Chapter Fourteen: A Second Chance

A/N: Thank you all for your amazing reviews! They were all so helpful :)

Savoren

Looking around the table, Minerva noticed Nymphadora Tonks seated beside Remus Lupin. She nodded kindly to them before continuing to assess who else had joined them.

Sighing softly, Severus sat down beside her and mumbled, "Have you noticed the looks Black has been giving us?"

Glancing to where Sirius sat, she noticed that he was, indeed, glaring daggers at them. Minerva frowned, "Keep the peace, Severus."

Severus snorted, "Right. If anyone starts a fight it will be Black and you know it."

Minerva narrowed her eyes at him, "You are no longer that school boy that fought with the Mauraders, Severus Tobius. Be the bigger person."

As if sensing they were speaking about him, Sirius stood and made his way over to them. Keeping his glare firmly in place, Sirius snapped, "Where is my godson? Why did you not bring him here? You should have known that I was going to be here. You cannot keep him to yourself."

Severus rolled his eyes, "Do not be dramatic, Black. We are not keeping him from you. We probably should but we are not."

Minerva gave him a light smack on his shoulder, "He is with Poppy at home."

"Home?" Sirius drawled, disgusted. "His home should be with me!"

"Sirius calm yourself. You are very well aware of why Albus decided to not hand the guardianship over to you," Remus told his best mate.

Severus was definitely surprised that Remus stuck up for them.

Albus leveled Sirius with a glare, "You will do as Remus has instructed and return to your seat, Sirius. If I must explain, again, why you are an unreliable form of a parent then I will. However, right now, we have more important matters to discuss."

Sirius looked as if he were going to throw a fit. Stomping his feet, he thrust his finger accusingly at Severus, "And he is a reliable parent? Bloody fucking Hell!"

In a flash, Albus was out of his seat and at Sirius' side. For an old man he sure can move fast! He looked at the Order and said through clenched teeth, "Sirius and I will return shortly." Then he grabbed Sirius' arm and dragged him from the room.

Remus flinched, "He should have listened."

Alastor nodded in agreement, "He still acts like a child sometimes."

Minerva sighed, "I understand why he is upset. He is, after all, Harry's godfather. Perhaps he would feel better if he came to spend time with Harry."

Severus rolled his eyes, "I would rather the dog not be in my son's life."

Everyone ignored Severus' statement except the fact that he called Harry his son.

Nymphadora's eyes shone brightly, "You are calling him son? That's fantastic!"

Before they could respond to her, Albus and Sirius returned to their seats.

Sitting in his seat, Sirius could not help the small flinch that flashed across his features. Looking across the table at Severus, he bit his lip softly.

Albus nudged him, waiting patiently.

Forcing his irritation and embarrassment to the side, Sirius looked at Severus and said, "I am sorry, Snape."

Severus nodded in acceptance, "You are forgiven, Black."

Albus clapped his hands, ignoring Sirius' flinch, and exclaimed, "We have much to discuss tonight. First of all, are you all aware of the Dursleys' death?" When everyone said yes, he continued, "Very well. We have decided to not have a funeral for them. Voldemort is most likely looking forward to a funeral in hopes that he could attack while our guards are down. Instead, their bodies have been taken care of."

Severus frowned, "Harry should have had part of the say in that. They are, after all, his relatives."

Sirius, for once in his life, completely agreed with Severus, "Snape has a point. My godson should have at least been given the option to see them and say goodbye to them. They were his only living relatives!"

Minerva felt outraged! How dare they make that decision for Harry?!

Albus held his hand up to stop any further complaints, "Harry is young. We did not want to put that kind of decision on him. After testing is performed on their bodies to make sure it would be safe for Harry to see them, he may do so." Pulling out a parchment from his pocket, Minerva and Severus quickly recognized it as the letter. "This letter was found on Vernon Dursley's body. It is a threat towards anyone who is Harry's family. To further protect Harry, Minerva, and Severus I want everyone to come help me upgrade the wards around the Hogwarts perimeter. I also want to add more wards around their own property in the Forbidden Forest."

Once everyone agreed to come help with the protection wards, Albus continued, "As you can see, Lucius and Narcissa have joined our meeting tonight. Most of you already knew that Lucius was a spy for us. His position was terminated when Voldemort discovered his loyalty to the Light. I have created a house beside Minerva and Severus' house in the Forbidden Forest. I will also need everyone to help upgrade the protection wards around their house as well."

