Severus' and Harry's Family Experience
by Healer Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
COMPLETELY AU! Partly OOC! sick!Harry, sick!Severus
It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it. If you don't like it, don't read it.
Reviews are very welcome, as they inspire my muse. Thank you so much for your kind reviews!
"Good morning boys," Minerva addressed Severus and Harry gently. "What's wrong?" she asked in concern, seeing that Harry was lying in Severus' arm crying soundlessly.
"As far as I could understand him, he had a bad dream," Severus explained, sounding very hoarse.
"Oh, my poor children," Minerva cooed, sitting down on the edge of Severus' bed. "Harry, can you tell us what was in your dream?"
"Yes please, Harry," Severus croaked, giving Harry a comforting smile that didn't really reach his eyes.
While Harry slowly began to tell them about the bad man, who threw a green light around the room, killing his mummy, Minerva worriedly felt Severus' forehead and stuck the thermometer into his mouth. "Oh, my poor child," she said and pulled Harry up into her lap, carefully stroking his cheeks. "That was a really bad dream, sweetie. I knew your mummy very well, and I liked her a lot. I'm glad that you resemble your wonderful mummy so much."
Severus noticed that tears welled in the woman's eyes and he couldn't help feel sorry for his new friend. 'If I just didn't feel so icky today,' he thought, uncomfortably shifting in his bed. "Poor Severus, you seem to feel really unwell today," Minerva's concerned voice penetrated his mind, and he gave the nice woman a short nod.
Harry immediately slid down from Minerva's lap and knelt in front of Severus on the floor. "I'm sorry, Severus, for waking you up although you're so sick," he apologized in a small voice.
"It's all right, Harry. It's morning, and Severus would have woken up anyway," Minerva said soothingly, knowing that Severus couldn't reply at the moment. She finally took the thermometer back and announced, "39.8; Severus, I'm afraid you'll have to stay in bed until your fever comes down a bit. Do you think you'll be able to eat a bit of soup, sweetie?"
"No," Severus croaked painfully.
"All right, then I will give you a nutrient potion instead. I'll be back in a minute," Minerva told the boy and left the room, returning a short while later with three phials. She sat down next to Severus, helped him to sit up, and made him drink his potions. "Now try to sleep for a while," she said softly, while she gently made him lie down again.
"Can you read me a story?" Severus asked hesitantly, feeling a little better now that the potions started to work.
"I'm sorry, but I have to teach classes, sweetie, but I'm going to wake Albus and I'm sure he'll read something for you," Minerva said apologizing, adjusted the cool cloth to Severus' forehead, and stood up.
"I can read to Severus," Harry spoke up hesitantly. "I mean I can't read very well, but I'll try, and..." He slowly trailed off.
"I'd like that very much, Harry; thanks," Severus croaked, nestling deeper under his covers.
While Minerva left the room, giving Harry a grateful smile, Harry stepped in front of the book shelf and searched for a book that Severus would like. Finally, he found one with a cauldron on the cover similar to the one Severus had drawn the day before. He sat down on the edge of Severus' bed and slowly began to read. "Is it all right like this?" he asked anxiously when he finished the first page.
"It's brilliant, go on quickly," Severus replied, smiling at Harry.
The children were so engrossed in the story, in which a small boy went to a wizarding primary school where he learned everything about potions and tried to brew potions that always ended up having strange effects, that they didn't notice Albus enter the room and leave with a twinkle in his eyes.
'This is really funny,' Severus thought, enjoying himself very much. 'It's not so bad to be ill if nobody shouts at me for being a lazybones and if I have a brother, who reads funny stories to me,' he mused in spite of feeling awful.
Harry gave his best to read the story flawlessly, so that Severus wouldn't laugh about his bad reading and so that he could enjoy the story. After a while he noticed that his throat was getting scratchy. However, seeing the smile that was playing on Severus' mouth, he just couldn't stop reading and continued until the very end of the story.
"Thanks," Severus mumbled and lazily closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep immediately.
HP
When he was sure that his friend was asleep, Harry got up and quietly left the room for Albus' office. "Good morning," he greeted the friendly old man, before he hesitantly asked, "May I have some water, sir?"
