The three of them were making sugar cookies, since Harry was four he got more on himself then he made into little balls on the cookie sheet
" Looks like we need to make more cookie dough" Eileen said after scraping the last bit out of the bowl
" Or we can scrape all the dough Harry got on himself" Severus said with an amused smirk
Harry rolled his eyes, " I'm saving it for later" He joked
Severus lifted up an eyebrow, " Once that crusts over you're going to have a hard time getting it out of your hair"
Harry groaned
Severus rolled his eyes and took out his wand and cast a cleaning charm on his son
" Thanks" Harry grumbled
" You're welcome" Severus said putting his wand back
" Can we make more cookies though?" Harry asked turning to his grandmother
Eileen smiled and nodded, " How about this time we make chocolate chip?"
Harry grinned and nodded happily
" Merlin with all the dough we are going to make, we might not have enough cookie jar space, what in the world will we do with the rest of the dough?" Eileen asked with a smirk
Both Father and son smirked, " Eat it"
Eileen smiled, " Like father like son" She thought
They made cookies for an hour later and then Eileen shooed them out of the kitchen so she could make dinner
" What are we having?" Severus asked
" Chicken and rice with it already cut up for everybody" Eileen said
Harry smirked at that, Severus just rolled his eyes
" Dad can we go play catch outside?" Harry asked
" Don't you have a corner to get to know?" Severus asked lifting an eyebrow
Harry's face fell, " But that's not until next week"
" Did I say next week?" Severus asked
" Oh come on dad, we were having so much fun making cookies, I got to go to bed in about two hours, I don't want to spend the time I have in a corner" Harry said, he was almost in tears again, he might be sixteen but he was having childish instincts
Severus sighed and rolled his eyes again... he seems to do that a lot
" Fine, we'll go play catch for a while, until dinner, then bath time and bedtime" Severus said firmly
Harry nodded and smiled a little and headed outside with his dad right behind him
They played catch until dinner then they had to go wash up
" So since there's a strange turn of events, what's on the agenda for the rest of the month?" Tobias asked
" While Harry is in the corner working on lines next week, I will be down in the lab trying to find a cure, I am hoping I find one before school starts or Harry will be very vulnerable" Severus said
" Not to mention gawked at and laughed at" Harry mumbled into his cup of milk
After dinner Harry and Severus walked upstairs to get Harry ready for his bath
Harry was very quiet and sulky during his bath, he didn't want to talk or nothing, he just sat there looking down at the water, he really didn't want to go to bed at 7:30, that was the time for babies, not him, but he really didn't want to get spanked again so he did as he was told
Severus dressed Harry and tucked him into bed which was transfigured into a bed that would fit the size of Harry and it even had railings so Harry wouldn't accidentally fall off in the middle of the night
" So... what story do you want tonight?" Severus asked
Harry shrugged
" Hmm, how about something from The Tales of Beedle the Bard?" Severus suggested taking down the big volume
Harry looked confused
" They're wizarding children's stories" Severus explained, " Hmm, The Wizard and the Hopping Pot is a good one"
Harry shrugged
Severus looked at his son and sighed silently and began reading
At the end of the story Harry still looked depressed
" Maybe he'll be better tomorrow" Severus thought and he hugged his son goodnight, " Goodnight Harry"
" Night dad" Harry said with a sigh
Harry tossed and turned for hours, he couldn't get to sleep and it was 11:30 when he finally got out of bed and tiptoed downstairs and outside
Harry looked around and climbed a tree and just looked at the stars
The routine followed for a week, except now Harry spent his time in the corner writing lines instead of playing with his dad, his Grandpa liked to play cards, checkers or chess with him but that only happened if he was finished with fifty lines for the day, sometimes he made it, sometimes he didn't make it until 7:30, Harry was glad he only had lines for a few more days but the bedtime stands which he didn't like at all
Every night since he's been deaged Harry would go to bed at 7:30 but crawl out of bed at 11:30 to go outside and climb the same tree to look at the stars and think, he would climb back down at around 1:30 and go back to bed
This night wasn't any different
Harry was tucked into bed after his bedtime story by his dad at 7:30 and he waited until 11:30 before he got out of bed and tiptoed down the stairs and out the back door to climb his tree
Severus wasn't having a good night, his son looked very depressed, ever since he was deaged, Severus couldn't sleep so he was in the living room reading when he heard a click which sounded like the back door close. Severus, being the cautious and paranoid type took out his wand before putting his book down and investigating
The first thing Severus did was check the wards, they were still in place so no death eaters got in which was good, he then checked to see if robbers got in but there were none. Severus then looked outside and he saw a small figure up in a tree looking at the stars
Before Severus did anything he went upstairs to see if Harry was in his room, when he got to Harry's room and opened the door, it was empty
Severus sighed and headed back downstairs and headed outside, he forgot to put his shoes on but he didn't care at that moment
Severus walked to the tree and tried to think of some way to notify Harry of his presence without scaring the boy, he figured the best and safest way was to just fly up and catch him if Harry slipped
Severus flew up to where Harry was
" You mind telling me what you're doing out here this late at night?" Severus asked
Harry was shocked out of his thinking and almost did slip but Severus righted him
" Dad... what... what are you doing out here?" Harry asked fearful
" I could ask you the same thing" Severus said then lifted his eyebrow waiting for an answer
Harry shrugged, " Just thinking"
" And you couldn't do that in the safety of your own bed?" Severus asked
Harry shrugged, " How did you find me?"
