A/N: Oh my is it, I think it is, a time laps! Yay. Reggie is almost two Happy Belated birthday Lindsey!

JKR stole my heart so I'm stealing her characters. I say it's an even trade.

With shaking steps Reggie walked to the dungeons holding his mother's hand with great care.

"Reggie, this is where Daddy lives, you want to stay here?" Anna asked him with a smile.

He looked up at her and nodded. Although he was capable of basic speech, Regulus took after his father and more recently preferred silence. She sat his stuffed black lab puppy on Severus bed. She waved her wand and the trunk that once held all of Reggie's things began to open up and place themselves about the room in the appropriate spots.

"Should we go see Albus now?" She asked him.

He looked from his mum to the stuff animal on the bed. "Puddy can come too I'm sure he'd like to meet Albus perhaps you can introduce them to each other." Reggie grinned and scooped up the dog in a tight death like grip. He ran down the stretch from the room to the stairs. "Whoa little man, easy now," Anna grabbed his waist.

--

"Well hello there Regulus, Annabell, how are you two?" Albus asked the professors' meeting wasn't going along well anyway.

"We're well, right Reggie?" Anna turned to her son beside her but he had hid himself behind her legs.

"Oh now Regulus don't be shy the most dangerous one here is your own father."

Severus scowled. "I most certainly am not the most dangerous one here; at least I always remember who I am." He said snidely.

Hearing his father's own voice Reggie peaked out. His face suddenly brightened. Severus tensed as he heard hard running patters of steps. He expected the usual leg hug, but it never came.

"Rem!" he squeaked.

And he wrapped his arms around Remus leg. Lupin looked down his warn eyes were soft and gentle on the boy.

Anna stored over to Severus and stuck out her tongue. "That's what you get."

Reggie pulled away and waddled over to Severus his puppy dragging the ground slightly. "Up." He said softly.

Anna picked him up and sat him in Severus' lap. Albus' eyes twinkled; he of course didn't point it out, for then the smirk on Severus face would fade. As he had suspected the act of being a father has softened Severus, if just a millimeter.

"Well now, who is this?" he asked holding the stuffed dog's paw.

"Puddy!" Reggie jerked it away afraid his friend was being taken away.

"Oh, I'm sorry was I not supposed to touch him." Albus said with a soft hint of something indistinguishable.

"Well I'm sorry, he's in love with that dog, he won't go anywhere without it." Anna explained.

Minerva looked down at the boy across from her. "Is it Puddy like Puppy? Is that what you mean to call him?"

Reggie shook his head. "No, PUDDY." He said slowly with a soft almost untrained drawl.

Remus laughed. "Minerva it's like Paddy. Right little man?"

Reggie grinned and nodded excitedly. "Puddy, Puddy!" Snape's face darkened.

--

Anna sat in history of magic furiously scribbling away at notes it seemed she was one of the very few awake as the mid point of Binns' speech came about, but Anna didn't let it bother her, she didn't ask questions, didn't ask him to repeat just listened with the most careful of ears. The ghost continued with his story on the Salem Trials, the bell for dismissal was almost out of reach nearly half an hour away. At this rate Binns wouldn't be the only ghost in the room. There was a light pattering noise accompanied by a scrape. A Hufflepuff in the back row broke into a fit of girlish giggles. Everyone turned around.

"Mummy!" Reggie smiled a mischievous grin.

Anna looked at him hard but with laughter in her eyes. How had he gotten out of Poppy's care she would never know. Of course with his bloodlines the questions of how he did things was endless. She put him in her lap and begged Binns to pardon the interruption. The plus side to having Reggie there was he kept Anna and a few surrounding students awake. At first he played quietly with the dog in his lap then he drew on a scrap piece of parchment. After a while however as with everyone else in Binns' classes he began to get sleepy and sure enough the young prince fell into sleep his head lulling slightly. Anna coaxed his head back and sat through the rest of class a sleeping child in her lap clutching his Puddy close to his heart so even in his dream the dog was there.

---

Once more Annabell and Severus found themselves in Dumbledore's office Reggie sat in a third chair between them sucking on the piece of a lemon drop. Softly he chattered with Puddy.

"Well I'll just have the staff keep a close eye on him he is growing better with his walking," Dumbledore's eyes twinkled.

For the first time in all its years Hogwarts staff was raising students and their children unborn and just born. Regulus of course wasn't the oldest Antonia Greyback had him beat out by a month. Of course Antonia had come and gone and now Poppy had her hands full with little Reggie and a few pregnancies.

"Though I hope this epidemic of pregnancies will stop soon."

Anna shook her head. "Regrettably no, his arm is growing stronger each day and with each new member comes their children and their children are being pressured to have children. It's rather disturbing."

Severus had a grim look set upon his face. "Though I have to agree with him on one thing."

Both Gryffindors turned to look at him with shock and question.

"Anna once this year is over you're settling down to the house and raising him at home like you know is proper."

Anna hissed. "We'll see, we'll see."

Severus tapped his fingers against the desk. "Eventually I will have my way just you watch."

--

As Anna's final holiday approached, students were growing itchy to be home and most professors had nearly given up on teaching them besides, they didn't want to grade much more during holiday anyway. They had live too you know. So in late evening when most classes had ended and students were free to mingle before super, Anna found herself in a row with Severus, again, that day. He had watched as Reggie made his way down the steps alone and didn't stop him. This of course was a big no, he may be able to walk well enough but with moving stairs one could never be too careful.

"Severus!" She snarled clutching Reggie's wrist. "You cannot just let him wander down the steps alone, he was your responsibility at the time and I'd have to have killed you Merlin forbid something happened."

Severus folded his arms across his chest. "Anna he's growing up in Hogwarts, he needs to learn to deal with moving stairs."

Anna could hold it back anymore. "He could have fallen!" she threw her spare hand in the air.

"Well then he'd learn real quickly huh? Besides, we'd see if he really had any magical ability."

Anna gasped. "You bastard."

Severus took his son's hand and walked him to the last stair on the landing. Anna went after them but Severus had immobilized her. "And for your information my parents were married when I was conceived."

He said something to Reggie in a low drawling tone. The stairs began to move and there they stood on the edge. If Anna had the ability she would have lurched. As the stairs settled, Severus bent down and muttered some more. Reggie nodded and Snape walked away up the steps and they moved back. Anna was just waiting to be unfrozen leaving her son alone like that! Severus would get a good piece of her mind later.

When all seemed like it was going to be fine, there was a sudden cry of pure fear as Reggie's grip on Puddy let go and the dog feel hundreds of feet down. "PUDDY!"

Severus allowed Anna movement again and she raced to scoop up her crying son. "Shh, we'll get him back don't you worry he's fine."

She stomped up the steps. "You better hope I can find that dog or that you can run without sleep."

He snarled turning down the hallway. Reggie still wailing and fussing up a storm.

--

That evening Anna sat on Severus' bed with her son. He had reduced to sniffling now and Anna to mere vocal threats. There was a knock at the door and Severus with a low growl allowed his visitor to enter. Remus stepped in second hand faded brown robes swayed from his steps. He held out a small stuffed black dog. "PUDDY!" Regulus slid off the bed and snagged up the toy.

"I believe this is yours little man." Regulus hugged him and then turned to his father and glared.

"Evil," He pointed. And he looked up at Remus with big dark bright eyes and began chattering in his usual half understandable language.