A/N Another plot bunny that jumped into my head. Not a happy one! Be warned. Also, not for Sirius lovers.
"You will have to take him, I'm afraid."
Sirius Black scowled heavily at the ancient wizard. "I most certainly will not."
"Sirius, we really have no other choice. It will only be for a few weeks."
Before the Animagus could retort angrily, a knock on the door heralded the arrival of another visitor.
"Ah, Harry," the Headmaster greeted the boy, "do sit down. We have some things to discuss."
"Yes, Professor," Harry flashed a grin at Sirius.
"As you probably have noticed, Harry, Professor Snape has had a minor mishap with one of his experiments," Dumbledore began.
"It was rather hard to miss, Sir," Harry smiled weakly.
"Indeed," Dumbledore's eyes winkled merrily, "there is a rather…ah…significant difference…"
"He's six bloody years old!" Sirius burst out, "so instead of a big greasy git he is now a small greasy git. I am NOT taking him!"
Harry raised an eyebrow. The Headmaster sighed, ignoring Sirius for the moment.
"Fortunately, an antidote is available. Regrettably, the only person holding the patent and capable of brewing it on such short notice is in the United States. Thus it will be a fortnight, perhaps three weeks before it arrives here. Severus will have to stay somewhere safe during that period, and Grimmauld Place is the obvious choice. I know your godfather and yourself were going to spend Christmas together at the house, and I simply ask that you take Severus along with you."
"And I already told you no!" Sirius banged his fist on the table.
"Siri, he is only six years old," Harry pointed out rather unnecessarily, "he is, isn't he, Headmaster?"
"You will find that he is very much a six years old child, Harry, though he has retained some memories of his adult life."
Harry turned to his godfather. "Honestly, Siri, how much trouble can a child be?" he asked.
Sirius was about to snap at his godson when he paused and seemed to think for a moment. Then he sagged back into the chair.
"Oh alright," he practically pouted, "but I don't want the entire Order on my doorstep constantly to interfere with us! I promised Harry a nice, quiet Christmas with me and I don't want that taken away by an endless throng of people who insist on coming over to push unwanted advice down our throats."
"I understand," the blue eyes twinkled merrily, "and I'm sure you will gain a new understanding for Severus in these weeks. Who knows, perhaps you will even grow to enjoy having him around."
"Not bloody likely," Sirius muttered, "but alright. Bring in the brat."
Dumbledore opened the door to his private rooms and a few minutes later, coaxed out a wary looking, small black haired boy.
"Severus, this is Sirius and that is Harry. You will be staying with them until your medicine is ready."
The boy looked at them and turned around. "NO! Noooo, I don't wanna stay with them!"
Dumbledore grabbed a bony shoulder and spun the child back. "Don't be silly, my dear boy. You cannot stay here on your own and I have too much work to do. Sirius, I will give you some money to owl-order him an outfit or two."
"I'm not going, I'm not!" Severus stamped his feet, "you can't MAKE ME!"
"You just watch, you ill-tempered monster," Sirius held the small arm in a strong grip and simply dragged the child into the Floo. "Grimmauld Place," he yelled and disappeared with his charge. Dumbledore looked slightly concerned, but quickly changed to his customary smile when he faced Harry.
"Well, my boy, I hope you will have a delightful holiday," with that, Harry felt himself dismissed to go find Sirius and the small Potions Master. Also taking a fist of floo powder, he relocated himself to Grimmauld Place, where Sirius and Severus were now engaged in a shouting match.
"I'm going to make us some dinner," Harry interrupted the argument, "It will be ready in half an hour. Maybe you should show him where he will sleep, Siri."
Sirius sent one last glare at the boy before he gave a short jerk of his head, indicating he expected the child Snape to follow. Upstairs, he led him to a small room off the hallway. It had a narrow, hard bed.
"Don't expect me to do you any favours just because you are undersized now," he growled, "I expect you to work for your food and stay out of my and Harry's way. Dumbledore made me take you, don't remind me that you are even here if you can help it."
With that, he returned downstairs where Harry had started on a simple dinner of baked potatoes, steak and salad. The table was set for three.
"You don't expect us to eat with that…that…thing, do you Harry?" Sirius shook his head, "I am not going to let his ugly gob ruin my appetite."
"He is a child, he needs to eat," Harry replied.
"Harry, he is SNAPE. He's seven. He's dependant upon us. Now you can get him back for all the misery he caused you."
"Sirius!" Harry looked appalled.
"I'm not saying beating him to a pulp," Sirius reasoned with his godson, "only, let him experience what it is like being on the receiving end for once."
