A/N: Thanks goes to my beta YenGirl and my readers. Also I regret to inform you that this maybe my last update for a while. I'm moving soon, so things will be kind of crazy. I'll try to at least get one more chapter up before I have to move.
Once again sorry you guys.
Four Seasons
4 years ago- Harry's first birthday.
"Severus."
Severus looked up from where he was cleaning a babbling Harry of the evidence of the cake fight that had taken place a few minutes ago.
"Milord."
"I wish to speak with you. It concerns Harry's birthday present."
Severus glanced at the stack of children's books placed next to the rest of the gifts.
"What about them?" he asked, turning back to the Dark Lord.
"The books were one part of the gift. There is another part."
Voldemort watched as the black eyes went blank and the lean body stiffened; it was a warning for the Dark Lord to choose his next words very carefully.
"I wish to do the Draco Suscéptor ritual with Harry."
Said black eyes widened in surprise. By the lake, trying to get the Pack Pups cleaned up, Fenrir's head swung their way.
"Why?" Severus asked suspiciously after a moment of tense silence.
"I know you don't trust me," Voldemort said quietly. "You have every right not to. I also know you won't believe me when I say I care deeply for you and Harry both. So I want to show you."
Neither of them noticed nor cared that most of the others had stopped what they were doing in fav
or of staring at them.
"You... do understand what doing the ritual means, don't you?" Severus asked at last.
Voldemort nodded. The ritual would bind him as Harry's protector under the eyes of the Great Dragon Kilgharrah who had guided the great wizard Merlin himself during his youth. No harm would ever befall the child, not even from Voldemort.
"I will consider it," was all Severus said.
Present Day
When Voldemort entered the kitchen and saw the look on his lover's face, the first thought he had was "Uh-oh!"
"Severus?" he asked softly.
Severus turned to him.
"Milord," he said. "I want you to go upstairs and kill that boy."
Voldemort let out a sigh of relief. For a moment, he thought he was in trouble.
"Alright," he agreed, "but can I eat first before I go and kill Harry?"
Severus' eyes sparked dangerously.
"You're right. I'll be much more crueler on an empty stomach," Voldemort mumbled as he went up to Harry's room.
When he entered the child's room, he blinked. Then he stared.
Harry was blue.
Not blue as in sad (although he looked that as well), but the color blue from the tips of his hair right down to his toes.
Harry was blue.
Right.
Clearing his throat, Voldemort went over to the sniffling child and sat down next to him on the pirate ship bed.
"Harry," Voldemort said, "your Daddy sent me up here to kill you."
"Okay," Harry said in a quavering voice and sniffed.
"What happened?"
"I don't know."
"Alright. Why are you blue?"
"I don't know."
"…. Did you want to be blue?"
"No."
Voldemort paused as he thought over what his next question should be.
"Why is your Daddy mad at you?"
"I touched Daddy's potions."
"Ah. Were you allowed to touch them?"
"No." Harry sniffed again. "Daddy says I'm not supposed to touch his potions without a permit."
"I think you mean permission."
Harry looked blankly at him.
"Never mind. Harry, if you know you weren't supposed to touch your Daddy's potions, then why did you?"
"I don't know."
Voldemort resisted the urge to growl in frustration and rip out his hair.
"Daddy hates me, doesn't he?" Harry asked, looking as though he was going to cry again.
"No," Voldemort said, "of course he doesn't."
Voldemort had a feeling Harry could drain the world's oceans, enslave the human population and Severus would still love his son.
"But his voice got scary quiet and stuff."
Voldemort winced. He too had been on the receiving end of Severus' voice going "scary quiet and stuff". It was not pleasant.
"Your Daddy was mad, yes, but he was mostly worried. His potions are dangerous and you could have gotten seriously hurt."
"So," Harry paused to wipe leaking snot (also blue colored) on his sleeve, "Daddy was scared, not mad?"
"Yes." Voldemort couldn't help wondering if Harry was literally blue blooded at the moment.
"Oh. Am I going to get a spanking then?"
Voldemort doubted that either. For one thing, Harry was an obedient and surprisingly calm child, never getting into any big trouble or giving anyone problems. For another, Severus didn't believe in corporal punishment.
The Dark Lord knew that the Potions Master feared crossing a line, of becoming like his father, Tobias Snape.
The worst punishment Harry would ever get was probably a time out.
"Probably not," Voldemort said before running his fingers though blue hair. "Now stay here, and I'll go talk to your Daddy."
"'kay."
Voldemort ruffled the blue hair before standing up and making his way back to the kitchen.
"Did you kill him?" was the first thing Severus asked.
"No," Voldemort answered.
"Why not?"
"I don't know."
Harry didn't get a spanking (Severus had actually turned pale when Voldemort told him what Harry had asked), but he did get a time out and no dessert that night. He also got a stern talking to about why touching Daddy's potions was bad, and a reassurance that no matter how angry he got, Severus could never hate him.
Some days later, Lucius came through the Floo with Draco in his arms.
"And who is this young Lady?" he asked when he came into the living room and saw Hermione and Harry playing on the rug.
"Hi, I'm Hermione Ginger!" Hermione introduced herself.
"Granger," Severus automatically corrected from where he was sitting, reading.
"Picked up another one?" Lucius asked after he had set Draco down to play and sat next to his friend.
"She's Greg's daughter."
Lucius blinked up in surprise at the mention of Severus's old friend. He had met Greg once when he came to pick up the future Potions Master to spend the summer with him and his family. That man was the only Muggle in the world who could strike fear into his heart.
"Ah," Lucius said, looking back at the three children playing at Dragons. He wasn't sure how he felt about his son being the princess and Hermione being the knight in 'sparkly' armor.
"Is she staying for the sleepover?"
