The rest of the night had actually gone smoothly. Sirius and Severus were shown the quarters and their newly added rooms. They were also shown the boys rooms, the study, the living area, the kitchen, the bathroom, and Harry and Ginny’s room. They had eaten supper and then Sirius, Jamie, and Teddy had all been bathed, and the five boys were put to bed.

If Harry thought that everything was going to go smoothly after the night before, he was dead wrong. It quickly became apparent the next morning that things were not going to change overnight.

It happened at breakfast. It was Sunday, the last day that both he and Ginny would be off with the boys, so they were preparing the boys for what was going to happen the next day.

“Mummy and Daddy have to go to work tomorrow so you will all stay with Grammy Molly until it is time for Daddy to pick you up after he finishes teaching.” Ginny told the five boys. The boys kept eating.

Suddenly, Severus stopped.

“I am not going.” He stated with contempt.

“Severus, I am sorry, but you have too.” Harry told the boy softly.

“No. I can stay here.”

Sirius laughed.

Severus sneered at the older boy, “Shut your stupid mouth, Black!”

“Make me!” Black said, kicking out under the table at an angle that was just right to hit Severus.

Severus stood up in his chair and looked at Sirius.

“You decrepit piece of ill-mannered, inconsiderate shite! You are a sad excuse for a human being you uncharitable git!” Severus yelled.

Suddenly the air was frigid, and a light wind blew around Severus as his uncontrolled magic warped around his body.

“Severus, calm down.” Harry said firmly, but quietly as he stood up from his seat and went to stand beside Sirius, as Severus’ magic was pointed towards him.

“I am not afraid of you, Snivillus!” Sirius yelled, and then stood up in his chair. Harry picked him up, swatted him on the behind, and sat him back down.

“Sirius, stop.” Was all that he said, as he needed to focus.

“Yea! Take that bloody git’s side! I don’t care!” Sirius yelled, and then got up from the table and ran to his room. A moment later, they heard the door to his room slam shut.

“Severus…” Harry said warningly.

“You never take my side.” Severus whispered, “He was lying. You never take my side, and you never will.” Severus said jumping down from his own chair and running towards the living area.

Harry and Ginny simply stared at one another for a moment.

Then they heard another door slam shut.

“Harry…I think that was the front door!”Ginny hissed.

Harry immediately pinched the bridge of his nose. He had forgotten to put the wards up that would not allow Sirius or Severus to leave without an adult. The wards on their quarters were different than at home and had to be done individually with the child there. He had placed wards around the other boys as babies.

“Merlin’s Bloody Beard.” Harry muttered under his breath.

“Ohhhh! Dadddddy said a naughty word!” Jamie said in awe.

“And, Mummy better not hear you or daddy, or anyone else in this house say it again.” Ginny told him.

Jamie looked sheepishly into his pumpkin juice.

Obviously, Jamie had not realized that Severus had used the same ‘naughty’ word earlier.

“I have to go find him.” Harry said. Ginny nodded.

“You may want to enlist a few helpers. Everyone is in. Today is Sunday…”

“Yes. I will send you a patronus as soon as I find him.” Harry told her as he headed to the door.

“Yes, do. I will talk to Sirius in a little bit. After the boys are finished eating.”

At this, Harry nodded and walked out the door.

~sdrawkcab~

Severus knew the castle better than most people. He knew where he could hide without anyone finding him, and he knew where all the secret rooms were…rooms like the Room of Requirement, but in different locations. Dumbledore had shown him the rooms after he had come from the Dark Lord and needed a place to recuperate when it was simply not possible to be in the Hospital Wing. Madam Pomfrey was probably the only other person in the entire castle now that knew about them.

However, currently, that was simply not where he wanted to be.

He wanted to be in his quarters. He wanted to be surrounded by his potions. His things.

There was no way that anyone would have been able to find, let alone get into his quarters. He had made sure of that before the battle at Hogwarts.

Making sure to stay away from any people, as he had been unable to cast a wandless concealment charm around himself, he made his way down to the dungeons.

He felt almost normal, despite his small body size, and was relieved when no one stopped him or even seemed to notice that he was scurrying down the halls.

He had, of course, had a lot of practice though.

After ten minutes…damn those small obnoxious legs… Severus was finally standing in front of his quarters.