Albus waved his wand, conjuring a goblet full of pumpkin juice, and handed it to Harry. "Try this, my boy, this is pumpkin juice. I heard you read to Severus, and you did that very well. I'm very proud of you, child."
Harry's slightly anxious expression changed into a huge smile. "Thank you," he breathed to the gentle man, taking a nip of his pumpkin juice. "This is delicious," he whispered, looking up at Albus with wide eyes. Never before had he tasted something so nice before.
"Now Harry, shall we ask the house elves for breakfast? You must be very hungry," Albus suggested, frowning when Harry quietly shook his head.
"No thanks, I'm not hungry," he replied, letting out a small cough.
Albus quickly walked around his desk and stepped over to the child, placing a hand on his forehead. "Are you feeling unwell, Harry?" he asked, noticing that he felt a bit warm to the touch.
"I'm all right," Harry gave back in a small voice, averting his eyes to the floor.
Albus gently put an arm around the boy's shoulder, leading him to the sofa. In spite of beginning to feel sick, Harry smiled a bit when Albus summoned the thermometer from the children's room. However, when Albus motioned him to open his mouth so that he could take his temperature, he couldn't help letting out a series of harsh coughs, causing the man to stick the thermometer under his armpit instead. Albus pulled Harry close, gently stroking his warm cheeks.
"Do you like it here, Harry?" he asked softly.
"Yes," Harry replied enthusiastically, coughing again. "It's like in heaven; I like it very much," he whispered, giving the friendly old man a smile.
"Do you like Severus, child?"
"Yes, he is very nice, not at all like Dudley and his friends. He didn't call me 'freak' at all," Harry gave back in a small voice.
Albus carefully pushed back an errand strand of hair from Harry's forehead and told the child, "I hope that you'll get along well; you both have so much in common, and he is just as good a boy as you are. I love you both very much."
"Thanks," Harry replied miserably, trying to put a smile on his face.
"You mustn't try to hide if you're feeling bad," Albus admonished him lightly, taking the thermometer back. "You have a fever, Harry, 38.7. I will give you a few potions, and then you'll decide if you want to lie down or stay here."
Harry obediently swallowed the potions and noticed that he felt better immediately. "I think I like potions too," he informed Albus in a slightly hoarse voice. "May I sit here and draw another picture?" he asked hesitantly.
"Of course my boy," Albus replied and conjured crayons and a few parchments for Harry, before he slowly went into the children's room to look after Severus.
HP HEALER POMFREY HP
Severus woke up when he felt a cold hand sticking something into his armpit. He sleepily tried to push the hand away but heard Albus voice, "No Severus, I have to take your temperature."
He lazily opened his eyes and croaked, "Harry?"
"Harry is on the sofa in my office, drawing a picture. He is sick as well," Albus informed him, gently bathing the child's flushed face with the cool cloth. "How are you feeling, my boy?"
"A bit better," Severus croaked. "May I sit with Harry and draw too?"
"Let's see how high your fever is," Albus replied kindly. "Still 39 degrees," he told the child a few minutes later. "Wait a few minutes until the potion takes effect, and then you may sit with Harry if you feel well enough."
Harry let out a weary smile, when Severus sat down next to him. "What are you drawing, Harry?" he asked interestedly, seeing a tall man in black clothes standing behind a cauldron, apparently trying to teach a small boy how to brew a potion.
"I don't know, I don't feel good," Harry mumbled and dizzily leaned on to Severus, shivering vehemently.
"Albus, you must come," Severus quickly called out to Albus, who stepped over to the two boys in concern.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Albus asked, taking in the boys flushed cheeks.
"He seems to be burning up, sir," Severus informed him, knowing that Harry had to be very hot if he even felt hot to his own feverish hands.
Albus quickly sat down on Harry's other side and conjured a second thermometer, knowing that the one he had was never there, where he needed it. Confirming that the child's skin was in fact extremely hot, he took his temperature once more. "40.8," he gasped. "Harry, hold on for a moment, I'm going to call Poppy. She will make you feel better in a blink."
