Boy-Snape

When he finally stepped foot into Hogwarts's infirmary, Sirius felt at ease. He'd done it. Sirius glanced down at Severus, whose face was pointed upward, mouth slightly open and eyes darting all over the infirmary with unbridled interested. He chuckled to himself. They did it. They'd made it back to Hogwarts. Home.

Sirius looked up from boy-Snape when Madam Pomfrey cleared her throat. The nurse wore a stern expression, but her blue eyes burned like an intense fire with the amount of concern in them. "If you would please come this way and take a seat on these beds," she said, waving her hand at a few prepared beds to her left. "I need to give you each a look-over and Mr. Snape's arm needs prompt attention."

"Of course," Sirius agreed, he was about to take Severus by his good hand and guide them over to the beds she was gesturing to, but the boy moved forward without his assistance. He smiled at Madam Pomfrey, even.

"I know you!" he exclaimed. "You're who Mum had come to look at me when I got mumblemumps last year." Walking over to the nurse and even accepting her help onto one of the beds, Severus continued, "Mum had to sneak you in the door from the garden 'cause she was worried a neighbor would see and tell Dad."

Madam Pomfrey was nodding along as she gently undid Severus's makeshift sling. "You have a very good memory," she commented before gently pressing on his broken wrist.

Severus whimpered a bit, but settled down easily enough at the nurse's muttered apologies. "You're the only witch that's ever visited Mum and me before. It was new." The kid tilted his head a little, a thoughtful furrow putting a canyon between his brows. "And a little strange. It's easy to recall strange." His whole body visibly drooped then. "I would know."

"Hmm," was all Madam Pomfrey said in reply. "Some Skele-Gro will be in order for this." She looked up and over at where Severus and Joan quietly waited with an equally silent Professor Dumbledore. It felt so odd for the Headmaster to be so quiet. The man was usually— Not talkative per say, but not mute either. He'd hardly said more than a somber greeting to them before whisking them away from the pub owner's home to Hogwarts's infirmary. "I'll get that after I've taken a look at Mr. Black."

Sirius knew now was the moment to speak up on Joan's behalf. The night was nigh an hour off and she needed to be placed somewhere safe to transform if they all wanted to avoid turning Hogwarts into a scene of a massacre. "Yeah, okay," he said to Madam Pomfrey before turning his gaze to Professor Dumbledore. "But, um, there's a little more to mine and Severus's story than I told you over the floo-call, sir…"

The headmaster's eyes were grave and no good humor was anywhere to be found when he asked, "How much more, Mr. Black?"

"Joan didn't just come across us in the forest and show us to the nearest village," he started. Sirius licked his lips and prepared for the worst as he explained, "We were actually found by her and her, uh, pack?"

"Pack?" Madam Pomfrey echoed across the room at a near-shrill pitch. "Do not tell me this girl is a werewolf and you are only informing us now!"

Sirius winced and looked up to meet Professor Dumbledore's gaze hoping he wasn't as incensed as the nurse. Instead, Sirius found himself trapped in a short staring contest with the man that he couldn't break out of no matter how much he wanted to. Finally, the Headmaster remarked, "You and Mr. Snape had quite a frightful adventure, didn't you?"

When Sirius finally was able to look at his feet, he did so. "I couldn't say anything at the pub owner's home," he said. "I was afraid he'd try to kick Joan or all of us out before reaching out to you if he knew."

The headmaster sighed and Sirius glanced up when the old man's warm hand briefly brushed over his shoulder. He nearly quivered after, it felt so much like acceptance and forgiveness. "I understand, Mr. Black," he replied. "Ms. Joan? If you would please come with me? We must hurry."

Joan went to the Headmaster's side, looking both dazed and awed. "Yes, sir," she whispered.

"Alfalba!" the Headmaster called out.

A split-second later, a rather tall house-elf popped into the room. "Yessir?" she asked.

"Please notify Professors Flitwick, McGonagall, Slughorn, and Sprout to meet me at the base of the Dark Tower immediately. We have an urgent project to complete before the hour's end."

The elf bowed. "Yes, Headmaster," Alfalba agreed before vanishing from the room with the same pop she'd entered with.

Putting a guiding hand on Joan's back, Professor Dumbledore said to her, "Come along, Ms. Joan. We will soon be somewhere safe you can transform for the night."

"Thank you, Headmaster," she squeaked as they left the infirmary hall together.

Once the door closed behind them, Sirius looked over to where Madam Pomfrey was stood in front of Severus. "Shall I be your next victim?" he asked with a teasing tone while making eye-contact with Severus to let him in on the laugh.

The boy giggled into his good hand while the nurse rolled her eyes in exasperation. "If by victim you mean patient, then yes," she answered.

Sirius laughed before taking a seat on the bed across from Severus and letting Madam Pomfrey wave her wand around him and over him while she clucked. Finally, when she finished, she said, "You'll both need to take half a nutrient potion with your meals for the next couple of days, but otherwise, you'll recover from this ordeal easily enough."

He beamed at the nurse. "Brilliant," he replied. "How long will it take to put Severus's age right? I said you could probably floo call his mum to come to pay him a visit beforehand."

Madam Pomfrey's expression turned troubled at Sirius's question and she quickly put her back to them. Bustling in the direction of her office, where he knew she kept the majority of her potions, she yelled over her shoulder, "Some discussion will have to be had between me, Professor McGonagall, and Flitwick about the exact spell Mr. Snape has befallen before I can correct his age, but I imagine he'll only be a little boy another day or two."

Sirius breathed a sigh of relief. Thank Merlin, he'd been right; this was fixable. He smiled over at the kid, who grinned back. He looked a little more relaxed as well now that they'd heard the good news. He probably hadn't been excited about growing up a second time— Even if he didn't recall doing it once before. Who knew how worse his father would be? Having to raise him a second time when he already hated Severus for his magic?

When Madam Pomfrey returned with the Skele-Gro, Severus smiled at her. "Can you call Mum after we fix my arm?" he asked.

Sirius watched her skin grow taut around her eyes as she smiled down at Severus. She reached down and brushed a tender thumb across his cheek. "You must be quite tired," she remarked. "I think a good night's sleep will be in order first."

Severus was frowning slightly. "Do you not want to call her while Dad might be home?" he inquired. The discontent smoothed away from his face and satisfaction took its place. "That's clever. I can wait until the morning after he's gone for you to call Mum." He glanced Sirius's way. "I've gone two days without her already."

Sirius smirked back at Severus, but he had an uneasy feeling in his gut. He was starting to think there was more to Madam Pomfrey's reluctance than just not wanting to upset Severus's dad with a call. What that was, he couldn't say. But one thing was for certain, it was very not good for his friend.

They're safely back at Hogwarts! What do you think is up with Severus's mother?

Also, if you're a reader of my Family Branches series, a new chapter has been added to Always Gold, my AU next-gen fic focusing on Severus Snape's nephew, Severus II.

Thank you for reading :)