Explanations of the Smaller Kind
Summary; Set in the A Slight Mishap universe in chapter eleven. After finally understanding what is happening to Harry, Ron and Hermione take him to see Dumbledore for some explanations.
A/N; My apologies for this taking so long, my muse just didn't seem to want to write this one-shot. Thankfully, I got my act and my muse together and now we are finally finished with it so that I can also finally put up chapter twelve of A Slight Mishap! Also, any reviews for this story will be found at the end of chapter thirteen of A Slight Mishap, so look for them there. And now; Enjoy!
The school was still buzzing with talk of what had just happened as the trio exited the Hall after they had eaten dinner without any more mishaps occurring. Hermione couldn't help but wonder how long it would take for this one to die down, but she found that she didn't really care. All that mattered was that Harry was happy again, they were on their way to get answers and soon everything would be back to normal.
"Hey, Hermione?" asked Ron.
"Hmm?" said Hermione absently.
"Do you think Dumbledore will be able to give us all of our answers?"
"Well, I think he'll be able to give us the majority of them," Hermione said.
"But…" Ron began to protest.
"The headmaster isn't a god, Ron," Hermione said wryly.
"I didn't say that."
"Then what were you saying?"
"I was implying that Dumbledore knows more then most, and if he can't give us answers, then no one can."
Hermione fell silent for a moment, thinking about it. She could feel Harry playing gently with a lock of her bushy hair, and smiled slightly.
"We'll just have to make do with what we get," she said finally as they approached the gargoyle.
They stood before the statue, and it suddenly occurred to them that they didn't know the password. Of course, Dumbledore knew they were coming, and he could have let them in, but Hermione suspected that he enjoyed hearing people trying to guess what new sweet it was.
"Should we start guessing then?" asked Ron resignedly.
"Chocolate frog," Hermione said as an answer.
"Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans," Ron said.
"He hates them, Ron," Hermione said, rolling her eyes.
"How about Pumpkin Pasty, then?" Ron challenged.
"Drooble's Best Blowing Gum," Hermione said.
Ron was about to retort with another sweet (Hermione was sure that if this had gone on much longer, it would have turned into a battle between the two of them) when the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office moved aside to reveal the moving staircase.
Harry squealed in laughter and wriggled in his carer's arms until she put him down on the ground.
"Certainly different from when he first saw the gargoyle," Ron laughed.
"Thankfully," Hermione agreed.
Harry began scrambling up the stairs, but tripped on the fourth one. It was then that he discovered that he didn't have to move to go up… the stairs were doing it for him. Ron and Hermione hurriedly stepped on the staircase too and the gargoyle closed behind them as Harry beamed.
"It moves!" Harry said excitedly.
"It does," Ron said.
Harry didn't ask why, and Ron and Hermione automatically assumed that he knew. The staircase reached the top and Harry got off the stair he was sitting on. Before his friends could stop him, he had reached out and leant against the door, reaching up to turn the handle.
The door opened suddenly as Harry got the door knob to turn and he fell into the office with a surprised 'oomph!' Dumbledore, who was sitting behind his desk, chuckled at the little boy's antics.
"Good evening, Harry," he said.
"Hi, Granda," Harry said with a wide smile.
Hermione smiled and helped him get to his feet and led him over to one of the three chairs sitting before the desk. It was amazing, really. She had been to the headmaster's office rarely before this year; now she was sure that they needed to engrave her name on one of the chairs to proclaim it as her own with the amount of times she brought Harry to see the headmaster.
"How are we all this evening?" the headmaster asked, breaking through her thoughts.
"Better then we have been for awhile," Ron said before she could answer, causing her to raise an eyebrow at him.
"Good," Harry proclaimed.
"That is good," chuckled Dumbledore. "And I presume that after tonight you will be even better then before?"
Hermione flushed and Ron nodded eagerly. A bit of a resigned look appeared on the older man's face.
"Just remember that no one knows exactly what the effects of the uncompleted potion were," he reminded them. "As such, it is not a given that whatever we do tonight will work."
"We know, sir," Hermione said softly. "And it isn't that we don't like looking after Harry… we just think he will be happier in his older form."
"Indeed," said Dumbledore.
He had a bit of troubled frown on his face and the two teenagers looked at him in askance. A moment later it disappeared and he smiled at them, not offering any explanations as to what he was thinking. Ron and Hermione didn't press for answers.
"So, I presume that you are here for some answers to the questions that have been plaguing you all for awhile," he said, leaning back slightly in his chair.
"Yes, sir," said Ron. "Harry has certainly been a bit…"
"Frustrated," Hermione supplied.
"Yeah," agreed Ron.
