It was Saturday and the day of the big party celebrating Charlie's 4th birthday. Charlie was loving all the attention and a large bouncy castle which filled the local village green, Harry had been positioned in his buggy, in his mother's arms, in his Aunt Molly's arms and was by now very sick of watching all of the older children have fun whilst he sat and watched, he had begun to whine so Grandma Minerva decided it was time to show him off and Harry began his walking with holding one of Minerva's hands and the other hand waving to some of the parents of the children who had been invited. He loved practising his walking and his talking and although he was beginning to tire he giggled and waved at his Daddy who was supervising the bouncy castle.
It had only been an hour into the party before Harry began to tire, it was time for his noon nap but he really didn't want to miss this party, Mummy had picked him up and she was swaying, he knew this tactic she tried it last night when he didn't want to go to bed because everyone else was still up watching a funny film and he had cried then and he was going to cry now. He would not be sleeping through an exciting party and when Aunty Molly approached with a bottle of milk that was the final straw and he started to flail. At this point Mummy simply strapped him into his pushchair and started rocking it, this was making him tired and when he quietened down a bit he was handed his bottle which he begrudgingly took as he was so thirsty from all his screaming.
When Harry awoke next he found that he hadn't missed much, everyone was watching Charlie open presents including the card and photo frame he and Mummy had spent Wednesday, Thursday and Friday morning making while Charlie was at playgroup. Harry though couldn't take his eyes off the colourful bouncy castle, he really wanted a go, Daddy had noticed, Daddy always noticed things. He unstrapped Harry and lifting the still slightly drowsy boy into his arms he crept towards the bouncy castle. The presents were almost finished being opened so Daddy held Harrys hands and bounced him up and down on the bouncy castle, Harry wasn't very good at bouncing yet though so as the older kids started getting back onto the bouncy castle Daddy lifted Harry into his arms and bounced up and down with him making him shriek and giggle in utter delight, this was the best party he had ever been too even if he was made to miss most of it so far. 'Severus, please be careful with him' Cassie shouted as Severus jumped higher and higher. The crowds of party goers thinned out after the food had been served with many going home and many simply being tired and deciding that playing on the grass was better than the bouncy castle. Within the hour it was only the Snape family left and Harry was allowed to sit on the floor of the bouncy castle as his family bounced, he was thrown off his bottom, onto his side, onto his face at one point but he had a brilliant day. As he was being bounced he felt better than ever before and saw the smiling faces of his parents watching their four children play together. The family stayed until a man came to pick up the bouncy castle and Harry was picked up kicking and screaming from his favourite toy in the world. He would have lovely dreams tonight of Toby and his friends doing somersaults, Lily doing trampolining tricks, Charlie holding his hands to bounce with him and giving him a kiss and Mummy and Daddy holding him so he could jump as high as possible.
At this moment in time though he was struggling and screaming as he was having his nappy changed on the village green and then struggling and crying again as he was strapped into his pushchair, Charlie then did something no one expected.
"Hey Harry!" Charlis said, Harry paused his crying to see what Charlie was upto. "Do you want to look after my stuffed puppy?" he asked offering out a soft fluffy puppy to his brother, Severus watched in surprise. Harry nodded.
"ank oo" he cooed gazed at the soft puppy he had been given to play with, that was the nicest thing any of his siblings had done for him.
"Toby can you push Harry back?" asked Cassie as she grabbed the last of their belongings from the green trying to put as much of it as possible onto and into the pushchair.
Harry was entertained by Toby pushing him as fast as he could racing Charlie who was on his new scooter and Lily who was running alongside them, Harry loved the feeling of the wind through his hair, it was like flying again, as they reached the house though Harry felt something wrong brewing, the feeling of uneasiness spread over him as they saw the front door open.
"Dad!" Toby shouted, "Dad, you gotta come see this." Toby sounded worried and Severus sprinted past them with his wand drawn, their apartment had been trashed, the furniture was on its side there were spells which were making words appear throughout the house spelling 'greasy git' 'death eater' and many other words which were too horrible for Harry to even comprehend, at seeing his stuffed crocodile torn into pieces and stuffing ripped out of it on the floor he starting crying again, who would do this to their home? Cassie came around and unbuckled him.