"Where is our grown-up Severus, when I need him?" Poppy mumbled, more to herself than to the others. "He could easily tell us what happened by using Legilimency. He has the wizard's measles, but that doesn't explain his high fever. What happened?"
Seeing that Harry remained irresponsive, shivering in Severus' arm, Albus explained, "He was drawing this picture, Poppy. Do you think that he remembers something?"
"That shouldn't be possible; however, it could be a vision, which might have caused his fever to spike like that. Severus, do you know what happened?"
"No, I just came and asked what that was, and he told me he didn't know and he was feeling unwell," Severus croaked.
"I will give him a cool bath to get his fever down," Poppy said determinedly and scooped Harry up in her arms, carrying him over to the children's bathroom, Albus and Severus on her heals. Ignoring the child's shivering, she kept him in the bathtub until his fever came down a degree. Then she dried him with a wave of her wand and gently laid him down on his bed. Seeing that Harry fell into a restless sleep, she turned to Severus and quickly checked on him.
"Oh my poor sweetie," she said, "you're getting the red spots all over your arms and legs. Lie down on your bed please, and I will put some healing salve on the spots so that you won't feel so icky."
HP
When Harry woke up late in the afternoon, Minerva was sitting on the edge of Severus' bed applying the healing salve to his arms, legs, and stomach, where the spots had started as well. Harry quickly scrambled out of his bed and knelt in front of Severus, giving the red spots a horrified look. "Does it hurt?" he asked softly.
Severus shook his head. "No, it doesn't hurt, but it feels icky."
"Harry, are you feeling better?" Minerva asked, worriedly feeling his forehead.
"Yes, much better. Does Severus still have to stay in bed?" Harry asked. "Or can we play something?"
"Do you like puzzles, boys?" Minerva questioned, causing Harry to give Severus an enquiring glance.
"I like puzzles," Severus replied, explaining to Harry, "They have lots of pieces and you must put them together. But do we have one here?"
As soon as Minerva finished applying the salve on Severus' skin, she pulled a tissue out of her robe pocket and transfigured it into a Jigsaw puzzle with five hundred pieces. It showed Hogwarts in front of the lake with many different magical animals and students in funny clothing running around the grounds. Students could also be seen at most of the windows.
"It looks funny," Harry laughed happily.
"Is that Hogwarts?" Severus asked pensively. "I have seen a similar picture before."
"Yes, my dear boys; that's Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the school where we are here. If you go into Albus' office and look out of the window, you can see the lake," Minerva explained patiently and went ahead into the office, where she put the jigsaw on the table in front of the sofa.
The two boys followed immediately and sat down on the sofa, breaking the puzzle up into its pieces in order to start from the beginning. Harry glanced at Severus uncertainly but soon was fully engrossed helping his friend to find the edges. Minerva sat down at Albus' desk near the headmaster, and both teachers watched the children amused. "It's amazing how well they get along," Minerva whispered to Albus.
"That's true; however, I'm very worried about what happened with Harry this morning," Albus whispered back, "especially as we don't know what exactly happened. If it was a vision or something, it could happen again any time."
HP
"I'd so like to go and have a look at the lake," Harry whispered to Severus. "Do you think they'll let us go there some time?"
"I think we can't go out because we're sick," Severus replied thoughtfully. "But I'd like that too. We can ask Minerva or Albus."
Seeing that Harry gave him a frightened look, Severus raised his voice and asked hoarsely, "Harry and I'd like to go to the lake. May we go there some time?"
While Albus gave the two boys a fond smile, Minerva answered, "Tomorrow morning, the students will leave for the summer holidays. If you feel well enough to go out, we'll take you out to the lake, all right?"
"Yes!" Severus and Harry beamed. "Thank you," Harry added in a small voice.
"Minerva," Albus spoke up thoughtfully, "The leaving feast is going to start in twenty minutes, and we both should be present. I suggest that we take both boys with us to the Great Hall tonight, provided that they are well enough."
Minerva walked over to the boys, who were still engrossed in their jigsaw. "Severus and Harry, how are you feeling?" she asked softly.
