So! I decided to practically rewrite my chapters, and ended up with, in my opinion, better content! I hope you guys enjoy!
Severus was massively disappointed in the frequent failings of his third years. It wouldn't be quite so terrible as some students were somewhat passable, but they were careless at times.
His worst classes were the ones with Gryffindors and his Slytherins. He had Draco and Granger together as they were the least likely to create a disaster. They shared a table with Potter and Longbottom in hopes of them rubbing off on their less than studious peers.
Even now Longbottom and Potter were too busy arguing with Draco to follow instructions much to Granger's dismay. The three boys ignored her telling them to cut it out. That may have been a bad idea in all honesty.
Severus walked around the room slowly, keeping an eye out on their potion specifically in case something dangerous happened. His lip curled as he prevented a student from putting an ingredient in at the wrong time. He pointedly jabbed at the board before carrying on. It was when he was being particularly ruthless in his cutting down on one of the Gryffindors that he heard a strange bubbling noise.
Severus quietly growled as he began his way to Longbottom's table, the Gryffindor he left silently weeping. He noticed the cauldron in front of the two Gryffindors bubbling in a way that should not be happening. He had his wand out, grabbing Longbottom as he was the closest and yanked him away from the potion. Just as he was about to shove Potter out of the way and vanquish the damned thing, it promptly exploded, throwing him back a bit.
The cauldron was giving off a gaseous fume. Potter, Granger, and Draco all got the worse of it, not moving nearly as fast enough to get away from the cauldron prior to it exploding. Almost immediately the three passed out, due to inhaling the gas. Severus swore as he got up and vanquished the rest of the gas with a swish of his wand.
The rest of the students swarmed around the three students, only moving when Severus shoved past them, already preparing to rennervate them. He stopped, stunned at the sight before him.
There were five-year olds in place of the previous teenagers. Five-year olds who were naked due to their robes being way too big for their small bodies.
Weasley shouted in surprise, as he realized they were children, Longbottom paling at what was done. Severus could feel an oncoming headache just waiting to burst forth. This has never happened before. He inwardly groaned at the mess he could foresee him having to clean up.
"Weasley, Longbottom! Grab one of your friends and follow me." He barked out sharply, picking up a young Draco after covering him up. "Class is dismissed." He strode out of the classroom with Weasley and Longbottom following, awkwardly holding their much younger friends. Severus knew they thought this could easily be fixed. He sure as hell hoped so himself.
XXX
"Severus? What in the world is going on here? What happened?" Severus had to refrain from groaning when he heard Minerva, who walked briskly into the infirmary. She sent Longbottom and Weasley to their dorm rooms, swooping to hover over the young, sleeping Hermione. Madam Pomfrey tutted in disapproval, as she checked over the children to ensure nothing needed immediate attention.
The Potions Master sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. "Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Potter happened Minerva. They were too concerned with arguing with Mr. Malfoy, instead of paying attention to their potion. They were careless." His headache was quickly becoming a migraine as two of the children began to wake up.
Minerva gave him a look at his admission but didn't say anything in response as she knew how her cubs were with Malfoy.
"Uncle Sev? Where are we? Where's mother and father?" Of course, his godson would ask questions as soon as he woke up.
Severus sat on the bed, prompting Draco to climb into his lap as he always had done with the boy. "We're at Hogwarts. Don't worry about Narcissa and Lucius, you're with me." Draco seemed to accept that, giving a bright but small smile, though Severus knew he'd ask more questions when not as many people were around. For now he was content to sit quietly, knowing his uncle appreciated it.
Severus looked over at Minerva who was sitting on the bed with her prized Gryffindor Granger, who was slowly waking up. Minerva was slowly patting the girl's hair down and Severus looked away at the blatant display of affection of the woman's face.
Granger stared at Minerva for a moment before screaming, startling the older woman and the others in the room. Severus stood, automatically putting Draco behind him, as he stared in shock at the shrieking child.