Taking a deep breath, Albus began the next topic. To him, this is the most impacting topic of the night, "Dolores Umbridge will soon be taking over the school. She has written a request to have me removed from my position." Albus raised his hands to stop any outraged comments. "She has deemed me insane and too old to take proper care of the wizarding world's children. I just wanted to warn everyone about this change. She is already writing new rules for the castle and consequences for the children that break those rules."

"We all know that she is a crazy bitch. What if she takes the punishments too far?" Sirius demanded to know. "I swear to Merlin if she even touches my godson I will slay her."

Albus sighed, defeated, "If she can convince Cornelius that a punishment is necessary than she has the right to do so. You all are aware that corporal punishment was once accepted and dueled out at Hogwarts. She very well may bring it back."

Minerva frowned, "Where will you go, Albus?"

Albus gave her a small smile, "My dear, do not worry about me. I will be staying here with Sirius."

Sirius forced a smile on his face.

"Hello, dear. How was your nap?" Poppy asked a sleepy-eyed boy as he stumbled into the kitchen.

Harry stopped short and looked at his Aunt Poppy curiously, "Where is mum and dad?"

Crossing her hands over each other, Poppy kept her face gentle and friendly as she explained, "They are at an Order meeting."

Harry's eyebrows rose up, "And why was I not invited?"

Poppy kept calm. She knew Harry would struggle with this and had prepared the whole time he was asleep. "You are a child, Harry. The Order is for adults."

Harry rolled his eyes, "That's bullshit. I'm the Chosen One. This war is about me! It should be required that I am at those meetings." Harry forced the disgust from tasting the vomit to not show on his face. This whole no swearing thing is harder than he anticipated.

To say Poppy was surprised at Harry's self-righteous beliefs would be a lie. She always knew Harry, deep down, saw highly of himself. "The prophecy is not the main part of the war, Harry. You are simply a pawn in the war. There are many other pieces that attribute to this war than just you. When you are older you will be welcomed into the Order. Until then you will do your homework and behave. Your time will come."

Harry felt his skin heat and his blood boil. How dare she say that?!

He wants to scream at her! He wants to stomp his feet and throw his hands in the air! This is outrageous! This is ridiculous! He wishes he could throw something; break something! Fuck the world!

Instead of doing any of those though, Harry took a deep breath, gave her a glare, and stomped from the room. When he reached his bedroom, he slammed the door as hard as he possibly could!

CRACK!

Wide-eyed, Harry stared at the crack he caused on the door. The fact that he just broke his door simply caused him to become more agitated. Stomping as hard and as loud as he could, Harry went to his bed and screamed into his pillow until his throat felt raw.

When screaming did not get all of his anger out of his system Harry began wondering what he could do to show his parents that he was displeased with the Order for not letting him in their club.

With his mind set, Harry quietly tip-toed to the room next to his: the potion lab.

Entering the darkened lab, Harry quickly took note of the bubbling, green potion on the table.

Walking over to the said potion, Harry saw his father's journal laying open beside the cauldron. Reading the page it was open to, Harry quickly noticed that this is the famous potion his father has been working on.

Wouldn't it be a shame if something happened to it? All his father's precious work gone.

Justice.

Am I taking this too far? Harry bit his lip as he stared at the bubbling potion. What is this potion for anyway? Why is it so secretive?

Reminding himself of all the reasons he is supposed to be angry, Harry glared at the cauldron one last time then tipped it over. Before Harry could move away, the bubbling green slime touched his shoes, dissolving them, exposing his feet.

The slime stung and cracked his skin. Screaming out, Harry fell to the floor in pain. The slime quickly enveloped his body, quieting his screams.

Hearing the screams, Poppy ran to Severus' potions lab.

Seeing a squirming glob of green slime on the floor, Poppy quickly flicked her wand causing it to disappear. Instead of the pile of green slime that was once on the floor there is a young, naked Harry.

Gasping in surprise, Poppy pushed this knowledge of Harry being de-aged to the side and quickly set about curing his burn marks from the potion.