"Cassie, get the kids out of here, I'm gonna find out who did this and sort the place out, they shouldn't see this" Severus demanded sounding lost, as he was hugged by his Mummy he realised just how much tthis place had started to mean to him, the couch where he took his naps, the highchair where he had entertained his family by becoming a spaghetti monster and the stuffed animals who had become his best friend. Distraught Harry buried his head in his Mummy's shoulder and sobbed.
He was still sobbing as he and his tear stained family arrived at the Burrow. Aunty Molly was straight there asking what had happened. Toby informed her that "someone had broken into their home and trashed it." Molly was shocked and suggested they stay for the night she and Arthur would babysit and Cassie should go back and get what they would need for the night. Harry however felt like he might need one of his possessions very soon, his tummy was starting to push his food southwards and he had eaten a lot of fruit salad and pumpkin juice.
Molly held Harry carefully the older three children were playing in the living room with Arthur and Ron who had turned up to find one of Hugo's lost toys but had got caudht up in playing with the Snape brood, all except for Harry who was now at an all time low, his stuffed crocodile had been pulled apart so all he had was Charlie's stuffed dog, he was really thirsty and he had a very full and uncomfortable nappy which was going to be even more full in a couple of minutes if his Mummy didn't hurry up.
As it turned out Mummy didn't hurry and it was another thirty, uncomfortable minutes before Cassie came back through the floo. Molly told her about Harrys problem and he was at last taken to get cleaned up. Molly was nice enough to cook them all dinner before sorting out rooming and retiring to the living room for the evening with Arthur. Toby, Lily and Charlie were playing cards quietly after dinner and Harry was having his evening bottle on his Mummy's lap when Severus strolled, exhausted through the floo.
Everyone went silent awaiting news from the head of the Snape family, "Well the good news is that all the damage is fixable, the bad news is that it may take weeks to repair all the damage."
Cassie looked upset "does anyone know who did it?" she asked, Severus shook his head "no, but we are going to find out and they will be severely punished for it, there is more news."
Severus paused "I have been told that I need to stay at Hogwarts even though my quarters are unlivable, Professor Flitwick has offered to put me up until we can fix the apartment, and Toby will need to stay in the dorms." Cassie looked devastated, "Sev, tell the school no, we have never spent a night apart since we have been married and we have three children at home how am I meant to do this on my own." By this point Cassandra had started crying and the still awake Harry who had stopped drinking when his mother dropped his bottle started getting agitated, he was picking up on the mood and tension in the room, he started to fuss on his mothers lap and Cassie tried to shush him moving him into a sitting position leaning against her.
"ROCKY?" Harry asked hopefully, Snape kneeled down in front of him ready to deliver the bad news. 'Your crocodile 'rocky' has been badly hurt Harry, he has been pulled apart and I have given him to a friend to fix but we don't know if we will be able to fix him.' Harry's face scrunched up and he sobbed, his best friend had been killed, he was beyond angry and as his mother picked him up to cradle him to her shoulder he pounded little fists into hismothers chest, back and wherever he could get.
The family looked on saddened, they had been the vicitms of pranks before now but this had been by far the worst and the first one that Harry had been affected by, even Charlie felt awful for him. In the end Severus had to add a calming draft to Harry's bottle and almost force the drink down his neck. Once Harry was calm again and the family had spent another twenty minutes talking about how they would work out their living situations. Severus rose and suggested it was time that he and Toby were leaving with a gentle kiss and hug to every member of the family Severus and Toby left through the floo.
As Harry was placed in an unfamiliar crib that night in a n unfamiliar room he felt scared, Molly was putting him to bed so that Cassie could say goodnight to Charlie and Lily who were having to share the twins old room and Cassie was going to be sleeping in Ginny's old room, Harry was in a crib in Rons old room and the memories were haunting him, he couldn't sleep in here, it was scary even with a nightlight Molly had just made for him. He lay there awake as Molly read to him, sang to him, rocked him and offered him an new bottle and a fresh nappy. None of this was working and it was getting on for eleven o clock (four hours past his usual bedtime ) when he was finally taken to sleep with his Mummy. They slept keeping each other safe.