for the child's bare feet. He then transfigured his own Muggle clothing back into his wizard robes.

Snape's mind was deep on what he'd have to tell the Headmaster about what Potter had done to himself so he didn't realise that Harry, with much shorter legs, was quickly getting left behind. Of course, the child was so fascinated by tall, stained glass windows, enchanted armor that waved to him, and whispering, moving portraits, he had no idea that he was almost out of sight of the tall man with the stern look.

"Potter!" Snape, suddenly noticing that the boy wasn't beside him, turned and saw Harry staring up at the portraits. Harry heard his last name being shouted, and obediently turned from the paintings and ran down the corridor to Snape.

"Who are you?" asked Harry.

Snape scowled. "I am Professor Severus Snape the teacher of Potions." Adjusting his long-legged stride, he motioned for Harry to keep up beside him. He was slightly startled as the little boy slipped his fingers around his.

"This is a really neat castle," he commented. "I bet you're real happy living here, sir."

"I find it to my taste," he replied non-commitedly. Giving the child a surreptitious glance, he asked, "Do you think you might like living here?"

Harry's green-eyed gaze brightened and he smiled. James Potter's grin always had a superior smugness to it that irritated Snape when he was unfortunately in school with Potter's crowd. Harry's smile had an open honesty to it that truly reminded him of Lily. He wondered why he couldn't have seen this before the boy had foolishly de-aged himself. Snape now recalled many times when he had seen the boy smile at his friends, or during some interesting tale, so he knew it had not changed as Potter had grown.

Her green eyes, her smile... how much more of Lily is in her son?

"Well, child?" he prompted when Harry hadn't yet answered his question. "I expect you might have some opinion on where you'd like to live."

Harry stopped, causing Snape to stop walking as well. Concern, worry, and even a touch of fear flittered across the child's face. "I'm not going to have to go back to them? Aunt Petunia's always mad at me."

Snape knelt down so he was looking directly into those worried, green eyes and placed his hands lightly upon the shoulders that felt so thin. "I promise you, Harry, you're never going back. You'll live someplace where you're wanted."

There was not a smile to be seen on the dour face of the older man, but Harry could see in those dark orbs that the promise was a true one. He let out a puff of air in relief. "Thank you for taking me away," he said shyly as he reached for Snape's hand again.

Standing straight, Snape curled his fingers around Harry's and they continued to walk to the Headmaster's office.

Soon they arrived at a statue of a gargoyle as tall as the Potions Master guarding a stone, spiral staircase. To Harry's delight, the gargoyle winked at him.

"Ice mice," Snape bit out. Harry giggled.  The gargoyle slid aside and once more Harry was lifted into the man's arms. The stairs spun them about and Harry laughed and clapped his hands again.

"Severus! There you..." Dumbledore stared at the little boy with messy, dark hair, and bright green eyes in the Potions Master's arms. "Oh my! What have we here?"

Harry stared at the curious old man with the long hair and beard, but he slipped an arm around Snape's neck and with his other hand he clutched spasmodically at Snape's robes.

"Harry Potter, meet Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry."

"Hi," he said softly with a tremulous smile. He then whispered in Snape's ear. "He looks like Merlin. Is he nice?"

"Very nice," he assured the child. "I have something that I must attend to, child. Would you be all right with the Headmaster?"

"You promise to be back?" he asked, a slight edge of fear to his voice.

"I promise. Albus will watch over you, I'm sure." Snape glanced pointedly at the old wizard who nodded. He then put the boy down. "As you can see, Albus, it seems the Boy-Who-Lived de-aged himself. I'm going to analyse the remains of Harry's work to see what potion he used and whether or not it's permanent."

As Harry's curious gaze was drawn by the moving portraits that watched him, Snape lowered his voice and stepped closer to the Headmaster. "I was... ordered... in no uncertain terms that he is not to be brought back to the Dursleys. They wish to relinquish their rights immediately."

Dismay clouded Albus' face. "Certainly he can stay here temporarily, but... oh Merlin, what am I to do with him now?" He looked over as Harry struck up a conversation with Headmaster Phineas Nigellus Black.

Snape eyed the man who, even at nearly 120 years, had been so vital and with a mind that had been sharper than any other wizard's. It distressed him to see the Headmaster so easily rattled by something he would have had a solution for in minutes.

"He can stay with me, Albus." The older wizard's bushy eyebrows brushed the edge of his conical cap and blended with the ermine trim. Snape sighed. "He seems to trust me and... I find him... tolerable." His eyes briefly closed and he pinched the bridge of his nose. He couldn't believe what he was about to say, but this seemed to be a day for the impossible. He opened his eyes. "Should the potion he took prove to be permanent, then, with your permission, I'd like to adopt him."

"Severus! Are you certain? I, of course, would be pleased to help you do so, but I know you've had an uneasy relationship with the teenager. That, and I never have been too certain you even like children." A ghost of a twinkle sparkled lightly in the sapphire eyes of the Headmaster and Snape knew the man was teasing him.

"Quite so, Albus. I'd be entirely too pleased to boil any of my students down to their component parts. However, some children do have merit." He glanced over at Harry who had seated himself on the floor and was relating something to a strangely, intrigued looking, Headmaster Black. "As I find myself curiously with a future I had not expected..." his voice faded, not willing to finish the thought out loud. "I blamed the son for the sins of the father, Albus. I forgot that he is also his mother's son and there is much that I owe Lily."

Dumbledore smiled, exceedingly pleased. He gripped Snape's forearm. "I shall see to the necessary paperwork, Severus. Let me know as soon as you have the results."

Snape nodded and then looked over to Harry. "Behave yourself, young man."

Harry turned and smiled brightly. "Yes, sir!"