"I think he got plenty of experience being on the receiving end with you and Dad around," Harry retorted, but his voice was hesitant. Sirius noticed and honed in immediately.
"It might do the git some good. We would be doing him a favour. If it makes him nicer to his students, we will be doing generations of young wizards and witches a favour."
Harry shrugged. "All I wanted was a nice quiet Christmas with you – get to know you better."
Sirius slung his arm around his godsons shoulders. "And you will, Harry! I'm not going to let Snivellus take that away from us! Come, lets eat."
"The kid…"
"Save him a plate if you must," Sirius said, unconcerned and unwilling to spare the brat another thought, "we're going to have dinner together and play some Wizard's Chess, okay?"
ssssssssss
Harry frowned when he entered the kitchen for lunch. Severus was standing on a stool, cleaning the stove. When Harry stepped in, the boy looked up, startled and dropped the bucket of water over the floor.
"Clean it up," Harry shrugged, "Did you peel the potatoes?"
"Yes," Severus pointed to a pot on the counter before grabbing a mop to get to work.
"What happened here?" Sirius asked as he entered the kitchen and nearly slipped on the wet floor, "useless twerp! Can't you do anything right? No food for you today!"
"Don't be ridiculous, Sirius," Harry looked pale but his godfather didn't notice, "it was just an accident."
"Accident my arse. He is a no good lazy git, Harry, who is determined to ruin our holidays. I'll be back when the kitchen is clean and lunch is on the table – for the two of us!"
Harry sighed and started preparing lunch. When Severus had wrestled the heavy bucket to the sink, emptied it and put it away, he called the boy over.
"Here," he shoved a stack of sandwiches in his hands, "go to your room and don't let Sirius see you."
The black eyes locked into his and he was uncomfortably reminded of the Potions Master. "Go away," he shouted, "leave me alone!"
The six years old scurried off towards the attic, cradling the precious food.
"I'm going to spend a few days with Ron at the Burrow," Harry announced over lunch. They had already discussed this long before the Holidays and Sirius nodded.
"Gives me time to decorate and hide your presents," he joked.
Harry smiled. Presents. Decorations. Real holiday.
"I'll probably be back before the weekend," he said, grabbing an overnight bag and heading to the Floo.
ssssssss
Severus grabbed his sore head and reeled from the impact. Sirius pulled him up roughly.
"I told you to get these chores done before dinnertime," he snarled, "can't you do anything right?" he slapped the child around again.
"No food for you again, then," he curled his lip, "get out of my sight." He ignored the longing look the boy cast at the food on the table, but he did catch the trembling lip.
"Going to cry again, Snivellus?" he taunted, as he aimed a kick at the small backside. It connected with considerable force and the boy suppressed a yelp. All he could do was make his way upstairs with all haste and not let the man see his tears.
Sirius eyed the table happily. It was perfect. Tonight Harry would be back from the Weasleys, in fact he was expecting his godson any minute now. Sure enough, moments later the Floo opened and Harry stepped out, tanned and smiling brightly.
"Hi Siri," he greeted his godfather, "Molly and Arthur say hello."
Sirius embraced the boy. "I hope you had a good time and a few Quidditch games," he enthused, "come, I have dinner ready, you must tell me all about it."
After a pleasant dinner, Sirius went to take care of a Boggart that had taken up residence in a cellar closet. Harry started the dishes. The dark-haired boy snuck into the kitchen, quietly helping with the plates.
"Throw that away," Harry instructed, but the boy held on to the plate with a few pathetic leftovers.
"Please?" he begged.
Harry frowned. He knew that look all too well. On impulse, he grabbed a clean plate, put some food from the pans onto it and shoved it into the child's hands.
"Leftovers are for dogs," he said, not knowing Sirius had told the child the same thing on the few occasions he had allowed him a few scraps of food, "Sit and eat this."
Severus dug into the food, shovelling it into his mouth with his bare hands, afraid that it would be taken away from him again. Sure enough, Sirius soon entered the kitchen and glared at the boy.
"Shall we play a game of chess, Harry?" he asked, "you go set up the game, I'll finish this."
As soon as his godson left the kitchen with a slightly wary glance, he pulled the plate away from the boy and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.
"Obnoxious little beast," he shook the boy, "disgusting snake."
He dragged the boy upstairs and shoved him under a cold shower, clothes and all. Then he threw him into his room and locked the door.
"Tomorrow is Christmas. I MAY let you out the day after, if I don't hear a thing from you until then," he threatened.
