Chapter Seven - A Day with the Malfoys
Severus ripped the curtains open and pulled down the sheets. Silas groaned.
"You're getting up today. You've spent practically the whole of last week in bed. You're getting up, you're coming down and having breakfast with your family and then you're going to walk to the park with Sebastian and I." Severus stood with his hands on his hips, by Silas's head, peering down at him.
Silas squirmed and squinted up from under his arm at Severus. "What?" He croaked. "No, I'm tired. Leave me be." Silas turned around and tried to go back to sleep.
"No. You're getting up and you're moving. I will not have you go down the same path as she did. I will not have you hurt yourself. I don't know if this is the right way, but it's my way and you are going to follow through." Severus commanded.
"You can't make me." Silas mumbled.
Severus sighed and sat on the edge of Silas' bed. "Si, please just listen to me. I can't have this happen to you, I can't have you sink into this depression more than you already have. I can't lose you and I can't let you lose yourself. You're too important. I've seen this happen before and I ignored it, hoping it would go away. Hoping Lily would get over it, but she didn't until she attempted suicide. I found her Si; I found her lying on the bathroom floor, her wrists cut. The next week she'd disappeared. What was I supposed to do Si? She was gone, just gone. Maybe if I'd done something she wouldn't have left, maybe she'd still be alive. Maybe Seb would have a mother. Please just get up." Silas turned around to lie on his back and faced Severus, studying his face.
It was quiet for a long moment before Silas sighed and hesitantly shook his head.
"Don't even think about it, just get up and come down. Just do as I say. It'll be alright. I'll take care of you." Severus patted Silas' head and stood up. Silas followed.
Later, at breakfast Seb chatted happily to Silas about all the things that he had been waiting to do with Silas for so long, like running down to the park, climbing the trees, having a water fight and playing hide and seek. Silas could not help but feel guilty that he'd let the little boy down quite as much as he had.
Silas' guilty ruminations were interrupted however with a knock at the door. Severus frowned and went to answer it. Seb was instantly quiet and played with his bacon, he looked upset and Silas was unsure as to what had caused such a sudden change.
"What Seb?" Silas studied the boy carefully.
"We're not going to the park anymore." Seb said.
Silas frowned, "What do you mean?"
"Uncle Lucius is at the door."
"We can still go though Seb."
"But he'll want to talk to dad and we'll have to stay home." Seb turned watery eyes on Silas, and Silas gave him an encouraging smile.
"Don't worry Seb, I promise we will go to the park today." Seb gave Silas a small hopeful smile, Silas frowned again, "How do you know it's Uncle Lucius?"
Seb shrugged, "Just do, it's also Draco."
Silas decided again that he really did need to have a word with Severus about Seb's seemingly odd knowledge and understanding of the world and their own lives.
Severus came back into the kitchen with Lucius behind him and little Draco holding tightly to his father's jacket.
Severus sat down and motioned for Lucius to sit opposite the small kitchen table, Lucius did but Draco did not move into a chair to sit by himself, instead he stood closer to his father.
"Tea, Lucius?" Silas offered.
"Thank you, Silas." Lucius nodded. Silas retrieved another cup and sat back in his seat opposite Seb, Seb was watching Draco who was in between Lucius and Seb.
"Don't worry Draco, I haven't forgotten that we're friends." Seb said, breaking the silence in the room.
Draco turned to look at Seb with something akin to hope. "Sorry?" The little boy whispered.
"I remember that we played together at your home. We're still friends you don't have to worry. I still like you. Do you want some bacon?" Seb offered.
Draco grinned and sat in the empty chair beside Seb, taking a piece of bacon from Seb's plate.
"Thank you." Draco said.
Seb nodded. "I don't really like it that much, but I guess it's alright." Seb shrugged.
Silas couldn't stop himself from laughing; only Seb would finish an attempt at trying to reassure someone by foisting off food that he didn't want on them. Severus smirked and Lucius frowned in confusion.
"Silas, Lucius has come to talk some things over with me and we require some amount of privacy. I would be grateful if you would walk Seb and Draco down to the park." Severus said after a moment of Draco and Seb chattering happily to each other.
"Dad?" Seb turned his big green eyes on his father; Severus was bemused in seeing the brightness in them.
"What's wrong Seb?"
"You're not coming?" Seb's voice was small.
Severus sighed and shook his head. "Not this time, no."
Seb got off his chair and took hold of Severus' trousers on his lap, twisting them as the little boy pleaded with his eyes. "Please Daddy, I want you to come. Please come." A small tear escaped the boy's eye.
Severus was getting more and more confused and as a result more and more worried by Seb's behaviour. He would be a happy, normal five year old one minute, and then an insecure, completely dependent child the next and then a completely surreal sort of wise old man a second later. Something just was not right and Severus was even more grateful for Lucius' surprise visit; he really needed to figure out exactly what was going on.
Severus kissed the little boy's forehead and hugged him to his chest. "Of course I'll come, Seb." He carded his hands through his son's hair and scratched the back of his head softly so that Seb giggled and pulled away from Severus with a huge smile on his face.
"Come on Draco! Let's get ready!" Seb exclaimed before grabbing the other little boy's hand and tugging him up the stairs to Seb's bedroom.
Severus sighed and shook his head; standing up he cleared the table while Silas also left to get ready.
"Severus? What's going on?" Lucius said, his face blank but his voice showing a depth of concern for his surrogate brother.