Once the burn marks were successfully cured, she ran a diagnostics test on him and discovered that instead of being fifteen-years old, Harry is now seven-years old.

Picking the seven-year old up, Poppy carefully carried him to his bed and tucked him in. Once that was done, she contacted Minerva and Severus.

After receiving Poppy's message, Minerva, Severus and Sirius hurried home.

Poppy stopped the three worried adults from running to Harry's bedroom. "He is asleep!" Poppy explained.

Sirius ran his hands through his hair, disgruntled, "How the Hell did this happen?"

"I bet you are the reason for his foul language, Black!" Severus snarled.

Minerva smacked his shoulder, "Stop it, Severus! Now is not the time to start an argument!"

Poppy stepped between Sirius and Severus before she had more than just Harry to take care of, "Calm yourselves! Harry is fine. He is seven again but he is perfectly fine!" Looking at Severus she explained, "I knew he was angry but I did not expect him to go to your lab and purposefully knock over your cauldron. What were you brewing, Severus?"

Sirius gave him a hard look, "This is your fault, Snape! If you weren't brewing such dangerous potions this would not have happened!"

Minerva narrowed her eyes at Sirius, "This is not Severus' fault, Sirius. You need to take a deep breath and calm down. We both warned Harry on multiple occasions not to mess with Severus' potion – this is Harry's fault."

Sirius threw his hands in the air, irritated, "My godson is de-aged upstairs! You have no right to say that this was his fault!"

Severus took a dangerous step towards him, "My son is de-aged upstairs! How dare you blame this accident on me, mutt!"

Clenching his fist, Sirius reeled back. Seeing Sirius about to punch him, Severus rolled his eyes, "Very childish, Bl-" he was cut off by Sirius' fist slamming against his jaw.

Minerva and Poppy gasped, "Sirius!"

Instead of trying to hit him back, Severus levelled him with a glare, "I believe it is time for you to leave my house, Black."

Before they could argue further, they were interrupted by a young voice, "What is going on?!"

They spun to look at Harry. He barely stood past Severus' hips!

Scared, Harry asked again, "Why am I so little?"

All four adults began speaking at the same time and that simply made Harry more scared.

Shaking his head, his unruly hair flew all over the place, "Be quiet!" Once everyone was silent, Harry asked again, "What happened to me?"

"Do you not remember?" Poppy asked, concerned.

Nervous, Harry fidgeted with his hands. "I remember being really angry. . ."

"You knocked the cauldron over," Poppy explained gently.

Severus narrowed his eyes at the child, "On purpose?"

Seeing his father's face, Harry cringed. Hiding his hands behind his back, Harry rocked back and forth on his heels and kept his eyes locked on the floor.

Seeing this, Minerva couldn't help but smile. He is just too cute!

Severus frowned at his son's childish actions, "Answer me, Harry James."

Biting his lip, Harry glanced at each adult. Why do the weirdest things happen to me?

Severus crossed his hands over his chest, "My patience is wearing thin, young man. You will not be happy if it wears completely out."

Sirius gave him a glare but did not comment.

Keeping his eyes glued to the floor, Harry whispered, "Yes, dad."

No matter what happened, Minerva could not find it in her to be mad at the boy!

Severus frowned, "Come here please." His frown deepened as the seven-year old backed up instead of coming forward. "I am not playing games with you, Harry James. Come here, now."

Wincing, Harry slowly padded over to his father. When he reached him, he bit his lip and stared at his father's shoes. "I'm sorry."

Severus forced himself to not melt. Taking the small chin in his hand, he gently tilted it up and said sternly, "Why did you knock over my potion, Harry James?"

Dragging his foot on the ground, Harry tried to look anywhere but at his father, "I was angry."

Sighing, Severus kept his face stern, "We will be speaking about this in further detail later, young man." Looking to Poppy, Severus asked, "You performed a diagnostic spell on him, correct?"

Poppy nodded. She looked at Harry and said, "The potion caused you to become de-aged to seven-years old."

Harry couldn't help the scared feeling that loomed in his tummy. He backed up against his father and lightly took part of his robe in his hands. "H-how long am I going to stay this young?"

Severus couldn't help the happiness he felt as he noticed Harry clinging to him.

Poppy sighed, "I am not sure yet, dear. I will be investigating it though. I am sure we will find an anti-dote, though. Do not worry yourself."