"Get away from me! I don't know you! Get away, get away!"
The girl scurried under the bed, hugging herself as she stared at everyone, fear written all over her face, tears beginning to streak down. Minerva attempted to get her from underneath the bed only to get bitten. Severus could see she was at a loss on what to do, and any attempts by Madam Pomfrey ended the same.
Severus almost startled when Draco tugged on his robes. He stared at the young boy impassively, before nodding his head slightly. Draco was staring at the girl contemplating something. "Uncle Sev? Who is that?" Severus raised an eyebrow at him. "Does it matter?" Draco shook his head no before coming out from behind his uncle, covered in his overly large school robes.
Severus raised a hand to Minerva who went to stop Draco. "Let him try."
XXX
Draco crawled under the bed with the cowering girl, taking in her red puffy eyes, and outrageously curly hair. He gave her a small smile. "My name is Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. Why are you crying?" The smaller girl paused in her sobbing, her body still heaving as she struggled to breathe.
"I-I'm scared." Draco was confused about what was so scary but shrugged it off and sat next to her. "I don't think there's anything to be scared of. We're at Hogwarts and it's actually really cool!" Draco lit up and started telling her about the way the place was magic.
Her eyes lit up. "There's actual magic?" Her breath was shaky, but her eyes were bright with excitement.
Draco gave her a smug grin. "I'm a Malfoy so I'll be going here when I'm older." He was surprised when the girl's eyes started tearing up again. "I'm not a Malfoy! Does that mean I can't come here?" Draco stared at her, thinking hard.
"What's your name?" She stared at him for a moment, making him squirm a little uncomfortable. "Hermione Granger. Can I or not?" Draco ducked his head automatically at her demanding tone. "Maybe we should ask Uncle Sev? He might know." At that, Hermione's face filled with uncertainty. She crumbled outwardly, her arms coming back around herself.
"Are you sure? He's not gonna hurt me is he?" Draco looked at her weirdly. "Uncle Sev is really nice. He's not scary at all I promise." She still looked unsure. "He's really really nice, he just acts mean. He's not I promise."
Draco decided he didn't like it when girls cried. He decided he would show her. He started crawling out from under the bed, when Hermione grabbed his shirt looking scared. She gave him a shaky smile but followed him out.
XXX
"Miss Granger are you quite done?" Severus drawled out, a little surprised at Draco as he wasn't normally so nice to other children he didn't know. He watched as the small Granger looked to Draco for assurance who smiled back at her. Severus was again, surprised.
Their first interaction and she's shown a strange amount of trust in his godson.
"Like I said Hermione, he just acts mean. Come on." He grabbed her hand and helped her on his infirmary bed, with Granger still eyeing Severus warily. He raised an eyebrow at that, looking to Minerva. The woman had an odd look on her face as she watched the children interact. She looked both amused and concerned.
"You seem to have a way with children Severus." Minerva teased. Severus scowled at her fiercely, his headache growing worse. Draco and Hermione were talking to each other quietly, the latter still eyeing them suspiciously from time to time. He was thankful they were quiet at the least.
"Poppy, is there a reason Mr. Potter isn't waking up?" Minerva asked, giving Severus respite for now. She was a little worried as the other two already have woken up. Severus rolled his eyes, ignoring the slight twinge of worry he himself felt.
Pomfrey smiled at her friend's concern but shook her head. "There's nothing wrong with him, other than his age of course. He'll wake up on his own, no need to fret Minerva." Almost as soon as the words left her mouth, Potter woke up. Severus shoved down the pain he felt seeing Lily's green eyes on that face.
The other two children were silent now but watched as the boy blinked sleepily for a moment before his eyes opened wide and he scrambled to get out of bed. Severus stared at the boy, mild concern pushing through the hard exterior he kept up. He stepped forward when the boy's eyes widened, his breath coming in short bursts as he started to panic. Severus's own eyes widened when he heard the boy's thoughts loud and clear. "They got rid of me…"