Elixir for Christmas - My Advent's Calendar story 2015
by Healer Pomfrey

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.

It is my story, and I intend to write it the way I want it.
If you don't like it, go and find something else to read or write your own story to your liking!

4 December (1987)

Harry was awake very early and immediately remembered that he had finished his wand and was supposed to go into the castle with his granddad to play a prank on the students.

'I wonder what we're going to do,' he thought, happily, as he got out of his bed and readied himself for a new day.

Confirming with a glance at the clock on the mantelpiece that it was still early enough for Severus to be in his rooms, he hurried into the potions master's quarters and after carefully confirming that there were no guests in the living room shouted "Good morning Daddy."

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A moment later, Severus came out of his lab, quirking an eyebrow at the seemingly energized child.

"Good morning Harry," he replied, smirking. "Will you tell me what makes you so excited this morning?"

"I finished my wand," Harry said, proudly, holding out the white stick to him. "And granddad promised to take me into the castle to prank the students," he added, eagerly.

Severus let out a small snort. "Oh well, have fun with that," he replied, inwardly groaning at the prospect of having the seven-year-old learn how to prank the whole school. "Would you like me to take you flying after the last afternoon class?" he asked in an attempt to divert the boy's attention.

Harry stared at him with a combination of clear surprise and amazement. Often, he had seen the students fly on broomsticks from the windows in his rooms, but he had never had the opportunity to try it out himself. "Oh yes, I'd like that, thank you so much, Daddy," he replied with enthusiasm.

"Daddy am I now?" Severus queried in clear amusement. 'Oh Merlin, James would turn around in his grave if he knew about it,' he thought, only to add, 'Lily would be happy though.'

"Yes," Harry replied, simply, before he gave him an uncertain look.

"That's fine with me, son," Severus replied, somehow feeling extremely happy that the boy seemed to like him and trust him so much in spite of the bad experiences which he had made at the Dursleys. He had already witnessed in Harry's nightmares that always revolved around his relatives that Harry seemed to think about him as his new father, however, it was the first time that the boy had admitted it aloud. 'Lily would be proud of him,' he thought, smiling.

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When Severus headed to the Great Hall for breakfast, Harry quickly made his way to the Flamels' place, suddenly realising that he felt famished.

During breakfast, his excitement returned, however, and after asking Nicholas for the third time what prank they were going to play, his grandfather finally rose from his chair and brought over the invisibility jump suits.

Two minutes later, the two wizards made their way to the deserted corridors of Hogwarts, knowing that the students and teachers were still enjoying their breakfast in the Great Hall.

Harry excitedly followed Nicholas, who walked straight up to the gargoyle that was guarding the headmaster's office. Casting a silencing charm around the two of them, he taught Harry a spell and instructed him to cast it at the gargoyle.

"Afterwards, we need to return to your rooms quickly," he informed the child, who nodded in amusement.

As soon as Nicholas gave him a reassuring nod, Harry proudly waved his wand and whispered the incantation.

Together, they remained standing in front of the gargoyle to watch how the gargoyle was spitting out one chocolate frog per second.

"Granddad?" Harry asked, hesitantly, pointing at the chocolate frogs. "May I perhaps have one?" Before he had come to Hogwarts, he never had received any kind of sweets, let alone chocolate. However, a few months ago, when Severus had asked Aunt Poppy, the healer, to come to Harry in order to give him some shots, Poppy had kindly made him acquainted to the delicacy that was a chocolate frog.

"You may grab one, but you must be quick," Nicholas relented, and Harry nodded in understanding.

He quickly dashed back in the direction of the gargoyle and grabbed two chocolate frogs, one for himself and one for his granddad.

"Won't Dumbledore find out and stop them before the students even see them?" he whispered in concern, as they made their way back to the founders' quarters, happily munching on their chocolate frogs.

However, Nicholas merely chuckled. "Don't worry Harry. In about ten minutes, they will have reached the Great Hall, and the corridor leading to Dumbledore's office will be so full with chocolate frogs that he'll have to walk to Hogsmeade in order to take the Floo to his office, before he'll be able to cancel your spell. First of all, he needs to find out where the chocolate frogs come from anyway," he reassured the boy.

"All right then, too bad that we can't watch though," Harry replied, sighing.

"I'm sure that Severus will be able to show us a memory in the afternoon," Nicholas reminded him, grinning.

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When Severus arrived in the Flamels' rooms after his last afternoon class, he showed them the memory to assure Harry that his prank had been a huge success and lasted until as late as lunchtime, when even the Great Hall was flooded by chocolate frogs.

'The students seem to have much fun at Hogwarts. I can't wait until I'll be able to become a student, too,' Harry thought, although he had to admit to himself that he loved studying together with his daddy and granddad.

"Now shall we go flying?" Severus invited the child, who happily agreed.

Apparently aware of the fact that the Flamels were not in the possession of brooms, Severus had brought his own broom as well as a children's broom, which he had bought for Harry, knowing that it was charmed to be suitable for a seven-year-old and had all kinds of safety charms applied to it. Together, they headed out into the garden, which was large enough to house a huge Quidditch pitch, however, did not have one.

The potions master should realise soon that he wouldn't have to have bothered to buy a children's broom, as Harry seemed to be a natural flyer.

"You're a very good flyer," Severus commended the child, "just like your father was a brilliant flyer." Apparently realising that there was nothing that he could teach the boy about flying, he conjured a Snitch and held it out to the boy. "Do you know what this is?" he queried, quirking an eyebrow.

Harry shook his head. "No Daddy, but it's very pretty. It looks like the ball which the dog is chasing on my green sweatshirt," he replied in amazement. "What is it?"

"It's a Snitch," Severus explained and told Harry that the small, winged ball would hide for a Seeker to find him. "Do you want to try?" he asked the unnecessary question.

"Yes!" Harry confirmed, eagerly, only to dash away, as soon as Severus had released the Snitch.

Twenty minutes later, Harry happily wrapped his hand around the small ball that was feverishly trying to escape his grip.

"Daddy, this broom is too slow," Harry said, when he landed on the ground to show Severus the Snitch.

"I'm sorry Harry, but it's a children's broom and as such charmed to only go up to a certain height and in a fixed speed," Severus informed him, smiling compassionately.

"All right," Harry replied, before a sudden idea crossed his mind. "Daddy, can we go in now?" he asked, sounding urgent. "I need to speak with Granddad."

"Of course Harry," Severus replied in clear surprise. "Did you enjoy flying?"

"Absolutely," Harry confirmed, "and I love the Snitch. Can we fly again tomorrow?"

"We'll see," Severus said, smirking.

With the Snitch still grasped in his hand, Harry ran inside, shouting for Nicholas. "Granddad, can you help me make my own broom that's faster than the children's broom?"

tbc...

Thank you very much for your kind comments on the previous chapter!