Reaching down, Severus gently took Harry's small hand in his. "We will figure this out."

Poppy sighed and looked at Sirius, "Do you want to return to the castle with me and try to figure some things out?"

Sirius agreed. Walking over to Harry, he knelt down and opened his arms for a hug, "We will figure this out, pup."

Walking over, Harry quickly gave him a hug, "Thanks, Sirius." He tried his best to sound like his fifteen-year old self but without puberty that definitely was not going to happen. Instead, he sounded like a squeaky baby.

Once Poppy and Sirius were gone, Minerva went upstairs to change Harry's bedroom into an age appropriate room. She also transfigured some toys for him.

Grabbing his son's small hand again, Severus led him over to the couch.

Sitting on his father's lap, Harry couldn't help his lower lip pout out as he waited for his punishment.

Turning him on his lap so he could look into his face, Severus asked, "Why did you knock over my potion, Harry James?"

Keeping his lower lip out, Harry mumbled sadly, "I was really mad, dad. I was so mad!"

Severus nodded, "What could have you done to release your anger instead of destroying my potion?"

"I could have screamed more or went and smoked weed."

Hearing the word 'weed' come from his seven-year old son made Severus cringe, "I do not want to hear you say that word again, young man."

Harry frowned, "Why?"

Severus looked torn, "It is just odd hearing a seven-year old say that. . . Please, just don't say it again."

Harry smiled mischievously, "Does it make you uncomfortable?"

Severus narrowed his eyes at the child curiously, "I'm not playing, Harry." Deciding to return to their original subject, Severus said, "I am very disappointed in your actions, Harry. Do you know what that potion was for?"

Harry bit his lip and looked away from his father, "No, sir. You would not tell me."

"That potion was very important to Mr. Malfoy and I. The potion was supposed to be used to remove our Dark Marks," Severus explained gently.

Harry flinched as he remembered how painful the potion felt and asked, "But wouldn't it have turned you into a child?"

Severus shook his head, "No. We were going to put a small amount only on our Dark Marks. The potion was going to eat away the skin, leaving younger, and mark free skin behind. Now, because a naughty boy decided to ruin it, I have to start all over again."

Ashamed, Harry dropped his head. "I'm sorry, dad."

Severus nodded, "You should be, Harry James. I cannot believe you did that."

Much to Harry's embarrassment he felt hot tears well up in his eyes. Being young is making him more emotional! "I'm so sorry, dad! A-are you going to spank me?"

Severus sighed tiredly and wiped the tears from Harry's cheeks, "Not this time, Harry. I believe being de-aged is punishment enough. However, if you ever pull this stunt again you will not be able to sit for a week. Do you understand me?" Obviously he would never pull through with such a threat but the fact that he threatened it made him feel as if Harry would think twice before doing this again.

More tears leaked from his eyes as he thought about such a punishment, "I won't! I promise! I'm so sorry!"

Pulling him to his chest, Severus rubbed his back in a soothing pattern, "I forgive you, Harry. You are going to have to apologize to Mr. Malfoy as well though."

Harry nodded into his chest. After a few minutes of silence, Harry calmed down. Pulling away from his father's chest, Harry asked, "Why am I acting this way? I am fifteen-years old!"

Severus smirked, amused, "You have the memory and mind of a fifteen-year old. You have the emotions, actions, and certain thoughts as a seven-year old. You are no longer fifteen, Harry. You are very much a child."

Frowning, Harry slumped against his father's chest, "This stinks."

Chuckling softly, Severus nodded his head, "Everything is going to work out."

Minerva entered the living room, face glowing with happiness, "Yes, Harry, you may believe that your situation stinks but there are good parts to it. Perhaps this is for the best, Harry. Maybe now you will break your nasty habits of smoking, swearing, and jumping into dangerous situations. This is your second chance of being young, Harry. Let's make this second chance a good one." With that said, Minerva pulled out a VHS from her back, "Do you know what this is, Harry?"

Severus rolled his eyes, "Seriously, Min?" He quieted when she threw a glare at him.

Harry nodded his head, excited, "It's a movie! Where did you get a muggle movie, mum?"

Minerva smiled, "I have my secret collections, dear." Severus gave her a smirk, which she knowingly ignored. Pervert.