"A bit icky, but it's all right," Severus replied hesitantly.
Harry gave Minerva an anxious glance and croaked, "Fine."
Albus came over and announced, "Today is the leaving feast, because the school year is over and the students go home for the summer holidays. Minerva and I would like to take you to the Great Hall to have dinner together with all the teachers and students."
Seeing that Harry and Severus were exchanging anxious looks, Minerva added, "You don't have to be afraid; you'll sit at the head table between Albus and me. Are you both feeling well enough to go? If you feel worse, we can return here any time."
"It could be fun," Severus told Harry, giggling a bit while he tried to scratch his left shoulder.
"No Severus, try not to scratch yourself please," Albus reprimanded him softly. "All right, Minerva. I believe our little angels need some new clothes. So far, all they have are pyjamas, my dear."
"What are your favourite colours, Severus and Harry?" Minerva asked the children.
"Green," Severus answered, letting out a small cough.
"Blue," Harry followed immediately.
"Very well," Minerva replied and conjured green robes, followed by exactly the same robes in blue. Then she pointed her wand at Severus, exchanging his pyjamas into light trousers with a matching T-shirt and repeated the transfiguration with Harry's pyjamas.
A few minutes later, both boys were standing in front of the door in their new robes. "These are too funny," Harry giggled, ending up in a coughing fit.
As soon as Harry had calmed down again, Albus ushered them down the stairs and led them into the Great Hall, where he motioned them to sit at the head table between Minerva and himself. About half way through the meal, Harry suddenly noticed that he had to go to the toilet. He blushed deeply and hesitantly whispered to Minerva, "I'm sorry but I got to go wee-wee."
Minerva gave him an amused look and replied in a soft voice, "That's no problem, Harry. Just follow me." She led Harry out of the Great Hall and to the nearby toilets. On their way back along the Gryffindor table, Harry felt very self-conscious because many students turned around and greeted him, "Hello Harry." Suddenly, he heard one of the big boys say, "Why did the greasy git have to give Harry detention brewing a de-aging potion? I really hate Snape. Maybe they could leave him as a six-year old."
Harry's mind was doing flip-flops and he wearily followed Minerva back to his seat. He suddenly saw himself sitting in front of a bubbling cauldron, being hissed at by the tall teacher, who was standing behind his desk, "Potter, you dunderhead, what do you think you're doing?"
Instantly, Harry began to feel horrible and wearily leaned on to Minerva, putting his aching head on her lap. "Minerva, give him to me; I'll take him to his room and look after him," Poppy spoke up taking Harry from Minerva.
"May I go with Harry and Madam Pomfrey?" Severus asked, and when Albus slightly nodded his head, he followed the Healer out of the hall, causing the students to laugh, when they noticed that his small, green robes were billowing behind him.
"What's wrong with Harry?" Severus enquired, worriedly watching while Poppy waved her wand over his friend.
"I'm not sure, Severus. He has a very high fever, and it would be the best if we just let him sleep for the night," Poppy replied softly, spelling a fever reducer straight into the child's stomach.
Severus gave Harry an intense glare. 'Show me what made you so sick again, Harry,' he thought, trying to focus on his friend's eyes like his mother had taught him to do a few times, and suddenly, a memory appeared in front of his mind.
'What was that?' he mused, feeling completely distressed.
"Severus, are you feeling all right?" Poppy's voice penetrated his mind.
"Harry saw something strange I think," Severus replied uncomfortably.
"Did you see what made Harry so sick?" Poppy enquired, alerted by the boy's words.
Severus gave her a small nod but didn't know how he could show the scene to the nice lady. Poppy pondered if she should retrieve Albus' Pensieve but dismissed the thought when she checked on Severus and noticed that his fever had climbed up to nearly forty degrees as well. "Well, you can show the memory to Albus later," she said soothingly and made Severus lie down on his bed so that she could apply the healing salve on his spots, which had already spread all over his body except for his face.
She hadn't yet finished applying the salve completely, when Severus followed Harry into a feverish slumber.
