Harry had sent off a quick note to Dumbledore when Severus was in bed, and was not surprised when the old wizard returned earlier than planned the next day. He entered his rooms at the end of the afternoon.
"Well, those people at the Ministry certainly know how to keep a wizard busy," he said, throwing his cloak onto a chair, "Severus, my boy! Come here!"
He picked the boy up and lifted him over his head with a strength beyond his years. He bounced the boy a little and Severus giggled madly.
"Oooh, I missed you so much," Albus swung him before catching him in his arms, "all those boring people wanting to talk to me! I wish I could have stayed with you."
Severus patted his cheeks with his small hands. "I was not in the way?" he asked.
"Oh, dear, no! You could never be in the way. I love you," Dumbledore sat down on the couch with the boy in his lap, "I am glad Harry took good care of you, but I really had much rather stayed here. Now – what's for supper? I am starving! Not only do they bore you to tears at the Ministry, but they forget to feed you too."
"I promised Severus fish and chips for dinner," Harry said.
Severus eyed his grandpa anxiously. "I don't have to eat fish and chips," he said quickly, "I don't mind…"
"No," Dumbledore kissed the small face, "Fish and chips is just fine."
After a heavy, greasy meal Dumbledore tucked the child into his bed. "Are you going to stay here, grandpa?" Severus asked sleepily.
"I am," Albus assured him, "I don't have to leave again for some time. Night, little one."
"Night," Severus turned and was asleep before Albus had left the room.
sssssssss
A couple of days passed quietly. Severus played happily with all his new toys and he liked nothing better than to curl up into Dumbledore's or Harry's arms before bed to be read a story. The office was a source of endless fascination – Fawkes resided there, for one, and the two chattered at each other endlessly, though completely unintelligible for anyone listening.
Though he had been forbidden from touching the silver instruments, he often sat staring at them, curiously watching the puffs of smoke, the spinning and whirling and the strange noises they made.
One afternoon, when Harry and Dumbledore sat at the other end of the room, playing a gruelling game of chess, Severus could no longer resist the temptation. He reached out and his small fingers closed on a globe-like structure held up by a silver rod. The fragile glass fractured under his clumsy grip, and he bit back a cry as the glass cut his hand. With wide eyes he watched the destruction he had wrought. He had not meant to! He only wanted to look closer! Grandpa was going to be so angry with him!
He felt tears prick as he thought about the horrid punishments he was going to get for this. He would be beaten, he thought fearfully, and they would send him away, back to the mean people where he would have to work and work all day without food.
What could he do? Perhaps if he cleaned up, they would be less angry? Maybe he could fix the instrument. Quickly stuffing his bleeding hand into his pocket, he used his other hand to carefully sweep up the glass and stash it in his other pocket. It pricked his leg, but he did not care as he slowly made his way from the room and into his own bedroom.
Hidden safely under his bed, he tried to fit the pieces back together again, trying to glue them together with the light that sometimes emerged from his hands. He had to keep trying – it had to work. The horrible time with the Dursleys played through his head as his fear made him tremble. The glass kept slipping from his fingers and cutting him worse, but he could not give up.
Meanwhile, Harry and Dumbledore, having finished their game, noticed they were one little boy short.
"Severus?" Dumbledore called. No response came.
"He was just sitting here," Harry said in confusion. "I'll go check with the gargoyle to make sure he has not left the rooms, Albus. You check his room and the bathroom."
Dumbledore quickly checked the bedroom. No Severus there. The bathroom. Nothing either. Wondering, and starting to get worried, he walked back into the office and narrowed his eyes.
Something was off there. One of his instruments was missing from its place. He knew Severus was fond of watching them, but he did not think the child would take it. Although, if he had, he was probably hiding somewhere.
Walking back into the boy's bedroom, he looked around. "Severus?"
A slight whimper from under the bed attracted his attention. "Sev, are you under there?"
"S-sorry," muffled sobs emerged from under the bed, "Was naughty…I tried to fix it…"
"Severus, come out," the Headmaster said, slightly stern, "now."
His eyes widened in shock as a little blood-covered boy emerged, still holding a few shards of glass. Tears ran down the pale face.
"Didn't mean to break it, only wanted to look," the boy backed away from him until he hit the wall, "couldn't fix it."
The sobbing became nearly hysterical and Albus approached, carefully prying the pieces of glass from Severus's hands before Vanishing them.
"HARRY!" he called over his shoulder, "Quickly, please!"
Harry ran into the room, stopping short at the sight before him.
"What happened to him? Where is he hurt?"
Dumbledore slowly crouched down in front of the terrified child. "Severus. I need to take you to the bathroom to clean you up and heal your wounds, alright?"
"N..not the mean people, please…" the child babbled, and Dumbledore simply picked him up. They would need to talk in a bit, but the child was still bleeding and that needed to be healed.