"What movie is it, mum?" Harry asked as he shifted on his father's lap to get more comfortable.

Severus smirked down at him, "Are you planning on staying on my lap, young man?"

Harry gave him a shy smile and nodded his head, "Yes, sir."

"Pinocchio," Minerva's heart fluttered as she watched the excited go across Harry's young features. Pulling out the wizarding camera, she quickly charmed it to follow the family around and take random pictures. She also charmed it so it was invisible and would only become visible when she said the magical password. She did all of this without the knowledge of Severus and Harry.

Flicking her wand, the VHS disappeared and was projected against the living room wall.

Eyes wide with fascination, Harry tried to figure out where the movie was coming from.

On the coffee table was Minerva's wand. The tip of the wand shone brightly as it projected the movie onto the wall.

"Wow," Harry murmured.

Severus and Minerva exchanged amused smiles. Then they settled down and watched the movie with their seven-year old son.

Severus secretly hoped Pinocchio would further teach Harry that lying is bad.

The clock stuck seven o'clock interrupting their movie. Patting Harry's leg, Minerva said, "It is time for you to go shower and prepare for bed. I want you in bed at eight sharp."

Harry frowned, "Why so early?" Of course he was a little tired but no way was he going to admit that! It was simply a busy day is all. . .

Severus gave him a stern look, "Are you arguing with your mother, Harry?"

Pouting, Harry huffed and slouched further in the couch, "No."

Severus couldn't help but smirk, "Good because if you were you would find yourself going to bed with five smacks."

Hearing that, Harry slouched further. Being seven sucks!

Minerva sighed softly and shook her head at the young boy, "I realize that you are used to the later bedtime but you are no longer fifteen, Harry. Seven-year olds need nine and a half to eleven and a half hours of sleep each night."

Puffing his lip out, Harry crossed his arms over his chest and stared at the floor, "What if I can't sleep though?"

In all Severus' years he has never interacted with children below the age of eleven. The fact that Harry is seven and is acting in these peculiar ways causes him great confusion and humor. At times what Harry says causes him to shake his head and laugh. At other times though it sparks irritation in him, this is one of those times. Severus frowned at the pouting child, "Pouting is not going to get you anywhere in life, Harry James. Stick that lip back in. If you cannot sleep then you will lay in bed and daydream. If you step off the bed for anything except the loo you will find yourself in trouble. Do you understand, young man?"

Harry gave him a glare and his lip simply pouted further out. "This is not fair! I'm fifteen, I should not have to go to bed this early."

Minerva sighed, becoming frustrated with the boy, "You are no longer fifteen, Harry James. You are seven and you will be in bed by eight o'clock sharp if you know what is best for your bottom. Now, no more arguing and go get ready for bed."

Huffing and silently mocking them, Harry stomped up the stairs to put his pajamas on.

Minerva and Severus exchanged exasperated looks.

"This is going to be harder than we thought, Min."

Minerva nodded in agreement, "Very much so, Sev. We will figure this out though. After he understands what we expect of him at this age it will get better."

"That dang lip almost makes me want to let him get away with murder!" Severus told her, frustrated.

Minerva laughed, "It is quite adorable! However, it is called pouting and we cannot allow him to pout to get his way."

Severus nodded, "I completely agree, Minerva."

More stomping interrupted them as Harry stomped back down the stairs and to the loo.

Minerva crossed her hands over her chest, "Harry James!" Harry halted and looked at her. "Do not stomp in this house again!"

Dropping his head, Harry sighed and muttered his apologies. Then, he hurried over to the loo. Entering the loo, he stripped and turned the hot water on to fill the tub.

"As you are under the age of ten I will be double checking your hair to make sure your soap is out and I will check behind your ears. If you are not clean to my satisfaction you will return to the water and bathe again." The mirror stated as Harry wrapped a towel around himself.

Harry glared at the mirror, "I can bathe myself."

The mirror chuckled, "I am proud of you, dearie, but I will still be checking."

Huffing, Harry stomped out of the loo with the towel wrapped around him and slammed the loo door behind him, "Mum! Dad!" Harry shouted.

Minerva and Severus simply looked across the living room to him.

"What is wrong, Harry?" Minerva asked. She already assumed it had to do with the mirror.