Severus turned back to face Lucius, leaning against the sink. "The truth is I don't know. Something is wrong, very wrong with Seb and I have no idea what to do about it."
"What do you mean wrong?" Lucius frowned.
But the two small boys came running down the stairs again. "Ready!" Seb called as the two jumped around excitedly by the front door. Silas came running after them and opened the door.
The two younger boys took off at a run towards the park and Silas was hot on their heels, the two adults followed at a much more sedate pace; giving them enough privacy to talk and enough dignity to not be embarrassed.
Severus scowled at the horizon as he tried to tell Lucius the problem. "He, it's hard to explain Lucius. Seb on the whole acts and I believe is this normal, happy five year old that can't contain his excitement. But then he has these moments where I feel like I'm talking to an old soul trapped in a child's body. But what's really odd is what he says at those times, he talks to me about whether people are 'good' people or 'bad' people. It's like he knows people's characters before he has even met them. And then he seems to know what everyone else is feeling all the time. And he seems to understand so much more about everything than a child his age really should." Severus sighed. "I mean did I tell you about his muggle tutor I hired for him?"
Lucius shook his head. They'd reached the park and were now sitting on a bench while Silas pushed the boys on the swings.
"She came the first day and tested Seb, Seb finished the test within fifteen minutes with a perfect score. All the work that she had prepared for him was far too easy for him. So the next day she brought things from the third and fourth grade and just as something to keep Seb interested, and as more of a joke really, some seventh grade work." Severus watched Seb leap from his swing when it was on its highest point and land on his feet, arms in the air, bowing to no one before he ran back and had Silas start pushing him all over again.
"Seb did the tests from the third and fourth grade and then asked to try the seventh grade test. Mrs Martin gave it to him, and Seb did it. It took him most of the rest of the day but he did it, with a perfect score. I mean that just shouldn't be possible. Seb has never had any kind of tutelage before, a part from me reading to him and showing him how to recognise letters and write his own name but that's it. And then Sebastian has these moments like in the kitchen just now where he is so needy and dependant on me, like he thinks I'm going to just abandon him at any moment."
They were quiet for a moment. "He cries for me at night sometimes and when I go to him he won't stop crying until I climb into bed with him and hold him, and if I try to leave he wakes up and clings to me for dear life. Sometimes I wake up in the morning to find that Seb has come into my room in the night and is curled into my chest, tear tracks on his face." Severus sighed again. "Something is wrong Luc, something is wrong with my little boy and I just don't know what it is. let alone what to do about it."
"Have you considered that Seb may be an empath?" Lucius suggested carefully.
Severus nodded, "Yes, I have but it's more than just sensing people's emotions and feelings he seems to have the knowledge behind those feelings. If he is empathic it is at a much higher level than recorded in the history books."
The two men watched as their children chased Silas around the park before tackling the boy and sitting on him.
"I will look into this Severus. Give me a few days and I'll come back with an answer for you." Lucius said at last.
Severus turned to him. "Thank you." He gave him a small smile and Lucius nodded, reciprocating the smile.
The children ran around for another hour before they decided they wanted to go home and draw in Seb's drawing pads.
The group trudged home where Silas lounged in an arm-chair reading a book, the two children sat by the coffee table drawing and babbling and Severus and Lucius locked themselves in Severus' study to finish their discussions.
The two men talked about their business ventures, Albus' needless monitoring of Lucius and Severus' career change.
At lunch time the two men returned to the others and they ate ham sandwiches in the living room. Not long after, there was a knock at the door.
"It's Charlie!" Seb called, more excited than he had been yet that day which was a pretty impressive feet. "Can we dad?" Seb looked at Severus.
Severus frowned. "Can we what, Seb?"
"Go over to Charlie's house for dinner?" Seb stood up from the table and ran to the door, Severus following him.
"I don't understand." Severus said, opening the door and was more surprised than he really should have been to see Charlie King on his doorstep, wearing clothes that looked older than she herself was and were absolutely covered in paint.
"I'm sure there are a great many things that you don't understand but I would hope that someone knocking on you door would be fairly comprehensible to you." Charlie smiled at Severus, and gave Seb a wink who promptly launched himself at her, she wasn't expecting it and had to take a few steps back to regain her balance.
"Excuse me?" Severus couldn't believe what he was hearing, Charlie laughed.
"I'm sorry, I just couldn't resist. It was a joke." Charlie smiled. "But you're right I didn't come here for jokes. I came to invite Seb and Silas and I suppose your indomitable self to dinner, for the pizza I promised Seb." She grinned, and Seb whooped.
Severus smirked. "I'm sorry Miss King, but Seb we have guests." Severus motioned to Lucius and Draco who could be clearly seen sitting in the sitting room from the front door. Charlie peered in and smiled at the little, terrified blond boy.
"Well, they're more than welcome also." Charlie said.
"Please dad!" Seb whined.
Severus grimaced. "Stop that Sebastian."
Seb's shoulders sagged but he nodded his head. "Dad can we please got and have pizza with Charlie?" Seb asked in a much more polite tone.
Severus sighed and turned to Lucius. "Would you mind?"
Lucius was smirking and Severus was not sure if he liked the giggling Silas was doing or the sneaky glances Lucius and Silas were sharing. "Of course not. I'll be most intrigued to spend some time with your charming neighbour."
Charlie smirked. "I'm sure. Well, I'll see you at five. Don't be too late. Bye Seb." Charlie patted the boy's head and walked down the path.
Okay, there you are, my peace offering for making you all wait... Again really sorry about that!