Chapter Two

It had taken a calming draught, a dreamless sleep potion, and a small fever reducer to get Severus to fall back asleep. And for that Albus could not be more grateful. His little potions master had been throwing himself into a terrible panic, and Albus wasn't sure anymore of his glass windows could take it. All of them were already horribly cracked from Severus' volatile emotions. Now he just had to figure out what he was going to do. He could not very well keep Severus here at Hogwarts, it would be unsafe for him…not to mention he had a feeling that it would become unsettling for a small boy to be cooped up in such a large place for so long, and then have to return during the school year.

He also had to manage to find someone that would be able to take care of young Severus. As much as Dumbledore wanted to, he was just far too busy to keep the little one in his care. Of course wherever he placed Severus, Albus swore to come and see him whenever he could…but so long as the Dark Lord was back in power the Headmaster was certain to have a very full plate when it came to his duties and obligations to the school. Glancing back at the sleeping boy, who he had been able to conjure pajamas for, he could not help but smile slightly. Severus was a very sweet looking child. His dark hair would need to be trimmed, and he surely needed to put some weight on his bones, but all in all Albus could not believe how adorable he looked.

What was he to do? Minerva could not watch him; she had her own family affairs to worry about…and any other Professor at Hogwarts would think him daft to even ask. But…there was someone that he knew could keep an eye on Severus where no one else could harm him or even know of his current situation. A place where Dumbledore would see him regularly and Severus would not be in any form of danger whatsoever.

Turning to the fireplace he tossed a handful of floo powder into the hearth and said, "Sirius Black."

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Sirius had been cleaning for what had to be hours! And no matter how hard he tried he just could not find a way to remove all the dirt and crap from his home. He was literally at wits end when it came to this bloody Hell hole, still he would take Number 12 Grimmauld Place over Cell 1209 in Azkaban. Throwing another moldy hand rag into the waste bin he yawned and reached up to move several locks of dark hair from his face. Remus was supposed to be here helping him, but his friend had cleverly skived out to go and purchase some groceries at a muggle market. Crafty thing, he always thought Remus was far too clever to be in Gryffindor.

"Sirius?"

Turning towards the fireplace Sirius smiled, what a lovely surprise! He rarely got callers, he hoped to hear from Harry next…but those messages were far harder to send back and forth. Still, a call from someone was better than a call from no one at all…he did get tired of being lonely.

"Professor Dumbledore!" he beamed. "It's good to hear from you, plan to come and visit me soon? I must insist against it though, the house still looks awful and I have yet to even get to the second floor."

"Hello Sirius, yes…I daresay I shall be visiting you soon…but this will not be a trip regarding the house. I actually have a job for you, that I am not sure I can allow you to refuse."

Sirius's face took on a darker expression that was joined with a slight hint of worry. Whenever the Dumbledore asked a favor that "could not be refused" it made him very nervous. There were many times he had been asked these favors and went through with them, but never had he been asked by the Headmaster to do something he could not refuse.

"Is it Harry?" he asked, first and foremost.

"No, no, it isn't Harry…" the Headmaster said, gently.

"Voldemort?"

"No."

"Harry's relatives?"

"It has nothing to do with Mr. Potter." The Headmaster said, softly.

"Oh, then what is it Headmaster, please don't keep me in suspense."

Dumbledore nodded, that was the last thing he wanted to do. He was actually hoping to get this out into the open as quickly as possible, in case Severus woke up with another nightmare or something of that nature. The boy had very unsettling dreams that worried Albus, but he wasn't sure how many more doses of Dreamless Sleep would be able to be given to his young friend before his body just found a defense to it all on its own.

"It involves Severus-

-Snape?" he snapped. "And what does that slimy git want?"

"Sirius," Dumbledore said, sternly. "I am going to ask you to abandon your dislike for Severus and his past….you are going to need to do the favor I am going to ask of you."

Sirius's face contorted into a glare and he snorted. He wouldn't even try to be nice to Snape, that git didn't deserve anything he had. A Death Eater, walking around free…while Sirius was stuck in his blasted past still a prisoner! An innocent man no doubt! What made Dumbledore think he wanted anything to do with Snape?

"There was a potions accident, at Hogwarts-

-big surprise." Sirius scoffed, however Dumbledore paid it no mind.

"Severus is four years old."

There was a long silence, one that Dumbledore thought would last forever…that was until Sirius broke out into hysterical laughter. Albus sighed and waited, he knew that there would be no talking to his past pupil when he was in this type of mood. So he waited, and after ten minutes of uninterrupted laughter Dumbledore's blue eyes lost their twinkle and hardened.

"I am glad you find this all very amusing," he said, smiling. "Because you will be Severus's guardian until we can find an antidote."

And that was the moment when Albus thought Sirius Black would actually murder him, of course the young man refrained and continued to glare into the hearth of his fireplace. There was no question of whether or not Sirius would do it…Albus would make sure that he did! He had let him escape Hogwarts and did nothing to report him…of course Albus believed him to be an innocent man but those sort of things cost him a great deal when it came to his reputation as Headmaster. He would not let Sirius skive this responsibility.

"No, Professor Dumbledore, absolutely not! Why can't you find someone else to do it? Someone more equipped, someone that DOESN'T hate Snape with a burning passion!"

"Because Severus is in danger now, he IS a spy to Voldemort and will be hunted…your home is the safest place for him and with you unable to leave it you are the perfect person for this position."

Sirius glared and growled in his throat.

"So, generally you are saying, that because I am a prisoner here I should have to babysit.

Dumbledore sighed, "If that is the context in which you choose to view this situation, then yes."