Carrying him into the bathroom, he undressed the boy while Harry inspected each little hand, casting spells to remove any remaining fragments of glass and then healing spells stopped the bleeding and sealed the cuts. Dumbledore winced when he saw the torn fabric of the pants where Severus had apparently stuffed glass into his pocket, and the matching small cuts on his thigh.
Severus shivered convulsively, and the old wizard quickly dressed him in clean clothes before carrying him to the office, leaving Harry to clean up the bedroom. They wanted to be absolutely sure no glass remained there.
The child shook as Dumbledore sat down on the couch and held the small body tightly in his arms. Inwardly, the old man sighed. Severus had misbehaved slightly by touching the instrument and breaking it – something any four year old might have done. It was heartening that he HAD done something a normal four year old would do. He also knew concealing it was not because Severus wanted to get out of being punished; he simply was terrified because he had been hurt so severely in the past for much less. How was he going to discipline an abused little boy who truly feared he would beat him senseless?
Deciding to go with his instincts, he cuddled Severus close and rubbed the small back to calm him.
"Shhh, my little one, shhhh. You are not going back to the mean people, I have promised you that. Shhh, now."
The dark eyes met his with such sadness that it hurt the old man. "Sev is a bad boy."
"You were naughty," Dumbledore corrected, "you are not a bad boy. It is not the same."
The child was confused and he decided to explain further. "You are a good little boy. You only did something I told you not to. That does not make you a bad boy. You were a bit naughty, like all children are a bit naughty sometimes. You are a good little boy who was just a bit naughty."
Severus's lip trembled again. "Grandpa going to hit me now?" he asked, infinitely sad.
Dumbledore shook his head. "No. I am not done talking to you yet," he said, his arms around the child.
"See, Severus, you hurt yourself. I do not mind so much that you were naughty. I do not mind very much that you broke my things, even. I know you only wanted to make things right again when you took everything to your room to repair it, but you hurt yourself doing that."
Severus nodded, his eyes down. "Tried to glue it with the light," he said forlornly, "could not."
"Next time you break something, you should call grandpa or Harry,' Albus said, "so we can clean it up or repair it. You may get punished, but we are never going to beat you or send you back to the mean people for it."
"Now, as for you being naughty," he said, "you are going to get two minutes in the corner, for touching something I told you not to."
He picked the child up and placed him in the corner of the room, his nose to the wall.
Severus stood very still, not quite believing what was happening. He had wondered how hard his grandpa would beat him, and with what. He had thought fearfully of the ruler on the desk…but all that happened was that he was set in the corner without even a single swat to his backside. After what seemed like no time at all, he heard his grandpa call him.
"Come, child, come give me a cuddle," the Headmaster opened his arms and soon had a sobbing youngster clinging to him.
"Hush now, little boy," he soothed, "I am not angry with you. Come, little one. Everything is fine, and you are my good boy."
"Sorry, grandpa," Severus sniffled, "Sorry."
"It is alright, child. I should have remembered to place charms on the items I do not want you to touch, and I am going to do that, today!"
Harry emerged from the corridor to the bedrooms, looking pleased with himself. "Spic and span," he announced, "not a shrapnel of glass to be found."
He eyed the boy and the Headmaster and knew instinctively what had passed while he was busy – it was not hard to guess Severus would be terrified.
"I think you need to find a higher place for your things, Albus," he said off-handedly, "I thought you learned that after I broke every single one of them!"
Severus's eyes widened almost comically. "You broke grandpa's toys?" he asked in awe.
Dumbledore spluttered about the indignity of his various intricate instruments being referred to as 'toys' but thought better of it when he noticed the little body relax in his arms.
"Oh yeah," Harry sat down next to them, motioning animatedly, "I was VERY angry with grandpa at the time. Rightfully so, mind you…" it was still a sore point between them, and Dumbledore made a mental note to discuss it with Harry soon. He did need to do some serious apologising – no pun intended.
"I took all of his instruments and threw them across the room," he confessed to Severus, "and I broke almost all of them."
"Ooooohhh!" Severus stared at Harry with a mix of horror and awe. Dumbledore grinned.
"I think he even threw one at my head," he whispered conspiratorially to the boy, who giggled a little.
"And grandpa did not hit you with his ruler?" he asked, a little fearful still.
"Nope," Harry shook his head, "he wasn't angry with me at all. Though I did deserve some time in the corner for doing that," he added thoughtfully.
Dumbledore smiled warmly at him, a smile that conveyed there was a conversation coming up about that particular night. Severus turned to him.
"I won' be naughty again, grandpa," he promised earnestly. Dumbledore kissed his head.
"And I will love you anyway, whether you are naughty or not," he told the child, before enveloping him in his arms for a long, tight hug.