It would be four days before the boy was let out to do his chores.
sssssssssss
By the end of the holidays, Sirius, Harry and the small Potions Master returned to Dumbledore's office where the antidote had finally arrived.
"Ah, hello my boys," he greeted merrily, "It seems you will have to say goodbye already."
He motioned the child closer and handed him a vial. Severus drank it down. His body shimmered and shortly afterwards the adult Snape stood where the child had been. Dark eyes regarded the Headmaster dispassionately, devoid of any emotion.
"That went well," Dumbledore nodded, pleased. "Now, I think you have something to say to Sirius and Harry, don't you, Severus?"
"Go to hell, Black," Severus said, not vindictive or snarling, but calm and without any feeling at all.
"SEVERUS!" Dumbledore thundered.
"He hit me. He starved me," Severus hardly moved.
"Severus! What a horrible thing to say," Dumbledor exclaimed, "apologise immediately."
"He…he abused me," the Potions Master turned to his mentor with a pleading look in his eyes.
"Of course not," Dumbledore shook his head, "Sirius would never do anything to a child. You owe him and Harry your gratitude for sacrificing their holiday for you. A thank you would be appropriate."
The Potions Masters eyes closed off completely. He quietly moved to the office door and went through, presumably to his dungeons.
"I am sorry, Sirius. You know how difficult he can be sometimes," Dumbledore apologised.
Sirius shrugged. "He'll come round."
"I will make sure he does," the old wizard promised.
Harry shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot.
"I am leaving now," Sirius announced, "Are you coming, Harry? You can take the train back tomorrow with your friends."
"I…no, I think I'll stay here now," Harry replied, "I'm here now anyway."
"That is fine," Dumbledore assured him, "I hope you got to know Sirius a lot better this holiday, Harry."
Harry lowered his eyes to the floor. "I think I did, Sir," he whispered emotionally.
"Well then, you can go to your Tower and Sirius, Remus will stop by Grimmauld Place soon, he told me," the old wizard smiled as the two said goodbye.
Several hours later he was disturbed by a knock to his office door. Harry entered, nervous and clearly upset.
"What is it, my boy?" the Headmaster asked, "lemon drop?"
"No thank you, sir. I wanted…I…I think…I….have to tell you some things," Harry stammered, "about the holidays."
Dumbledore put his quill down. "What about the holidays, Harry?"
"I didn't think at first that it was strange, since the Dursleys did the same to me," Harry said in a hurry, "but I remembered how I used to feel and I think…I didn't want to let Sirius down…"
"Of course not," Dumbledore nodded, "did Sirius do something to worry you?"
"To Professor Snape," Harry whispered, "He never hit him when I was around, but I saw bruises…and he often forgot to feed him, I know. One time he, Snape, was gone for four days…Christmas it was. Sirius said you had collected him to celebrate Christmas here."
Dumbledore had paled significantly. "No, I did not collect Severus," he said clearly, "I gave Sirius money to buy him a present. What else, Harry?"
The boy squirmed uncomfortably. "Sirius called him 'Snivellus' all the time and lots of other names. He always was saying what a good for nothing nuisance he was…and after I came back from the Weasleys I saw bruises on his face often, and he was thinner. I didn't want to believe it…"
The Headmaster rested his head in his hands. "And I wanted to make him thank Sirius…make him apologize…Oh Merlin...I must go check on him…"
With that he got up. Casting a last glance at the distraught boy, he patted a bony shoulder reassuringly. "I know this was difficult for you, Harry. It was a good thing you still did it."
Rushing off the the dungeons, the Headmaster entered the rooms belonging to his Potions Master, only to find a grim looking nurse and a pale Deputy Headmistress in the living room.
"Headmaster," Poppy said, "I did not think you would get my message this fast."
"Message?" Dumbledore repeated, "what message? Is Severus ill?"
Minerva took his hand. "Albus…"
"It was a poison cocktail," the nurse shook her head, "even if I knew which ones, the antidotes would likely have clashed. It was a failsafe way – Severus never did do anything half."
Dumbledore stared at her in bewilderment.
"Albus," Minerva repeated, "Severus committed suicide. I found him when I came by to give him the staff meeting notes. There was nothing Poppy could do."
The old wizard didn't reply. Instead he opened the door to the bedroom, where a still figure lay on the bed, a white sheet pulled over the face.
"No…"
The last thought he had before giving in to a faint was the irony that Sirius Black and himself had finally finished, one consciously, one unwittingly, what they had started all those years ago, the night of the Shrieking Shack.