Sirius didn't know what to do! He knew that he couldn't turn Dumbledore down, not when the man was mostly responsible for keeping him free…but he also could not STAND Severus Snape! And even as a four year old, Sirius was certain that Snape would be a demon child sent from the depths of Hell to torment him.

"Sirius, he has nowhere else to go," Albus sighed. "Would you rather I drop him into an orphanage? Where Voldemort could come and murder him on the spot? Do you want an innocent man's blood on your hands?"

"Severus Snape is ANYTHING but innocent Headmaster…that man has more skeletons in his closet then a bloody graveyard has graves!"

Dumbledore sighed; he was really starting to lose his patience. He recalled having a similar conversation with Severus after Mr. Potter's third year…and it had trailed out exactly the same way. Sometimes he wondered if Sirius Black and Severus Snape detested one another, not because they were so different, but they could both be so alike.

"And you Sirius?" he asked casually. "Did you not try to kill Professor Snape back when he was a boy? Have you atoned for that?"

"How dare you, Dumbledore!" Sirius snapped. "He followed us down there, it was not-

-who told him how to get into the Whomping Willow?"

-It doesn't matter, James saved him!"

"Yes, James Potter did…but you Sirius….were you even able to apologize? You have been so close to death this past year and the year before that…do you not even feel a shred of guilt or sympathy? As a man…you know that you do."

Sirius was at a loss for words. He really had no counter argument for anything the Headmaster said, and he really knew that when push came to shove that no matter what he did he would end up taking in the Snape brat. It wasn't fair…but Sirius supposed that he wouldn't have to have too much communication with the boy. He could make Kreacher do most of the work and with Snape being a bloody Slytherin he was sure Kreacher would grow quite fond of him.

"Fine…but I don't know how you expect me to support a child…I have no job and no money."

Dumbledore smiled gently at him and his blue eyes regained their twinkle. Money would not be an issue, Severus would have everything he wanted or needed to keep him happy. Albus would make sure that his little Potions Master was well fed and well cared for.

"Remus is staying with you, is he not?" Dumbledore continued.

"Occasionally…why?"

"Then I suppose he will be able to help you care for young Severus."

"Hmph…" Sirius snorted. "Sure…when are you bring the slim-I mean the kid over?"

Dumbledore cocked his eyebrow at Sirius, but chose to let his last comment slide. It would take a lot of work, but with Severus in this new form Dumbledore was certain that it would not take long for his past pupil to fall in love with the boy. Dumbledore had, and although it had been hard back when Severus was a student, he was certain that it would be as easy as breathing now.

"I will bring him later in the evening…I would like to find him so fitting clothes and make sure he is able to handle travel. He is in a very fragile state right now."

Sirius rolled his eyes, he was so sure.

"I had to tell him his mother is dead."

Sirius froze…well didn't he feel like a giant prat. He wasn't sure if Snape liked his mother or not, but at the age of four every relative one had usually was held up with some form of affection. At four, life and death don't seem so complex. It is just a matter of believing that mummy and daddy, or so and so, went to a better place and were happy…but for Snape, he doubted the kid ever believed that stuff. He was far to analytical to believe anything so simplistic and wonderful.

"Oh…" he said a bit crestfallen. "Is he…okay?"

"At the moment…I gave him some potions to put him to sleep."

Sirius nodded, rubbing the back of his neck a bit uncomfortably. He didn't know what else to say on the matter, so he supposed that was more or less his cue to excuse himself back to cleaning…he would no doubt need to make up a spare room for Snivellus if he was going to stay with him.

As Albus bid Sirius goodbye he went back to where he had placed Severus, only there was a slight problem…the little boy was no longer there! Eyes wide with worry he quickly sent Fawkes out with a message to alert all the teachers that there was a small boy wandering the halls of Hogwarts.

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Severus wanted to find his mummy so that he could say goodbye, he knew that that nice old man had said she was gone…but Severus knew his mummy to never leave without at least giving him a kiss and hug goodbye, it just wasn't her. Walking around barefoot, his little body shivering from how cold the cobblestone floor was, he continued his search far and wide for his missing mother.

Maybe, mummy's outside? His mind said frantically. She loves picking herbs and working in the garden!

That just had to be it, his mummy would be in the garden waiting for him before she went back to heaven to be an angel. He remembered her telling him that's where all people went after they left earth. Although Severus kind of wished he could have gone with her, he wasn't sure if he wanted to leave his planet just yet, there were too many things that he had yet to do.

Walking around the halls he found that there were many children here as well, but none of them looked close to being his age. Where was he exactly? They were all wearing robes, and a lot of them seemed to match. Was this a clubhouse or something? Maybe it was a school and he had gotten more loss than he had originally thought. Oh well, surely one of these older kids could help…he just needed to find the nicest looking one.

Looking around he found a boy sitting all by himself on a stone bench. He had black hair that reminded Severus of a porcupine and deep, emerald, green eyes. For some reason the eyes reminded him of something… something nice that made him feel happy. Surely he could help him find mummy. Going over to him, he gently wringed his hands together in nervousness.

"Umm…e-excuse me?"

The boy's green eyes darted down to him and he watched pleased as he smiled.

"Well, hello there," he said gently. "Are you one of the teacher's child?"

Severus shook his head, his mummy wasn't a teacher. She was far too busy being home with him to do such a thing.

"No," he said softly. "I can't find my mummy…I'm lost."

"Oh no," the green eyed boy said warmly. "Well, my name's Harry Potter…would you like me to help you find her?"

"Yes, please." Severus said with a nod.

"Okay, but can you tell me your name first?"

Severus nodded and smiled back gently.

"My name is-

"SEVERUS SNAPE!"