"The mirror says it is going to check my hair for shampoo and if I'm not clean enough it will make me bathe again!" Harry complained.

Severus frowned, "I do not see the problem, Harry. Now, return to the loo and stop this nonsense. Cease your complaining before I cease it for you."

Flinching slightly at the threat, Harry quietly retreated to the loo where he dropped his towel and crawled into the tub.

After shampooing and conditioning his hair, to his irritation, the hand-held mirror floated over to him and began checking through his hair. It returned to the counter telling him to continue his bath.

Harry grumbled and muttered his frustrations as he quickly scrubbed his body and crawled out of the bathtub. No sooner did he stand straight on the rug that the hand-held mirror flew over to him, tsked and said, "Try again, little one."

Harry gave the mirror a glare, "Bugger off." As Harry was reaching for the towel, the hand-held mirror floated behind him and landed itself against Harry's bare backside with a stinging SMACK!

Jumping in surprise, Harry quickly covered himself up and spun to glare at the mirror, "Stop it! I don't have to listen to you. You're just a mirror."

"Get back into the tub, Harry James. You are not properly cleaned," the mirror stated sternly.

Harry stuck his tongue out at the mirror and went to the door. Opening it, he stepped into the living room only to feel the hand-held mirror smacking against his backside. Jumping, Harry yelled out, "OW!" Looking to where his parents sat on the couch, Harry snapped irritably, "Make it stop!"

Severus smirked as he stared at the seven-year old, "The only way to make it stop is if you follow the mirror's instructions, Harry."

The mirror landed another stinging smack against his backside causing tears to appear in his emerald eyes, "Mum!" Harry begged, "Please make it stop."

Minerva sighed and shook her head, "Return to the loo and follow the mirror's instructions, Harry."

Just wanting the stinging swats to stop, Harry hurried into the loo and jumped in the tub causing the water to splash all over the place.

"Now, bathe yourself again, young man," the mirror told him sternly.

Huffing angrily, Harry mumbled threats under his breath as he quickly re-bathed himself. After he was finally done, he stayed seated in the tub and waited for the mirror to give him permission to be done.

The mirror checked him over and then made a movement as if it nodded its head, "You may leave, child. Do not forget to come back and brush your teeth."

Grumbling irritably, Harry wrapped the towel around his waist and hurried to his bedroom to get dressed.

After hearing his bedroom door close, Severus turned to Minerva and asked, "What are we going to do about his relatives, Min?"

Minerva frowned, "He has his old memories. I say we tell him."

Severus nodded in agreement.

Together they went upstairs to Harry's bedroom. Entering the room, Minerva and Severus walked over to Harry's bed and sat down on the edge beside him.

"Harry, we have some bad news for you," Minerva told him gently.

Concerned, Harry sat up straight, "What's wrong?"

Glancing at Minerva, Severus braced himself and said, "Your aunt, uncle, and cousin were killed by Death Eaters."

Harry frowned. He should be devastated right? The only feeling he felt was anger. If he had not been placed in their home they would not be dead right now. "That's my fault."

Minerva shook her head, "It is not your fault, Harry. Why do you say that?"

Keeping his eyes down, Harry muttered, "If I was not placed in their home then Voldemort would not have wanted to kill them."

Severus disagreed, "He would have discovered that they were your family and killed them anyway, Harry. This is not your fault. I promise you, Harry."

Biting his lip, Harry nodded his head. His parents cannot make him feel better about this situation so it is best if he just nods his head in agreement, "Alright. I'm going to go to bed now. . ."

Kissing his forehead, Minerva gently tucked him in and whispered, "If you need anything do not be afraid to come and get us, alright, dear?"

Harry nodded, "Yes, ma'am."

Patting his head in a loving way, Severus could tell that Harry did not mean what he said. He knew Harry still struggled with thinking this is his fault. "I don't know what to say to make you believe me, Harry, but what I said to you is the complete truth. This is not your fault." Standing from the edge of the bed, Severus double checked to make sure Harry was tucked in then he walked over to where Minerva stood in the doorway.

"We love you, Harry. Have sweet dreams," Minerva told him lovingly.

Snuggling down in his blankets, Harry closed his eyes and muttered, "I love you too."

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review, they are extremely helpful!

Savoren.