To anyone else, it would have been a blank wall. To Severus, it was a sign of home.

~sdrawkcab~

After an hour of searching by himself, and completely confused about why his point me spell refused to work, Harry had to admit defeat and ask for help.

He sent a patronus off to several of the professors and waited at the entrance hall. Within five minutes, they all began arriving.

Minerva McGonagall, Headmistress, was the first to arrive.

“Harry, what has happened?” She asked him.

Harry sighed.

“Severus and Sirius got into a fight at breakfast and Severus ran off. I haven’t been able to find him. I forgot last night to adjust the wards so that Severus and Sirius wouldn’t be able to leave.”

“Well, Harry, it was a mistake we will find him. Ah, here comes Neville and Luna.”

Harry looked up. Neville was the Herbology instructor. Luna, his wife, worked in the Department of Mysteries. She was the one who had found Sirius and Severus, though Harry had not been able to speak to her since then as they had been at their home trying to get their now larger family on schedule. Normally, he, Ginny, and the boys ate supper with the Neville and Luna, who was expecting their first child, a baby that Luna said was a girl and would be named Avalon, once a week.

“What’s going on?” a voice came from behind Harry. He turned around and looked at the blonde haired Potions teacher and looked at him with eyes full of concern.

“It’s Severus, Draco. I didn’t adjust the wards last night and he got out this morning after he and Sirius got into an argument.” Harry told the other man quickly.

Since the war, Draco and Harry had actually grown quite close. They were friends, and probably would have been long before then, had circumstance not changed things for them when they were eleven. Lucius, Draco’s father, Lucius, had died a mere month after the final battle, the stress just too much after years of fighting, not for the Dark Lord as many had thought, but for the safety of his family.

Narcissa was an entirely different story. The woman who had once had to succumb to the wills of someone she considered a mad man, but could do nothing about it for fear of losing her only son, was now thriving. She was still young, especially for a witch, at a mere forty, and had adopted two war orphans that Harry often suspected were members of her family, probably from a squib relative that the Black family had hidden away but who had ended up murdered by Death Eaters. There was an eleven year old girl, Kaethe, and an eight year old boy whose name was Alec.

Harry had grown partial to the woman that had saved his life and looked at her as if she was yet another mother. Sometimes Harry could not believe how lucky he was. Before he had defeated Voldemort, he had felt like he had had no one, but now he was surrounded by family. He loved it.

“Pansy has Scorpius and Asta down for a nap. She is calling a houseelf to watch them and she will find us.” Draco said worriedly.

Harry nodded. H

“Let’s each take a floor. Draco, can you take the Dungeons? I feel like he may be down there somewhere, and you and Pansy know them better than anyone. Everyone else, please just take a floor. Send a message if you find him.” Harry said, and then started walking towards the stairs.

Everyone else quickly went their separate ways to look for a little boy who was lost both physically and mentally.

~sdrawkcab~

Severus sat in the middle of a barren room. It was a room that was familiar. Except all of his things were missing. Nothing was the same.

No one lived in these quarters. That was obvious. So, the houseelves must have packed all of his stuff up. He had gone through every room. Nothing was left. Not even a piece of lint.

Severus sniffed and wiped an escaping tear from his face.

It just wasn’t fair. His whole entire life was twisted inside out and thrown backwards.

Severus wished that he could forget his memories and just be a child. A child full of trust. One who knew that he was loved.

Severus’ memories haunted him. They merged with things that happened now and seemed to confuse his actions. Like at the breakfast table that morning. Sirius had laughed at him, and all he could see was the past Sirius, who had made fun of him in his youth and teased him mercilessly.

There were other times, like when Harry would get on to him about something or tell him that he could trust him, that Severus would flash back to when Harry had been a child. Then Severus would feel bad, but would revert to his former self.

But, there were other times, like when Ginny cuddled with him, or when he was playing with Alby, that he didn’t even remember those memories. He was able to act like the child that he still was, and, honestly, that was the way that he preferred it. It was all so much better than the first time around.

“Ah, there you are.” A voice from behind him said, making Severus jump from being startled.

“You know, little guy, we have been looking everywhere for you.”

Severus finally turned around to see who the familiar, yet not familiar at the same time, voice belonged too.

When he turned, he looked straight into the gray-blue eyes of Draco Malfoy.