"Yes."
"Is it safe for her to be here?" Lucius asked.
"She has magic, so unless you tell the Dark Lord about her parentage, Hermione is in no danger."
"Remember what happened the last time you withheld the truth?"
"I have Jacob and a pack of Wolves on my side, not to mention the Dark Lord will have to go through Greg first," Severus said, smirking as his friend paled.
"I fear for the Dark Lord."
Severus' smirk widened.
Lucius stayed for an hour before leaving Severus alone with the three children.
"Alright, shoes on," Severus announced.
"Why?" Hermione asked, "where are we going?"
"We're going into the woods to look for potion ingredients," Severus answered.
Hermione's eyes lit up and she raced to Harry's room to get her shoes. Once everyone was ready, Severus ushered them out of the house and into the small woods behind it, and the hunt began.
"Uncle Sevvie, I found some!"
Severus looked up from where he was carefully scraping the bark off of a fallen oak branch. Clutched in Draco's hand were some dandelions... well, what was left of the dandelions.
"Very good. Put them in the basket," he said.
While Draco trotted towards the basket, Severus looked over at Harry who was picking and eating berries (thankfully there were no poison berries in this woods or poison ivy either) and then at Hermione who was picking up... worms and putting them in the basket.
Weren't girls not supposed to like worms?
"Ewwww!" Draco said, wrinkling his nose when another wriggling worm joined its friends among the plants in the basket.
"You don't like worms?" Hermione asked.
"Worms are gross!" Draco stated.
"You're weird," Hermione declared.
"You're weird!" Draco countered.
"Says you."
"Mione, Ray, look at what I found!"
The two children hurried over to where Harry was near the berry bush.
As Severus followed them, he had a feeling that what just passed had just defined the young trio's relationship.
The sun was setting by the time the four finished collecting ingredients. The exercise was really was an excuse to tire the children out, although there were some useful herbs in there. The worms could be used as well.
Severus put the things away before ordering the kids to wash up for dinner, the mealtime conversation consisting of:
"Harry, eat your broccoli."
"But they're evil!"
"Mr. 'Ape, are lamb chops really made out of lamb?"
"Yes."
Big brown eyes got bigger.
"I mean, no, it's just their name."
"Uncle Sevvie, I want green eggs and ham."
"I regret reading you that book."
Then it was time for dessert.
"Ice cream!" Draco squealed when a bowl of vanilla ice cream was placed in front of him. "Thank you," he added before digging in.
Severus watched the three children eagerly devour their dessert before looking down at his bowl of fruit with a sad sigh. Next to him, Hedwig looked down at her own little bowl of diced fruit with a mournful expression. After finding about the order of cutting back on the sweets, Jacob and Nassica had raided his pantry, taking every last bit of his guilty pleasures. Considering that both owl and man shared said sweets, Hedwig had not been happy.
"One more week," Severus promised the owl, giving her a little pat on the head.
After dinner, it was bath time. Taking into account that he had two more children than usual, Severus decided that all three of them inside the tub at the same time was a good idea. It wasn't as if the children really knew the difference between a girl and a boy, or cared much about it for that matter.
He should have known better.
"Draco, stop trying to drown Harry."
"Harry, remember what I said about owls and soap not mixing together."
"Hermione, get back here!"
Hermione giggled as her naked and wet little bottom disappeared around the corner. With a sigh, Severus stood up and went to dry his hands before following.
"Come on, Harry, Ray!" Hermione's voice floated back.
With a glance at each other, both boys clambered out the tub and scampered out of the bathroom and down the hall.
"Harry! Draco! Get back here!"
Inconceivable!
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
"Daddy, what does that word mean?"
"It means impossible."
"Oh... what does impossible means?"
"Incapable."
"Oh... what does inca - what does that mean?"
"… ask Hedwig."
"Whoo?"
"Ray, if you get kidnapped, I'll rescue you 'kay?"
"'kay, Mione."
Severus snorted at that. He and the children were watching The Princess Bride on the television Jacob had gotten him (more like walking into the house uninvited and dumping the thing in his living room) from the nest of blankets and pillows they had made on the rug in the living room.
"They have pirates swords!"
"Sssh!"
"Daddy, can you do a flip like that?"
"Only if I want to break something."
"Mr. 'Ape, sssh!"
By the time the credits were rolling, the audience didn't even know it. In fact, if someone were to come in, they would have been greeted with the sight of one child curled up on top of the Potions Master's chest, another child sprawled on the rug with one of her hands resting on the bridge of the man's nose, while the third child clung to and drooled on one of the man's legs.
Happily nestled and sleeping peacefully on Severus' head was a snowy white owl.
"Do you know that your daughter is a nudist?"
Greg grinned. "Bath time?"
"Bath time," Severus confirmed as he let his friend in.
"Sorry, I should have warned you about that."
"Daddy!"
Greg smiled when he entered Harry's room, squatting down and opening his arms when his daughter came running to him.
"Hey sweetie, had fun?" he said hugging her.
"Yep! We watched a movie, had ice cream and went looking for potions stuff!"
"Sounds like you guys had a busy day yesterday."
"Uh-huh."
"You didn't give Severus any trouble, did you?"
"Nope."
"Oh, really?"
Hermione nodded solemnly, and neither men decided to mention the streaking the girl had instigated around Severus' house.
"Well, get your things and let's go home."
"Aw, can't I stay?"
"No, remember grandma and grandpa are coming over."
Hermione pouted, but when she was released, did as she was told.
"Next time, the sleepover is going to be at your house," Severus said.
"We'll flip a coin."
"You'll just cheat like last time."
"I did no -"
"Severus?"
Both men paused in their bickering, turned around and Severus froze.
"... Milord."
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