HP
A few hours later, Severus woke up coughing vehemently. He noticed that kind hands helped him sit up a bit so that he could breathe easier. Lazily opening his eyes, he saw Albus leaning over him, while Minerva was sitting on the edge of Harry's bed. "I know what made Harry sick again," he told the adults hoarsely, "but I don't know how I can let you see."
"So you're a natural Legilimens," Albus commended him amazed. "Would you mind me looking into your mind for the memory?"
"All right, sir," Severus replied and looked straight into the man's eyes.
Albus entered the child's mind very carefully in order not to hurt him and let Severus show himself the memory. "Thank you, my boy; you did that extremely well; thank you for being such a good friend to Harry."
A small smile played on the child's lips when he slowly drifted back to sleep. Albus turned back to Minerva, a worried expression on his face. "When you walked behind the Gryffindor table with Harry, he heard Mr. Weasley say something about Professor Snape and that we should let him stay a six-year old. That obviously triggered a memory of the older Severus calling Harry a dunderhead during the Potions class."
"Do you think Harry still has his memories of his older self?" Minerva enquired, carefully bathing the child's hot face with a cool cloth.
"His memories, which obviously have to be somewhere deep in his mind, apparently can be triggered. However, it causes Harry to really feel bad afterwards."
HP
When Albus entered his office in the morning, both children were sitting on the sofa doing their jigsaw. "Good morning, my boys," he greeted them pleasantly. "How are you on this fine morning?"
"Fine," Harry replied.
"All right," Severus echoed. "Can we go out to the lake, please?"
Albus sighed, just when Minerva entered the room. Having heard Severus' last sentence, she replied sternly, "That depends on your condition, Severus. Are you feeling better today?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Severus replied.
"Fine," Harry echoed.
Twenty minutes later, the children were dressed and the 'family' was sitting in Minerva's small kitchen having breakfast. Severus scrunched his face when Minerva made him drink his milk. "May I brew fruit syrup to put in our milk later?" he asked, giving Minerva and Albus a pleading glance. "That makes our milk taste much better."
"Do you know which ingredients you need and how to brew it, my boy?" Albus asked gently.
"Of course I know that," Severus replied indignantly, turning to Harry. "Will you help me, Harry?"
"Of course," Harry replied shyly, "if you tell me what I have to do."
"I show you, it's very yummy," Severus promised, smiling at his friend.
"All right, if you're finished with your breakfast, go and do your jigsaw for a minute and let me have a word with Minerva," Albus told the children, causing Severus to dash away, followed closely by Harry.
"What do you think, Min? Shall we let them brew? I believe that Severus already knows what he is doing. The only problem that I can see is that it might trigger further memories if we take them to the Potions classroom, and I don't want Harry to feel so bad again so soon."
"That's a big problem," Minerva agreed.
"Then we should take them to Severus' private lab, even if I don't know if Severus will approve of that when he's back to his normal age later on."
"Well, he just has to approve. He will understand that he wanted to brew, but that we couldn't take Harry to the classroom; moreover, according to Poppy it will take about three weeks until they'll be completely back to health so that we can give them the aging potion, and we won't be able to keep him away from a cauldron for three weeks," Minerva replied, smirking.
"All right, then let's take the boys there," Albus finished the conversation and strode back into his office. "Now, shall we go, so that you can brew your potion?" he addressed the boys.
"I have to see the students off, but I'll follow you as soon as they're gone," Minerva excused herself, while Albus took the children into Severus' private quarters.
Severus and Harry looked around in amazement. "Wow, this room is huge and very pretty," Harry said shyly, loving how the book shelves were surrounding the large room that was not too dark in spite of being in the dungeons."
"Yes it is," Albus agreed. "However, these are the private quarters of our Potions Master, and we shouldn't linger here while he's away. Behind this door is his private lab and I hope he won't mind us using it for a moment." He opened the door and let the children into the room, causing Severus to let out a huge gasp.
"Wow, this place is just gorgeous! I want to become the Potions Master of Hogwarts when I'm all grown-up and big!" he exclaimed in apparent excitement.