"Well, Harry, can you explain what has been worrying you?" asked Dumbledore, pushing his chair away from his desk.
Seeing this as an invitation, Harry slid off his chair, crawled under the desk and clambered up on the headmaster's lap. Hermione and Ron shared a grin. When Harry turned back, he was probably going to die of embarrassment after how he'd been acting all this time.
"Well, there's me," said Harry, patting himself on the chest.
"Okay," agreed Dumbledore, seeing that Harry was waiting for an answer.
"And then me," the little boy continued, holding up his right hand. "And me." He held up his left hand.
Dumbledore nodded as though this made perfect sense to him, which, Ron and Hermione thought, it probably did. The older man tapped his bearded chin with a finger with a thoughtful look on his face.
"Harry, there is one thing you need to know first," Dumbledore said. "You are not actually two years old."
A look of confusion appeared on Harry's face and he looked at his hands as though to confirm that he was, in fact, two years old. Then he looked back at the headmaster.
"You are actually sixteen," he continued.
Harry looked at his two carers as a bit of understanding washed over his face.
"Like Won and 'Mione?" he asked.
"Like Ron and Hermione," agreed Dumbledore.
"How?" asked Harry. "I am two!"
"Well, when you were sixteen, there was an… accident in potions," he said delicately, obviously not willing to further the little boy's dislike of the potions master by telling him the truth. Looking at Ron, however, Hermione knew that the red head would have no such inhibitions. "Because of this accident you became a two year old boy."
Harry sat quietly, thinking this through, which was an action very reminiscent of his older self. He looked like he only half understood.
"Which means one Harry," said Dumbledore, picking up Harry's right hand. "Is actually sixteen."
Harry's expression cleared and a look of full understanding appeared on his face as his mouth formed a soft 'o'.
"And this Harry?" he asked, tugging his right hand out of Dumbledore's grasp and giving him his left hand instead.
"This Harry is when you actually were two years old before you were sixteen," said the headmaster.
Harry blinked, not understanding how he could be two twice. Dumbledore smiled gently at him.
"With this Harry," he said, patting the left hand. "You lived with your aunt and uncle and you didn't know about Hogwarts, or Ron and Hermione, or any of the Weasleys, or me or Padfoot and Moony."
A looked of horror appeared on Harry's face and his bottom lip trembled.
"No granda, or grandma, or mama Molly, or Artur, or Won, or 'Mione, or Pafoot, or Moony?" he asked.
"No," said Dumbledore, shaking his head.
Harry snatched his hand back and hid it behind his back.
"Don' like this Harry," he mumbled.
Dumbledore couldn't help but chuckle at this and his ruffled the little boy's hair, causing him to look up in indignation. Ron and Hermione laughed.
"And now?" asked Harry.
"Tonight Professor Snape is going to give you what we believe is the antidote," said Dumbledore. "So you'll be sixteen again."
Harry looked uncertainly at his right hand and then stubbornly hid that hand behind his back too.
"Don' want that Harry," he informed Dumbledore. He patted his chest with both the offending hands. "Like this Harry."
"Well, you'll still be with us," Dumbledore said, correctly interpreting Harry's worry. "You'll just be older and you'll get to participate in class."
Harry looked at his right hand again, thinking about it. Finally he looked up.
"You no go away?" he asked uncertainly.
"We won't go away," assured Dumbledore. "We'll still be here."
Harry placed his right hand in Dumbledore's hands again and lifted his head with a determined look.
"Go get this Harry now," he said with a nod.
Dumbledore chuckled and allowed Harry to slide off his lap and run around the desk to his two carers. "Good boy, Harry."
Hermione picked him up.
"Thank you, sir," she said. "But do you know exactly why Harry's been having this reaction?"
"Alas, I do not," he said regretfully. "I can only assume that the potion, brewed incorrectly, reacted badly with Harry's system. Professor Snape has remade the potion almost exactly how it was, as everyone assumes that Harry only missed the last step, and has been breaking it down to create the antidote."
He sighed and adjusted his glasses.
"Unfortunately, there are numerous unknown factors that could have come into play and not affected the colour of the potion. A little too much or this, a little too less of that… this could ultimately affect just what happens tonight. Professor Snape is a meticulous potions brewer and, because of the relationship between the two of them, Harry is not."
Hermione nodded, understanding what he was saying.
"We understand, sir," she said as the three left the room.
The door closed behind them and Dumbledore looked at it for a moment, troubled. In direct contrast with the boy's friends and carers he hoped that Harry could hang onto his innocence and second childhood for just a little while longer.
He needs more time, he thought. He needs to adjust to the new life and new attitudes he will have even from this brief time, and he needs even more changes to make him a happier person.
He smiled slightly. Merlin knows he needs it.