" You kidding? I caught you out of bed loads of times at school" Severus said
" So you going to give me detention this time as well?" Harry asked cheekily
Severus glared, " No, I'm going to take you back to your bed and you're going to tell me why you decided to climb a tree tonight" He said firmly
" And if I don't?" Harry asked
" Then you can go to the corner tomorrow with a sore backside" Severus warned
Harry winced then sighed, " I'm not ready to go to bed"
" Then you can tell me what's wrong on the couch" Severus said, " You are not staying out here... now come on"
Severus held out his arms for Harry to get into and after a few minutes Harry finally got into his dad's arms
" Someday you really need to teach me how to fly without a broom" Harry said
Severus chuckled as he descended to the ground
Severus carried Harry inside and went into the living room and sat on the couch with Harry in his lap, he then covered himself and Harry up with a blanket
" Explain" Severus said firmly but not harsh
Harry sighed, " Just not tired I guess"
" Harry, somethings bothering you" Severus said, " And I want to know what"
Harry sighed he knew he wasn't going to get away from his dad without talking, " It might make me feel better if I get all of this off my chest" he thought, " Ok fine... I miss my friends, I miss my Godfather and I have the wizarding world on my shoulders because I'm the Chosen one, I'm the only one who is supposed defeat Voldemort and everybody is counting on me, I don't know what to do, and now I'm deaged and if I can't even bathe and dress myself properly there's no way I'll be able to defeat Voldemort when the time comes"
" Do you really think you're going to be deaged that long?" Severus asked
Harry shrugged, " I don't know what to think, there's only about three weeks of summer left and you still haven't come up with an antidote to my... stupidity"
Severus smirked
" Yes I called myself stupid because I was, no need to rub it in" Harry said then sighed, " I think this is the first time I didn't want to go back to school"
Severus felt bad for his son, so much has happened to him in his short life, he's seen more in his sixteen years of life than what most wizards see in a lifetime
" Harry, I'm going to try my very best to come up with an antidote before school starts... if I don't find one... well you'll stay down in my quarters until I do and... your friends will be invited down there to spend time with you... as for your schooling... you will be... well home schooled for a while so nobody will be able to hurt you" Severus said
Harry nodded
" As for missing your friends and... Godfather... well you'll see your friends when they return to Hogwarts and... as for your godfather... well he, James and your mother are always with you... right here" Severus said and he pointed to Harry's heart, " They're never that far away as long as you remember them"
Harry smiled and cuddled closer to his dad
Severus wrapped his arms around his son and they ended up falling asleep like that because the next morning Eileen and Tobias found them
" Hurry Tobias, get the camera" Eileen whispered
Tobias nodded and went in the cupboard for the camera and gave it to his wife
Eileen took ten pictures of the same thing, if Severus found the pictures, he'd burn them so she wanted extras just in case
" Should we wake them up?" Tobias asked
" No... let them sleep, they obviously need it" Eileen said
Tobias nodded and sat in his chair to read the morning paper
Eileen smiled and started towards the kitchen to make breakfast